James D. Bourne First Settler in Clinton County, Iowa

James D, Bourne

James D. Bourne, one of the first settlers in Clinton County, was born in William County, Virginia, in 1811. He moved to Vinegar Hill, four miles outside of Galena, Illinois, in 1832, where he worked as a miner.

Over the next several years, Bourne worked as a miner in Potosi, Wisconsin, and Dubuque, Iowa. He came to Clinton County in August 1836 and built a cabin along the Wapsipinicon River. Then he moved to De Witt in 1840, where he married Christina Dennis in 1841. The couple went on to have ten children.

Governor Dodge appointed Bourne the first sheriff of Clinton County in 1840 at a salary of $300 annually. A decade later, he served as a deputy United States Marshal, then as the county’s representative to the state legislature in 1848.

Over time, Bourne became a wealthy man, accumulating nearly 1,000 acres of land.

(Portrait and information from the Portrait and Biographical Album of Clinton County, Iowa. 1886.)