PREFACE.
 

.. The writing of the History of Backs county has been more a
"labor of love,," than of gain, to the aiith6r. It was undertaken
from a (Jesire to preserve interesting facts, connected with its settle¬
ment and history, that in a few years w^ould have been lost forever;
and no reasonable coiTipensation would reward us for the seven years'
labor bestowed upon it. We labored under many dithculties. Its
story had never been written, and the material, in a great measure,
had to be lirst gathered in isolated facts and then woven into the
thread of history. This w^as the most difficult part of our task. In
most cases individuals and families gave up their papers for ex¬
amination, which proved of great assistance. Witli the lapse of
years the material grew upon our hands beyond our anticipations,
and we could have written a larger work, but are content to give
the result of our labors in a volume not too large for convenient use.
Our greatest difficulty was in collecting matter relating to the set¬
tlement and early history of the German townships, because they
were less in the habit of preserving family and personal records.
We consulted the most reliable records and authorities to be
reached, and arj satisfied it contains as few errors as could reason¬
ably be expected in a work of the kind. As a rule we have given
the original spelling of the names of both persons and places, which
in many cases will be found to differ from the present spelHng; and