The History of Linn County, Iowa: Containing a History of the County, Its Cities, Towns, &C. , a Biographical Directory of Its Citizens, War Record of Its Volunteers in the Late Rebellion, General and Local Statistics, Portraits of Early Settlers and Promi

Excerpt from The History of Linn County, Iowa: Containing a History of the County, Its Cities, Towns, &C., A Biographical Directory of Its Citizens, War Record of Its Volunteers in the Late Rebellion, General and Local Statistics, Portraits of Early Settlers and Prominent Men, History of the Northwest
The historian who writes of the near past finds, oftentimes, more delicate questions arising for him to decide than does the contemporary of the musty pages. While the latter has but his own sense of consentaneousness to satisfy, the former has a wider constituency to win over to his mode of think ing. The writer upon ancient events is stimulated to careful research by the hope of discovering that which will subvert the theories of his collaborators, and vindicate his own claim to literary fame. The man who treats of the early deeds of a generation yet living can have no such ambition. His duty is to tell the tale in a simple manner, leaving to those who shall come after him the more agreeable task of embellishment.
The historian has endeavored to adhere to the rules which should govern all volumes of this class. Rumors have been given only as such; traditions find their appropriate place, and assumptions are treated with lightest stroke. Lndisputable facts, based upon definite dates and corroborated by testimony admissible in courts of justice, alone stand recorded as facts.
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