In the fall of 1841 John B. Morgan, his wife Elizabeth and ten children moved from Shelby County, Ind., to a farm four miles south of where Maryville now stands. I was next to the youngest of this family and many changes have I witnessed in this part of the country from that time to this.

Our house, as I first remembered it, was made of round logs. It had a puncheon floor and a clapboard roof. Light was admitted through a window made of one sash. Our cooking was done on a fireplace. Our clothing was made, woven and spun at home. Our thread was made and so were our shoes. Part of our bread was made of corn, beaten between stones, and they went to mill at Robideauxs Landing, now St Joseph.

The nearest point where we could get mail was at Savannah. The postage on a single letter was 20 cents. The letters were folded and sealed with red wax. The nearest doctor was at Savannah. there was no school, and the younger children of our family and some of the neighbors' children received their first instruction at school at our home, conducted by my brother, Amaziah.

Our farming implements were very poor and very scarce. Corn was dropped by hand and covered with a hoe. There was no place for meeting of any kind, so preaching services were held at the different homes, conducted by Rev Carson. Our nearest neighbor was Hiram Groves and family, who lived about three miles from our home. We often visited at Jacob Vinson Haler's, who lived about fifteen miles away.

There were at this time about eight families in what is now Nodaway County. We were used to fruit in Indiana, so father and the boys planted some peach and apple seeds, and in a few years had a good bearing orchard of each. Well do I remember hearing our folks speak of the fact that the town of Maryville was to be started. One of the pleasantest recollections that I have of pioneer life here was the whole-souled hospitality that abounded in every home. No night was too cold or stormy but that if the cry of distress was heard willing hearts and hands responded with aid. And company to remain over night or a week a time was hailed with delight. No one at that time dreamed that in such a few short years Nodaway County would reach the high state of development which it has.