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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