Time flies, never to return. Sixty-four years have flown since the settlement of Audubon county. That period lies behind; the future is before us. Posterity will eagerly scan every source of information to be found concerning the history of their forbears. It is the duty to future generations to perpetuate the history of our people. The best time to write history is at the time of its passage; but, in large measure, this has been neglected to the present time. Our people have been too busy in home-making and in wrestling sustenance from a new country; their lives too fully occupied with the duties, necessities and cares of every-day life, and often too poor to devote time or attention to preserving records of the events of their lives and acts. When they passed away, perhaps brief obituaries or grave-stones recited their names, ages, etc., all that is now known about them; even this is often wanting. Some of the history of our people can be found in the public records; the newspapers contain mention of individuals and events that have transpired; church and society records tell of their membership; the monuments of the dead record names and dates of births and deaths of those who lie in the cemeteries; the family Bibles are repositories of the records of others.

The unit of history is the individual; it proceeds into the family, the neighborhood, town, county and state relations; the aggregate forms the history of a given people.

Three principal events enter into the lives of persons--births, marriages and deaths. The record of marriages were by law required to be kept before the settlement of this county, and we find such records kept from the organization of the county. It is doubtful if all marriages which have occurred here since then have been recorded here; many of our people were married before settlement, and some were married outside the county. The records of births and deaths were not required by law to be kept until long after the settlement of the county, and were not kept for many years. Our public vital statistics are far from complete. It is impossible at the present time to discover accurate vital statistics of all people who have lived here, and this is especially true of the early settlers. The current events of the daily lives of the people have become in large measure obsolete; the early settlers have mostly passed away; and teh memories of the few remaining with us are imperfect, their recollections of early events being often contradictory. Most that occurred here in early times, except such as is of record, has been forgotten, never to be recalled. It is remarkable that so many events of early times have been rescued from obliviion at this late day.

It has been the purpose of this work to compile and preserve some of the principal events and affairs that have transpired in Audubon county since its foundation, in the year 1851, gathered from every available source discovered, for future reference and use.

In its preparation the writer has been assisted by very many persons, too numerous to mention even by name, who have been universally kind in imparting information, and who are entitled to my profound, kindest thanks, as well as to the gratitude of the countless posterity who may rejoice in finding their contributions.