May 15, 1791 – Iowa Pioneer & Author – Dr. Isaac Galland – is born in Somerset, Pennsylvania.

Dr. Isaac Galland was born in Somerset, Pennsylvania to Matthew Galland and Hannah Fenno during their move from Norfolk, Virginia to the Western frontier.

One of the forgotten classics in Iowa history – published in 1840 – Isaac Galland’s Iowa Emigrant was a little 28-page book that’s often discarded because its author was involved in some rather shady business practices when it came to Iowa & Illinois land investments. Yet it was this early pioneer who settled in Iowa while it was still uncharted territory in 1829, started Iowa’s first school in Montrose (Lee County) in 1830, and published Iowa’s second newspaper – The Western Adventurer and Herald of the Upper Mississippi – in 1837.

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May 14, 1878 – Mayor Jacob Ricord appoints Lewis A. Clearman as Special Deputy Marshall – charged with enforcing Iowa City’s newly-passed Stock Ordinance which prohibits livestock running “at large” within the city.

Over a thirty-two year period (1872-1904) Deputy Marshal Lewis A. Clearman served Iowa City as a faithful police officer. He began in the 1870’s by simply keeping livestock off city streets, but by the late-1890’s, Clearman had made a name for himself serving as Iowa City’s super sleuth who could solve some of the most difficult crimes committed across the state.

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May 13, 1839 – The first Johnson County District Court proceedings are held in the trading house of John Gilbert of Napoleon with Judge Joseph Williams presiding.

The first white settlement in Johnson County was the small community of Napoleon – developed by the entrepreneur/fur trader John Gilbert in 1837. By the fall of 1839, Iowa City was chosen as Johnson County’s new county seat, thus Napoleon soon disappeared.

A Day-by-Day Calendar of Historical Events In Iowa, William J. Petersen, State Historical Society of Iowa, 1946, p 47

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