The weekly Ottumwa courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1857-1872, 1867-08-15

Crops are generally good. wheat ex
cellent, and being Of the fall species
has been harvested scme two weeks
As wc neared this acity" we passed
Iscorps Of fine large peach trees, groan
ing beneath their load. We, howev
er, came a little too early in the sea
son to enjoy them. As we have al
ready written more than we inten
ded, will now lay down our pen.
i W q J. e. G.
i BETHANY, Mo-, July, 29, '67.
4 CORRESPONDENTS ottumwa Courier.l
! DEAR CoURIER -
We parted with
you at Bethany, Harrison County
Mo-, and travelling southwest di.
|rection distance Of eighteen miles
arrived at Albany, the County seat
Of Gentry County. The country is
generally th;ckly settled between
Bethany and Albany, rolling prairie,
well supplied with good timber, well
improved farms, and excellent crops.
Albany is handsomely located for a
timber location and before the war
was very. handsome town, but du-
ring the rebellion did not improve,
and property decreased Id value
The county at one time was very
nearly equally divided between Rebel
and Union, and the. Rebel element
was SO strong that the dear old flag
was once torn down from the Court
House and trailed and trampled in
the dust, but was in q short time re-
stored and kept its place thereafter.
There were large number Of sold
iers quartered in the town, for con-
siderable length Of time until the
Union men gained the ascendency 60
far as to fear no danger. We were
amused at the sspiles" and bundles Of
papers in tho Circuit Clerks office
and filed away and marked aoath Of
loyalty" a very bitter pill indeed, and
which q great many refused to swal-
low. A portion Of them still roside
in the County, but know their places
too well to express their sentiments.
Others have moved to other locali-
ties-a goodly number to Iowa-and
claim to have always been loyal. -.
Albany contains a population of about
1000. The NJ, E. Church South still
have society and church building
here. The loyal Mothodi.ts owned
| church here but were compelled to
sell it during the war. or at the be-
ginning of it, but there is freedom of
speech here now for all LOYAL people.
From Albany we go northtwenty-
one miles to Grant City, the County
Seat Of Worth county, togain which
we Travelled rough road, mostly
through timber and brush, however
we passed asfew very fine farms, and
one patch of corn that excelled any
other we have seen the present sea-
son. It taxes our ingenuity. often to
know where we are; or where we are
going, as we travel through the new
and more sparsely settled portions OF
the country and sometimes in those
places that have been settled for
years, as there are fewer guide
boards here than any country we
have ever travelled through, and when
we do chance to find one we are puz-
zled to know whore it intends to di-
rect us as we are not left handed. We
passed one on way to Grant City
lettered as follows:
"selim 3, wcivriaI."
Grant City is new town, and
contains perhaps 900 or 400 inhabi-
tants;- is located on high rolling prai-
rie, and the Court House can be seen
at the distance Of ten or,fiAeen miles.
We found very cleYer, good hearted
people here, and were we'll provided
for by friend De Witt, whose kind
family know how to make astranger
feel at home. We found the western
portion Of Worth county less broken
than hear the center and eastern
parts ofthe county, but the soil every
where appears rich, and when culti-
waited produces good crops. A very
neat paper is published here by Hon.
9. 6. Bridges, formerly . member Of
tho Iowa Legislature. From Grant
City we 60 Southwest to Maryville,
the County Seat Of Nodaway county,
one Of the best counties in North
Missouri. The prairies arc beautiful
and the soil rich. Good timber and
good water. Maryville is very hand.
lsomely located on high prairie and
within q short distance Of good tim
Der. It contains . population Of
about one thousand. Tho AZ. E.l
church has justrompleted . fino house,
Of worship 40 by 60, at = cost Of $40,