John D. Beardsley was born in Sioux City, Iowa, in 1904. He received an LL.B. (1928) from the University of Iowa. He practiced law (1928-1942) in Sioux City. In 1942, he moved his legal practice to Onawa, Iowa. Beardsley died in 1978.

The problems of flooding and drainage in the Little Sioux River Valley go back many years. The Monona-Harrison Drainage Ditch was built 1906-1909. In the 1910s, the Monona-Harrison Drainage District was formed. Some time afterwards (the date is unknown) an "equalizer" (a connecting ditch) was built between the Drainage Ditch and the Little Sioux River. This "equalizer" was blamed for shifting the water at the time of heavy rains from the Little Sioux to the Drainage Ditch.

The Gaynor Plan (1953) was proposed to correct the problem of periodic flooding. In the same year the Monona-Harrison Flood Control Association, organized by R.W. Fischer, was formed to oppose this plan and to support Plan "O" of the Army Corps of Engineers for flood control. Gaynor Plan (1955) was defeated and the Corps completed Plan "O" in 1958.

As a means of helping the Corps with Plan "O", the Little Sioux Intercounty Drainage District was formed in 1955. John Beardsley, Sewell Allen, and Michael Murray were retained as attorneys for the Little Sioux Intercounty Drainage District.

The collection (1941-1969) contains minutes, legal documents, maps, photographs, and correspondence. Much of the material deals with legal questions that arose from drainage problems in Monona, Harrison, and Woodbury Counties; Beardsley represented the Little Sioux Intercounty Drainage District.