~by Denise O’Brien Van for the Greene County Historical Society
An amateur Lincoln scholar, Jed Magee of Jefferson, will talk about President Abraham Lincoln and his dealings with Iowa Sunday, June 8, at 2 pm at the Greene County Historical Society Museum, 219 E. Lincoln Way in Jefferson.
As a result of his time serving in an Illinois regiment in the Black Hawk War in 1832, Lincoln received two parcels of Iowa land, a 40-acre plot in Tama County in eastern Iowa, and 120 acres in western Iowa’s Crawford County. Such grants were a common compensation for veterans at the time. Lincoln never saw either one, according to Magee. His son Robert sold the Crawford County land in 1892.
A lawyer, Lincoln also won a court case involving a steam boat hitting a railroad bridge that crossed the Mississippi River, linking Rock Island, IL, and Davenport.
Magee will talk about other connections between the Hawkeye State and Lincoln, including his close friendship with Gen. Grenville Dodge, who lived in Council Bluffs.
Dodge influenced Lincoln’s vision for a transcontinental railroad.
Magee, who lives in Jefferson. is a retired lawyer and a former senior judge in the Second District of Iowa. Appointed in 1992, he retired in 2008.
The public is invited to the free presentation, which is part of the Museum’s 2025 Sunday afternoon program series. Refreshments will be served.
