As of 4/1/25, the library has run out of zoo passes. We will announce in the future if there is another giveaway. Those who were able to receive a pass have until 5/22/25 to use them!
William Wirt Maynard came to Council Bluffs in 1854 along with Jeremiah Folsom. The two men walked from Michigan and brought a large herd of sheep with them.
Joseph Lyman was born in 1840 in Lyon, Michigan. His family moved to Defiance, Ohio where Joseph grew up. He graduated from high school in 1856 and began teaching school at the age of 16.
Joseph received a scholarship to West Point but turned it down to study law.
John Keller was born in 1815 in France. He came to America in 1836 with his brother. After an apprenticeship in cabinet making he started to make his way west. First to Cincinnati, OH, then St. Louis, MO and by 1850 to Weston, MO.
Thomas Jefferis was born in 1828 in Newcastle County, Delaware. He came to Council Bluffs in 1853. He worked here a few years, then in 1857, he returned to Delaware and married Anna Cook. Anna was born in 1839 in Ireland.
Jeremiah Folsom was born in New Hampshire in 1817. As a young man he moved to Michigan and in 1840 married Marcia A Hopkins. While in Michigan they had two children, Marcia and Edward. Jeremiah was listed as a glass manufacturer in the 1850 federal census.
Horace Everett was born in 1819 to a prominent American family in Windsor, Vermont. He came from a long line of lawyers and educators. Horace attended school in New Hampshire and Vermont and after studying law under the guidance of his father, he passed the bar.
