A Prairie Almanac: 1839 to 1919

This book is an eyewitness story about everyday life of pioneers who settled in Iowa Territory in 1839. The eyewitness, Isaac N. Kramer, was only seven when he traveled on riverboats from New Geneva, Pennsylvania to Bloomfield (now Muscatine) Iowa. By the time he was 21 he had learned all there was to know about pioneer farming and had worked on his father's claim. Everything interested him; he took notes and over the years wrote a history of the county where they settled, describing what they found there on arrival, how they survived the first terrible winter, and tells about all aspects of their livesfrom schools and religions, to politics and social activities. Drawings of artifacts (farming and housekeeping) described by Isaac help establish the feel of these early pioneer families. Illustrations, indexing, and family lineages add to his story. When he died in 1923 he left as his legacy a book manuscript which forms the basis of this book.