Ebenezer Comstock Ebenezer Comstock his wife four sons and two daughters entered the county, signalling the beginning of permanent settlement. Born in New York in 1813, Comstock came to Iowa by way of Michigan. In April of 1854. he had brought his family as far west as the Coon River Valley and located a claim Just west of the present town of Lake City. It was here that he built The first cabin in Calhoun County, the Cabin to which many of that county's earliest settlers later fled upon hearing of the Spirit Lake Massacre. On March 17. 1856, Comstock bought the northeast quarter and the southwest quarter of section nineteen in Corwin township for $1.25 her acre. His purchase was made at, the Kanesville Land Office less than three months before rumors began circulating that all of Iowa's land offices would close in order for the land grant railroads to select the parcels of land donated by the U S Government As It turned out, Comstock's purchase was well-timed in that the Kanesville office did close in May of that year and remained so for eighteen months. After selling the Lake City claim the Comstock's headed their ox-drawn wagon west in search of their half section of bottomland fronted by the Maple River For about a week they detoured prairie slough, forded swollen streams and rode though pounding rain After passing the grove, they continued their westerly route for another three or four miles until coming upon the surveyors' stakes marked Section 19 Township 87. Range 40. Ida County' s first permanent settlers had at last reached the site of there new home. Armed with the Knowledge and experience of frontier life in Calhoun County, Comstoek determined the boundaries of his property, then set about providing food and shelter. Food was no problem Both on the prairie and along the Maple River wild game could be found with the help of his sons, age seventeen, thirteen, ten and eight, Comstock quickly built a simple cabin Although It cannot he- established whether their frist home was of sod or log construction the presence of timber along the nearby Maple would seem to suggest the latter While his wife Jane was busy setting. up house, Comstock and his sons were on the open prairie selecting a suitable site for planting corn. Choosing a fifteen-acre plot, they put the oxen and breaking plow to the task of turning the tough fibrous prairie sod. Each kernel of corn was laboriously planted in gashes made by an axe in the newly turned ground, With the planting finished, attention was shifted to construction of a shelter for the livestock. Then, the task of chopping a good supply of firewood building fences and tending the crop consumed much of their time. Except for an occasional visit with the Smith family in the grove and brief conversations with riders on horseback or wagon, life for the Comstocks was quiet 'indeed-at least until the middle (of June. The arrival of John Moorehead and his family on June 16 was without doubt one of the two major events to occur that summer. The other would be the birth of the first white child in Ida County, Ida Smith.