As a young, 23-year-old South Carolina man who was the son of an American Revolutionary War patriot, young Lewis Underwood probably felt duty-bound when it again became necessary for our young country to defend its liberty against England during the War of 1812.
Serving as a light horse Cavalry private, young Lewis Underwood would be wounded several times. Just days before his discharge, he was injured for life after being thrown from his horse, breaking his ankle. which deprived him of the free use of it the rest of his days.
It is not hard to imagine that, at times, he, like many soldiers serving, thought of a future place of peace and beauty.
While 1812 was too early to place the name of Casey, Iowa, on his thoughts, it was surely close to the picture in his mind of a landscape of lush green and plentiful woods he may have dreamed of.
Forty years after the war, Private Underwood would find his way to Adair County Iowa and, according to the History of Adair County, he was said to have built the first log cabin there.
In those early settler days, he probably never imagined that Americans who had twice defeated England for their freedom and liberty would fight against themselves in a Civil War. However, he would live long enough to see the start and end of that as well.
In July of 2026, the unmarked grave of Lewis Underwood was carefully researched, documented and marked by members of the General Society of the War of 1812 in the State of Iowa. He rests in Stanfield Cemetery just steps away from Civil War veteran John Stanfield on a hill near Casey, Iowa. The now-marked grave is a testament to the early settlers who chose Iowa as their final home. – Mike Rowley