16th June 2025

Katy Kidd

   Katy Kidd returns to tell us about her ancestor’s involvement in

‘Settling the Prairies’

Frank Campbell, who formed the first farmers

co-operative society in the USA in Rockwell, Iowa.

“My late father came to the UK as a US serviceman in WW2, having been born and brought up in rural Iowa. Of Irish descent, both sides of his family were genuine Pioneers, i.e. they settled and farmed the prairie from its wild state. Life was very different from that experienced by those of us brought up in urban or suburban Britain!

My father was an amateur historian and keenly recorded and kept details of his family history, including their early days on the prairies. In addition, one of his early relatives became the editor of the local newspaper, and published some excellent obituaries, which paint a fascinating portrait of life there.

One of the family farms is still being run as such, by a family member, some 5 generations on.”