Miss Josephine B. Logsdon

Miss Josephine B. “Josie” Logsdon was Colfax’s first permanent city librarian. She served from November 14, 1905 until her death in 1933.[1] Josephine Bell Logsdon was born July 6, 1879, in Sherman Township, Jasper County, Iowa, the daughter of Burtsel Lee “Burt” and Amanda A. (Hurst) Logsdon.[2] They moved from a farm to Colfax on March 18, 1883.[3] At the age of nine years, young Josie was converted and united with the Methodist Church. She graduated from Colfax High School in 1899.[4] In the summer of 1913, Josie attended the six-week Iowa Summer Library School in Iowa City.[5] She died at her home in Colfax October 6, 1933, following an illness of a few months, with cancer.[6] She is buried in the Colfax Cemetery.[7]

-Larry Ray Hurto

[1] Colfax Centennial History: Our 100th Anniversary, July 21-24, 1966 (1966), pp. 33-34; Jill Miller, “Colfax Public Library,” in Colfax, Iowa, Sesquicentennial, 1866-2016, p. 15; Larry Hurto, “A Walk through Colfax in the early 1900s,” address given upon the occasion of the 100th birthday of the Colfax Carnegie Library, May 25, 2013.
[2] The Colfax Tribune, October 12, 1933.
[3] Ibid., December 22, 1932.
[4] Ibid., October 12, 1933.
[5] Iowa Library Commission, 7th Report of the Iowa Library Commission (Des Moines: State Printer, 1914), pp. 17-18.
[6] The Colfax Tribune, October 12, 1933.
[7] Jasper County Genealogical Society, comp., Jasper County, Iowa, Cemeteries: Washington Township, Colfax Cemetery (Des Moines: Iowa Genealogical Society, 1996), p. 828.