Gershom S. Morrison

Dr. Gershom S. Morrison settled at a place one and-a-half-miles west of the point where the town of Anita now is, in August 1853, being the first settler in that part of the county. He entered a large tract of land and built what was then called a large house. He kept the stage station for many years and in that early day Morrison's Station or Morrison's Grove was known for many miles around. The Doctor was a great hunter, and during one winter killed one hundred and fifty deer. During the first year or two he hauled his supplies from Adel, Dallas county, and went there for his milling. He had been a practising physician in Illinois, and after removing to the place named sometimes prescribed for his neighbors. The Doctor died in 1863, and these facts were learned from his son, J. C. Morrison, who still resides in the county, at Anita. Mrs. Lura Morrison, the Doctor's wife, and for whom Lura township was named, died in 1867. In 1853 Mr. Morrison's nearest neighbor was Nathaniel Hamlin, of Hamlin's Grove, Audubon county, distant nine miles. J. C. Morrison, informs us, and his recollection is in harmony with that of the other old settlers, that for the first few years the only sport that the settlers enjoyed was in killing deer and elk, which were as plenty as rabbits are at the present time, and the most unskilled hunter could kill them.

From "History of Cass County, Iowa Together With Brief Mention of Old Settlers," by Lafe Young, Atlantic, Iowa, Telegraph Steam Printing House, 1877, pg. 8.