Encyclopedia Dubuque
"Encyclopedia Dubuque is the online authority for all things Dubuque, written by the people who know the city best.”
Marshall Cohen—researcher and producer, CNN
Affiliated with the Local History Network of the State Historical Society of Iowa, and the Iowa Museum Association.
MASSEY, Louisa
MASSEY, Louisa. (Unknown). Daughter of Woodbury Massey. During an 1835 dispute over a MINING claim, Woodbury Massey was shot and killed. The sheriff who accompanied him to the claim arrested a man named Bill Smith and his son and took them to Mineral Point, Wisconsin, for trial. The judge dismissed the charges claiming no jurisdiction west of the MISSISSIPPI RIVER.
In anger, the brother of Woodbury Massey shot and killed Bill Smith in Galena, Illinois. Everyone, except the younger Smith, believed the matter was settled. Vowing revenge, another Smith rode to Dubuque and announced he would kill the first Massey he met. This turned out to be Louisa who unexpectedly pulled a pistol from beneath her cloak and fired. Smith, saved from death by a wad of papers in his shirt pocket, was too shaken to ever again attempt vengeance. The people of Iowa later immortalized Louisa by naming a county (Louisa) in her honor.
