The Lewis farms were homesteaded in 1839 which was part of the first 50 miles west of the Mississippi opened to settlers with the Blackhawk purchase.

The ancestors left Ohio in 1832 taking seven years before they reached Iowa, purchasing lands in Indiana and Illinois, and establishing a grist mill in Stephenson County, Illinois. They followed a trail from Dubuque to Cedar Rapids, and became the first family to erect a log cabin west of the Cedar River, the cabin being 10 x10 and housing 10 people. All the Lewis kinsman laid claim to land along the Cedar River, eventually totaling over 2,000 acres, and it was known as Lewis Bottoms. "Lewis" for the first family to settle there, and "Bottoms" for the rich bottomland near the Cedar River. A church, a school, and a cemetery were soon established.

Much of Lewis Bottoms is now part of the Pleasant Creek State Recreation Area, with 410 acres lying under water. The lake provides a water supply for the nearby Duane Arnold Atomic Energy Center. Another 1500 acres became park land.

 

LANDOWNERS OF LEWIS BOTTOMS
FAYETTE TOWNSHIP, LINN COUNTY, IOWA
1843-1853

School Curtis Hall Miller John Lewis* Eleanor Renfrew* Daniel Richards* Nathan Lewis* Daniels Morris Miller Wm. Lewis* Tabitha Lewis* Levi Johnson* Thomas Lewis* *Indicates part of the Lewis Legacy

 

LOCATION OF LEWIS BOTTOMS
Lewis Bottoms is located in Linn County, Iowa