February 22, 1845 – The Iowa Capital Reporter reports that Col. J.P. DeForest – Iowa City’s first mayor (1853) – was an eloquent speaker, offering the audience gathered in the Capitol building for the February 22nd George Washington birthday celebration, an “able, eloquent and truly patriotic address”.
Iowa City Mayor #1 – According to his records in Find-A-Grave, Jacob Peter DeForest was born on December 2, 1791 in Rensselaer County, New York and served in the War of 1812 as a Major. Records indicate that J.P. DeForest and his family moved to Johnson County in the early 1840’s,
\Jacob Peter (J.P.) DeForest was the son of Peter Jacob DeForest and Ptertie Van Aalsteyn; and the husband of Elizabeth Eliza Eddy. Deforest died on February 18, 1854 (age 62), and is buried in Oakland Cemetery – Block 4, Lot #43 – in Iowa City.
READ MORE ABOUT THIS IOWA STORY HERE
This Day In History is an Our Iowa Heritage blog series that offers you a little bit of Iowa trivia from a large selection of stories on our website. Subscribe to this FREE blog and you’ll get a new email from us daily.
Join us for Our Iowa Heritage blog posts.
Learn some historical facts about Iowa City, Johnson County, or Eastern Iowa.
Amaze your friends. Click to learn more.
Pingback: February 21, 2025. | Our Iowa Heritage