I found the following brief mention of Lucas County in The Tama County Republican of March 16, 1871, while searching for references to Chariton in newspapers published elsewhere during Iowa's early years. It's interesting, but perhaps apocryphal --- I couldn't find any indication that anyone named Joseph Cary had either lived or died in Lucas County. But here it is:
"At the Methodist church at Freedom, Lucas county, a few weeks since, in the absence of the pastor, Mr. Joseph Cary was called upon to lead in prayer. After prayer, he arose and spoke of the Christian's trials and said that some great generals finally suffered defeat, but shouted he, 'the Christian is always triumphant.' The words were scarcely out of his mouth before he fell to the floor, dead."
The paragraph was part of a longer article using news items from across Iowa to make the point that attributing others' misfortune to the will of God was a hazardous pastime.
But there certainly was a Methodist church at Freedom during the early years, located just west of the site of that pioneer (and long-vanished) village.
It eventually was moved down the road to serve the newly developed Freedom Bible Camp and remained in use there until replaced by a newer structure in fairly recent years.
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