In the spring of 1834, John Gray, who purchased one of first lots with his wife Eliza Jane, bought the naming rights as well for $50 and named the settlement Burlington in honor of his hometown in Vermont. The Grays’ daughter Abigail was born in Burlington that same year, the first European-descended American settler child born on Iowa soil.
In 1837, Burlington was designated as Wisconsin Territory’s “temporary” capital – replacing Belmont, Wisconsin while a new capitol building was being constructed in Madison City, Wisconsin.
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