Mount Pleasant, Iowa

My Darling Anna - Letters from Fairhaven 1890 relates the story of a man, a woman, and a time in history.  The book is also about a place, Fairhaven in the wild newly settled Northwest.  It illustrates how the raw new town was to be influenced by the contributions of its new immigrants from the long-settled areas of the eastern parts of the nation.   It particularly speaks to the contributions of Mount Pleasant, Iowa from which Will Gray came to Fairhaven, as did a remarkable large group of his acquaintances.

Mount Pleasant is located in the southeastern corner of Iowa.   It was an educational and cultural haven known as "The Athens of Iowa."  By 1870, the town had become prominent nationally for its forward thinking citizens who were leaders and active in the reform movements of the time.  It was a center for the abolitionist movement and a stop on the Underground Railroad.  The first Iowa Women's rights convention was held in Mount Pleasant in 1870.

Mount Pleasant is a commanding presence in the book because of its formative influence on Dr Gray and Anna, and through the on their daughter Margaret.

We look forward to sharing more information on this historically rich community.