In January 1839, the Iowa Territorial Legislative Assembly appointed a 3-man commission to select the site of the new Territorial capital in Johnson County – a new city to be called ‘Iowa City’. By early spring, three commissioners – Chauncey Swan, John Ronalds and Robert Ralston – were chosen and soon they were preparing themselves to gather in Johnson County with the assignment to choose an appropriate location for this newly- planned City of Iowa – as it was sometimes called.

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