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TVO 

?    Co 


HISTORY 


OF 


LOUISA    COUNTY 

IOWA 

From  Its   Earliest   Settlement  to    1912 


By  ARTHUR  SPRINGER 


ILLUSTRATED 


VOLUME  I 


CHICAGO 

THE  S.  J.   CLARKE  PUBLISHING  COMPANY 
1912 


THE  KEff  YOIIK 
PUBLIC  ID 

99262K 

ASTOK.   I 
OLDEN   | 
B 


THE  PIONEERS 

The  sturdy  stuff  of  all  their  sires 

Was  molded  in  the  race  of  them 
Who  builded  first  their  wayside   fires 

Along  the   primal    forests'   hem. 
Who  dared  the  wilderness  and   fought 

With  wild  men  single-handed  there; 
Who  cleared  the  underbrush  and  wrought 

Out  destiny  with  patient  care  1 

In  their  small  clearings,  here  and  there, 

By  creek  and  river,  as  they  fared, 
The  settler's  cabin  braved  despair 

And  challenged  death  and  dared 
The  awful   loneliness  that  hushed 

The   hope   that    still    survives — 
The  mad'ning  silences  that  crushed 

The  brightness  out  of  lives ! 

They  were  the  heroes  of  the  race 

Who  conquered  by  the  might 
Of  manhood  ;  who  stood  face  to  face 

With   God  and  knew   the   right, 
And  did  it  with  a  fearless  trust 

That  brooked  no  shriv'ling  doubt  ; 
Who  did  the  things  that  ever  must 

Be  done — as  bravely  did  without ! 

It  was  the  sons  of  hardy  sires — 

And  not  one  whit  less  hardy  these — 
Who  kindled  first  their  wayside  fires 

On  the  wide  prairies  without  trees, 
Where  the  dread  desolation  swept 

Across  their  spirits,  day  and  night : 
Strong  men  struggled  and  women  wept 

For  loneliness  beyond  requite  ! 

Such  were  the  men  and  such  their  wives 
Who  laid  the  corner-stones  of  State : 

Who  gave,  in  sacrifice,  their  lives 

That  we  might  here  become  the  great 


THE  I'M  INEERS 

Rich  Commonwealth,  which  now  we  hold 

\~    our    fair    heritage    to-day — 
Far-spread  splendors  of  grain  and  gold. 

With   wealth    which   cannot  pass   away ' 

But  they  have  passed — are  pas.Mng  now — 

The  remnants  of  the  pioneers; 
With  the  deep  furrows  on  their  brow, 

Yet  with  cheeks  unblanched  by   fear-  : 
While  heads  are  bent  and  steps  are  slow. 

Their  spirits  are  unconquered  yet  ' 
They  go  the  way  all  heroes  go — 

But  we  will  not  forget ! 

*    II  \RLES    Bl  We'll  AKI). 

Des  Moines.  Iowa.,  July  i ;.  mil. 


PREFACE 


Louisa,  though  the  smallest  county  in  the  state,  and  containing  one  hundred 
and  fifteen  thousand  acres  less  than  the  average,  has  a  history,  which,  in  some 
respects,  is  fully  as  important,  and.  in  most  respects,  is  as  well  worth  preserving 
as  that  of  any  of  Iowa's  ninety-nine  counties.  It  is  a  matter  of  keen  regret  .that 
the  importance  of  preserving  our  local  history,  has  not  only  never  been  properly 
recognized,  but  has  often  been  entirely  lost  sight  of.  For  many  years  after  the 
settlement,  and  even  long  after  the  organization  of  the  county,  we  had  no  news- 
paper here,  and  because  of  neglect  on  the  one  hand,  and  destructive  fires  on  the 
other,  we  now  have  only  fragmentary  files  of  such  newspapers  as  were  published. 
The  early  settlers  were  too  busy  making  history  to  give  much  time,  or  take  much 
thought,  toward  recording  or  preserving  it,  and  so  it  happens  that,  while  the 
affairs  of  the  county  from  the  very  beginning  were  transacted  in  a  fairly  busi- 
nesslike manner,  and  while  we  have  much  important  and  interesting  matter  con- 
cerning the  official  doings  of  those  early  days,  it  is  still  a  lamentable  fact  that 
many  papers  and  documents  which  must  have  at  one  time  been  among  the  county 
archives  are  missing,  nor  are  they  to  be  found  in  print.  Beginning  with  the 
entry  of  the  late  John  Hale,  and  soon  after  of  W.  S.  Kremer.  into  the  service 
of  the  county,  much  greater  care  was  taken  toward  recording  official  transac- 
tions, and  preserving  official  papers.  The  writer  has  heard  Mr.  Hale  describe 
the  almost  indescribable  confusion  in  which  he  found  the  papers  in  the  clerk's 
office  when  he  entered  it — all  kinds  of  documents  in  the  same  pigeon  hole  without 
any  order  or  system,  papers  of  all  kinds  and  dates  piled  upon  the  tables  and  scat- 
tered upon  chairs  or  on  the  floor,  or  thrown  in  the  corners  of  the  room — and 
most  of  the  old  files  which  we  still  have  show  us,  by  the  labels  in  his  own  hand- 
writing, that  it  was  John  Hale  who  sorted  and  saved  them,  and  they  still  remind 
us  how  greatly  we  are  indebted  to  his  thoughtfulness  and  care.  It  is  hoped  that 
those  who  peruse  this  history  will,  if  they  should  find  it  "full  of  omissions." 
charge  at  least  a  part  of  them  to  circumstances  which  cannot  now  be  remedied. 

Other  omissions  there  will  be.  due  to. various  causes.  Some  of  these  omis- 
sions will  be  due  to  the  failure  of  those  who  have  important  documents  in  their 
possession  to  make  the  fact  known,  and  other  omissions  may  be  charged  to  the 
fact  that  this  work  is  done  amid  the  interruptions  of  business,  and  because  of  the 
anxietv  of  the  publishers  to  complete,  and  of  many  of  the  subscribers  to  receive 
the  promised  history.  One  could  easily  spend  years  in  making  a  detailed  investi- 
gation of  any  one  of  the  several  subjects  presented  by  the  history  of  a  county 
created  three  quarters  of  a  century  ago,  and  within  whose  borders  is  the  historic 
spot  where,  more  than  a  century  and  a  half  before  the  county  existed  was  held 
the  first  council  between  the  white  man  and  the  red  man  in  the  valley  of  the 


Vlll 


PREFACE 


mighty  Mississippi.  Nevertheless,  it  is  hoped  that  this  work  will  pass  for  an 
attempt  at  a  County  History,  and  even  this  could  not  be  claimed  for  any  previous 
publication  concerning  Louisa  county.  The  work  done  by  O.  I.  Jamison,  pub- 
lished in  the  Columbus  Junction  Gazette  in  1906  and  1907  is  of  very  great  value, 
and  would  have  been  far  more  so  if  his  health  and  life  had  been  spared  to  complete 
it  as  he  had  planned.  Most  of  the  writings  which  have  heretofore  passed  for 
county  histories  are  so  inaccurate  that  they  often  hinder  more  than  they  help, 
although  considerable  valuable  material  has  been  taken,  after  making  some  cor- 
rections, from  the  County  Album  published  in  1889  by  the  Acme  Publishing 
Company.  A  sample  of  quite  a  number  of  mistakes  in  that  work  is  its  statement 
that  John  Bevins  was  the  first  postmaster  of  Wapell".  when  in  fact  he  was  never 
postmaster  here  at  all. 

As  stated  in  the  prospectus,  the  chief  energies  of  the  writer  of  this  work 
have  been  devoted  -to  a  study  of  the  early  days,  of  the  things  which  happened, 
and  the  men  who  lived,  forty  or  fifty  years  ago,  or  more.  These  events  and  the 
men  who  were  concerned  in  them  are  not  only  of  much  greater  interest  and 
importance,  historicallv,  than  those  of  a  later  date,  but  their  history  is  much  more 
difficult  to  secure;  besides,  the  later  events,  even  if  important,  can  hardly  be  said 
to  have  passed  into  history,  and  the  accounts  of  them  are  comparatively  accessible. 

This  work  contains  a  number  of  important  tables  or  groups  of  facts,  some  of 
which  will  be  found  in  the  body  of  the  work  and  Mime  in  the  Appendix.  Atten- 
tion is  called  to  the  list  of  Charters.  Caws,  Treaties,  etc..  which  bear  upon  our 
County  history.  If,  as  was  said  In  one  of  Iowa's  noted  constitution  makers 
"Law  is  history,"  then  the  table  of  laws  and  charters  ought  alone  to  justify  this 
publication.  The  material  for  it  has  been  taken  from  official  publications,  and 
from  Dr.  Thorp's  "American  Charters,  Constitutions  and  Organic  Laws"  and 
Dr.  Shambaugh's  "Documentary  Material  Relating  to  Iowa  History."  both  of 
which  are  official  to  students  of  history. 

Another  list  which  will  he  found  in  Chapter  X  contains  the  names  of  the 
county  officials  from  the  organization  of  the  county  to  the  present  time;  also 
senators  and  representatives  and  other  kindred  information.  This  was  a  very 
difficult  list  to  prepare  and  it  is  possible  that  some  errors  may  be  found  in  it. 
although  great  pains  have  been  taken  in  its  preparation. 

In  the  chapter  on  the  Military  history  of  the  county  will  be  found  an  alpha- 
betical list  of  all  the  soldiers  who  enlisted  from  Louisa  county  'luring  the  war  of 
the  Rebellion,  so   far  as  could  lie  learned. 

For  the  most  part,  an  effort  has  been  made  to  merely  state  the  facts  of  our 
county  history  in  a  plain  and  unvarnished  way.  In  the  preparation  of  this  work, 
two  serious  difficulties  have  been  encountered,  one  was  to  know  what  should  be 
included  and  what  should  be  left  out.  Another  was  to  know  how  to  arrange  and 
in  what  chapters  to  put  the  things  that  were  included.  Tt  goes  without  saying, 
that  many  people  would  have  excluded  things  which  have  been  made  use  of,  and, 
would  have  included  many  of  those  that  have  been  left  out.  This  is  a  matter  of 
judgment  upon  which  the  author  is  by  no  means  infallible. 

The  liberality  of  the  publishers  has  been  such  that  nearly  every  known  source 
of  information  concerning  our  early  history  has  been   sought  out. 

The  author  is  under  obligations  to  lion.  L.  R.  Harlan.  Curator  of  the  State 
Historical  Department,  and  to  Hon.  Johnson  Prig-ham,  State  Librarian;  to  John 


PREFACE  ix 

M.  Helmick,  Esq.  of  Davenport;  to  Rev.  T.  O.  Douglas  of  Grinnell ;  and  to 
present  and  former  residents  of  Louisa  county  too  numerous  to  mention,  though 
it  is  proper  to  say  that  special  thanks  are  due  to  Mrs.  J.  L.  Kent,  Mrs.  Martha 
McDill.  J.  R.  Smith.  Ed.  Hicklin.  Col.  J.  W.  Garner.  Oscar  Hale,  W.  S.  Kremer 
and  X.  W.  McKay.  Special  thanks  are  also  due  to  Hon.  C.  A.  Kennedy  for  his 
persistent  and  successful  efforts  in  getting  information  from  the  government 
records  at  Washington.  But,  to  those  who  are  familiar  with  recent  develop- 
ments in  Iowa  Historical  research,  it  will  be  readily  believed  that  the  greatest 
assistance  has  come  from  the  publications  of  the  Iowa  State  Historical  Society 
at  Iowa  City,  and  from  the  writings  of  Dr.  B.  F.  Shambaugh,  facile  princeps 
among  Towa  historians.  The  library  of  the  Iowa  State  Historical  Society  is  a 
wonderful  mine  of  information,  and  Dr.  Shambaugh  and  his  assistants  have 
explored  it  so  thoroughly,  and  are  so  uniformly  accommodating,  that  he  who 
seeks  information  there  needs  but  "ask  and  he  shall  receive." 

Because  of  relationship  to  some,  and  an  intimate  acquaintance  with  many  of 
those  who  reared  our  county  structure,  this  work  has  been  largely  a  labor  of 
love,  my  chief  regret  being  that  I  have  not  had  more  time  and  leisure  to  devote 
to  it.  Arthur  Springer. 

Wapello,  Iowa,  January  — ,  1912. 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  I. 
THE  GEOLOGICAL  STORY. 

IOWA   ONCE    A   TROPICAL    COUNTRY GLACIAL    PERIOD PHYSICAL    FEATURES — ROCKS 

COAL NATURAL  GAS,  ETC I 

CHAPTER  II. 

THE    MOUND   BUILDERS    9 

CHAPTER  III. 
VOYAGE  OF  MARQUETTE  AND  JOLIET  DOWN  THE  MISSISSIPPI. 

THEY   LAND   IN    LOUISA    COUNTY HISTORY    OF    MISSISSIPPI   VALLEY   BEGINS    HERE 

FIRST  BANQUET  ON  IOWA  SOIL 14 

CHAPTER  IV. 
SOME  INDIAN  HISTORY. 

THE    ILLINOIS THE    IOWAS THE    SACS    AND    FOXES — THE    BLACK    HAWK     WAR — 

TREATY  FOR  BLACK  HAWK  PURCHASE BLACK  HAWK KEOKUK WAPELLA  .  .21 

CHAPTER  V. 
THE  IOWA  DISTRICT. 

OUR   VARIOUS   RULERS DIFFERENT   TERRITORIES ZEBULON    M.    PIKE REV.    CUTTING 

MARSH ALBERT    M.    LEA REV.    JAMES    L.    SCOTT REV.    ASA   TURNER — COLONEL 

CROGAN ESTABLISHMENT    OF  DEMOINE    COUNTY 35 

CHAPTER  VI. 

EARLY  SETTLEMENTS   IN  THE  COUNTY THE  CENSUS  OF  DES    MOINES   COUNTY,    WIS- 
CONSIN   IN    1836 ESTABLISHMENT    OF    WISCONSIN    TERRITORY CLAIM    LAWS 

ESTABLISHMENT  OF  IOWA  TERRITORY 45 

CHAPTER  VII. 

THE    KEOKUK    RESERVE — TREATY    CEDING    IT   TO    THE   UNITED    STATES DES    MOINES 

COUNTY  DIVIDED LOUISA  COUNTY  ESTABLISHED ORIGIN  OF  NAME FIRST  TERM 

OF  COURT — FIRST  SHERIFF — FIRST   BOARD  OF  SUPERVISORS— CHANGE   IN   COUNTY 
BOUNDARIES     65 

xi 


xii  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  VIII. 
EARLY  DISTRICTS.  PRECINCTS  AND  TOWNSHIPS. 

CHANGES      IX      TOWNSHIP     BOUNDARIES — ESTABLISHMENT     OF     NEW     TOWNSHIPS 

EARLY  SETTLERS  IN  THE  SEVERAL  TOWNSHIPS — EARLY   LAND  ENTRIES 83 

CHAPTER  IN. 
POLITICS   AND   ELECTIONS. 

EARLY  ELECTIONS — VOTE  ON   NEW   CONSTITUTION — THE  SOLDIERS'  TICKET — PRIMARY 

ELECTION    ADOPTED FIRST     Willi;     CONVENTION     IX     IOWA — REPUBLICAN    PARTY 

ORGANIZED      108 

CHAPTER  N. 
LIST  OF  OFFICERS. 

COUNTY  OFFICERS — TERRITORIAL  LEGISLATORS — STATE  LEGISLATORS — MEMBERS  OF 
CONSTITUTIONAL  CONVENTIONS — OTHER  OFFICERS GUBERNATORIAL  APPOINT- 
MENTS  CONGRESSIONAL    DISTRICTS    AND    CONGRESSMEN 1 23 

CHAPTER  XL 

COUNTY  FINANCES  AND  TAXES. 

I\i  REASE  IN  TAXES — LOCAL  GOVERNMENT — STATISTICS  FROM  TREASURER'S  REPORTS 
AND  TAX    LISTS — SWAMP    I.  \X1>S    AND   DRAINAGE I40 

CHAPTER  NIL 
LOUISA   COUNTY    SOLDIERS. 

TERRITORIAL  MILITIA — ALPHABETICAL  LIST  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  SOLDIERS  IN  THE 
WAR  OF  THE   REBELLION SOLDIERS    IN    THE   SPANISH-AMERICAN    WAR \"]2 

CHAPTER  XIII. 
TRANSPORTATION  FACILITIES. 

THE     RIVERS THE     RAILROADS THE    AIR    LINE     RAILROAD THE     IOWA     AND     CEDAR 

RIVERS       209 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

OUR  COURTS  AND  LAWYERS. 

FIRST  COURT — JUDICIAL  DISTRICTS — JUDGES — SoMI'.  EARLY  LAWSUITS,  ETC. — LOUISA 
COUNTY    LAWYERS 239 

CHAPTER  XV. 

LOUISA  COUNTY  DOCTORS 257 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

PERSONAL     MENTION      267 

CHAPTER  XVII. 

VILLAGES    AND   TOWNS    289 


History  of 

Louisa  County 

CHAPTER  I. 
THE  GEOLOGICAL  STORY. 

IOWA    ONCE    A    TROPICAL    COUNTRY — GLACIAL   PERIOD PHYSICAL    FEATURES — ROCKS 

COAL— NATURAL  GAS,    ETC. 

First  in  order  of  time,  though  perhaps  not  first  in  interest,  are  the  records  to 
be  found  in  the  rocks.  The  geological  history  of  Louisa  county  contains  some 
facts  of  considerable  interest.  The  latest  division  of  geological  time  is  called  the 
Pleistocene  ;  it  includes  the  present  and  "reaches  back  to  that  special  series  of 
events  which  have  brought  about  the  present  relations  of  land  and  sea,  the  con- 
ditions of  climate,  peculiarities  of  soil,"  etc.  Before  the  beginning  of  this  period 
Iowa  had  for  ages  lain  beneath  the  sea  level,  and  we  can  read  in  the  rocks  which 
grew  then  the  record  of  many  of  the  living  forms  which  once  inhabited  these 
waters.  The  rocks  in  the  southern  part  of  the  county  and  in  Des  Moines  county 
abound  in  fossil  remains  of  crinoids,  sometimes  called  "feather  stars,"  and  other 
related  forms  of  sea  life ;  while  Buffington  creek,  in  Elm  Grove  township,  is  noted 
as  the  locality  from  which  came  a  remarkable  collection  of  fish  fossils,  many  of 
which  are  described  in  Vols.  6  and  7,  of  the  Illinois  Geological  Survey.  These 
fossil  remains  show  that  huge  fish  once  inhabited  this  region.  Eventually  the 
land  uprose  from  the  sea  and  became  a  part  of  the  dry  land.  This  period  is 
called  by  some  the  Ozarkian  stage.  Afterward,  for  a  time.  Iowa  became,  in  the 
language  of  the  late  Professor  Calvin,  "a  fair  and  sunny  land,  clad  in  forests 
of  tropical  species  and  revelling  in  all  tropical  luxuriance.  Birds  of  gay  plumage 
flitted  back  and  forth  in  the  open  glades ;  savage  beasts  related  to  the  lion  and 
the  tiger  sought  the  shady  recesses  ;  herbivorous  animals  not  very  different  from  the 
elk,  the  camel,  the  rhinocerous  and  the  horse  found  pasture  in  the  grassy  savan- 
nas, while  troups  of  monkeys  swung  from  branch  to  branch,  and  from  treetop 
to  treetop,  and  stirred  the  woodland  with  noisy  exclamations." 

Then  came  the  great  change  which,  with  its  centuries  of  unparalleled  precipi- 
tation of  snow,  brought  on  the  age  of  the  glaciers,  during  which  there  descended 
from  the  north  and  northwest  great  ice  fields,  covering  nearly  the  entire  state 

1 


2  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

with  an  ice  sheet,  hundreds  and  perhaps  thousands  of  feet  in  thickness.  Prior 
to  the  coming  of  the  glaciers  and  after  the  land  had  become  elevated,  the  surface 
seems  to  have  been  carved  into  river  valleys  and  streams,  while  channels  were 
cut  through  rocks  and  shales  to  the  depth  of  200  to  600  feet. 

In  boring  a  deep  well  near  Lone  Tree  there  was  discovered  an  old  valley,  or 
channel,  doubtless  of  the  Iowa  river,  some  200  feet  below  the  level  of  the  present 
river.  In  the  same  way  it  has  been  found  at  Fort  Madison  that  there  is  a  channel 
of  the  Mississippi  deeper  than  the  present  stream  and  walled  in  by  rocks  250  feet 
high.  This  old  channel  was  west  of  the  present  one,  and  future  borings  may 
show  that  it  found  its  way  through  the  central  or  western  part  of  this  county. 
Indeed,  an  observer  of  the  United  States  geological  survey  claims  to  have  located 
a  river  bed  beginning  just  north  of  Columbus  Junction  and  extending  south  and 
southeast  through  this  county  into  Henry  county:  he  traces  it  in  part  by  a  depres- 
sion in  Elm  Grove  township  which  is  some  two  miles  wide,  while  in  places  it  is 
forty  feet  below  the  elevation  of  the  adjacent  land.  How  long  in  the  past  it  has 
been  since  the  beginning  of  man's  occupation  no  one  can  tell,  much  less  the  ages 
of  preparation  for  man's  existence.  Hills  and  valleys,  woods  and  prairies,  are 
recent  additions  to  the  surface  of  the  earth  in  comparison  to  the  previous  periods 
in  geologic  time.  Where  prairies  now  are  found  forests  may  have  flourished 
once  upon  a  time,  and  the  leveling  process  of  years  may  have  worn  the  hills 
into  plains. 

That  the  people  sought  the  favored  spots  as  they  had  been  taught  to  regard 
them,  one  needs  only  to  suggest  a  search  for  the  oldest  homes  and  settlements 
in  any  county  in  this  part  of  Iowa.  Moving  along  the  valleys  the  first  settler 
selected  his  home  site  on  account  of  two  things,  namely,  wood  and  water,  which 
for  him  would  be  available  at  all  times.  Therefore  the  oldest  portions  are  not 
necessarily  the  most  prosperous  since  they  may  have  been  planted  upon  the  poorer 
sections  of  land,  the  settler  not  appreciating,  until  in  after  years,  the  waiting 
wealth  in  the  prairie  soil. 

No  one  stops  now,  in  his  observation  of  the  distribution  of  population,  to 
inquire  whether  the  first  comers  looked  with  wonder  upon  the  scene  and  waited 
for  men  of  science  to  determine  the  soil  structure,  or  to  set  at  ease  the  minds  of 
the  curious  when  they  came  upon  peculiar  or  uncommon  formations. 

Could  the  world  lie  seen  in  one's  imagination  before  the  streams,  or  trees, 
the  hills  or  valleys  were  formed,  when  the  rocks  deep  down  in  the  earth  began 
in  take  shape,  and  then  believe  that  ages  upon  ages  of  time  have  passed  while 
other  layers  of  rock  have  been  deposited,  it  might  assist  him  in  studying  some 
common  things  found  along  the  rocky  ledges  in  many  parts  of  the  county. 

The  fossils  found  in  our  rock  tell  of  a  period  long  past  when  the  living  ani- 
mals were  so  numerous  that  their  bony  skeletons  have  formed  whole  systems  of 
rocks.  Then  it  must  be  remembered  also,  that  the  geologist  does  not  count  time 
by  years,  but  by  ages.  He.  like  the  astronomer,  must  deal  with  longer  units  of 
time  in  his  measurements. 

Therefore  we  need  only  think  of  the  world  as  very,  very  old  and  to  remem- 
ber that,  with  the  scientist,  as  with  the  Psalmist,  a  thousand  years  are  but  as 
yesterday.  Geologists  tell  us  that  twice  this  vicinity  was  covered  with  great  sheets 
of  ice  and  that  marks  were  left  upon  the  surface  then  exposed  that  are  found 
and  recognized  today.     These  glaciers  helped  to  produce  very  peculiar  changes 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  8 

upon  the  surface  of  the  earth  but  a  detailed  discussion  of  them  would  be  foreign 
to  the  purpose  of  this  work. 

Each  county  has  its  own  peculiar  form  and  features  and  Louisa  is  no  excep- 
tion. Indeed  it  may  be  said  to  possess  more  than  ordinary  interest  since  it  borders 
upon  the  great  Mississippi  River,  and  the  confluence  of  two  of  Iowa's  most 
important  rivers  lies  within  its  borders. 

Probably  the  first  scientist  to  cross  any  part  of  this  county  for  the  purpose 
of  learning  and  describing  something  of  its  structure  was  a  member  of  the  party 
of  which  D.  D.  Owen  was  the  head.  In  his  report  for  1852  on  the  Geology  of 
Wisconsin,  Iowa,  and  Minnesota,. Mr.  Owen  says  that  one  B.  C.  Macy,  follow- 
ing up  the  Iowa  and  Cedar  Rivers,  found  himself  in  a  land  of  swamps,  through 
which  he  traveled  for  some  distance,  incidentally  contracting  a  dangerous  inter- 
mittent fever.  But  conditions  in  this  respect  have  improved  greatly  since  that 
time ;  they  began  improving  before  the  war,  and  most  of  the  swamps  and  marshes 
had  disappeared  before  the  advent  of  the  present  "era  of  drainage,"  to  which 
we  will  refer  hereafter. 

In  general  it  may  be  said  that  Louisa  County  is  geologicallv  in  four  sections, 
rather  distinctly  marked  having  two  uplands  and  two  lower  areas.  The  latter 
lie  along  the  Mississippi  and  Iowa  chiefly,  while  the  former  are  found  between 
the  two  low  areas  and  in  the  west  and  south.  The  townships  of  Eliot,  Wapello. 
Oakland,  and  Port  Louisa  contain  the  great  portions  of  the  lowlands.  Scien- 
tists would  divide  the  lowlands  into  two  parts,  one  called  "Alluvium,"  which 
lies  near  the  streams  and  is  formed  by  the  deposit  of  material  from  flowing 
water,  and  the  other  "terrace  or  low  plain"  which  is  slight!}'  higher  and  further 
from  the  streams  than  the  first  named. 

The  Mississippi  bottoms  are  fully  five  miles  wide  on  both  the  northern  and 
the  southern  boundaries  of  the  county  and  probably  are  over  two  miles  else- 
where. Two  prominent  features  of  this  portion  of  the  land  are  known  as  the 
Muscatine  slough,  extending  along  the  western  edge  of  the  bottoms  almost 
to  the  Iowa  River,  and  the  Great  Sand  mound  in  the  northern  corner  of  Port 
Louisa  township,  extending  over  the  county  line.  Perhaps  Lake  Klum  is  also 
of  importance  enough  to  be  included  with  these  two  mentioned,  since  it  is 
approximately  a  mile  and  one  half  in  length  connecting  with  the  Muscatine 
slough  in  section  twenty-five,  township  seventy-four  north  of  range  three  west. 

Along  the  Iowa  and  Cedar  Rivers  the  lowlands  are  from  two  to  six  miles 
in  width  and  they  extend  diagonally  through  the  county  from  northwest  to 
southeast,  the  widest  portion  being  in  Oakland  and  Wapello  townships,  the  lat- 
ter having  long  been  known  as  Wapello  prairie.  Near  the  junction  of  the  Cedar 
and  the  Iowa  Rivers  the  bluffs  of  the  uplands  on  either  side  approach  each  other, 
the  western  side  being  much  nearer  the  river  and  for  six  miles  they  run  nearly 
parallel,  three  miles  apart  until  near  Bard  station.  Where  Long  Creek  enters 
the  Iowa  River  they  separate.  The  narrowest  portion  of  this  lowland  is  less  than 
two  miles  in  Jefferson  and  Eliot  townships.  In  the  former  a  low  area  includes 
a  number  of  lagoons  or  sloughs  indicating  a  former  river  channel.  Here  one 
finds  Stone  Lake,  Myerholz  Lake,  Keever  Slough,  Spitznogle  and  Parson's 
Lakes,  with  minor  bayous,  not  possessing  recognized  names. 

The  higher  land  previously  mentioned  between  the  two  rivers  is  estimated 
to  be  not  less  than  one  hundred  feet  above  the  surrounding  territorv  and  about 


1  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

nine  miles  in  width  on  the  Muscatine  County  line.  From  here  it  tapers  to  a 
width  of  two  miles  easl  of  Wapello,  and  then  continues  for  perhaps  eight  miles 
farther  south  stopping  abruptly  at  the  Iowa  River.  It  is  noticeable  that  this 
highland  is  marked  off  by  a  steep  bluff  line  on  the  eastern  side  which  causes 
the  streams  in  this  area  to  flow  westward  toward  the  Iowa  River,  although 
these  sources  are  much  nearer  the  Mississippi. 

It  is  said  that  the  highest  point  in  the  county,  nearly  nine  hundred  feet,  is 
in  the  southeastern  part  of  Morning  Sun  township.  From  this  western  eleva- 
tion there  is  a  moderate  slope  toward  the  northeast  the  streams  flowing  in  that 
direction  until  they  reach  the  lowlands. 

A  feature  which  suggests  the  condition  of  the  underlying  strata  is  found 
in  section  eighteen  of  township  seventy-three  north,  range  three  west,  this  being 
near  the  Concord  schoolhouse  and  in  the  civil  township  of  Morning  Sun.  Here 
a  sink  hole,  as  it  is  called,  which  is  common  in  some  sections  of  the  state,  is 
found,  in  dimensions  five  to  eight  rods  across  and  twenty  feet  deep,  indicating 
a  subterranean  cavern  in  the  lower  limestone. 

\s  mentioned  in  the  beginning,  characteristic  geologic  changes  are  found 
in  all  sections  of  this  county  bv  means  of  which  scientists  determine  what  names 
to  apply  to  the  exposed  strata.  These  names  are  not  familiar  to  those  un- 
acquainted with  such  terms,  but  in  the  observation  of  common  bluffs  or  of  the 
material  drawn  from  deep  wells  any  one  may  readily  understand  the  great 
differences  that  are  found  in  even  nearby  areas  of  land. 

It  is  said  that  artesian  wells  might  be  obtained  very  readily  in  this  county 
should  they  be  desirable,  and  the  lowlands  are  adapted  to  such  undertakings 
where  it  is  supposed  a  "copious  flow  may  be  found  anywhere"  at  a  depth  of 
from  twelve  to  fourteen  hundred  feet.  On  the  uplands  water  is  secured  in 
ordinary  wells  at  various  depths  ranging  from  thirty  to  three  hundred  feet.  Shal- 
low wells  are  subject  to  a  loss  of  the  supply  since  they  do  not  penetrate  the  per- 
manent source  called  "drift  gravel"  which  the  deeper  wells  reach.  It  appears 
further,  that  there  are  many  sources  of  water  in  the  form  of  springs  along  the 
ravines  west  of  the  Iowa  River,  which  issue  from  between  beds  of  shale  known 
as  the  "Upper  Burlington  and   Kinderhook  shales." 

Among  the  lowlands,  especially  where  the  soil  is  sandy,  the  driven  well  is 
verv  common,  and  abundant  quantities  of  the  best  water  are  found  at  a  depth 
of  about  twenty  feet.  The  water  supply  about  Wapello  and  in  Oakland  and 
Concord  townships  is  obtained  bv  driven  wells  and  is  practically  inexhaustible. 
At  the  time  the  Baxter  Brothers  Company  located  their  large  canning  factory 
at  Wapello,  they  had  some  doubts  as  to  whether  the  water  supply  obtained  by 
driven  wells  would  be  sufficient  for  their  purposes,  but  after  testing  the  matter 
thoroughly  with  a  steam  pumping  outfit,  they  became  thoroughly  convinced  that 
it  would. 

Other  economic  products  include  the  common  building  materials  of  stone 
and  sand,  as  well  as  clay  products,  with  traces  of  coal  and  natural  gas.  Build- 
ing stone  is  abundant  in  certain  sections,  exposures  of  this  nature  being  found 
in  the  south  and  southwestern  parts  of  the  county.  The  kind  of  strata  to  which 
building  stone  belongs  are  found  along  the  bluffs  west  of  the  Mississippi  River 
and  south  of  the  Iowa  in  Eliot,  Wapello,  and  Morning  Sun  townships.  There 
are.   however,   other   "outcroppings"   along   the   streams   in   Columbus   City   and 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  5 

Elm  Grove  townships.  The  best  stone  is  taken  from  what  is  called  the  Upper 
Burlington  bed  and  all  of  the  present  working  quarries  use  this  stratum.  For- 
merly the  lower  beds  were  worked  on  the  farm  of  J.  D.  Anderson  south  of 
Elrick  Junction,  but  it  appears  that  the  weathering  of  this  rock  has  lessened 
materially  its  value  for  building  purposes.  The  principal  quarries  of  the  pres- 
ent are  located  near  Morning  Sun  on  Honey  Creek,  and  on  Long  Creek  and  it- 
tributaries  in   Columbus  City  and   Elm   Grove  townships. 

The  quarry  of  Charles  B.  Wilson  in  section  twenty-eight,  a  mile  and  a  half 
east  of  Morning  Sun,  furnishes  rock  from  the  Burlington  bed  as  named  above. 
This  quarry  extends  for  approximately  a  quarter  of  a  mile  on  either  side  of 
Honey  Creek,  and  from  the  excavations  now  made,  one  may  judge  that  a  large 
amount  of  stone  has  been  removed.  There  is  a  small  amount  of  waste  material 
in  comparison  to  the  amount  removed  and  many  acres  of  land  are  yet  available 
for  working ;  while  the  labor  of  opening  the  quarry  is  not  heavy.  Just  across 
the  railway  tracks  in  section  twenty-nine  is  the  quarry  of  W.  C.  Bryant,  where 
more  than  seven  feet  of  pure  limestone  is  available  "for  heavy  foundations, 
bridge  piers  and  other  masonry  work,  besides  walls  and  finishings."  The  analy- 
sis of  rock  found  in  these  quarries  commends  it  for  the  manufacture  of  Port- 
land cement,  and  also  for  an  excellent  quality  of  white  lime.  These  two  quar- 
ries appear  to  be  limitless  in  the  material  available,  and  are  moreover  conveniently 
situated   for  shipping. 

In  section  twenty-seven  of  Morning  Sun  township  the  "Ackenbaum"  quarry 
is  located.  This  lies  on  Gospel  Run  and  when  the  face  of  the  rock  is  exposed 
there  is  a  light  covering  of  soil  similar  to  what  is  called  "loess."  Quarries  of 
less  importance  are  found  in  other  parts  of  Louisa  County,  especially  along 
Buffington  and  Long  Creeks.  There  is  the  old  Wasson  quarry,  later  controlled 
by  C.  J.  Gipple,  located  in  a  low  terrace  along  the  south  branch  of  Long  Creek 
in  section  twenty-three.  The  same  rock  is  found  in  other  parts  of  the  same 
vicinity  on  Long  creek  and  in  section  fourteen  of  Elm  Grove  on  Buffington 
Creek.  In  section  three  of  Columbus  City  township  J.  E.  Gray  and  J.  M. 
Marshall  have  opened  the  white  rock  found  there.  As  one  moves  farther  west- 
ward in  the  county  the  rock  are  less  frequently  exposed,  because  of  the  heavy 
"drift"  in  that  portion. 

The  names  of  those  conducting  commercial  quarries  with  the  kind  of  stone 
and  means  of  handling  it  as  it  has  been  reported  are  mentioned  here ;  all  the 
work  is  described  as  "hand  work."  The  product  is  building,  macadam,  rip  rap, 
and  rubble  stone,  of  a  gray  subcrystalline  limestone  nature.  The  owners  are,  as 
found  in  reports.  Mrs.  Churchman  at  Cairo ;  J.  M.  Marshall,  J.  E.  Gray  and 
J.  H.  Jones,  Columbus  Junction  ;  W.  C.  Bryant.  W.  A.  Steele,  and  Chas.  B.  Wil- 
son of  Morning  Sun  ;  and  John  Ackenbaum  at  Newport.  Stone  from  the  Wilson 
quarry  has  undergone  engineering  tests  in  the  department  at  Ames.  The 
Churchman  land  now  belongs  to  Frank  P.  Brown  and  the  Ackenbaum  property 
is  owned  by  D.  L.  Morris. 

The  Clay  products  from  Louisa  County  for  the  year  1908  amounted  to  about 
eight  thousand  dollars.  Institutions  for  such  manufacture  have  been  in  operation 
at  Columbus  Junction,  Morning  Sun,  and  across  the  river  east  of  Wapello. 

Brick  and  tile  in  sufficient  quantity  to  supply  local  demand  have  been  made  at 
these  three  points,  but  there  is  no  work  being  done  at  the  Wapello  institution 


6  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

just  now.  Some  brick  products  have  been  used  in  sidewalks,  notably  that  of 
the  Morning  Sun  factory.  The  clay  used  in  the  plant  at  Columbus  Junction  is 
taken  from  a  low  terrace-like  extension  of  the  upland  lying  between  the  Iowa 
River  and  Short  Creek,  the  loess  formation  here  consisting  in  part  of  a  calcareous 
element.  Brick  made  from  this  formation  have  an  especially  fine  texture 
according  to  the  judgment  of  men  versed  in  such  matters. 

Coal  measures,  according  to  signs  remaining,  were  once  deposited  over  a 
large  part  of  the  county,  either  in  independent  sections  or  more  or  less  contin- 
uous sheets.  These,  however,  have  been  almost  entirely  removed  by  the  con- 
tinual and  heavy  denudation  through  the  years  of  erosion  subsequent  to  that 
deposit.  Nearly  all  that  remains  to  indicate  the  former  deposit  is  found  within 
four  hundred  acres.  The  region  so  described  is  located  chiefly  "in  the  west  bluff 
of  the  Iowa  River  in  the  adjoining  corners  of  sections  sixteen,  seventeen,  and 
twenty-one  in  Union  township."  Here,  it  is  said,  a  few  inches  of  coal  appear 
in  the  rock  formations  of  grayish  white  sandstone,  and  dark  shale.  In  digging 
wells  also  signs  of  coal  have  been  found.  The  only  recorded  output  of  coal  is 
given  as  "forty  bushels  in  1862."  Small  quantities  have  been  found  and  used 
for  fuel,  yet  no  indications  have  suggested  a  profitable  development.  Money 
has  been  spent,  and   wasted  in  prospecting,  where  no  coal  could  lie   found. 

We  find  in  the  Wapello  Republican  of  January  30,  1 866,  the  following  item 
in  regard  to  coal:  "We  are  informed  that  a  vein  of  coal  some  four  feet  in 
thickness  has  been  found  on  the  farm  of  Judge  Springer,  south  of  Columbus 
City,  in  this  county." 

And  in  an  issue  cf  the  same  paper  published  in  September  of  that  year,  it  is 
said  that  J.  F.  Schill  reported  that  he  had  discovered  a  vein  of  cannel  coal, 
twenty  inches  thick,  on  Long  creek,  six  miles  northwest  of  Wapello.  These 
reports  were  not  borne  out  by  the  facts. 

Down  near  Morning  Sun,  in  the  fall  and  winter  of  i8(>8-0,  a  Mr.  Price 
Hughes  did  a  great  deal  of  digging  for  coal.  According  to  the  newspaper  reports 
he  went  down  something  over  220  feet  and  spent  all  of  his  own  spare  change, 
and  some  six  or  seven  hundred  dollars  that  was  contributed  by  people  who  relied 
upon  his  claims  that  he  could  get  coal  at  less  than  200  feet.  When  he  had  gone 
down  about  130  feet,  and  was  confident  that  coal  was  but  a  few  feet  away,  his 
work  was  written  up  in  glowing  fashion  by  a  correspondent  of  the  Wapello 
Republican.  In  response  to  that  communication  we  find  the  following  in  a  sub- 
sequent issue  of  the  same  paper,  dated  at  Iowa  City,  January  6,  1869:  "In  your 
paper  of  last  week  I  observed  that  some  correspondent  gave  you  the  progress 
of  Mr.  Hughes  in  his  search  for  coal  near  Morning  Sun.  This  reminds  me 
that  I  had  promised  some  of  the  Morning  Sun  citizen-  to  call  on  Dr.  White.  State 
Geologist,  and  get  his  opinion  on  coal  matters  in  Louisa  count)-.  I  have  called 
on  the  Doctor,  and  I  assure  you  he  does  not  flatter  coal  mining  in  that  region. 
He  says  that  Louisa,  Johnson  and  Des  Moines  counties  have  no  coal,  for  this 
reason:  that  during  the  Glacial  period  they  were  passed  over  by  an  immense 
glacier  moving  in  an  almost  direct  north  and  south  line,  which  entirely  stripped 
these  counties  of  all  deposits  of  coal.  He  says  that  the  rock  on  the  surface 
in  Louisa  county  is  the  bed  rock  for  all  the  coal  in  the  state,  and  if  any  coal  is 
found  in  your  county,  it  will  be  on  top  of  the  rock,  in  some  basin  or  hollow 
where  it  was  protected   from  the  moving  mountain  of  ice.     T  remarked  to  the 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  7 

Doctor  that  Mr.  Hughes  warranted  coal  at  less  than  two  hundred  feet.  lie 
remarked :  'Tell  your  people  at  Morning  Sun  that  1  will  zvarrant  them  none  at 
any  depth.'     W.  E.   I!." 

These  initials  look  very  much  like  those  of  the  Hon.  W.  E.  Blake,  who  was 
then  going  to  law  school  at  Iowa  City.  Mr.  Hughes  "came  hack"  at  Dr.  White 
and  "W.  E.  B."  in  a  communication  from  Morning  Sun,  dated  February  26, 
i860,  in  which,  among  other  things,  he  said:  "A  few  weeks  ago  I  noticed  a  let- 
ter in  your  paper  from  Iowa  City  giving  the  opinion  of  the  State  Geologist,  and 
so  far  as  I  can  learn  I  believe  I  know  more  about  the  indications  of  coal  than 
Mr.  White  does  about  making  tin  cups.  I  have  found  the  indications  of  coal 
here  the  same  as  I  have  found  elsewhere  where  I  have  found  coal,  and  I  intend 
to  test  the  matter  .  .  .  Let  me  say,  Mr.  Editor,  that  I  believe  there  is  coal 
in  this  county,  and  I  do  not  think  the  ice  of  Tinman  White  swept  it  quite  all 
away." 

The  allusion  to  Dr.  White  as  "Tinman  White"  was  doubtless  due  to  the  fact 
that  the  Doctor,  many  years  before  that,  had  been  a  partner  with  his  brother  in  a 
hardware  store  in  Burlington.  However,  some  weeks  after  the  above  com- 
munication, Mr.  Hughes  had  thoroughly  convinced  himself  that  in  fighting 
against  "mother  nature"  and  "father  science,"  he  was  engaged  in  an  unequal 
combat,  and  he  wrote  an  article  acknowledging  his  mistake,  and  making  some 
amends  for  his  former  flippant  and  sarcastic  reference  to  our  worthy  and  emi- 
nent State  Geologist.  Since  then  there  has  been  very  little  coal  prospecting  in 
Louisa  County. 

There  is  a  tradition  that  at  one  time  the  Indians  secured  lead  from  some- 
where on  Long  creek  and  we  find  in  the  Wapello  Republican  of  June  7.  i860, 
an  item  of  interest  on  this  line  under  the  heading  of  Lead  Ore.  "We  under- 
stand from  Mr.  Jesse  Vanhorn,  of  Marshall  township,  that  a  fine  specimen  of 
this  ore  was  found  near  the  mill  he  formerly  owned  in  the  Long  creek  timber 
a  few  days  ago.  It  is  known  that  the  Indians  used  to  get  plenty  of  lead  in  this 
neighborhood  years  ago  but  we  believe  the  exact  locality  was  not  known  to  the 
white  men."     It  is  not  known,  yet. 

More  than  twenty  years  ago  natural  gas  was  first  discovered  in  this  county. 
It  was  early  in  December  in  1890,  according  to  Mr.  F.  M.  Witter,  who  made 
some  study  of  the  matter,  that  Mr.  F.  L.  Estle,  who  lived  in  section  three,  town- 
ship seventy-five  north,  range  four  west,  sunk  a  well  on  his  farm.  At  a  depth 
of  one  hundred  feet  he  struck  a  flow  of  gas  which  readily  burned,  but  in  two  or 
three  days  it  ceased  to  flow.  About  the  same  time,  Mr.  R.  M.  Lee  at  a  [joint 
just  west  of  the  first  well,  a  half  mile  or  more,  bored  for  water.  At  one  hun- 
dred feet  he  failed  to  find  a  flow  of  water  and  stopped  boring.  In  the  evening 
he  began  to  remove  his  casing  and  succeeded  in  raising  it  several  feet.  During 
the  night  he  beard  a  great  roaring,  and  on  approaching  the  abandoned  well  with 
a  lantern  the  gas  suddenly  took  fire  and  shot  high  into  the  air,  making  a  fright- 
ful noise.  In  course  of  time  the  flame  was  extinguished  and  the  gas  was  piped 
into  the  house  where  it  was  used  for  fuel  and  light.  Later  it  was  used  in  the 
same  way  in  neighboring  houses,  one  being  more  than  a  mile  away.  The  gas 
was  carried  over  the  ground  in  common  pipe  of  different  dimensions.  The  well 
.at  one  time  supplied  twelve  fires  and  sixteen  lights.     Afore  than  a  score  of  wells 


8  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

have  been  found  to  furnish  gas,  some  furnishing  a  supply  for  many  years.  The 
pressure  has  been  measured  in  at  least  fifteen  of  these  and  found  to  be  from 
four  to  ten  and  one  half  pounds,  the  higher  pressure  being  in  the  deeper  wells. 
A  short  distance  below  the  gas  area  a  good  flow  of  water  is  obtained.  Many 
interesting  facts  are  related  concerning  these  wells,  and  the  results  of  such 
discoveries. 


CHAPTER  II. 
THE  MOUND  BUILDERS. 

The  first  people  to  inhabit  Louisa  county  were  the  Mound  Builders.  This 
ancient  race  disappeared  before  historic  times  and  is  known  only  by  such  of  its 
works  as  have  survived  the  destructive  elements  of  time.  Whence  it  came,  and 
when,  how  long  it  remained  in  the  land  and  whither  it  departed,  may  never  be 
known. 

Earthen  walls,  mounds,  figures,  ditches  and  pits,  implements  of  war  and  of 
art,  of  the  chase,  of  husbandry  and  the  home,  made  of  stone,  metal,  bone  and 
shell,  point  to  a  people  far  in  advance  of  savagry,  a  people  of  fixed  habitation 
and  living  under  something  akin  to  government. 

Louisa  county  had  its  full  share  of  this  ancient  race.  The  high  bluffs  of  the 
Mississippi  and  the  Iowa  rivers  were  their  favorite  dwelling  places.  The  rich 
valleys  below  may  have  been  their  fields  and  the  adjacent  streams  and  forests 
their  hunting  grounds. 

Toolesboro  must  have  been  a  place  of  some  importance  among  them,  for 
here  are  found  some  of  their  most  extensive  works.  It  required  the  labor  of 
man  for  many  days  to  construct  the  great  mounds  and  walls  still  in  evidence  on 
the  river  bluffs  about  this  village.  There  was  also  an  ancient  work,  now  oblit- 
erated, called  a  fort,  adjacent  to  these  mounds.  A  description  and  sketch  of 
this  interesting  work  will  be  found  in  connection  with  some  observations  taken 
from  Mr.  Newhall's  "Sketches  of  Iowa."  As  there  are  no  pits  in  evidence  to 
indicate  the  place  whence  the  earth  was  taken,  we  can  only  infer  that  it  was 
loosened  with  a  flint  hoe,  or  other  crude  tool,  and  borne  in  baskets  to  the  place 
of  deposit,  as  fragments  of  such  baskets  made  of  bark,  have  been  found  in 
mounds  at  other  places. 

Modern  civilization  tends  to  level  and  obliterate  these  evidences  of  an  inter- 
esting past.  The  spade  of  the  curiosity  seeker,  and  the  plow  of  the  farmer  grad- 
ually remove  these  traces  of  our  ancient  inhabitants.  It  is  greatly  to  the  credit 
of  the  people  of  Toolesboro  to  preserve  one  and  the  chief  of  these  great  ruins. 
The  fine  mound  on  the  border  of  this  village  is  the  largest  known  to  exist  in 
Iowa,  and  its  sacred  contents  have  never  been  disturbed.  Many  of  its  sister 
mounds  have  been  opened  and  destroyed,  and  the  earth  walls  near  by  have  been 
almost  leveled  by  the  plow. 

But  scientific  exploration  is  not  to  be  condemned.  Without  such  aid  history 
would  have  no  record  of  primeval  people.  The  Davenport  Academy  of  Science 
has  for  many  years  conducted  many  well  advised  explorations  of  the  ancient 
mounds  and  works  found  in  the  valley  of  the  Mississippi  river.  Its  collection 
of  Mound  Builder  antiquities  is  the  finest  in  the  United  States.     In  conducting 

9 


10  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

its  field  work  it  has  been  careful  to  preserve  all  relies  discovered,  giving  to  each 
localitv  due  credit  for  all  contributions  and  being  especially  careful  to  restore 
the  disturbed  works  t<>  their  former  condition.  Its  museum  is  open  to  the  public. 
It  is  known  throughout  both  our  country  and  Europe,  and  many  antiquarians 
visit  it  for  study  in  this  interesting  field. 

Many  years  ago  the  academy  opened  some  of  the  Toolesboro  mounds,  and 
secured,  in  addition  to  the  usual  stone  axes.  Hint  spears  and  arrow  heads,  etc.. 
a  number  of  axes  and  implements  made  of  native  copper.  Nearly  a  dozen  cop- 
per axes  were  secured.  In  size  they  range  from  five  to  eight  inches  long,  having 
a  cutting  edge  of  two  to  three  and  a  half  inches  and  are  from  a  half  to  one  and 
a  quarter  inches  thick.  They  are  made  of  native  copper  and  were  beaten  and 
ground  into  shape.  The  outside  of  each  was  heavily  coated  with  the  green  oxide 
of  copper,  on  removal  of  which  the  pure  metalic  copper  appeared.  This  collec- 
tion of  copper  axes  is  unique  and  valuable  because  some  of  the  axes  were 
wrapped  in  a  coarse  cloth  with  an  outer  wrapping  of  bark.  This  cloth  is  fossilized 
by  the  copper  salts  but  it  shows  the  fibre  and  the  weaving  with  remarkable  dis- 
tinctness. The  texture  of  the  cloth  was  about  as  coarse  as  very  heavy  buck  or 
linen  toweling.  The  threads  of  both  warp  and  woof  were  the  same  size  and 
tightly  twisted. 

Extensive  Mound  Builders  works  are  also  found  in  the  eastern  part  of  Grand 
View  township,  on  the  bluff  overlooking  the  Mississippi.  The  most  noticeable 
of  these  works  is  an  area  of  about  two  acres  enclosed  by  two  parallel  w:alls  of 
earth,  five  to  six  feet  high,  and  a  ditch  nearly  as  deep,  and  a  circular  excavation 
at  the  west  side  about  a  hundred  feet  in  diameter  and  twenty  feet  deep.  At  the 
foot  of  the  bluff  below  this  pit  are  two  natural  flowing  springs,  one  of  sulphur 
water  and  the  other  pure. 

The  Davenport  Academy  of  Science  is  famous  among  antiquarians,  for  two 
specimens  of  ancient  art  found  in  this  vicinity.  These  are  the  "Elephant  Pipes." 
One  of  these  was  taken  from  a  mound  on  the  farm  of  F.  Haas,  by  Mr.  Haas 
and  Rev.  A.  Blumer,  a  zealous  member  of  the  academy,  and  the  other  was 
picked  up  by  a  farmer,  whose  name  is  unknown,  and  given  to  Mr.  Blumer. 
These  are  now  preserved  in  the  museum  of  the  academy.  These  pipes  are  made 
of  a  dark  brown  stone,  quite  hard  and  well  polished.  The  bowl  of  the  pipe  is 
carved  out  of  the  back  of  the  elephant,  and  the  base  of  each  is  convex  upward. 
They  are  each  about  four  inches  long,  two  and  a  half  inches  high  and  one  and 
one-eighth  inches  thick.  The  body  is  comparatively  large.  The  feet,  tail  and 
proboscis  are  well  formed,  but  there  is  an  absence  of  tusks.  Other  pipes  similar 
in  material  and  form  were  found  here,  representing  mostly  some  beast,  bird  or 
man. 

Mounds  are  to  be  found  in  many  of  the  prominent  bluffs  of  the  county. 
Implements  of  war  and  the  chase  are  quite  uniformly  scattered  over  the  county. 
Many  stone  axes  are  found  and  flint  arrow  heads,  spear  heads,  knives,  scrapers 
and  hoes  have  been  very  common.  The  number  and  size  of  these  earthworks, 
and  the  abundance  of  these  works  of  art  representing  both  war  and  peace,  attest 
the  uniformity  with  which  these  people  inhabited  the  county  as  well  as  their 
number  and  the  length  of  time  they  lived  in  possession. 

Taking  the  whole  country,  the  most  extensive  earthworks  are  found  in  the 
level  river  valleys  and  not  on  the  bluffs.     The  most  extensive  series  of  embank- 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  11 

merits,  figures  and  mounds,  are  to  be  found  in  the  state  of  Ohio.  Wisconsin 
contains  an  embankment  representing-  an  elephant.  The  largest  mound  in  the 
United  States  is  the  Cahokia  mound  in  Illinois,  a  few  miles  above  St.  Louis. 
This  is  a  stupendous  pile  of  earth, — a  parellelogram.  700  feet  by  500  feet  and 
90  feet  high,  and  covers  six  acres;  and  a  causeway  150  feet  wide  and  300  feet 
long  leads  to  the  top.  A  similar  but  smaller  pyramid  is  near  Saltzertown,  Mis- 
sissippi.— 600  feet  by  400  feet,  and  40  feet  high,  covering  about  five"  acres.  The 
"great  serpent"  in  Adams  county,  Ohio,  is  700  feet  long,  and  the  "alligator"  in 
Licking  county.  Ohio,  is  250  feet  long.  Near  Wheeling,  West  Virginia,  is  a 
huge  mound  900  feet  in  circumference  and  70  feet  high. 

We  cannot  certainly  .know  the  purpose  for  which  these  works  were  erected. 
Ditches  and  embankments  were  probably  for  defense.  Animal  figures  for 
Deities  and  mounds  were  sepulchral  or  sacrificial. 

The  Mound  Builders  can  only  be  mentioned  in  the  most  general  terms.  It 
was  an  ancient  race.  It  had  disappeared  before  the  Columbian  discovery;  the 
modern  Indian  had  no  tradition  of  it,  and  great  trees  showing  an  annular  growth 
of  many  centuries  have  grown  and  fallen  on  its  works.  It  was  numerically 
strong;  for  the  huge  masses  of  earth  piled  up  in  its  great  pyramids,  and  count- 
less mounds  and  embankments  point  to  united  effort  of  a  numerous  people 
covering  a  large  period  of  time.  This  people  had  permanent  dwellings,  for  a 
nomad  people  would  have  neither  motive  nor  ability  for  such  construction. 
They  cultivated  the  soil.  The  sites  of  their  settlements  were  adjacent  to  rich 
valleys,  instruments  adapted  to  husbandry  are  found  in  the  locality,  and  people 
in  such  numbers  could  not  otherwise  exist.  Thev  attained  to  a  fair  degree  of 
civilization,  for  they  used  implements  of  stone,  metal,  shell  and  bone  and  wove 
cloth.  They  had  commercial  relations  with  most  regions,  for  their  copper  came 
from  the  Lake  Superior  region,  where  their  ancient  mines  are  still  to  be  seen  : 
their  mica  from  New  Hampshire  or  the  Carolinas,  and  their  obsidian  from 
Nevada  or  Mexico,  and  sea  shells  must  have  come  from  the  gulf  or  the  Atlantic. 

They  were  largely  given  to  pursuits  of  peace,  for  otherwise  they  would  not 
riave  been  driven  from  their  homes  bv  the  savage  tribes,  who  later  possessed 
the  land.  They  were  under  no  general  government,  for  if  they  had  been  they 
could  have  successfully  opposed  the  invading  foe.  They  were  under  some  form 
of  local  government,  for  their  mighty  works  could  onlv  be  accomplished  by  a 
power  compelling  united  effort. 

Such  numbers  .would  hardly  desert  the  vast  territory  by  common  consent, 
and  it  is  hardly  possible  that  a  pestilence  carried  them  away.  We  may  infer 
that  most  of  them  were  destroyed  by  an  invading  tribe  or  tribes.  Their  savage 
foes  would  naturally  covet  their  granaries  and  stores  and  would  find  this  docile 
race  easv  victims  of  their  savage  greed,  and  might  have  no  use  for  slaves  except 
for  torture.  They  may  gradually  have  been  driven  south  for  there  was  an  old 
tradition  among  the  Toltec  Mexicans  that  their  ancestors  came  from  the  north- 
land. 

One  of  the  most  entertaining  and  instructive  works  on  early  Iowa  history 
is  Newhall's  "Sketches  of  Iowa."  published  in  1840.  Mr.  Newhall  was  at  that 
time  a  resident  of  Burlington  and  was  a  writer  and  speaker  of  some  prominence ; 
was  at  one  time  interested  in  the  town  site  of  Florence  in  this  county,  and  was 
a   frequent   visitor  to  the  county;  and   we  shall  have   frequent  occasion   to  use 


12  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

extracts  from  his  work.  He  was  much  interested  in  the  Mound  Builders  and 
his  work  contains  the  only  description  we  have  been  able  to  find  of  the  old  fort, 
near  Toolesboro.  It  is  found  in  an  article  on  "Antiquities  and  Mounds."  After 
indulging  in  some  speculation  concerning  who  the  Mound  Builders  were  and 
from  whence  they  came,  he  speaks  of  having  examined  this  old  fortification  at 
I  Hack  Hawk  on  the  north  side  of  the  Iowa  river,  and  then  says:  "The  site  of 
the  town  itself  is  marked  and  striking.  A  portion  of  the  village  is  located  under 
a  high  precipitous  bluff.  Upon  ascending  this,  the  country  sweeps  off  in  a 
very  gradual  descent  of  beautiful  prairie.  Upon  the  margin  of  this  bluff  (which 
is  of  great  height,  and  nearly  perpendicular  towards  the  river)  there  are  eight 
conical  mounds,  averaging  from  twenty  to  thirty  feet  in  height,  and  about  eighty 
feet  in  circumference  at  the  base,  with  a  small  area  or  terrace  upon  their  sum- 
mits. From  the  top  of  these  mounds  the  view  is  almost  boundless,  embracing 
every  point  of  the  compass.  Indeed  from  the  Falls  of  St.  Anthony  to  the  mouth 
of  the  Ohio,  I  know  of  but  few  panoramic  views  so  extensive  and  so  varied. 
Overlooking  the  broad  Mississippi,  and  the  wide  and  extended  prairies  of  Illinois 
in  the  east,  the  'Flint  Hills'  in  the  south,  and  the  high  bluffs  of  Bloomington  in 
the  north,  I  was  particularly  struck  with  the  different  points  that  could  be 
brought  to  bear  upon  each  other  by  a  line  of  telegraphs  or  beacon  lights  upon  a 
wide  extent  of  country.  A  few  feet  in  the  rear  appear  indistinct  vestiges  of 
the  old  fort,  now  almost  obliterated  by  the  work  of  time.  The  embankment  is 
of  earth,  and,  in  many  portions,  can  be  distinctly  traced,  enclosing  an  area  of 
five  or  six  acres,  the  angles  and  bastions  exhibiting  the  form  of  an  octagonal 
crescent.  It  evidently  appears  to  have  been  constructed  for  the  purpose  of 
defense,  the  points  of  the  angles  and  intervening  flanks  showing,  conclusively, 
a  knowledge  of  the  engineering  and  military  science.  Opposite  the  mounds  and 
upon  the  western  side  of  the  fort,  the  early  settlers  of  the  place  informed  me 
that,  previous  to  the  grounds  having  been  plowed  up,  a  distinct  lane  or  covert 
way  was  visible,  formed  by  two  parallel  embankments,  and  leading  some  eighty 
or  ninety  feet  to  a  spring ;  although  at  the  present  time,  this  embankment  is 
scarcely  perceptible,  the  work  of  the  plow  having  obliterated  nearly  every  trace 
of  its  outline.  Within  the  fort  T  have  discovered  detached  fragments  of  pottery, 
pieces  of  pitcher  handles,  urns,  etc.,  unlike  anything  of  the  present  day,  also 
several  flint  spears,  or  javelins.  Some  of  the  pottery  bore  the  visible  marks  of 
being  glazed,  and  the  distinct  impression  of  diagonal  marks  forming  diamonds 
and  fluted  rims,  evincing  much  skill  and  workmanship.  Many  of  the  neighbors 
informed  me  that,  on  excavating  some  mounds,  a  few  miles  distant,  several  well 
formed  furnaces  had  been  discovered  ;  in  fact,  all  the  ware  discovered  in  the 
fort,  bore  conclusively  the  process  of  heat,  i.  e.,  of  having  been  baked.  Many 
of  the  most  aged  Indians  of  the  Sac  and  Fox  tribes  have  been  interrogated 
upon  the  subject  and  history  of  this  fort,  but  they  have  no  tradition  more  than 
a  sort  of  innate  reverence  for  the  neighborhood  of  mounds,  viewing  them  in 
the  light  of  consecrated  places." 

On  page  234  Mr.  Newhall  gives  a  diagram  or  sketch  of  this  ancient  work 
and  in  order  that  our  readers  may  have  a  better  idea  of  it  than  can  be  given 
otherwise,  we  have  procured  a  cut  of  it.  After  this  cut  was  made  we  caused 
it  tn  be  published  in  the  Wapello  Tribune,  accompanied  by  a  request  for  any 
one  who  was  familiar  with  the  matter  to  locate  the  point  where  the  spring  used 


OLD  FORT  AT  TOOLESBORO 


PlftUC   LIB... 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  13 

to  be,  as  shown  in  the  sketch;  after  seeing  the  sketch  Mr.  Anson  Kimball 
designated  the  place  where  in  his  opinion  the  spring  undoubtedly  was,  at  one 
time,  and  this  place  is  on  the  lands  now  owned  by  C.  L.  Mosier,  and  would 
seem  to  be  at  about  the  proper  distance  and  in  about  the  proper  direction  from 
the  mounds  which  are  still  standing  on  the  bluffs.  Mr.  Newhall  also  makes 
some  interesting  observations  upon  the  similarity  between  the  works  at  Tooles- 
boro  and  some  that  are  found  in  Ohio.  We  quote  again :  "The  reader  must 
observe  the  striking  similarity  between  these  works  and  those  described  on  the 
banks  of  the  Muskingum.  The  situation  of  those  works  is  on  an  elevated  plain, 
above  the  present  banks  of  the  Muskingum  on  the  east  side,  and  about  half  a 
mile  from  its  junction  with  the  Ohio.  They  consist  of  walls  and  mounds  of 
earth,  in  direct  line,  and  in  circular  form.  On  each  side  are  several  openings 
resembling  gateways.  Allusion  is  also  made  to  a  covert  way  of  two  parallel 
walls  of  earth,  leading  toward  the  river. 

"Atwater,  in  allusion  to  the  same  'works,"  remarks :  'On  the  outside  of 
the  parapet  I  picked  up  a  considerable  number  of  fragments  of  ancient  potter's 
ware.  This  ware  is  ornamented  with  lines,  some  of  them  quite  curious  and 
ingenious,  on  the  outside,  and  has  a  partial  glazing  on  the  inside.  The  frag- 
ments, on  breaking  them,  look  quite  dark,  with  brilliant  particles  appearing  as 
you  hold  them  to  the  light." 

"The  similitude  is  so  striking  that  I  could  not  give  a  better  description  to 
those  I  picked  up  at  Black  Hawk.  Many  gentlemen,  familiar  with  the  antiquities 
of  Ohio,  among  whom  was  Governor  Robert  Lucas,  instantly  recognized  the 
similarity." 


CHAPTER  111. 
VOYAGE  OF  MARQUETTE  AND  JOLIET  DOWN  THE  .MISSISSIPPI. 

THEY  LAND    IN    LOUISA   COUNTY HISTORY  OF   MISSISSIPPI   VALLEY    BEGINS    HERE — 

FIRST  BANQUET  ON   IOWA   SOIL. 

The  destiny  of  nations  is  often  affected  by  incidents  which  at  the  time  appear 
to  be  of  little  significance.  That  were  a  rash  prophet  who.  in  advance,  would 
have  predicted  the  changes  that  have  been  made  in  the  world's  map  and  in  its 
history  following  the  trip  of  the  two  frail  canoes,  which,  in  the  summer  of 
1673,  carried  Louis  Joliet.  "an  envoy  of  France  to  discover  new  countries," 
and  Jacques  Marquette,  "an  ambassador  from  God  to  enlighten  them  with 
the  gospel,*'  down  the  "Ouisconsin"  in  search  of  the  great  water  whose  mag- 
nificence had  long  been  heralded  by  the  natives  of  the  north  and  west. 

And  yet,  with  the  beginning  of  this  little  expedition  really  began  the  history 
of  the  Mississippi  valley,  now  one  of  the  most  magnificent  empires  in  the  world. 
Professor  Weld  in  his  admirable  address  "On  the  Way  to  Iowa,"  referring  to 
the  Mississippi  valley,  says :  "Toward  this  region  the  tide  of  world  empire  has 
been  setting  for  three-quarters  of  a  century  and  is  not  yet  even  at  its  height. 
The  financier  may'  turn  his  eyes  toward  Wall  street  or  Threadneedle  street. 
The  student  may  plan  his  pilgrimage  to  Cambridge  or  Leipsig.  The  artist  may 
long  for  the  inspiration  afforded  by  the  Louvre,  or  the  galleries  of  Florence, 
but  the  teeming  millions  of  the  over  crowded  places  of  the  world  with  hands 
restless  to  do  and  hearts  ready  to  dare,  turn  eager  faces  toward  this  'great 
central  basin  of  North  America.'  " 

Of  course  there  is  a  sense  in  which  it  may  be  said  that  the  voyages  and 
explorations  of  Cartier  and  Champlain,  of  Jean  Nicollet  and  Father  Brebeuf, 
of  Radisson  and  Grosseilliers,  all  have  a  necessary  historic  connection  with  the 
Mississippi  valley,  but  nevertheless,  for  all  practical  purposes  the  history  of 
this  great  valley  begins  on  the  10th  of  June,  1673.  when  the  Jesuit  missionary 
and  his  companions  came  to  the  portage  between  the  Fox  and  the  Wisconsin 
rivers.  Here,  in  the  words  of  Marquette,  these  pioneers  of  the  west  "left  the 
waters  flowing  to  Quebec  to  float  upon  those  which  would  conduct  us  thence- 
forward to  strange  lands." 

It  is  evident  from  Marquette's  narrative  that  at  this  time,  if  not  before,  they 
recognized  the  gravity,  if  not  the  importance,  of  their  undertaking,  for  he  says : 
"The  guides  returned,  leaving  us  alone  in  this  unknown  land  in  the  hands  of 
Providence."  Shortly  before  this,  Marquette  had  been  warned  that  the  distant 
nations,  to  whom  he  was  endeavoring  to  go,  were  savage  and  warlike  and 
"never  spared  the  strangers,"  and  that  the  Great  River  abounded   in  monsters 

15 


16  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

which  would  devour  both  men  and  their  canoes.  But  the  gentle  Marquette  had 
no  fear.  His  only  answer  was:  "I  shall  gladly  lay  down  my  life  for  the 
salvation  of  souls." 

After  seven  days  they  reached  the  mouth  of  the  Wisconsin  and  "entered 
happily  the  Great  River  with  a  joy  that  could  not  be  expressed."  They  pro- 
ceeded down  this  new  and  unknown  water  without  any  important  adventure 
until  near  June  25th.  At  that  time  Marquette  says:  "Proceeding  south  and 
southwest,  we  find  ourselves  at  41°  north;  then  at  400  and  some  minutes,  partly 
by  southeast  and  partly  by  southwest,  after  having  advanced  more  than  sixty 
leagues  since  entering  the  river,  without  discovering  anything.  At  last,  on  the 
25th  of  June,  1673,  we  perceived  the  footprints  of  men  by  the  water's  edge, 
and  a  beaten  path  entering  a  beautiful  prairie.  We  stopped  to  examine  it,  and 
concluding  that  it  was  a  path  leading  to  some  Indian  village,  we  resolved  to  go 
and  reconnoitre;  we  accordingly  left  our  two  canoes  in  charge  of  our  people, 
cautioning  them  strictly  to  beware  of  a  surprise.  Then  M.  Jollyet  and  I  under- 
took this  rather  hazardous  discovery,  for  two  single  men,  who  thus  put  them- 
selves at  the  discretion  of  an  unknown  and  barbarous  people." 

The  narrative  of  Marquette  proceeds  as  follows:  "We  followed  the  little 
path  in  silence,  and,  having  advanced  about  two  leagues,  we  discovered  a  village 
on  the  banks  of  the  river,  and  two  others  on  a  hill  a  half  league  from  the  former." 
Then,  recommending  themselves  to  God,  they  continued  on  without  being  dis- 
covered until  they  got  so  near  that  they  could  hear  the  Indians  talking.  Deem- 
ing it  time  to  announce  themselves  they  did  so  with  a  loud  cry,  and  halted.  At 
this  cry  the  Indians  rushed  from  their  cabins  and  seeing  the  "Blackgown" 
(Indian  name  for  a  Jesuit),  they  deputed  four  of  their  old  men  to  speak  with 
the  strangers.  The  narrative  then  proceeds:  "Two  carried  tobacco  pipes,  well 
adorned  and  trimmed  with  many  kinds  of  feathers.  They  marched  slowly, 
lifting  their  pipes  toward  the  sun,  as  if  offering  them  to  him  to  smoke,  but  yet 
without  uttering  a  single  word.  They  were  a  long  time  coming  the  little  way 
from  the  village  to  us.  Having  reached  us  at  last,  they  stopped  to  consider  us 
attentively.  I  now  took  courage,  seeing  these  ceremonies  which  were  used  by 
them  only  with  friends.  ...  I  therefore  spoke  to  them  first,  and  asked 
them  who  they  were ;  they  answered  that  they  were  Illinois,  and  in  token  of 
peace  they  presented  their  pipes  to  smoke." 

We  may  properly  pause  in  the  narrative  here  to  locate  the  historic  spot  upon 
which  these  two  white  men  first  set  their  foot  on  Iowa  soil,  and  where  they  first 
encountered  the  savages,  and  saw  their  villages.  Until  a  comparatively  recent 
date  historians,  with  some  misgivings,  have  fixed  this  spot  as  being  near  Mont- 
rose, in  Lee  county.  But  Professor  Laenas  Gifford  Weld,  in  a  verv  scholarlv 
article,  entitled  "Joliet  and  Marquette  in  Iowa."  published  in  the  Iowa  Journal 
of  History  and  Politics,  in  January.  1903,  has  practically  settled  the  question 
in  favor  of  this  county.  Professor  Weld's  article  is  accompanied  by  a  copv  of 
a  portion  of  Dr.  Shea's  fac  simile  of  Marquette's  original  map,  and  his  observa- 
tions and  conclusions  will  be  much  better  understood  of  course  by  consulting 
the  map.  Therefore  we  have  had  the  map  copied.  Professor  Weld,  after  giv- 
ing a  brief  outline  of  Marquette's  story  of  his  voyage,  says:  "Marquette's 
narrative,  just  cited,  is  so  vague  with  reference  to  topographical  details  and  so 
inconsistent   with    respect    to   geographical    positions    that    little    dependence    can 


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t 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  17 

be  placed  upon  it,  except  when  taken  in  connection  with  the  accompanying  map. 
This  last  will  be  made  the  subject  of  somewhat  careful  examination,  its  genuine- 
ness being  assumed  as  thoroughly  established.  We  have  to  note  in  the  first  in- 
stance that  the  latitudes  as  given  upon  Marquette's  map  are  in  error,  all  being 
about  one  degree  too  far  south,  except  Akansea,  the  southermost  part  reached, 
which  is  correctly  placed  at  33°  40'.  Herewith  is  presented  a  carefully  prepared 
copy  of  a  portion  of  Dr.  Shea's  fac  simile  of  the  original,  much  reduced.  The 
parallels  of  latitude  are  as  indicated  by  the  marginal  figures  in  the  original, 
while  the  meridians  of  longitude  are  separated  by  intervals  obtained  by  multi- 
plying the  average  latitude  interval  of  one  degree  by  the  cosine  of  40  degrees, 
the  'middle  latitude' — in  accordance  with  a  well  known  mathematical  principle. 
The  meridian  of  91  degrees  has  been  placed  near  to  the  mouth  of  the  Wisconsin, 
its  true  position.  On  the  right  hand  margin  of  the  map  Marquette's  latitudes 
are  indicated.  On  the  left  these  latitudes  have  been  increased  by  one  degree ; 
so  that,  if  read  from  this  margin,  Marquette's  map  has  been  lifted  bodily  one 
degree  in  latitude.  The  dotted  sketch  on  the  left  of  the  map  represents  the 
true  course  of  the  Mississippi  and,  presumably,  those  tributaries  which  are  noted 
by  Marquette.  The  longitudes  along  the  lower  margin,  to  the  left,  refer  to  this 
dotted  sketch  only.  A  comparison  of  Marquette's  river  with  the  true  course  of 
the  Mississippi  shows  that  his  plot  is  a  marvelously  accurate  one,  as  far  down 
as  the  mouth  of  the  Ohio.  Inasmuch  as  means  of  determining  longitude  by 
portable  instruments  were  not  available  in  Marquette's  day,  we  can  only  ex- 
plain the  accuracy  with  which  his  longitudes  are  plotted  by  supposing  that  care- 
ful note  was  taken,  at  least  until  the  latter  part  of  the  voyage  down  stream,  of 
distances  and  courses  sailed.  Otherwise,  it  is  impossible  to  explain  the  close 
conformity  exhibited  by  the  accompanying  illustration. 

"This  discrepancy  of  one  degree  in  Marquette's  latitudes  would  seem  to 
demand  explanation.  Let  it  be  noted  that  the  complete  map  includes  a  large 
portion  of  Lake  Superior,  St.  Mary's  river  and  the  straits  of  Mackinac,  regions 
well  known  to  Marquette  and  the  other  Jesuit  missionaries  of  the  time.  Accom- 
panying the  Jesuit  Relation  of  1670-1,  prepared  by  Dablon,  is  a  map  of  this 
upper  lake  region  entitled,  Lac  Superieur  et  autres  lieu.r  oil  sout  les  Missions 
des  Peres  de  la  Compagnic  dc  Ji'sus  comprises  sous  le  noni  d'Outaouacs.  With- 
out doubt  Marquette  was  familiar  with  this  map,  which  was  probably  the  work 
of  some  of  his  own  associates.  It  is  even  conceivable  that  he  sketched  the  upper 
portion  of  his  own  map  directly  from  it.  The  fact  that  it  includes,  among  others, 
the  altogether  irrelevant  entry,  Chemin  an  Assinipoualak  a  120  lieus  vers  le 
Nordouest,  which  also  appears  upon  the  map  of  1670-1,  seems  to  confirm  this 
theory.  Now  upon  this  map  of  1670-1  the  latitudes  of  Mission  du  St.  Esprit. 
of  Mission  de  Ste.  Marie,  of  St.  Ignacc  and  of  the  Pottawattamie  village  at 
the  head  of  Green  Bay,  near  to  the  Mission  of  St.  Francois  Xavier,  are  exactly 
as  recorded  upon  Marquette's  map.  Whether  the  mistake  is  due  to  the  defective 
astrolabe  of  some  Jesuit  geographer,  or  to  some  other  cause,  does  not  concern 
us.  The  error  is  evidently  reproduced  in  the  upper  portions  of  Marquette's 
map  and,  supposing  that  his  map  was  plotted  by  'dead  reckoning,'  would  naturally 
be  propagated  far  down  the  Mississippi. 

"Certain  it  is  that  the  latitudes  upon  the  map  do  not  agree  with  those  given 
in  the  narrative.     Moreover,  those  paragraphs  describing  the  voyage  from  the 

Vol.  1—2 


18  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

time  at  which  the  explorers  entered  the  Mississippi  up  to  the  time  of  landing- 
near  Peouarea  are  utterly  irreconcilable,  so  far  as  the  latitudes  and  directions 
are  concerned,  with  the  true  course  of  the  Mississippi.  Neither  is  it  possible  to 
interpret  them  at  all  satisfactorily  upon  the  assumption  that  some  of  the  latitudes 
were  correctly  given  by  Joliet  while  others  are  of  Marquette's  own  determination. 
"While  the  journal  does  not  specifically  state  that  the  latitude  vaguely  given 
as  '40  degrees  and  some  minutes'  is  that  of  Peouarea,  it  is  evident  from  the  map 
that  this  is  to  be  understood.  The  estimated  distance  traversed  since  entering 
the  Mississippi — over  sixty  leagues — is  as  indefinite  as  the  estimate  itself  is 
uncertain:  If  twenty  leagues  be  counted  to  the  degree,  in  nautical  fashion,  the 
distance  is  above  207  statute  miles.  This  would  indicate  as  the  place  of  land- 
ing some  point  on  the  river  near  Port  Louisa  in  Louisa  county.  The  latitude  of 
this  point  is  about  41°  12',  which  is  something  over  a  degree  greater  than  that 
of  Peouarea  as  given  by  Marquette's  map  and  nearly  the  same  amount  greater 
than  that  inferred  from  the  narrative.  The  stream  entering  here  from  the  west, 
as  shown  in  the  sketch  of  the  true  course  of  the  Mississippi,  is  the  Iowa  river." 

Further  on  in  his  article  Professor  Weld  points  out  that  this  error  of  one 
degree  of  latitude  appears  in  the  location  of  the  curve  of  the  Mississippi  between 
Keokuk  and  Ouincy,  and  in  the  location  of  the  mouths  of  the  Illinois,  Missouri 
and  Ohio  rivers.  He  then  gives  a  diagram  comparing  Marquette's  latitude  with 
the  true  latitude  of  all  stations  shown  on  his  map,  which  have  been  identified. 
This  is  referred  to  in  his  article  as  Figure  2,  and  it  is  so  necessarv  to  a  proper 
understanding  of  the  situation  that  we  have  also  made  a  copy  of  it. 

Professor  Weld  then  proceeds,  "Whatever  may  be  the  true  explanation  of 
the  latitude  errors  of  Marquette's  chart,  nothing  can  more  clearlv  prove  that  it 
is  an  actual  plot,  made  during  the  course  of  the  voyage,  than  the  manner  in 
which  he  abridges  the  last  stretch  of  the  river  and  ends  its  course  abruptly  at 
latitude  330  40'.  There  is  no  speculation  as  to  its  course  either  below  that 
point,  or  above  the  point  at  which  the  stream  was  first  entered.  Whatever  dis- 
crepancies may  have  found  their  way  into  his  narrative  as  a  result,  it  may  lie. 
of  'comparing  notes'  with  Joliet,  Marquette's  chart  is  genuine,  consistent,  and 
honest.  In  the  accompanying  diagram  the  comparison  of  the  latitudes  of  all 
identifiable  stations,  as  given  on  Marquette's  map,  with  their  true  latitudes,  as 
taken  from  a  modern  chart,  is  rendered  simple  and  easy.  It  is  evident  at  a 
glance  that  the  river  at  whose  mouth  Marquette  locates  Peouarea  can  correspond 
with  no  other  considerable  stream  than  the  Iowa.  Attention  should  also  be 
called,  perhaps,  to  the  southern  'dip'  of  the  Iowa,  on  the  one  hand,  and  of  the 
stream  indicated  by  Marquette  on  the  other." 

We  may  add  also  that  Dr.  John  Gilmore  Shea  in  his  work  on  "The  Discovery 
and  Exploration  of  the  Mississippi  Valley"  (1903).  which  is  our  authority  for 
such  quotations  as  we  make  from  Marquette's  narrative,  says  in  a  note  on  Page 
22,  in  referring  to  the  Indian  villages  mentioned  by  Marquette,  "These  villages 
are  laid  down  on  the  map  on  the  westerly  side  of  the  Mississippi,  and  the  only 
two  given  are  Peouarea  and  Moingwena,  whence  it  is  generallv  supposed  that 
the  river  on  which  they  lay  is  that  now  called  Des  Moines.  The  upper  part  of 
the  river  still  bears  the  name  of  Moingonan,  while  the  latitude  of  the  mouth 
seems  to  establish  the  identity.  It  must,  however,  be  admitted  that  the  latitude 
given  at  that  day  differs  from  ours  generally   from  30'  to  a  degree,  as  we  see 


\  Marquette's 
)  Latitudes 


I  True 

|  Latitude! 


St.  Esprit 
Ste.  Marie 


St.  Ignace 

Folh  Avoiii0 

Pouteoutami 

Mascoutens 


Peouarea 


R.  Pekittanoui       — 


R.  Ouabouskigou  _: 


Akansea 


47c 


40 


Washburn,  Wit. 
Suu/t  de  Ste. 'Marie 

St.  Ignore 
Menominee,  Wis. 
45 
|_  Pt.   Sable,   Green  Bug 

■—  44  Berlin,   Wis. 

■ —  43  Mouth  of  Wisconsin  II. 

42   G't  Eitsfn  Rend  of  Mix* 
Wapsipin  iron  River 

: —  41  Iowa  River 

(t'I.  Western  Bend  of 
Miss. 
40 


Illinois  River 
Missouri  River 


•38 


: —  37   Ohio  River 


—  36 


35 


—  34 


Arkansas  River 


t—  33° 

Fig.  2.  A  diagramatic  comparison  of  Marquette's  latitudes  with  the  true 
latitudes  of  all  identifiable  stations  shown  upon  his  map.  The  dotted  lines 
refer  to  stations  other  than  those  along  the  Mississippi,  some  of  which  do  not 
appear  in  Fig.  1.  The  interrupted  line  is  drawn  from  Peouarea  upon  the  as- 
sumption that  the  stream  indicated  at  this  point  upon  Marquette's  map  is  the 
Iowa  river. 


pntvi 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  19 

in  the  case  of  the  Wisconsin  and  Ohio.     This  would  throw  Moingwena  some- 
what higher  up." 

Having  established  the  great  probability,  if  not  the  practical  certainty,  that 
this  notable  event  is  a  part  of  our  county  history,  we  return  to  the  quaint  and 
interesting  narrative  of  Father  Marquette :  "At  the  door  of  the  cabin  in  which 
we  were  to  be  received  was  an  old  man  awaiting  us  in  a  very  remarkable 
posture ;  which  is  their  usual  ceremony  in  receiving  strangers.  This  man  was 
standing,  perfectly  naked,  with  his  hands  stretched  out  and  raised  toward  the 
sun,  as  if  he  wished  to  screen  himself  from  its  rays,  which  nevertheless  passed 
through  his  fingers  to  his  face.  When  we  came  near  him,  he  paid  us  this 
compliment:  'How  beautiful  is  the  sun,  O  Frenchman,  when  thou  comest  to 
visit  us !  All  our  towns  await  thee,  and  thou  shalt  enter  all  our  cabins  in 
peace.'  Marquette  and  Joliet  were  then  taken  into  this  Indian's  cabin,  where 
they  were  presented  with  the  calumet,  or  pipe  of  peace.  They  then  went,  by 
special  invitation,  to  the  town  'of  the  great  sachem  of  all  the  Illinois,'  but  the 
narrative  does  not  tell  just  where  this  was,  unless  it  is  the  one  referred  to  as 
being  'on  the  hill  about  a  half  a  league  away.'  " 

He  continues:  "Having  arrived  at  the  great  sachem's  town,  we  espied  him 
at  his  cabin  door,  between  two  old  men,  all  three  standing  naked,  with  their 
calumet  turned  to  the  sun.  He  harangued  us  in  a  few  words,  to  congratulate 
us  on  our  arrival,  and  then  presented  us  his  calumet  and  made  us  smoke." 

Marquette  then  gave  the  sachem  some  presents,  and  made  a  speech,  telling 
of  the  peaceful  and  religious  nature  of  his  visit.  His  story  proceeds :  "When 
I  had  finished  my  speech,  the  sachem  rose,  and  laying  his  hand  on  the  head  of 
a  little  slave,  whom  he  was  about  to  give  us,  spoke  thus :  T  thank  thee,  Black- 
gown,  and  thee,  Frenchman,'  addressing  Jollyet,  'for  taking  so  much  pains  to 
come  and  visit  us ;  never  has  the  earth  been  so  beautiful,  nor  the  sun  so  bright, 
as  today :  never  has  our  river  been  so  calm,  nor  so  free  from  rocks,  which  your 
canoes  have  removed  as  they  passed ;  never  has  our  tobacco  had  so  fine  a  flavor, 
nor  our  corn  appeared  so  beautiful  as  we  behold  it  today.  Here  is  my  son, 
that  I  give  thee,  that  thou  mayest  know  my  heart.  I  pray  thee  to  take  pity  on 
me  and  all  my  nation.  Thou  knowest  the  Great  Spirit  who  has  made  us  all : 
thou  speakest  to  him  and  hearest  his  word :  ask  him  to  give  me  health  and  life, 
and  come  and  dwell  with  us,  that  we  may  know  him.'  " 

The  sachem  then  gave  Marquette  "an  all-mysterious  calumet,"  and  begged 
him  not  te  go  further  on  account  of  the  great  danger  to  which  he  would  be 
exposed.  The  first  Iowa  banquet  is  thus  described :  "The  council  was  followed 
by  a  great  feast  which  consisted  of  four  courses,  which  we  had  to  take  with  all 
their  ways ;  the  first  course  was  a  great  wooden  dish  full  of  sagamity,  that  is  to 
say,  of  Indian  meal  boiled  in  water  and  seasoned  with  grease.  The  master  of 
ceremonies,  with  a  spoonful  of  sagamity,  presented  it  three  or  four  times  to 
my  mouth,  as  we  would  do  with  a  little  child ;  he  did  the  same  to  M.  Jollyet. 
For  the  second  course  he  brought  on  a  second  dish,  containing  three  fish ;  he 
took  some  pains  to  remove  the  bones,  and  having  blown  upon  it  to  cool  it,  put 
it  in  my  mouth,  as  he  would  food  to  a  bird.  For  the  third  course  they  produced 
a  large  dog,  which  they  had  just  killed,  but  learning  that  we  did  not  eat  it,  it 
was  withdrawn.  Finally,  the  fourth  course  was  a  piece  of  wild  ox  (buffalo) 
the  fattest  portions  of  which  were  put  into  our  mouths. 


20  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

"After  this  feast  we  hail  to  visit  the  whole  village,  which  consists  of  full 
three  hundred  cabins.  While  we  marched  through  the  streets  an  orator  was 
constantly  haranguing,  to  oblige  all  to  see  us,  without  being  troublesome.  .  .  . 
We  slept  in  the  sachem's  cabin,  and  the  next  day  took  leave  of  him,  promising  to 
pass  back  through  his  town  in  four  moons.  He  escorted  us  to  our  canoes  with 
nearlv  six  hundred  persons,  who  saw  us  embark,  evincing  in  every  possible  way 
the  pleasure  our  visit  had  given  them." 

In  these  simple  and  earnest  words  is  recorded  the  "opening  incident"  in  the 
great  drama  which  lias  resulted  in  the  partial  extinction  and  permanent  banish- 
ment from  this  great  valley,  of  its  former  savage  masters,  and  which  has  trans- 
formed its  unexplored  and  sparsely  settled  forests  and  prairies  into  powerful 
and  populous  commonwealths.  And  we  of  this  county  may  at  least  take  satis- 
faction, if  not  pride,  in  the  reasonable  belief  that  Iowa  history  had  its  beginning 
here;  that  it  was  within  the  present  limits  of  Louisa  county  that  the  first  white 
man  set  foot  upon  Iowa  soil,  and  that  the  first  conference  or  council,  held  in 
the  Mississippi  valley  between  civilized  man  and  his  savage  brother,  took  place 
near  our  present  county  seat,  between  the  Iowa  river  and  Muscatine  slough. 

It  was  here  that  the  envoy  of  France,  and  the  self-styled,  but  sincere,  "am- 
bassador of  God"  first  sought  to  impress  the  temporal  power  of  an  earthly 
King,  and  the  spiritual  glory  of  a  Heavenly  Father,  upon  those  "wild  republi- 
cans" of  the  middle  west,  whose  tribal  name,  Illinois,  signified  that  they  were 
men. 

As  noted  by  Dr.  Salter,  in  his  "Iowa,"  this  incident  has  been  immortalized 
by  one  of  our  best  loved  poets  in  the  closing  scene  of  Hiawatha,  and  we  append 
a   few  lines,  borrowed  from  that  charming  poem : 

With  a  smile  of  joy  and  triumph 
With  a  look  of  exultation, 

=]:  *  :|: 

Stood  and  waited  Hiawatha, 
i  Toward  the  sun  his  hands  were  lifted. 

Both  the  palms  spread  out  against  it. 
And  between  the  parted  fingers 
Fell  the  sunshine  on  his  features. 


And  the  noble  Hiawatha 
With  his  hands  aloft  extended 

dp  dp  '',: 

Waited  full  of  exultation 

Till   the   LMack-Robe   chief,   the    Tale-face. 

#     *     * 

Landed  on  the  sandy  margin. 
Then  the  joyous  Hiawatha 
Cried  aloud  and  spake  in  this  wise: 
"Beautiful  is  the  sun,  O  strangers. 
When  you  come  so  far  to  see  us ! 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  21 

All  our  town  in  peace  awaits  you, 
All  our  doors  stand  open  for  you ; 

*  #     ■■:■ 

Never  bloomed  the  earth  so  gaily, 

Never  shone  the  sun  so  brightly, 

As  today  they  shine  and  blossom 

When  you  come  so  far  to  see  us ! 

Never  was  our  lake  so  tranquil 

Nor  so  free  from  rocks  and  sandbars. 

Never  before  had  our  tobacco 

Such  a  sweet  and  pleasant  flavor, 

Never  the  broad  leaves  of  our  corn  fields 

Were  so  beautiful  to  look  on. 

As  they  seem  to  us  this  morning, 

When  you  come  so  far  to  see  us !" 

And  the  Black-Robe  chief  made  answer. 

Stammered  in  his  speech  a  little, 

Speaking  words  yet  unfamiliar: 

"Peace  be  with  you,  Hiawatha, 

Peace  be  with  you  and  your  people. 

Peace  of  prayer  and  peace  of  pardon, 

Peace  of  Christ,  and  joy  of  Mary !" 

Then  the  generous   Hiawatha 

Led  the  strangers  to  his  wigwam, 

And  the  careful  old  Nokomis 

Brought  them  food  in  bowls  of  basswood, 

Water  brought  in  birchen  dippers 

And  the  calumet,  the  peace  pipe, 

Filled  and  lighted  for  their  smoking. 

All  the  old  men  of  the  village, 

All  the  warriors  of  the  nation,  \ 

*  *     * 

Came  to  bid  the  strangers  welcome ; 

"It  is  well."  they  said  "O  brothers, 

That  you  come  so  far  to  see  us !" 

Then  the  Black-Robe  chief,  the  prophet,  ;| 

Told  his  message  to  the  people. 

Told  the  purport  of  his  mission. 

Told  them  of  the  Virgin  Mary, 

And  her  blessed  son,  the  Saviour. 

*     *     # 

And  the  chiefs  made  answer  saying 
"We  have  listened  to  your  message, 
We  have  heard  your  words  of  wisdom, 
We  will  think  on  what  you  tell  us. 
It  is  well  for  us,  O  brothers, 
That  you  come  so  far  to  see  us!" 


CHAPTER  IV. 
SOME  INDIAN  HISTORY. 

THE    ILLINOIS THE    IOWAS THE    SACS    AXD    FOXES THE    BLACK     HAWK    WAR — ■ 

TREATY    FOR    BLACK    HAWK    PURCHASE BLACK    HAWK — KEOKUK WAPELI.A. 

It  would  be  interesting,  but  apart  from  our  purpose,  to  follow  the  further 
travels  of  Marquette  and  Joliet.  Their  friendly  reception  by  the  Illinois  Indians 
caused  Marquette  to  desire  to  establish  a  mission  among  them,  but  his  life  was 
cut  short  in  a  little  less  than  two  years,  and  this  work  fell  into  other  hands. 
At  the  time  of  Marquette's  visit,  the  Illinois  were  divided  into  several  villages, 
some  of  which  were  many  miles  away  and  west  from  those  visited  by  Marquette. 
The  Illinois  are  described  as  of  a  mild  and  tractable  disposition,  though  ex- 
tremely warlike.  They  were  skilled  in  the  use  of  the  bow  and  arrow,  and  in 
Marquette's  time  they  already  had  guns,  but  used  them  chiefly  to  terrify  by 
their  noise  and  smoke  other  further  western  tribes  who  had  little  knowledge 
of  firearms.  They  practiced  polygamy  and  were  very  jealous  of  all  their  wives. 
They  lived  on  wild  game,  such  as  deer,  elk,  buffalo,  turkeys  and  prairie  chickens 
and  they  raised  corn,  beans,  and  sometimes  melons.  Their  villages  consisted 
of  cabins  quite  large,  which  were  lined  and  floored  with  rush  mats.  They  used 
wooden  dishes  and  made  excellent  spoons  from  the  bones  of  the  buffalo.  It 
is  probable  they  roamed  over  a  large  extent  of  country  on  both  sides  of  the 
Mississippi.  As  a  result  of  their  assassination  of  Pontiac  in  1769,  a  war  of 
extermination  was  commenced  against  the  Illinois  by  Pontiac's  followers,  chief 
of  whom  were  the  Sacs  and  Foxes,  and  it  is  said  that  by  the  beginning  of  the 
nineteenth  century  the  tribe  of  Illinois  was  almost  exterminated. 

Another  tribe  which  once  roamed  over  our  prairies  and  inhabited  our  for- 
ests was  that  of  the  Ioways.  It  is  supposed  that  a  descendant  of  Manhaugan, 
about  1680  founded  a  village  near  the  mouth  of  the  Iowa  river.  Soon  after, 
we  hear  of  the  Ioways  with  the  Winnebagoes  on  Lake  Michigan,  and  later, 
along  Blue  Earth  river.  In  1775  some  of  this  tribe  were  found  on  the  Ohio 
river  during  Dunmore's  war,  but  the  main  body  seem  to  have  come  down  the 
Rock  river  with  the  Winnebagoes  about  this  same  time,  passing  thence  down 
the  Mississippi,  probably  on  both  sides  of  it  to  the  mouth  of  the  Des  Moines, 
and  up  that  river  across  Iowa  to  the  Missouri. 

There  has  come  down  an  interesting  story  of  the  chivalry  of  this  tribe  which 
is  worth  preserving.  About  1819  it  seems  that  a  member  of  the  Sac  tribe  had 
treacherously  killed  an  Ioway.  Some  time  afterward,  Black  Hawk  having 
discovered  the  murderer,  decided  to  deliver  him  to  the  Ioways  for  punishment, 

■     23 


24  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

but  the  murderer  being  sick,  his  brother  offered  to  go  in  his  place.  Black 
Hawk,  with  a  few  of  his  braves,  took  the  voluntary  prisoner  to  the  vicinity  of 
the  Ioway  village,  said  to  be  near  lowaville,  and  the  prisoner  went  forward 
alone  to  receive  his  punishment,  chanting  his  death  song  as  he  entered  the 
hostile  village.  Black  Hawk  returned,  and  on  his  way  back  was  astonished  to 
be  overtaken  at  his  first  encampment  by  the  prisoner,  whom  he  had  just  escorted 
to  the  village  and  whom  he  supposed  by  that  time  had  met  a  murderer's  fate. 
It  seems  that  the  lowas  were  greatly  struck  with  the  magnanimity  of  the  Sac 
who  had  volunteered  to  suffer  torture  and  death  in  the  place  of  his  sick  brother, 
and,  after  many  threats  of  execution,  had  not  only  released  him  but  had  given 
him  two  horses,  one  for  himself  and  one  for  his  sick  brother. 

Soon  after  the  date  of  this  incident,  Black  Hawk,  having  learned  that  the 
loways  were  about  to  march  against  his  village  on  Rock  river,  made  a  forced 
march,  and  reached  their  village  and  attacked  them  while  they  were  celebrating 
their  return  from  a  hunt.  The  victory  of  the  Sacs  and  Foxes  was  complete 
and  resulted  in  the  transfer  of  the  sovereignty  of  this  region  from  the  loways 
to  the  Sacs  and  Foxes. 

But  we  of  Louisa  county  are  more  interested  in  the  history  of  the  Sacs  and 
Foxes  than  of  any  other  tribe,  because  they  were  here  when  the  first  white  men 
came  to  stake  their  claims. 

Dr.  Pickard,  from  whose  lecture  on  "Iowa  Indians"  we  have  borrowed 
quite  freely,  says  that  there  is  an  authentic  tradition  that  these  two  tribes  were 
at  the  mouth  of  the  St.  Lawrence  river  one  hundred  years  before  the  coming 
of  the  French.  After  a  long  time  and  having  pursued  different  routes,  it  seems 
that  these  tribes  came  together  in  the  region  of  Green  Bay.  At  that  time  it 
seems  that  the  Foxes  were  called  Outagamies,  and  in  1712  they  joined  the  Eng- 
lish Iroquois  in  an  attack  upon  the  French  at  Detroit,  but  were  defeated  and 
driven  by  the  French  over  the  Wisconsin  river.  As  the  result  of  conflicts  with 
the  Ottaways  and  Chippeways  on  the  north,  and  the  Sioux  on  the  west,  they 
moved  southward  and  in  about  1734  they  crossed  the  Mississippi  river  above 
Dubuque  and  established  themselves  in  that  region.  It  was  probably  not  long 
after  this  that  they  began  to  use  the  region  about  the  mouth  of  the  Iowa  river 
as  hunting  grounds,  for  we  find  that  in  1795  they  were  down  as  far  as  Mont- 
rose, and  a  half  breed  of  the  Sacs  and  Foxes  had  planted  an  apple  orchard 
there.  It  was  about  this  time  that  the  beautiful  and  fertile  hunting  grounds  of 
these  Indians  began  to  be  coveted  for  the  home  of  the  white  man,  and  in  pon- 
dering over  the  various  wars  and  treaties  by  which  the  aborigines  have  lost 
their  ancient  homes,  while  we  may  sympathize  with  their  fate  and  drop  a  tear 
upon  the  grave  of  a  departed  race,  we  must  remember  that  this  land  was  not 
in  any  proper  sense  owned  by  these  Indian  tribes,  nor  did  they  themselves  so 
regard  it. 

Speaking  of  this  question,  Roosevelt,  in  his  "Winning  of  the  West,"  says : 
"It  cannot  be  too  often  insisted  that  they  did  not  own  the  land;  or,  at  least, 
diat  their  ownership  was  merely  such  as  that  claimed  often  by  our  own  white 
hunters.  Tf  the  Indians  really  owned  Kentucky  in  1775.  then  in  1776  it  was 
the  property  of  Boone  and  his  associates ;  and  to  dispossess  one  party  was  as 
great  a  wrong  as  to  disposses  the  other.  To  recognize  the  Indian  ownership 
of  the  limitless  prairies  and   forests  of  this  continent — that   is,  to  consider  the 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  25 

dozen  squalid  savages  who  hunted  at  long  intervals  over  a  territory  of  a  thou- 
sand square  miles  as  owning  it  outright — necessarily  implies  a  similar  recogni- 
tion of  the  claims  of  every  white  hunter,  squatter,  horse-thief,  or  wandering 
cattleman." 

The  best  authorities  estimate  that  the  total  number  of  Indians  in  the  United 
States  did  not  exceed  at  any  time  during  the  nineteenth  century,  more  than 
about  three  hundred  and  fifteen  thousand;  and,  if  we  count  five  persons  to  a 
family,  this  would  give  to  each  Indian  family  a  principality  of  about  forty-eight 
square  miles,  or  over  thirty  thousand  acres ;  and,  applying  this  arithmetic  to 
the  present  limits  of  the  state  of  Iowa,  we  would  have  had  a  little  over  five 
thousand  Indians,  where  we  now  have  more  than  two  and  a  quarter  millions  of 
whites.  The  truth  is  that  the  only  title  known  to  the  Indian  was  that  of  posses- 
sion, and  that  this  passed  from  day  to  day  and  from  tribe  to  tribe,  according  to 
the  fortunes  of  war,  or  the  necessities  of  the  chase.  The  best  and  clearest  state- 
ment upon  this  subject  is  found  in  an  oration  delivered  by  John  Quincy  Adams, 
in  December,  1802,  and  as  his  theory  and  arguments  seem  to  have  been  fol- 
lowed by  our  statesmen  in  their  dealings  with  the  Indians,  we  add  a  brief 
quotation  from  that  address:  "There  are  moralists  who  have  questioned  the 
right  of  Europeans  to  intrude  upon  the  possessions  of  the  aborigines  in  any 
case  and  under  any  limitations  whatsoever.  But  have  they  naturally  considered 
the  whole  subject?  The  Indian  right  of  possession  itself  stands,  with  regard 
to  the  greatest  part  of  the  country,  upon  a  questionable  foundation.  Their 
cultivated  fields,  their  constructed  habitations,  a  space  of  ample  sufficiency  for 
their  subsistence,  and  whatever  they  had  annexed  to  themselves  by  personal 
labor,  was  undoubtedly  by  the  laws  of  nature  theirs.  But  what  is  the  right  of 
a  hunstman  to  the  forest  of  a  thousand  miles  over  which  he  has  accidentally 
ranged  in  quest  of  prey?  Shall  the  liberal  bounties  of  Providence  to  the  race 
of  man  be  monopolized  by  one  of  ten  thousand  for  whom  they  were  created? 
Shall  the  exuberant  bosom  of  the  common  mother,  amply  adequate  to  the 
nourishment  of  millions,  be  claimed  exclusively  by  a  few  hundreds  of  her  off- 
spring? Shall  the  lordly  savage  not  only  disdain  the  virtues  and  enjoyments 
of  civilization  himself,  but  shall  he  control  the  civilization  of  a  world?  Shall 
he  forbid  the  wilderness  to  blossom  like  the  rose?  Shall  he  forbid  the  oaks 
of  the  forest  to  fall  before  the  axe  of  industry  and  rise  again  transformed  into 
the  habitation  of  ease  and  elegance?  Shall  he  doom  an  immense  region  of 
the  globe  to  perpetual  desolation,  and  to  hear  the  howlings  of  the  tiger  and  the 
wolf  silence  forever  the  voice  of  human  gladness?  Shall  the  fields  and  the 
valleys  which  a  beneficent  God  has  framed  to  teem  with  the  life  of  innumerable 
multitudes  be  condemned  to  everlasting  barrenness?  Shall  the  mighty  rivers. 
poured  out  by  the  hands  of  nature  as  channels  of  communication  between 
numerous  nations,  roll  their  waters  in  sullen  silence  and  eternal  solitude  to  the 
deep?  Have  hundreds  of  commodious  harbors,  a  thousand  leagues  of  coast, 
and  a  boundless  ocean  been  spread  in  the  front  of  this  land,  and  shall  every 
purpose  of  utility  to  which  they  could  apply  be  prohibited  by  the  tenant  of  the 
woods?  No,  generous  philanthrophists !  Heaven  has  not  been  thus  inconsistent 
in  the  works  of  its  hands.  Heaven  has  not  thus  placed  at  irreconcilable  strife 
its  moral  laws  with  its  physical  creation." 


26  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

Indeed,  the  Indians  themselves  claimed  that  they  did  not  understand  the 
meaning  of  the  word  boundaries,  and  Mahaska  is  said  to  have  told  Governor 
Clark,  at  Prairie  du  Chien,  that  he  claimed  no  land  in  particular. 

The  first  of  the  Indian  treaties  that  affected  the  lands  of  the  middle  west 
was  made  at  St.  Louis  in  1804,  by  which  the  Sacs  and  Foxes  were  supposed  to 
have  ceded  to  the  United  States  the  greater  part  of  their  possessions  in  Illinois, 
with  the  right  on  the  part  of  the  Indians  to  hunt  upon  all  the  ceded  lands  until 
they  were  wanted  for  actual  settlement.  The  Black  Hawk  war  was  the  direct 
result  of  this  latter  provision,  because  under  it  the  Indians  were  not  obliged  to 
immediately  vacate  the  land  which  they  had  ceded  to  the  government.  Within 
the  limits  of  this  cession  was  the  principal  village  of  the  Sacs,  which  was  also 
the  home  of  Black  Hawk.  In  1816,  another  treaty  was  made  with  these  same 
Indians,  which  confirmed  the  treaty  of  1804,  but  Black  Hawk  did  not  sign 
either  one  of  these  treaties,  and  seems  to  have  kept  many  of  the  Foxes  from 
assenting  to  the  treaty  of  1804,  claiming  that  it  was  not  binding,  because  nego- 
tiated by  chiefs  who  were  not  authorized  to  make  it,  but  who  had  been  sent  to 
St.  Louis  merely  to  secure  the  release  of  some  Indian  prisoners.  Black  Hawk 
and  his  adherents,  who  were  known  as  the  British  band,  continued  to  become 
more  and  more  dissatisfied  with  the  treaty  of  1804,  and  with  the  loss  of  the 
lands  which  they  had  so  long  occupied  and  which  held  the  graves  of  so  many 
of  their  ancestors.  Keokuk  and  Black  Hawk  did  not  agree  upon  this  subject, 
Keokuk  being  willing  to  abide  by  the  treaty  and  to  vacate  the  lands  included  in 
it ;  and  in  about  1829,  Keokuk  with  many  of  the  Sacs,  crossed  the  Mississippi 
river  and  settled  in  this  region.  Keokuk,  Wapello  and  Poweshiek  planted  vil- 
lages on  or  near  the  Muscatine  slough  and  the  Iowa  river.  It  is  probable  that 
Keokuk's  first  village  was  located  about  six  miles  southwest  of  Muscatine  on 
the  high  ground  on  the  west  bank  of  that  part  of  Muscatine  slough  which  has 
been  called  Keokuk's  lake.  At  least  this  is  the  statement  made  by  Hon.  J.  P. 
Walton  in  the  Annals  of  Iowa,  Vol.  2,  Page  56.  Mr.  Walton  says  that  this 
village  occupied  nearly  fifty  acres  and  that  at  the  time  he  wrote  (1895).  there 
were  parties  yet  living  in  that  vicinity  who  had  seen  the  framework  of  the 
buildings  in  the  Indian  village.  He  also  says  that  this  village  was  probably 
vacated  in  the  year  1834,  but  if  he  means  to  say  that  Keokuk  had  his  home 
there  until  1834,  he  is  probably  mistaken,  because  we  shall  find,  when  we  come 
to  the  treaty  of  1832  for  the  "Black  Hawk  Purchase,"  that  that  document 
locates  Keokuk's  principal  village  as  being  on  the  west  bank  of  the  Iowa  river, 
about  twelve  miles  from  its  mouth,  which  would  indicate  that  in  1832  Keokuk 
was  living  down  the  Iowa  river,  about  six  miles  below  Wapello,  not  far  from 
the  old   village  of  Florence. 

Wapello  undoubtedly  settled  on  the  Iowa  river,  but  just  at  what  point  his 
first  village  was  located,  it  is  difficult  to  say.  There  is  a  well  recognized  site 
of  an  old  Indian  village,  on  the  east  bank  of  the  Iowa  river  a  short  distance 
north  of  Harrison  hill,  and  it  is  thought  this  was  the  first  place  of  residence 
in  this  county  chosen  by  Wapello.  At  the  time  Lieutenant  Lea  made  his  trip 
through  this  country  in  1835  he  seems  to  have  learned  that  Wapello  had  a 
village  on  the  west  bank  of  the  Iowa  river  just  north  of  the  present  city  of 
Wapello,  and  probably  on  the  northern  part  of  the  land  now  owned  by  Mr. 
E.  M.  Friend,  or  a  little  west  of  it.     Poweshiek  settled  a  little  further  to  the 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  27 

north;  possibly  his  first  settlement  was  not  far  from  the  station  of  Bard.  But 
it  is  certain  that  he  had  a  village  at  the  forks  of  the  Iowa  and  Cedar  rivers, 
which  was  named  Kiskkakosh,  and  that  shortly  after  establishing  this  village 
he  moved  again  further  up  the  river.  About  this  same  time  another  Indian 
chief,  Tama,  crossed  over  from  Illinois  and  established  a  village  on  Flint  creek, 
in  Des  Moines  county.  But  Black  Hawk,  though  repeatedly  asked  by  the 
officers  and  the"  agents  of  the  government  to  do  so,  refused  to  leave  the  Rock 
river  country.  He  still  harped  upon  the  fact  that  the  treaty  of  1804  was  not 
binding,  and  also  claimed  that  lands  could  not  be  sold.  He  said:  "My  reason 
teaches  me  that  land  cannot  be  sold.  Nothing  can  be  sold  but  such  things  as 
can  be  carried  away."  At  that  time  Andrew  Jackson  was  president  and  few 
men  understood  the  Indian  problem  better  than  he.  It  had  undoubtedly  long 
been  a  favorite  idea  with  Jackson  that  the  Indians  should  be  moved  west  of 
the  Mississippi  river  whether  they  were  willing  or  not,  but  of  course  he  pre- 
ferred that  they  should  go  peaceably.  Jackson's  attention  had  been  forcibly 
drawn  to  this  subject  by  the  attempt  of  the  Cherokee  Indians  to  establish  a 
national  government  upon  the  lands  they  occupied  within  the  state  of  Georgia. 
Jackson  declared  that  if  the  Indians  chose  to  remain  within  the  limits  of  the 
various  states  they  could  do  so  only  upon  condition  that  they  subject  themselves 
to  state  laws.  In  that  event  of  course  they  were  to  be  protected  in  the  enjoy- 
ment of  "those  possessions  which  they  had  improved  by  their  industry,  because," 
said  Jackson,  "it  seems  visionary  to  me  to  suppose  that  claims  can  be  allowed 
on  tracts  of  country  on  which  they  (the  Indians)  have  neither  dwelt  nor  made 
improvements,  merely  because  they  have  seen  them  from  the  mountains,  or 
passed  them  in  the  chase."  In  1830  with  the  authority  of  congress,  Jackson 
ordered  the  Indians  removed  from  the  lands  which  they  ceded  in   1804. 

But  Black  Hawk  hated  the  Americans  anyway,  and  had  no  notion  of  reced- 
ing from  the  position  he  had  already  taken,  viz.,  that  the  treaty  of  1804  did 
not  consent  that  the  land  on  which  his  village  stood  should  be  ceded  to  the 
United  States.  It  detracts  much  from  the  glamour  that  some  writers  have 
sought  to  throw  around  the  character  of  Black  Hawk  to  know  that  he  could 
not  have  been  sincere  in  this  claim,  because  he  had,  on  three  separate  and 
solemn  occasions,  viz:  in  1819,  1822  and  1825,  "touched  the  quill"  and  assented 
to  treaties  which  reaffirmed  that  of  1804.  Black  Hawk's  worst  adviser  was 
undoubtedly  the  half  Winnebago  and  half  Sac,  known  as  White  Cloud,  or  the 
Prophet.  He  was  a  crafty  and  reckless  mischief  maker,  who  exercised  great 
influence  because  of  his  supposed  sacred  character,  and  because  of  his  earnest 
and  persuasive  speech.  Dr.  Thwaites,  in  his  essay  on  the  "Black  Hawk  War," 
upon  which  we  have  drawn  freely,  gives  an  interesting  account  of  the  Prophet's 
dress.  "In  the  matter  of  dress  he  must  at  times  have  been  picturesque.  An 
eye  witness,  who  was  in  attendance  on  a  Potawatomi  council  wherein  the  wizard 
was  urging  the  cause  of  Black  Hawk,  describes  him  as  dressed  in  a  faultless 
white  buckskin  suit,  fringed  at  the  seams;  wearing  a  towering  head  dress  of 
the  same  material,  capped  with  a  bunch  of  fine  eagle  feathers ;  each  ankle  girt 
with  a  wreath  of  small  sleighbells  which  jingled  at  every  step,  while  in  his 
nose  and  ears  were  ponderous  gold  rings  gently  tinkling  one  against  the  other 
as  he  shook  his  ponderous  head   in  the  warmth  of  harangue."     The  prophet 


28  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

and  the  British  agent  at  Maiden,  and  many  others,  coincided  with  Black  Hawk, 
giving  him  just  the  advice  he  wanted. 

In  the  spring  of  1830  Black  Hawk  and  his  hand,  after  an  unsuccessful  hunt. 
came  hack  "to  find  their  town  almost  completely  shattered,  many  of  the  graves 
ploughed  over,  and  the  whites  more  abusive  than  ever,"  and  encroashing  more 
and  more  upon  the  lands  at  the  mouth  of  Rock  river.  Things  went  from  bad 
to  worse,  when,  in  the  spring  of  1831,  Black  Hawk  was  officially  informed  of 
the  order  from  Washington  for  him  to  go  to  the  west  side  of  the  Mississippi. 
It  was  then,  according  to  Galland's  "Iowa  Emigrant,"  that  Black  Hawk  gathered 
his  band  around  him  and  made  them  this  speech,  which  is  characteristic  of  the 
man,  and  seems  to  fully  state  his  view  of  his  grievances : 

"Warriors :  Sixty  summers  or  more  have  gone  since  our  fathers  sat  down 
here,  and  our  mothers  erected  their  lodges  on  this  spot.  On  these  pastures  our 
horses  have  fattened ;  our  wives  and  daughters  have  cultivated  the  cornfields, 
and  planted  beans  and  melons  and  squashes ;  from  these  rivers  our  young  men 
have  obtained  an  abundance  of  fish.  Here,  too,  you  have  been  protected  from 
your  old  enemy,  the  Sioux,  by  the  mighty  Mississippi.  And  here  are  the  bones 
of  our  warriors  and  chiefs  and  orators.  But  alas!  wdiat  do  I  hear?  The  birds 
that  have  long  gladdened  these  groves  with  their  melody  now  sing  a  melancholy 
song!  They  say,  'The  red  man  must  leave  his  home,  to  make  room  for  the 
white  man.'  The  Long  Knives  want  it  for  their  speculation  and  greed.  They 
want  to  live  in  our  houses,  plant  corn  in  our  fields,  and  plough  up  our  graves ! 
They  want  to  fatten  their  hogs  on  our  dead,  not  yet  mouldered  in  their  graves ! 
We  are  ordered  to  remove  to  the  west  bank  of  the  Mississippi;  there  to  erect 
other  houses,  and  open  new  fields,  of  which  we  shall  soon  be  robbed  again  by 
these  pale  faces !  They  tell  us  that  our  great  father,  the  chief  of  the  Long 
Knives,  has  commanded  us,  his  red  children,  to  give  this,  our  greatest  town, 
our  greatest  graveyard,  and  our  best  home,  to  his  white  children !  I  do  not 
believe  it.  It  cannot  be  true;  it  is  impossible  that  so  great  a  chief  should  com- 
pel us  to  seek  new  homes,  and  prepare  new  cornfields,  and  that,  too,  in  a 
country  where  our  women  and  children  will  be  in  danger  of  being  murdered  by 
our  enemies.  No !  No !  Our  great  father,  the  chief  of  the  Long  Knives,  wall 
never  do  this.  I  have  heard  these  silly  tales  for  seven  winters,  that  we  were 
to  be  driven  from  our  homes.  You  know  we  offered  the  Long  Knives  a  large 
tract  of  country  abounding  with  lead  on  the  west  side  of  the  Mississippi,  if 
they  would  relinquish  their  claim  to  this  little  spot.  We  will,  therefore,  repair 
our  houses  which  the  pale  faced  vagabonds  have  torn  down  and  burnt,  and 
we  will  plant  our  corn;  and  if  these  white  intruders  annoy  us,  we  will  tell  them 
to  depart.  We  will  offer  them  no  violence,  except  in  self-defense.  We  will 
not  kill  their  cattle,  or  destroy  any  of  their  property,  but  their  scutah  n'apo 
(whiskey)  we  will  search  for  and  destroy,  throwing  it  out  upon  the  earth, 
wherever  we  find  it.  We  have  asked  permission  of  the  intruders  to  cultivate 
our  own  fields,  around  which  they  have  erected  wooden  walls.  They  refuse, 
and  forbid  us  the  privilege  of  climbing  over.  We  will  throw  down  these  walls. 
and,  as  these  pale-faces  seem  unwilling  to  live  in  the  community  with  us,  let 
them,  and  not  us,  depart.  The  land  is  ours,  not  theirs.  We  inherited  it  from 
our  fathers;  we  have  never  sold  it.  If  some  drunken  dogs  of  our  people  sold 
lands  they  did  not  own,  our  rights  remain.     We  have  no  chiefs  who  are  author- 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  29 

ized  to  sell  our  cornfields,  our  homes,  or  the  bones  of  our  dead.  The  great 
chief  of  the  Long  Knives,  I  believe,  is  too  wise  and  good  to  approve  acts  of 
robbery  and  injustice,  though  I  have  found  true  the  statement  of  my  British 
friends  in  Canada,  that  the  'Long  Knives  will  always  claim  the  land  where  they 
are  permitted  to  make  a  track  with  their  foot,  or  mark  a  tree.'  I  will  not, 
however,  believe  that  the  great  chief,  who  is  pleased  to  call  himself  our 
'Father.'  will  send  his  warriors  against  his  children  for  no  other  cause  than 
contending  to  cultivate  their  own  fields,  and  occupy  their  own  houses.  No !  I 
will  not  believe  it.  until  I  see  his  arm}-.  Not  until  then  will  1  forsake  the  graves 
of  my  ancestors,  and  the  home  of  my  youth !" 

In  his  biography  Black  Hawk  also  complains,  doubtless  with  truth,  that 
white  people  had  brought  whiskey  into  the  village,  and  cheated  the  Indians 
without  mercy.  He  says  that  in  the  case  of  one  man  who  continued  this  "fradu- 
lent  practice"  openly,  he  took  some  of  his  young  braves,  went  to  the  man's 
house,  and  broke  in  the  head  of  his  whiskey  barrel. 

At  length,  confronted  by  General  Gaines,  in  command  of  several  hundred 
regulars,  and  sixteen  hundred  Illinois  volunteers  under  Governor  John  Rey- 
nolds, Black  Hawk  crossed  over  to  the  west  side  of  the  Mississippi  river,  signed 
another  treaty  agreeing  never  again  to  go  on  the  east  side  without  the  permis- 
sion of  the  government,  and,  as  it  was  then  too  late  to  raise  a  crop,  he  and  his 
followers  spent  the  remainder  of  the  season  wandering  about,  brooding  over 
their  wrongs.  The  following  winter  he  was  engaged  in  making  up  his  war 
party,  much  of  the  time  being  spent  about  Fort  Madison,  and  much  of  the 
time  in  this  county.  The  Black  Hawk  war,  like  many  other  notable  things, 
undoubtedly  had  its  beginning  in  this  county. 

Dr.  Thwaites  says:  "On  the  6th  of  April,  1832,  Black  Hawk  and  Neapope, 
with  about  five  hundred  warriors  (chiefly  Sauks),  their  squaws  and  children, 
and  all  their  possessions,  crossed  the  Mississippi  at  Yellow  Banks,  below  the 
mouth  of  the  Rock,  and  invaded  the  state  of  Illinois." 

And  William  L.  Toole,  one  of  our  earliest  and  foremost  pioneers,  in  the 
January,  1868,  number  of  the  "Annals  of  Iowa,"  speaking  of  the  Indian  trail 
down  the  Iowa  from  Poweshiek's  village  to  Wapello  village,  then  to  the  village 
of  Chief  Keokuk,  and  then  across  on  the  north  side  of  the  river  to  the  ancient 
mounds  at  Toolesboro,  says :  "And  on  this  trail  the  warriors  of  those  villages 
passed  to  the  Masso-Sepo  (Indian  for  Mississippi)  with  their  ponies,  and  across 
it  to  the  upper  sand-bank  (New  Boston),  some  going  in  canoes  down  the  Iowa, 
taking  their  arms,  ammunition,  etc.,  preparatory  to  the  war  of  1832." 

Still  another  authority  for  the  statement  that  the  starting  point  for  Black 
Hawk's  war  expedition  was  in  this  county,  is  John  B.  Newhall,  in  his  "Emi- 
grants Guide."  In  speaking  of  Florence,  which  was  once  a  flourishing  and 
promising  hamlet,  supposed  to  have  been  located  on  the  very  spot  where  "Keo- 
kuk's principal  village"  stood  in  1832.  Mr.  Newhall  says:  "Florence  is  un- 
rivalled in  beauty  of  location.  It  has  one  of  the  best  ferries  upon  the  Iowa, 
and  is  surrounded  by  a  densely  populated  settlement.  Here  the  renowned  chief. 
Black  Hawk,  resided  until  the  Indian  hostilities  of  1832;  and  here,  'Beneath 
this  green  turf,  by  the  riv'let  of  sands,'  repose  the  bones  of  his  ancestors,  where 
they  have  rested   in  peace  .for  centuries.     It   was   for  this  sacred   spot  that  he 


30  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

gave  the  warwhoop,  and   rallied    forth   his  countrymen  to  the  last  deadly  con- 
flict, in  defense  of  their  homes,  and  the  graves 

'Where  sleep  their  warriors,  where  rival  chieftains  lay. 
And   mighty   tribes  swept   from  the   face  of  day.' 

"But  they  were  conquered,  and  this  illustrious  chief  was  doomed  to  wander 
a  stranger  in  the  land  of  his  forefathers.  His  lodge  was  still  standing  at  the 
time  the  country  was  surveyed.  The  writer  lingers  with  peculiar  interest  upon 
this  spot,  having  been  among  the  first  (White  men)  to  set  landmarks  of  civiliza- 
tion upon  the  'Keokuk  Reserve,'  having  laid  off  the  town  of  Florence,  and 
being  associated  in  the  ownership  of  this  celebrated  'Indian  council  house'  from 
its  transfer  from  the  Indians.  We  kept  it  nearly  two  years  in  good  state  of 
preservation,  and  strangers  from  far  and  near  came  to  look  upon  this  last 
monument  of  Black  Hawk.  But  in  an  evil  hour  the  sacrilegious  work  of  innova- 
tion had  taken  its  unsparing  sway,  and  the  thoughtless  denizens  razed  it  to  the 
earth  for  the  more  profitable  culture  of  a  cornfield." 

We  may  also  cite  Jesse  Williams'  "Iowa."  published  in  1840;  referring  to 
Township  -t,  North,  Range  2  West,  which  contains  both  Toolesboro  and  Flor- 
ence: he  says:  "This  Township  is  one  of  the  most  noted  in  the  territory.  Here 
the  celebrated  Indian  Chief  Black  Hawk  resided  until  the  Indian  hostilities  of 
1832, — and  it  is  here  where  the  bones  of  his  ancestors  have  rested  in  peace  for 
centuries, — and  it  was  for  this  spot,  this  sacred  spot,  that  he  gave  the  warwhoops 
and  rallied  forth  his  countrymen  to  the  last  deadly  struggle  in  defense  of  this, 
the  home  of  their  ancestors.  His  home  was  still  standing  at  the  time  when  the 
surveys  were  made;  it  stood  on  the  south  bank  of  the  Iowa  in  Section  20.  The 
village  of  Florence  was  located  on  the  south  fraction  of  Section  20." 

The  only  value  of  the  above  quotations  from  Newhall  and  Williams  is  that 
they  associate  Black  Hawk  with  the  vicinity  of  Florence  in  1832;  the  rest  is 
too  extravagant  to  be  within  the  limits  of  poetic  license.  To  Black  Hawk,  the 
resting  place  of  his  ancestors  was  at  the  mouth  of  Rock  river,  in  Illinois :  and 
even  had  Florence  been  the  "sacred  spot,"  it  and  all  the  land  around  it,  as  well 
as  nearly  all  of  Iowa,  was  in  the  undisputed  possession  of  the  Indians,  and  it 
required  neither  war  nor  warwhoop  to  insure  them  in  their  possession. 

The  early  opening  of  this  territory  to  settlement  by  the  whites,  is  due  to 
Black  Hawk's  foolhardy  war,  for  had  he  remained  peaceful,  he  could  have 
spent  his  life  here.  And  Keokuk  evidently  so  understood  the  situation,  for  he 
did  all  in  his  power  to  prevent  the  war. 

One  memorable  occurrence  said  to  have  happened  at  Keokuk's  village,  illus- 
trates both  the  eloquence  and  the  influence  of  Keokuk.  Emissaries  sent  by  the 
Prophet  had  made  inflammatory  speeches  to  the  Indians,  had  supplied  them 
with  whiskey,  and  had  excited  them  to  such  a  pitch  of  frenzv  that  they  declared 
for  war.  and  demanded  that  he,  their  chief,  should  lead  them.  Keokuk  arose 
slowly,   folded  his  blanket  across  his  breast,   and   said : 

"Braves,  I  am  your  chief,  to  rule  you  as  a  father  at  home,  and  to  lead  you 
to  war,  if  you  are  determined  to  go;  but  in  this  war  there  is  only  one  course. 
The  United  States  is  a  great  power;  and  unless  we  conquer,  we  must  perish. 
I  will  lead  you  on  one  condition  only,  that  we  put  our  old  men  and  the  women 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  31 

and  children  to  death,  and  resolve  when  we  cross  the  Mississippi  never  to  re- 
turn, but  perish  among  the  graves  of  our  fathers." 

This  speech  had  the  effect  of  bringing  the  clamorous  braves  to  a  realization 
of  the  madness  of  their  course,  with  the  result  that  few  of  Keokuk's  followers 
joined  in  the  Black  Hawk  war.  Black  Hawk  and  his  war  party  received  some 
accessions  east  of  the  Mississippi,  and,  after  perpetrating  a  few  outrages  and 
meeting  with  some  temporary  success,  the)'  suffered  a  most  signal  defeat  at 
Bad  Axe,  Wisconsin — a  defeat  almost  as  disgraceful  to  the  whites  for  its  wanton 
butchery,  as  it  was  disastrous  to  the .  Indians. 

The  battle  of  Bad  Axe  occurred  August  2,  1832,  and  as  a  result  of  it,  and 
of  the  subsequent  capture  of  Black  Hawk,  a  great  council  was  held,  to  which 
the  chiefs  who  had  joined  with  Black  Hawk  were  summoned.  This  council 
met  September  21,  1832,  at  Rock  Island.  The  United  States  was  represented 
by  General  Winfield  Scott,  and  Governor  John  Reynolds,  of  Illinois,  and  the 
Indians  were  represented  by  the  Sac  chiefs  Keokuk,  or  "he  who  has  been 
everywhere,"  Pa-she-pa-ho,  or  "the  stabber,"  Wawk-kum-mee,  or  "clear  water," 
and  O-sow-wish-kan-no,  or  "yellow  bird,"  and  by  the  Fox  chiefs  Wau-pel-la, 
or  "he  who  is  painted  white,"  Tay-wee-man,  or  "medicine  man,"  Pow-sheek, 
or  "the  roused  bear,"  Kaw-kaw-kee,  or  "the  crow,"  Mau-que-tee,  or  "the  bald 
eagle,"  and  others  of  both  tribes,  there  being  in  all  the  names  of  nine  Sacs  and 
twenty  Foxes  attached  to  the  treaty,  all  of  them  signing  by  their  marks. 

We  quote  the  main  parts  of  this  treaty : 

"Articles  of  a  treaty  of  peace,  friendship,  and  cession,  concluded  at  Fort 
Armstrong,  Rock  Island.  Illinois,  between  the  United  States  of  America,  by 
their  commissioners,  Major  General  Winfield  Scott,  of  the  United  States  Army, 
and  His  Excellency  John  Reynolds,  governor  of  the  state  of  Illinois,  and  the 
confederated  tribes  of  Sac  and  Fox  Indians,  represented  in  general  council,  by 
the  undersigned  chiefs,  head  men  and  warriors. 

"Whereas,  under  certain  lawless  and  desperate  leaders,  a  formidable  band, 
constituting  a  large  portion  of  the  Sac  and  Fox  nation,  left  their  country  in 
April  last,  and,  in  violation  of  treaties,  commenced  an  unprovoked  war  upon 
unsuspecting  and  defenceless  citizens  of  the  United  States,  sparing  neither  age 
nor  sex ;  and  whereas,  the  United  States,  at  a  great  expense  of  treasure,  have 
subdued  the  said  hostile  band,  killing  or  capturing  all  its  principal  chiefs  and 
warriors ;  the  said  states,  partly  as  indemnity  for  the  expenses  incurred,  and 
partlv  to  secure  the  future  safety  and  tranquillity  of  the  invaded  frontier,  de- 
mand of  the  said  tribes,  to  the  use  of  the  United  States,  a  cession  of  a  tract  of 
the  Sac  and  Fox  country,  bordering  on  said  frontier,  more  than  proportional 
to  the  numbers  of  the  hostile  band  who  have  been  so  conquered  and  subdued. 

"Article  1.  Accordingly,  the  confederated  tribes  of  Sacs  and  Foxes  hereby 
cede  to  the  United  States  forever,  all  the  lands  to  which  the  said  tribes  have 
title  or  claim  (with  the  exception  of  the  reservation  hereinafter  made),  included 
within  the  following  bounds,  to  wit:  'Beginning  on  the  Mississippi  river,  at 
the  point  where  the  Sac  and  Fox  northern  boundary  line,  as  established  by 
the  second  article  of  the  treaty  of  Prairie  du  Chien,  of  the  fifteenth  of  July, 
one    thousand    eight    hundred    and    thirty,    strikes    said    river:    thence,    up    said 


3:2  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

boundary  line  to  a  point  fifty  miles  from  the  Mississippi,  measured  on  said  line; 
thence,  in  a  right  line  to  the  nearest  point  on  the  Red  Cedar  of  the  Ioway. 
forty  miles  from  the  Mississippi  river ;  thence,  in  a  right  line  to  a  point  in  the 
northern  boundary  line  of  the  State  of  Missouri,  fifty  miles,  measured  on  said 
boundary,  from  the  Mississippi  river ;  thence,  by  the  last  mentioned  boundary 
to  the  Mississippi  river,  and  by  the  western  shore  of  said  river  to  the  place  of 
beginning.  And  the  said  confederated  tribes  of  Sacs  and  Foxes  hereby  stipu- 
late and  agree  to  remove  from  the  lands  herein  ceded  to  the  United  States,  on 
or  before  the  first  day  of  June  next;  and,  in  order  to  prevent  any  future  mis- 
understanding, it  is  expressly  understood,  that  no  band  or  party  of  the  Sac  or 
Fox  tribe  shall  reside,  plant,  fish,  or  hunt,  on  any  portion  of  the  ceded  country 
after  the  period  just  mentioned. 

"Article  2.  Out  of  the  cession  made  in  the  preceding  article,  the  United 
States  agree  to  a  reservation  for  the  use  of  the  said  confederated  tribes,  of  a 
tract  of  land  containing  four  hundred  square  miles,  to  be  laid  off  under  the 
direction  of  the  President  of  the  United  States,  from  the  boundarv  line  cross- 
ing the  Ioway  river  in  such  manner  that  nearly  an  equal  portion  of  the  reserva- 
tion may  be  on  both  sides  of  said  river,  and  extending  downwards,  so  as  to 
include  Ke-o-kuck's  principal  village  on  its  right  bank,  which  village  is  about 
twelve  miles   from  the  Mississippi   river. 

"Article  7.  Trusting  to  the  good  faith  of  the  neutral  bands  of  Sacs  and 
Foxes,  the  United  States  have  already  delivered  up  to  those  bands  the  great 
mass  of  prisoners  made  in  the  course  of  the  war  by  the  United  States,  and 
promise  to  use  their  influence  to  procure  the  delivery  of  other  Sacs  and  Foxes, 
who  may  still  be  prisoners  in  the  hands  of  a  band  of  Sioux  Indians,  the  friends 
of  the  United  States ;  but  the  following  named  prisoners  of  war,  now  in  con- 
finement, who  were  chiefs  ami  head  men.  shall  be  held  as  hostages  for  the 
future  good  conduct  of  the  late  hostile  bands,  during  the  pleasure  of  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States,  viz :  Muk-ka-ta-mish-a-ka-kaik  (or  Black  Hawk) 
and  his  two  sons;  Wau-ba-kee-shik  (the  Prophet)  his  brother  and  two  sons; 
Napope,  We-sheet  Ioway,  Pamaho,  and  Cha-kee-pa-shi-pa-ho  (the  little  stab- 
bing chief). 

********** 

"Article  10.  The  United  States,  besides  the  presents,  delivered  at  the  sign- 
ing of  this  treaty,  wishing  to  give  a  striking  evidence  of  their  mercy  and  liberal- 
ity, will  immediately  cause  to  be  issued  to  the  said  confederated  tribes,  princi- 
pally for  the  use  of  the  Sac  and  Fox  women  and  children,  whose  husbands, 
fathers  and  brothers,  have  been  killed  in  the  late  war,  and  generally  for  the 
use  of  the  whole  confederated  tribes,  articles  of  subsistence,  as  follows:  thirty- 
five  beef  cattle;  twelve  bushels  of  salt;  thirty  barrels  of  pork,  and  fifty  barrels 
of  flour ;  and  cause  to  be  delivered  for  the  same  purposes,  in  the  month  of 
April  next,  at  the  mouth  of  the  lower  Ioway.  six  thousand  barrels  of  maize  or 
Indian  corn. 

*  *  ******** 

"Article  12.  This  treaty  shall  take  effect  and  be  obligatory  on  the  contract- 
ing parties,  as  soon  as  the  same  shall  be  ratified  by  the  President  of  the  United 
States,  by  and  with  the  advice  and  consent  of  the  Senate  thereof. 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  33 

"Done  at  Fort  Armstrong,  Rock  Island,  Illinois,  this  twenty-first  day  of 
September,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  thirty-two. 
and  of  the  independence  of  the  United  States  the  fifty-seventh." 

The  land  acquired  by  this  treaty  was  sometimes  called  "Scott's  Purchase," 
and  sometimes  called  "The  Black  Hawk  Purchase,"  and  this  latter  name  is  the 
one  bv  which  it  is  best  known. 

Black  Hawk  was  present  at  the  treaty,  but  being  a  prisoner,  and  held  as  a 
hostage,  he  was  not  permitted  to  have  any  part  in  it,  except  that  he  was 
humiliated  by  being  placed  in  charge  of  Keokuk,  his  great  rival,  who  was  made 
chief  by  .Scott  and  Reynolds.  The  following  letter,  written  by  the  commissioners 
on  the  part  of  the  United  States  at  the  time,  was  resurrected  in  the  Interior 
Department,  and  will  be  interesting  in  connection  with  this  treaty. 

"Rock  Island,  September  22,  1832. 

"Sir:  As  commissioners  on  the  part  of  the  United  States,  who  have  nego- 
tiated treaties  with  the  Winnebago  Nation  and  the  confederated  tribes  of  Sacs 
and  Foxes,  we  have  promised  medals  to  certain  Indians  as  follows :  Tohaly 
Winnebago,  half  Sioux,  belonging  to  the  Winnebagoes  under  General  Street's 
Agency  (the  Indian  who  took  Black  Hawk,  and  the  Prophet)  a  medal  of  the 
second  size;  to  the  Stabbing  Chief,  a  Sac,  and  to  Wapella,  a  Fox,  a  medal,  each, 
of  the  first  or  largest  size. 

"We  will  beg  you  to  send  the  three  medals  promised  as  above,  to  the  Agents 
of  these  Nations,  respectively,  to  be  presented  in  the  name,  and  in  behalf  of 
the  United   States. 

"The  medals  left  by  you,  with  one  of  the  commissioners,  have  been  disposed 
of  as  follows :  One  of  the  largest  size  to  the  principal  chief,  Canomance,  a 
Winnebago  of  General  Street's  Agency;  one  of  the  third  size  to  the  son  of  the 
Crow,  or  Blind,  a  Winnebago,  of  the  Rock  River  Agency,  who  served  gallantly 
with  General  Dodge,  in  the  late  campaign ;  one  of  the  largest  size  to  Keo-kuck, 
a  Sac,  whom  we  made  a  Chief,  in  the  name  of  the  President  of  the  United 
States,  and  with  the  approbation  of  the  confederated  tribes;  one  of  the  second 
size  to  Ma-ton-e-qua,  a  Fox  chief,  and  one  each,  of  the  smallest  size  to  Pe-a- 
che-noa,  and  Wah-ko-mu,  two  young  Sac  chiefs,  and  Ma-qua-pa-che-to,  a  young 
Fox  chief. 

"The  box  of  Indian  goods,  containing  red  and  blue  cloth,  blankets,  shirts, 
handkerchiefs,  knives,  and  paints,  and  the  keg  of  tobacco  left  by  you  with  the 
same  commissioner,  have  been  distributed,  with  many  other  presents  purchased 
here,  among  the  tribes  with  which  we  have  held  treaties. 

"We  have  the  honor  to  be,  with  great  respect, 

"Yr  mo  obt, 

"(Signature)     Winfield  Scott. 
"John  Reynolds, 

"General  William  Clark,  Superintendent  of  Indian  Affairs." 

We  had  considerable  curiosity  to  learn  the  particulars  as  to  the  fulfillment, 
on  the  part  of  the  government  of  the  10th  article  of  the  treaty,  providing  for 
the  delivery  of  the  six  thousand  bushels  of  corn  at  the  mouth  of  the  "lower 
Ioway"   in   April,    1833,   as   it   would   certainly   be   the   first   official   transaction 


34  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

within  the  limits  of  Louisa  county.  The  following  letter  is  all  that  we  have 
been  able  to  get,  but  it  is  interesting  as  showing  that  before  "we-uns"  began 
to  raise  corn,  it  cost  a  dollar  a  bushel  delivered  here  by  boat. 

"SUPERINTENDENCY    OF    INDIAN   AFFAIRS, 

"St.  Louis,  July  30,  1833. 
"Sir:  My  bill  of  exchange  of  this  date,  favr  of  Henry  S.  Coxe,  Esq., 
Cash.,  of  the  Branch  Rank  of  the  United  States  at  this  place,  or  order,  for  Six- 
Thousand  Dollars,  is  on  account  of  the  purchase  of  corn  for  the  Sacs  and  Foxes, 
under  the  tenth  article  of  their  Treaty  of  21st  Sept..  1832,  and  under  appropria- 
tion of  2nd  March,  1833, — and  which  when  paid  will  be  chargeable  to  me  on 
that  account. 

"I   have  the  honor  to  be 
"With  high  respect, 
"Your  most  ob'  ser't, 

"Wm.  Clark. 
"The  Hon.  Lewis  Cass,  Secretary  of  War." 

The  reader  will  already  have  formed  some  idea  of  Black  Hawk  and  Keokuk, 
but  perhaps  a  few  additional  words  in  regard  to  them  and  also  a  brief  sketch 
of  Wapello  would  be  appropriate.  Black  Hawk  was  born  at  the  Sac  village  near 
Rock  river,  in  17(17,  aml  although  not  a  chief  either  by  heredity  or  election,  he 
became  in  time  the  acknowledged  head  of  his  people.  He  was  possessed  of  con- 
siderable ambition  and  seemed  to  be  always  looking  for  a  grievance.  He  was 
jealous  of  Keokuk  and  Wapello  and  usually  found  an  opportunity  to  dispute  with 
them  when  any  important  question  was  to  be  decided.  He  may  have  been  honest 
in  many  of  his  opinions  but  was  easily  influenced,  especially  in  unwise  direc- 
tions. He  took  part  under  Tecumseh  with  the  British  in  the  war  of  181 2  and 
he  was  always  a  British  sympathizer.  With  his  heart  broken  and  as  the  result 
of  the  war,  and  his  dethronement  in  favor  of  Keokuk,  Black  Hawk  died  in  Octo- 
ber. 1838,  near  the  Des  Moines  river,  in  Davis  county.  Iowa.  It  is  said  that  in 
the  following  year  an  Illinois  physician  rifled  his  grave  and  that  upon  complaint 
being  made  by  Black  Hawk's  followers,  the  skeleton  was  delivered  to  Governor 
Lucas  at  Burlington,  and  was  burned  on  the  night  of  January  16,  1853,  while 
deposited  in  an  office  in  Burlington,  pending  its  removal  to  Iowa  City. 

Keokuk,  as  we  have  already  seen,  belonged  to  the  peace  party.  He  was  a 
friend  to  the  Americans  and  was  opposed  to  the  mad  counsels  of  Black  Hawk. 
He  seemed  to  have  some  of  the  gifts  of  a  statesman  and  diplomatist.  He  was  a 
large  man,  of  rather  fine  figure,  with  dignified  and  graceful  manners,  with  a  pow- 
erful voice  and  a  rather  prepossessing  countenance.  He  was  fond  of  a  good 
horse  and  liked  to  make  a  great  show,  and  it  is  said  that  he  possessed  the  finest 
horse  in  the  west  at  the  time  George  Catlin  visited  his  village  on  the  Des  Moines 
river  and  painted  his  portrait.  He  seemed  to  have  the  ability  to  organize  and  to 
discipline  his  men  and  to  hold  them  in  subjection.  It  is  said  that  Keokuk  was  not 
a  full  blooded  Indian,  but  that  his  mother's  name  was  La  Lott,  a  half  breed 
Indian  woman.  The  authority  for  this  statement  occurs  in  a  pamphlet  entitled 
"The  Old  Settlers."  published  in  Keokuk,  in  December,  187(1.  In  this  pamphlet 
i^  a  copy  of  a  letter  to  General  William  Clark,  superintendent  of  Indian  Affairs. 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  35 

at  St.  Louis,  dated  June  9,  1830,  written  by  Thomas  Forsythe,  Indian  agent,  on 
behalf  of  six  Indian  chiefs,  among  whom  were  Tiamah  and  Keokuk.  The  body 
of  the  letter  refers  to  the  possession  of  the  "half  breed  lands"  under  the  treaty 
of  August  4,  1824,  and  in  a  postscript,  "La  Lott,  a  half  breed,"  is  referred  to  as 
Keokuk's  mother,  and  a  request  is  made  that  she  have  a  share  in  the  half  breed 
lands. 

Keokuk  lived  in  this  county  down  about  the  site  of  the  old  village  of  Florence 
for  a  few  years,  immediately  following  the  Black  Hawk  war,  and  moved  from 
there  to  lands  on  the  Des  Moines  river,  probably  a  short  time  before  the  cession 
by  the  Indians  of  what  is  known  as  the  "Keokuk  reservation,"  to  which  refer- 
ence will  be  made  hereafter. 

Wapello,  or  Waupella,  or  Wapella,  as  the  name  is  variously  written,  was  a 
prominent  Fox,  or  Musquakie  Indian.  We  quote  an  interesting  account  of  him 
from  Mr.  Newhall's  work :  "He  was  among  the  delegation  that  visited  Wash- 
ington in  1837  and  made  a  very  favorable  impression  by  his  dignified  and  correct 
deportment  on  that  occasion.  In  stature,  he  is  more  heavily  built  than  the  major- 
ity of  the  Indians,  and  has  the  appearance  of  great  muscular  strength.  His  vil- 
lage has  been  (until  the  purchase  of  the  Keokuk  reserve  in  1836)  upon  the  banks 
of  the  Iowa,  the  present  town  of  which  still  retains  his  name,  being  the  seat  of 
justice  of  Louisa  county.  Wapella  has  been  much  in  war.  I  think  he  informed 
me  last  summer  (1840),  that  he  had  been  in  battle  thirty  different  times,  prin- 
cipally with  the  Sioux.  One  of  his  greatest  battles  was  on  the  head  waters  of  the 
Des  Moines,  a  few  years  ago,  where  he  led  a  party,  and  commenced  an  attack 
upon  three  Sioux  villages,  took  many  scalps,  and  brought  away  several  prisoners. 

"I  met  him  at  Washington  in  1837;  he  instantly  recognized  me,  and  giving 
me  a  hearty  shake  of  the  hand,  said  he  was  very  glad  to  meet  with  a  che-mo-co- 
mon  (white  man)  whom  he  had  known  beyond  the  'big  Sepo'  (Mississippi). 
Having  some  curiosity  to  witness  their  diplomacy  while  negotiating  with  govern- 
ment for  the  sale  of  their  land,  I  attended  several  of  their  councils.  I  noticed 
on  these  occasions,  Wapella  fully  recognized  the  authority  of  Keokuck.  'My 
father.'  says  Wapella,  addressing  the  secretary  of  war,  'you  have  heard  what 
my  chief  had  to  say ;  his  tongue  is  ours — what  he  says,  we  all  say.' 

"Perhaps  I  cannot  better  conclude  this  sketch  of  Wapella  than  by  quoting  his 
speech  in  reply  to  Governor  Everett,  at  the  Boston  state  house  in  1837,  and 
which  I  extract  from  'Biographical  Sketches  of  the  Indians.' 

"After  Keokuck  had  addressed  the  governor  and  members  of  the  legislature, 
Wapella  made  the  following  speech:  T  am  very  happy  to  meet  my  friends  in  the 
land  of  my  forefathers.  When  a  boy  I  recollect  my  grandfather  told  me  of  this 
place,  where  the  white  man  used  to  take  our  fathers  by  the  hand.  I  am  very 
happy  that  this  land  has  induced  so  many  men  to  come  upon  it.  By  that,  I  think 
thev  get  a  good  living  on  it  and  I  am  pleased  that  they  content  themselves  to  stay 
upon  it.  I  am  always  glad  to  give  the  white  man  my  hand,  and  call  him  brother. 
Perhaps  you  have  heard  that  my  tribe  is  respected  by  all  others,  and  is  the  oldest 
among  the  tribes.  I  have  shaken  hands  with  a  great  many  different  tribes  of 
people.  I  am  very  much  gratified  that  I  have  lived  to  come  and  talk  to  the  white 
men  in  this  house,  where  my  father  talked,  which  I  heard  of  so  many  years  ago. 
I  will  go  home  and  tell  all  I  have  seen  and  it  shall  never  be  forgotten  by  my 
children.' 


36  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

"Wapella's  deportment  and  bearing  towards  strangers  is  marked  by  much 
true  dignity  and  politeness.  Having  visited  his  village  last  summer  he  manifested 
much  satisfaction  that  I  had  called  upon  him.  When  I  informed  him  that  I  had 
come  to  see  his  people  and  his  village  to  write  a  description  of  it  in  a  book,  he 
seemed  highly  gratified  and  wished  to  know  if  I  would  send  him  one.  It  was  with 
some  difficulty  tbat  he  could,  at  first,  appreciate  a  visit  so  disinterested,  that  a 
motive  merely  to  gratify  curiosity  could  have  brought  me  to  this  country.  When 
fully  convinced  that  such  was  the  fact  he  appreciated  it  as  a  high  honor.  He 
said  that  white  men  generally  came  and  questioned  them  about  selling  more  of 
their  country,  which  appeared  to  annoy  him,  and  said  his  people  did  not  wish 
to  sell  any  more  land.  He  was  quite  communicative  and  made  many  inquiries 
about  Washington  and  Boston.  He  said  Boston  was  a  'nisheshing'  place,  and 
then  showed  me  his  silver  medal,  presented  by  the  city  of  Boston  in  1837.  He 
thought  Governor  Everett  was  a  great  'brave'  and  a  great  'medicine  man'  and 
that  he  had  a  big  'wickeup'  on  a  high  hill  (the  state  house),  and  on  the  prairie 
(common)  below,  he  had  all  his  'warriors'  out  with  their  big  guns  when  he  was 
there.  He  said  he  should  be  very  glad  to  see  the  great  'brave'  from  Boston  at  his 
wickeup  and  he  hoped  the  Great  or  Good  Spirit  would  bless  him  and  all  his  war- 
riors. He  wished  me  to  give  his  compliments  to  him  (Governor  Everett)  if  I 
should  ever  see  him  again,  for,  said  he,  'my  heart  is  good  towards  him.'  " 

We  find  considerable  interesting  information  about  Wapella  in  the  "Annals 
of  Iowa,"  Vol.  2,  Page,  636,  and  glean  that  in  1816  or  later  he  ruled  over  one 
of  the  old  Indian  villages  near  the  mouth  of  Rock  river  and  that  in  1829,  when 
he  moved  to  the  west  side  of  the  Mississippi,  he  established  himself  on  Muscatine 
slough.  In  1836,  about  the  time  of  the  Keokuk  reserve  treaty,  he  moved  to  a 
point  near  Ottumwa,  where  he  died  in  March,  1842.  Just  prior  to  his  death 
he  had  started  on  a  trip  to  visit  the  scenes  and  haunts  of  his  former  years,  but 
was  taken  sick  and  died  near  the  forks  of  the  Skunk  river.  At  his  own  request 
he  was  buried  near  the  grave  of  his  old  friend.  General  Joseph  M.  Street,  at  wdiat 
is  known  as  the  old  Sac  and  Fox  Agency. 


CHAPTER  V. 
THE  IOWA  DISTRICT. 

OUR  VARIOUS   RULERS — DIFFERENT   TERRITORIES ZEBULON    M.    PIKE REV.    CUTTING 

MARSH — ALBERT    M.    LEA REV.    JAMES    L.    SCOTT REV.    ASA    TURNER COLONEL 

CROGAN ESTABLISHMENT  OF  DEMOINE  COUNTY. 

The  kaleidoscopic  changes  of  dominion  which  the  territory  now  embraced  in 
this  county  underwent,  the  different  jurisdictions  and  various  forms  of  govern- 
mental administration  to  which  it  was  subjected  before  the  time  Iowa  became  an 
organized  territory,  have  been  briefly  set  forth  in  chronological  order  in  the  table 
"Appendix,"  entitled  "Charters,  Grants,  Treaties  and  Laws,  affecting  Louisa 
county."  Spain,  France  and  England,  at  various  times  and  under  various  claims 
and  pretexts,  asserted  sovereignty  over  this  part  of  the  world  prior  to  1803. 
Then  Napoleon,  seeking  in  the  interest  of  France  to  build  up  a  maritime  rival  to 
England,  and  Jefferson,  though  feeling  that  he  thereby  may  have  overstepped 
the  constitution,  arranged  for  the  purchase  by  the  United  States  of  the  territory 
then  called  the  province  of  Louisiana.  Congress  in  1804  divided  "that  portion  of 
the  country  ceded  by  France  to  the  United  States  under  the  name  of  Louisiana," 
and  provided  that  all  of  it  south  of  Mississippi  territory  and  south  of  thirty-three 
degrees  of  north  latitude  should  constitute  the  terriory  of  Orleans,  and  that  "the 
residue  of  the  province  of  Louisiana  should  be  called  the  district  of  Louisiana 
and  be  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  governor  and  judges  of  Indiana  territory." 

By  another  slight  change  we  became,  on  March  3,  1805,  a  part  of  the  terri- 
tory of  Louisiana ;  and  in  1812,  after  the  admission  of  Louisiana  as  a  state,  we 
were  turned  over  to  the  jurisdiction  of  Missouri  territory:  and  as  a  part  of  the 
compromise  by  which  that  territory  was  admitted  to  the  Union  as  a  slave  state, 
we  came  to  belong  to  the  part  in  which  there  was  never  to  be  any  slavery.  How- 
ever, we  were  left  "orphans"  without  any  local  government  until,  in  June.  1834. 
congress  attached  us  to  the  territory  of  Michigan.  In  reality  we  had  no  local 
government  worthy  of  the  name  until  the  organization  of  Wisconsin  territory 
by  the  act  of  congress,  approved  June  12,  1836,  which  took  effect  on  the  3d  of 
July  of  that  year. 

As  pointed  out  by  Dr.  Shambaugh,  in  his  "History  of  the  Constitutions  of 
Iowa,"  the  changes  we  have  just  been  noting  were  largely,  if  not  entirely,  "changes 
in  subordinate  jurisdiction  over  a  geographical  area,  and  in  no  sense  the  annals 
of  a  political  society"  since  this  country  was  practically  without  white  inhabitants 
prior  to  1830,  and  had  but  few  of  them  up  to  1833. 

Indeed,  in  some  quarters  it  was  supposed  that  we  were  in  the  land  of  the 
terrible  Sioux.     A  "View  of  the  Mississippi  Valley,"  etc.,  published  by  H.   S. 

37 


38  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

Tanner  in  1832,  purporting  to  l>e  an  "emigrants  and  travelers'  guide  to  the  west," 
designates  what  is  now  Iowa  as  a  part  of  the  great  Sioux  district — a  district 
said  to  contain  162,385  square  miles  and  to  have  within  its  limits  25,000  Sioux 
Indians.  No  settlement  or  fort  in  Iowa  is  shown  on  Tanner's  map,  nor  does  the 
Iowa  river  appear  on  it.  It  may  also  be  interesting  in  this  connection  to  note 
that  although  the  state  of  Illinois  was  admitted  in  1818,  it  appears  from  Tan- 
ner's work  that  in  1830  there  were  only  twenty-six  inhabitants  in  Mercer  county, 
Illinois ;  forty-one  in  Henry  county,  Illinois ;  three  hundred  and  eight  in  Warren 
county;  and  two  hundred  and  seventy- four  in  Knox  county. 

The  knowledge,  or  rather  lack  of  knowledge,  of  the  part  of  country  west 
of  the  Mississippi  river  as  portrayed  in  Mr.  Tanner's  book,  was  probably  due 
to  the  fact  that  the  country  was  not  then  open  for  settlement,  and  not  expected 
to  be  for  man}-  years  to  come.  Before  Pike  and  his  immediate  predecessors,  Lewis 
and  Clark,  had  made  and  reported  their  explorations,  this  was  considered  to  be 
an  arid  and  uninhabitable  country  "except  upon  the  borders  of  rivers  and  creeks." 

On  August  9,  1805,  a  government  expedition  of  twenty  men.  under  command 
of  the  fearless  and  brilliant  Lieutenant  Zebulon  M.  Pike,  left  St.  Louis  for  a  trip 
up  the  Mississippi  river,  with  a  view  of  visiting  the  various  Indian  tribes  in  the 
upper  Mississippi  valley  and  gaining  information  about  the  country.  August  20th 
the  expedition  had  arrived  at  the  foot  of  the  Rapids  des  Moines,  and  in  passing 
up  these  rapids  they  were  met  by  William  Ewing,  an  agent  of  the  United  States, 
accompanied  by  a  French  interpreter  and  fifteen  Sac  Indians  in  their  canoes, 
who  came  to  assist  the  expedition  over  the  rapids.  After  passing  Burlington  and 
noting  a  good  place  for  a  fort,  where  Crapo  Park  now  is.  Lieutenant  Pike,  accord- 
ing to  his  journal,  on  Saturday,  August  24th,  "encamped  on  the  west  shore  nearly 
opposite  a  chalk  bank."  This  was  undoubtedly  in  Louisa  county,  a  little  north 
of  the  Des  Moines  county  line,  and  nearly  opposite  the  town  of  Keithsburg.  Just 
before  this.  Pike  had  been  out  hunting  on  the  west  shore  and  had  lost  his  two 
favorite  hunting  dogs.  Two  of  his  men  had  volunteered  to  find  them.  These 
men  wandered  northward,  meeting  with  Indians  probably  along  the  Muscatine 
slough,  and  with  these  Indians  for  guides  they  finally  joined  Pike  at  Dubuque  on 
the  1st  of  September.  These  two  men,  whose  names  have  not  been  given,  are 
doubtless  the  first  white  men  who  traversed  Louisa  county  from  north  to  south. 
and  the  first  to  travel  any  considerable  part  of  it  since  the  visit  of  Marquette. 

On  Sunday,  the  25th.  the  expedition  stopped  on  a  "sandbank  prairie"  on  the 
east  side  of  the  river,  from  which  there  was  a  beautiful  view  down  the  river, 
and  the  next  day  it  is  recorded  that  they  passed  the  mouth  of  the  Iowa  river 
and  camped  at  night  on  Grant's  prairie.  The  explorer  thus  speaks  of  the  Iowa 
river :  "The  Iowa  river  bears  from  the  Mississippi  S.  W.  and  is  one  hundred 
and  fifty  yards  wide  at  its  mouth.  In  ascending  the  Iowa  thirty-six  miles,  you 
come  to  a  fork.  The  right  branch  is  called  the  Red  Cedar  from  the  great  quan- 
tity of  that  wood  found  on  its  banks.  It  is  navigable  for  bateaux  nearly  three 
hundred  miles.  It  then  branches  into  three  forks  called  the  Turkey's  Foot.  Ten 
miles  up  the  Iowa  from  its  mouth  is  a  village  of  Iowa  Indians." 

The  village  of  Iowa  Indians  here  referred  to  is  shown  on  Lieutenant  Pike's 
map  as  being  on  the  north  side  of  the  Iowa  opposite  the  big  bend  in  the  river  just 
about  north  of  Elrick  function. 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  36 

On  the  night  of  August  25th,  Pike's  men  camped  on  the  west  side  at  what 
he  calls  Grant's  prairie,  and  this  is  supposed  to  have  been  at  about  the  boundary 
line  between  Muscatine  and  Louisa  counties,  and  opposite  the  lower  end  of 
Blanchard's  Island.  Speaking  of  the  Iowa  Indians,  Lieutenant  Pike  says  that 
they  had  two  villages,  one  on  the  Iowa  river,  and  one  on  the  river  "De  Moyen" 
and  that  their  hunting  ground  was  from  the  west  side  of  the  Mississippi  river  to 
the  river  De  Moyen,  and  westward  to  the  Missouri,  and  that  their  wars  and 
alliances  were  the  same  as  those  of  the  Sacs  and  Foxes  (called  by  him  Sauks 
and  Reynards),  under  whose  special  protection  they  considered  themselves  to 
be.  He  speaks  of  the  Iowa  Indians  as  less  civilized  than  the  Sacs  and  Foxes, 
though  they  were  in  the  habit  of  cultivating  corn  to  some  extent. 

In  1808  a  fort  was  built  near  Fort  Madison,  but  this  was  claimed  by  the  Indians 
to  be  in  violation  of  the  treaty  of  1804  and  caused  a  great  deal  of  trouble.  There 
were  several  Indian  attacks  made  upon  it  and  finally  in  181 3,  in  the  face  of  an 
attack  from  an  overwhelming  force  of  Indians,  it  was  abandoned  and  destroyed 
by  its  small  remaining  garrison,  the  latter  escaping  down  the  river  in  boats. 

About  the  time  Fort  Madison  was  built,  a  trading  post  was  established  at 
Flint  Hills,  near  the  present  site  of  Burlington,  by  Colonel  Johnson,  but  this 
was  burned  within  a  few  years.  From  this  time  on  there  were  occasional  new 
arrivals  in  the  neighborhood  of  Keokuk,  but  they  were  few  and  far  between. 
About  1830,  as  Professor  Parvin  has  shown,  there  were  enough  families  settled 
near  Keokuk  for  Berryman  Jennings  to  organize  and  teach  the  first  school  taught 
in  what  is  now  Iowa.  This  was,  at  the  time,  the  only  school  north  of  Missouri 
between  the  Mississippi  river  and  the  Pacific  ocean.  But,  to  come  a  little  nearer 
home,  we  find  that  the  Stockbridge  Indians  from  up  near  Green  Bay  sent  a  dele- 
gation to  visit  the  Sacs  and  Foxes  in  1834,  to  try  to  prevail  on  them  to  abandon 
their  savage  life,  to  have  schools  established  among  them,  and  to  take  on  some 
of  the  ways  of  civilized  life.  Along  with  this  delegation  was  the  Rev.  Cutting 
Marsh,  a  member  of  the  American  board  of  commissioners  for  foreign  missions, 
and  his  observations  made  shortly  after  the  visit  and  which  are  recorded  in  the 
Wisconsin  Historical  Collection,  Vol.  XV,  are  worthy  of  a  place  in  our  history, 
because  they  record  his  impressions  of  this  county  and  of  its  savage  inhabitants 
just  prior  to  the  entry  of  the  white  man : 

"Keokuk's,  the  principal  village  of  the  Sacs,  is  situated  on  the  eastern  bank 
of  the  Iowa  river,  about  twelve  miles  from  its  mouth.  It  contains  between  forty 
and  fifty  lodges,  some  are  forty  or  fifty  feet  in  length,  constructed  of  bark.  The 
village  is  at  the  northern  extremity  of  a  delightful  prairie  extending  south  and 
west.  There  were  probably  four  hundred  souls  in  it.  Upon  entering  the  village, 
which  is  formed  without  any  order,  my  attention  was  attracted  by  Black  Hawk's 
lodge.  This  was  enclosed  by  a  neat  fence  of  poles,  embracing  four  or  five  rods 
in  a  circular  form.  A  little  gate  led  into  it ;  around  the  inside,  melon  vines  had 
been  planted.  The  lodge  was  constructed  of  peeled  bark.  It  was  perfectly  tight, 
except  a  hole  at  the  top  for  the  smoke  to  pass  out.  At  the  sides,  places  were  built 
all  around,  about  three  feet  from  the  ground,  and  mats  spread  over,  on  which 
they  sat  and  slept.  It  was  furnished  witn  some  dining  chairs,  which  I  saw  at 
no  other  lodge  in  the  nation.  I  was  received  politely  by  the  children  of  Black- 
Hawk,  himself  and  wife  being  absent.     I  never  before  witnessed  such  a  specimen 


40  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

of  neatness  and  good  order  in  any  Indian  lodge.  Although  Black  Hawk  is  not 
permitted  to  hold  any  office,  it  is  questionable  whether  he  is  not  as  much  respected 
as  the  haughty  Keokuk,  who  now  holds  the  reins  of  government. 

"Wending  my  way  to  Keokuk's  lodge,  which  was  about  fifty  feet  long,  I 
found  him  sitting  with  prince-like  dignity  in  one  corner,  surrounded  by  his  young 
men,  and  wives  not  less  than  five.  He  appeared  distant  and  not  disposed  to 
converse,  hut  treated  me  with  politeness  anil  hospitality,  and  ordered  his  young 
men  to  put  out  the  horses,  and  supper  to  be  prepared.  I  found  him  unwilling  to 
listen  to  any  suggestions  respecting  the  object  of  my  visit,  as  was  the  other  chief, 
Pash-e-pa-ho,  the  Stabber.  There  was  the  same  unwillingness  to  hear  anything 
respecting  religion,  and  all  made  light  of  it  when  mentioned  in  the  presence  of 
the  latter  chief. 

"Wapello's  village  is  about  ten  miles  above  Keokuk's,  is  considered  to  contain 
thirty  lodges.  He  is  a  notorious  drunkard,  and  his  band  follows  the  example 
of  their  chief.  At  this  village  I  learned  that  a  man  murdered  his  wife  a  few 
days  before,  and  then  cut  off  her  nose  and  ears.  The  Indians  are  jealous  of 
their  wives,  and  if  at  such  times  an  Indian  cuts  off  the  nose  or  ears  of  his  wife,  no 
notice  is  taken  of  it. 

"Poweshiek's  village  is  upon  the  Red  Cedar,  a  branch  of  the  Iowa,  about  ten 
miles  from  its  mouth.  Poweshiek  is  second  chief  among  the  Foxes.  The  village 
contains  about  forty  lodges  and  four  hundred  souls,  as  Poweshiek  informed  me. 
He  sent  one  of  his  young  men  to  inform  me  I  could  stay  at  his  lodge,  and  assigned 
me  a  place  in  it.  He  is  about  forty  years  of  age,  savage  in  appearance,  and  very 
much  debased,  as  well  as  all  his  band.  Still  he  was  more  willing  to  converse  than 
either  of  the  chiefs  before  mentioned.  1  inquired  about  the  instruction  of  his 
young  men.  He  replied  that  he  would  like  to  have  two  or  three  educated  for 
interpreters,  but  he  did  not  want  schools,  for  he  wished  to  have  his  young  men 
warriors.  I  inquired  if  he  should  not  like  to  have  his  young  men  to  make  farms. 
I  le  answered  they  could  work  with  a  hoe,  and  did  not  want  a  plow;  thev  chosL- 
rather  to  hunt  for  a  living  than  cultivate  the  ground.  He  said,  'The  Great  Spirit 
made  us  to  fight  and  kill  one  another  when  we  are  a  mind  to.'  I  showed  some 
young  men  specimens  of  Ojibwa  writing,  and  asked  if  they  would  not  like  to  have 
some  one  come  and  teach  them.  They  answered,  'We  do  not  want  to  learn  :  we 
want  to  kill  Sioux."  .  .  .  Besides  the  villages  enumerated  there  are  a  number 
of  others  consisting  of  three  or  four  or  half  a  dozen  lodges,  some  of  which  1 
visited. 

"The  Sacs  and  Foxes  are  strongly  attached  to  their  superstitions;  I  have  seen 
no  Indians  so  much  so,  and  they  guard  with  jealous  care  against  any  change. 
Their  great  object  is  war  and  hunting,  so  as  to  rank  among  the  braves,  wear  the 
polecat's  tail  upon  the  calves  of  the  legs,  and  the  shau-no-e-hun  (small  bells  ).  and 
strike  the  post  in  the  war  dance,  and  tell  the  number  they  have  killed  in  battle. 
To  this  there  are  some  exceptions.  One  of  the  most  striking  is  Appanoose.  He 
is  young  and  inspiring,  and  possesses  more  independence  of  mind  than  any  of 
the  rest  of  the  chiefs.  He  expressed  a  desire  to  have  something  done  for  the 
improvement  of  his  people.     .     .     . 

"Keokuk  in  years  past  manifested  a  desire  to  have  one  of  his  sons  educated, 
but  his  mind  has  been  changed.  He  is  altogether  under  the  influence  of  the 
traders  of  the  American  Fur  Company,  who  are  exceedingly  hostile  to  missionary 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  41 

operations.  At  a  council,  Colonel  William  Davenport,  commanding  officer  at 
Fort  Armstrong,  strongly  urged  upon  the  chiefs  to  have  missionaries.  They 
replied,  'We  do  not  want  missionaries.'  " 

Another  and  quite  different  estimate  of  the  Sac  and  Fox  Indians  is  found  in 
Volume  28,  Thwaite's  Early  Western  Travels,  in  a  republication  of  "Farnham's 
Travels."  It  is  as  follows :  "For  centuries  the  prairies  of  Illinois  and  Iowa  were 
the  theater  of  their  exterminating  prowess,  and  to  them  is  to  be  attributed  the 
almost  entire  destruction  of  the  Missouris,  the  Illinois,  Cahokias,  Kaskaskias  and 
Peorias.  They  were,  however,  steady  and  sincere  in  their  friendships  for  the 
whites;  and  many  is  the  honest  old  settler  on  the  borders  of  their  old  dominion, 
who  mentions  with  the  warmest  feelings,  the  respectful  treatment  he  has  received 
from  them,  while  he  cut  the  logs  for  his  cabin,  and  ploughed  his  potato  patch  on 
that  lonely  and  unprotected  frontier." 

As  we  have  already  noted,  the  Black  Hawk  war  brought  this  part  of  the 
country  into  very  great  and  very  sudden  notoriety.  In  a  few  short  weeks,  from 
a  comparatively  unknown  and  untalked  of  wilderness,  it  became  one  of  the  fore- 
most topics  on  the  lips  of  many  in  the  south  and  east  who  were  looking  for 
broader  acres  on  which  to  make  better  homes.  About  this  time  the  antiquated 
methods  of  transportation  by  flatboats  or  bateaux  was  giving  way  to  boats  pro- 
pelled by  steam  power,  and  this  part  of  the  country,  because  of  the  Mississippi 
along  its  entire  eastern  border  and  of  other  great  rivers  which  permeated  it,  was 
considered  especially  desirable;  for  in  those  days  navigable  streams  were  of 
vastly  more  importance  than  they  are  since  the  advent  of  the  railroad.  Many  of 
our  earliest  settlers  came  from  Virginia.  Kentucky,  Tennessee  and  states  near  to  or 
bordering  on  the  Ohio  river ;  and  that  river  was  for  a  while  the  principal  road 
to  Iowa.  And  we  may  be  sure  that  when  the  country  about  the  Iowa  river  was 
first  looked  upon  by  the  white  man,  he  longed  to  possess  it.  We  shall  leave  its 
description  to  some  of  those  who  saw  it  before  it  had  been  disfigured  by  the 
civilizing  hand  of  man,  and  when  the  river  itself  was  unvexed  by  bridges  or  dams, 
and  the  forests  along  its  banks  were  still  strangers  to  the  woodman's  ax.  One 
of  the  earliest  and  most  important  books  which  made  Iowa  known  to  the  world 
is  a  little  book  of  fifty-three  pages,  with  pasteboard  covers,  about  three  by  six 
inches,  written  by  Lieutenant  Albert  M.  Lea,  of  Tennessee,  a  member  of  the 
United  States  Dragoons,  and  published  by  Henry  S.  Tanner,  at  Philadelphia,  in 
1836.  This  is  an  extremely  rare  book,  there  being  probably  not  more  than  a  dozen 
copies  now  in  existence.  The  copy  from  which  our  extracts  are  made  is  the 
property  of  Mrs.  J.  L.  Kent,  of  Port  Louisa  township,  and  was  once  owned  by 
her  father,  William  Fowler,  who  came  to  this  county  in  1836.  and  whose  auto- 
graph is  on  the  fly  leaf  of  the  book.  It  is  in  this  book  where  the  name  of  Iowa 
appears  to  have  been  first  used  in  print  in  reference  to  this  part  of  the  country. 
it  being  called  the  "Iowa  District."  The  title  of  the  book  is  "Xotes  on  Wisconsin 
Territory,  with  a  Map,"  but  practically  all  of  it  is  devoted  to  what  is  called  the 
Iowa  District.  The  author  states  that  he  had  been  employed  in  his  professional 
duties  for  more  than  a  year  within  the  limits  of  the  country  referred  to,  and 
that  during  that  time  he  had  traveled  extensively  and  had  collected  information 
from  surveyors,  traders,  explorers  and  residents. 


42  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

The  information  contained  in  the  book  may  properly  be  dated  as  of  the  year 
[835,  and  the  only  towns  mentioned  as  being  in  this  part  of  what  is  now  Iowa, 
were  Keokuk,  Madison  and  Burlington.  The  place  which  is  now  Muscatine  was 
called  "Kasey's,"  and  it  is  said  that  a  gentleman  of  that  name  intended  laying 
out  a  town  there,  it  being  at  the  head  of  the  Muscatine  Slue.  Lieutenant  Lea 
seemed  to  think  that  the  proximity  of  the  swamps  of  Muscatine  Island  and  of 
Sturgeon  Bay  would  tend  to  create  much  disease  at  this  point,  but  was  of  the 
opinion  that  it  must  be  in  future  a  place  of  considerable  trade,  "being  the  first 
place  above  Burlington  on  the  west  bank  of  the  river  where  a  town  could  be  built." 
We  quote  what  he  says  of  our  immediate  vicinity.  "There  are  several  sites  for 
towns  spoken  of  about  the  mouth  of  the  Iowa;  but  none  of  these  places  can  have 
any  importance :  as  I  deem  it  certain  that  there  can  be  no  town  of  magnitude 
near  the  Mississippi,  unless  it  be  on  the  Mississippi,  except  in  very  peculiar 
cases,  such  as  that  of  Galena  in  the  lead  mines." 

After  describing  the  geographical  situation  of  the  country  and  its  climate 
and  soil,  the  author  says :  "The  general  appearance  of  the  country  is  one  of  great 
beauty.  It  may  be  represented  as  one  grand  rolling  prairie,  along  one  side  of 
which  flows  the  mightiest  river  in  the  world,  and  through  which  numerous  navi- 
gable streams  pursue  their  devious  way  toward  the  ocean.  In  every  part  of  this 
whole  district,  beautiful  rivers  and  creeks  are  to  be  found,  whose  transparent 
waters  are  perpetually  renewed  by  the  springs  from  which  they  flow.  .  .  . 
All  these  rivers,  creeks  and  lakes  are  skirted  by  woods,  often  several  miles  in 
width,  affording  shelter  from  intense  cold  or  heat  to  the  animals  that  may  there 
take  refuge  from  the  contiguous  prairies.  These  woods  also  afford  the  timber 
necessary  for  building  houses,  fences  and  boats.  ...  No  part  of  the  district 
is  probably  more  than  three  miles  from,  good  timber.  .  .  .  Taking  this  dis- 
trict all  in  all.  for  convenience  of  navigation,  water,  fuel  and  timber.;  for  richness 
of  soil ;  for  beauty  of  appearance ;  and  for  pleasantness  of  climate,  it  surpasses 
any  portion  of  the  United  States  with  which  I  am  acquainted.     .     . 

"Could  I  present  to  the  mind  of  the  reader  that  view  of  this  country  that  is 
now  before  my  eyes,  he  would  not  deem  my  assertion  unfounded.  He  would 
see  the  broad  Mississippi  with  its  ten  thousand  islands,  flowing  gently  and  linger- 
ingly  along  one  entire  side  of  this  district,  as  if  in  regret  at  leaving  so  delightful 
a  region  ;  he  would  see  half  a  dozen  navigable  rivers  taking  their  sources  in  dis- 
tant regions,  and  gradually  accumulating  their  waters  as  they  glide  steadily  along 
through  this  favored  region  to  pay  their  tribute  to  the  great  'Father  of  Waters ;' 
he  would  see  innumerable  creeks  and  rivulets  meandering  through  rich  pasturages, 
where  now  the  domestic  ox  has  taken  the  place  of  the  untamed  bison  ;  he  would 
see  here  and  there  neat  groves  of  oak,  and  elm,  and  walnut,  half  shading,  half 
concealing  beautiful  little  lakes,  that  mirror  back  their  waving  branches;  he 
would  see  neat  looking  prairies  of  two  or  three  miles  in  extent,  and  apparently 
enclosed  by  woods  on  all  sides,  and  along  the  borders  of  which  are  ranged  the 
neat  hewed  log  cabins  of  the  emigrants  with  their  fields  stretching  far  into  the 
prairies,  where  their  herds  are  luxuriating  on  the  native  grass ;  he  would  see  vil- 
lages springing  up,  as  by  magic,  along  the  banks  of  the  rivers,  and  even  far  in  the 
interior;  and  he  would  see  the  swift  moving  steamboats,  as  they  ply  up  and  down 
the   Mississippi  to  supply  the  wants  of  the  settlers,  to  take  awav  their  surplus 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  43 

produce,  or  to  bring  an  accession  to  this  growing  population,  anxious  to  participate 

in  the  enjoyment  of  nature's  bounties,  here  so  liberally  dispensed The 

agricultural  productions  consist  chiefly  of  maize,  wheat,  rye,  oats  and  potatoes. 
The  large  white  corn  of  the  south  may  be  produced  as  far  north  as  Rock  Island, 
and  yields  from  fifty  to  one  hundred  bushels  per  acre ;  but  the  yellow  flint  corn 
grows  well  anywhere,  and  yields  from  forty  to  seventy-five  bushels  per  acre ; 
the  latter  is  the  more  certain  crop.  Wheat  is  produced  with  a  facility  unknown 
except  in  the  west.  I  have  known  the  sod  of  the  prairie  to  be  simply  turned 
over,  the  seed  harrowed  in,  and  thirty  bushels  per  acre  to  be  harvested,  r.ut  the 
usual  crop,  after  the  first,  is  from  twenty-five  to  forty  bushels  per  acre  with 
negligent  farming.  Oats  yield  usually  from  sixty  to  seventy  bushels  per  acre, 
and  seventy-five  bushels  have  been  cut  at  Du  Baque.  Potatoes  grow  abundantly 
and  are  famous  throughout  the  west  for  their  fine  quality.     .     .     . 

"The  population  of  the  whole  district,  exclusive  of  Indians,  was  about  sixteen 
thousand,  at  the  end  of  1835,  a  time  little  more  than  two  years  after  the  first 
settlement  was  made.  During  the  year  1835  the  chief  part  of  this  population 
arrived;  and  there  is  every  indication  of  a  vast  accession  during  the  year  1836. 
Indeed  large  portions  of  the  states  of  Ohio,  Indiana.  Illinois,  Kentucky  and  Mis- 
souri seem  to  be  about  to  emigrate  to  this  region.  There  are  now  here  emigrants 
from  all  these  states,  and  every  other  state  in  the  Union,  as  well  as  many  foreign- 
ers. Whole  neighborhoods  are  moving  from  Indiana  and  Illinois  to  this  land  of 
promise.  During  a  ride  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles  through  the  district, 
in  the  month  of  January,  1836,  I  was  surprised  at  the  number  of  improvements 
then  being  made,  for  occupation  as  soon  as  the  warm  season  should  set  in.  The 
character  of  this  population  is  such  as  is  rarely  to  be  found  in  our  newly  acquired 
territories.  With  very  few  exceptions,  there  is  not  a  more  orderly,  industrious, 
active,  painstaking  population  west  of  the  Alleghanies  than  is  this  of  the  Iowa 
District.  Those  who  have  been  accustomed  to  associate  the  name  of  squatter 
with  the  idea  of  idleness  and  recklessness,  would  be  quite  surprised  to  see  the 
systematic  manner  in  which  everything  is  here  conducted.  For  intelligence,  I 
boldly  assert  that  they  are  not  surpassed,  as  a  body,  by  an  equal  number  of  citizens 
of  any  country  in  the  world." 

Lieutenant  Lea  has  this  interesting  statement  concerning  the  government,  or 
rather  want  of  government,  then  existing.  "From  the  1st  of  June,  1833,  to  the 
30th  of  Tune,  1834,  the  settlers  in  this  district  were  without  any  municipal  law- 
whatever.  At  the  latter  date  congress  passed  a  law  attaching  it  to  the  Territory 
of  Michigan,  'for  judicial  purposes;'  and  under  that  law,  the  legislative  council 
of  Michigan  extended  her  laws  over  the  district,  dividing  it  into  two  counties,  and 
providing  for  the  regular  administration  of  justice.  But  when  Michigan  deter- 
mined to  assume  her  place  as  one  of  the  states  of  the  Union,  she  could  no  longer 
govern  any  district  as  a  territory.  Accordingly,  she  cast  off  what  was  then  called 
Wisconsin,  together  with  this  district,  directing  them  to  form  a  government  for 
themselves,  and  providing  that  her  own  laws  should  continue  in  force  until  super- 
seded by  others.  Under  this  provision,  the  authorities  of  Iowa  District  have 
continued  to  act;  and  all  the  ordinary  local  business  has  been  regularly  tran- 
sacted under  the  laws  of  Michigan,  though  the  judge  of  the  district  court  of  the 
United  States  has  refused  to  consider  any  cases  of  appeal  taken  to  his  court  from 


44  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

the  west  side  of  the  Mississippi.  It  is  a  matter  of  some  doubt,  in  fact,  whether 
there  be  any. law  at  all  among  these  people:  but  this  question  will  soon  be  put  at 
rest  by  the  organization  of  the  Territory  of  Wisconsin,  within  which  the  Iowa 
District  is  by  law  included." 

Lieutenant  Lea  seems  to  have  been  especially  enamored  with  the  Iowa  river 
and  the  country  bordering  upon  it.  He  quotes  Major  Gordon,  an  army  officer, 
who  passed  through  this  part  of  the  country  in  August,  1835,  as  saying  that  "In 
point  of  beauty  and  fertility  it  is  unsurpassed  by  any  portion  of  the  United  States," 
and  he  himself  has  this  to  say  of  the  Iowa  river:  "Iowa  river  has  been  usually 
much  less  esteemed  than  its  advantages  deserve.  It  is  the  largest  tributary  of  the 
Mississippi  above  the  Illinois,  ami  probably  affords  more  water  than  that  river. 
It  takes  its  rise  among  the  innumerable  lakes  in  the  high  flat  country  which 
divides  the  waters  which  run  northwest  into  the  Saint  Peter's  river,  from  those 
which  run  southeast  into  the  Mississippi.  This  high  country  is  a  continuation  of 
that  which,  being  intersected  by  the  action  of  the  current,  overhangs  the  Mis- 
sissippi below  Lake  Pepin,  and  is  there  called  'The  Highlands.'  Having  its  source 
in  these  lakes,  the  river  is  perennially  supplied  with  pure  and  limpid  water,  and 
as  it  meanders  its  way  for  three  hundred  miles  to  the  Father  of  Waters,  receiving 
large  tributary  streams,  as  it  moves  along  through  rich  meadows,  deep  forests,  pro- 
jecting cliffs,  and  sloping  landscapes,  it  presents  to  the  imagination  the  finest  pic- 
ture on  earth  of  a  country  prepared  by   Providence  for  the  habitation  of  man." 

But  Lieutenant  Lea  was  not  the  only  one  who  was  charmed  with  the  beauties 
of  the  country,  or  whose  praises  were  printed  in  advertisement  of  it.  Many  of 
the  pioneers  wrote  back  to  their  friends  and  relatives  telling  them  what  was  here, 
and  bidding  them  to  come:  and  nearly  every  traveler  wrote  his  home  folks,  or 
his  home  papers  in  the  same  vein.  One  of  the  most  flowery  descriptions  that 
we  have  come  across  is  contained  in  a  little  book  written  by  Rev.  James  L.  Scott, 
containing  the  journal  of  his  missionary  tour  through  Pennsylvania,  Ohio.  In- 
diana, Illinois,  Iowa,  Wisconsin  and  Michigan,  and  which  on  the  title  page  is 
said  to  comprise  "A  concise  description  of  different  sections  of  country:  health 
and  climate  ;  inducements  for  emigration  with  the  embarrassments  ;  the  religious 
condition  of  the  people;  meetings  connected  with  the  mission,  etc."  As  the 
destination  of  Rev.  Scott  was  Fredonia,  in  this  county,  we  will  have  occasion 
to  refer  to  his  book  later  on,  his  visit  having  cccurred  in  1842.  We  refer  to  the 
book  now  for  the  purpose  of  giving  the  following  description  of  the  countrv  as 
he  saw  it. 

"Well,  reader,  follow  a  short  time  and  we  will  survey  the  country.  We  walk 
through  a  dense  forest  of  large  trees,  interspersed  with  the  smaller  productions  of 
nature.  The  ground  is  covered  with  green  grass,  through  which  the  lily,  the  pink, 
wild  rose  and  almost  every  variety  of  flowers  shoot  and  open  their  blossoms. 
We  now  and  then  rise  a  bluff,  pass  a  ravine,  cross  a  rippling  brook,  and  sip  from 
the  cold  spring  the  pure  water  to  allay  our  thirst. 

"Charmed  by  the  beauties  of  nature,  and  the  wonders  of  the  forest,  we  breathe 
the  sweet  air,  and  are  greeted  by  the  warbling  notes  of  the  songsters  of  the  wood, 
that  hop  from  branch  to  branch,  and  pour  forth  their  mingled  strains  upon  the 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  45 

listening  group,  until  we  emerge  from  this  scene,  and  leaving  the  forest,  stand 
upon  an  unbounded  prairie. 

"The  prairie  is  sufficiently  undulating  to  present  a  lively  scene,  and  each  undu- 
lation wafts  the  vision  on  with  increased  velocity  and  enchanting  power. 

"The  green  carpet, — never-to-be-described  clusters  of  flowers, — the  prairie 
hen,  rising  and  falling  into  this  and  that  bed, — the  snipe,  with  his  chattering  bill, 
— the  turkey  buzzard,  floating  carelessly  in  the  air, — the  sand-hill  crane  strutting 
around. — the  yelping  wolf  as  he  slips  along  from  bank  to  bank,  and  add  to  this 
the  enlivening  notes  of  the  feathered  songsters,  and  who  could  help  being 
enchanted  ?" 

Another  graceful  tribute  to  this  country  was  paid  by  the  Rev.  Asa  Turner, 
a  noted  pioneer  preacher,  and  an  early  settler  of  Denmark,  in  Des  Moines  county, 
who  explored  the  Black  Hawk  Purchase  in  1836  as  far  up  as  Crow  creek,  in 
Scott  county.  His  report  to  the  Home  Missionary  officials  in  New  York  city  was 
that  he  could  find  but  one  objection  to  the  country,  viz :  "It  is  so  beautiful,  there 
might  be  an  unwillingness  to  exchange  it  for  the  Paradise  above."  Father  Turner 
was  pastor  of  the  first  Congregational  church  in  Iowa,  and  was  the  first  regularly 
installed  pastor  of  any  denomination  in  the  Territory  of  Iowa,  and  he  devoted 
many  years  to  educational  and  Christian  work,  before  departing  for  the  ''Para- 
dise above." 

We  find  one  army  officer,  however,  Colonel  George  Crogan,  inspector  general 
of  the  army,  who  was  neither  in  favor  of  an  immediate  settlement  of  the  country, 
nor  inclined  to  speak  a  good  word  for  those  who  had  already  taken  up  claims. 
Colonel  Crogan  was  sent  out  in  the  winter  of  1835-6,  and  in  his  report,  referring 
to  a  bill  that  had  been  introduced  in  congress  to  lay  out  a  road  between  old  Fort 
Des  Moines  and  Fort  Leavenworth,  says :  "There  is  now  already  too  much 
traveling  between  the  several  forts  for  the  quiet  of  the  frontier ;  and  good  roads 
would  only  increase  the  evil  by  opening  the  whole  territory  to  the  ravenous 
appetites  of  lawless  vagabonds  and  more  greedy  land  speculators.  Already  has 
this  description  of  persons  began  to  talk  about  the  fine  lands  on  the  Ioway  and 
Des  Moines,  and  perhaps  before  two  years  are  gone  by  they  will  be  crying  aloud 
for  a  new  territory  on  that  side  of  the  Mississippi."  Colonel  Crogan  may  have 
had  an  erroneous  opinion  of  the  settlers  as  a  class,  but  his  fears  as  to  the  probable 
"crying  aloud  for  a  new  territory"  proved  to  be  well  founded. 

Local  government  was  first  organized  here  by  virtue  of  the  act  of  the  gover- 
nor and  legislative  council  of  Michigan,  of  September  6.  1834,  entitled  An  Act 
to  Lay  Off  and  Organize  Counties  West  of  the  Mississippi  River.  It  provided 
that  all  of  that  district  of  the  country  which  was  attached  to  Michigan  Territory 
by  the  act  of  congress,  of  June  28,  1834,  and  to  which  the  Indians  title  had  been 
extinguished  and  which  was  situated  north  of  a  line  drawn  due  west  from  the 
lower  end  of  Rock  Island  to  the  Missouri  river,  should  constitute  the  county  of 
Dubuque,  and  that  that  county  should  constitute  a  township  called  Julien.  Sec- 
tion 2  provided  that  all  that  part  of  the  district  aforesaid,  which  was  attached  as 
■aforesaid  to  the  Territory  of  Michigan,  and  situated  south  of  the  line  drawn  west 
from  the  lower  end  of  Rock  Island,  should  constitute  the  county  and  be  called 
Demoine,  and  that  this  county  should  constitute  a  township  to  be  called  Flint  Hill. 


46  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

Provision  was  made  for  the  establishment  of  a  county  court  and  court  was 
to  be  held  in  Demoine  county  on  the  second  Mondays  in  April  and  September. 
Permission  was  given  to  the  inhabitants  of  said  townships  to  hold  an  election  for 
township  officers  on  the  first  Monday  in  November  following,  the  elections  in 
the  county  of  Demoine  to  be  held  at  the  seat  of  justice,  the  place  of  which  was 
to  be  designated  by  the  judges  of  the  county  court.  The  act  itself  was  to  take 
effect  from  and  after  the  first  day  of  October. 

Officers  were  appointed  for  Des  Moines  county  by  Governor  Mason,  and 
that  county  was  duly  organized,  but  we  know  of  nothing  of  consequence  which 
happened  while  "we"  were  under  the  jurisdiction  of  Des  Moines  county. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

EARLY   SETTLEMENTS  IN  THE  COUNTY — THE  CENSUS  OF  DES   MOINES   COUNTY,    WIS- 
CONSIN   IN    1836 ESTABLISHMENT    OF    WISCONSIN    TERRITORY CLAIM    LAWS — 

ESTABLISHMENT  OF  IOWA  TERRITORY. 

It  is  always  a  difficult  matter  to  determine  when  the  first  settlements  in  a 
country  were  made  and  by  whom  they  were  made,  and  Louisa  county  is  no  excep- 
tion to  the  rule.  For  instance,  in  the  Wapello  Republican  of  October  26,  1867, 
is  the  following-  item-  "Last  Sunday  we  saw  the  oldest  log  cabin  in  Louisa  county. 
It  stands  near  the  Toolesboro  and  Grandview  road,  in  Port  Louisa  township,  and 
was  built  some  thirty-five  years  ago." 

By  a  little  plain  subtraction  the  date  of  the  erection  of  this  cabin  is  thus  given 
at  the  year  1832.  This  is  something  like  three  years  earlier  than  the  date  given 
by  all  the  other  authorities,  as  the  date  of  the  first  permanent  settlement  here. 

Lieutenant  Albert  M.  Lea  in  an  article  in  "Iowa  Historical  Records,  Vol.  6," 
relates  that  during  a  very  cold  spell  in  the  month  of  February,  1836,  in  making  a 
trip  overland  along  the  river,  he  stopped  at  the  "raw  village"  of  Burlington  one 
night,  and  next  day  reached  the  mouth  of  the  Iowa  river  at  dark.  He  says  that 
he  was  refused  shelter  in  the  only  house  there  at  the  time,  which  was  occupied 
by  a  drinking  crowd  of  men  and  women  and  that  he  was  obliged  to  go  up  the  nar- 
row, crooked  river  (the  Iowa)  on  the  ice,  which  was  but  four  inches  thick,  and 
with  three  inches  of  snow  on  it,  four  miles  to  a  snug  cabin  on  the  north  side, 
where  he  arrived  at  nine  o'clock  at  night.  This  cabin  was  undoubtedly  the 
residence  of  Christopher  Shuck,  who  is  now,  and  has  for  many  years  been 
regarded  as  the  first  permanent  settler  of  the  county.  This  settlement  was  some- 
where not  far  from  the  farm  upon  which  T.  M.  Parsons,  familiarly  known  as 
"Thomps,"  spent  the  most  of  his  days. 

Of  his  reception  at  this  cabin.  Lieutenant  Lea  says :  "They  received  me 
kindly,  gave  me  supper  and  a  sleep  with  the  hired  man,  the  other  two  beds  being 
occupied  by  the  squatter  and  wife  and  many  children,  grown  daughters  included, 
the  cook  stove  being  in  the  fourth  comer,  and  yet  we  were  all  comfortable,  and 
as  gay  at  breakfast  as  if  feasting  at  a  wedding." 

William  L.  Toole,  who  was  himself  among  the  earliest  settlers  in  the  county, 
in  an  article  published  in  the  "Annals  of  Iowa,"  for  January,  1868,  states  that 
the  first  occupancy  of  Louisa  county  was  in  the  year  1835,  at  and  near  the  mouth 
of  the  Iowa  river  and  near  the  ancient  mounds  and  fort ;  also  near  the  Indian 
villages  of  Keokuk,  Wapello  and  Black  Hawk.  He  includes  the  name  of  Shuck 
among  those  of  the  very  early  settlers.  He  says :  "Among  the  early  settlers 
hereabouts  we  had  the  names  of  Harrison,  Creighton.  Deihl,  Toole,  McCleary, 

47 


48  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

Thornton,  Parsons,  Benson  and  Shuck,  and  soon  afterwards,  Cook,  Hale,  Guest, 
Crow,  Isett,  Bell,  Bird  and  Judge  Springer." 

The  same  date  for  the  first  settlement  of  the  county  is  given  by  Francis 
Springer  in  his  "Recollections"  published  in  the  "Annals,"  Third  series,  Vol.  2; 
and  a  similar  statement  was  made  by  Colonel  John  Bird,  also  an  early  settler,  in 
an  address  delivered  at  the  first  meeting  of  the  Old  Settlers'  Association,  in  this 
county,  which  was  held  at  Wapello,  February  22,  i860. 

James  Thornton,  of  Ashland,  Oregon,  now  in  his  eighty-fifth  year,  in  1910 
wrote  an  article  concerning  early  times,  which  was  published  in  the  Muscatine 
Tournal,  and  is  reproduced  in  the  history  of  Muscatine  county,  published  by  the 
S.  J.  Clarke  Publishing  Company,  of  Chicago.  This  James  Thornton  was  a  son 
of  Levi  Thornton,  who  was  one  of  the  first  representatives  from  Louisa  and 
the  adjoining  counties,  having  been  elected  in  1838.  In  this  article  James 
Thornton  says  that  his  father  and  his  two  brothers.  Err  Thornton  and  Lot  Thorn- 
ton, with  their  mother  and  sister,  started  from  Lafayette,  Indiana,  in  the  spring 
of  1835,  and  came  to  New  Boston,  where  they  resided  with  a  cousin  named 
Jesse  Willetts,  and  there  planted  some  thirty  acres  of  sod  corn.  After  this  they 
decided  to  take  up  claims  in  the  Black  Hawk  Purchase,  and  in  June  of  1835,  the 
three  brothers,  with  two  other  men,  whose  names  are  not  given,  crossed  the 
.Mississippi  at  the  mouth  of  the  Iowa.  He  says  there  was  then  a  farmer  there 
by  the  name  of  Shook  and  this  is  the  only  settler  spoken  of  in  the  article  as 
being  located  anywhere  in  this  county.  From  there  the  Thornton  party  proceeded 
up  the  bluff,  all  locating  in  the  vicinity  of  Whiskey  Hollow,  the  claim  taken  up 
by  Levi  Thornton  being  now  a  part  of  the  Dan  Westbrook  farm.  The  party  then 
went  up  the  river  to  Pine  creek  and  took  the  steamer  back  to  New  Boston  ;  Pine 
creek,  or  Pine  river,  where  it  empties  into  the  Mississippi,  is  the  place  called 
Iowa  in  Lieutenant  Lea's  book,  and  it  will  be  interesting  in  this  connection  to 
note  something  of  what  he  says  about  that  locality:  "Iowa.  This  is  the  name 
of  a  town  to  be  laid  out  at  the  mouth  of  Pine  river  about  three  hundred  and 
thirty  miles  above  St.  Louis.  From  this  situation  at  the  apex  of  a  great  bend 
in  the  Mississippi,  it  is  central  to  a  large  district  of  country,  and  the  near 
approach  of  the  Iowa  just  back  of  it.  brings  all  the  settlements  along  a  great 
part  of  that  stream  within  a  short  distance  of  this  place."  Further  on  in  the  same 
article.  Lieutenant  Lea  indicates  that  he  expects  Iowa  to  be  made  a  county  seat 
and  probably  the  location  of  the  future  capital  of  the  state  of  Iowa.  In  a  very 
interesting  little  book  called  "Scraps  of  Muscatine  History,"  by  J.  P.  Walton, 
we  find  that  he  visited  Err  Thornton  in  1891  and  that  at  that  time  Err  Thornton 
said  the  Thorntons  first  came  over  from  New  Boston  in  the  spring  of  1834  or 
1835,  but  he  was  not  certain  which,  and  Mr.  Walton  states  that  he  finds  by  history 
that  it  was  in  1834,  though  he  does  not  give  his  authority.  We  quote  from  an 
article  prepared  by  Mr.  Walton  in  July,  1891,  as  follows:  "I  have  just  made  a 
trip  across  the  river  and  called  on  Hon.  Err  Thornton,  who  lives  some  five  miles 
southeast  of  here,  in  Drury  township.  His  postoffice  address  is  Foster.  I  was 
in  company  with  John  Holliday,  an  old  acquaintance  of  Mr.  Thornton.  Both 
of  them  came  from  Tippecanoe  county.  Indiana,  and  were  old  acquaintances 
before  coming  here.  Mr.  Thornton  was  eighty-four  years  old  yesterday,  the 
22d.  John  Holliday  is  eighty-five  years  old.  Mr.  Thornton  says  that  himself, 
his  brother  Lot  and  several  others  came  west  and  stopped  near  New-   Boston. 


< JYtx 


'S 




FACSIMILE  OF  WAPELLO  SCRIP 


HiTl-OR.  l*NOX   AND 

>l  NDATIOI* 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  49 

Illinois,  in  the  spring  of  1834  or  1835,  he  is  not  certain  which  (we  find  hy  other 
history  that  it  was  in  1834),  and  on  the  fifth  day  of  June  he  and  his  brother  Lot 
and  three  others,  five  in  all,  crossed  the  Mississippi  river  at  New  Bjston  to 
look  for  land.  They  crossed  over  to  Black  Hawk,  now  Toolesboro,  and  started 
north.  They  were  joined  by  a  man  by  the  name  of  Fisher,  who  belonged  to  a 
religious  sect  called  Seceders,  and  had  been  over  in  Louisa  county  making  claims. 
Acting  as  their  pilot,  he  took  them  up  about  where  Grandview  now  stands  and 
said  that  they  were  then  up  to  the  north  line  of  their  claims.  ( I  think  such  a  sect 
settled  west  of  the  Iowa  river  near  Columbus  City ;  possibly  some  may  have 
located  east  of  the  river).  He  said  they  could  have  all  the  land  they  wanted  north 
of  that  place.  Bidding  them  good-by  he  left  them.  While  traveling  north  in 
the  bottom  in  the  rear  of  the  present  Port  Louisa,  they  found  a  Mr.  Kennedy 
and  family,  a  brother  of  the  present  William  Kennedy  of  Louisa  county,  who 
were  camped  for  the  day,  boiling  coffee,  and  they  treated  our  party  very  kindly. 
They  then  traveled  north  to  where  they  afterwards  took  their  claims  near  Whis- 
key Hollow.  Here  was  a  fine  bottom,  with  plenty  of  timber — an  indispensable 
article  for  the  pioneer  settler.  They  concluded  to  investigate  the  extent  of  the 
timber,  so  they  started  up  Whiskey  Hollow  and  came  out  to  the  prairie  some 
where  near  where  the  railroad  goes  out.  It  was  then  night.  They  cut  some 
brush  to  make  beds  of  and  lighted  a  fire  on  an  old  white  oak  log.  In  the  night 
Thornton  was  awakened  by  distant  thunder.  He  aroused  the  others  and  they  had 
but  time  to  draw  on  their  boots  and  get  each  to  his  tree  before  the  storm  came. 
While  hugging  to  the  lee  of  their  trees,  their  fire  blew  to  a  great  distance  and 
they  thought  they  had  lost  it  all;  (a  very  serious  loss  when  it  had  to  be  lighted 
with  flint  and  steel),  but  by  good  fortune  some  remained  in  a  knot  hole,  from 
which  they  rebuilt  another.  As  soon  as  it  was  light  enough  (about  three  o'clock) 
they  started  on  their  way.  They  traveled  along  the  timber  until  they  struck  an 
Indian  trail  that  led  them  down  the  bluff  some  five  miles  west  of  our  city.  Here 
they  found  an  Indian's  wickiup.  The  Indian,  with  his  squaw  and  two  or  three 
pappooses.  were  planting  corn." 

The  Indian  name  for  corn  was  tomanock,  and  as  the  early  settlers  found  a 
number  of  Indian  cornfields  when  they  came  here,  it  will  be  well  worth  while 
to  preserve  in  this  connection  an  account  of  their  way  of  planting  corn  as  related 
by  Mr.  Walton  in  the  book  before  referred  to:  "They  made  their  hills  three 
or  four  feet  apart,  without  any  regularity  whatever,  possibly  using  the  same 
ground  and  the  same  hill  that  their  predecessors  had  done  for  ages  before.  In 
the  spring  at  planting  time,  they  removed  the  weeds,  usually  carrying  them  out 
of  the  field,  and  dug  up  the  top  of  the  hill  and  planted  their  corn.  In  tilling 
thev  would  always  scrape  the  earth  up  to  the  corn.  This  manner  of  tillage  kept 
the  hill  identical  for  year  after  year.  I  have  often  thought  that  this  system  of 
growing  corn,  or  these  perpetual  hills,  gave  rise  to  the  term,  'hill  of  corn.'  1 
think  that  the  white  man  borrowed  the  term  when  he  borrowed  the  corn.  The 
corn  thev  raised  was  a  variety  of  eight-rowed  corn  ;  we  knew  it  by  the  name  of 
'squaw  corn'  and  raised  it  for  several  years  for  green  corn.  It  was  blue  in  color ; 
when  ripe  it  was  quite  soft,  and  when  crushed  was  white  and  flowery.  It  produced 
fairlv  well :  I  think  thirtv  or  forty  bushels  could  have  been  gathered  from  an 
acre." 


50  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

It  may  be,  of  course,  that  there  were  permanent  settlements  in  this  county 
in  the  year  1834  but  this  is  certainly  the  earliest  date  which  can  be  assigned  for 
any  permanent  settlement,  and  there  were  likely  not  more  than  three  or  four 
such  settlements  within  the  entire  limits  of  the  county  that  vear.  It  is  possible 
that  the  old  cabin  referred  to  by  the  Wapello  Republican  was  erected  bv  the 
Mr.  Kennedy  spoken  of  by  Err  Thornton.  This  was  John  Kennedy,  a  brother 
of  William  Kennedy,  the  latter  having  been  a  very  prominent  figure  in  the  early 
settlement  of  the  county.     He  is  said  to  have  settled  here  in  1836. 

The  first  government  sale  of  land  in  this  county  was  not  till  November,  1838, 
and  for  that  reason  we  have  no  public  land  records  regarding  the  ownership 
and  transfer  of  the  various  tracts  and  claims  prior  to  the  winter  of  1838.  The 
earliest  official  record  of  any  kind  which  gives  the  names  of  the  early  settlers  in 
this  part  of  the  country  is  that  of  the  census  which  was  taken  in  July,  1836. 
This  census  was  taken  in  pursuance  of  the  act  of  congress  organizing  Wisconsin 
Territory  and  was  made  by  Solomon  Perkins,  who  styles  himself  "sheriff  and 
censor,  D.  C.  W.  T.,"  Mr.  Perkins  being  at  that  time  sheriff  of  Des  Moines  county, 
Wisconsin  Territory,  of  which  Louisa  county  was  then  a  part.  There  is  nothing 
in  the  census  as  recorded  to  show  where  the  various  persons  resided,  except  as 
to  Burlington,  and  perhaps  as  to  Van  Buren  county,  it  being  described  as  in  the 
"western  part"  of  Des  Moines  county.  This  census  shows  the  name  of  the  head 
of  each  family  and  opposite  the  name  of  the  head  of  the  family  is  given  the 
number  of  males  under  twenty-one  and  over  twenty-one,  the  number  of  females 
under  twenty-one  and  over  twenty-one  ;  and  the  total  number  in  the  family  is 
also  carried  out. 

The  following  list  appears  by  itself  on  page  5  of  the  census  and  was  taken 
by  Zadok  C.  Inghram,  as  assistant  to  Sheriff  Perkins,  and  we  give  it  with  his 
spelling: 


Under 

Isaac  Parsons    4 

John  H.  Benson 2 

William  L.  Toole 

Orien    Briggs    2 

Christopher    Shuck    4 

Elias    Keever    

William  Dunbar   

James    A.    Campbell 1 

James    Magers    

John   McClung    3 

John  Ranken   1 

James  Erwin   2 

John   Reynolds    1 

Thomas   Kellow    

Robert   Childers    3 

George  Umphrey    5 

Abraham    McClary    

Levi   Thornton    4 


Males 

Females 

2\   Over  1 

1    Undei 

21 

Over  2 

1   Total 

1 

1. 

1 

12 

2 

1 

5 

1 

1 

2 

2 

1 

7 

2 

2 

1 

9 

2 

r 

1 

4 

1 

1 

1 

3 

6 

6 

1 

14 

1 

3 

1 

5 

1 

3 

1 

8 

2 

1 

4 

1 

1 

2 

6 

2 

3 

1 

7 

1 

1 

2 

2 

T 

2 

9 

4 

5 

1 

is 

2 

2 

1 

5 

1 

r 

2 

8 

HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 


51 


Under 

Err  Thornton 

Silas    Richardson    

Nathaniel  Parson   4 

Samuel  Shortridge   3 

Thomas  Starks    1 

William  McClaren   4 

Joseph  Crane 

Thomas  M.  Crane   

Samuel    L.    Crane 

William  Starks    1 

Isaac  Lathrop   1 

John  Cobb    1 

Silas   Lathrop    2 

James  W.  Casey   

John  Yanetty 

Thomas    Burdett    

Adison   Reynolds    

Eli  Reynolds   1 

James  Davis    

John   W.   Furgason    2 


les 

Females 

Over   2 

1    Under  21  Over  2 

1    Tot 

4 

5 

1 

1                 1 

3 

3 

3                  1 

1 1 

1 

1                  1 

6 

1 

2                  1 

5 

2 

2                  1 

9 

1 

2                  1 

4 

1 

2 

1 

1                  1 

3 

2 

2                  1 

6 

1 

1                  1 

4 

1 

2                  1 

5 

1 

3                 1 

7 

6 

7 

2 

2                          I 

5 

3 

3 

1 

2                        I 

4 

1 

3 

2 

3 

2 

5 

52 


71 


62 


38 


223 


It  appears  from  the  census  of  Burlington  that  Zadok  C.  Inghram  was  then 
residing  in  Burlington. 

The  most  if  not  all  of  the  following  names  appear  in  that  part  of  the  census 
book  as  having  been  taken  by  J.  &  J.  Inghram,  assistants  to  Sheriff  Perkins: 

Males  Females 

Under  21   Over  21   Under  21   Over  21   Total 


Reuben   Westfall    3 

David  G.  Blair   

Thomas   Blair    

Allen  Elliot 

William  Dupont    

Reuben   C.   Mason    3 

Phillip    Mascle    

Phillip  B.  Harrison    

Joseph   Derben    

John   Spence    

Jacob    Rinearson    

Isaac  Rinearson    

Robert    Williams    

Wright   Williams    

Rolla  Driskall    

James  Hatcher    

Gideon  B.  Alexander    

Thomas  Stoddard 


3 

2 

3 

9 

3 

1 

2 

7 

2 

3 

1 
1 
2 

i 

5 

9 
2 

3 

5 

5 

1 
2 

2 

8 
2 

1 

3 
2 

2 

9 
3 

2 

4 

1 

8 

1 

2 

1 

5 

3 

3 

3 

10 

1 

1 

3 

Males 

Females 

21   Over   21 

U 

ndet 

21 

Over  2 

i  Total 

i 

3 

i 

9 

i 

2 

3 

I 

i 

I 

8 

2 

i 

I 

4 

2 

I 

4 

5 

5 

2 

T 

6 

2 

2 

I 

12 

3 

I 

2 

7 

I 

I 

2 

I 

2 

I 

8 

I 

2 

I 

5 

52  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 


Under 

Joshua    Swank    4 

Westley  Swank   

William   Milligan    5 

David    Russell    

William   Creighton    I 

Rufus  P.  Burlingame   

Hannah    Smith    3 

Jeremiah    Smith.    Sr 7 

Samuel    Smith    , 1 

James  C.  Reed 

James    Crntchfield    4 

Jackson   Dolahite    1 

In  the  list  of  names  as  taken  by  Zadok  C.  Inghram  we  find  a  number  of  very 
early  settlers  of  Muscatine  county  and  among  the  names  thus  taken  by  I.  &  J. 
Inghram.  our  information  is  that  the  Westfalls  and  the  Blairs.  possibly  some 
others,  lived  about  the  vicinity  of  Northfield,  which  is  now  in  Des  Moines  county, 
and  some  of  the  others  lived  in  the  neighborhood  of  Augusta  at  that  time.  This 
we  know  to  be  true  of  James  Crutchfield,  and  it  is  possibly  true  of  some  of  the 
others  whose  names  appear  in  connection  with  his.  \\'e  have  endeavored  to 
give  in  a  separate  chapter  an  account  of  the  earliest  settlements  that  were  made 
in  various  parts  of  the  county. 

Late  in  the  year  1835  and  early  in  1836  there  had  been  much  agitation  both 
on  the  east  and  west  side  of  the  Mississippi  river  for  the  formation  of  a  new 
territory.  The  people  found  by  the  decisions  of  the  courts  that  they  were  almost 
entirely  without  the  pale  of  civilized  government,  the  courts  having  decided  in 
one  or  two  early  murder  cases  that  they  had  no  jurisdiction  to  try  or  punish 
such  offenders.  We  find  in  Dr.  Shambaugh's  "History  of  the  Constitutions." 
page  -$,  an  extract  from  a  memorial  to  congress  adopted  about  this  time  by  the 
territorial  legislature  of  Michigan,  as  follows:  "According  to  the  decision  of 
our  federal  court,  the  population  west  of  the  Mississippi  are  not  within  its 
jurisdiction,  a  decision  which  is  presumed  to  be  in  accordance  with  the  delegated 
power  of  the  court  and  the  acknowledged  laws  of  the  land;  but  that  ten  or 
twelve  thousand  freemen,  citizens  of  the  United  States,  living  in  its  territory, 
should  be  unprotected  in  their  lives  and  property,  by  its  courts  of  civil  and 
criminal  jurisdiction,  is  an  anomaly  unparalled  in  the  annals  of  republican  legis- 
lation. The  immediate  attention  of  congress  to  this  subject  is  of  vital  importance 
to  the  people  west  of  the  Mississippi." 

In  presenting  this  memorial  in  the  senate.  Senator  Clayton,  of  Delaware, 
referred  to  a  recent  murder  in  Dubuque,  where  the  murderers  had  been  arrested 
but  bad  been  discharged  by  the  court.  Judge  David  Trvin  presiding,  for  lack  of 
jurisdiction,  and  Mr.  Clayton  contended  with  much  force  that  congress  ought 
not  to  permit  this  state  of  things  to  exist.  As  a  result  of  this  agitation  the 
territorial  government  of  Wisconsin  was  created  by  an  act  approved  April  20, 
1836.  The  new  territory  of  Wisconsin  included  the  present  state  of  Iowa  and 
much  other  country  not  necessary  to  describe.  It  was  to  have  a  governor  and  a 
legislative   assembly  to   consist   of   a   council   and  house  of   representatives,   the 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  53 

council  to  be  composed  of  thirteen  members  and  the  house,  twenty-six  members, 
it  was  provided  that  previous  to  the  first  election  the  governor  should  cause  a 
census  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  several  counties  to  be  taken  by  the  sheriffs  thereof 
and  returns  made  to  the  governor,  and  that  the  election  should  be  held  at  such 
time  and  place  and  be  conducted  in  such  manner  as  the  governor  should  direct. 
It  was  also  provided  that  the  governor  should  declare  the  number  of  members 
of  the  council  and  house  of  representatives  to  which  each  county  should  be  en- 
titled, and  the  governor  was  required  to  declare  who  had  been  duly  elected  to 
the  two  houses,  and  to  order  new  elections  in  cases  where  there  was  a  tie.  It 
was  also  provided  that  after  the  legislative  assembly  should  meet,  these  various 
matters,  including  the  apportionment  of  representation  in  the  several  counties, 
should  be  prescribed  by  law.  The  governor  was  empowered  to  nominate,  and 
with  the  consent  of  the  council,  to  appoint  all  judicial  officers,  justices  of  the 
peace,  sheriffs  and  certain  militia  officers  and  all  civil  officers  not  provided  for 
in  the  organic  act,  but  it  was  provided  that  township  and  county  officers  should 
be  elected  by  the  people.  The  judicial  power  was  vested  in  a  supreme  court, 
district  courts,  probate  courts  and  in  justices  of  the  peace,  the  jurisdiction  of 
the  latter  not  to  extend  to  disputes  over  land  titles,  or  where  the  amount  claimed 
exceeded  $50. 

Section  12  of  this  act  is  as  follows :  "And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  the 
inhabitants  of  the  said  territory  shall  be  entitled  to,  and  enjoy,  all  and  singular 
the  rights,  privileges  and  advantages,  granted  and  secured  to  the  people  of  the 
territory  of  the  United  States  northwest  of  the  river  Ohio,  by  the  articles  of  the 
compact  contained  in  the  ordinance  for  the  government  of  the  said  territory, 
passed  on  the  thirteenth  day  of  July,  one  thousand  seven  hundred  and  eighty- 
seven  ;  and  shall  be  subject  to  all  the  conditions  and  restrictions  and  prohibitions 
in  said  articles  of  compact  imposed  upon  the  people  of  the  said  territory.  The 
said  inhabitants  shall  also  be  entitled  to  all  the  rights,  privileges  and  immunities, 
heretofore  granted  and  secured  to  the  territory  of  Michigan,  and  to  its  inhabitants, 
and  the  existing  laws  of  the  territory  of  Michigan  shall  be  extended  over  said 
territory,  so  far  as  the  same  shall  not  be  incompatible  with  the  provisions  of  this 
act,  subject,  nevertheless,  to  be  altered,  modified,  or  repealed,  by  the  governor 
and  legislative  assembly  of  the  said  territory  of  Wisconsin ;  and  further,  the 
laws  of  the  United  States  are  hereby  extended  over,  and  shall  be  in  force  in, 
said  territory,  so  far  as  the  same,  or  any  provisions  thereof,  may  be  applicable." 

The  census  which  was  taken  under  this  act,  and  to  which  we  have  before 
referred,  showed  the  population  of  Demoine  county  to  be  6,257,  and  Dubuque 
county,  4,274,  while  the  population  of  the  four  Wisconsin  counties  east  of  the 
Mississippi  river  aggregated  11,687.  Demoine  county,  of  which  this  county  was 
then  a  part,  was  much  the  most  populous  county  in  the  territory  and  in  the  ap- 
portionment of  members  of  the  legislative  assembly  it  became  entitled  to  three 
members  of  the  council  and  seven  members  of  the  house,  and  at  the  election  on 
the  second  Monday  in  October,  1836,  Arthur  B.  Inghram,  Joseph  B.  Teas  and 
Jeremiah  Smith  were  elected  to  the  council,  and  David  R.  Chance,  John  Box, 
Thomas  Blair,  Isaac  Leffler,  Warren  L.  Jenkins,  Eli  Reynolds  and  George  W. 
Teas  were  elected  to  the  house  of  representatives. 

This  immediate  part  of  the  country  continued  to  be  a  part  of  Des  Moines 
county  until  the  establishment  and  organization  of  Louisa  county.     This,  as  we 


54  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

shall  see  later,  was  done  by  act  of  the  Wisconsin  legislature,  approved  December 
6,  1836. 

Meanwhile  the  fame  of  the  I  Hack  I  lawk  Purchase  had  been  spreading.  New 
settlers  were  constantly  invading  the  "Iowa  District."  Some  came  in  boats,  by 
the  Ohio  and  the  Mississippi.  <  (thers  a  little  later,  came  by  the  Great  Lakes 
and  across  country  :  but  thousands  came  in  "prairie  schooners"  by  the  overland 
route.  A  few  were  well  supplied  with  money,  and  some  had  a  goodly  number' 
of  horses  and  cattle,  but  in  most  cases  the  team,  wagon  and  contents,  represented 
the  sum  total  of  the  family's  worldly  possessions.  Each  brought  with  him,  as 
his  chief  implements  of  state-craft,  an  axe  and  an  augur,  a  froe  and  mallet,  a 
plow,  a  log  chain,  and  a  shovel.  The  covered  wagon  afforded  shelter  by  clay, 
and  lodging  by  night,  and  the  cooking  was  done  on  the  ground,  and  their  journey 
often   required  two  months. 

Occasionally  there  would  be  a  family  making  their  long  trip  with  one  ox, 
hitched  in  the  thills  of  a  two-wheeled  cart,  in  which  they  carried  a  mat  for  a 
bed,  and  a  few  boxes.  All  were  actuated  by  the  same  purpose.  All  were  seek- 
ing new  homes  where  the  prairies  promised  the  richest  harvest,  and  where  the 
forests  furnished  timber  for  the  cabin,  and  fuel  for  the  fire-place.  They  were 
seeking  those  "gardens  of  the  wilderness,  boundless  and  beautiful,  untouched  by 
the  ruthless  hand  of  man."  and  "smiling  in  all  the  freshness  of  primeval  beauty." 

These  families  came  from  many  states,  from  the  south  and  the  north,  from 
Virginia  and  Pennsylvania,  from  Ohio  and  Kentucky,  from  Tennessee  and 
Indiana,  from  Xew  England  and  New  York.  They  came  from  all  walks  of 
life.  They  represented  all  shades  of  political  opinion  and  religious  belief.  They 
exemplified  all  phases  and  conditions  of  American  citizenship — the  good,  bad 
and  indifferent.  The  new  settler  did  not  come  as  an  alien,  to  a  new  sovereignty; 
he  came  as  a  citizen  of  the  republic,  seeking  a  new  domicil  in  a  land  of  abundant 
opportunity,  and  ample  elbow  room.  At  the  outset  the  important  question  was 
how  to  obtain  a  title.  True,  the  Indian  title  had  been  extinguished,  but  the 
which  had  not  been  surveyed,  on  penalty  of  forfeiture  of  all  rights  or  claims, 
lands  had  not  been  surveyed  by  the  government,  nor  thrown  open  to  settle- 
and  with  the  liability  of  being  forcibly  removed. 

By  the  summer  of  1838,  Basil  Bently  had  surveyed  township  73  north,  as 
far  west  as  range  6,  and  William  Lee  D.  Ewing  had  surveyed  townships  74  and 
75,  as  far  west  as  range  7.  In  1837.  while  these  surveys  were  going  on.  Sur- 
veyor General  Lytle.  in  his  instructions  to  some  of  the  surveyors  in  the  field, 
said  :  "As  it  is  probable  that  congress  at  its  next  session  will  pass  a  preemption 
law,  you  are  instructed  to  tiote.  in  your  surveying,  the  improvements  upon  the 
public  lands,  their  situation,  and  the  names  of  the  claimants.  This  information 
is  important  the  better  to  enable  the  land  office  to  decide  who  are  entitled  to 
preemptions."  We  will  see  later  how  little  the  land  office  had  to  do  with 
"deciding"  these  questions. 

The  first  land  sale  at  Burlington,  began  on  November  19.  1838.  and  the  only 
Louisa  count)-  lands  sold  at  that  time,  were  in  township  jt,.  in  range  4  and  5;  at 
the  next  sale,  October  26,  1839,  township  74,  range  3  was  offered,  and  the  re- 
mainder was  not  offered  until  March.  1840.  But  the  pioneers  had  not  waited 
for  the  land  surveys,  or  the  sales.  The  lands  were  there,  the  Indian's  right  to 
possession  had  ceased,  and  the  settlers  were  ready  to  improve  them,  and  did  not 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  55 

purpose  to  await  the  action  of  congress.  They  decided  to  make  a  few  laws  of 
their  own,  believing  that  they  could  do  so  fully  as  well,  and  with  much  less 
parliamentary  circumlocution  than  their  servants  at  Washington. 

CLAIM    LAWS. 

Tt  was  a  trying  situation  that  confronted  these  men.  Their  occupancy  of  the 
land  was  in  defiance  of  law,  and  they  had  no  section  numbers  by  which  to 
identify  or  describe  their  possessions,  nor  any  means  of  knowing  where  the 
lines  would  come.  It  is  difficult  for  us,  with  our  present  day  ideas  of  law.  and 
our  absolute  reliance  on  record  titles,  to  understand  the  anomalous  and  chaotic 
situation  which  confronted  our  forefathers,  or  to  fully  appreciate  the  bold  and 
businesslike  manner  in  which  they  met  it.  We  shall  find  that  they  established  a 
"government  of  the  people,  by  the  people,  and  for  the  people :"  that,  so  far  as 
the  settlement  extended,  organizations  were  formed,  and  laws  and  rules  were 
made  and  enforced.  These  settler-made  laws,  founded  in  necessity  and  based 
on  justice,  had  higher  sanction,  and  greater  excuse  for  their  existence,  than 
many  judge-made  laws  of  a  much  later  date.  It  is  not  probable  that  they  had 
any  fear  that  congress  would  ever  permit,  much  less  compel,  them  to  be  dis- 
turbed in  their  possessions.  They  knew  that  congress  had,  in  several  special 
cases,  granted  preemption  rights  to  actual  settlers,  and  they  believed  that  a 
general  preemption  law  would  soon  be  passed.  They  also  could  place  some 
reliance  upon  the  precedent  just  then  established  by  congress,  by  the  act  of 
Tuly  2,  1836,  for  laying  off  Fort  Madison,  Burlington,  Dubuque,  etc.,  which  gave 
the  preference  in  the  sales  of  lots  to  all  persons,  "who  shall  have,  by  building  or 
enclosure,  actually  occupied  or  improved  any  lot  or  lots  in  the  said  towns,"  etc. 

Lieutenant  Lea  is  an  excellent  authority  on  such  matters,  having  traveled 
extensively  throughout  the  Black  Hawk  Purchase  during  the  days  of  its  early 
settlement.  He  says :  "In  the  District  generally,  the  land  titles  are  in  an 
anomalous  condition.  The  country  was  freed  from  its  Indian  occupants  in 
1833;  hundreds  immediately  flocked  in.  each  selecting  such  place  as  suited  him 
best,  and  each  respecting  the  premises  of  those  who  had  preceded  him.  It  is 
now  clearly  understood  what  improvement  it  takes  to  constitute  a  claim  to  any 
portion  of  these  lands;  and  a  claim  to  a  farm,  regularly  established,  is  just  as 
.good,  for  the  time  being,  as  if  the  occupant  had  the  government  patent  for  it. 
An  emigrant  comes  into  the  country ;  he  looks  around  him,  and  finds  a  situation 
that  pleases  him;  here,  he  says,  'I  will  make  an  improvement;'  and  forthwith 
he  goes  to  work,  builds  a  house,  fences  a  piece  of  ground,  plows  and  plants  it ; 
he  stakes  out  his  half  a  section  of  land,  one  quarter  section  probably  being  wood- 
land, and  the  other  quarter  being  prairie ;  and  then  his  home  is  secure  from 
trespass  by  any  one  whatever,  until  the  government  shall  think  proper  to  prefer 
its  claims.  If  he  think  proper  to  sell  his  claim,  he  is  at  perfect  liberty  to  do  so; 
and  the  purchaser  succeeds  to  all  the  rights  of  the  first  settler.  It  is  usual  in 
such  sales,  for  the  purchaser  to  take  a  bond  of  the  previous  occupant,  to  trans- 
fer any  right  that  the  latter  may  acquire,  in  consequence  of  his  previous  occu- 
pancy, under  the  operation  of  the  laws  of  the  United  States  relative  to  occupant 
titles. 


56  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

"Where  towns  are  laid  out,  as  it  is  not  expected  that  each  holder  of  a  lot 
would  he  able  to  obtain  a  separate  title  from  the  government,  it  is  arranged  that 
the  proprietor  shall  secure  the  fee  simple  title,  in  his  own  name,  for  the  whole 
site,  by  the  best  means  in  his  power ;  and  he  gives  his  bond  to  make  a  title  to 
the  purchaser,  whenever  he  shall  have  secured  it  to  himself. 

"The  people  of  this  whole  District  have  entered  into  an  agreement  to  sup- 
port each  other  in  their  claims,  against  any  unjust  action  of  the  government,  or 
against  any  attempt  at  improper  speculation  by  capitalists  at  a  distance.  And 
those  who  know  the  potency  of  such  leagues,  will  feel  perfectly  assured,  that 
whatever  is  protected  by  this  one.  will  be  safe  from  molestation." 

Few  of  the  records  of  these  early  organizations  have  come  to  light,  and  it 
may  well  be  doubted  if  many  of  them  had  written  records  other  than  the  list  of 
those  entitled  to  claims  in  each  congressional  township.  The  records  of  two 
such  organization-,,  however,  are  in  existence,  one  of  them  being  a  Johnson 
county  association,  and  the  other,  a  club  having  its  headquarters  at  Fort  Dodge ; 
and  their  constitution  and  by-laws  show  a  very  complete  and  elaborate  system 
of  rules  and  regulations.  It  may  be  asked  by  some  what  evidence  there  is  of 
the  existence  of  any  such  organizations  or  the  enforcement  of  any  such  laws  in 
Louisa  county.  There  is  ample  evidence  to  this  effect.  In  the  first  place,  the 
statement  of  Lieutenant  Lea  seems  to  apply  to  the  Iowa  district  generally.  Also 
Mr.  Newhal]  in  his  "Sketches  of  Iowa"  evidently  means  the  same  thing.  He 
says:  "In  order  to  prevent  unpleasant  litigation  and  to  keep  up  a  spirit  of  har- 
mony amongst  neighbors,  and  the  better  to  protect  them  in  their  equitable  rights 
of  claim  purchase,  each  township  has  its  own  organization  generally  throughout 
the  territory,  etc." 

Mr.  Xewhall  then  goes  on  to  say  that  a  called  meeting  is  usually  the  first 
step  and  that  at  this  meeting  after  a  short  preamble,  resolutions  are  adopted 
and  a  register  appointed,  whose  duty  it  is  to  record  the  name  of  each  claimant, 
describing  his  particular  claim,  and  that  a  bidder  is  also  appointed,  whose  duty 
it  shall  be  at  the  sale  to  bid  off  the  land  registered  in  the  name  of  each  respective 
claimant. 

Concerning  this  kind  of  law,  Mr.  Newhall  has  this  to  say :  "Although  claim 
law  is  no  law  derived  from  the  LInited  States,  or  from  the  statute  book  of  the 
territory,  yet  it  nevertheless  is  the  law  made  by  and  derived  from  the  sovereigns 
themselves,  and  its  mandates  are  imperative." 

In  his  recollections,  published  in  the  "Annals"  for  January.  1897,  Francis 
Springer,  in  speaking  of  the  early  courts  of  Louisa  county  refers  to  the  claim 
courts  in  this  way:  "Referring  to  early  courts,  I  may  speak  of  a  sort  of  pro- 
visional court  organized  by  settlers  in  congressional  townships  of  government 
lands  prior  to  being  first  offered  for  sale — which  would  be  at  public  auction, 
at  a  minimum  price  of  $1.25  per  acre.  In  order  to  settle  claim  controversies 
that  might  occur  among  the  settlers,  and  to  prevent  adverse  bidding  at  the  land 
sales,  a  'township  claim  committee'  was  appointed,  composed  of  three  capable 
men  (of  the  settlers)  whose  duty  it  was  to  hear  and  decide  upon  all  contested 
claims.  The  parties  on  due  notice  would  appear  before  the  committee  (some- 
times with  attorney)  make  their  statements,  present  their  proofs,  when,  after 
hearing  the  case,  a  decision  would  be  made,  and  whichever  way  it  went  the 
losing  party    was   bound   by  honor   and   the   unwritten    law   of   the   township   to 


■ 


■,.m;« 


Wk  .^.//////«^     Syr 


■—- r*« 


-- 


FIRST  AND  LAST  PAGE  OF  CHRISTOPHER   SHUCKS  BOND  AS 
JUSTICE  OF  THE  PEACE 


PUftLIC    LI 


ASTOE.    1  l 

8  L 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  .",7 

acquiesce  in  it.  He  knew  he  must  do  this,  or  expect  rough  handling  at  the  land 
sales  from  the  settlers  who  would  be  present  in  force,  one  of  them  acting  as 
township  bidder  for  all,  as  the  tracts  were  called  by  the  register  of  the  land 
office,  giving  the  name  of  the  settler  entitled.  The  tracts  were  called  and  struck 
off  with  great  rapidity.  It  would  have  been  dangerous  for  any  one  (settler  or 
outsider)  to  make  a  bid  against  the  township  bidder.    This  was  well  understood.*' 

We  may  suppose  that  the  same  custom  which  prevailed  in  Des  Moines  county 
also  prevailed  in  this  county,  and  for  that  reason  the  statement  of  Dr.  C.  A. 
White,  an  earlv  resident  of  Burlington,  will  be  interesting.  In  an  article  on 
"Early  Homes  and  Home  Makers  of  Iowa,"  in  the  "Annals"  for  October,  1899, 
Dr.  White,  after  referring  to  these  settler  organizations  and  their  method  of 
quit  claiming  lands  before  the  government  land  sales,  says:  "The  chief  agency 
of  the  agreement  for  mutual  protection  and  the  execution  of  the  provisional 
system  of  real-estate  transfer  was  an  organization  called  the  Squatters'  Club, 
which  had  its  headquarters  at  Burlington.  Every  proved  holder  of  a  claim  upon 
government  land  or  a  town  lot  was  eligible  to  membership  whether  he  was  the 
original  squatter  upon  his  claim  or  had  purchased  it  from  one.  The  club  made 
regulations  which  had  all  the  force  of  laws  because  the  members  yielded  willing 
obedience  ;  and  it  also  acted  as  arbiter  in  such  disputes  as  might  arise  between 
members  concerning  claims  upon  other  than  their  already  recorded  parcels.  The 
members  were  pledged  to  protect  one  another  in  the  tenure  of  their  approved 
claims,  in  the  transfer  of  the  same  if  they  should  desire  to  sell,  and  against 
overbidding  at  the  approaching  government  sale.  They  also  protected  one  an- 
other, as  far  as  possible,  in  those  cases  of  ruinously  extortionate  interest  which 
was  charged  by  the  'land  sharks'  to  every  poor  squatter  who  had  to  borrow 
money  to  eke  out  the  payment  of  government  price  for  his  land.  But  most  of 
these  cases  could  not  be  remedied,  and  the  squatter  lost  his  claim  or  sold  it  at 
a  sacrifice  to  obtain  enough  money  to  start  again  as  an  emigrant  and  make  a 
new  claim  farther  west.  I  do  not  certainly  know  the  date  of  organization  of  the 
club,  but  I  am  confident  it  was  not  later  than  early  autumn  of  1836.  My  father 
became  a  member  of  it  in  1838,  he  having  bought  a  squatter's  claim  to  eighty 
acres  of  land  near  Burlington  and  a  building  lot  in  the  town  ;  and  many  mem- 
bers of  the  club  thus  became  personally  known  to  me.  He  once  admitted  to  me 
that  the  club  was  a  secret  society,  and  I  have  no  doubt  that  their  compact  was  con- 
firmed by  solemn  oath." 

But  it  is  not  probable  that  the  making  of  these  claim  laws  was  done  by  the 
settlers  at  first,  nor  that  it  could  have  been  accomplished  at  all  until  shown  to  be 
necessary  by  the  continued  influx  of  newcomers  and  the  numerous  disputes  and 
quarrels  that  occurred  over  claim  locations.  More  than  one  tradition  has  come 
down  to  us  of  cabins  destroyed  and  lives  endangered  in  this  county  by  these 
land  quarrels  ;  but  the  particulars  cannot  be  obtained  with  any  certainty. 

A  noted  encounter  occurred  just  a  few  miles  southwest  of  Wapello,  near 
the  sand  mounds  in  Ed  Jamison's  field  :  this  has  sometimes  been  called  the  "Joy 
War"  and  was  participated  in  by  Angelo  Driskall,  the  Joys,  Gregorys,  Lewins 
and  some  others.  A  few  shots  were  fired,  but  no  one  seems  to  have  been  hurt. 
Mrs.  McDill  relates  an  interesting  story  of  a  supposed  attempt  at  claim  jump- 
ing in  the  early  days.  It  seems  that  a  Mr.  Erwin  took  a  liking  to  a  piece  of 
land  in  the  William  Kennedy  neighborhood,  and  went  over  and  plowed  a  furrow 


58  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

around  the  part  that  he  wanted  in  order  to  indicate  that  he  laid  claim  to  it. 
The  land  around  which  the  furrow  was  plowed  was  a  part  of  William  Kennedy's 
claim.  That  night  the  settlers  in  the  neighborhood,  of  whom  Mrs.  McDill's 
father.  John  Ronalds, 'was  one.  got  together  and  went  out  and  turned  back  the 
sod  in  the  furrow  which  Mr.  Erwin  had  made.  It  seems  that  this  was  notice 
enough  to   Mr.   Erwin  and  he  made   no   further  claim  to  the  land. 

William  L.  Toole,  in  the  "Annals"  for  January,  1868,  in  speaking  of  the 
country  about  Toolesboro  and  Wapello  says:  "In  this  location,  as  in  others, 
great  strife  and  contention  was  kept  up  here  in  those  early  days,  through  con- 
flicting interest  in  claims  or  the  encroachments  of  unprincipled  adventurers. 
Cabins  were  burned,  torn  down  or  unroofed,  and  the  lives  of  persons  frequently 
in  jeopardy  in  consequence  of  these  contentions  for  claims.  At  one  time  in 
1836,  contending  parties  numbering  some  twenty  or  thirty  on  each  side  met  near 
here  on  a  disputed  piece  of  land,  armed  with  guns,  pistols,  knives,  etc.,  intending 
to  decide  the  right  of  possession  by  a  battle,  the  victors  to  be  the  possessors. 
Fortunately,  however,  a  worthy  and  peaceable  old  gentleman,  E.  Hook,  with 
some  two  or  three  other  persons,  friendly  with  both  parties,  appeared  on  the 
battleground,  and  by  their  influence  prevented  a  commencement  of  the  conflict, 
otherwise  blood  would  have  been  shed  on  this  occasion,  and  perhaps  lives  lost. 
Serious  difficulties  like  this  often  occurred  in  regard  to  ownership  of  claims, 
and  sometimes  occurrences  or  cases  in  regard  to  claims  occurred  which  were 
more  amusing  than  serious.  One  I  will  state  wherein  a  defeated  party,  through 
our  claim  law  or  regulations  refused  to  leave  or  give  possession  of  a  cabin 
thereon,  and  the  successful  party  with  a  few  friends  kindly  took  the  opposing 
individual  out  of  the  cabin  and  carried  him  from  the  premises,  notwithstanding 
his  struggling,  kicking  and  threatening,  greatly  to  the  amusement  of  the 
lookers-on,  but  he  finally  made  a  virtue  of  necessity  and  submitted  to  our  claim 
laws,  and  was  protected  afterward  himself  by  these  claim  laws  in  a  claim  diffi- 
culty. These  difficulties  continued  more  or  less  until  the  public  sale  of  land  by 
the  government.  Just  previous  to  the  public  sale  all  disputes  and  difficulties 
concerning  claims  were  amicably  arranged,  and  the  settlers  entered  into  a  league 
for  common  protection  and  opposition  to  speculators,  then  secured  their  claims 
and   went  on  prospering  and, making  comfortable  homes." 

Lung  before  the  land  sales,  hard  times  prevailed  not  only  on  the  frontier  but 
all  over  the  country.  This  was  about  the  time  of  the  panic,  brought  on  either 
by  President  Jackson  or  the  banks,  or  both,  when  it  was  almost  impossible  to 
get  gold  or  silver  and  when  the  banks  were  failing  so  fast  that  paper  money 
was  a  dangerous  commodity.  It  was  even  impossible  for  the  government  in 
June.  1837,  to  get  specie  with  which  to  make  the  payments  due  the  Sac  and  Fox 
Indians  under  the  treaties  made  with  them.  And  this  fact  caused  great  dis- 
satisfaction among  the  Indians  and  came  very  near  leading  to  hostilities  in  the 
neighborhood  of  Burlington  and  in  and  about  the  forks  of  the  Iowa  and  Cedar 
rivers.  Rut  among  the  earlv  settlers  times  were  much  harder  than  anywhere 
else  in  the  country,  for  the  reason  that,  beginning  a  long  time  before  the  land 
-ales,  every  settler  sacredly  hoarded  every  dollar  that  he  could  get.  so  that  he 
would  be  able  to  pay  for  his  home  when  the  time  came  to  buy  it.  When  the 
land  sales  came  at  Burlington,  the  settlers  from  all  this  part  of  the  Black  Hawk 
Purchase  assembled  there.     We  may  suppose  that  nearly  the  entire  male  popu- 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  59 

lation  of  Louisa  county  took  up  their  abode  in  Burlington  for  several  days  at 
that  time.  The  hotels  would  not  begin  to  hold  the  people.  Bar  rooms,  dining 
rooms,  kitchens,  and  even  wagons,  were  converted  into  bedrooms  to  accommo- 
date the  vast  crowd  of  people  gathered  there  to  buy  what  they  called  their  own 
homes. 

As  both  Mr.  Newhall  anil  Dr.  White  attended  these  land  sales,  we  will  let 
them  describe  them:  Dr.  White  says  of  the  land  sales:  "The  crucial  test  of 
the  squatters'  compact  was  to  come  at  the  time  of  the  government  land  sales, 
and  it  did  come  then.  The  club  prepared  an  engrossed  copy  of  its  list  of  mem- 
bers with  the  descriptive  formula  of  each  member's  claim  opposite  his  name. 
They  then  appointed  a  public  bidder  who  should,  with  this  list  in  hand,  in  the 
presence  of  the  settlers  assembled  at  the  sale,  bid  off  each  parcel  or  lot  in  the 
name  of  its  recognized  claimant  the  instant  it  was  offered  by  the  register.  No 
other  bids  were  to  be  allowed,  and  even  the  claimant  himself,  if  he  were  present, 
was  required  to  remain  silent.  I  did  not  witness  the  sale  which  was  held  at 
I'.urlington  in  November,  1838,  which  was  the  first  sale  of  public  lands  held  in 
Iowa,  but  I  was  present  at  the  second  one  held  there  a  few  months  afterward, 
in  1839.  The  land  office  then  occupied  a  one-story  frame  building,  long  since 
removed,  which  stood  on  the  lot  at  the  southeast  corner  of  Third  and  Columbia 
streets.  When  the  hour  appointed  for  the  sale  arrived,  Bernhart  Henn,  the 
register,  took  his  stand  at  an  open  window  facing  the  yard  within  which  many 
settlers  and  citizens  were  assembled.  The  club's  bidder  had  a  small  stand 
erected  outside  in  full  view  of  the  assembly  and  close  to  the  window  where  the 
register  was  standing,  each  having  the  list  before  him.  Those  lists  tallied  exactly 
with  each  other  because  they  had  been  carefully  compared  before  the  day  of 
sale  arrived  that  there  might  be  no  confusion  while  the  sale  was  in  progress :  a 
fact  that  showed  the  club  and  government  officials  to  have  been  in  good  and 
proper  accord.  The  sale  began  by  the  register  offering  a  parcel  of  land,  reciting 
its  well  understood  descriptive  formula,  and  the  instant  response  of  the  club's 
bidder  who.  in  a  distinct  voice,  named  the  claimant  and  the  minimum  price. 
The  register  at  once  accepted  the  bid  and  the  entry  was  checked  off  on  both  lists. 
As  there  was  no  waiting  or  invitation  for  higher  bids  the  sales  were  rapidly  and 
almost  perfunctorily  made.  Still,  it  was  possible  for  an  outsider  to  get  in  a 
higher  bid  if  he  spoke  quickly  and  was  willing  to  take  the  risk  of  personal 
injury,  which  every  one  knew  he  would  incur.  I  was  listening  to  the  monotonous 
progress  of  the  sale  when  a  violent  commotion  suddenly  took  place  near  me. 
Some  one  had  dared  to  risk  an  overbid,  but  before  it  was  distinctly  uttered  he 
was  knocked  down  with  hickory  canes,  which  many  of  the  settlers  then  carried, 
for  his  intention  was  suspected  and  they  were  ready  for  him.  He  was  not 
killed,  but  his  injuries  were  such  that  he  could  take  no  further  action  that  day. 
and  when  he  recovered  he  did  not  press  his  demand  for  government  title  to  the 
land  he  coveted.  Here  was  apparently  a  dilemma,  but  the  case  was  promptly 
met  by  the  register  who  ignored  the  outside  bid  and  accepted  that  of  the  bidder 
appointed  by  the  club.  When  his  attention  was  afterward  called  to  the  matter 
he  declared  that  he  heard  no  other  bid  than  that  of  the  club's  bidder,  and  his 
decision  was  final." 

Mr.   Newhall   says:     "The   sale  being  announced   from   the   land   office,   the 
township  bidder  stands  near  by   with  the   register  book  in   hand,  each   settler's 


60  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

name  attached  to  his  respective  quarter  or  half  section,  and  thus  he  puts  in  the 
name  on  the  whole  township  for  each  respective  claimant.  A  thousand  settlers 
are  standing  by,  eagerly  listening  when  their  quarter  shall  be  called  off.  Finally, 
when  his  quarter  or  half  is  reached  and  called  off  to  him  by  the  register,  with 
an  independent  step  he  walks  into  the  land  office,  opens  the  time  worn  saddle- 
bags and  counts  out  the  two  hundred  or  four  hundred  dollars  of  silver  or  gold, 
takes  a  certificate  from  the  government  and  goes  away  rejoicing." 

At  the  time  Wisconsin  territory  was  organized  it  ought  to  have  been,  and 
perhaps  was,  evident  that  it  would  not  be  long  before  a  division  would  become 
necessary.  It  was  three  or  four  times  as  large  as  the  average  of  the  states  in 
the  Union  and  was  divided  by  the  great  Mississippi  river.  Besides  this,  the  popu- 
lation of  the  territory  was  diverse  in  character  and  so  scattered  in  locations  as 
to  make  it  almost  certain  that  the  purely  local  laws  and  customs  suitable  to  one 
community  would  not  be  suitable  to  the  others.  The  people  of  the  Iowa  District 
were  enthusiastic  for  a  division  of  Wisconsin  territory  from  the  very  start,  and 
the  people  of  Louisa  county  did  their  part  to  agitate  and  carry  out  the  project. 

The  first  public  meeting  was  held  in  Des  Moines  county  in  September,  1837. 
The  committee  on  resolutions  was  composed  of  David  Rorer,  W.  W.  Chapman. 
William  Morgan,  Arthur  1!.  Inghram  and  Dr.  George  W.  Teas,  and  their  report, 
which  was  adopted,  urged  the  organization  of  a  separate  territorial  government 
west  of  the  Mississippi  river  as  the  only  means  of  immediately  and  fully  secur- 
ing to  the  citizens  thereof  the  benefits  and  immunities  of  a  government  of  laws. 

These  resolutions  also  referred  to  the  efforts  of  Missouri  to  extend  her 
northern  boundary  line.  They  also  declared  that  settlers  on  public  lands  were 
entitled  to  the  protection  of  the  government  in  their  homes  and  to  the  improve- 
ments made  by  them,  and  recommended  that  county  meetings  be  held  in  the 
counties  west  of  the  Mississippi  to  appoint  delegates  to  a  convention  to  be  held 
in  Burlington  in  November  following.  The  next  county  meeting  was  held  at 
Dubuque,  October  13,  1837;  and  on  October  21,  1837.  a  public  meeting  of  the 
citizens  of  Louisa  county  was  held  at  Wapello,  the  proceedings  of  which  were 
published  in  the  Wisconsin  Territorial  Gazette  and  Burlington  Advertiser,  of 
November  2.  1837.  but  we  copy  them  from  the  "Iowa  Journal  of  History  and 
Politics"  for  July.   101 1: 

"At  a  large  and  respectable  meeting  of  the  people  of  Louisa  county,  held  in 
the  town  of  Wapello,  on  Saturday  the  21st  inst.  in  pursuance  of  previous  notice, 
William  Milligan,  Esq.,  was  called  to  the  chair,  and  Z.  C.  Inghram  appointed 
secretary.  The  object  of  the  meeting  was  briefly  and  appropriately  stated  by 
James  M.  Clark,  Esq.  It  was  moved  by  Daniel  Brewer,  and  seconded  by  1.  M. 
Clark,  that  a  committee  of  five  be  appointed  to  draft  resolutions  expressive  of 
the  sense  of  the  meeting:  whereupon  the  chair  appointed  Daniel  Brewer,  John 
II.  Benson,  R.  S.  Searls,  Isaac  H.  Rinearson  and  William  H.  R.  Thomas  said 
committee,  who.  after  having  retired  for  a  short  time,  returned  and  presented 
the  following  resolutions,  which,  after  due  deliberation,  w^ere  unanimously 
adopted. 

"1.  Resolved.  That  we  highly  approve  of  the  objects  and  motives  of  the 
•Territorial  Convention,  to  be  holden   in   Burlington;  and  that   so   far  as  lies  in 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  61 

our  power  we  will  heartily  cooperate  with  our  brethren  in  the  adjoining-  counties, 
in  carrying  these  motives  into  effect. 

"2.  Resolved,  That  we  deem  it  highly  essential  to  the  interest  and  conven- 
ience of  our  Territory  that  a  division  of  the  same  take  place,  and  that,  in  our 
opinion,  the  Mississippi  suggests  a  very  natural  and  proper  line  of  separation. 

"3.  Resolved.  That  the  deficiency  of  postoffices,  the  inequality  of  mails,  and 
the  apparent  gross  delinquencies  of  mail  contractors  in  this  western  part  of  our 
Territory,  are  evils,  which  call  loudly  for  redress,  and  that  we  would  suggest 
to  the  Territorial  Convention  the  propriety  of  using  their  influence  and  exer- 
tions to  have  these  abuses  ferreted  out  and  corrected. 

"4.  Resolved,  That  we  look  upon  the  attempts  of  a  portion  of  Missouri  to 
encroach  upon  our  Territory,  as  highly  unjust  and  aggressive,  and  that  however 
much  we  may  regret  that  any  difficulties  should  arise  between  us,  we  are  de- 
termined to  resist  her  encroachments  by  every  just  and  honorable  means. 

"5.  Resolved,  That,  as  settlers  upon  these  frontiers,  enduring  the  privations 
and  hardships  always  incident  to  the  settling  of  new  countries,  we  are  justly 
entitled  to  be  secured  in  the  possession  of  our  homes  and  improvements  by  the 
passage  of  a  preemption  law  in  our  behalf. 

"6.  Resolved,  That  we  would  suggest  to  our  own  delegates,  and  the  con- 
vention at  large,  the  propriety  of  calling  the  attention  of  Congress  to  this  sub- 
ject by  memorial  or  otherwise. 

"7.  Resolved,  That  we  deem  this  a  fitting  occasion  to  express  our  entire 
satisfaction  with  the  present  boundaries  of  our  county,  and  look  upon  those 
who  are  endeavoring  to  effect  a  division  of  the  same  as  acting  contrary  to  the 
best  interest  of  the  county  at  large. 

"The  committee  reported  the  following  list  of  delegates,  viz:  William  I.. 
Toole.  Tames  M.  Clark.  Esq..  and  John  J.  Rinearson.  who  were  chosen  by  the 
meeting. 

"8.  Resolved,  That  the  proceedings  of  this  meeting  be  published  in  the 
Burlington  Gazette. 

"William    Milligan,    Chairman. 
"Z.  C.  Inghkam,  Secretary." 

We  mav  note  in  passing,  resolution  No.  7,  opposing  any  change  in  the  bound- 
aries of  the  county  as  they  then  existed.  This  indicates  that  the  movement  to 
divide  the  county  had  already  gained  some  force,  and  later  on  we  will  find  that 
the  county  was  despoiled  of  more  than  one-half  of  its  territory. 

On  November  6,  1837,  a  convention  of  delegates  from  the  portion  of  Wiscon- 
sin Territorv  west  of  the  Mississippi  river,  met  in  Burlington  and  was  attended 
by  delegates  from  the  counties  of  Dubuque,  Des  Moines,  Van  Buren,  Henry. 
Musquitine.  Lee  and  Louisa.  C.  S.  Jacobs  was  made  president,  J.  M.  Clark 
and  W.  H.  Wallace,  vice  presidents,  and  J.  W.  Parker  and  J.  R.  Struthers,  secre- 
taries. The  convention  was  in  session  for  three  days.  On  the  second  day,  after 
inviting  the  governor,  members  of  the  legislative  council,  judges  and  members 
of  the  bar  of  Burlington  to  take  seats  in  the  convention,  three  committees  were 
appointed  as  follows:  (1st).  A  committee  of  seven  to  draft  a  memorial  to 
congress  on  the  subject  of  the  attempt  of  Missouri  to  extend  her  northern 
boundarv  line.      Mr.   Toole  was  the  Louisa   county  member  of  this   committee. 


62  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

(2d).  A  committee  of  six  was  appointed  to  prepare  a  memorial  to  the  congress 
of  the  United  States  for  the  passage  of  a  preemption  act,  Louisa  county  was 
not  represented  on  this  committee.  (3d).  A  committee  of  seven  was  appointed 
to  draft  a  memorial  to  congress  in  relation  to  the  organization  of  a  separate 
territorial  government   in  that  part   of   Wisconsin   west  of  the  Mississippi. 

The  report  of  the  convention  states  that  this  committee  consisted  of  Messrs. 
Rorer,  Hastings.  Caldwell,  Myers,  Claypool,  Harris  and  Rinearson.  the  latter 
being  the  Louisa  county  member.  This  was  undoubtedly  John  T-  Rinearson, 
though  his  name  is  given  as  S.  J.  Rinearson  in  one  place.  These  committees 
prepared  memorials  on  the  subjects  assigned  to  them,  each  of  which  were  unani- 
mously approved   by  the  convention. 

There  is  no  better  way  for  one  to  get  a  fair  idea  of  the  conditions  then  ex- 
isting west  of  the  Mississippi  river,  and  of  the  ability  and  character  of  the  men 
who  composed  this  assembly  than  by  reading  the  memorials  adopted.  There  is 
history  in  every  line  of  them.  The  following  is  the  memorial  adopted  by  the 
ci  invention  in  regard  to  the  division  of  the  territory: 

"To  the  Honorable  the  Senate  and  I  louse  of  Representatives  of  the  United 
States,  in  Congress  assembled: 

"The  memorial  of  a  general  Convention  of  Delegates,  from  the  respective 
counties  in  the  Territory  of  Wisconsin,  west  of  the  Mississippi  river,  convened 
at  the  capitol  in   Burlington,  in  said  territory,  November  5,   1837, 

Respectfully  represents: 

"That  the  citizens  of  that  part  of  the  territory  west  of  the  Mississippi  river, 
taking  into  consideration  their  remote  and  isolated  position,  and  the  vast  extent 
of  country  included  within  the  limits  of  the  present  territory,  and  the  utter  im- 
practicability of  the  same  being  governed  as  an  entire  whole,  by  the  wisest  and 
best  administration  of  our  municipal  affairs,  in  such  manner  as  to  fully  secure 
individual  right  and  the  right  of  property,  as  well  as  to  maintain  domestic  tran- 
quility, and  the  good  order  of  society,  have  by  their  respective  representatives, 
convened  in  general  convention  as  aforesaid,  for  the  purpose  of  availing  them- 
selves of  their  right  of  petition  as  free  citizens,  by  representing  their  situation 
and  wishes  to  your  honorable  body,  and  asking  for  the  organization  of  a  separate 
territorial  government  over  that  part  of  the  territory  west  of  the  Mississippi 
river. 

"Without,  in  the  least,  designing  to  question  the  official  conduct  of  those  in 
whose  hands  the  fate  of  our  infant  territory  has  been  confided,  and  in  whose 
patriotism  and  wisdom  we  have  the  utmost  confidence,  your  memorialists  cannot 
refrain  from  the  frank  expression  of  their  belief  that,  taking  into  consideration 
the  geographical  extent  of  her  country,  in  connection  with  the  probable  popula- 
tion of  western  Wisconsin,  perhaps  no  territory  of  the  United  States  has  been 
so  much  neglected  by  the  parent  government,  so  illy  protected  in  the  political 
and   individual  rights  of  her  citizens. 

"Western  Wisconsin  came  into  the  possession  of  our  government  in  June. 
1833.  Settlements  were  made,  and  crops  grown,  during  the  same  season:  and 
even  then,  at  that  early   day.   was   the   impulse  given  to  the  mighty   throng  of 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  63 

emigration  that  has  subsequently  filled  our  lovely  and  desirable  country  with 
people,  intelligence,  wealth  and  enterprise.  From  that  period  until  the  present, 
being  a  little  over  four  years,  what  has  been  the  territory  of  western  Wisconsin? 
Literally  and  practically,  a  large  portion  of  the  time  without  a  government. 
With  a  population  of  thousands,  she  has  remained  ungoverned,  and  has  been 
quietly  left  by  the  parent  government  to  take  care  of  herself,  without  the  privilege 
on  the  one  hand  to  provide  a  government  of  her  own,  and  without  any  existing 
authority  on  the  other  to  govern  her. 

"From  June,  1833,  until  June,  1834,  a  period  of  one  year,  there  was  not 
even  the  shadow  of  government  or  law,  in  all  western  Wisconsin.  In  June, 
1834,  congress  attached  her  to  the  then  existing  territory  of  Michigan,  of  which 
territory  she  nominally  continued  a  part,  until  July,  1836,  a  period  of  little  more 
than  two  years.  During  the  whole  of  this  time,  the  whole  country  west,  sufficient 
of  itself  for  a  respectable  state,  was  included  in  two  counties,  Du  Buque  and 
Des  Moines.  In  each  of  these  two  counties  there  were  holden,  during  the  term 
of  two  years,  two  terms  of  a  county  court  (a  court  of  inferior  jurisdiction),  as 
the  only  sources  of  judicial  relief  up  to  the  passage  of  the  act  of  congress  creating 
the  territory  of  Wisconsin.  That  act  took  effect  on  the  3d  day  of  July,  1836, 
and  the  first  judicial  relief  afforded  under  that  act,  was  at  the  April  term  fol- 
lowing, 1837,  a  period  of  nine  months  after  its  passage;  subsequent  to  which 
time  there  has  been  a  court  holden  in  but  one  county  in  Western  Wisconsin  only. 
This,  your  memorialists  are  aware,  has  recently  been  owing  to  the  unfortunate 
indisposition  of  the  esteemed  and  meritorious  judge  of  our  district;  but  they 
are  equally  aware  of  the  fact,  that  had  western  Wisconsin  existed  under  a  separate 
organization,  we  should  have  found  relief  in  the  services  of  other  members  of 
the  judiciary,  who  are  at  present,  in  consequence  of  the  great  extent  of  our 
territory,  and  the  small  number  of  judges  dispersed  at  too  great  a  distance,  and 
too  constantly  engaged  in  the  discharge  of  the  duties  of  their  own  districts,  to 
be  enabled  to  afford  relief  to  other  portions  of  the  territory.  Thus,  with  a 
population  of  not  less  than  twenty-five  thousand  now,  and  of  near  half  that 
number  at  the  organization  of  the  territory,  it  will  appear  that  we  have  existed 
as  a  portion  of  an  organized  territory,  for  sixteen  months,  with  but  one  term  of 
court  only. 

"Your  memorialists  look  upon  those  evils  as  growing  exclusively  out  of  the 
immense  extent  of  country  included  within  the  present  boundaries  of  the  terri- 
tory, and  express  their  conviction  and  belief,  that  nothing  would  so  effectually 
remedy  the  evil  as  the  organization  of  western  Wisconsin  into  a  separate  terri- 
torial government.  To  this  your  memorialists  conceive  themselves  entitled  by 
principles  of  moral  right — by  the  sacred  obligation  that  rests  upon  their  present 
government  to  protect  them  in  the  free  enjoyment  of  their  rights,  until  such 
time  as  they  shall  be  permitted  to  provide  protection  for  themselves ;  as  well  as 
from  the  uniform  practice  and  policy  of  the  government  in  relation  to  other 
territories. 

"The  territory  of  Indiana,  including  the  present  states  of  Indiana,  Illinois 
and  Michigan,  and  also  much  of  the  eastern  portion  of  the  present  territory  of 
Wisconsin,  was  placed  under  one  separate  territorial  government,  in  the  year 
1800,  at  a  time  when  the  population  amounted  to  only  five  thousand,  six  hundred 
and  forty,  or  thereabouts. 


(54  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

"The  territory  of  Arkansas  was  erected  into  a  distinct  territory,  in  1820, 
with  a  population  of  about  fourteen  thousand.  The  territory  of  Illinois  was 
established  in  1809,  being  formed  by  dividing  the  Indiana  territory.  The  exact 
population  of  Illinois  territory  at  the  time  of  her  separation  from  Indiana,  is 
not  known  to  your  memorialists,  but  the  population  in  1810,  one  year  subsequent 
to  that  event,  amounted  to  but  eleven  thousand,  five  hundred  and  one  whites, 
and  a   few  blacks — in  all,  to  less  than  twelve  thousand  inhabitants. 

"The  territory  of  Michigan  was  formed  in  1805,  by  again  dividing  the 
Indiana  territory,  of  which  until  then,  she  composed  a  part.  The  population  of 
.Michigan,  at  the  time  of  her  separation  from  Indiana,  your  memorialists  have 
been  unable  to  ascertain,  but  in  the  year  1810,  a  period  of  five  years  subsequent 
to  her  separate  organization,  her  population  amounted  to  but  about  four  thou- 
sand, seven  hundred  and  sixty;  and  in  the  year  1820,  less  than  nine  thousand — 
so  that  Michigan  existed  some  fifteen  years,  as  a  distinct  territory,  with  a 
population  of  less  than  half  of  western  Wisconsin  at  present;  and  each  of  the 
above  named  territories,  now  composing  so  many  proud  and  flourishing  states, 
were  created  into  separate  territorial  governments,  with  a  much  less  population 
than  that  of  western  Wisconsin,  and  that,  too,  at  a  time  with  a  national  debt  of 
millions.  Your  memorialists  therefore  pray  for  the  organization  of  a  separate 
territorial  government  over  that  part  of  the  territory  of  Wisconsin  west  of  the 
Mississippi  river.*' 

The  legislative  assembly  of  Wisconsin  which  was  then  in  session  in  Burling- 
ton, immediately  took  this  matter  in  hand,  resulting  in  the  adoption  by  it  of  a 
memorial  to  congress,  strongly  urging  a  division  of  the  territory.  Among  other 
things  this  memorial  states:  "That  owing  to  the  great  extent  of  country  em- 
braced in  the  limits  of  Wisconsin  territory,  and  that  vast  extent  of  territory 
being  separated  by  a  natural  division  (the  Mississippi  river),  which  renders  the 
application  of  the  same  laws  oppressive  or  unequal  to  one  section  or  the  other; 
the  true  policy  of  the  two  sections  of  the  territory  being  as  widely  different  as 
their  locations ;  and  the  impracticability  of  the  officers  of  the  general  govern- 
ment to  administer  the  laws;  render  it  highly  important  in  the  opinion  of  your 
memorialists  that  that  portion  of  the  territory  lying  west  of  the  Mississippi  river 
be   formed  into  a  separate  territorial  government." 

The  memorial  further  stated  that  the  territory  of  Wisconsin  at  that  time 
contained  fifty  thousand  inhabitants,  at  least  one-half  of  whom  resided  on  the 
west  side  of  the  Mississippi,  and  that  the  population  of  Wisconsin  was  increas- 
ing with  a  rapidity  unparalleled  in  the  history  of  the  country.  This  memorial 
further  states:  "Without  any  intention  of  censuring  the  official  conduct  of  the 
officers  in  whose  hands  the  administration  of  our  infant  territory  has  been  en- 
trusted .  .  .  your  memorialists  would  respectfully  represent,  that  the  west- 
ern portion  of  Wisconsin,  with  a  population  of  twenty-five  thousand  souls,  reaps 
but  a  small  portion  of  the  benefits  ami  advantages  of  the  fostering  care  and 
protection  of  the  mother  government." 

The  memorials  adopted  by  the  territorial  convention  and  the  legislative 
assembly  with  petitions  on  the  same  subject,  were  referred  to  the  appropriate 
committees  in  the  house  and  senate.  There  was  considerable  opposition  in  con- 
gress to  the  formation  of  Iowa  territory  and  it  will  be  interesting  to  us  to  know 


'  fi   ; 


.■ 


FIRST  COURTHOUSE  IN  LOUISA  COUNTY,  BUILT  IN  1S40 


HJC    L 


isroi 

TiLlu. 
B 


UTIIPN8 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  65 

what  some  of  the  members  of  congress  thought  of  the  men  who  were  then  trying 
to  build  up  this  great  commonwealth.  Many  questions  seem  to  have  entered  into 
the  matter  other  than  those  which  relate  to  the  necessities  of  the  people  who 
were  asking  for  a  new  territory,  such  as  the  slavery  extension,  the  annexation 
of  Texas,  and  the  preservation  of  the  balance  of  power  between  the  northern 
and  western  states  on  one  hand  and  tbe  southern  states  on  the  other.  The  most 
violent  and  virulent  objector  seems  to  have  been  Mr.  Shepard  of  North  Carolina. 
This  is  a  fair  sample  of  his  speech :  "Who  are  these  that  .  .  .  pray  for  the 
establishment  of  a  new  territory?  Individuals  who  have  left  their  own  homes 
and  seized  on  the  public  land.  .  .  .  These  men  pounced  on  the  choicest 
spots,  cut  down  the  timber,  built  houses,  and  cultivated  the  soil  as  if  it  were 
their  own  property.  .  .  .  Without  tbe  authority  of  law  and  in  defiance  of 
the  government,  they  have  taken  possession  of  what  belongs  to  the  whole  nation, 
and  appropriated  to  a  private  use  that  which  was  intended  for  the  public  wel- 
fare. These  are  they  who  require  a  governor  and  council,  judges,  and  marshals, 
when  every  act  of  their  lives  is  contrary  to  justice,  and  every  petition  which 
they  make  is  an  evidence  of  their  guilt  and  violence.  We,  who  are  insulted, 
whose  authority  is  trampled  under  foot,  are  asked  for  new  favors  and  privileges ; 
the  guardians  of  the  law  are  approached  by  its  open  contemners,  and  begged  to 
erect  these  modest  gentlemen  into  a  dignified  government.  ...  I  cannot 
sanction  their  conduct:  if  they  would  not  move  peaceably,  they  should  go  at  the 
point  of  the  bayonet ;  if  they  forget  what  is  due  to  their  country  and  their  dis- 
tant fellow  citizens,  they  ought  to  be  punished  The  majesty  of  the  laws  should 
be  vindicated." 

Dr.  Shambaugh,  in  his  "Constitutions  of  Iowa,"  from  which  we  have  taken 
the  foregoing  and  some  other  quotations  on  this  subject,  speaking  of  the  debate 
in  congress,  says :  "The  spirited  debate,  which  took  place  in  the  house  of  repre- 
sentatives, on  the  question  of  the  establishment  of  the  territorial  government  of 
Iowa  disclosed  the  fact  that  the  creation  of  a  new  territory  at  this  time  west  of 
the  Mississippi  and  north  of  Missouri  was  of  more  than  local  interest ;  it  was, 
indeed,  an  event  in  the  larger  history  of  America.  Some  few  men  were  begin- 
ning to  realize  that  the  rapid  settlement  of  the  Iowa  country  was  not  an  isolated 
provincial  episode  but  the  surface  manifestation  of  a  current  that  was  of  national 
depth.  Far-sighted  statesmen  whose  eyes  were  neither  blinded  by  the  lights  of 
the  moment  nor  yet  always  riveted  upon  that  which  for  the  time  was  most 
brilliant,  saw  that  a  plain,  common  looking  pioneer  farmer  from  across  the 
Mississippi  had  come  upon  the  stage  of  national  politics  and  had  already  begun 
to  play  a  role  in  the  great  drama  of  American  democracy." 

On  June  12,  1838,  President  Martin  Van  Buren  approved  "An  Act  to  Divide 
the  Territory  of  Wisconsin  and  to  Establish  the  Territorial  Government  of 
Iowa."  This  act,  usually  called  The  Organic  Law  of  Iowa,  was  built  upon  the 
same  general  lines  as  the  organic  act  of  Wisconsin.  Two  amendments  were 
made  to  it  by  congress  on  March  3,  1839,  and  these  amendments,  together  with 
the  act  itself,  are  to  be  found  in  numerous  state  publications,  and  especially  in 
the  Code. 

There  is  more  than  one  opinion  as  to  the  origin  of  the  name  Iowa  as  applied 
to  this  territory,  but  the  best  opinion  seems  to  be  that  the  author  of  the  name  as 
thus  applied   is  Lieutenant  Albert  M.  Lea,  and  that  the  name  was  given,  not 


66  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

after  the  Wisconsin  county  of  that  name,  but  after  our  own  beautiful  river 
Iowa.  In  the  first  chapter  of  "Notes  on  Wisconsin,"  Lieutenant  Lea,  after 
speaking  of  the  treaty  of  1832,  says:  "General  Scott  was  one  of  the  commis- 
sioners appointed  by  the  president  to  make  this  treaty ;  hence,  the  district  under 
review  has  been  often  called  "Scott's  Purchase,'  and  it  is  sometimes  called  the 
'Black  Hawk  Purchase ;'  but  from  the  extent  and  beauty  of  the  Iowa  river,  which 
runs  centrally  through  the  district  and  gives  character  to  most  of  it,  the  name 
of  that  stream  being  euphoneous  and  appropriate,  has  been  given  to  the  district 
itself."  It  is  believed  that  this  is  the  first  instance  of  this  name  being  applied 
to  this  district  in  any  published  work. 

In  a  brief  article  in  the  "Annals  of  Iowa,"  Third  Series,  Vol.  3,  Page  641, 
Dr.  Shambaugh  states  that  for  at  least  a  century  before  Lieutenant  Lea's  pub- 
lication, the  river  that  runs  centrally  through  Iowa  was  generally  indicated  by 
the  name  of  "Ioway."  Back  of  this,  however,  are  the  very  natural  questions 
of  how  and  whence  did  our  beautiful  river  get  its  name?  There  are,  of  course, 
many  explanations  both  as  to  the  meaning  of  the  word  Iowa,  and  as  to  the 
particular  place,  at  which  and  to  which,  it  was  first  applied.  As  these  explana- 
tions are  all  based  upon  tradition,  we  shall  take  it  for  granted  that  that  tradition 
is  best  which  is  best  located.  Here  is  what  William  L.  Toole  says:  "It  is  con- 
ceded that  the  name  Iowa  arose  in  this  way:  Many  years  ago,  and  before  any 
Indians  had  fixed  their  homes  in  what  is  now  Iowa,  some  Indians  in  search  of 
a  new  home,  encamped  on  the  high  bluff  of  the  Iowa  river  near  its  mouth,  and 
where  those  ancient  mounds  are,  and  being  much  pleased  with  the  location  and 
country  around  it — in  their  native  dialect  exclaimed — Iowa,  Iowa,  Iowa  (beau- 
tiful, beautiful,  beautiful),  hence  the  name  of  Iowa  to  the  river,  and  to  those 
Indians,  a  remnant  of  which  tribe  are  now  in  Kansas.  Another  company  of 
Indians  afterward,  on  the  same  errand,  in  search  of  a  new  home,  ascending  the 
Iowa  river  in  their  canoes,  at  some  point  that  they  were  pleased  with,  made  a 
similar  exclamation,  adding.  'This  is  the  place  for  us!'  And  still  another  band 
or  tribe,  with  similar  exclamation,  continued  the  name  to  the  river,  and  so  on 
by  Black  Hawk,  Keokuk,  Wapello  and  Poweshiek,  each  of  whom  had  their  vil- 
lages on  the  banks  of  the  Iowa  river,  up  to  1836.  And  the  ancient  mounds  and 
fort  on  this  high  bluff  of  the  Iowa  near  its  mouth,  show  that  this  was  a  favorite 
location  by  the  ancients  who  made  these  mounds."  The  most  competent  authori- 
ties say  that  the  word  "Iowa"  means :  "This  is  the  place  ;"  some  are  of  the  opinion 
that  the  original  word  was  "Kiowa,"  but  they  give  it  the  same  meaning  as  is 
given  to  the  word  "Iowa." 


CHAPTER  VII. 

THE    KEOKUK    RESERVE TREATY    CEDING    IT    TO   THE    UNITED    STATES — DES    MOINES 

COUNTY  DIVIDED LOUISA  COUNTY  ESTABLISHED ORIGIN  OF  NAME FIRST  TERM 

OF   COURT — FIRST  SHERIFF FIRST  BOARD  OF   SUPERVISORS — CHANGE  IN    COUNTY 

BOUNDARIES. 

Henry  Dodge,  a  hero  of  the  Black  Hawk  war,  was  made  governor  of  Wis- 
consin, and  immediately  began  to  interest  himself  in  procuring  further  cessions 
of  lands  from  the  Indians.  Already  the  settlers  in  this  county  had  been  looking 
with  longing  eyes  on  the  fertile  lands  contained  within  the  four  hundred  square 
miles  set  apart  for  Keokuk  by  the  treaty  of  the  Black  Hawk  Purchase  made  in 
1832,  and  they  were  extremely  anxious  that  the  Indian  title  to  that  land  should 
be  obtained  by  the  government,  so  that  it  could  be  thrown  open  to  settlement. 
Indeed,  many  of  the  settlers  had  either  taken  up  claims  on  the  Keokuk  reserve, 
regardless  of  the  Indian  title,  or  had  bought  Indian  claims.  This  Keokuk  reserve 
has  been  described  in  so  many  different  publications,  and  in  so  many  different 
ways,  that  there  are  many  conflicting  views  extant  as  to  its  original  shape  ana 
its  precise  location. 

Dr.  Pickard,  in  his  historical  lecture  upon  the  Indians  of  Iowa,  has  a  map 
which  gives  it  in  one  form ;  Dr.  Salter  gives  it  in  a  different  form,  and  both  of 
these  usually  excellent  authorities  are  wrong.  From  the  fact  that  this  reservation 
included  a  considerable  part  of  the  best  land  in  this  county,  including  also  the 
sites  of  several  of  its  important  towns,  we  deemed  it  best  to  procure  an  accurate 
description  of  it. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  by  the  treaty  of  1832,  this  reserve  was  to  be 
marked  off  under  the  direction  of  the  president  of  the  United  States.  Accord- 
ingly, it  was  surveyed  by  "Charles  De  Ward,  assistant  surveyor  for  William 
Gordon,  surveyor."  The  survey  was  commenced  on  April  30,  1835,  and  finished 
in  October,  1835.  Robert  Neil,  and  Joseph  Prepe  were  chain  carriers;  Etienne 
Tourville  was  axman,  Francis  Roy  was  flagman,  and  Michael  Dennis,  Coles 
Olivier  and  Narcis  Blaycamp  were  the  camp  keepers  and  hunters.  The  shape 
and  location  of  this  reserve  is  shown  on  the  map  of  Louisa  county  as  it  was  first 
established,  which  appears  elsewhere  in  this  work.  This  map  was  prepared  bv 
W.  S.  Kremer,  county  surveyor  of  Louisa  county,  and  according  to  his  judgment 
the  southeast  corner  of  the  Keokuk  reserve  was  situated  about  fifty-two  rods 
(13  chains)  south  of  the  quarter  post  between  sections  16  and  21,  township  -$ 
north,  range  2  west,  and  extended  north  twenty-nine  degrees  west  forty-two 
miles  and  thirty  chains  to  the  Indian  boundary  line.  It  extended  thence  south- 
west along  the  Indian  boundary  line  nine  miles  and  thirty-seven  and  seventeen 
hundredths  chains,  thence  south  29  degrees  east  42  miles  and  30  chains,  to  a 

67 


68  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

point  a  little  south  of  latitude  41  degrees:  thence  north  28  degrees  east  to  the 
place  of  beginning.  The  starting  point  was  on  the  north  side  of  the  Iowa  river 
and  the  line  seems  to  have  crossed  the  Iowa  river  almost  exactly  at  the  mouth 
of  Smith  creek.  Keokuk's  principal  village  is  noted  as  being  on  the  south  or 
southwest  side  of  the  Iowa,  a  little  north  of  the  mouth  of  Smith  creek  and  quite 
a  little  distance  below  Otter  creek.  Wapello's  village  seems  to  be  pretty  near 
where  Wapello  now  is.  These  are  the  only  two  Indian  villages  shown  in  Louisa 
county. 

The  information  we  give  in  regard  to  the  Keokuk  reserve  is  derived  from 
a  certified  copy  of  the  original  blue  print,  and  a  portion  of  the  field  notes,  and 
was  furnished  by  the  commissioner  of  Indian  affairs.  On  this  blue  print  the 
Iowa  river  is  called  "Iowa  or  Lecotosikay"  river,  the  Cedar  is  called  "Red 
Cedar,  or  Mesquawaquay  river,"  while  our  Long  creek  has  the  name  ofl'acan- 
anico  river,  and  Goose  creek  is  compelled  to  struggle  along  under  the  name  of 
Colaquatuckico. 

The  Keokuk  reserve  was  ceded  to  the  United  States  by  a  treaty  made  on 
the  right  bank  of  the  Mississippi  river,  opposite  Rock  Island,  September  28, 
1836.  Henry  Dodge  was  the  commissioner  on  the  part  of  the  United  States. 
There  was  a  very  large  representation  of  the  Sac  and  Fox  Indians  present  and 
this  treaty  was  signed  by  several  Indian  chiefs,  including  "Wapella,"  "Powa- 
sheek,"  Keokuck  ami  Pashapahoo.  This  treaty  refers  to  the  fact  that  in  the 
former  treaty  (1832)  a  reservation  of  four  hundred  sections  of  land  was  made 
to  the  Sac  and  Fox  Indians  to  be  laid  off  under  the  direction  of  the  president 
of  the  United  States,  and  states  that  it  had  been  so  laid  off. 

Tames  Wr.  Grimes,  afterwards  governor  and  United  States  senator,  acted 
as  Governor  Dodge's  secretary  in  negotiating  this  treaty,  and  the  treaty  was 
witnessed  by  Antoine  LeClaire,  the  noted  interpreter,  P.  R.  Chouteau,  Jr.,  George 
Davenport,  George  Catlin  and  L.  D.  Stockton,  afterward  one  of  the  justices  of 
the  Iowa  supreme  court;  also  by  Jeremiah  Smith,  Jr.,  who  was  one  of  the 
original  proprietors  of  Lower  Wapello. 

It  provided  for  the  payment,  to  and  for  the  Indians,  of  various  sums  aggre- 
gating about  $10,5,000.  and  this  made  the  lands  cost  the  government  a  little  over 
seventy-five  cents  per  acre.  As  this  treaty  has  an  important  bearing  on  Louisa 
county's  history,  we  give  the  account  of  it  as  found  in  "Iowa  Historical  Record." 
Vol.  8,  as  follows:  "The  two  bands  of  Foxes  (Wapello's  and  Poweshiek's) 
were  camped  on  the  west  side  of  the  Mississippi  on  the  slope  of  the  bluffs  oppo- 
site Rock  Island.  At  a  distance  the  encampment  looked  picturesque,  as  the 
Indians  arrayed  in  their  green  or  red  blankets  flitted  about  the  bulrush  and 
bark  tents,  their  horses  browsing  on  the  bluff  tops.  The  scene  appeared  like  a 
picture  of  an  Arab  encampment.  A  nearer  view  showed  the  dirty  paraphernalia 
of  skinning,  jerking  meat,  and  cooking,  around  the  tents. 

"Half  a  mile  above,  nearer  the  river  bank,  on  a  kind  of  promontory,  were  the 
more  neatly  arranged  tents  of  the  Sacs,  in  the  form  of  a  crescent.  Above  them, 
fronting  the  hollow  of  the  crescent,  was  the  council  lodge.  At  one  end  were 
Governor  Dodge,  Captain  Boone,  Lieutenant  Lea,  General  Street  and  the  traders: 
on  the  east  side  were  the  tawny  warriors  decked  in  their  finery,  the  mass  of 
them    standing,    the   chiefs    and   headmen    sitting    in    front,   all    listening    to    the 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  69 

propositions  of  the  governor,  and  as  each  sentence  was  interpreted,  signifying 
their  approbation  by  the  exclamation,  'Hugh  !' 

"Wapello  commands  respect  amid  his  apparent  indifference  and  air  of  non- 
chalance. Appanoose  is  a  young  looking  fellow,  talented  but  dissipated.  Pasha- 
popo,  with  his  uncombed,  unshorn  hair,  and  his  fierce  countenance,  is  rendered 
hideous  by  smearing  it  fantastically  with  black. 

"Keokuk  is  of  noble  countenance,  fine  contour,  tall  and  portly;  his  chest, 
shoulders  and  right  arm  bare,  save  a  necklace  of  bears'  claws,  and  a  large  snake 
skin  encircling  and  pendant  from  his  right  arm.  In  the  left  hand  he  sported  a 
fine  Pongee  silk  handkerchief.  The  snake  skin  was  lined  with  some  rich  ma- 
terial, and  had  little  bells  attached  to  it,  giving  a  tinkling  sound  at  every  gesture 
that  added  grace  and  impressiveness  to  his  elocution.  He  advanced  with  stately 
step ;  the  trappings  of  his  white  buckskin  leggings  set  off  his  finely  formed  and 
comparatively  small  foot  to  advantage.  He  advanced  to  the  governor's  stand 
and  shook  hands  with  him.  Then,  falling  back  half  a  dozen  steps,  with  eves 
fixed  on  the  governor,  he  began  his  speech.  His  voice  rang  clear  as  a  trumpet. 
Fluent  in  words,  he  was  energetic  and  graceful  in  action." 

George  Catlin  in  his  account  of  the  treaty  gives  an  incident  which  shows  how 
rapidly  the  county  had  been  settling  up  and  the  encroachments  that  had  already 
been  made  upon  the  Indian  lands.  "After  the  treaty  was  signed  and  witnessed, 
the  governor  addressed  a  sensible  talk  to  the  chiefs  and  braves  and  ended  by 
requesting  them  to  move  their  families  and  property  from  this  tract  within  a 
month,  to  make  room  for  the  whites.  The  chiefs  and  braves  broke  into  a  hearty 
laugh,  which  one  of  them  explained:  'My  father,  we  have  to  laugh — we  require 
no  time  to  move — we  have  left  our  lands  already  and  sold  our  wigwams  to 
chemokemons  (white  men) — some  for  one  hundred,  some  for  two  hundred  dol- 
lars, before  we  came  to  this  treaty.  There  are  already  four  hundred  chemoke- 
mons on  the  land  and  several  hundred  more  on  their  way,  moving  in  :  and  three 
days  before  we  came  away  one  chemokemon  sold  his  wigwam  to  another  che- 
mokemon  for  $2,000,  to  build  a  great  town.'  " 

It  is  evident  that  the  "great  town"  here  referred  to  was  none  other  than 
Wapello,  because  that  was  the  only  prospective  town  on  the  Keokuk  reserve  at 
that  time.  In  accordance  with  this  treaty,  the  Indians  left  the  country  very 
soon,  settling  on  the  Des  Moines  river,  and  this  removed  the  last  obstacle  to  the 
organization  of  county  government. 

On  the  7th  of  December.  1836,  Governor  Henry  Dodge  approved  an  act  of 
the  territorial  legislature  of  Wisconsin,  entitled  "An  Act  Dividing  the  Countv 
of  Des  Moines  into  Several  Xew  Counties."  This  act  was  passed  before  the 
land  surveys  were  completed  through  the  county  and  possibly  before  the  sur- 
veyors had  reached  this  county,  as  the  surveys  of  land  in  Iowa  began  at  the 
south,  and  hence  the  boundaries  given  for  the  various  counties  are  natural 
objects  instead  of  range  and  township  lines. 

In  order  to  understand  the  boundaries  of  Louisa  countv  as  then  given,  it  will 
be  necessary  to  read  the  sections  of  the  act  preceding  the  one  in  which  Louisa 
countv  is  named,  and  we  therefore  insert  the  first  five  sections  of  the  act. 

"Section  1.  Be  it  enacted  by  the  council  and  house  of  representatives  of  the 
territory  of  Wisconsin,  That  the  country  included  within  the  following  limits, 
to  wit:  beginning  at  the  most  southern  outlet  of  Skunk  river,  on  the  Mississippi; 


70  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

thence  a  northern  direction  passing  through  the  grove  on  the  head  of  the 
northern  branch  of  Lost  Creek,  ana  thence  to  a  point  corresponding  with  the 
range  line  dividing  range  seven  and  eight,  and  thence  south  with  said  line  to 
the  Des  Moines  river;  thence  down  the  middle  of  the  same  to  the  Mississippi, 
and  thence  up  the  Mississippi  to  the  place  of  beginning,  be  and  the  same  is 
hereby  set  off  into  a  separate  county,  by  the  name  of  Lee. 

"Section  2.  Be  it  further  enacted,  That  the  country  included  within  the  fol- 
lowing boundaries,  to  wit:  beginning  at  the  northwest  corner  of  Lee;  thence 
south  with  the  west  line  of  said  county  to  the  river  Des  Moines  ;  thence  up  the 
same  to  where  the  Missouri  line  strikes  the  same :  thence  west  with  the  said 
Missouri  line  to  the  Indian  boundary  line;  thence  north  with  the  said  boundary 
line  twenty-four  miles ;  thence  east  to  the  beginning ;  be  and  the  same  is  hereby 
set  off  into  a  separate  county,  by  the  name  of  Wan  Buren. 

"Section  3.  Be  it  further  enacted.  That  the  country  included  within  the 
following  limits,  to  wit :  beginning  on  the  Mississippi  river,  at  the  northeast 
corner  of  Lee;  thence  up  said  river  to  a  point  fifteen  miles  above  the  town  of 
Burlington,  on  the  bank  of  said  river,  thence  on  a  westerly  direction  to  a  point 
on  the  dividing  ridge  between  the  Iowa  river  and  Flint  creek,  being  twenty 
miles  on  a  due  west  line  from  the  Mississippi  river;  thence  a  southerly  direction, 
so  as  to  intersect  the  northern  boundary  line  of  the  county  of  Lee.  at  a  point 
twenty  miles  on  a  straight  line  from  the  Mississippi  river;  thence  ea^t  with  the 
northerly  line  of  the  said  county  of  Lee  to  the  beginning,  be  and  the  same  is 
hereby  set  off  into  a  separate  county,  by  the  name  of  Des  Moines. 

"Section  4.  Be  it  further  enacted.  That  the  country  included  within  the 
following  limits,  to  wit:  beginning  at  the  southwest  corner  of  Des  Moines;  thence 
northwest  with  the  line  of  said  county  of  Van  Buren  to  the  Indian  boundary 
line  :  thence  north  with  the  said  boundary  line  twenty-four  miles ;  thence  south- 
east to  the  northwest  corner  of  the  county  of  Des  Moines ;  thence  south  with 
the  west  line  of  the  county  of  Des  Moines  to  the  beginning,  be  and  the  same  is 
hereby  set  off  into  a  separate  county,  by  the  name  of  Henry. 

"Section  5.  Be  it  further  enacted.  That  the  country  included  within  the 
following  limits:  beginning  at  the  Mississippi  river,  at  the  northeast  corner  of 
Des  Moines ;  thence  up  said  river  twelve  miles  above  the  mouth  of  Iowa ;  thence 
west  to  the  Indian  boundary  line ;  thence  with  said  boundary  line,  to  the  north- 
west corner  of  Henry  and  with  the  line  of  the  same,  to  the  northwest  corner  of 
the  county  of  Des  Moines :  thence  east  with  the  line  of  the  same  county  of  Des 
Moines  to  the  beginning,  be  and  the  same  is  hereby  set  off  into  a  separate  county, 
by  the  name  of  Louisa."  The  map  here  given  shows  the  original  extent  of 
Louisa  county ;  it  included  nearly  a  fourth  of  Des  Moines  county,  the  south- 
eastern part  of  Washington  county,  including  the  present  site  of  the  city  of 
Washington;  and  also  a  considerable  part  of  Henry  county." 

There  has  been  some  controversy  in  times  past  and  probably  will  be  in  the 
future  as  to  the  origin  of  the  name  of  Louisa  county.  Tuttle  in  his  "History 
of  Iowa,"  says :  that  Louisa  county  was  named  for  a  young  woman  who  shot  a 
man.  Judge  Charles  Negus,  formerly  of  Fairfield,  in  the  "Annals  of  Iowa," 
for  April,  1869,  says  the  county  was  named  for  Louisa  Marsey.  Other  authori- 
ties, including  Flickinger  and  B.  F.  Gue  state  that  the  county  was  named   for 


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HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  71 

Louisa  Massey,  an  early  resident  of  Dubuque.  This  is  the  view  taken  in  the 
"Iowa  Historical  and  Comparative  Census"  published  in  1880. 

Dr.  John  Bell,  Jr.,  who  was  always  ready,  but  not  always  prepared,  to  make 
a  speech,  delivered  an  address  before  the  Louisa  County  Pioneer  Settlers'  Asso- 
ciation, February  22,  1861,  in  which  he  has  this  to  say  in  regard  to  the  origin  of 
the  name:  "The  origin  of  the  name  Louisa  is  quite  a  romance;  it  occurred  some 
way  thus:  Two  brothers  came  to  this  territory  in  an  early  day,  and  after  ex- 
ploring the  country  for  some  time,  finally  concluded  to  stop  and  prospect  for 
lead  in  the  neighborhood  of  Dubuque.  After  working  some  time,  one  of  them, 
on  going  into  an  old  digging  that  had  been  abandoned,  struck  a  fine  lead.  This 
excited  the  cupidity  of  a  man  named  Brown,  who  immediately  laid  claim  to  the 
old  diggings.  High  words  ensued,  and  ended  in  Brown  killing  Marcy  on  the 
spot.  He  died,  leaving  two  small  children.  Louisa  Marcy,  his  sister,  hearing 
of  the  death  of  her  brother,  resolved  to  bring  his  murderer  to  punishment.  She 
came,  and  on  being  told  that  there  was  no  law  to  punish  any  one  for  the  crime 
of  murder,  resolved  to  avenge  her  brother's  death.  Arming  herself  and  taking 
one  of  the  children,  she  followed  Brown,  and  ascertaining  where  he  was  to  be 
found,  met  him  and  demanded  if  his  name  was  Brown,  and  if  he  had  killed 
Marcy ;  on  his  answering  in  the  affirmative,  she  immediately  drew  a  loaded 
pistol,  saying,  'Wretch  !  I  am  my  brother's  avenger  ;  thou  shalt  die !'  Before 
the  last  sentence  was  completed  she  fired,  killing  him  almost  instantly.  This 
heroic  deed  occurred  about  the  time  the  commissioners  were  engaged  running 
the  boundaries  of  this  county ;  and  in  admiration  of  the  brave  girl's  courage,  they 
called  this  county  Louisa.  Her  subsequent  history  was  as  follows :  A  wealthy 
merchant  of  St.  Louis,  hearing  of  the  circumstance,  and  in  admiration  of  the 
girl's  courage  and  bravery,  sought  her  out,  made  her  acquaintance,  and  married 
her,  and  took  her  to  St.  Louis,  where  the  city  gave  her  a  public  ovation.  She 
died  a  few  years  after,  loved  and  esteemed  by  all  who  knew  her.  Such  is  the 
circumstance  that  gave  our  county  its  name." 

This  address  was  published  in  pamphlet  form  with  other  proceedings  of  the 
association  and  was  quite  widely  circulated  at  that  time,  and  it  has  long  been 
the  opinion  of  the  writer  that  this  address,  notwithstanding  the  mistake  in  the 
name  of  Massey,  and  in  giving  Brown  instead  of  Smith,  and  in  having  the  man 
killed  instantly — notwithstanding  all  these  mistakes,  that  this  was  the  main 
authority  for  the  Louisa  Massey  story,  which  seems  to  have  become  so  prevalent. 
Quite  general  local  circulation  to  this  story  was  given  in  a  somewhat  different 
form  by  an  old  settler  of  the  county,  Obadiah  Garrison,  frequently  called  "the 
Major,"  who  gave  the  name  of  the  young  lady  correctly  as  Louisa  Massey,  but 
who  with  a  number  of  other  embellishments  added  the  statement  that  she  was 
tried  for  the  murder  at  the  mouth  of  the  Iowa  river,  and  that  he  was  on  the  jury 
which  acquitted  her.  The  nearest  we  have  come  to  anything  that  seems  like 
fair  authority  for  the  Louisa  Massey  story  concerning  the  origin  of  the  name 
of  this  county  is  found  in  the  writings  of  Lucius  H.  Langworthy,  of  Dubuque, 
in  the  "Iowa  Journal  of  History  and  Politics"  for  July,  1910,  on  Page  386,  which 
is  as  follows :  "Woodbury  Massey  was  the  eldest  of  several  brothers,  and  a 
sister,  all  left  orphans  in  early  life.  Himself  and  family  were  members  and  the 
chief  founders  of  the  first  Methodist  church  erected  in  this  city ;  a  man  of  fine 
education;  polite  and  amiable  in  his  disposition:  one  of  our  first  merchants  and 


72  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

possessing  a  large  share  of  popular  favor,  lie  was  enterprising  in  business  and 
upright  in  all  his  dealings.  Had  he  lived,  he  would  no  doubt  have  proved  a  main 
pillar  and  support  in  our  young  community-  But  in  an  evil  hour  he  became  the 
purchaser  of  a  lot  and  lode,  called  the  Irish  lot  near  where  Mr.  McKenzie  now 
lives. 

"It  appears  that  a  Mr.  Smith,  father  and  son,  had  some  claim  on  this  lot  and 
lode.  They  were  the  exact  opposite  to  Mr.  Massey  in  character  and  disposition. 
A  suit  before  a  magistrate  grew  out  of  this  claim  and  the  jury  decided  the  prop- 
erty to  belong  to  -Mr.  Massey.  It  being  a  case  of  forcible  entry  and  detainer,  the 
sheriff,  as  was  his  duty,  went  with  the  latter  to  put  him  again  in  possession  of  the 
premises. 

"When  they  arrived  upon  the  ground,  the  two  Smiths,  being  secreted  among 
the  diggings,  rose  up  suddenly,  and  firing  their  guns  in  quick  succession,  Mr.  Mas- 
sev  was  shot  through  the  heart.  His  family  living  near  by,  saw  him  fall,  thus 
early  cut  down  in  the  prime  of  his  life  and  usefulness,  a  victim  to  the  unsettled 
state  of  the  times  and  the  ungoverned  passions  of  turbulent  men.  The  perpetrators 
of  this  deed  were  arrested  and  held  in  confinement  until  the  session  of  the  cir- 
cuit court  at  Mineral  Point.  Judge  Irvin  presiding  upon  the  trial.  The  counsel 
for  the  defense  objected  to  the  jurisdiction  of  the  court,  which  was  sustained 
by  the  judge  and  accordingly  the  prisoners  were  discharged  and  let  loose  upon 
society.     They,  however,  left  this  part  of  the  country  for  a  time. 

"One  of  the  younger  brothers  of  Mr.  Massey,  highly  exasperated  by  this 
transaction  that  no  trial  could  be  obtained  for  such  offenders,  had  determined  it 
seems,  that  should  the  elder  Smith  ever  come  in  his  way  he  would  take  the  pun- 
ishment for  the  murder  of  his  brother  into  his  own  hands.  One  day.  while  sit- 
ting in  his  shop  at  Galena,  he  chanced  to  see  Smith  walking  the  public  streets 
of  the  place  when  instantly  snatching  a  pistol  and  hastening  in  the  direction,  he 
fired  upon  him  with  fatal  aim.  Thus  Smith  paid  the  forfeit  of  his  life  by  intrud- 
ing again  among  the  friends  of  the  murdered  man,  and  in  the  community  which 
had  witnessed  the  scenes  of  his  violence. 

"For  this  act  of  the  younger  brother  there  seems  to  have  been  the  broadest 
charity  manifested.  He  was  never  tried,  or  even  arrestee,  and  still  lives  in  the 
country,  a  quiet  man,  and  greatly  respected  by  all  who  knew  him. 

"The  death  of  the  father  of  course,  soon  brought  the  younger  Smith  to  the 
mines.  It  was  understood  privately  that  he  determined  to  shoot  one  or  the  other 
of  the  surviving  brothers  at  the  very  first  opportunity.  He  was  known  to  be 
an  excellent  shot  with  a  pistol,  of  imperious  disposition  and  rash  temper.  These 
rumors  finally  reached  the  ears  of  the  fair  haired,  blue  eyed  sister,  who  was 
thus  made  to  believe  that  he  would  carry  his  threats  into  execution.  She  was 
just  verging  into  womanhood,  with  fresh  susceptibilities  and  all  of  her  deep 
affections  awakened  by  the  surrounding  difficulties  of  the  family.  One  day, 
without  consulting  others,  she  determined  by  a  wild  and  daring  adventure,  to 
cut  off  all  chances  of  danger  in  that  direction.  Disguising  herself  for  the  occa- 
sion and  taking  a  lad  along  to  point  out  the  person  she  sought,  having  never  seen 
him  herself,  she  went  into  the  street,  Passing  a  store  by  the  wayside,  the  boy 
saw  Smith  and  designated  him  from  the  other  gentlemen  in  the  room  by  his 
clothing.  On  seeing  him  thus  surrounded  by  other  men,  one  would  suppose  that 
her  nerves  would  lose  their  wonted  firmness.     He  was  well  armed  and  resolute 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  73 

in  character,  this  she  knew ;  yet  stepping  in  amidst  them  all,  in  a  voice  tremulous 
with  emotion  and  ominous  in  its  tones,  she  exclaimed,  'If  you  are  Smith,,  defend 
yourself.'  In  an  instant,  as  he  arose,  she  pointed  a  pistol  at  his  breast  and  fired  ; 
he  fell,  and  she  retired  as  suddenly  as  she  appeared.  It  was  all  done  so  quickly 
and  seemed  so  awful  that  the  spectators  stood  bewildered  at  the  tragical  scene 
until  it  was  too  late  to  prevent  the  disaster. 

"It  so  happened  that  Mr.  Smith  had  at  the  time  a  large  wallet  filled  with 
papers  in  his  breast  pocket.  The  ball  striking  about  its  center,  did  not  of  course 
penetrate  all  of  the  folded  leaves,  and  thus  providentially  his  life  was  spared. 

"Smith  soon  recovering  from  the  stunning  effects,  rushed  into  the  street  to 
meet  his  assailant ;  but  she  had  fled  and  found  shelter  at  the  house  of  Mr.  John- 
son, a  substantial  merchant  of  the  town,  and  was  subsequently  sent  away  by  her 
friends  here,  to  some  relatives  in  Illinois,  where  she  was  afterward  married  to  a 
Mr.  Williamson,  formerly  of  this  place.  Her  name,  Louisa,  has  been  given  to  one 
of  the  counties  of  our  state.  Smith  lived  several  years,  but  the  wounds  probably 
hastened  his  death.  She  is  also  dead,  and  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  God's  mercy  has 
followed  them  beyond  earth's  rude  strifes  and  that  they  dwell  in  peace  in  a  purer 
and  better  world." 

The  lecture  from  which  the  foregoing  is  taken,  was  delivered  at  Dubuque, 
in  December,  1854,  and  is  the  first  recorded  claim  that  we  have  been  able  to  find 
of  this  alleged  origin  of  the  name.  We  have  also  found  in  Vol.  15  of  the  "Wis- 
consin Historical  Collections."  in  the  journal  of  Alfred  Brunson,  D.  D.,  an  inter- 
esting reference  to  the  Massey  story.  Mr.  Branson's  article  is  entitled  "A  Meth- 
odist Circuit  Rider's  Horseback  Tour  from  Pennsylvania  to  Wisconsin,  1835." 
His  "tour"  seems  to  have  begun  on  September  5,  1835,  and  we  quote  as  follows: 

"November  12,  left  Galena  and  rode  to  Dubuque  and  held  quarterly  meet- 
ing for  this  mission  on  the  14th  and  15.  .  .  .  The  lands  were  not  in  the 
market  and  the  only  claim  to  it  consisted  of  occupancy  and  consequently  conflict- 
ing claims  for  valuable  mineral  grounds  frequently  occurred,  which  were  oftener 
settled  by  might  of  the  parties  than  the  decisions  of  law.  A  few  weeks  before  my 
arrival  at  this  place  one  (of)  our  valuable  brethren  was  shot  dead  at  a  mineral 
hole,  while  contending  for  his  right,  by  two  men,  father  and  son,  named  Smith. 
They  were  committed  to  prison  and  indicted  for  the  murder,  the  father  as  prin- 
cipal and  the  son  as  the  accessory,  but  ...  it  was  found  the  courts  had  no 
jurisdiction  over  the  case  and  the  prisoners  were  discharged.  The  people,  how- 
ever, feeling  indignant  at  the  offender,  called  a  public  meeting  to  try  Smith  in 
the  true  democratic  form,  and  but  for  his  escape  would  have  hung  him,  as  they 
had  done  one  of  a  similar  character  before.  Smith,  however,  returned  to  the 
mines  in  the  ensuing  winter  and  a  brother  of  Massey  who  was  murdered  shot 
him  down  in  the  streets  in  Galena  in  open  day  and  then  made  his  escape,  no  one 
caring  to  pursue  him  under  the  circumstances  of  the  case.  Not  long  after,  the 
younger  Smith  appeared  in  Dubuque  and  a  maiden  sister  of  Massey  shot  him 
in  a  store  and  would  have  killed  him,  but  for  his  pocketbook.  against  which  the 
ball  of  her  pistol  struck.  Shooting  and  dirking  were  so  common,  however,  that 
little  notice  was  taken  of  it,  unless  death  ensued  ;  nor  even  then,  if  it  was  con- 
sidered justifiable  homicide.  Miss  Massey,  therefore,  was  not  molested,  but  soon 
after  left  the  country." 


74  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

Unless  this  incident  excited  more  interest  in  Belmont  in  1830,  than  it  seems 
to  have  done  in  Dubuque  at  the  time  it  occurred,  it  .may  well  be  doubted  that  it 
hail  any  thing  to  do  with  the  naming  of  the  county. 

It  has  always  been  the  understanding  of  the  writer — an  understanding  which 
he  gained  from  Francis  Springer,  John  Hale  and  others,  that  the  name  was  given 
to  the  county  in  honor  of  Louisa  county,  Virginia.  One  authority  for  this  state- 
ment was  William  L.  Toole,  who  said  in  the  "Annals  of  Iowa,"  Vol.  f>.  No.  1. 
in  referring  to  the  act  of  the  Wisconsin  legislature,  establishing  Louisa  county 
that,  "said  legislature  gave  the  name  of  Louisa  to  our  county,  through  the  influ- 
ence of  members  thereof,  who  were  formerly  of  Virginia,  in  honor  of  Louisa 
county.  Virginia,  and  contrary  to  the  wishes  of  or  consultation  with  the  citizens 
thereof,  who  would  have  preferred  the  name  id'  Washington,  Jefferson  or  Mon- 
roe. Some  agitated  the  proposition  of  a  change  of  name  then,  and  some  are 
still  dissatisfied  with  the  name,  and  desirous  of  a  change  which  may  yet  get 
into  shape  and  the  subject  be  properly  brought  before  the  legislature."  It  is  true 
that  William  L.  Toole  was  somewhat  advanced  in  years  when  he  wrote  the  article 
in  the  "Annals"  but  it  is  also  a  fact  that  he  was  one  of  the  verv  best  posted 
men  to  be  found  anywhere  in  regard  to  the  old  settlers  of  Louisa  county.  He 
came  to  the  county  certainly  as  early  as  1836  and  was  a  member  of  the  first 
board  of  county  commissioners,  and  was  a  member  of  the  territorial  legislature 
in  1838-9.  Mr.  Toole  was  also  a  member  of  the  first  constitutional  convention  of 
Iowa  Territory,  held  in  1844.  Through  the  courtesy  of  Dr.  Reuben  G.  Thwaites, 
we  are  enabled  to  present  herewith  the  records  of  the  action  of  the  territorial 
legislature  of  Wisconsin,  on  the  bill  which  named  Louisa  county,  as  shown  by  its 
journals:  "October  28.  1836,  Mr.  Chance  presented  a  petition  from  the  inhabi- 
tants of  Des  Moines  county,  praying  for  a  division  of  the  county.  Mr.  Jenkins 
presented  a  similar  petition,  but  both  were  laid  upon  the  table. 

"November  17.  1836,  Mr.  Leffler  reported  a  bill  from  the  select  committee 
chosen  therefore,  dividing  the  county  of  Des  Moines  into  six  new  counties.  The 
names  of  the  select  committee  are  nowhere  given  in  the  record,  but  by  analogy 
with  the  other  committees  for  similar  purposes,  I  take  it  that  it  was  composed 
of  the  entire  delegation  from  Des  Moines  county.  Mr.  Teas  presented  a  minority 
report,  and  Mr.  Box  moved  the  majority  report  be  rejected.  Mr.  Leffler  moved 
that  the  order  to  reject  be  laid  on  the  table. 

"November  18.  1836,  this  matter  was  taken  up  and  Mr.  Leffler  moved  that 
the  motion  to  reject  the  majority  report  be  considered ;  it  was  so  done  and  decided 
in  the  negative. 

"November  30,  1836,  on  motion  of  Mr.  Leffler  the  house  went  into  a  com- 
mittee of  the  whole  to  consider  the  bill,  which  when  the  committee  rose,  was 
reported  with  amendments.  These  were  adopted.  Mr.  Teas  moved  to  lav  the 
bill  upon  the  table,  but  his  motion  was  lost.  This  bill  then  passed  through  its 
three  readings,  was  approved  (Without  discussion)  by  the  council  and  signed 
December  7th,  by  the  executive."  It  will  appear  from  this  record  that  Isaac 
Leffler  fathered  the  bill  in  the  house,  and  we  are  informed  that  Arthur  B.  Inghram 
looked  after  the  bill  in  its  passage  through  the  council.  It  is  said  that  Isaac 
Leffler  was  born  in  Washington  county,  Pennsylvania,  but  that  he  served  for  a 
number  of  years  in  the  Virginia  legislature  and  was  also  at  one  time  a  representa- 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  75 

tive  in  congress  from  that  state,  and  if  this  should  be  true,  it  would  add  some 
weight  to  the  story  as  given  by  Mr.  Toole. 

At  all  events  the  county  was  named  Louisa  and  started  to  do  business  under 
that  name.  The  beginning  of  things  in  an  official  way  in  Louisa  county,  Wiscon- 
sin Territory,  seems  to  have  been  on  January  17,  1837,  when  the  first  town  plat 
of  "Wapellow"  was  recorded  by  Zadok  C.  Inghram,  "clerk  and  recorder  of 
Louisa  county,  Wisconsin  Territory."  As  we  have  already  seen,  Mr.  Inghram 
lived  in  Burlington  in  1836.  Among  his  other  accomplishments  he  was  a  school 
teacher,  and  taught  the  first  school  held  in  Des  Moines  county  in  a  house  in  Bur- 
lington, belonging  to  W.  R.  Ross,  who  was  the  first  postmaster  in  Burlington. 
The  first  record  book  is  a  unique  affair  and  consists  of  seven  double  sheets  of 
foolscap,  sewed  together  in  the  middle,  and,  beginning  on  the  side,  which  shows 
the  plat  of  "Wapellow,"  there  are  a  number  of  instruments  recorded  up  to  and 
including  page  12.  One  is  the  appointment  by  Samuel  Smith,  sheriff,  of  Will- 
iam H.  R.  Thomas  as  under  sheriff,  and  is  dated  April  10,  1837.  Another  is  the 
appointment  by  Martin  Harless,  sheriff,  of  Cavil  M.  McDaniel.  as  under  sheriff, 
and  this  is  dated  February  9,  1838. 

Another  instrument  is  the  official  bond  of  Cavil  M.  McDaniel,  as  sheriff,  dated 
February  21,  1839,  and  signed  by  Jeremiah  Smith,  J.  Wilson  Isett,  A.  J.  Bevins, 
R.  S.  Searl  and  Riley  Mallory,  in  the  sum  of  $5,000.  and  recites  that  McDaniel 
had  been  appointed  sheriff  on  January  18th  last. 

The  remainder  of  the  twelve  pages  before  referred  to,  is  taken  up  with  the 
record  of  various  official  oaths,  principally  justices  of  the  peace,  among  them 
being  T.  Ronalds,  Jacob  Mintun,  Hiram  Smith,  Christopher  Shuck,  William  Milli- 
ean    Maxamilian  Eastwood,  and  Richard  W.  Gwin. 

There  is  one  curious  instrument  found  recorded  here  as  follows : 

"Be  it  remembered  that  on  the   15th  of  September,   1830,  we  the  Elders  of 
the  Church  of  God  at  Union  meeting  house  Nicolas  county,  Kentucky,  solemnly 
set  apart  James  R.  Ross  by  prayer  and  laying  on  of  hands,  to  the  office  of  and 
Elder  in  the  Church,  we  therefore  recommend  him  to  favor  and  respect. 
"Given  under  our  hands  &c. 

"Abraham    Shrout 
"Peter  Hon." 

To  this  is  appended  the  certificate  of  Clerk  Inghram,  stating  that  the  fore- 
going "certificate  of  ordination"  was  filed  for  record  on  the  1  Ith  of  June,  1838,  and 
duly  recorded. 

The  next  official  business  of  which  we  have  any  record  is  that  of  the  first 
term  of  the  district  court  ever  held  in  this  county.  This  record  occupies  twelve 
pages  of  the  record  book  to  which  we  have  just  referred,  and  we  give  the  record 
of  that  term  of  court  just  as  it  is  found  in  this  little  book: 

At  a  District  Court  for  the  County  of  Louisa  begun  and  held  at  Wapello  on 
Thursday  the  20th  day  of  April  A.  D.,  1837. 
Present : 

The.  Hon/c  David  Irvin  Associate  Judge  of  the  Supreme  Court  and  Judge 
of  the  2nd  Judicial  District. 

W.  W.  Chapman,  District 
Atto.  U.  S. 


76  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

The  Court  being  satisfied  of  the  character  and  qualifications  of  Zadok  C 
Inghram  doth  appoint  him  Clerk  of  this  Court,  and  thereupon  the  said  Zadok 
C  Inghram  with  William  Milligan  and  Isaac  H  Rinearson  his  securities  came 
into  Court  and  entered  into  bond  in  the  penalty  of  two  thousand  dollars  condi- 
tioned according  to  law — and  the  said  Zadok  C  Inghram  took  and  subscribed  the 
oath  of  office. 

( SEAL ) 

Ordered  that  the  seal  of  which  the  foregoing  is  the  impression  be  the  tem- 
porary seal  of  this  Court 

Ordered  that  James  W  Woods  be  appointed  District  Attorney  for  Louisa 
County  Pro  Tern. 

On  motion  of  William  W  Chapman  District  Attorney  of  the  United  States 
it  is  ordered  by  the  Court  that  a  venire  facias  for  a  grand  jury  on  behalf  of  the 
United   States  issue  returnable   forthwith. 

The  Marshall  returned  into  Court  the  venire  facias  with  the  following  persons 
summoned  as  grand  jurors  viz  Phillip  B  Harrison  Isaac  H  Rinearson  C  A  Ballard 
John  Millard  James  Gordon  Thomas  England  Jeremiah  Smith  Martin  Harless 
Reuben  C  Mason  Phillip  Maskel  Henry  Slaughter  Thomas  Stoddard  David  E 
Blair  William  H  Creighton  James  Irwin  Christopher  Shuck  Thomas  Blair  and 
William  Guthry  from  whom  Phillip  B  Harrison  was  selected  as  Foreman  who 
together  with  his  fellows  aforesaid  were  sworn  and  solemnly  charged  by  the 
Court  and  sent  to  their  Chambers  to  consider  of  Presentments  and   Indictments. 

<  Irdered  that  the  Foreman  of  the  Grand  Jury  of  the  United  States  be  itn- 
powered  to  subpoena  and  swear  witnesses. 

The  Grand  Jury  of  the  United  States  returned  into  Court  and  having  no 
business  before  them  were  discharged. 

On  Motion  of  J.  W.  Woods,  District  Attorney  pro  Tern  for  this  County  the 
venire  facias  issued  by  the  Clerk  for  a  Territorial  Grand  Jury  lie  set  aside  and 
a  venire  facias  issue  returnable  forthwith. 

The  Sheriff  returned  into  Court  the  venire  facias  this  day  issued  with  the 
following  persons  Phillip  I',.  Harrison  Isaac  II  Rinearson  Jeremiah  Smith  Reuben 
C  Mason  Phillip  Maskel  Henry  Slaughter  Thomas  Stoddard  David  E  Blair 
William  II  Creighton  James  Irwin  Christopher  Shuck  Thomas  Blair  William 
Kennady  Francis  A  Roe  William  Fleming  William  II  Dennison  and  William 
Dupont  summoned  as  Grand  Jurors  for  the  territory  from  whom  Phillip  B  Har- 
rison is  selected  as  Foreman  who  together  with  his  fellows  were  sworn  and 
solemnly   charged   to  consider  of   Indictments   and   presentments. 

Ordered  that  the  foreman  of  the  grand  Jury  last  aforesaid  be  impowered  to 
subpoena  and  swear  witnesses. 

()n  Motion  of  Rufus  P.  Burlingame  by  Chapmann  his  Attorney  a  licence  is 
granted  him  to  keep  a  ferry  across  the  Iowa  River  at  the  Iowa  Town  for  one 
year  whereupon  the  said  Burlingame  with  William  Guthrie  bis  security  came 
into  Court  and  entered  into  a  Recognisance  in  the  penalty  of  one  hundred  dol- 
lar conditioned   according  to   law. 

(  )n  Motion  of  William  Milligan  by  Chapman  his  attorney  a  licence  is  granted 
him  to  keep  a  ferry  across  the  Iowa  river  at  the  town  of  Wapello  for  one  year 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  77 

and  thereupon  with  the  said  William  Milligan  came  into  Court  and  entered  into  a 
Recognisance  conditioned  according  to  law  with  Martin  Harless  his  security. 

On  Motion  of  William  H.  Dennison  by  Woods  his  attorney  a  license  is 
Granted  him  to  keep  a  ferry  across  the  Iowa  river  at  the  town  of  Mount  Sterling 
for  one  year  and  thereupon  the  said  William  II  Dennison  came  into  Court  and 
entered  into  a  Recognisance  conditioned  according  to  law  with  William  Kennedy 
his  security. 

On  motion  of  John  Ronalds  Reuben  S  Searl  and  William  Kennedy  by  Chap- 
man their  attorney  a  licence  is  granted  them  to  keep  a  ferry  across  the  Iowa 
river  at  the  town  of  Harrison  for  one  year  and  thereupon  the  said  John  Reynolds 
Reuben  S  Searl  and  William  Kennedy  came  into  Court  and  entered  into  a  Recog- 
nisance Conditioned  according  to  Law  with  William  Milligan  their  security. 

Ordered  that  the  Court  adjourn  until  tomorrow  morning  ten  Oclock. 

D.  Irvix,  Judge. 

Friday,  April  21st  A.  D.  1837  Court  met  pursuant  to  adjournment.  Present 
The  same  Judge. 

On  motion  of  Nelson  Dethrick  by  Woods  his  attorney  ordered  that  a  Licence 
be  Granted  him  to  keep  a  ferry  across  the  Iowa  river  at  the  Central  Wapello 
town  for  one  year  whereupon  the  said  Dethrick  with  William  W  Adams  his 
security  came  into  Court  and  entered  into  a  Recognisanca  in  the  penal  sum  of 
one  hundred  dollars  conditioned  according  to  law' 

On  motion  of  Phillip  B.  Harrison  by  Woods  his  attorney  ordered  that  a  licence 
be  Granted  him  to  keep  a  ferry  across  the  Iowa  river  at  the  town  of  Florence 
for  one  year  whereupon  the  said  Harrison  with  Jeremiah  Smith  his  security 
came  into  Court  and  entered  into  a  Recognisance  in  the  penal  sum  of  one  hun- 
dred dollars  conditioned  according  to  law. 

Presley  Chalfant  vs.  William  Dupont. 

Ordered  that  the  Defendant  Plead  in  one  month,  and  Plaintiff  Reply  by  the 
first  of  July  thereafter  and  further  pleadings  within  fifteen  days  successfully" 
until   issue. 

Ordered  that  a  rule  be  taken  against  Francis  A  Roe  one  of  the  Grand  jurors 
sworn  and  charged  at  the  present  term  of  the  Court  to  appear  at  the  next  term 
of  this  Court  to  show  cause  why  he  shall  not  be  fined  for  absenting  himself 
without  leave  of  the  Court. 

Ordered  by  the  Court  that  the  rates  of  Ferrage  at  the  several  ferries  licensed 
in  the  County  be  as  follows : 

For  each  man  on  foot  12^ 

For  each  man  and  horse  . 25 

For  each  waggon  &  two  horses 75 

For  each   additional  horse I2j4 

Waggon  &  one  yoke  of  oxen 75 

Additional  yoke  of  oxen 25 

Loose    cattle   each    10 

For  sheep  hogs  goats  &  c  each 61/4 

and  that  the  said  Ferries  be  kept  in  operation  from  sun  up  till  sun  down  each  day. 

^'Successively. 


78  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

Ordered  that  it  be  certified  that  the  persons  attending  this  Court  as  Grand 
Jurors  on  behalf  of  the  United  States  be  allowed  for  one  days  attendance. 

Ordered  that  the  persons  attending  this  Court  as  Grand  Jurors  on  the  part 
of  the  Territory  be  allowed  for  two  days  attendance. 

Ordered  that  William  W  Chapman  District  Attorney  of  the  United  States 
be  allowed  for  two  days  attendance  on  this  Court  and  one  hundred  and  sixty 
miles  travel. 

Ordered  that  the  Marshall  be  allowed  for  two  days  attendance  upon  this 
Court  and  for  thirty  miles  travel  and  for  summoning  a  grand  jury. 

Ordered  that  the  following  persons  be  allowed  as  petit  jurors  of  this  Court 
as  follows   (viz") 

John  H  Benson  one  day  12  miles  travel 

Orien  Briggs  one  day  12  miles  travel 

William  Kennedy  one  day  6  miles  travel 

David  Russell  one  day  20  Do 

Wesley  Swank  one  day  24  Do 

Joseph   Carter  one  day  22   Do 

Nathaniel  Prime  20  Do 

William  Dupont  24  Do 

William  H  Lee  12  Do 

John  Kem  8  Do 

David  Linn  16  Do 

Abraham  Wigant  2  Do 

Peter  Wigant  2  Do 

David  M.  Hanson  2  Do 

William  H  Dennison  vs  William  Fleming — Debt  on  Note. 

This  dav   came  the  defendant  by   his  attorney 
(Chapman)  and  moved  to  quash  the  writ  upon  the  grounds  first,  that  there  is  no 
seal  2nd  there  is  no  endorsement  by  attornev  or  other  competent  person  which 
motion  being  sustained,  it  is  adjudged  and  ordered  that  said  writ  be  quashed. 
United  States  vs  Thomas  D  Kellough — Indictment  for  Assault  and  Battery 
United  States  vs  Isaac  Parsons — Indictment  for  Assault  and  Battery 
I  "nited  States  vs  John  Westfall — Indictment  for  Assault  and  Battery 
United    States   vs  Joseph   Carter — Indictment   for  Assault   and  Battery 
I  nited   States  vs  James  Gordon  &  Joshua   Smith — Indictment  for  Gaming. 
L "nited   States  vs  John   Kem — Indictment  for  Assault  and  Battery. 
United  States  vs  Joshua  Smith — Indictment  for  Gaming. 
United   States  vs  William    Kennedy — Indictment  for  Assault  and   Battery 
United  State-  vs  James  Gordon — Indictment  for  Gaining. 
United  States  vs  John  W  Fergason — Indictment  for  Assault  and  Battery 
United  States  vs  Samuel  S.  Gorly — Indictments  for  Assault  &  Battery 
United  States  vs  ( >rien  Briggs,  Robert  Briggs  and  John  W  Fergason — Indict- 
ment for  Affray. 

Ordered  that  bail  be  taken  in  the  sum  of  fifty-five  dollars,  process  of  capias 
to  issued  returnable  to  the  next  Court. 

Ordered  that  the  Court  be  now  adjourned  until  the  next  term  thereof. 

D.  Irvin,  Judge. 


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SIGNATURES   OF   CHRISTOPHER    SHUCK.   THE   EIKST   SETTLER,   AND 
J.  W.  FERGUSON,  THE   FIRST   SCHOOL  TEACHER 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  79 

This  term  of  court  was  held  in  what  was  then  called  Lower  Wapello,  the 
legislature  having  located  the  county  seat  at  that  place.  This  subject  will  be  dis- 
cussed more  in  detail  when  we  come  to  the  history  of  Wapello,  but  it  may  be 
well  enough  now  to  say  that  the  court  house  then  used  was  made  of  cottonwood 
logs  or  poles,  and  the  stand  from  which  Judge  Irvin  dispensed  justice  was  an 
ordinary  dry-goods  box,  upon  which  was  a  split  bottom  chair.  The  grand  jury 
held  its  sessions  in  a  sort  of  cave,  or  hollow,  in  the  river  bank,  and  the  petit 
jury  conducted  their  deliberations  a  part  of  the  time  at  least  in  a  movable  calf 
pen. 

As  appears  by  the  foregoing  record,  Zadok  C.  Inghram  was  appointed  clerk 
on  the  first  day  and  gave  his  bond,  but  there  is  no  doubt  of  his  having  been 
appointed  clerk  some  time  prior  to  January  17,  1837,  although  we  have  not 
been  able  to  find  any  record  of  it.  This  was  doubtless  done  under  an  act  of  the 
territorial  legislature  of  Wisconsin,  approved  November  17,  1836,  authorizing 
the  judges  of  the  supreme  court  for  the  several  counties,  to  appoint  a  clerk  of 
each  court  of  their  respective  districts,  previous  to  the  holding  of  the  first  term 
of  court.  Under  the  law  the  clerks  so  appointed  were  to  hold  their  several 
appointments  until  the  first  term  of  the  court  for  which  they  were  appointed, 
and  until  their  successors  were  appointed  and  qualified  ;  acting  under  this  law. 
Mr.  Inghram  had  been  appointed  to  hold  until  the  first  term  of  court,  and  this 
necessitated  his  appointment  again  on  the  opening  of  court.  Mr.  Inghram  held 
this  office  for  ten  years,  and  was  indeed  the  pioneer  laborer  in  the  work  of 
organizing  the  county  and  putting  its  official  machinery  in  motion.  Through  the 
kindness  of  Thomas  Newell,  we  are  able  to  present  herewith  a  picture  of  Mr. 
Inghram,  which  has  been  in  possession  of  Mr.  Nevvell's  mother  for  a  great  many 
years.  After  leaving  this  county,  Mr.  Inghram  went  to  Missouri,  where  it  is 
understood  that  he  died  in  1883. 

The  sheriff  at  this  term  of  court  was  Samuel  Smith,  who  was  appointed  to  this 
office  by  Governor  Dodge,  on  December  8,  1836,  the  next  day  after  the  law  estab- 
lishing Louisa  county  took  effect.  At  the  same  time  the  Governor  appointed  the 
following  justices  of  the  peace  for  this  county:  William  Milligan,  Christopher 
Shuck,  Isaac  Rinearson  and  William  L.  Toole.  These  justices  and  Sheriff  Smith 
were  confirmed  by  the  council  on  the  day  following  their  appointment.  There 
has  been  a  great  deal  of  difference  of  opinion  expressed  at  different  periods  as  to 
who  was  the  first  sheriff  of  the  county.  It  has  been  variously  contended  that 
Martin  Harless,  C.  M.  McDaniel  and  William  H.  R.  Thomas  were  each  entitled 
to  this  distinction.  Dr.  John  Bell  in  his  old  settlers'  address,  to  which  we  have 
before  referred,  discussed  this  subject  and  while  he  was  in  error  as  to  his  opinion, 
we  quote  what  he  says  for  the  purpose  of  rescuing  from  oblivion  an  interesting, 
and  as  we  understand,  true  anecdote,  concerning  the  appointment  of  Martin 
Harless,  who  was  our  second  sheriff:  "Old  Cal,  as  we  used  to  call  him,  was  not, 
as  generally  supposed,  the  first  sheriff  of  Louisa  county.  One  Martin  Harless  had 
that  honor.  Being  up  at  Wapello  when  the  first  court  was  organized,  he  had 
the  good  fortune  to  be  appointed  sheriff.  Feeling  highly  elated  over  his  good 
luck,  he  got  fuddled,  and  on  going  home,  his  wife  noticed  that  there  was  a  great 
change  in  his  manner ;  there  was  something  mysterious  in  his  conduct.  After 
several  vain  attempts  she  succeeded  in  removing  his  secret — he,  Martin  Harless, 
was  high  sheriff  of  Louisa  county.     One  of  the  children,  hearing  of  their  good 


80  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

fortune,  rushed  forward  and  wanted  to  know  if  they  were  all  sheriffs.  The  old 
lady  took  the  bov  a  whack,  exclaiming,  'No,  fool!  nobody  is  sheriff  but  your 
dad  and  L* " 

In  order  to  convince  all  doubting  Thomases  or  doubting  McDaniels  that  we 
are  correct  as  to  Sheriff  Smith,  we  give  herewith  a  fac  simile  of  the  oath  of  office 
taken  by  him  before  Clerk  Inghram,  February  18,  1837.  We  have  not  learned 
much  about  the  history  of  Samuel  Smith.  It  is  quite  likely  that  Smith  creek, 
down  below  old  Florence,  was  named  after  him.  as  he  took  up  a  claim  located  on 
Smith  creek  and  not  far  from  the  mouth  of  it.  It  was  said  that  he  was  under 
sheriff  of  Des  Moines  count)-  at  the  time  Louisa  county  was  organized  and  that 
his  appointment  as  sheriff  was  largely  due  to  that  fact.  We  see  in  the  execu- 
tive journal  edited  by  Dr.  Shambaugh,  that  in  1839  Governor  Lucas  appointed 
a  Samuel  Smith  to  be  sheriff  of  Henry  county.  This  may  have  been  the  same 
person. 

There  has  likewise  been  doubt  and  uncertainty  as  to  the  name  and  member- 
ship of  the  board  which  transacted  the  first  business  of  the  county.  For  the  last 
forty  years,  at  least,  it  has  been  supposed  that  the  earliest  record  of  the  transac- 
tions of  such  a  board  was  to  be  found  in  the  "Commissioners'  Record,  Book 
A,"  being  the  record  of  the  commissioners'  court,  which  begins  on  April  2,  1838. 
In  a  work  edited  by  the  Acme  Publishing  Company,  in  1889,  relating  to  Louisa 
county,  though  chiefly  biographical,  it  was  said  that  William  Milligan.  Jeremiah 
Smith  and  John  Reynolds  ( Ronalds )  were  the  county  commissioners  who 
organized  the  county  and  held  their  first  meeting.  April  22,  1837.  and  that  they 
appointed  Z.  C.  Inghram  clerk  of  the  commissioners'  court.  It  is  also  stated  that 
no  record  could  be  found  of  a  meeting  of  this  board  and  that  the  first  record 
was  that  beginning  April  2,  1838.  A  few  years  ago  O.  I.  Jamison,  editor  of 
the  Columbus  Junction  Gazette,  spent  considerable  time  in  investigating  and 
writing  up  the  early  history  of  the  county  and  he  seems  to  have  concluded  that  the 
story  as  to  Milligan,  Smith  and  Ronalds  was  without  foundation,  as  he  speaks 
of  it  as  a  tradition.  Fortunately,  we  are  able  to  set  all  doubts  upon  this  subject 
at  rest,  having  found  in  the  attic  to  the  court  house  woodshed,  among  many 
other  old  books  and  important  documents  relating  to  our  early  history,  the  record 
book  of  the  first  official  board  of  the  county.  The  board  which  made  this  record 
was  not  a  board  of  county  commissioners,  nor  a  commissioners'  court,  and  not  so 
called.  It  came  into  existence  by  virtue  of  a  number  of  acts  which  had  been 
adopted  in  the  territory  of  Michigan,  and  which  were  made  to  apply  to  Wiscon- 
sin. These  various  Michigan  acts  provided  for  the  election  of  supervisors,  we 
believe  one  for  each  township,  and  specified  their  powers  and  duties.  In  Decem- 
ber, 1836,  the  Wisconsin  legislature  passed  an  act  to  amend  the  several  Michigan 
acts  referred  to  and  provided  that  each  county  should  be  declared  one  township 
for  all  purposes  of  carrying  into  effect  the  above  acts,  and  that  at  the  annual 
town  meeting  there  should  be  elected  in  each  county  three  supervisors  who  should 
perform  in  addition  to  the  duties  heretofore  assigned  them  as  a  county  board, 
the  duties  heretofore  performed  by  the  township  board.  This  act  also  provided 
for  the  election  of  one  township  clerk,  who  should  be  clerk  to  this  board  of 
supervisors. 

Inasmuch  as  this  book  throws  a  flood  of  light  upon  the  institutional  beginnings 
in  this  county,  we  give  a  fac  simile  of  a  few  of  the  twenty-one  pages,  which 
record  the  doings  of  this  pioneer  "bord." 


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HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  81 

We  have  been  unable  to  find  the  record  of  the  election  which  was  held  in  the 
spring  of  1837,  when  this  "bord"  was  elected.  It  appears  that  one  of  the  three 
members  of  the  board  failed  to  qualify  and  that  some  of  the  other  officers  elected 
failed  to  qualify,  and  the  first  act  of  this  board  after  appointing  Mr.  Inghram 
clerk  pro  tern,  was  to  order  an  election  to  be  held  on  the  6th  of  May  following, 
for  the  purpose  of  electing  one  supervisor,  constables,  assessor,  collector,  direc- 
tor of  the  poor,  fence  viewer  and  all  other  officers  required  to  fill  vacancies  caused 
by  those  previously  elected,  failing  to  "qualefy"  in  due  time.  This  meeting  of  the 
board  was  held  at  the  house  where  court  was  last  held,  as  was  also  the  next 
meeting  on  May  12th.  The  meeting  on  the  latter  date  was  a  special  meeting. 
At  this  meeting  the  first  allowance  made  was  of  $10  to  Z.  C.  Inghram,  but  the 
purpose  for  which  it  was  allowed  is  not  stated.  Samuel  Smith,  sheriff,  was 
also  allowed  $13,  and  William  H.  R.  Thomas,  deputy  sheriff,  was  allowed  $1.50. 
Nearly  three  pages  of  the  record  are  taken  up  with  allowances  made  to  the  grand 
jurors  and  petit  jurors  of  the  term  of  court  that  had  just  been  held.  -At  this 
same  meeting  it  was  also  ordered  that  the  property  of  Louisa  county  be  assessed 
on  or  before  the  first  day  of  July.  1837.  We  have  found  no  returns  of  the  special 
election  ordered  by  this  board  to  be  held  on  the  6th  of  May,  1837,  but  undoubtedly 
William  Kennedy  was  elected  township  clerk,  for  at  this  meeting  he  was  allowed 
one  dollar  for  services  as  clerk  of  the  board  of  supervisors.  It  is  also  certain 
that  John  Ronalds  was  elected  as  the  other  member  of  the  board  of  supervisors 
at  the  May  election,  because  he  appears  as  a  member  of  the  board  at  the  meeting 
held  July  11,  1837.  The  record  of  this  July  meeting  begins  about  the  middle  of 
page  6.  and  as  will  be  seen  by  the  fac  siimle  of  that  page,  it  contains  the  record  of 
the  first  county  road  ordered  in  this  county.  There  were  four  other  roads  ordered 
laid  out  at  this  same  meeting.  One  was  to  commence  at  or  near  the  Hatcher 
claim  on  the  south  line  of  the  county,  thence  on  the  nearest  and  best  route,  not 
to  injure  improvements,  to  intersect  a  county  road  near  Levi  Thornton's  on  the 
north  line  of  the  county :  and  Joshua  Swank.  William  Kennedy  and  Levi  Thorn- 
ton were  appointed  commissioners  to  mark  said  road,  and  were  to  make  their  return 
at  the  next  meeting,  together  with  an  estimate  of  the  costs.  The  "county  road" 
referred  to  in  this  last  order  was  probably  the  territorial  road  established  by  the 
act  of  the  Wisconsin  legislature.  December  7.  1836,  and  for  the  purpose  of  locat- 
ing and  establishing  a  territorial  road  west  of  the  Mississippi.  By  this  act  Abel 
Galland,  Solomon  Perkins,  Benjamin  Clark,  Adam  Sherrill,  William  Jones  and 
Henry  L.  Lauder  were  appointed  commissioners  to  lay  out  a  territorial  road  west 
of  the  Mississippi,  commencing  at  Farmington,  on  the  Des  Moines  river,  thence 
to  Moffit's  mill,  thence  to  the  nearest  and  best  route  to  Burlington,  thence  to 
Wapello,  thence  In-  the  nearest  and  best  route  to  Dubuque,  and  thence  to  the 
ferry  opposite  Prairie  du  Chien. 

Another  road  ordered  at  this  meeting  was  to  commence  at  the  territorial  road 
at  Wapello,  going  thence  to  Henry  county  in  the  direction  of  Mount  Pleasant, 
and  Thomas  Ingland  (England).  J.  J.  Rinearson  and  Joseph  Higby  (Higbee) 
were  appointed  commissioners.  Another  road  was  to  commence  at  the  ferry 
above  the  mouth  of  the  "Ioway"  river,  thence  to  intersect  the  territorial  road 
at  Milligan's  ferry  on  the  "Ioway"  river.  William  L.  Toole,  Henry  Warnstaff  and 
David  M.  Hanson  were  appointed  commissioners. 


82  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

The  other  road  ordered  was  to  commence  at  the  head  of  Main  street  in  Har- 
rison, and  thence  east,  following  the  section  line  and  intersecting  the  road  from 
Burlington  to  Bloomington.  John  P.  <  riles  (  <  Wilis?),  R.  S.  Sear]  and  James  Erwin 
were  appointed  commissioners. 

This  brings  us  to  page  8  of  the  record,  and  of  this  we  also  give  a  fac  simile 
reproduction,  mainly  because  on  this  page  is  found  the  record  of  the  establish- 
ment of  "the  rates  of  tavern"  for  Louisa  county. 

The  next  meeting  was  held  on  July  12th  at  the  house  of  William  Milligan. 
William  Milligan  was  "permitted  to  keep  a  tavern  in  Wapello  for  one  year,  com- 
mencing Aprile  the  1st.  1837."  At  this  meeting  an  order  was  made  for  a  road 
to  commence  at  the  ferry  line  opposite  "( )quaka"  on  the  Mississippi,  and  thence 
by  the  "neardest  and  best  rout"  to  Cattees  on  the  "loway"  river.  Nathaniel 
Prime.  R.  S.  Searl  and  I.  H.  Rinearson  were  appointed  commissioners  and  the 
clerk  of  the  board  was  directed  to  send  a  copy  of  these  proceedings  to  Steven 
S.  and  A.  Phelps,  of  Oquaka,  "requesting  them  to  transmit  to  the  board  of  com- 
missioners at  their  next  meeting  the  amount  of  money  or  labor  they  and  the  citi- 
zens of  Oquaka  will  be  responsabel  for  by  way  of  donation  in  opening  said 
road." 

The  next  meeting  was  a  special  meeting  held  at  the  house  of  R.  S.  Searl  in  the 
town  of  Harrison,  on  the  8th  of  August,  1837.  The  first  business  transacted  at 
this  meeting  was  the  establishment  of  five  districts,  and  as  this  is  the  first  effort 
to  divide  the  county,  we  copy  in  full  the  proceedings  in  reference  to  these  five 
districts : 

"Ordered  that  the  Black  Hawk  district  Xo.  1  shall  be  bounded  as  following; 
viz:  Commencing  at  the  Mississippia  river,  above  the  mouth  of  the  loway  river, 
thence  up  the  loway  river  to  the  line  dividing  range  two  and  three  west,  thence 
north  on  said  line  to  the  line  dividing  township  74  and  75  north,  thence  east  on 
said  line  to  the  Mississippia  river,  thence  down  the  Mississippia  river  to  the  place 
of  beginning,  and  that  William  Fleming  be  appointed  pathmaster  to  oversee  the 
working  of  roads  in  said  destrict. 

"Ordered  that  the  Harrison  destrict  No.  2  be  bounded  as  follows:  On  the 
east  by  destrict  No.  1,  on  the  south  by  the  loway  river  W.  on  a  line  running  north 
and  south  throng  the  center  of  range  three  west,  and  on  the  north  by  the  line 
dividing  the  township  74  &  75  north,  and  that  Henry  Warrenstaff  be  appointed 
pathmaster  to  oversee  the  working  of  roads  therein. 

"Ordered  that  the  Fredonia  district  No.  3  shall  be  bounded  as  follows:  On 
the  north  by  the  county  line,  on  the  west  and  southwest  by  the  loway  R.,  and 
on  the  east  by  a  line  running  through  the  center  of  range  3  west,  riming  north 
and  south  and  that  William  Fowler  be  appointed  pathmaster  to  oversee  the  work- 
ing of  roads  therein. 

"Ordered  that  the  Grandview  destrict  No.  4  shall  be  bounded  as  follows: 
South  by  the  line  dividing  township  line,  dividing  74  &  75  north,  west  by  destrict 
No.  3,  on  the  east  by  the  Mississippia  river,  on  the  north  bv  the  county  line,  and 
that  Levi  Thornton  be  appointed  pathmaster  to  oversee  the  working  of  the  roads 
therein. 

"Ordered  that  the  Wapello  destrict  No.  5  be  bounded  as   follows :     On  the 


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PAGE  8,  SUPERVISORS'  RECORD 


84  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

Slaughter  and  Louisa  counties  would  run  so  as  to  leave  Columbus  City  in 
Slaughter  county  and  Columbus  Junction  in  Louisa.  The  final  change  was  made 
by  the  Iowa  Territorial  Legislature  on  January  12th,  1839.  by  which  we  got  back 
government  townships  74  and  ~~,,  range  5,  and  also  received,  as  additional  terri- 
tory, all  of  the  present  townships  of  Oakland  and  Union.  The  lines  have  never 
been  changed  since. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 
EARLY  DISTRICTS,  PRECINCTS   AND  TOWNSHIPS. 

CHANGES     IN     TOWNSHIP     BOUNDARIES — ESTABLISHMENT     OF     NEW     TOWNSHIPS 

EARLY  SETTLERS  IN  THE  SEVERAL  TOWNSHIPS — EARLY  LAND  ENTRIES. 

The  first  establishment  of  townships  as  such  was  on  January  7,  1841,  but  the 
county  had  been  divided  a  few  times  before  that.  The  first  division  was  made 
by  the  board  of  supervisors  in  August,  1837,  into  five  districts,  presumably  road 
districts,  but  not  called  by  that  name.  These  districts  are  set  out  in  full  in  chap- 
ter VII  in  our  account  of  the  proceedings  of  this  first  board.  Again,  the  county 
seems  to  have  been  divided  into  election  precincts  by  the  board  of  county  com- 
missioners at  its  first  meeting  on  April  2,  1838.  Five  election  precincts  were 
established  at  this  time:  (  1st)  Upper  Wapello;  (2d)  Florence;  (3d)  Grand- 
view;  (4th)  Black  Hawk;  (5th)  Fredonia.  but  the  boundaries  are  not  given. 
At  this  time  the  greater  part  of  Columbus  City  township,  and  all  of  Union, 
Oakland  and  Elm  Grove  belonged  to  Slaughter  county. 

Judges  were  appointed  for  these  various  precincts  as  follows  :  Upper  Wapello, 
Hiram  Smith,  Thomas  England  and  Abram  Wigant ;  Florence  precinct.  Samuel 
Smith,  John  Deighl  (Deihl)  and  R.  P.  Burlingame ;  Fredonia,  James  Bedwell, 
T.  G.  Clark,  Craig  Black;  Grandview.  R.  Childers,  William  Fowler.  George 
Humphrey ;  Black  Hawk,  Israel  Trask,  Jonathan  Parsons  and  James  Guest. 

On  April  2,  1839,  the  county  was  again  divided  by  the  county  commissioners 
and  we  set  out  the  order  in  full : 

"Ordered  that  the  county  of  Louisa  be  laid  out  in  the  following  districts,  to 
wit :  No.  1  shall  be  of  the  following  boundaries  to  wit :  Commencing  at  the 
Mississippi  river,  above  the  mouth  of  Iowa  river;  thence  up  the  Iowa  to  the  line 
dividing  ranges  2  and  3  west ;  thence  north  on  said  line  to  the  line  dividing  town- 
ship 74  and  75  north  :  thence  east  on  said  line  to  the  Mississippi  river :  thence 
down  the  same  to  the  place  of  beginning;  and  that  William  Fleming  be  appointed 
supervisor  of  the  same. 

"Ordered  that  the  Harrison  District  No.  2  be  bounded  as  follows,  to  wit :  On 
the  east  by  District  No.  1  ;  on  the  south  by  the  Iowa  river ;  west  on  a  line  run- 
ning north  and  south  through  the  center  of  range  3  west :  and  on  the  north  by 
a  line  dividing  the  townships  74  and  75  north ;  and  that  William  Hinkson  be  and  is 
hereby  appointed  supervisor  of  the  said  district. 

"Ordered  that  the  Fredonia  District  No.  3  shall  be  bounded  as  follows,  to 
wit :    On  the  north  by  the  county  line ;  on  the  west  and  southwest  by  Cedar  and 

85 


86  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

Iowa  rivers;  and  on  the  east  by  a  line  dividing  ranges  3  and  4;  and  that  John 
B.  Criswell  be  supervisor  of  the  said  district. 

"Ordered  that  Grandview  District  No.  4  shall  be  bounded  as  follows,  to  wit: 
South  by  a  line  dividing  township  line  dividing  74  and  75  north  ;  west  by  Dis- 
trict No.. 3;  on  the  east  by  the  Mississippi  river;  on  the  north  by  the  county  line: 
and  that  Gabriel  Wallen  be  supervisor  of  said  district. 

"Ordered  that  Wapello  District  Xo.  5  shall  be  of  the  following  boundary,  to 
wit  :  On  the  east  by  the  range  line  dividing  ranges  2  and  3  west ;  on  the  north 
by  the  Iowa  river ;  on  the  west  by  range  line  dividing  ranges  3  and  4  west :  on 
the  south  by  the  county  line;  and  that  John  Drake  be  supervisor  to  see  to  the 
working  of  roads  in  said  district. 

"Ordered  that  the  Florence  Road  district  No.  6  be  bounded  as  follows,  to 
wit :  On  the  west  on  the  line  dividing  ranges  2  and  3  west ;  on  the  east  by  the 
Mississippi  river ;  on  the  south  by  the  county  line ;  on  the  north  by  the  Iowa  river ; 
and  that  Loring  Howes  be  supervisor  to  oversee  the  working  of  the  same. 

"Ordered  that  Long  Creek  District  No.  7  be  bounded  as  follows,  to  wit : 
Embracing  all  that  part  of  the  township  in  range  4,  township  74  north,  laying 
south  of  the  Iowa  river ;  and  township  74  north  of  range  5  west ;  and  that  Thomas 
Neel  be  supervisor  to  oversee  the  working  of  the  roads  therein. 

"Ordered  that  the  Virginia  Grove  Road  District  No.  8  be  bounded  as  fol- 
lows, to  wit :  Embracing  township  73  in  range  4  west,  and  that  William  Guinn 
be  and  he  is  hereby  appointed  supervisor  to  oversee  the  working  of  the  roads  in 
said  district. 

"Ordered  that  Iowa  Road  District  No.  9  be  bounded  as  follows,  to  wit :  All 
that  part  of  township  75  north  of  range  4  west;  also  all  that  part  of  township 
75  in  range  5  west ;  and  all  that  part  of  township  76  north  of  range  5  west ;  all 
lying  south  of  the  Iowa  river;  and  that  David  Dicks  be  and  he  is  hereby  appointed 
supervisor  to  oversee  the  working  of  the  roads  in  said  district. 

"Ordered  that  Iowa  and  Ceder  River  Road  District  No.  10  be  bounded  as 
follows,  to  wit :  All  that  part  of  township  76  north  in  range  5  west ;  also  all 
that  part  of  township  75  in  range  4  west,  laying  between  the  Iowa  and  Cedar 
rivers;1  and  that  Hugh  Calin  be  supervisor  to  oversee  the  working  of  roads  in 
said  district." 

It  will  be  noticed  that  the  order  merely  says  that  the  county  shall  be  laid 
out  into  the  following  districts  and  that  the  word  road  district  is  not  used  until 
No.  6  is  reached,  but  it  is  to  be  presumed  that  all  of  these  districts  were  road 
districts. 

On  April  8,  1840,  the  board  of  commissioners  reorganized  the  districts  of 
the  county  and  changed  the  names  of  some  of  them.  It  is  evident  that  they  were 
intended  for  voting  precincts  for  some  purposes  at  least,  because  the  place  of 
holding  the  election  in  nearly  all  of  them  is  given. 

On  the  record  the  word  township  seems  to  have  been  used  in  nearly  every 
case  instead  of  the  word  district  and  then  the  word  township  was  erased  and 
the  word  district  is  used  in  the  place  of  it  all  the  way  through. 

"Ordered  that  Jefferson  District  be  bounded  as  follows :  Commencing  at  the 
Mississippi  river  at  the  line  dividing  section  27  and  22  in  fraction  township  74, 
range  2  running  west  to  the  range  line  dividing  2  and  3 ;  thence  south  with  said 


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PAGE  11,  SUPERVISORS'  RECORD 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  87 

range  line  to  the  township  line  dividing  73  and  74 ;  thence  west  on  said  line  to  Iowa 
river ;  thence  down  said  river  to  the  Mississippi ;  thence  up  the  Mississippi  to  the 
place  of  beginning:  and  that  Jonas  Ruffner  be  appointed  supervisor  to  work  roads 
therein,  and  Black  Hawk  be  the  place  of  holding  elections  for  said  district. 

"Ordered  that  Harrison  District  be  bounded  as  follows:  Commencing  at  the 
Mississippi  river  on  the  township  line  dividing  74  and  75  ;  thence  west  on  said 
line  to  the  section  line  dividing  2  and  3,  in  town  74,  in  range  3 ;  then  south  to  the 
Iowa  river ;  then  down  said  river  to  the  township  line  dividing  Jt,  and  74 :  then 
east  to  the  range  line  dividing  2  and  3 ;  then  north  with  said  line :  then  to  the 
corner  of  sections  24  and  19;  then  east  to  the  Mississippi:  then  up  said  river  to 
the  place  of  beginning  and  John  Ronalds  be  appointed  supervisor  to  work  the 
roads  therein  and  Harrison  be  the  place  of  holding  elections  for  said  district. 

"Ordered  that  Warren  District  be  bounded  as  follows:  Commencing  at  the 
Mississippi  river  at  the  county  line  dividing  Louisa  and  Muscatine  counties  ;  thence 
following  said  line  to  the  range  line  dividing  3  and  4  ;  then  south  to  the  Iowa  river  ; 
then  down  said  river  to  the  section  line  dividing  22  and  23  in  township  74  of 
range  3 ;  then  north  to  the  township  line  dividing  74  and  75 ;  then  east  to  the 
Mississippi  river;  then  up  said  river  to  the  place  of  beginning  and  that  Grand- 
view  be  the  place  of  holding  elections  for  said  township ;  and  William  Thomp- 
son be  appointed  supervisor  to  work  the  roads  therein. 

"Ordered  that  Fredonia  District  be  of  the  following  boundaries  to  wit :  Be- 
ginning at  the  northeast  corner  of  township  75.  range  4  west,  and  running  thence 
west  with  the  county  line  to  Cedar  river ;  thence  down  said  river  to  the  range 
line  dividing  3  and  4;  thence  north  to  the  place  of  beginning;  the  place  of  hold- 
ing the  election  be  at  Fredonia,  and  James  Bedwell  be  supervisor  of  said  district. 

"Ordered  that  Catteese  District  be  of  the  following  boundaries,  to  wit :  Be- 
ginning at  the  mouth  of  Cedar  river;  thence  up  said  river  to  the  county  line; 
thence  west  to  the  range  line  dividing  4  and  5  ;  thence  north  to  the  township 
line  dividing  townships  76  and  jj  ;  thence  west  to  the  range  line  dividing  5  and 
6 ;  thence  south  with  said  line  to  the  township  line  dividing  75  and  76,  and  con- 
tinuing the  same  course  to  the  center  of  township  75  ;  thence  east  to  the  Iowa 
river ;  thence  down  said  river  to  the  place  of  beginning.  The  place  for  holding 
elections  shall  be  at  Hugh  Caland's  ;  and  that  John  Blake  be  supervisor  to  over- 
see the  working  of  roads  in  the  same. 

"Ordered  that  Union  township  be  composed  of  the  south  half  of  township  75 
and  township  74  of  range  5.  The  place  for  holding  elections  therein  shall  be 
at  the  house  of  Edward  Halls,  and  that  Elias  Buel  be  supervisor  to  oversee  the 
working  of  roads  in  the  same. 

"Ordered  that  Fayette  District  be  of  the  following  boundaries,  to  wit :  Begin- 
ning on  the  Iowa  river  on  the  line  dividing  sections  18  and  19  of  township  75 
of  range  4  west ;  and  running  west  to  the  range  line  betwixt  4  and  5  ;  thence  south 
with  said  line  to  the  township  line  dividing  /T,  and  74 ;  thence  east  with  said  town- 
ship line  to  the  range  line  dividing  3  and  4 ;  thence  north  to  the  Iowa  river ; 
thence  up  said  river  to  the  place  of  beginning.  The  place  for  holding  elections 
therein  shall  be  at  the  house  of  Jacob  Triggs.  And  that  Leonard  Robinson  be 
supervisor  to  oversee  the  working  of  roads  in  said  district. 

"Ordered  that  Virginia  Grove  District  be  of  the  following  boundaries,  to 
wit :    To  include  the  congressional  township  y^  north  of  range  4  west ;  And  that 


88  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

the  place  for  holding  elections  shall  be  at  the  house  of  Richard  W.  Gwinn.  And 
that  Richard  W.  Gwinn  be  supervisor  to  oversee  the  working  of  roads  therein. 

"Ordered  that  Wapello  District  be  of  the  following  boundaries,  to  wit :  He- 
ginning  on  the  Iowa  river  on  the  range  line  dividing  ranges  3  and  4 ;  thence 
south  to  the  county  line ;  thence  east  to  the  range  line  dividing  ranges  2  and  3 ; 
thence  north  to  the  Iowa  river  ;  thence  up  said  river  to  the  place  of  beginning. 
Wapello  to  be  the  place  for  holding  elections.  And  that  for  all  that  part  of  town- 
ship 73,  range  3  west.  Garrett  Garrison  be  supervisor  to  oversee  the  working 
of  roads  in  that  division:  and  that  Nathaniel  J.  Ives  be  supervisor  to  oversee 
the  working  of  roads  in  the  balance  of  said  district. 

"Ordered  that  Florence  District  be  of  the  following  boundaries,  to  wit : 
Beginning  on  the  Iowa  river  on  the  range  line  dividing  ranges  2  and  3 ;  thence 
south  to  the  county  line ;  thence  east  with  the  county  line  to  the  Mississippi 
river :  thence  up  the  Mississippi  river  to  the  mouth  of  the  Iowa  river ;  thence 
up  said  river  to  the  place  of  beginning.  Florence  to  lie  the  place  for  holding 
elections  in  said  district.  And  that  P.  B.  Harrison  be  supervisor  to  oversee  the 
working  of  roads  therein. 

"Ordered  that  part  of  Warren  District  which  is  embraced  in  the  east  half 
of  congressional  township  75,  range  3  west,  be  assigned  to  Spencer  Wilson  as 
supervisor  of  the  same."' 

At  the  election  on  October  5.  1840,  the  question  of  township  organization  was 
submitted  to  the  people  and  returns  were  made  on  this  question  from  Fredonia. 
Virginia  Grove,  Columbus  City,  Grandview,  Wapello.  Jefferson  and  Florence 
precincts,  the  result  being  178  for  township  organization  and  79  against,  all  the 
precincts  except  Columbus  City  casting  majorities  for  the  proposition.  In  pur- 
suance of  this  vote  the  county  was  divided  into  townships  on  January  7,  1841, 
by  the  following  order : 

"Ordered  that  the  county  of  Louisa  be  laid  oft  into  townships  in  the  follow- 
ing order,  to  wit : 

"Wapello  township  shall  be  of  the  following  boundary,  to  wit :  Beginning  at 
a  point  on  the  Iowa  river  on  the  section  line  dividing  sections  12  and  13,  township 
73  north,  range  3  west ;  thence  west  with  the  section  line  to  the  west  boundary 
of  the  county ;  thence  north  to  the  township  line  dividing  towns  73  and  74  north  ; 
thence  east  with  said  township  line  to  the  section  line  dividing  sections  t,^  and 
34,  in  township  74  north  of  range  4  west:  thence  north  with  said  section  line 
to  the  Iowa  river ;  thence  down  said  river  to  the  place  of  beginning.  And  the 
place  of  holding  elections  for  the  time  being  shall  be  at  Wapello. 

"Florence  township  shall  be  of  the  following  boundaries,  to  wit:  Beginning 
at  the  southeast  corner  of  the  county ;  thence  west  to  the  range  line  dividing 
ranges  4  and  5  ;  thence  north  to  the  section  line  dividing  sections  7  and  18;  thence 
east  to  the  Iowa  river  ;  thence  down  said  river  to  the  Mississippi  river  ;  thence  down 
said  river  to  the  place  of  beginning.  The  place  for  holding  elections  for  the  first 
election  shall  be  at  the  house  Samuel  Jamison. 

"Columbus  City  township  shall  be  of  the  following  boundaries,  to  wit:  Be- 
ginning at  the  Iowa  river  in  township  75  north,  range  4  on  the  section  line  divid- 
ing sections  33  and  34 :  thence  south  to  the  township  line  dividing  townships  ~^ 


MAI'   OF    LOUISA   COUNTY,   TERRITORY   OF   IOWA.    SHOWING   ORIGINAL  PLAN 

OF   TOWNSHIPS 


I 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  89 

and  74;  thence  west  to  the  range  line  dividing  ranges  5  and  6;  thence  north  to  the 
Iowa  river  ;  thence  down  said  river  to  the  place  of  beginning.  The  place  for  hold- 
ing elections  for  the  time  being  shall  be  at  Columbus  City. 

"Jefferson  township  shall  be  of  the  following  boundaries,  to  wit:  Beginning 
at  a  point  on  the  Iowa  river,  in  township  74  north,  range  3  west,  on  the  section 
line  dividing  sections  14  and  15  ;  thence  north  to  the  section  line  dividing  sections 
14  and  11 ;  thence  east  to  the  Mississippi  river;  thence  down  said  Mississippi  river 
to  the  mouth  of  the  Iowa  river ;  thence  up  said  river  to  the  place  of  beginning. 
And  the  place  for  holding  elections  for  the  time  being  shall  be  at  Toolesboro. 

"Grandview  township  shall  be  of  the  following  boundaries,  to  wit :  Begin- 
ning at  the  northeast  corner  of  said  county ;  thence  west  to  the  range  line  dividing 
ranges  3  and  4  west ;  thence  south  to  the  Iowa  river ;  thence  down  said  river  to  the 
section  line  dividing  sections  14  and  15  in  township  74  north  of  range  3  west; 
thence  north  to  the  line  dividing  sections  10  and  15  ;  thence  east  to  the  Mississippi 
river ;  thence  up  said  river  to  the  place  of  beginning.  And  the  place  for  holding 
elections  for  the  time  being  shall  be  at  Grandview. 

"Fredonia  township  shall  be  of  the  following  boundaries,  to  wit :  Beginning 
at  a  point  on  the  Iowa  river  on  the  line  dividing  ranges  3  and  4;  thence  north 
to  the  county  line ;  thence  west  to  the  line  dividing  ranges  4  and  5  ;  thence  north 
to  the  line  dividing  townships  76  and  yy  north  ;  thence  west  to  the  Iowa  river ; 
thence  down  said  river  to  the  place  of  beginning.  The  place  of  elections  for  the 
time  being  shall  be  at  Fredonia." 

On  January  4,  1842,  the  commissioners  ordered  that  the  fractional  section  No. 
23,  township  74  north,  range  3  west,  be  attached  to  Wapello  township,  and  on 
April  4,  1842,  the  following  sections  and  fractional  sections  were  added  to  Wapello 
township  namely:  Sections  13.  14.  23.  24.  25,  26,  35  and  36,  all  in  township  74 
north,  range  3  west,  and  the  following  were  added  to  Jefferson  township:  Sec- 
tions 1,  2,  11,  12,  13  and  14  in  township  jt,  north,  range  2  west;  and  sections  5,  6, 
7,  8,  16,  17  and  18  in  township  73  north,  range  1  west. 

The  next  change  seems  to  have  been  on  April  2  1844,  when  it  was  ordered  that 
all  that  part  of  Louisa  county  situated  between  the  Mississippi  and  Iowa  rivers 
and  lying  north  of  the  Iowa  slough  be  attached  to  Jefferson  township. 

On  April  13,  1847,  the  subject  of  dividing  the  county  into  commissioners  dis- 
tricts was  taken  under  consideration  and  the  county  was  divided  into  three  com- 
missioners' districts  as1  follows :  Wapello  and  Florence  townships  were  made  the 
first  district,  Grandview  and  Jefferson  township  the  second  district,  and  Columbus 
City  and  Fredonia  townships  the  third  district. 

The  first  effort  to  establish  what  afterwards  became  Eliot  township  was  on 
April  14,  1847,  when  John  Hector  and  F.  S.  Burt  and  a  number  of  others  peti- 
tioned the  county  commissioners  to  organize  a  new  township  to  be  called  Pleasant 
township,  and  to  be  composed  of  all  that  part  of  Jefferson  on  the  south  side  of 
the  Iowa  river,  and  as  much  of  Florence  township  as  the  board  might  think  neces- 
sary.   The  board  decided  that  it  was  inexpedient  to  grant  the  petition  at  that  time. 

On  July  6,  1847.  the  line  between  Wapello  and  Columbus  City  townships  was 
changed  as  follows:  The  south  half  of  section  ^3^  township  j^  north,  range  4 
west,  was  taken  from  Columbus  City  and  attached  to  Wapello  township. 

On  October  6,  1847,  Isaac  Parsons  and  a  number  of  others  laid  before  the 


90  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

board  a  petition  for  the  enlargement  of  Jefferson  township  by  attaching  to  it  all 
the  territory  lying  south  of  Iowa  slough  and  between  that  slough  and  the  south 
line  of  the  count)-,  and  west  to  the  line  dividing  sections  33  and  34  in  township 
J3  north,  range  2  west,  and  the  board  ordered  the  alteration  to  be  made  upon  the 
condition  that  the  signatures  of  the  persons  then  residing  in  Florence  township  in 
the  territory  sought  to  be  attached  should  first  be  obtained  to  a  petition  asking 
the  change  to  be  made.  This  petition  was  to  be  returned  to  the  commissioners' 
clerk  within  thirty  days.  A  memorandum  following  this  entry,  signed  by  S.  M. 
Kirkpatrick,  states  that  the  above  condition  was  not  complied  with  but  at  the  ses- 
sion of  the  commissioners  in  April,  1848.  an  order  was  made,  attaching  to  Jeffer- 
son township  the  territory  heretofore  belonging  to  Florence  township  lying  be- 
tween the  Iowa  slough  and  the  section  line,  dividing  sections  33  and  34  in  town- 
ship 73  north,  range  2  west,  and  providing  that  the  above  described  section  line 
and  a  continuation  of  the  same  extending  from  the  south  line  of  this  county  to 
the  Iowa  river  be  made  the  boundary  line  between  Jefferson  and  Florence  town- 
ships. 

CONCORD  TOWNSHIP  ESTABLISHED. 

On  March  4,  1853,  there  was  presented  to  the  county  court  a  petition  of  the  citi- 
zens of  Fredonia  township  asking  that  it  be  divided  and  a  division  was  ordered 
as  follows :  A  hew  township  was  established  by  the  name  of  Concord,  commenc- 
ing at  a  point  on  the  Iowa  river  where  the  township  range  line  divides  ranges  3 
and  4;  thence  north  to  the  line  dividing  the  counties  of  Louisa  and  Muscatine; 
thence  west  to  the  Cedar  river;  thence  down  said  river  to  its  junction  with  the 
Iowa  river ;  thence  down  said  Iowa  river  to  the  place  of  beginning. 

OAKLAND    TOWNSHIP    ESTABLISHED. 

It  was  ordered  that  a  township  be  established  by  the  name  of  Oakland  to  include 
the  following  territory:  All  of  township  76,  range  5,  and  all  territory  in  Louisa 
county  lying  in  the  forks  of  the  Iowa  and  Cedar  rivers ;  and  it  was  further  pro- 
vided that  the  north  boundary  of  Columbus  City  township  should  thereafter  be  a 
line  dividing  townships  75  and  76  to  the  point  wdiere  said  line  intersects  the  Iowa 
river.  The  people  of  Oakland  township  had  wanted  this  change  made  for  a  long 
time  and  the  story  is  that  it  was  brought  about  by  the  election  of  all  the  township 
officers  of  Fredonia  township  from  the  west  side  of  the  Cedar  river.  The  plan 
was  managed  by  Charles  H.  Abbott.  He  made  a  thorough  canvass  of  wdrat  is 
now  Oakland  township,  had  the  voters  assemble  down  at  Old  Port  Allen  rather 
late  on  the  day  of  election  and  then  cross  over  the  Cedar  in  skiffs  or  boats,  two  or 
three  at  a  time,  to  do  their  voting.  Of  course  they  had  their  ticket  for  township 
officers  all  agreed  upon.  The  folks  over  at  Fredonia  did  not  suspect  anything  until 
late  in  the  evening  and  they  began  to  martial  their  voters  but  it  was  no  use,  the 
plan  had  succeeded  and  all  the  township  officers  of  what  was  then  Frendonia 
township  were  elected  from  the  west  side  of  the  Cedar  river — what  is  now  Oak- 
land township. 

This  brought  about  a  change  of  heart  on  the  part  of  the  people  east  of  the 
Cedar  river  and  they  were  willing  to  have  two  townships  made  out  of  Fredonia 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  91 

township.  We  give  this  story  for  what  it  is  worth.  We  have  not  looked  up  the 
records  as  to  the  election  of  township  officers  for  the  purpose  of  verifying  it,  as 
the  story  is  good  enough  without  this. 

February  6,  1854,  A.  D.  Hurley  presented  a  petition  to  the  county  court  signed 
by  the  citizens  of  Florence  township  asking  that  that  portion  of  the  township  east 
of  a  line  commencing  at  the  quarter  section  corner  of  the  south  boundary  of  sec- 
tion 34,  running  due  north  to  intersect  the  quarter  section  corner  of  the  north 
boundary  of  section  22;  thence  north  to  the  corner  of  sections  15  and  16  and  21 
and  22 ;  thence  north  to  the  corner  of  sections  9  and  10  and  15  and  16,  all  in  town- 
ship 72,  north,  range  3  west,  be  attached  to  Wapello  township,  and  it  was  so 
ordered. 

UNION  TOWNSHIP  ESTABLISHED. 

On  February  6,  1854,  Andrew  Gamble  presented  a  petition  of  the  citizens  of 
Oakland  and  Columbus  City  townships  asking  for  the  formation  of  a  new  town- 
ship of  the  territory  of  Columbus  City  and  Oakland,  to  be  bounded  as  follows : 
Commencing  at  the  southwest  corner  of  section  7,  township  75  north,  range  5 
west ;  thence  east  to  the  Iowa  river ;  thence  up  the  Iowa  river  to  the  county  line  : 
thence  west  to  the  northwest  corner  of  township  76  north,  range  5  west ;  thence 
south  on  the  county  line  to  the  place  of  beginning ;  the  new  township  to  be  called 
Union.  Among  the  signers  to  this  petition  were  John  Albaugh,  Robert  Todd, 
Peter  Rineley,  W.  W.  Orr,  Patrick  Colton,  Nelson  Alloway,  Michael  McGuire, 
G.  W.  Duncan  and  S.  S.  Wilcox.  There  was  some  opposition  to  this  petition 
from  the  east  side  of  the  Iowa  river  but  it  was  granted,  and  Union  township 
established. 

MORNING  SUN   TOWNSHIP   ESTABLISHED. 

On  May  1,  1854,  a  petition  was  presented  to  the  county  court,  signed  by  about 
fifty  citizens  of  Florence  township  asking  that  the  name  be  changed  to  Morning 
Sun  township,  and  it  was  so  ordered.  Among  the  signers  to  the  petition  we  note 
the  names  of  Jesse  Hamilton,  Arch  Johnson,  Forgay  Owens,  William  P.  Brown, 
Robert  Hewitt,  Josiah  Vertrees,  James  C.  Brown,  O.  A.  Taylor,  B.  F.  Lee,  J.  R. 
Wilson,  Hamilton  Brown  and  Thomas  McClurkin. 

OTTER    CREEK    TOWNSHIP    ESTABLISHED. 

On  July  5,  1854,  John  Corson  and  others  petitioned  for  the  formation  of  a  new 
township  to  be  called  Otter  Creek  and  the  court  established  said  township  with 
the  following  boundaries  :  Beginning  at  the  northwest  corner  of  section  19,  town- 
ship 74  north,  range  4  west ;  thence  south  on  the  range  line  five  miles  to  the 
southwest  corner  of  section  7,  township  73  north,  range  4  west ;  thence  east  six 
miles  to  the  southeast  corner  of  section  12,  township  jt,  north,  range  4  west: 
thence  north  five  miles  to  the  northeast  corner  of  section  24,  township  74  north, 
range  4  west ;  thence  west  six  miles  to  the  place  of  beginning.  And  the  first  elec- 
tion was  ordered  to  be  held  the  first  Monday  in  April,  1855,  at  Hope  Farm.  The 
petition  in  this  case  does  not  seem  to  be  among  the  files. 

On  March  17,  1855,  Otter  Creek  township  was  changed  at  the  request  of  E. 
W.  Siverly  and  others  by  taking  from  it  the  following  territory  and  attaching  the 


92  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

same  to  Wapello  township,  namely:  Sections  I  and  12  in  township  73  north. 
range  4  west :  and  sections  24,  25  and  37  in  township  74  north,  range  4  west.  (  >n 
August  7,  1855,  an  order  was  made  by  which  the  following  territory  was  taken 
from  Wapello  town-hip  and  added  to  Otter  Creek  township,  namely:  the  west 
half  of  sections  24.  25  and  36  of  township  74  north,  range  4  west:  and  the  same 
of  sections  r  and  12  in  township  73  mirth,  range  4  west.  The  petition  for  this 
change  was  signed  by  N.  M.  Cowles,  John  N.  Baldrige,  R.  E.  Benton,  Olivet 
I'.enton,  James  Coulter,  Jesse  Vanhorn,  Abraham  Hill  and  a  few  others. 

PORT    LOUISA     TOWNSHIP    ESTABLISHED. 

(  )n  February  4.  185(1.  the  county  court  established  Port  Louisa  township  with 
boundaries  as  follows:  Commencing  on  the  east  bank  of  the  Iowa  river  on  the 
township  line  between  townships  73  and  74:  thence  east  to  the  southeast  corner 
of  section  $$.  township  74  north,  range  2  west:  thence  north  on  the  section  line 
to  Muscatine  slough;  thence  down  said  slough  to  the  Mississippi  river;  thence 
up  said  river  to  the  county  line  ;  thence  west  on  the  county  line  to  the  northwest 
corner  of  township  75  north,  range  2  west;  thence  south  on  the  township  line  to 
the  line  between  townships  74  and  75  ;  thence  west  on  said  line  to  the  northwest 
corner  of  section  3;  thence  south  to  the  Iowa  river;  thence  down  the  east  bank 
of  said  river  to  the  place  of  beginning.  This  petition  was  numerously  signed 
by  people  within  the  newly  proposed  township  but  some  of  the  names  are  not 
decipherable  now.  The  petition  is  in  the  handwriting  of  J.  C.  Lock-wood  and 
signed  by  him.  Among  the  other  names  we  note  the  following;  Joseph  I!. 
McDill.  G.  H.  Crow,  lames  S.  Williamson,  J.  H.  Williamson,  David  1'.  Herron, 
lames  Erwin,  William  Kennedy,  Michael  Lieberknecht  and  John  Ronalds. 

ELLIOTT    TOWNSHIP    ESTABLISHED. 

I  >n  February  4,  1856,  Elliott  township  was  established  with  the  following 
boundaries :  Commencing  at  the  mouth  of  the  Iowa  river  on  the  south  side  ; 
thence  south  down  the  Mississippi  river  to  the  Des  Moines  county  line ;  thence 
west  along  said  county  line  to  the  southwest  corner  of  township  j^  north,  range 
2  west;  thence  north  to  the  Iowa  river:  thence  down  said  Iowa  river  to  the  place 
of  beginning.  The  first  election  was  ordered  to  be  held  at  Russell's  schoolhouse. 
The  spelling  of  Elliott  township  as  given  in  the  original  order  is  as  we  have  it 
here,  although  in  later  years  it  has  been  customary  to  spell  it  Eliot,  this  latter 
spelling  being  the  most  appropriate,  since  the  township  was  named  in  honor  of 
Allan  Eliot. 

MARSHALL    TOWNSHIP    ESTABLISHED. 

On  February  4,  1850,  there  is  also  an  entry  showing  that  Noah  Cowles  had 
previously  presented  a  petition  of  citizens  of  Otter  Creek  township,  praying  that 
the  name  be  changed  to  Marshall  township  and  that  order  was  made. 

ELM   GROVE  TOWNSHIP   KSTAP.LISHED. 

(  >n  March  16,  1857,  on  the  petition  of  H.  S.  Dodd  and  others  that  part  of 
township  74  north,  range  5  west,  which  is  south  of  Long  Creek,  was  organized  into 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  93 

a  new  township  under  the  name  of  Elm  Grove.  There  was  considerable  opposi- 
tion to  this  on  the  part  of  S.  K.  Helmick  and  most  of  those  living  in  that  district 
and  they  fded  remonstrance,  and  a  little  later,  namely,  on  March  23,  1857,  it 
was  ordered  that  so  much  of  Elm  Grove  township  as  lies  north  of  the  line 
dividing  sections  7  and  18,  8  and  17,  9  and  16,  10  and  15,  11  and  14,  and  [  _>  and 
13,  be  attached  to  Columbus  City  township. 

On  June  21st,  1858,  on  account  of  the  uncertainty  in  regard  to  the  township 
lines,  County  Judge  Derbin  made  an  order  establishing  the  townships  and  fixing 
their  boundaries  as  follows : 

The  township  of  Elliot  is  bounded  by  a  lino  commencing  at  the  West  of  the 
Iowa  river  on  the  section  line  dividing  section  20  and  21,  township  yT,,  range  2 
west ;  thence  west  to  the  northwest  corner  of  section  29,  township  jt„  range  2 
west;  thence  south  to  the  county  line;  thence  east  to  the  Mississippi  river;  thence 
up  said  Mississippi  river  to  the  line  dividing  sections  16  and  21,  township  •/},, 
range  1  west ;  thence  west  to  the  Iowa  river ;  thence  on  southern  bank  of  said 
[owa  river  to  the  place  of  beginning. 

The  township  of  Jefferson  is  bounded  by  a  line  commencing  on  the  east  side 
of  the  Iowa  river  at  the  section  line  dividing  sections  23  and  26,  township  74, 
range  3  west ;  thence  following  the  east  bank  of  said  Iowa  river  to  the  section 
line  dividing  sections  20  and  21,  township  jt,,  range  2  west;  thence  on  southern 
bank  of  said  river  to  the  section  line  dividing  sections  14  and  23,  township  y^, 
range  2  west ;  thence  east  to  the  Mississippi  river ;  thence  following  said  Missis- 
sippi river  to  the  Muscatine  Slough ;  thence  up  the  west  bank  of  said  Muscatine 
Slough  to  the  section  line  dividing  sections  20  and  29,  township  74,  range  2  west ; 
thence  west  to  place  of  beginning. 

Port  Louisa  township  is  bounded  by  a  line  commencing  at  the  north  county 
line  on  the  east  side  of  the  Muscatine  Slough ;  thence  south  on  the  bank  of  said 
Muscatine  Slough  to  the  range  line  dividing  township  /$,  range  3  and  township 
75,  range  2,  at  section  30;  thence  south  to  southwest  corner  of  section  31,  town- 
ship 75,  range  2;  thence  west  to  southwest  corner  of  section  34,  township  75, 
range  3  ;  thence  south  to  the  Iowa  river ;  thence  on  east  bank  of  said  Iowa  river 
to  section  line  dividing  sections  23  and  26,  township  74,  range  3  west ;  thence 
east  to  Muscatine  Slough  ;  thence  on  the  west  bank  of  said  Muscatine  Slough 
till  it  intersects  the  Mississippi  river;  thence  up  said  Mississippi  river  to  the 
northeast  corner  of  the  county ;  thence  west  to  the  place  of  beginning. 

Grandview  township  is  bounded  by  a  line  commencing  at  the  northwest  cor- 
ner of  section  6,  township  75,  range  3  west ;  thence  south  to  the  Iowa  river  on 
range  line  dividing  township  74,  range  3,  township  74,  range  4 :  thence  on  east 
bank  of  Iowa  river  to  section  line  dividing  sections  15  and  16,  township  74, 
range  3  west :  thence  north  to  northeast  corner  of  section  4,  township  74,  range 
3  west ;  thence  east  to  southeast  corner  of  section  36,  township  j$,  range  3  west : 
thence  north  to  the  Muscatine  Slough ;  thence  on  east  bank  of  said  slough  to 
county  line ;  thence  west  to  the  place  of  beginning. 

Concord  township  is  bounded  by  a  line  commencing  on  the  west  side  of 
Cedar  river  at  the  county  line ;  thence  following  said  bank  to  section  line  dividing 
sections  19  and  20,  township  75,  range  4,  on  the  west  side  of  the  Iowa  river; 
thence  on  west  bank  of  said  Iowa  river  to  section  line  dividing  sections  33  and 


94  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

34,  township  /$,  range  4  west  ;  thence  north  to  east  side  of  the  Iowa  river;  thence 
on  east  bank  of  said  river  to  range  line  dividing  section  1,  township  74,  range  4, 
and  section  6,  township  74.  range  3  ;  thence  north  to  northeast  corner  of  section 
1,  township  75,  range  4  west;  thence  west  to  place  of  beginning. 

Oakland  township  is  bounded  by  a  line  commencing  at  the  northeast  corner 
of  section  1,  township  76,  range  5;  thence  south  to  the  southeast  corner  of  sec- 
tion 36,  township  76,  range  5  west ;  thence  east  to  Cedar  river  ;  thence  south  to 
the  intersection  of  the  Iowa  river;  thence  north  on  east  bank  of  the  Iowa  river 
to  county  line  ;  thence  east  to  place  of  beginning. 

Union  township  is  bounded  by  a  line  commencing  at  the  northwest  corner 
of  section  6,  township  76,  range  5  west :  thence  south  to  the  southwest  corner  of 
section  7,  township  75,  range  5  west ;  thence  east  to  the  southeast  corner  of  sec- 
tion 12,  township  75,  range  5,  on  east  bank  of  the  Iowa  river;  thence  northwest 
to  county  line :  thence  west  to  place  of  beginning. 

Columbus  City  township  is  bounded  by  a  line  commencing  at  the  northwest 
corner  of  section  18.  township  J-,,  range  5  west;  thence  south  to  southwest  cor- 
ner of  section  7.  township  74,  range  5  west ;  thence  east  to  range  line  between 
township  74,  range  5,  and  township  74.  range  4  west ;  thence  south  to  southwest 
corner  of  section  18,  township  74,  range  4  west ;  thence  east  to  southeast  corner 
of  section  16,  township  74,  range  4  west;  thence  north  to  Iowa  river:  thence 
on  south  bank  of  said  river  to  the  section  line  dividing  sections  19  and  20,  town- 
ship y$,  range  4 ;  thence  north  to  north  bank  of  Iowa  river ;  thence  following  said 
river  bank  to  the  southwest  corner  of  said  section  7,  township  75,  range  4; 
thence  west  to  place  of  beginning. 

Wapello  township  is  bounded  by  a  line  commencing  at  the  north  side  of 
the  Iowa  river  on  section  line  dividing  sections  33  and  34,  township  75.  range  4 
and  running  south  to  the  southwest  corner  of  section  15,  township  74,  range  4 
west  :  thence  east  to  the  southeast  corner  of  section  14.  township  74.  range  4 
west  ;  thence  south  to  the  southwest  corner  of  section  12.  township  jt„  range  4; 
thence  east  to  southeast  corner  of  section  9,  township  jt,,  range  3  west :  thence 
south  to  l/2  section  line  of  section  22,  township  jt,,  range  3  west :  thence  east 
to  center  of  said  section;  thence  south  to  county  line:  thence  east  to  southeast 
corner  of  section  31,  township  -t,,  range  2  west;  thence  north  to  the  northeast 
corner  of  section  30,  township  y^,  range  2  west ;  thence  east  to  the  Iowa  river ; 
thence  north  to  the  north  bank  of  said  river ;  thence  northwest  on  bank  of  said 
river  to  the  place  of  beginning. 

Elm  Grove  township  is  bounded  by  a  line  commencing  at  the  northwest 
corner  of  section  18,  township  74,  range  5  west,  and  running  south  to  the  south- 
west corner  of  section  36,  township  74,  range  5  west ;  thence  north  to  section 
line  dividing  sections  12  and  13,  township  74.  range  5  west;  thence  west  to 
place  of  beginning. 

Marshall  township  is  bounded  by  a  line  commencing  at  the  northwest  corner 
of  section  19,  township  74,  range  4  west,  and  running  south  to  southwest  corner 
of  section  7,  township  y^,  range  4  west ;  thence  east  to  the  southeast  corner  of 
section  11.  township  y^,  range  4  west;  thence  north  to  the  northeast  corner  of 
section  23,  township  74,  range  4  west ;  thence  west  to  place  of  beginning. 

Morning  Sun  township  is  bounded  by  a  line  commencing  at  the  northwest 
corner  of  section  18,  township  y^,  range  4  west,  and  running  south  to  the  south- 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  95 

west  corner  of  section  31,  township  jt,,  range  4  west;  thence  east  to  the  half 
section  line  of  section  22,  township  73,  range  3  west;  thence  north  to  the  half 
section  line  of  section  22,  township  73,  range  3  west ;  thence  west  to  section  line 
dividing  sections  21  and  22,  township  -$.  range  3  west ;  thence  north  to  the 
northeast  corner  of  section  16,  township  73,  range  3  west;  thence  west  to  place 
of  beginning,  and  the  same  is  ordered  to  be  recorded  in  the  book  of  township 
boundaries  of  said  county. 

On  September  5,  1859,  the  boundaries  of  Wapello  and  Marshall  townships 
were  changed  by  attaching  section  36,  township  74,  range  4.  and  the  north  half, 
and  the  southwest  quarter  of  section  1,  township  -j^,  range  4,  to  Marshall  township. 

The  next  change  we  note  in  the  matter  of  township  boundaries  was  made  on 
March  9,  i860,  on  petition  of  William  Harrison  and  others  asking  that  the 
western  boundary  line  of  Eliot  township  be  extended  due  north  from  the  north- 
west corner  of  section  29,  township  7^  north,  range  2  west,  to  the  Iowa  river, 
which  was  done. 

The  next  change  was  on  July  3,  i860,  and  affected  three  townships.  It  took 
all  that  part  of  section  19,  township  74  mirth,  range  4  west,  which  was  then  in 
Marshall  township,  and  the  south  half  of  section  18  of  the  same  township  and 
range  1,  which  was  then  in  Columbus  City  township,  and  added  them  to  Elm 
Grove  township. 

The  next  change  was  on  December  29,  i860,  and  was  made  on  the  petition 
of  A.  D.  Hurley  and  others,  and  affected  Jefferson  and  Wapello  townships  by 
attaching  the  following  to  Wapello  township,  namely :  Commencing  at  the 
quarter  section  corner  of  the  north  boundary  of  section  26,  township  74  north, 
range  3  west :  thence  east  to  the  northeast  quarter  of  said  section ;  thence  down 
to  the  meander  corner  on  the  Iowa  river  and  running  between  sections  25  and 
26  and  35  and  36  in  the  same  township  and  range,  and  attaching  all  of  the  land 
lying  between  such  line  and  the  Iowa  river  to  Wapello  township. 

On  January  6,  1863,  on  petition  of  Joseph  Nichols  and  others,  the  Board 
changed  the  boundary  between  Marshall  and  Columbus  City  townships  by  add- 
ing to  Marshall  the  north  half  of  section  22,  and  the  northwest  quarter  of  sec- 
tion 2^,  in  township  74,  range  4.  June  6,  1865,  on  petition  of  Joseph  Mickey, 
the  east  half  of  section  19,  township  74,  range  4,  was  attached  to  Marshall 
township.  On  November  16,  1876,  the  boundaries  of  Elm  Grove  township  were 
fixed  as  follows:  Commencing  at  the  northwest  corner  of  section  18,  township 
74,  range  5  ;  thence  south  to  the  southwest  corner  of  section  31  ;  thence  east  to 
the  southeast  corner  of  section  36;  thence  north  to  the  northeast  corner  of  sec- 
tion 25,  all  in  township  74,  range  5 ;  thence  east  to  the  quarter  section  corner  on 
the  south  side  of  section  19;  thence  north  to  the  south  line  of  section  18;  thence 
east  to  the  southeast  corner  of  section  18;  thence  north  to  the  quarter  post  on 
the  east  side  of  said  section  18;  thence  west  to  the  west  line  of  said  section  18; 
all  in  township  74,  range  4 ;  thence  north  on  the  range  line  dividing  ranges  4 
and  5  to  the  northeast  corner  of  section  13,  township  74,  range  5  ;  thence  west 
to  the  northwest  corner  of  section  18,  township  74,  range  5,  the  place  of  beginning. 

On  January  5,  1892.  all  the  territory  lying  east  of  the  Iowa  river,  then  in 
Jefferson  township,  was  transferred  to  Eliot  township,  being  fractional  section 
31,  township  74,  range  1  and  fractional  sections  5,  6,  8,  9  and  16,  and  sections  7, 
17  and  18  all  in  township  j^,  range  1,  and  sections  12  and  13,  and  that  part  of 


96  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

sections  n  and  14  (including  Cedar  [sland)  lying  east  of  the  Iowa  river  in 
township  73,  range  2. 

It  will  readily  be  seen  that  it  would  be  quite  difficult  to  give  the  names  of 
the  early  settlers  of  the  county  by  townships,  for  the  reason  that  at  first  there 
were  no  townships,  and  there  have  been  so  many  changes  since  they  were  formed. 
A  great  many  of  the  real  early  settlers  of  the  county  will  be  found  among  the 
names  taken  from  the  Wisconsin  census  of  1836  as  given  in  Chapter  six.  The 
names  of  numerous  others  who  came  in  the  early  days  are  found  in  the  records 
of  the  earlv  courts  and  in  the  list  of  county  officials. 

Among  the  earliest  settlers  in  Wapello  township,  were :  William  Milligan, 
Wright  Williams.  Jacob  Rinearson,  Rolla  (Riley)  Driscol,  Jeremiah  Smith.  Sr., 
Tames  McDaniei.  C.  M.  McDaniel,  Thomas  England,  James  M.  Clark,  Francis 
Springer,  Thomas  Harrison,  Samuel  Jamison,  George  Jamison,  John  Allison, 
John  Drake.  William  Clark.  Robert  Williams,  Silas  Chrisman,  Isaac  Rinearson. 
G.  B.  Alexander.  John  Deihl,  James  Wilson,  Phillip  B.  Harrison,  S.  S.  Gourley, 
Thomas  L.  Rose,  Edward  H.  Thomas,  .Mark  Davison,  Merrit  Jamison.  S.  M. 
Kirkpatrick,  T.  N.  Ives,  X.  J.   [ves,  James  Brogan,  John  Brogan. 

Among  the  earliest  settlers  in  Eliot  township  were :  Allan  Eliot,  William 
II.  Creighton,  Samuel  Smith.  Phillip  Maskell,  James  Gordon,  James  Hatcher, 
Rufus  P.   Burlingame,   William   Dupont,   Richard  Staige.   Samuel   Pitt. 

Among  the  earliest  settlers  in  Morning  Sun  township  were:  Peter  Curran, 
Josiah  Yertrees,  Levi  Gregory,  Thomas  Bell,  Aaron  Chamberlin,  John  Y. 
Lewin,  Henrv  Hobbs,  Samuel  Dunham,  William  Bell,  John  Willson,  Zadok 
Jarvis,  Thomas  Gregory,  Garrett  1!.  Garrison,  john  Bell,  John  Driscol,  W.  P. 
Brown,  J.  C.  Brown.  Samuel  Bell,  H.  C.   Blake. 

Among  the  earliest  settlers  of  Marshall  township  were:  Joseph  Higbee, 
Jacob  Mintun,  James  W.  Lett,  R.  W.  <  Iwinn.  John  Marshall.  Nixon  Scott.  Dr. 
Samuel  R.  Isett.  John  Sellers.  Joshua  Marshall,  11.  M.  Ochiltree,  George  Key. 
William  Isett.  Franklin  Griswold,  Ira  Griswold.  Richard  Restine.  Richard 
Slaughter,  Ananias  Simpkins,  John  Marshall,  Elijah  Lathrop. 

Among  the  earliest  settlers  in  Columbus  City  township  were:  S.  K.  Hel- 
mick,  Henrv  Marsden.  Joseph  L.  Derbin,  G.  Barstow  Williams,  Benjamin  Stod- 
dard. Isaac  Hall,  Joel  Bronson,  Oliver  Sweet.  James  M.  Robertson,  Thomas 
Xeal.  Thomas  Stoddard,  Zebina  Williams,  James  G.  Hall,  Joseph  Hall.  Amos 
Hammond,  W.   W.   Garner,  Orleans   Spafford,  David  Dix. 

Among  the  earliest  settlers  in  Grandview  township  were:  James  Latta, 
Samuel  Latta.  Levi  Thornton,  Abram  McCleary,  Clark  Alexander,  George 
Humphreys,  Martin  Gray,  Spencer  Wilson.  William  Thompson,  John  Thompson, 
Lot  Thornton,  John  Taylor,  Robert  Childers,  Ylvin  Clark,  John  11.  Williamson, 
Alex.  Ross,  Thomas  B.  Shellabarger,  Robert  Gray,  John  Cresswell,  Andrew 
Kendall.  William  Fowler,  Sylvanus  Carey,  J.   P.  Walker. 

Among  the  earliest  settlers  in  Port  Louisa  township  were:  John  Ronalds, 
Thomas  D.  Killough,  Levi  Stephen,  Joseph  Crow,  Henry  Rockafellar,  William 
Harden,  William  F.  Dickerson,  Albert  O.  Stickney,  William  Kennedy,  James 
Erwin.  Samuel  G.  Chambers.  G.  H.  Crow,  D.  P.  Herron.  Albert  McClung.  James 
M.  Cresswell,  Elisha  Searl,  John  F.  Adams,  John  Holmes. 

Among  the  earliest  settlers  of  Jefferson  township  were:  Christopher  Shuck, 
\  alentine    Faulkner,    Isaac    Parsons,    fohn    W.    Ferguson.    James   Majors.    Riley 


/ 


VERDICT  OF  CORONERS'  JURT 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  97 

Mallory,  Elisha  Hook,  Peter  DeMott,  Peter  Keever  and  his  sons,  David  Morgan, 
William  L.  Toole,  T.  M.  Parsons,  Orrin  or  Orien  Briggs,  Asa  Mallory,  Harmon 
Mallory,  Thomas  Bras. 

Among  the  earliest  settlers  in  Concord  township  were :  James  C.  Sterlin, 
Dr.  Enoch  K.  Maxson,  Joseph  Clark,  Robert  F.  Newell,  James  Waterbury,  Mar- 
vel Wheelock,  George  Stone,  James  Bedwell,  Micajah  Reeder,  John  Knott,  Tacob 
Shellabarger,  Alexander  Finley. 

Among  the  earliest  settlers  in  Union  township  were:  John  Clark,  Patrick 
Colton,  Elisha  Shephard,  Steven  B.  Thompson,  Quince  Thompson,  David  Flack, 
John  Flack  and  Wm.  J.  R.  Flack. 

Among  the  earliest  settlers  in  Oakland  township  were:  Hugh  Callan,  or 
Calin,  Joseph  Blake,  Curtis  Knight,  fohn  Brown,  Ward  Blake,  Cyril  Carpenter, 
G.  W.  Allen. 

Among  the  earliest  settlers  in  Elm  Grove  township  were :  Joseph  Buffington, 
James  O.  Buffington,  Sylvester  Stackhouse,  Samuel  Pierce,  Philip  J.  Buffington, 
James  Riley,  Elijah  Jennings,  H.  J.  McCormick,  Silas  Lunbeck,  Barton  Jones. 

For  the  reasons  already  stated  some  of  the  foregoing  names  may  be  assigned 
by  us  to  the  wrong  township.  It  is  true  that  some  of  the  early  settlers  began 
their  pioneer  career  in  one  township,  but  lived  the  greater  part  of  their  lives  in 
another  and  became  identified  with  the  latter.  For  instance,  John  H.  Benson  is 
usually  credited  to  Grandview  township,  although  he  was  one  of  the  pioneer 
settlers  of  Jefferson ;  and  there  are  many  other  similar  cases. 

As  noted  elsewhere  in  this  work,  the  earliest  settlement  of  the  county  was 
made  in  the  southern  part  of  it,  first  probably  about  Toolesboro,  which  was  not 
within  the  Keokuk  Reserve,  and  about  the  same  time,  or  a  little  later  at  Virginia 
Grove,  which  was  also  out  of  the  Reserve,  but  neither  of  these  were  much  before 
the  first  settlements  in  Eliot,  Grandview  and  Port  Louisa  townships. 

A  great  majority  of  the  early  settlers  settled  either  in  township  73  or  in 
township  74.     By  the  early  settlers  we  mean  those  who  came  here  as  early  as 

1840,  or  ;hortly  thereafter. 

We  have  prepared  a  list  of  the  land  entries  made  by  our  early  settlers.  It 
must  not  be  understood  either,  that  the  lands  entered  as  shown  in  this  list  were 
in  every  case  the  places  of  first  settlement  of  the  men  named,  nor  that  the  dates 
of  the  entries  were  the  dates  of  their  coming  to  this  county.  There  were  no 
government  sales  of  land  in  this  county  until  November,  1838,  and  at  that  time 
only  a  part  of  the  lands  in  township  73  were  sold,  and  the  rest  of  the  lands  in 
the  county  were  not  offered  for  sale  by  the  government  until   1839,  1840,  and 

1 841.  It  must  also  be  borne  in  mind,  that  many  of  the  settlers  who  came  here 
in  1836  and  1837,  moved  from  one  place  to  another,  and  sold  or  traded  their 
claims,  and  that  there  is  no  record  to  be  found  of  these  transactions.  But  it  is 
still  probable  that  a  majority  of  the  land  entries  as  shown  in  the  following  list 
were  made  by  the  original  settlers  themselves.  By  taking  a  map  of  the  county, 
the  reader  can  easily  see  who  were  the  pioneers  in  the  different  localities. 

Much  of  the  land  in  township  73,  and  some  in  74,  was  swamp  land,  and  not 
entered  until  a  later  date.  It  is  proper  to  say  also,  that  the  lands  entered  by 
Lyne  Starling  are  not  noted,  for  the  reason  that  he  was  not  an  actual  settler. 
His  land  entries  comprise  a  great  many  acres.  It  is  possible  that  some  of  the 
names  included  in  the  list  were  not  actual  settlers. 

Vol.      1—7 


98  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

In  most  instances,  we  have  given  the  names  with  the  spelling  which  appears 
on  the  records. 

LAND  ENTRIES  IN  TOWNSHIP  73   NORTH,   RANGE  2   WEST. 

Section    3  Section  18 

George  W.  Fleming 1839  James  Wilson    1840 

James   Guest    1840  Grey  Wells 1840 

William  Fleming '840  Section  19 

Section   4  Moses   W.   Robinson 1840 

Tames  Guest 1840  Orson   V.   Craig ^40 

William  Cromley 1840  Thomas  Harrison   ^40 

'  |bhn  Deihl t8_,0 

Section  5  4U 

Harmon  Mallory 1840  Section  21 

Peter  Keever   1840  Thomas  Harrison   1840 

Thomas  Murray    1840  John  Deihl   I84o 

Section  6  Section  22 

George  Long   1840  Jonas  Ruffner   ^40 

Section  7  Section  25 

Tames  Keever 1840  Richard   Staige    1840 

Section  8  Section  26 

Israel  Trask 1839  David   McCoy    1840 

James  Keever 1840  Samuel  Pitt   1840 

John  Deihl   1840  Section  27 

Section  9  -Iohn  Pitt'  -Ir l84° 

Elias  Keever    1840  Rlchard  Staige 1840 

James  A.   Tool 1840  Section  28 

Israel  Trask 1839  Samuel  Smith   1839 

Freeman  Shaw 1840  Th<  imas  Harrison   1840 

Philip  Baker    1840  c 

r  Section  29 

Section   10  Thomas  Harrison   1840 

James  A.  Tool 1840  Jeremiah  Smith,  Sr 1839 

Thomas  Bras 1840  Samuel  Smith   1839 

Joshua  Hedges 1840  Section  30 

Elias  Keever   1839  Davjd  McCoy   _ l84Q 

Orrin  Briggs    1839 

Section  31 

Section  1 1  Reuben    Nichols    1840 

James  A.   Tool 1840  Henry   Creighton    1839 

Isaac  Z.  Shuck 1840  William  Cromley    1840 

Joshua   Hedges    1840  Thomas  Harrison   1840 

Section  14  Section  32 

Albert  Coonrod 1840  Samuel    Smith    1840 

John  H.  Benson 1840  Thomas  J.  Taylor 1840 

Jonathan  Parsons   1839  Isabell  C.  Anderson 1841 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 


99 


Section  33 

Lewis  Benedict   1840 

Thomas  Harrison   1840 

Samuel  Smith    1840 

David   McCoy    1840 

Section  34 

Samuel    Pitt    1840 

Richard  Staige 1840 

William   Cromley    1840 


Section  35 

William    H.    Creighton 1839 

James  Gordon   1839 

Section  36 

Richard  Staige 1840 

William  H.  Creighton 1840 

William  Cromley 1840 


LAND  ENTRIES  IN  TOWNSHIP  73   NORTH,  RANGE  3   WEST. 


Section  i 
Henry  Warnstaff   1840 

Section  2 

James   Warnstaff    1840 

Sterling  Seeley    1840 

Section  3 
John  H.  T.  Gaff 1840 

Sections  4,  5  and  6  were  not  entered 
until  later,  mostly  in  1851  to  1853. 

Section  7 
John    S.    David 1840 

Section  8 

John    S.    David 1840 

William   Gregory    1844 

Section  9 
Nathan  Gregory   1840 

Section  10 
Nathan  Gregory   1840 

Section  11 

James    W.    Isett 1840 

Daniel  Biggs   1841 

Sterling  Seeley    1840 

Section  12 
James   W.    Isett 1840 

Section  13 

Reuben  Wanzer    1840 

James   W.    Isett 1840 

Thadius  Stoddard 1840 

Section  14 

James   W.    Isett 1840 

Thomas  L.  Rose 1840 


James  Wilson    1840 

John  Atchison,  Jr 1840 

Section  15 

Samuel  Jamison   1840 

Thomas   Gregory    1840 

Merit  Jamison 1840 

George  Jamison 1840 

John  Davenport    1841 

Section  17 

Reuben  P.  Bolles 1840 

John   Smith    1840 

Erastus  Cowles 1840 

Benjamin   Cutburth    1840 

Abraham  Hill 1841 

Section  18 

John  Dreskill 1839 

Riley  Dreskill    1839 

John  A.  Lewin 1840 

Jesse  B.  Webber 1840 

Jesse  and  Silas  Hamilton 1843 

Section  19 

John  Smith 1840 

Josiah  Vertrees   1841 

Thompson    Brown    1842 

James  McClurkin    1844 

James    C.    Brown 1845 

H.    C.    Blake 1845 

Section  20 

Henry  Hobbs 1840 

Erastus  Cowles 1840 

Mathew  McClurkin   (Recorded  as 
McLurkin)   1840 

9986S1V 


100 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 


William  Wooley   1840 

Thomas  D.   Evans 1844 

Section  21 

Thomas    Gregory    1840 

Levi  Gregory 1 840 

Henry   Hobbs    1839 

John   Davenport    1840 

Garrett    B.    Garrison 1839 

Tobias  Brogan 1840 

James  Marshall 1840 

Mathew  McClurkin 1S40 

lames  Wooley   1840 

William  Wooley   .    1840 

Section  22 

Samuel  Jamison    1840 

1  r«  irge  Jamison 1840 

Albert  Jamison    1840 

Garret   B.    Garrison 1840 

John  Flack 1840 

Section  23 

John  Millard   1839 

David   Hurley    1840 

Benjamin  Ogle 1847 

Section  24 

Samuel  Smith 1840 

George  Newell    1842 

Robert    Newell    1843 

Stephen   Newell    1843 

Section  25 
John  Deihl   1840 

Section  26 

John    Deihl    1840 

David  Hurley 1840 

James   K.   Williams 1840 

David  D.  Webster 1842 

Section  27 

J.  Nelson   1841 

D.  H.  Fisher 1841 

James  K.  Williams 1840 


Section  28 

Mathew    McClurkin    1839 

Thomas   McClurkin    1842 

James  McClurkin   1844 

Section  30 

David  A.  Lough 1841 

Josiah    Vertrees    1840 

David  McClurkin   1845 

Cicen  >  Hamilton    1845  - 

James  McClure   1 843 

Section  3r 

James  Hamilton    1844 

James   M.   Swan 1846 

Henry  M.  Ochiltree 1848 

Section  32 

Samuel  Barr    1840 

James  Popenoe    •.  .  .  .  1840 

John  O'Laughlin  1840 

Decey  O'Laughlin 1840 

James    Marshall    1840 

Hamilton  Brown 1846 

John    D.    Welch 1845 

Section  33 

John  O'Laughlin 1839 

Samuel  Barr    1840 

John   Wilson    1840 

George   W.   C.    Miller 1842 

Section  34 

John    Flack    1840 

Mark  Davison   1840 

John  Wilson    1840 

James  Wilson    1840 

John  Brogan    1841 

Section  35 

John  Flack 1840 

Mark  Davison   1840 

Section  36 

Reuben  C.  Mason 1840 

James  W.  Isett 1840 

Robert  Newell 1842 


LAND  ENTRIES   IN   TOWNSHIP  73  NORTH,  RANGE  4  WEST. 


Section   i 

1  .ewis   Benedict   1838 

Samuel  Dunham   1838 


John  Brent 1839 

Thos.  Swan   1839 

Alex.  Hunter  .  .  . 1839 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 


101 


.1838 


Section  2 
George  Key   

Section  3 

Joshua  Marshall   id 

George  Key   1839 

Lewis  Benedict   1839 

John  Brent 1839 

Thomas  Swan   1839 

Alex.  Hunter ^39 

Section  4 

Joseph  Higbee 1839 

Peter  Curran   1839 

Joshua  Marshall   1838 

John  Bell   1838 

Christian   Clymer    1838 

James  W.  Isett 1838 

Section  5 

Stephen  S.  Phelps 1838 

Christian   Clymer    1838 

Section  6 
Stephen  S.  Phelps 1838 

Section  8 

John  Bell    1838 

Thomas  Bell 1838 

George    Hastie    1838 

Section  9 

George  Key   1 838 

Joshua  Marshall   1838 

Henry    M.   Ochiltree 1838 

Thos.  Bell 1838 

John  M.   Isett 1839 

Section   10 

Philip  B.  Harrison 1838 

George  Key 1838 

Samuel  H.  Berry 1838 

Section   1 1 

George  Key 1838 

Lewis  Benedict   1838 

James  Isett 1838 

Joseph  Newhall 1839 

Section  12 

Samuel  Dunham   1838 

Alexander  Marshall   J839 

Seth  S.  Ransom 1839 


Section  14 

Richard   W.   Gwinn 1838 

Peter  Curran 1838 

Joshua  Marshall   1838 

James  A.  Carnahan 1838 

Section  15 
Peter  Curran  entered  the  whole  sec- 
tion in  1838. 

Section  21 

James  A.  Carnahan 1838 

Joseph  Newhall 1839 

Lincoln  Goodall 1838 

Section  22 

Zadok  Jarvis   1838 

Richard   W.   Gwinn 1838 

James  A.  Carnahan 1838 

Thomas  Bell    1838 

Section  23 

James  D.  Spearman 1838 

John  Bell   1838 

Z.  Jarvis 1838 

Josiah  Vertrees   1838 

William  Pearcy 1838 

Section  24 

William  P.  Brown 1838 

George  Hastie   1838 

Christian  Clymer 1838 

Section  25 

William  P.  Brown 1838 

Robert   Russell    1838 

Peter  Curran   1838 

Section  26 

Aaron  Chamberlin    1838 

Peter  Curran   1838 

Section  2j 

John  Bell   1838 

William  Pearcy   1838 

Alexander  Marshall   1839 

Joseph   Newhall    1839 

Section  ^ 

Joshua  Marshall    1839 

Peter  Curran   1838 


102  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

Section  36  John  Yv .  Smith 1839 

Robert  Russell 1838  William  Miller 1839 

LAND  ENTRIES  IN  TOWNSHIP  "4  NORTH,  RANGE  2   WEST. 

Section  18  Elisha  Searl 1840 

David  P.  Herron 1840  Henry   Doling    1840 

William  Harden    1S40 

Section  iq  Section  31 

Ephriam  Morrison 1840  Geor^e  L°n&   l8*° 

n,.<      c      ,  ,o.„  Tonathan  E.  Fletcher 1840 

Elisha  Searl   1840  -'  ^ 

Section  20  Section  32 

Elisha  Searl 1840  William  Harden 1840 

Section  29 
Elisha  Searl 1840  Section  33 

Section  30  William  Harden 1840 

Seth  Richards   1840  James  Guest 1839 

LAND  ENTRIES  IN   TOWNSHIP  J4   NORTH,   RANGE  3    WEST. 

Section   i  Section  7 

Henry  Rockafellar  1840  Joel  Bronson   1840 

James   Erwin,   Jr 1840  Jas.   F.lanchard    1840 

James  M.  Cresswell 1840  Secf'on  8 

Section  2  James  Latta 1 840 

John  Cresswell    1839  William  Kurts 1840 

John  Ronald    1840  Section  9 

Alexander  Williamson   1840  William  Thompson 1840 

Tohn  Erwin    1840  ~      . 

Section  10 

Section  3  John  F.  Adams 1840 

Caleb  J.  Vredenburg 1840  Thos.  D.  Killough 1840 

Zachariah  Salmon 1840  John  Holmes   1840' 

Section  4  Section  11 

William   Thompson    1840  Alexander  Williamson   1840 

William   Shoemaker   1840  John  Ronalds 1840 

Charles   W.   Mullen 1 840  Joel   C.    Parsons 1844 

c     ,.  Tohn  Holmes   1840 

Section  5 

William  Shoemaker   1840  Section  12 

William  Kurts 1840  James   Guest    1840 

James  Latta 1840  John  Ronalds 1840 

Benjamin  Phillips   1839  Richard  Stevens    1840 

Section  6  Section   13 

James  Reeder    !83<)  Levi  Stevens    1840 

James  Latta 1S40  William  F.  Dickerson 1840 

Zachariah  Kurts    1S40  Samuel  G.  Chambers 1840 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 


103 


Joseph  Mullen 1840 

Section  14 

Levi  Stevens    1840 

William  F.  Dickerson 1840 

Section  15 

Alexander  Williamson   1840 

Jonathan  E.  Fletcher 1840 

Section  17 

James    Latta    1840 

John  Bayne   1840 

Section  18 
Joseph  Story   1847 

Section  19 
Orren  Stoddard 1840 

Section  20 
Jesse  Evans   1840 

Section  21 

Thomas  England 1840 

Susanna  Bevins 1840 

Section  23 

William  Kennedy   1840 

Isaac  Smith    1840 

Section  25 
Joseph  Stoner   1840 


John    H.   Williamson 1840 

Isaac  Smith   1840 

Section  26 

William  M.  Clark 1840 

James  W.  Isett 1840 

David  M.   Harrison 1840 

Jonathan  E.  Fletcher 1839 

Section  27 
(Wapello)    William   Milligan   and 
Thomas   England    1840 

Section  28 

James  W.  Isett 1840 

William  Milligan 1840 

Jonathan   C.    Drake 1845 

James  Drake   ^46 

Section  34 

William  H.  R.  Thomas 1840 

William   M.   Clark 1840 

David  M.  Kilbourne 1840 

Joseph  Stoner  1840 

"Jonathan   E.    Fletcher 1840 


Section  36 
Henry  Warnstaft" 


1839 


LAND  ENTRIES  IN  TOWNSHIP  74  NORTH,  RANGE  4  WEST. 


Section   i 

James  Reeder 1 840 

William  Day   1840 

Section  2 

W.  H.  R.  Thomas 1840 

Jonathan  E.  Fletcher 1840 

Darius   Bouton    1853 

Section   3 

Jacob  Triggs    1840 

William  Murdock 1840 

Thos.  Stoddard   1840 

Samuel  Morrison    1840 

Samuel  Woodside 1840 

John  McCoy    1840 

Oliver  P.  Fulton 1840 

Wm.  Bowman 1843 


Section  4 

Henry  Thompson 1840 

William  Latta   1839 

Benjamin  Stoddard 1840 

Wesley   W.    Garner 1840 

Section   5 

Henry  Thompson   1840 

Bruce  Johnson    1840 

Jacob  Triggs    1840 

David  Mortimer   1840 

Samuel  Morrison    1840 

Section  6 

Zebina  Williams    1840 

David  Mortimer   1840 

Jas.  G.  Hall 1840 

Morris  Hughes   1840 


104 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 


Arthur  Miller    1847 

Francis  Miller 1840 

Joseph  T.  Hall 1840 

Section  7 

David  Mortimer   1840 

Daniel   R.   Paschal 1852 

James  G.  Hall 1845 

Section  8 

John   McCoy    1840 

Michael  McCoy 1840 

David   Glenn    1840 

George    Shaw    1842 

Section  9 

Thomas  Stoddard 1840 

Oliver   P.    Fulton 1840 

John   McCoy    1840 

Evan  H.   Skillman T844 

James  H.  Spafford 1849 

Section  10 

Joseph  Gable  1842 

Wm.  Bowman   1843 

Amos  Hammond 184^ 

Samuel    Woodside    1842 

Section  1 1 

James  Manly   1844 

Thomas  Stoddard   1840 

Robert  Williams 1840 

Kennedy   Storey    1844 

Joshua   Rouse    184  ^ 

Section  12 

Abraham    Yan    Gilder 1840 

Dennis  Williams   1840 

Alfred   Koons    1840 

Thomas  Bayne 1849 

Section  13 

Robert  Williams   1840 

Wm.    Story    ^44 

Kennedy  Story   1844 

Joseph  S.  Burnam 1840 

Section  14 

Robert  Williams  1840 

Jonathan  S.  Rook 1840 

Francis  Ludlow 1845 


Section  15 

Lydia  Jones   1841 

Albert  Jones    1842 

Parkus  Woodruff 1851 

Pelech  C.   Brown 1849 

Jacob  Getts i8=;i 

Section  17 
William    Rogers    1840 

Section  18 

David   Glenn    1840 

Solomon  W.  Ingham 1840 

Section  19 

Richard   Slaughter    1840 

Joseph  Buffington   1849 

H.  B.  Kirkpatrick 1852 

Section  20 

John    Sellers    1840 

John    Marshall    1840 

Section  21 

Henry  Griswold    1840 

Samuel   R.   Isett 1840 

William   C.    Rankin 1840 

Section  22 

Ananias  Simpkins 1841 

John  Drake    1840 

Eliza  Ann  Bunnell 1840 

Oliver    Ball    ^50 

Parkus  Woodruff   18S2 

Robert    Gregory    1844 

Section  2^ 

Edward    Mincher    1840 

Thomas  Stoddard   1839 

Oliver  Ball 1850 

Abraham  Hill    ^51 

Section  24 

Thomas  Stoddard   1839 

Abraham   Hill    18^1 

George  Rouse    1843 

Section  25 

Sylvanus   Dunham    1854 

John  H.  Bragg ^46 

Nehemiah  Blake   1852 

Ambrose  W.  Key 18^4 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 


u>r> 


Section  26 

Joseph  B.   Nichols 1851 

Xehemiah  Blake   1851 

Section  27 

John  Drake    1840 

Richard  Restine    1840 

Jesse  Van  Horn   1848 

Barrett  Restine   1845 

Alexander   S.   Buck 1846 

Section  28 

Henry  Griswold    1840 

James   R.    Isett 1839 

James  W.  Isett 1840 

Samuel  R.   Isett 1839 

Section  29 

John  Marshall   1840 

William  Rogers 1840 

Section  30 

John    Sellers    1840 

William  Rogers 1840 


Section  31 

Xelson   R.    Steele 1848 

Miles   White    1849 

Section  33 

Joseph  Higbee 1840 

Richard  D.  Harrison 1S40 

Section  34 

George    Key    1840 

Anannias   Simpkins    1842 

John  Baldrige,  Sr .l$47 

Section  35 

Eliza   Bunnell    1840 

George   Key    1840 

A.  J.  Campbell 1840 

Oliver  Benton   1848 

Section  36 

Solomon  Avery 1840 

George  Key   1840 


LAND  ENTRIES  IN  TOWNSHIP  74   NORTH,   RANGE  5   WEST. 


Section   i 

James  G.  and  Isaac  G.  Hall 1840 

Thomas  Neal 1840 

Augustus  Welch   1841 

Section  2 

Adam  Reister    1840 

Wm.  and  Ebenezer  Stronach 1840 

Wm.  and  Henry  Marsden 1840 

Jarrett    Garner    1842 

Henry   A.   Cleaver 1846 

Henry  R.   Moore 185 1 

Section  3 

James  Gray   1840 

Wm.  and  Henry  Marsden 1840 

David    Mortimore    1840 

Hezekiah  S.  Denham 1848 

Section  4 

John  Rees 1853 

Jonathan  A.  Yenglin 1851 

Section  5 

John  Morgan 1850 

Adam  Hood 1845 


Reuben  McGannon 1845 

David  Knowles   1851 

Section  6 

Samuel  Buell   1840 

Obadiah  Walker   1852 

Section  7 

Zebina  Williams   1853 

Sam'l  A.   Frederick 185 1 

Section  8 

William   W.    White 1851 

Benjamin  Furlong 1851 

Edwin  Dorsey   1851 

Section  9 

Henry  Hawkins    185 1 

Samuel  K.  Helmick 1851 

Section  10 
Wm.    and    Henry    Marsden 1840 

Section  11 

Zebina  Williams   1840 

Wm.  and  Ebenezer  Stronach 1840 


106  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

Section   [3  Section  23 

Joseph  L.  Derbin 1840      Joseph  Buffington   1840 

James  O.    Buffington 1840      Orren   Stoddard    1840 

Isabel]  McCrabb  1839      A.   J.    Kirkpatrick 1847 

Isaac   G.    1  fall 1 83"  1  Section  24 

Joseph  I  tuffington   1840      joseph  L    Derbin 1840 

Section   14  Isabell  McCrabb  1839 

Stephen  May   1 845      Joseph    Buffington    1840 

Wm.   and   Ebenezer   Stronach.  .  .  .  1840      James  McKay   1844 

Orren    Stoddard    1840      Sylvester    Stackhouse    1845 

Philip  J.  Buffington    1840  Section   31 

Section  -15  Neal  Parrish    1840 

Wm.  and  Henry  Marsden 1840      Samuel    Pierce    1840 

LAND   ENTRIES   IN    TOWNSHIP  J$    NORTH,   RANGE  3   WEST. 

Sec.   1.     Levi  Thornton.  1839. 

Sec.  2.  Lot  Thornton,  1839.  Marcus  Stamp,  1839.  Levi  Thornton,  1839. 
William  J.  Wilson,  1840. 

Sec.  3.  Jonathan  E.  Fletcher,  1839.  Philip  Wagner,  1843.  Marcus  W. 
Stamp.  1839. 

Sec.  4.  John  McGrew,  1839.  Alexis  Phelps,  1839.  Jesse  B.  Lutz,  1839. 
Marcus  Stamp,  1839. 

Sec.     8.     Joel  Hiatt,   1840.     James  C.  Scott,  1839. 

Sec.  9.  Amos  Willets,  1839.  Jesse  B.  Lutz,  1839.  Luther  McVay,  1845. 
Alvin  Barnett,  1839.    James  M.  Yandevort,  1847. 

Sec.  10.  Landcn  Taylor,  1845.  Alvin  Barnett.  1839.  Amos  Willets,  1839. 
Nicholas  Lieberknecht,  1853. 

Sec.  11.  Levi  Thornton.  1839.  Jesse  B.  Lutz,  1831J.  A.  R.  Alexander,  1843. 
Geo.  Anderson.  1842. 

Sec.   14.     Spencer  Wilson,  1839. 

Sec.  15.     John  Taylor,  1839.    John  S.  Biggs,  1839. 

Sec.   17.     Sylvanus  Carey,   1839.     Clark  Alexander,   1839. 

Sec.  t8.  Margaret  Anthony.  1839.  Thomas  B.  Shellabarger,  1839.  Sam 
(Sem)   Newell.  1839.     Erastus  Clark,  1839. 

Sec.   19.     Jacob  Shellabarger,   1839.  John   P.  Morris,   1839. 

Sec.  20.     Tohn   Kendall,    1839.      Andrew    Kendall,    1839.      John    P.    Morris, 

1839. 

Sec.  21.  George  Humphrey,  1839.  Sylvanus  Carey,  1839.  Alexander  Ross, 
1830.     Robert  Humphrey,  1839.     Joseph  W.  Dodder,  1842.    John  Kritzer,  1842. 

Sec.  22.     Martin   Gray,    1839.     Spencer   Wilson,    1839.     John   Jewett,    1839. 

Sec.  23.  Martin  Gray,  1839.  John  Jewett,  1839.  Marcus  W.  Stamp.  1839. 
Joseph  W.  Dodder,  1842. 

Sec.  24.  Abram  McCleary,  1839.  Stephen  Bell,  1831;.  Andrew  Kendall. 
1841.     (Wm.  Beard.  1843  ). 

Sec.  25.     John  C.  McCleary,  1839.     Joel  Hiatt,  1839. 

Sec.  26.  George  C.  Stetts,  1830.  William  Fowler,  1839.  John  Kreuter, 
1 841. 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  107 

Sec.  27.     Joel  Iliatt,  1839.     Frederick  F.  Mark  and  Jas.  Satcliill,   1839. 

Sec.  28.  Spencer  Wilson.  1839.  David  P.  Wilcox,  1839.  Nathaniel  F. 
Cisco,  1839.     John  C.  McCleary,  1839. 

Sec.  29.  James  Latta,  1839.  Samuel  Latta,  1839.  William  Thompson,  1839. 
John  Thompson,  1839. 

Sec.  30.     Martin  Gray,  1839.    Robert  Gray,  1839.    William  Thompson,  1839. 

Sec.  31.     Thomas  Wainright,  1839.    William  Reeder,  1839.     Micajah  Reeder, 

1839.  William  Thompson,  1839. 

Sec.  32.     John  Thompson,   1839.     William  Thompson,   1839. 

Sec.  33.  Abram  McCleary,  1839.  Andrew  J.  Stark,  1839.  William  Thomp- 
son, Jr.,  1839.     John  C.  McCleary,  1839. 

Sec.  34.  John  C.  McCleary,  1839.  Nathaniel  F.  Cisco,  1839.  Andrew  Ken- 
dall, 1841. 

Sec.  35.     John  Creswell,   1839.     Frederick  F.  Mark  and  Jas.  Satchell,   1839. 

Sec.  36.  George  Hunt,  1839.  John  Creswell,  1839.  George  and  Robert 
Humphrey,  1839. 

LAND  ENTRIES  IN  TOWNSHIP  75   NORTH,   RANGE  4  WEST. 

Sec.     i.     John   Storm,    1853.     Harrison   Foster,    1851.     Charles   R.   Hadley, 

1851- 

Sec.     2.     Adam  Litrel,  185 1.     Alexander  Collins,  1853. 

Sec.     3.     David  Riggs,  1853.     John  Idle,  1854. 

Sec.     4.     Geo.  W.  Gipple,   1854.     Reeve  Edgington,   1842.     James  Bedwell, 

1840.  Samuel   Bedwell,   1846. 
Sec.     5.     James  Bedwell,   1840. 

Sec.     8.     James   Bedwell,    1840.     John   Knott,    1840. 

Sec.  10.  Thomas  Dowson,  1853.  Peter  D.  Frazier,  1853.  Elizabeth  Newell, 
1853.     Stephen  Eldredge,   1853.     Geo.   Townsley,   1852. 

Sec.  11.  Harrison  Foster,  185 1.  John  Knott,  1840.  Elizabeth  Townsley. 
1852. 

Sec.  12.  William  Beard,  1840.  Adrana  Beard,  1840.  Thompson  Tilford, 
1840. 

Sec.  13.  James  Newell,  1839.  Jacob  Shellabarger,  1840.  Margaret  Wil- 
liamson, 1842. 

Sec.  14.     Alexander  Finley,  1840.     Napoleon  B.'and  Alfred  Lenox,  1840. 

Sec.  15.     N.  M.  Letts,  1854.    John  Idle,  1854. 

Sec.  17.  Joseph  and  Peter  Blake,  1840.  Truman  G.  Clark,  1840.  Samuel 
Lucky,   1844. 

Sec.   18.     William  Blake,   1840.     Joseph  and  Peter  Blake,   1840. 

Sec.   19.     Levi  Rice,  1840. 

Sec.  20.  Alvin  Clark,  1840.  Edmund  C.  Whipple,  1844.  Daniel  Winchell, 
1840. 

Sec.  21.  Daniel  Winchell,  1840.  George  Shaw,  1851.  Chandler  W.  Ells- 
worth,  1853.     Elias  Marshall,   1854. 

Sec.  22.     Thomas  Newell,   1841.     William  Todd,   1840,  John  Roddan,  1840. 

Sec.  23.  Thomas  Newell,  1841.  William  Paullins,  1841.  Christopher 
Spurgeon,   1846. 

Sec.  24.  Jacob  Shellabarger,  1840.  Thomas  B.  Shellabarger,  1840.  Asa 
Worthan,  1839. 


108  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

Sec.  25.  James  Latta,    1840.     John  Roddan,   1840. 

Sec.  26.  John  Creswell,  1840.  John  B.  Creswell,  1839.  John  F.  Adams, 
1840. 

Sec.  2j.  John  Rodan,  1840. 

Sec.  28.  Horace  Pease,  1851.     Samuel  E.  Whipple.  1850. 

Sec.  29.  Barstow  Williams,   1840.     Robert  Williams,  1840. 

Sec.  30.  Levi    Rice,    1840.      David   Mortimer,    1840.      Isaac   Knox,    1840. 

Sec.  31.  Robert  Wilson,    1840.     Jacob   Martin,    1839.     Levi  Rice,    1840. 

Sec.  32.  Lathrop  Francis,  1840.  Samuel  Morrison,  1840.  Barstow  Wil- 
liams,  1840.  Robert  Wilson,   1840. 

Sec.  33.  Jacob  Triggs,  1840.  Benjamin  Stoddard,  1840.  Zebinah  Williams, 
1840.    James  Vanorsdol,  1840. 

Sec.  35.  Jeremiah  Browning,  1848. 

Sec.  36.  William  Reeder,  1839.  Thomas  Wainright,  1841.  James  H. 
Tucker,  1840.    Micajah  Reeder.  1840.    James  Reeder,  1840. 

LAND   ENTRIES    IN    TOWNSHIP    75    NORTH,    RANCH    5    WEST. 

Sec.     1.     John  Brown,  1843. 

Sec.     2.     William  McGrew,   1840.     John   Flack,   1841.     Wilson  Giffm,   1852. 

Sec.  3.  Josah  J.  Orr.  1851.  James  A.  Duncan,  1851.  M.  W.  Edmondson, 
1851. 

Sec.     4.     James  McAllister,  1840. 

Sec.     5.     John  Hetfield,   1854.     Hamilton  Johnston,   1852. 

Sec.     8.     Edwin  Woodring,  1853. 

Sec.     9.     Alexander  Story,  1854. 

Sec.  11.  John  Q.  and  Stephen  B.  Thompson.  1842.  Elisha  Shepherd,  1840 
John  Flack,  1840. 

Sec.  13.  David  Flack,  1840.  Benjamin  Tripp,  1840.  Wm.  J.  R.  Flack,  1840. 
Alexander  Story.  1853. 

Sec.  14.  Augustus  Welch,  1841.  Michael  Ayres,  1842.  James  K.  Duncan, 
1846.    William  T.  Blair,  1852.    James  Tedford,  1853. 

Sec.   15.    George  B.  Duncan,  1846.    Dehart  Reed.  1846.    William  Lewis,  1843. 

Sec.   18.     James  P.  Bailey,  1852. 

Sec.  21.     George  Darrow,  1853. 

Sec.  22.     Abraham  Marion,  1854.     John  Orr,  1854.     W.  G.  Allen,   1854. 

Sec.  23.     George  Snook,   1840.     Josiah  Lucky,   1841. 

Sec.  24.  Samuel  Knauss,  1840.  John  Read,  1840.  Jacob  Wren,  1840.  Wil- 
liam Winters,  1840.     Henry  Snook,  1840. 

Sec.  25.     Zadok  Calhoun,    1840.     Isaac  Dewein,    1840. 

Sec.  26.     Jacob  Wren,   1840.     Zadok  Calhoun,   1840.     James  Knauss,   1840. 

Sec.  27.  George  Snook,  1840.  Francis  A.  Duncan,  1852.  Isaac  Knox,  1841. 
John  Marion,  1846. 

Sec.  30.     Nathaniel  Prime,  1840.  John  Hendel,  1840. 

Sec.  31.     Samuel  Buell,  1840.     Jerusha  Buell,  1840.     David  Patterson,  1840. 

Sec.  32.     Elias   Buell,    1840.     David   Tudor,    1842.     Thomas  Rees,    1842. 

Sec.  33.  Evan  Thomas,  1842.  William  Lewis  1842.  William  Jones,  1851. 
F.  A.  Duncan,  1853. 

Sec.  34.  Francis  A.  Duncan,  1847.  Andrew  Duncan,  1847.  John  Wilson, 
1842.    Joseph  Gable,  1842. 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 


109 


Sec.  35.  Silas  Henkle,  1840.  James  Caret,  1841.  James  M.  Quimby,  1X45. 
John  Cleaves,  1845.     Adam  Reister,  1840. 

Sec.  36.  David  Dix.  1839.  Zadok  Calhoun,  1840.  James  M.  Robertson, 
1841.     Edward  F.  Wilson,  1841.     James  G.  Hall,  1840. 

LAND  ENTRIES  IN  TOWNSHIP  j6,  RANGE  5. 

John  Clark,   1841.     Josiah  B.   Hollingsworth,   1841.  ■ 

John  Clark,  1841. 

Adam  Crim,   1851.     Samuel  Knauss,   1846. 

Ward  Blake,  1841.     Garret  Allumbaugh,   1851.     Shakespeare   Mc- 

William   Nelson.    1848.   Joseph    Blake.    1840. 

John  Dyer,  1840. 

Patrick  Colton,  1842. 

Andrew   Gamble,    1844. 

William  Colton,   1844. 

John  Hanna  Armstrong,  1840.     James  B.  McAllister,  1840. 

John   Brown,   1846.     Wm.   Ireland,    1841.     Ward   Blake,    1841. 


Sec. 

6. 

Sec. 

7- 

Sec. 

17- 

Sec. 

25- 

Cee,  1849. 

Sec. 

26. 

Sec. 

27. 

Sec. 

28. 

Sec. 

30- 

Sec. 

33- 

Sec. 

34- 

Sec. 

36. 

CHAPTER  IX. 
POLITICS  AND  ELECTIONS. 

EARLY  ELECTIONS — VOTE  ON  NEW  CONSTITUTION THE  SOLDIERS'  TICKET — PRIMARY 

ELECTION    ADOPTED — FIRST    WHIG    CONVENTION    IN     IOWA REPUBLICAN     PARTY 

ORGANIZED. 

We  know  that  there  were  elections  held  in  the  county  in  March  or  April, 
1837,  and  also  on  the  6th  of  May,  1837.  At  this  latter  election  Isaac  Parsons 
was  elected  coroner.  This  fact  is  recited  in  his  official  bond ;  but  we  have  been 
unable  to  find  any  returns  of  elections  held  in  the  county  prior  to  the  one  held 
on  March  5,  1838,  and  all  we  have  found  relating  to  that  election  consists  of 
(1)  election  returns  from  Wapello,  (2)  election  returns  from  Iowatown,  and 
(3)  canvass  of  election.  The  return  from  Wapello  is  as  follows:  "Poal  book 
of  an  election  held  at  Wapello,  W.  T.,  on  the  first  Monday  in  March,  Eighteen 
Hundred  and  Thirty-eight,  for  the  perpose  of  the  election  of  county  and  town 
officers."  Then  follow  the  names  of  electors,  numbering  74,  then  the  tally 
list  showing  the  various  candidates  voted  for  and  the  number  of  votes 
for  each  one.  This  tally  list  shows  that  the  vote  for  county  commissioners  was 
as  follows:  William  Milligan,  40;  John  Ronalds,  18;  William  L.  Toole,  55; 
George  Humphrey,  8 ;  Philip  B.  Harrison,  35 ;  Charles  D.  Gillem,  35 ;  Alvin 
Clark,  5.  For  assessor  the  vote  was:  William  H.  R.  Thomas,  34;  John  Bevins, 
35.  There  were  a  number  of  candidates  voted  for  for  constable.  Those  re- 
ceiving the  highest  votes  were:  C.  M.  McDaniel,  34;  A.  J.  Bevins,  46;  William 
W.  Adams,  53:  David  Herron,  24;  and  Samuel  Scott,  20. 

The  judges  of  this  election  were  S.  S.  Gourley,  Josiah  Lewis  and  V.  P. 
Bunnell.  The  clerks  were  J.  S.  Rinearson  and  W.  H.  Sheldon.  Among  the 
list  of  names  as  voting  in  Wapello  were  the  following:  William  H.  R.  Thomas, 
James  M.  Clark,  Daniel  Brewer,  Tacob  Martin,  Jeremiah  Smith,  Aaron  Springer, 
Peter  Wigant,  Silas  Crisman,  C.  A.  Ballard,  Mahlon  Wright,  John  O'Laughlin, 
William  Fleming,  James  Ervvin,  Peter  Blake,  Robert  Lee,  Henry  Thompson. 

The  returns  from  Iowatown  are  all  on  one  sheet  of  paper.  The  names 
of  the  voters  are  given  first,  then  the  tally  list  and  then  the  certificate,  which 
is  as  follows :  "At  an  election  at  the  house  of  William  Dupont,  of  Iowatown, 
Louisa  county,  and  Territory  of  Wisconsin,  on  the  5th  day  of  March,  1838, 
the  above  named  persons  Rec'd.  the  number  of  votes  annext  to  their  respective 
names  for  the  above  named  offices.  Certified  by  us,  John  Deihl,  Christopher 
Shuck,  William  Dupont,  judges  of  election ;  Samuel  Smith  and  William  Guthrie, 
clerks  of  election." 

The  vote  on  commissioners  at  Iowatown  was :  P.  B.  Harrison,  28 ;  W.  L. 
Tool,  20;  WT.  Milligan,  11  ;  C.  D.  Gillem,  7;  George  Umphrey.  7;  J.  Reynolds,  1. 

Ill 


112  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

There  were  nine  persons  voted  for  for  constable,  the  four  highest  being: 
W.  Shuek.  19;  C.  M.  McDaniel,  21  ;  Samuel  Scott,  17;  M.  P.  Mitchell,  10. 

The  vote  on  assessor  was:  J.  Bevins.  13  ;  Thomas,  16. 

For  treasurer:  Christopher  Shuck,  17;  Z.  Inghram,  1. 

For  coroner:  I.  Parsons  had  1. 

The  names  of  thirty  voters  are  given.  Among  them  are  the  following:  James 
Gordon,  Samuel  Pitt,  James  Larew,  Jonathan  Welch,  John  J.  Kern,  John  Pitt, 
Sr.,  David  Russell,  Jefferson  Frizel.  James  Wilson,  David  Linn,  R.  P.  Burlin- 
game. 

The  canvass  of  the  election  was  made  by  William  Miliigan  and  Isaac  H. 
Rinearson,  justices  of  the  peace,  on  March  10,  1838,  and  it  is  apparent  from 
the  number  of  votes  which  they  found  cast  for  the  different  candidates  that  vot- 
ing was  done  at  one  or  two  more  places  beside  Wapello  and  Iowatown.  Black 
Hawk  was  probably  one  of  these  voting  places.     The  canvass  shows  as  follows : 

For  county  commissioners:  William  Miliigan,  89;  John  Ronalds,  48;  Wil- 
liam L.  Toole.  112:  George  Humphrey,  41;  Philip  B.  Harrison,  80:  Charles  D. 
Gillem,  43;  Alvin  Clark,  63;  William  Fowler,  1. 

For  assessor:  William  H.  R.  Thomas,  96;  John  Bevins,  70. 

The  list  of  persons  voted  for  for  constables  contains  13  names.  We  give 
a  few  of  the  highest :  C.  M.  McDaniel,  71 ;  Samuel  Scott,  63 ;  W.  W.  Adams, 
68;  David  P.  Herron,  14;  William  L.  Warren,  56;  M.  P.  Mitchell,  50:  A.  I. 
Bevins,  47. 

There  was  also  an  election  held  on  September  10,  1838.  The  only  papers 
we  find  relating  to  it  among  the  county  archives  are  the  returns  from  Black 
Hawk.  Fredonia  and  Wapello.  The  election  at  Wapello  was  held  at  the  house 
of  S.  S.  Gourley  in  the  town  of  Upper  Wapello. 

W.  W.  Chapman  had  48  votes  for  delegate  to  congress;  David  Rorer  had  31 ; 
B.  F.  Wallace  had  19;  and  Peter  Hill  Engle  had  2. 

For  the  Council,  James  M.  Clark  had  91  votes,  and  Eli  Reynolds,  7. 

For  representative  William  L.  Toole  had  68;  John  Ronalds  had  61;  Levi 
Thornton,  39;  Hiram  Smith,  66;  S.  C.  Hastings,  16;  Samuel  Woodsides,  28. 

There  were  101  votes  polled  at  this  election  in  Wapello.  Among  them  we 
note  John  Drake,  the  two  Gregorys,  Nathan  and  Levi,  Zebina  Williams,  Samuel 
Chany,  Thomas  Bane.  T.  L.  Rose,  William  M.  Clark,  Richard  W.  Gwinn,  Philip 
J.  Buffington. 

We  also  find  on  this  list  the  names  of  Ely  Ronalds  and  John  Friason,  in- 
tended for  two  Muscatine  county  citizens,  Eli  Reynolds  and  John  Frierson. 
They  were  down  here,  no  doubt,  electioneering  for  John  Frierson  for  representa- 
tive, and  under  the  law  as  it  existed  at  that  time,  they  had  a  right  to  vote  for 
members  of  the  council  and  house  of  representatives  anywhere  in  the  district. 
At  that  time  Louisa,  Muscatine  and  Slaughter  (Washington)  counties  were  in  the 
same  district. 

The  return  from  Black  Hawk  shows  that  the  election  was  held  at  the  house 
of  E.  Hook  in  the  town  of  Black  Hawk.  Chapman  had  25  votes;  Rorer,  18; 
Wallace,  1. 

For  member  of  the  council,  James  M.  Clark  had  44  votes,  being  the  whole 
number  of  votes  cast. 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 


113 


For  representative,  William  L.  Toole  had  41  votes  and  the  other  leading 
candidates  at  this  precinct  were  Levi  Thornton,  Silas  S.  Lathrop,  Samuel  Wood- 
side  and  John  Ronalds. 

Notwithstanding  the  fact  that  the  sheriff  at  that  time  was  to  be  appointed 
by  the  governor,  the  people  of  Black  Hawk  expressed  their  preference  by  31  for- 
McDaniel  to  8  for  Thomas. 

Among  those  voting  at  Black  Hawk  that  day  were  the  following:  Valentine 
Faulkner.  John  H.  Benson,  the  two  Mallorys,  Riley  and  Harmon,  Albert  Cadwell, 
Isaac  D.  Nevill,  James  Guest,  Ward  Noyes,  William  Fleming,  Orrin  Briggs, 
Elias  Keever,  Israel  Trask  and  Maxamilian  Eastwood. 

The  election  at  Fredonia  at  this  time  was  held  at  the  house  of  Truman  G. 
Clark  and  there  were  26  votes  cast.  Among  the  names  of  the  voters  we  find 
Robert  W.  Gray.  James  Bedwell,  Francis  W.  Newel,  William  Todd,  Marvel 
Wheelock  and  Alexander  E.  Black.  Chapman  got  all  but  one  of  the  votes  for 
delegate  to  congress. 

The  first  election  held  in  1839  was  on  the  4th  of  March,  and  we  have  the 
canvass  made  of  the  returns  for  that  election  and  copy  it  entire : 

"A  canvass  of  the  returns  of  an  election  held  on  the  4th  of  March,  1839,  for 
electing  a  seat  of  justice  and  three  county  commissioners  for  Louisa  county,  Iowa 
Territory,  done  before  William  Milligan  and  Hiram  Smith,  two  acting  justices 
of  the  peace  for  said  county  and  in  pursuance  of  the  laws  of  the  territory,  in  such 
case  made  and  provided. 


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Iowa  Territory,  Louisa  County. 

I  hereby  certify  that  on  this  14th  day  of  March,  1839,  I  having  received  the 
election  returns  from  all  the  election  precincts,  where  elections  were  held  at  the 
above  election  precincts  did  open  canvass  and  examine  the  same  in  the  presence 
of  the  above  named  justices  at  the  office  of  Thomas  &  Springer,  Esqs.  and  find 
that  William    Milligan,    Wright    Williams    and    Israel   Clark   have    received   the 

Vol.      1—8 


114  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

highest  number  of  votes.     They  are  therefore  hereby  declared  duly  elected  com- 
missioners for  said  county. 

"John  Gilliland, 
"Clk.  to  Board  of  Comrs." 

"Guinns"  was  at  Virginia  Grove;  "Hall's"  was  probably  James  G.  Halls,  then 
on  Long  Creek;  and  Calins  was  Hugh  Calins,  or  Callans,  which  was  on  the  east 
side  of  the  Iowa  river  in  the  north  part  of  section  i,  township  75  north,  range  5. 

It  will  be  noted  that  this  canvass  states  that  it  is  of  the  returns  of  the  elec- 
tion for  locating  a  seat  of  justice  and  also  county  commissioners  but  as  ex- 
plained in  a  previous  chapter  the  law  authorizing  an  election  for  a  seat  of 
justice  provided  that  the  sheriff  should  canvass  that  vote,  and  this  is  doubtless 
why  the  canvass  of  the  vote  on  that  question  was  not  set  out  with  the  other. 

There  was  also  an  election  held  on  the  5th  of  August,  1839.  The  canvass 
of  the  returns  for  this  election  only  shows  votes  cast  in  six  precincts,  viz: 
Wapello,  Florence,  Black  Hawk,  Harrison,  Grandview  and  Fredonia,  and  it 
also  shows  the  vote  cast  in  Washington  county  for  representative,  there  being 
two  to  elect.  Louisa  county  gave  Jacob  Mintun  123  votes,  and  Daniel  Brewer 
1 1 2  votes,  and  these  were  the  successful  candidates. 

The  other  leading  candidates  in  this  county  were  Levi  Thornton,  98  votes ; 
William  L.  Toole,  92  votes ;  John  Ronalds,  80  votes ;  William  H.  R.  Thomas, 
69  votes. 

None  of  the  Louisa  county  candidates  received  very  many  votes  in  Wash- 
ington county,  the  bulk  of  that  vote  being  cast  for  Thomas  Baker,  who  had  72, 
and  Horace  Carley,  who  had  58. 

The  following  items  of  interest  we  take  from  an  examination  of  the  elec- 
tion returns  for  1840.     In  Wapello  precinct  there  were  114  votes  polled. 

For  delegate  to  congress,  A.  C.  Dodge  had  68  votes ;  and  Alfred  Rich,  46. 

For  member  of  the  council,  Daniel  Brewer  had  59  votes;  and  Francis 
Springer,  54. 

For  representative,  John  Ronalds  had  59  votes,  and  William  L.  Toole,  52. 

For  sheriff,  C.  M.  McDaniel  had  62  votes,  and  William  H.  R.  Thomas,  49. 

For  treasurer,  George  F.  Thomas  had  74;  Asa  Mallory,  15;  and  Cicero  M. 
Ives.  10. 

At  this  election  two  questions  were  submitted.  One  was  for  holding  a  con- 
stitutional convention  and  the  other  was  on  the  question  of  township  organ- 
ization. Wapello  cast  33  votes  for  a  convention,  and  40  against ;  and  52  votes 
for   township  organization,   and   9  against. 

An  election  was  held  in  Virginia  Grove  that  year  according  to  the  returns, 
at  the  house  of  R.  W.  Gwinn.  This  is  the  election  of  October  5th  and  there 
were  27  votes  cast. 

Among  the  voters  names  we  find  those  of  Thomas  and  Samuel  Bell,  Bayard 
Grubb,  Samuel  Dunham,  James  Higbee,  Robert  R.  Mickey,  John  R.  Mickey, 
Zadok  Jarvis,  George  Key,  William    P,   Brown.   Henry   M.  Ocheltree. 

Dodge  carried  this  precinct  by  1  majority;  Brewer  carried  it  by  12  majority; 
and  Ronalds  for  representative,  by  ti  majority.  The  vote  for  a  constitutional 
convention  was  2 ;  and  against,  24. 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  115 

The  election  at  Florence  this  year  was  held  at  the  house  of  P.  B.  Harrison 
and  there  were  31  votes  cast. 

Dodge  and  Rich  for  congress  each  had  15  votes;  for  council  Springer  had 
18;  Brewer  9;   for  representative,  Toole  had   17,  and  Ronalds   12. 

For  a  convention  the  vote  was  4,  and  against,  11,  and  the  majority  in  favor 
of  township  organization  was  4. 

We  learn  from  the  election  returns  for  Black  Hawk  that  they  had  already 
erected  a  schoolhouse  there,  as  the  election  was  held  in  it.  Black  Hawk  seems 
to  have  gone  overwhelmingly  for  the  whig  candidates. 

For  congress  Rich  had  46,  Dodge  7;  for  the  council,  Springer  50,  and 
Brewer  2;  for  representative,  Toole  49,  and  Ronalds  4. 

On  the  question  of  township  organization  the  vote  was  46  for  to  2  against, 
but  we  find  no  return  in  regard  to  the  convention. 

The  return  of  the  election  held  in  the  "town  of  Grandview  and  precinct 
of  Warren"  shows  that  there  were  31  votes  cast,  the  whig  candidates  receiv- 
ing about  20  majority. 

The  election  of  October  5,  1840,  is  the  first  one  of  which  we  find  any  re- 
turn from  Columbus  City  precinct.  The  return  states  that  the  election  for  that 
precinct  was  held  at  the  house  of  Adam  Reister  in  Columbus  City.  The  whig 
candidates  had  from  10  to  20  majority  in  the  precinct.  The  judges  of  this 
election  were  John  Reed,  Wright  Williams  and  Samuel  Woodside ;  and  the 
clerks  were  Bruce  Johnson  and  Joshua  Gore. 

We  find  no  returns  from  Fredonia  for  this  election,  nor  does  the  canvass 
of  this  vote  seem  to  have  been  preserved.  These  returns  show  that  Rich,  the 
whig  candidate,  carried  the  county  over  Dodge  by  a  vote  of  163  to  153;  that 
Springer  carried  it  over  Brewer  by  a  vote  of  207  to  118;  and  Toole  carried 
it  over  Ronalds  by    198  to    128. 

Following  is  the  vote  by  precincts  on  the  two  questions  submitted  in  1840 
so  far  as  returns  are  to  be  found : 

For  Against  For  Against 

Convention  Convention  Organization  Organization 

Fredonia   20  19  11  6 

Virginia  Grove   2  24  18  5 

Columbus   City    .  .  10  46 

Grandview    21  1  26  o 

Wapello    33  45  52  9 

Jefferson   . .  46  2 

Florence   4  11  15  11 

Harrison   o  13 

80  113  178  79 

In  1 84 1  at  the  election  held  August  2d,  Rich  and  Dodge  ran  again  for  con- 
gress, Rich  receiving  233  votes  and  Dodge,   190. 

William  L.  Toole  was  elected  representative  over  Jacob  Mintun  by  220  to  192. 
For  probate  judge  George  L.  Coe  had  205  votes  and  John  J.  Rinearson  143. 


116  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

For  county  commissioner  Wright   Williams   had   307,    Henry   Warnstaft"  89. 

George  F.  Thomas  for  treasurer,  and  John  Gilliland  for  surveyor  were 
elected  by  large  majorities. 

There  were  several  candidates  for  assessor,  resulting  in  the  election  of 
William  H.  R.  Thomas. 

The  April  elections  of  this  year  in  Columbus  City  and  in  Grandview  were 
held  in   schoolhouses  at  those  places. 

The  returns  for  the  elections  held  in  1N42  are  not  all  to  be  found.  In  the 
\ugust  election  this  year  the  question  of  "convention  or  no  convention"  was 
again  submitted  to  the  people.  The  vote  on  that  question  was  given  by  word 
of  mouth,  and  in  most  of  the  returns  that  are  yet  to  be  found  it  was  stated  after 
each  voter's  name  how  he  voted  on  this  question.  Generally  speaking,  although 
there  were  many  exceptions  to  the  rule,  the  whigs  voted  against  a  convention 
and  the  democrats  for  a  convention. 

At  this  election  the  whigs  again  carried  the  county,  Francis  Springer  being 
elected  to  the  council  over  Samuel  Woodside,  and  Joseph  Newell  elected  repre- 
sentative over  Daniel  Brewer.  George  Gillaspy  was  a  candidate  for  county 
assessor  but   was  defeated  by  David  Hurley. 

In  1843  at  the  October  election,  the  democrats  were  successful,  carrying 
the  county  by  a  small  majority  for  Dodge  for  delegate  to  congress,  and  electing 
George  W.  McCleary  to  the  territorial  house  of  representatives.  In  1844  tne 
question  of  calling  a  constitutional  convention  looking  to  the  organization  of 
the  territory  into  a  state  was  again  submitted  to  the  people  and  was  carried  in 
the  territory  by  the  vote  of  6,719  for,  to  3,974  against,  and  in  Louisa  county 
by  a  vote  of  256  for  a  convention  to  249  against  ft.  There  were  a  great  many 
candidates  for  delegates  to  the  constitutional  convention,  this  county  being 
entitled  to  3.  Those  elected  were  Dr.  John  W.  Brookbank,  William  L.  Toole 
and   Wright  Williams.     These  men  were  all  whigs. 

Among  the  democrats  voted  on  as  candidates  for  delegates  to  this  conven- 
tion were  Jacob  Mintun,  Isaac  Parsons.  John  Bell  and  several  others. 

ft  will  be  remembered  that  the  constitution  adopted  by  this  convention  was 
not  ratified  by  the  people  on  account  of  the  boundaries  proposed  for  the  new 
state  by  the  act  of  congress,  and  the  constitution  which  had  been  once  rejected 
by  the  people  was  again  submitted  to  them  in  1845,  and  again  rejected,  this 
county  casting  165  votes  for  it  and  415  against  it.  George  W.  McCleary  was 
reelected  representative  by  a  vote  of  312  to  287  for  Dr.  James  M.  Robertson, 
who  lived  at  Columbus  City.  We  can  see  cropping  out  at  this  election  the 
rivalry  between  the  north  end  and  the  south  end  of  the  county,  which  in  after 
years  brought  on  so  many  bitter  conflicts.  Dr.  Robertson  got  all  but  one  of 
the  votes  in  Fredonia  township  and  all  hut  two  votes  in  Columbus  City  and 
had  161  majority  in  the  three  townships  of  Grandview.  Fredonia  and  Columbus 
City,  while  Mr.  McCleary  had  186  majority  in  the  townships  of  Wapello, 
Florence  and   Jefferson. 

At  this  same  election  Enoch  Ross,  of  Washington  county,  was  elected  a 
member  of  the  council  for  the  counties  of  Louisa,  Washington,  Keokuk  and 
Mahaska,  receiving  919  votes  in  the  four  counties  as  against  906  votes  cast  for 
William  R.  Harrison. 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  117 

In  1846  a  new  constitutional  convention  was  ordered  and  John  Ronalds  was 
elected  the  delegate  from  Louisa  county,  Ronalds  receiving  186  and  Alexander 
McCall  184.  The  results  of  the  work  of  this  convention  were  satisfactory  to 
the  people  in  regard  to  the  boundary  and  the  constitution  framed  by  it  was 
ratified,  though  it  had  a  number  of  objectionable  features.  The  first  election 
in  Iowa  after  it  became  a  state,  was  held  on  October  26,  1846,  for  the  election 
of  two  members  of  congress.  At  that  time  the  state  had  not  been  divided  into 
congressional  districts  and  both  members  were  voted  for  all  over  the  state. 

In  Louisa  county  G.  C.  R.  Mitchell  received  351  votes;  Joseph  H.  Hedrick, 
339  votes ;  S.  C.  Hastings,  307 ;  and  Shepherd  Leffler,  297.  At  the  same  time 
state  and  county  officers  were  elected  for  the  new  state.  Ansel  Briggs,  demo- 
crat, was  elected  governor  but  the  whig  candidate,  Thomas  McKnight,  carried 
Louisa  county  by  65  majority.  The  candidates  for  state  senator  from  Louisa 
and  Washington  counties  were  Francis  Springer,  whig,  John  Bell,  Jr.,  democrat, 
the  former  receiving  in  the  two  counties  656  votes  to  480  for  John  Bell. 

The  candidates  for  representative  in  Louisa  were  Wright  Williams  and 
Joseph  L.   Derbin,   Mr.   Williams  having  78  majority. 

The  candidates  for  county  prosecutor  at  this  time  were  Edward  H.  Thomas 
and  John  Bird,  and  if  their  contest  was  as  warm  as  it  was  close,  they  must 
have  had  a  lively  time,  for  Mr.  Thomas  had  313  and  Mr.  Bird  had  312;  James 
McKay  was  elected  clerk  of  the  district  court  on  October  26,  1846,  but  began 
his  term  February  2,  1847.  On  April  5,  1847  tne  question  of  licensing  the 
liquor  traffic  was  submitted  to  the  people  of  the  state,  the  vote  in  this  county 
being  198  for  license,  and  271   against. 

By  the  time  the  election  of  1847  came  around  the  state  had  been  divided 
into  two  congressional  districts,  Louisa  county  being  in  the  second.  Thomas 
McKnight  carried  Louisa  county  by  103  majority  over  Shepherd  Leffler.  At 
this  election  James  Harlan  and  Charles  Mason  were  opposing  candidates  for  the 
office  of  state  superintendent  of  public  instruction.  Mr.  Harlan  carried  Louisa 
county  by  128  majority  and  surprised  the  state  by  being  elected. 

At  the  election  held  in  August,  1848,  the  candidates  for  clerk  were  James 
McKay  and  George  W.  McCleary.  Mr.  McKay  received  326  votes  and  Mc- 
Cleary  286.  Mr.  McKay  resigned  before  the  close  of  his  term  and  started  for 
California  in  search  of  gold,  but  died  of  cholera  on  the  way  there. 

The  candidates  for  county  prosecutor  at  this  election  were  Robert  C.  Bur- 
chell,  whig,  and  Hugh  D.  Reed,  democrat.  Both  lived  in  Columbus  City,  Mr. 
Burchell's  principal  occupation  being  that  of  a  tailor,  while  Mr.  Reed  was  a 
blacksmith.     Mr.  Burchell  was  elected  by  a  little  over  100  majority. 

Oliver  Benton  and  Wesley  W.  Garner  were  whig  and  democratic  candidates 
for  school  fund  commissioner,  Mr.  Benton  being  elected  by  35  majority,  while 
Wright  Williams  was  elected  representative  over  Colonel  John  Bird,  with  a 
majority  of  60. 

The  candidates  for  congress  were  Timothy  Davis  and  Shepherd  Leffler. 
The  latter  was  elected  but  Davis  carried  the  county. 

In  1849  Samuel  Smith  and  Samuel  Rocka feller  were  the  leading  candidates 
for  sheriff,  Mr.  Smith  being  successful. 

In  April,  1850,  John  Bird  was  elected  county  prosecutor  to  fill  a  vacancy 
caused  by  the  resignation  of  R.  C.  Burchell,  and  at  the  August  election  there 


118  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

was  a  spirited  contest  between   Mr.   Bird  and   Francis   Springer   for  this  same 
office,  Mr.  Bird  being  defeated  by  a  small  majority. 

At  the  same  election  Robert  F.  Newell  was  elected  clerk  to  the  board  of 
county  commissioners   over  E.   H.   Thomas. 

Jacob  Mintun  was  elected  clerk,  receiving  387  votes  as  against  300  for  Ben 
R.  Thomas. 

In  1 85 1  occurred  the  first  election  for  county  judge.  There  were  four  can- 
didates, Wright  Williams  receiving  367  votes,  Merit  Jamison  316,  William  L. 
Toole  75,  and  John  Ronalds  48. 

Francis  Springer  resigned  as  county  prosecutor  and  at  this  election  Colonel 
Bird  again  ran  for  prosecuting  attorney  against  Edward  H.  Thomas,  and  de- 
feated Mr.   Thomas  by  a  few  votes. 

Also  at  this  election  Samuel  McCullough  was  elected  supervisor,  his  office 
being  that  of  road  supervisor  for  the  county.  So  far  as  we  have  been  able  to 
find,  he  is  the  only  man  ever  elected  to  that  office  in  this  county. 

At  the  election  in  August,  1852.  James  Noffsinger,  who  though  a  lawyer, 
was  also  editor  of  the  Louisa  County  Times,  was  nominated  by  the  whig  con- 
vention for  prosecuting  attorney,  but  at  first  declined  for  the  reason,  as  he 
stated,  that  he  did  not  believe  the  county  desired  him  for  that  office.  Later 
he  reconsidered  his  declination,  believing  that  he  had  been  mistaken  the  first 
time,  and  those  who  were  opposed  to  him  put  up  Charles  H.  Abbott  of  Oak- 
land township,  who  was  an  extensive  dealer  in  land  but  not  a  practicing  lawyer. 
The  contest  resulted  in  Mr.  Abbott  being  elected  by  a  vote  of  432  to  377. 

At  this  election  Louisa  county  was  entitled  to  and  voted  for  two  repre- 
sentatives, the  whigs  nominating  Dr.  John  Cleaves  and  J.  B.  Latta,  the  demo- 
crats nominating  Micajah  Reeder  and  John  Bird.  The  result,  politically  speak- 
ing, was  a  drawn  battle.  Cleaves  and  Reeder  being  elected. 

In  November  occurred  the  presidential  election,  the  democrats  carrying  the 
county  by  a  vote  of  468  to  368,  Fredonia  township  being  the  only  one  carried 
by  the  whigs. 

At  the  April  election  of  1855.  two  important  questions  were  submitted  to 
the  people.  One  was  the  question  of  the  adoption  of  a  prohibitory  liquor  law, 
and  this  time  the  proposition  carried  in  the  county  by  a  vote  of  619  to  389. 
Concord  and  LJnion  townships  voted  against  it  by  small  majorities.  In  Grand- 
view  township  the  vote  was  103  for  and  100  against.  The  largest  majority 
was  in  Columbus  City  township,  where  the  proposition  was  carried  by  122. 
The  other  townships  gave  fair  majorities   for  it. 

The  other  question  was  submitted  by  the  county  judge,  Francis  Springer, 
upon  the  proposition  of  buying  a  farm  upon  which  to  erect  a  poor  house ;  it 
carried  by  690  to  309,  although  Grandview  township  gave  100  majority  against  it. 

1856  may  well  be  called  the  year  of  elections  in  Louisa  county,  there  having 
been  elections  held  in  January,  April,  June,  July,  August  and  November.  Sev- 
eral of  these  were  on  questions  connected  with  railroad  subscriptions.  One 
of  these  elections  was  a  special  election  held  on  July  1st,  because  Representa- 
tive J.  C.  Lockwood  had  resigned  and  moved  out  of  the  state.  The  candidates 
were  Dr.  John  Bell,  Jr.  and  Lewis  Kinsey,  the  latter  being  elected. 

The  democratic  convention,  held  at  Wapello  on  July  19,  was  presided  over 
by   Samuel  Hamilton,  and  Dr.   B.  G.  Neal  was  secretary.     The  principal  busi- 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  119 

ness  of  this  convention  seems  to  have  been  to  nominate  a  candidate  for  repre- 
sentative and  prosecuting  attorney,  and  to  select  delegates  to  the  convention 
of  Washington  and  Louisa  counties,  at  Crawfordsville,  to  nominate  a  repre- 
sentative for  the  floating  district.  On  motion  of  D.  N.  Sprague,  Dr.  B.  G.  Neal 
was  nominated  for  representative  and  Joseph  Paschal  for  prosecuting  attorney. 
The  delegates  elected  to  the  Crawfordsville  convention  were  D.  N.  Sprague, 
W.  S.  Allen,  William  Keach,  Isaac  Paschal  and  William  Stewart. 
A  set  of  resolutions  were  adopted,  one  of  which  was  as  follows : 

"Resolved,  That  this  convention  do  not  sympathize,  but  on  the  other  hand, 
repudiate  all  interference  in  the  political  organizations  in  other  states  and  terri- 
tories, whether  such  interference  comes  from  the  north  or  from  the  south ; 
also  that  while  we  recognize  the  principle  of  self  defense  and  preservation, 
that  this  convention  repudiate  all  sympathy  with  ruffianism,  murder  or  treason, 
let  it  come  in  any  form,  or  shape,  person  or  quarter." 

At  the  August  election  N.  W.  Burris  was  elected  representative  over  Dr. 
B.  G.  Neal. 

It  was  at  this  election  that  John  Hale  was  first  elected  county  clerk,  his 
opponent  being  C.   P.  Woodard. 

At  this  same  election  the  people  voted  on  a  proposition  to  revise  or  amend 
the  constitution,  which  proposition  carried  in  Louisa  county  by  a  vote  of  1,057 
to  36. 

At  the  November  election  following,  the  candidates  from  this  county  for 
delegate  to  the  constitutional  convention  were  Francis  Springer  and  Levi  Chase, 
Springer  receiving  1,011   votes  and  Chase  707. 

At  the  April  election  of  1857,  Alexander  Ross  and  Robert  F.  Newell  were 
candidates   for   drainage  commissioner,   Mr.   Ross  being  elected. 

At  the  same  time  William  J.  R.  Flack  was  elected  county  assessor  over 
Joseph  Blake,  and  Whitney  S.  Kremer  was  elected  county  surveyor  over  George 
P.  Sherwood. 

In  August,  1857,  there  was  an  exciting  county  election,  the  republican  can- 
didates being  Samuel  Townsend  for  county  judge,  John  L.  Grubb  for  recorder 
and  treasurer,  A.  M.  Taylor  for  sheriff,  J.  C.  Sterlin  for  coroner  and  W.  S. 
Kremer  for  surveyor.  The  democratic  candidates  were  Joseph  L.  Derbin  for 
county  judge,  William  A.  Colton  for  recorder  and  treasurer,  William  Stewart 
for  sheriff,  John  Studdard  for  coroner  and  Robert  F.  Newell  for  surveyor. 
On  county  judge  the  vote  was  725  for  Derbin  to  711  for  Townsend.  Dr. 
Colton  had  85  majority  over  Grubb,  Sheriff  Taylor  had  214  majority  over 
Stewart,  and  Mr.  Kremer  had  113  majority  over  Newell.  Studdard,  the  demo- 
cratic candidate  for  coroner,  had  29  majority. 

One  of  the  live  issues  in  this  county  that  year  was  on  the  question  of  adopt- 
ing or  repudiating  the  new  constitution  which  was  to  be  voted  on  on  the  3d  of 
August. 

The  republican  county  convention  was  held  at  Wapello,  July  18th,  and 
adopted  the  following  resolution : 

"Resolved  that  in  the  constitution  presented  to  the  people  for  their  suffrages 
at  the  August  election,  we  see  embraced  those  modifications  of  the  old  which 
the  growing  wants  of  the  state  demand. 


120  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

"Resolved.  That  Louisa  county  will  give  600  majority  for  the  new  constitu- 
tion." 

At  the  democratic  convention  held  on  July  20th.  the  following  resolutions 
were  adopted : 

"Resolved  that  the  new  constitution  that  is  to  be  submitted  at  the  ensuing 
election  to  the  voters  of  this  state  for  their  approval,  is  a  burlesque,  in  that  it 
attempts  to  make  the  negro  a  privileged  character,  the  equal,  and  in  some  re- 
spects, the  superior — in  the  point  of  political  privilege — to  the  freeborn  Ameri- 
can  citizen. 

"Resolved,  That  the  creation  of  an  unnecessary  legislative  body,  the  expense 
thereof,  and  the  unlimited  power  conferred  thereon  to  legislate  upon  all  local 
questions  pertaining  to  our  district  or  common  schools,  compelling  us  to  educate 
the  negro  in  the  same  school  and  upon  equality  with  our  children,  would  be 
productive  only  of  evil  to  the  common  schools  of  our  state. 

"Resolved,  That  the  democratic  party  will  use  all  honorable  means  in  this 
county  to  defeat  the  constitution  as  now  submitted." 

The  new  constitution  was  approved  in  the  county  by  a  vote  of  698  to  473.  The 
vote  by  townships  was  as  follows : 

Townships  [-',  >r  Against 

Columbus   City    220  76 

Eliot    19  27 

Elm  Grove 38  10 

Grand  view    ". 102  96 

Marshall     62  26 

Port    Lousia    y^  21 

Union    29  8 

Wapello    155  209 

Total    698  473 

Following  were  rejected  for  informalities : 

Oakland    20  43 

Jefferson    ■ 83  79 

Morning  Sun 68  63 

Concord    2<)  63 

The  proposition  to  strike  the  word  "white"  out  of  the  constitution  was  voted  on 
at  the  same  time,  but  many  failed  to  vote  on  it.  It  was  defeated — the  vote  being 
120  for,  to  234  against. 

Beginning  with  the  year  1858,  a  record  has  been  kept  in  the  auditor's  office, 
in  which  most  of  the  elections  have  been  recorded  and  within  a  few  years  after 
(his  the  election  returns  were  published  first  in  the  census  reports,  and  later  in 
the  official  register  published  by  the  state,  and  we  deem  it  unnecessary  to  take 
up  more  space  in  regard  to  the  elections. 


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HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  121 

In  1858  was  the  first  county  seat  contest  between  Wapello  and  Columbus  City, 
and  the  vote  upon  this  question  will  be  found  in  the  chapter  on  Columbus  City. 

In  1865  political  affairs  in  this  county  took  on  a  rather  strange  phase  and 
there  was  considerable  apparent  changing  of  party  lines.  The  republican  con- 
vention met  August  5,  1865,  and  nominated  Dr.  J.  M.  Robertson  for  state  senator, 
and  N.  T.  Drown  for  representative;  S.  E.  Jones  for  county  judge;  W.  S.  Kremer 
for  treasurer;  E.  B.  Lacey  for  sheriff;  A.  Millmine  for  school  superintendent; 
and  W.  C.  Blackstone  for  surveyor  and  James  Semple,  for  coroner. 

The  opposition  convention  was  held  September  2,  1865,  under  the  name  of 
the  soldiers'  convention.  This  convention  was  called  by  numerous  bills  posted 
over  the  county  for  sometime  before,  inviting  the  soldiers  and  those  opposed  to 
negro  equality  to  meet  in  mass  convention  at  the  court  house  to  nominate  a  county 
ticket.  The  account  in  the  newspapers  of  that  date  says  that  at  the  opening  pro- 
ceedings the  court  room  was  crowded,  partly  by  those  who  were  opposed  to  any- 
thing that  "smelt  of  nigger"  and  partly  by  soldiers  who  had  recently  returned 
home,  but  before  proceedings  were  commenced  it  became  known  that  the  soldiers 
were  not  in  sympathy  with  the  opposition  to  negro  equality  and  it  is  said  that 
when  Lieutenant  B.  F.  Wright  called  the  meeting  to  order  he  explained  that  the 
call  did  not  mean  exactly  what  it  said  in  regard  to  soldiers  being  invited,  but  only 
meant  that  soldiers  who  were  opposed  to  negro  equality  were  invited.  Trie  fol- 
lowing candidates  were  nominated  by  the  convention :  For  senator,  James  S. 
Hurley;  for  representative,  O.  H.  P.  Linn;  for  county  judge,  B.  F.  Wright;  for 
treasurer,  Captain  W.  G.  Allen ;  for  sheriff,  J.  Price  McDaniel ;  for  school  super- 
intendent, D.  H.  Cushman;  for  surveyor.  Major  Thomas  W.  Bailey;  for  coroner, 
A.  C.  Scull. 

Neither  Mr.  Hurley  nor  Captain  Allen  were  present  at  the  convention  and 
both  immediately  announced  their  refusal  to  run  on  the  so-called  soldiers'  ticket. 
Subsequently,  N.  M.  Letts  was  placed  on  the  ticket  as  a  candidate  for  senator 
and  Abram  Fulton  as  a  candidate  for  treasurer.  The  soldiers'  convention 
adopted  a  set  of  resolutions,  among  which  was  one  sustaining  the  administration 
and  reconstruction  policy  of  President  Johnson,  and  another  in  opposition  to 
negro  suffrage,  or  to  striking  the  word  "white"  out  of  the  constitution. 

There  was  a  lively  campaign  as  a  result  of  this  so-called  soldiers'  movement 
and  the  soldiers'  ticket  was  supported  largely,  though  not  entirely,  by  the  demo- 
cratic voters,  although  nearly  all  the  candidatei  were  republicans.  The  republi- 
can ticket,  or,  as  it  was  called  during  this  campaign,  the  union  ticket,  was  suc- 
cessful. The  republican,  or  union  candidate,  for  governor  was  Wm.  M.  Stone, 
and  he  received  1,114  votes  to  832  for  Benton;  for  senator,  Dr.  J.  M.  Robertson 
received  1,092  votes,  and  N.  M.  Letts  860;  for  representative  N.  T.  Brown  re- 
ceived 1,142  votes  and  O.  H.  P.  Linn  810;  the  other  candidates  on  the  two  tickets 
fared  about  the  same. 

The  republican  party  of  this  county  adopted  the  primary  system  of  nominat- 
ing candidates'  on  September  7,  1867.  Dr.  G.  K.  Hickok  of  Columbus  City,  was 
chairman  of  the  convention ;  L.  W.  Myers,  secretary.  The  plan  of  a  primary 
election  was  presented  and  explained  by  Mr.  Myers  and  resolutions  on  the  sub- 
ject were  offered  by  James  S.  Hurley.  They  provided  in  substance  that  there- 
after the  republicans  of  the  county  would  nominate  candidates  for  county  of- 
fices by  a  primary  election  to  be  held  in  each  township  upon  ten  days'  notice, 


122  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

that  persons  should  be  entitled  to  vote  only  in  townships  wherein  they  lived  and 
that  the  votes  should  be  canvassed  by  the  chairman  of  the  county  committee  and 
any  two  other  members. 

The  first  primary  election  in  the  county  was  held  on  Saturday,  August  28, 
1869.  James  S.  Hurley  was  nominated  for  senator  over  Rev.  F.  F.  Kiner,  by 
702  to  357. 

The  most  interesting-  contest  was  a  three-cornered  fight  for  representative, 
between  G.  D.  Harrison,  L.  W.  Myers  and  S.  C.  Curtis.  Mr.  Harrison  was  nom- 
inated, the  vote  being,  Harrison,  424,  Myers,  340,  and  Curtis,  261. 

Another  close  contest  was  for  sheriff.  J.  L.  Grubb  had  386  votes,  E.  B.  Lacey 
had  357,  J.  H.  Coulter  had  218,  and  A.  H.  Havenhill  had  90. 

L.  A.  Riley  was  nominated  for  superintendent  of  schools,  receiving  501  votes, 
to  353  f°r  J-  B.  Porter,  and  139  for  L.  W.  Weller. 

Although  Mr.  Myers  introduced  the  primary  election  into  the  county,  and 
was  defeated  at  the  very  first  election,  he  was  always  a  consistent  supporter  of 
the  primary. 

FIRST   WHIG   t'OXVENTIOX    IX    IOWA. 

It  is  not  generally  known  that  the  whig  party  in  Iowa  had  its  beginning  in 
Louisa  county,  but  such  is  the  fact.  At  an  old  settlers'  meeting  held  in  Wapello, 
February  22,  1859,  C.  M.  McDaniel  was  one  of  the  speakers.  We  take  the  fol- 
lowing from  the  account  of  his  speech  published  at  that  time: 

"In  political  matters  in  those  days  it  was  not  of  much  importance  what  party 
a  man  belonged  to,  the  question  was  not  'to  what  party  do  you  belong?'  but  'for 
what  man  do  you  vote?'  Parties  were  known  in  the  east,  but  here  nothing  was 
known  of  whig,  democrat,  republican,  know-nothing,  or  any  other  party  name. 
At  the  first  election  there  were  ten  candidates  for  members  of  the  legislature,  but 
not  very  heavy  electioneering,  for  there  were  very  few  votes  to  electioneer.  In 
a  short  time  the  words  whig  and  democrat  began  to  be  heard — the  speaker  stated 
that  he  himself  was  a  democrat,  and  of  course  when  the  party  question  was 
raised,  was  warmly  interested  for  the  success  of  his  party  and  being  elected 
sheriff,  which  of  course  made  him  begin  to  feel  his  importance,  began  to  think 
it  would  improve  the  look  of  things  to  have  some  resident  lawyers.  Being  in 
Burlington  about  this  time,  he  met  with  two  attorneys,  just  arrived  from  the  east, 
and  seeking  a  location ;  both  since  well  known  to  the  people  of  this  county — Judge 
Springer  and  E.  H.  Thomas.  Judge  Rorer  told  the  speaker  that  he  ought  to  try 
to  induce  them  to  come  to  Wapello,  as  the  effect  of  getting  two  lawyers  located 
here  would  be  to  increase  the  law  business  and  so  make  the  sheriff's  office  more 
profitable.  They  were  both  induced  to  come,  but  being  both  whigs  he  soon  found 
what  he  might  have  expected  as  a  natural  consequence,  that  as  soon  as  they  were 
firmly  located,  the  county  began  to  show  strong  signs  of  whiggery.  At  first  he 
could  not  imagine  the  reason,  but  it  was  so  and  continually  getting  worse.  In 
1847  politics  were  high  here  as  in  other  places,  and  Judge  Rorer  being  in  this 
place  asked  him  (the  speaker)  what  he  thought  was  the  prospect  of  the  election 
in  this  county.  The  reply  was  that  it  was  rather  mixed,  that  the  Yankee  lawyers 
were  about  to  prove  entirely  too  much  for  the  democratic  opponent.  'Oh,'  said 
the  Judge,  'didn't  we  play  the  d 1'  — and  added,  nearly  with  tears  in  his  eyes, 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  123 

'I'd  not  the  least  idea  they  were  whigs,  can't  you  get  ahead  of  them  some  way?' 
— he  thought  not,  and  so  it  has  been ;  he  has  been  to  California  since,  and  on  his 
return  found  that  though  the  whigs  were  dead,  the  republicans  were  opposing 
democracy  and  it  was  worse  than  ever." 

History  says  that  Mr.  McDaniel  was  right  in  reference  to  the  work  of  the 
two  whig  lawyers  and  their  friends.  The  first  distinctly  whig  meeting  was  held 
in  Wapello  on  June  ioth,  1840.  It  was  called  a  Harrison  meeting.  At  this  meet- 
ing Francis  Springer  submitted  resolutions  expressing  regret  and  disappointment 
that  elections  could  no  longer  be  conducted  without  regard  to  partisan  activity 
and  stating  that  the  democrats  had  "raised  the  standard  of  the  party,  lit  its  smould- 
ering fires,  and  have  thrown  the  gauntlet  of  defiance  at  our  feet  by  calling  con- 
ventions to  nominate  candidates  to  be  supported  on  partisan  grounds."  The 
resolution  stated  that  under  these  circumstances  it  was  the  duty  of  the  whigs  to 
establish  a  whig  party  in  the  territory  and  to  meet  and  organize  at  Bloomington 
and  to  agree  upon  a  candidate  for  delegate  to  congress.  This  meeting  appointed 
a  committee  of  five  to  act  as  a  committee  of  correspondence  with  their  political 
friends  in  the  territory.  This  committee  consisted  of  Edward  H.  Thomas,  Jacob 
S.  Rinearson,  Joseph  Newell,  William  H.  R.  Thomas  and  William  L.  Toole.  A 
little  later  whig  meetings  were  held  in  Muscatine  county  and  Des  Moines  county. 
Of  the  first  territorial  convention  held  by  the  whigs,  the  "Iowa  Journal  of  His- 
tory and  Politics"  for  January,  1907,  says : 

"Pursuant  to  the  recommendation  of  the  Louisa  county  convention  a  'Con- 
gress of  the  People'  assembled  at  Bloomington  on  July  29.  The  whigs  marched 
in  a  long  procession  to  a  grove  where  the  ladies  of  Bloomington  presented  a 
handsome  standard  to  the  Tippecanoe  Club  of  Muscatine  county.  Mr.  Ralph 
P.  Lowe,  the  president  of  the  club,  in  a  brief  speech  accepted  the  present  which 
was  then  dedicated  to  the  Harrison  citizens  of  the  territory  as  expressive  of  the 
devotion  of  the  club  to  republican  principles  and  to  the  cause  of  general  reform 
in  the  national  administration.  At  the  conclusion  of  these  ceremonies  the  meet- 
ing organized  by  electing  Colonel  Isaac  Leffler,  of  Des  Moines  county,  as  presi- 
dent, and  Joseph  Webster,  of  Lee  county,  Francis  Ford,  of  Cedar  county,  and 
Levi  Thornton,  of  Linn  (should  be  Louisa)  county,  as  vice  presidents.  W.  G. 
Woodward,  of  Bloomington,  and  E.  Thomas  (Edward  H.  Thomas),  of  Wapello, 
were  chosen  as  secretaries.  It  was  then  resolved  to  give  the  support  of  the  con- 
vention to  the  candidate  for  delegate  to  congress  who  should  be  nominated  at 
this  meeting.  On  proceeding  to  a  vote  Alfred  Rich  received  120  votes;  Philip 
Viele,  61  votes  and  S.  Whicher,  1 1  votes.  Mr.  Rich  was  then  declared  the  nominee 
of  the  convention  and  recommended  to  the  people  of  the  territory  for  their  next 
delegate  to  congress.  A  committee  of  five  was  appointed  to  prepare  and  to  have 
published  an  'address  to  the  people  of  the  territory.'  A  central  whig  committee 
of  five  was  also  appointed  and  the  meeting  adjourned  by  recommending  that  all 
the  counties  appoint  committees  of  vigilance  and  correspondence." 

Augustus  C.  Dodge,  of  Burlington,  was  nominated  in  opposition  to  Mr.  Rich 
by  the  democrats  at  a  convention  held  in  Bloomington  on  August  19th.  A  lively 
political  campaign  ensued  and  at  the  election  of  October  5,  1840,  Mr.  Dodge 


124  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

had  a  majority  of  615.  It  was  said  that  many  hundreds  of  whigs  voted  for  Mr. 
Dodge  out  of  personal  and  local  considerations.  The  whigs  of  the  territory  made 
considerable  gain  in  the  legislature,  the  house  standing  11  whigs  to  15  democrats, 
and  the  council  standing  7  whigs  and  6  democrats.  This  council  is  the  only  one 
in  the  history  of  the  territory  in  which  the  whigs  had  a  majority.  Louisa  county 
sent  one  of  these  whigs  in  the  person  of  Francis  Springer,  who  was  elected  from 
the  Louisa-Washington  district.  From  this  time  on,  Louisa  county  was  unsafe 
territory  for  the  democrats,  though  the  candidates  of  that  party  were  occasionally 
elected  after  that.  There  was  considerable  whig  activity  throughout  the  territory 
m  the  year  1841  and  Louisa  county  bore  a  prominent  part  in  it.  The  first  meet- 
ing was  held  in  the  Methodist  church  at  Burlington,  January  6,  1841,  and  Ralph 
P.  Lowe,  of  Burlington,  was  elected  president,  and  Francis  Springer  of  Wapello, 
was  elected  secretary.  It  was  decided  to  hold  a  territorial  convention  at  Daven- 
port to  nominate  a  candidate  for  delegate  to  congress.  The  first  county  meet- 
ing, or  county  convention  to  select  delegates  to  the  Davenport  convention  was 
held  at  Wapello  in  Louisa  county  on  Saturday,  February  6,  1841.  Joseph  Newell 
was  chairman  and  William  H.  R.  Thomas  was  secretary.  A  committee  consist- 
ing of  the  following  named  gentlemen:  E.  II.  Thomas,  William  L.  Toole,  Wil- 
liam Kennedy,  Henry  Rockafeller,  E.  K.  Maxson  and  G.  L.  Coe  was  appointed, 
for  the  purpose  of  reporting  to  the  meeting  a  list  of  delegates  to  the  democrat- 
whig  territorial  convention  to  be  held  at  Davenport  in  May  next,  and  also  a  list 
of  persons  to  constitute  a  democratic-whig  county  committee.  George  F.  Thomas 
moved  the  appointment  of  a  committee  of  six  on  resolutions  and  the  following 
were  appointed :  George  F.  Thomas,  Francis  Springer,  Alexander  Ross,  Israel 
Trask,  Dr.  J.  W.  Brookbank  and  Joel  Bronson.  The  convention  appointed  as 
delegates  to  Davenport,  Henry  Rockafeller,  E.  K.  Maxson  and  Joseph  Newell, 
and  as  a  democratic-whig  county  committee,  the  following:  George  L.  Coe,  of 
Jefferson  township ;  Alexander  Ross,  Grandview  township :  Wright  Williams, 
Columbus  City  township:  Edward  H.  Thomas,  Wapello  township,  and  John 
Deihl,  Florence  township.  Spirited  resolutions  were  adopted  favoring  a  perfect 
organization  in  every  township,  approving  the  plan  of  holding  a  whig  conven- 
tion at  Davenport,  and  calling  upon  all  whigs  to  lay  aside  prejudices  of  locality 
and  to  unite  their  energies  for  a  victory  at  once  signal  and  glorious.  The  pro- 
ceedings of  this  meeting  were  published  in  the  whig  papers  at  Bloomington  and 
Iowa  City  under  the  heading  "A  Voice  from  Louisa  County"  and  the  other 
counties  of  the  territory  were  called  upon  to  do  likewise.  The  whigs  of  Louisa 
county  entered  the  political  fight  in  earnest  that  year  and  on  July  3,  1841,  held  a 
county  convention  at  Wapello,  of  which  Nathaniel  Prime  was  chairman  and 
'  William  H.  R.  Thomas,  secretary.  At  this  convention  William  L.  Toole  was 
nominated  for  representative  and  Wright  Williams  for  county  commissioner 
and  both  were  successful  at  the  ensuing  election.  The  delegates  from  the  vari- 
ous townships  to  this  convention  were  as  follows:  Wapello  township,  George 
F.  Thomas,  Dr.  J.  W.  Brookbank,  Jacob  S.  Rinearson,  George  Rouse,  Leonard 
Robinson,  William  II.  R.  Thomas,  Dennis  Williams,  Joel  Bronson  and  Isaac 
Hall;  Columbus  City  township,  S.  Hutchison,  B.  Johnson,  James  G.  Hall,  R. 
W.  Dollbee,  R.  C.  Burchell,  George  Reister,  Nathaniel  Prime,  William  J.  R. 
Flack,  John  McCoy,  Dr.  H.  M.  Downer,  Nelson  Alloway  and  Wright  Williams : 
Grandview  township,  William  Klum,  Alexander  Ross.  William  Fowler,  Robert 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  125 

Benefiel,  William  Hamilton,  S.  H.  Rockafeller  and  Jesse  Walling;  Jefferson 
township,  Perry  Morrison,  William  F.  Dickison,  George  L.  Coe,  Thomas  Bras, 
E.  F.  Dennison,  G.  II.  Austin,  William  Fleming,  James  Guest,  J.  R.  Rockafeller, 
Elisha  Hook  and  William  Searl :  Florence  township,  Orrison  Craig,  Reuben  P. 
Bolles.  John  Deihl,  John  A.  Lewin,  George  Newell,  Jefferson  Frizzle,  Aaron 
D.  Hurley,  Daniel  Briggs,  George  Presbury,  Joseph  Ogle  and  Thomas  Gregory. 

From  this  time  on  until  the  whig  party  ceased  to  exist,  Louisa  county  was  a 
whig  stronghold  and  the  whig  candidates  generally  carried  the  county,  although 
there  were  numerous  exceptions  to  this  rule.  The  territory,  and  afterward,  the 
state,  was  democratic,  however,  until,  in  1854  the  whigs  elected  James  W. 
Grimes,  governor,  and  carried  the  state  legislature  by  a  small  majority.  The 
election  of  Governor  Grimes  was  due  to  the  strong  anti-slavery  sentiment  in 
Iowa  and  to  the  fact  that  he  took  a  firm  stand  against  the  extension  of  slavery. 
It  was  about  this  time  that  the  republican  party  was  being  organized  in  a  few 
states,  and  Iowa  was  not  far  behind.  For  some  years  the  know-nothing  party 
had  kept  up  an  organization  in  Louisa  county,  though  it  is  said  its  principal  meet- 
ings were  held  in  secret.  This  party  had  an  especially  strong  following  over  in 
Jefferson  and  Port  Louisa  townships  and  considerable  strength  in  most  parts 
of  the  county.  During  the  administration  of  Governor  Grimes,  under  his  leader- 
ship, most  of  the  old  wdiigs,  many  of  the  know-nothings,  free-soilers  and  other 
opponents  of  slavery  extension,  were  drawn  together  in  the  new  republican  organi- 
zation. At  this  time  republicanism  was  defined  to  be  simply  and  wholly  opposi- 
tion to  the  extension  of  slavery.  It  was  declared  by  its  -leading  newspapers  that 
the  party  did  not  propose  to  interfere  with  slavery  where  it  then  existed  but  to 
keep  slavery  where  it  was.  The  chief  slogans  of  the  party  at  that  time  were 
"no  more  slave  territory"  and  "no  more  slave  states."  This  doctrine  found  much 
favor  in  Louisa  county  and  was  supported  by  nearly  all  the  old  whigs  and  by 
some  who  had  theretofore  been  democrats.  One  of  the  strong  men  among  the 
latter  was  Andrew  Gamble. 

The  republicans  had  their  first  convention  at  Iowa  City  on  the  22d  of  Feb- 
ruary, 1856,  at  which  most  of  the  counties  of  the  state  were  represented.  One 
of  the  early  counties  to  hold  a  convention  to  send  delegates  to  this  convention 
was  Louisa  county  and  its  delegation  consisted  of  Francis  Springer,  James  G.  Hall 
and  Joel  Bronson.  Francis  Springer  seems  to  have  been  recognized  as  one  of 
the  leaders  of  this  movement  from  the  very  beginning.  He  was  made  a  member 
of  the  committee  on  platform  and  was  placed  at  the  head  of  the  delegates  to 
the  national  republican  convention  to  be  held  at  Philadelphia.  From  that  day 
to  this  Louisa  county  has  been  steadfast  in  its  republicanism. 


CHAPTER  X. 
LIST  OF  OFFICERS. 

COUNTY    OFFICERS TERRITORIAL    LEGISLATORS — STATE    LEGISLATORS MEMBERS    OF 

CONSTITUTIONAL    CONVENTIONS) OTHER     OFFICERS GUBERNATORIAL     APPOINT- 
MENTS  CONGRESSIONAL  DISTRICTS  AND  CONGRESSMEN. 

COUNTY  OFFICERS. 

CLERK  OF  BOARD  OF  SUPERVISORS. 


1837 — William  Kennedy. 

CLERK  OF  BOARD  OF  COUNTY  COMMISSIONERS. 

1838— William  H.  R.  Thomas. 

1839 — John  Gilliland,  to  fill  vacancy. 

1840 — J.  S.  Rinearson. 

1842 — Daniel  Brewer,  pro  tern. 

1845 — John  Gilliland. 

1846 — Francis  Springer,  for  April  session. 

1846 — Samuel  M.  Kirkpatrick,  pro  tern. 

1846 — Samuel  M.  Kirkpatrick,  elected. 

1847 — S.  M.  Kirkpatrick. 

1849 — Lewis  Kinsey. 

1850— Robert  F.  Newell. 

COUNTY   JUDGE. 

August  17,  1851 — Wright  Williams,  died  1854. 
November  23,  1854 — Francis  Springer,  to  fill  vacancy. 
1855 — Francis   Springer,   elected. 
1857 — Joseph  L.  Derbin. 
1859 — Joseph  L.  Derbin. 
1862-65 — Lewis  W.  Vale. 
January,   1866 — S.  E.  Jones. 

June,    1866 — William   G.    Allen,   until   January,    1869,    when   he   was   county 
auditor. 

COUNTY    AUDITOR. 

1869-1874— William  G.  Allen. 
1874-1883 — James  B.  Gibboney,  died  1883. 

127 


128  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

1883-89— R.  E.  Archibald,  to  fill  vacancy ;  R.  E.  Archibald,  elected. 
1890-98 — James  S.  Kelly. 
1899-1904 — C.  J.  Ives. 
1905  to  date — H.  W.  Baker. 

PROSECUTING  ATTORNEY. 

April  20,  1837 — James  W.  Woods,  pro  tern. 

1830. — Isaac  Van  Allen. 

1839 — E.  H.  Thomas. 

1840— R.  P.  Lowe. 

1842 — R.  P.   Lowe. 

[844 — Edward  H.  Thomas. 

1845 — Edward  H.  Thomas. 

1846— John  Bird. 

1847 — Edward  H.  Thomas. 

1848— R.  C.  Burchell. 

1850— John  Bird. 

1850 — Francis  Springer,  resigned,  August    19,    1851. 

1851 — John   Bird. 

1852 — John  Bird. 

1852 — C.  H.  Abbott,  elected  August,  1852. 

1854 — Francis  Springer,  resigned,  February  28,  1855. 

1855 — James  S.  Hurley. 

1855 — Jacob   Butler. 

1856 — James  S.  Hurley 

(DISTRICT   ATTORNEY    PERIOD.) 

1887-8— E.   B.   Tucker,   County  Attorney. 

1889-94 — A.  W.  Jarvis,  County  Attorney. 

1895-1900 — F.  M.  Molsberry,  County  Attorney. 

1901-04 — H.  E.  Curran. 

1905-08 — Oscar  Hale. 

1909  to  date — W.  H.  Hurley. 

(  I  ERK    DISTRICT    COURT. 

Feby.   18,   1837,  to  Feby.  2,   1847 — Zadok  C.  Inghram. 

Feby.  2,  1847  to  Aug.  1850 — James  McKay  (died  out  west  before  his  term 
ended). 

August  1850  to  Aug.  1832 — Jacob  Mintun. 
August   1852  to  Aug.   1856 — Lewis  Kinsey. 
August  1856  to  Jan.  1871 — John  Hale. 
Jan.   1871  to  Jan.   1883 — John  Huff. 
Jan.   1883  to  Jan.   1889— G.  W.  Thomas. 
Jan.   1889  to  Jan.  1895— H.  M.  Holler. 
Jan.  1895  to  Jan.  1903 — Ed.  Hicklin. 


XAIMIK  C.    tNGHRAM,  First  Cleric 


fkaxcis  si'itix<;i-:u 


JOHN  HALE 


B 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  129 

Jan.   1903  to  May  29,  1907 — B.  F.  Ogden. 
May  29,  1907,  to  date — F.  T.  Ives. 

TREASURER. 

1837 — Zadok  C.    Inghram,  acting. 

1837 — P.  B.  Harrison,  elected  member  county  commissioners'  court  and 
probably   resigned. 

1838 — Zadok  C.   Inghram,  gave  bond  as  appointee,  April    16,   1838. 

1838 — Hiram  Smith,  gave  bond  October  13,   1838. 

1839 — John  Bevins,  gave  bond  April  6,  1839. 

1840 — Cicero  M.  Ives,  gave  bond  October  8,  1839. 

1840 — George  F.  Thomas,  gave  bond  October  5,  1840. 

1841 — George  F.  Thomas,  gave  bond  August  14,  1841. 

1842 — George  F.  Thomas,  gave  bond  August  8,  1842. 

1844 — George  F.  Thomas,  gave  bond  October  12,  1844. 

1846 — George  F.  Thomas,  gave  bond  August  10.  1846. 

1847 — Samuel  Townsend  (and  recorder),  gave  bond  August  9,  1849,  re- 
signed March  27,   1849. 

1849 — Dennis  Williams  (and  recorder),  gave  bond  March  28,  1849. 

1851 — Samuel  Townsend   (and  recorder),  gave  bond  August  n,   1851. 

1853 — John  C.  Tucker  (and  recorder),  gave  bond  August  10,  1853. 

1855 — Samuel  Townsend   (and  recorder),  gave  bond  August  9,   1855. 

1857 — William  A.  Colton  (and  recorder),  gave  bond  August  17,  1857. 

1859 — Benjamin  F.  Coe. 

1864-5 — Benjamin  F.  Coe. 

1866-73 — W.  S.  Kremer. 

1874-5 — John  L.  Merrill. 

1876-7 — W.  S.  Kremer. 

1878-81— Edson  F.  Smith. 

1882-87— Milo  J.  Smith. 

1888-95— N.  W.  McKay. 

1 896- 1903 — R.   F.    McConnell. 

1904  to  date — J.  F.  Chandler. 

SHERIFF. 

Samuel  Smith,  appointed  December  8,  1836,  oath  of  office,  February  18,  1837. 

1837 — Martin  Harless. 

February  21,   1839,  to  November  2,   1840 — C.   M.   McDaniel. 

August   11,   1842 — William  H.  R.  Thomas. 

1845— C.  M.  McDaniel. 

1847— William  H.  R.  Thomas. 

September  4,  1849 — Samuel  Smith. 

August,    185 1 — Samuel   K.   Helmick. 

August  10,  1853 — A..  M.  Taylor. 

August  10,  1855— A.  M.  Taylor. 

August  17.  1857 — A.  M.  Taylor. 

i860— A.  M.  Taylor. 


130  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

1862-3 — Henry  McClurkin. 
1864-5 — Henry  McClurkin. 
1866-7 — E.  B.  Lacey. 
1870- 1 — John  L.  Grubb. 
1872-3 — John  L.  Grubb. 
1874-5 — John  L.  Grubb. 
1876-81— Albert  Ellis. 
1882-87— John  C.  Smith. 
1888-93— Isaac  Black. 
1894-99 — William  Deford. 
1900-06 — W.  C.  Saunders. 
1907  to  date — Jacob  C.   Smith. 

SUPERINTENDENT    OF    SCHOOLS. 

1858— J.  B.  Brigham. 

June  28,  1858— W.  R.  Woodruff. 

1859 — R.  N.  Fee — O.  H.  Miller,  sworn  in  May  24,   i860. 

1861 — S.  E.  Jones. 

1862-3 — J.  K.  Sweeny. 

1863-4— A.  S.  Prather. 

1865— William  J.  Ronalds. 

1866-7— A.   Millmine. 

1868-9— J.  B-  Porter. 

1870- 1— L.  A.  Riley. 

1872-3 — W.  C.   Sigafoos. 

1874 — C.  H.  G.  Frye,  to  fill  vacancy. 

1874-5 — D.  T.  Campbell. 

1876-7 — J.  A.  Kennedy. 

October  16,  1877 — Daniel  Helmick,  to  fill  vacancy. 

1878-9 — Daniel  Helmick,  elected. 

1880-3— Milton  D.  Nicol. 

1884-7— Mrs.  L.  G.  Murdock. 

1888-91— W.  A.  Lester. 

1892- 1897 — Lizzie  Hughes. 

1898-1901 — C.  M.  Donaldson. 

1902-7 — C.  R.  Wallace. 

1907  to  date — R.  R.  Hunt. 

SURVEYOR. 

1839 — Jolln  Gilliland,  bond  October  8,   1839. 

1840 — John  Gilliland. 

1841 — John  Gilliland,  bond  August  28,   1841. 

1842 — John   Gilliland,  bond  August  8.    1842. 

1843 — John  Gilliland. 

1844 — Aaron  D.  Hurley,  bond  August   15,  1844. 

1845 — Aaron  D.  Hurley,  bond  August   18,   1845. 

1847 — Aaron  D.  Hurley,  bond  August  16,  1847. 

1849 — Aaron  D.  Hurley,  bond  August  23,  1849. 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  131 

1850 — John  R.  Sisson,  bond  August  5,  1850. 

1851 — John  R.  Sisson,  bond  August  14,  1851. 

1853 — Jonn  R-  Sisson,  bond  August  12,  1853. 

1855 — John  R.   Sisson,  bond  August   10,    1855,  resigned   December  8,   1856. 

1857 — A.  B.  Miller,  bond  January  15,  1857. 

1857 — W.  S.  Kremer,  bond  April  10,  1857. 

1857 — W.  S.   Kremer,  bond  August  11,   1857. 

1859-65 — W.  S.  Kremer. 

1866-7— W.  C.  Blackstone. 

1868-9— W.  C.  Blackstone.  a 

1870-1— T.  W.  Bailey. 

1872-5 — Peter  Houtz. 

1876-9 — John  M.  Huston. 

1880-3— Peter   Houtz. 

1884-9— J.  lM-  Huston.  j 

1890  to  date — W.  S.  Kremer. 

RECORDER. 

1837 — Zadok  C.  Inghram. 

1839 — Jacob  S.  Rinearson,  bond  August  8,   1839. 

1842 — Jacob  S.  Rinearson,  bond  August  1,   1842. 

1845- — John  Gilliland. 

1846— George  W.  McCleary,  bond  April  6,   1846. 

1847 — Samuel  Townsend,  bond  August  9,   1847. 

1849 — Dennis  Williams,  bond  August  23,   1849. 

1851 — Samuel  Townsend,  bond  August   11,   1851. 

1853 — John  C.  Tucker,  bond  August  10,  1853. 

1855 — Samuel  Townsend,  bond  August  9,  1855. 

1857 — William  A.   Colton,  bond  August   17,    1857. 

1859-65 — Benjamin  F.  Coe. 

1867-8 — John  A.  Brown. 

1869-76— N.  W.  McKay. 

1877-80 — Manasseh  Edwards. 

1881-84— N.  W.  McKay. 

1885-90— V.  B.  Beane. 

1891-94 — Nora  Cornelius. 

1895-1908 — Milo  A.  Kelly. 

1909  to  date — Jennie  Robertson. 

CORONER. 

'837-39 — Isaac  Parsons. 

1840 — P.  B.  Harrison,  gave  bond  October  12,   1840. 

1841-2 — Isaac  Parsons,  gave  bond  October  6.  1841. 

l843 — William  Milligan,  gave  bond  October   13,   1843. 

1845-6— James  B.  Milligan,  gave  bond  March  25,  1845. 

1847 — Benjamin  Robinson. 

1848 — Benjamin  Robinson,  gave  bond  August  21,  1848. 

1849-50 — Benjamin  Robinson,  gave  bond  April  12,  1849. 

185 1-2 — Charles  F.  Morris,  gave  bond  August  9,  1851. 


132  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

1853-5 — T.  M.  Parsons,  gave  bond  August,   1853. 

1856-7— T.  M.  Parsons. 

1858-9 — John  M.  Studdanl.  gave  bond  August  18.   1857. 

1 860-1— T.  R.  J.  Ellis. 

1862-3 — William   Butler. 

1863-4 — James  C.  Sterlin. 

1864-5 — Joseph   Martin. 

1866-7 — James  Semple. 

1868-73 — George  Presbury. 

1874-5 — John  C.  Duncan. 

1876-83 — Frank  Tustison. 

1884-91— M.  W.  Lilly. 

1894-7 — John  F.  Saunders. 

1898-1901 — G.  W.  Younkin. 

1902  to  date — C.  P.  Wagner. 

PROBATE    JUDGE. 

October  24.   1838— R.  S.  Searle. 

1840 — Henry  Rockafeller,  bond  October  21,  1840,  resigned  July   14.  1841. 
1841 — G.  L.  Coe,  bond  August  11,  1841. 
1847 — George  L.  Coe,  to  August  8,  1849. 
[849 — G.  W.  McCleary,  August  13,  1849  to  October  11,  1850. 
1850 — Merit  Jamison,  October  16,  1850  to  August,   1851. 
1  (  V>unty  court  organized  with  Wright  Williams  as  county  judge.) 

1  1  IUNTY    ASSESSOR. 

1837 — I.  H.  Rinearson. 

1838 — S.  S.  Gourley,  died. 

1839 — Daniel  Brewer,  bond  January   11,   1839. 

1839 — Andrew  J.   Bevins,   failed  to  qualify. 

[840 — Reuben  S.  Searle,  bond  January  4,  1840,  died  in  office. 

1840 — J.  W.  Isett,  bond  June  29,   1840. 

[840 — Levi  Thornton,  bond  October  12,   1840. 

•1841 — J.  S.  Rinearson,  bond  January  8,  1841. 

1841-43 — W.  H.  R.  Thomas,  bond  August  11,   1842. 

1843    T0    !845    TOWNSHIP    ASSESSORS. 

1845 — James  Helverson,  bond  September  8,  1845. 

1846 — Nathaniel  Prime,  bond  August  10,  1846. 

1847 — W.  H.  R.  Thomas,  bond  January  4,  1847. 

1848— W.  H.  R.  Thomas. 

1850 — Samuel  Smith,  bond  March  2.  1850. 

1851-53 — Samuel   K.   Helmick,  bond   March   2,    1851. 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  133 

1853 — TOWNSHIP    ASSESSORS    AGAIN. 
COLLECTOR. 


1837— W.  H.  Creighton. 
1839— Cavil  M.  McDaniel. 
1841— C.  M.  McDaniel. 
1842 — C.  M.  McDaniel. 
1842— W.  H.  R.  Thomas. 
1843— William  .'•  R-  Flack- 
1844— William  J.  R.  Flack. 
1845— William  j.  R.  Flack. 

SCHOOL    FUND    COMMISSIONERS. 

1847-52 — Oliver  Benton. 
1852 — Philip  Gore. 
1854 — Elias  Keach. 
1856-7 — O.  A.  Taylor. 

HOARD    OF    SUPERVISORS — 1837. 

Jeremiah  Smith,  William  Milligan,  John  Ronalds. 

BOARD    OF    COUNTY    COMMISSIONERS — 1838. 

William  I..  Toole,  William  Milligan,  P.   B.  Harrison. 

1839 
William  Milligan.  Wright  Williams.  Israel  L.  Clark,  Robert  Childers  (extra 
session  December  28,  1839). 

1840 
John  Deihl,  William  Milligan   (retired  October  29,   1840),  Wright  Williams, 
Robert  Childers. 

1841 
Wright  Williams,  Robert  Childers,  John   Deihl. 

1842 
Wright  Williams,  John  Deihl,  Robert   Childers    (retired  August    11,    1842), 
Spencer  Wilson  (August  11,  1842). 

COUNTY    COMMISSIONERS 1  843. 

Wright  Williams,  Spencer  Wilson,  John  Deihl. 

1844 
Wright  Williams  (retired  September  30,  1844),  Spencer  Wilson,  Merit  Jami- 
son, John  McGannon  (September  30,  1844). 

1845 
Merit  Jamison,  John  McGannon,  Henry  Rockafeller   (September  29,   1845). 


134  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

1846 
Merit   Jamison,  John  McGannon.   Henry    Rockafeller. 

1847 
Merit  Jamison,  John  McGannon  (  retired  August  16,  1847  ),  Henry  Rockafeller, 
James  G.  Hall   (August   16,  1847). 

1848 
James  G.  Hall,  Henry  Rockafeller  (retired  August  21,  1N48).  Merit  Jamison, 
Jared  H.  Trask  (August  21,  1848). 

1849 
James  G.  Hall,  Merit  Jamison   (retired),  Jared  H.  Trask   (retired),  Morton 
Brown   (August  20.   1849),  Leonard  Robinson   (August  20.   1849). 

1850 
James    G.    Hall    (retired),    Morton    Brown,    Leonard    Robinson     (retired), 
Thomas  Stoddard  (August  19,  1850).  John  \T.  McConnell  (August  19,  1850). 

1851 
Morton  Brown,  Thomas  Stoddard.  John  N.  McConnell. 

August  11,  185 1,  county  court  organized  with  Wright  Williams  as  county 
judge. 

BOARD   OF   SUPERVISORS — l86l. 

Samuel  Townsend,  Wapello;  Samuel  Reiner,  Columbus  City;  T.  M.  Parsons, 
Jefferson ;  S  .  C.  Curtis.  Grandview :  Robert  A.  White,  Union ;  Shakespeare 
McKee,  Oakland ;  C.  F.  Stauber,  Elm  Grove ;  G.  W.  Maxwell,  Eliot ;  Albert  Ellis, 
Marshall:  G.  H.  Crow.  Port  Louisa;  Henry  McClurkin,  Morning  Sun;  David 
Edmondson,  Concord. 

1862 

Samuel  Townsend,  John  Drake.  Wapello;  Thompson  Parsons.  Jefferson; 
Shakespeare  McKee.  Oakland  :  Henry  Beane,  Eliot :  Samuel  Reiner,  Joseph  L. 
Paschal,  Columbus  City ;  George  H.  Crow,  Port  Louisa  ;  T.  R.  J.  Ellis,  Marshall : 
Henry  J.  McCormick,  Elm  Grove:  J.  Livermore,  Concord;  Robert  A.  White, 
Union;  S.  C.  Curtis,  Grandview;  John  A.  Brown,  Morning  Sun. 

1863 

Robert  A.  White,  Union  ;  G.  H.  Crow,  Port  Louisa  ;  T.  R.  J.  Ellis,  Marshall :  IT. 
J.  McCormick,  Elm  Grove:  D.  P.  Curran,  Morning  Sun;  Cyril  Carpenter,  Oak- 
land :  John  Drake,  Wapello ;  F.  A.  Duncan,  Columbus  City ;  Enoch  Potter,  Jeffer- 
son;  Jacob  Kremer,  Eliot;  S.  C.  Curtis,  Grandview;  J.  Livermore,  Peter  Knott, 
Concord. 

1864 

F.  A.  Duncan.  Columbus  City;  John  Drake,  Wapello;  G.  H.  Crow,  Port 
Louisa;  Benjamin  Jennings,  Elm  Grove;  John  Hunter,  Concord;  James  Harman, 
Union;  Meredith  Hardesty,  George  S.  Nichols,  Marshall;  S.  C.  Curtis,  Grand- 
view;  C.  Carpenter,  Oakland:  D.  P.  Curran,  Morning  Sun:  Enoch  Potter,  Jeffer- 
son; Jacob  Kremer,  Eliot. 

1865 

C.  S.  Curtis.  Grandview;  G.  H.  Crow,  Port  Louisa;  Benjamin  Jennings,  Elm 
Grove:   Tames  Harman,  Union:  John  Hunter,  Concord;  C.  W.  Bras.  Jefferson; 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  135 

D.  P.  Curran,  Morning  Sun  ;  Thomas  Duryea,  W.  C.  Harrison,  Eliot;  H.  B.  Kirk- 
patrick,  Marshall ;  J.  M.  Robertson,  Columbus  City ;  J.  H.  Rollins,  Wapello;  C.  M. 
McDaniel,  H.  A.  Keyes,  Oakland. 

1866 
J.  M.  Robertson,  F.  A.  Duncan,  Columbus  City;  C.  W.  Bras,  Jefferson;  D.  P. 
Curran,  Morning  Sun ;  H.  A.  Keyes,  Oakland ;  J.  H.  Rollins,  Wapello ;  Robert 
Carson,  Union ;  G.  H.  Crow,  Port  Louisa ;  Benjamin  Jennings,  Elm  Grove ;  R.  F. 
Newell,  Concord ;  George  S.  Nichols,  Marshall ;  Philip  Wagner,  Grandview ; 
Eliot.     (No  one  from  Eliot  township  served  this  year.) 

1867 

G.  H.  Crow,  Port  Louisa ;  Robert  Carson,  Union ;  Benjamin  Jennings,  Elm 
Grove ;  George  S.  Nichols,  Marshall ;  Robert  F.  Newell,  Concord ;  Philip  Wagner, 
Grandview;  P.  D.  Bailey,  Eliot:  H.  C.  Blake,  Morning  Sun;  J.  Q.  Buffington, 
Columbus  City ;  John  Deihl.  Wapello ;  R.  S.  Strong,  Jefferson ;  H.  A.  Keyes, 
Oakland. 

1868 

Benjamin  Jennings,  Elm  Grove ;  H.  C.  Blake,  Morning  Sun ;  J.  Q.  Buffington. 
Columbus  City ;  John  Deihl,  Wapello ;  H.  A.  Keyes,  Oakland ;  R.  S.  Strong,  Jef- 
ferson;  Robert  Carson,  Union;  S.  C.  Curtis,  Jas.  R.  Letts,  Grandview.  (Re- 
moved from  township,  J.  R .  Letts  appointed  to  fill  vacancy)  ;  F.  F.  Kiner, 
Marshall :  S.  A.  McDaniel,  Concord  ;  Levi  Stephen,  Port  Louisa ;  P.  D.  Bailey, 
Eliot. 

1869 

Benjamin  Jennings,  Elm  Grove  ;  Robert  Carson,  Union  ;  F.  F.  Kiner,  Marshall ; 
Levi  Stephen,  Port  Louisa ;  P.  D.  Bailey,  Eliot ;  A.  Gamble,  Columbus  City ;  John 
Hunter,  Concord ;  H.  A.  Keyes,  Oakland  ;  S.  Jamison,  Wapello ;  H-  M.  Ochil- 
tree, Morning  Sun  ;  H.  J.  N.  Parsons.  Jefferson ;  Philip  Wagner,  Grandview. 

1870 
Andrew  Gamble,  Columbus  City ;  P.  D.  Bailey,  Eliot ;  S.  Jamison,  Wapello ; 
H.  A.  Keyes,  Oakland  ;  H.  M.  Ochiltree,  Morning  Sun ;  H.  J.  N.  Parsons,  Jeffer- 
son ;  G.  H.  Crow,  Port  Louisa ;  Barton  Garrett,  Concord ;  J.  C.  Riley,  Elm  Grove ; 
S.  N.  Spurgeon,  Union  ;  Philip  Wagner,  Grandview ;  John  Sloan,  Marshall. 

1871 
Andrew  Gamble,  Columbus  City ;  N.  M.    Letts,    Grandview ;    W.    P.    Smith, 
Wapello. 

1872 
Andrew  Gamble,  Columbus  City ;  N.  M.  Letts,  Grandview ;  P.  D.  Bailey,  Eliot. 

1873 
Andrew  Gamble,  Columbus  City:  N.  M.  Letts,  Grandview;  P.  D.  Bailey,  Eliot. 

1874 
Andrew   Gamble.   Columbus   City :   P.    D.    Bailey,   Eliot ;  Robert   F.   Newell, 
Concord. 

187S 
P.  D.  Bailey,  Eliot ;  R.  F.  Newell,  Concord ;  Cyril  Carpenter,  Oakland. 


136  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

1876 
R.  F,  Newell,  Concord;  C.  Carpenter,  Oakland;  E.  F.  Smith,  Morning  Sun. 

1877 
Cyril  Carpenter,  Oakland;  E.  F.  Smith,  Morning  Sun;  B.  F.  Coe,  Elm  drove. 

1878 
Cyril  Carpenter.  Oakland;  I'..  F.  Coe,  Elm  Grove;  T.  M.   Parsons,   Jefferson. 

1879 
C.  Carpenter,  Oakland;  P.  F.  Coe,  Elm  Grove;  T.  M.  Parsons,  Jefferson. 

1880 
C.   Carpenter,   Oakland;   T.    M.    Parsons,    feft'erson;   R.   T.    Tones,   Columbus 
City. 

1881 
T.  M.   Parsons,  R.  T.  Jones.  Barton  Garrett. 

1882 
R.  T.  Jones,  Barton  Garrett,  T.  M.  Parsons. 

1883 
Barton  Garrett,  T.  M.  Parsons,  R.  T.  Jones. 

1884 
T.  M.  Parsons,  R.  T.  Jones,   Barton  Garrett. 

1885 
R.  T.  Jones,  Barton  Garrett,  S.  F.  Small. 

1886 
Barton  Garrett,  S.  F.  Small,  II.  M.  Letts. 

1887 
S.  F.  Small.  II.  M.  Letts,  Barton  Garrett. 

1888 
II.  M.  Letts,   Barton  Garrett,  S.  F.  Small. 

1889 
Barton  Garrett,  S.   F.  Small,   II.  M.  Letts. 

1890 
S.  F.  Small,  H.  M.  Letts.  Thomas  Newell. 

1891 
H.  M.  Letts,  Thomas  Newell,  T.  M.   Parsons. 

1892 
Thomas  Newell,  T.  M.  Parsons,  F.   J.  Moore. 

r893 

1.  M.   Parsons,  F,  J.  Moore,  Jacob  Lieberknecht. 

1894 

F.  J.    Moore.  Jacob   Lieberknecht,   Isaiah    Downs. 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  137 

1895 
Jacob  Lieberknecht,  Isaiah  Downs,  F.  J.  Moore. 

1896 
Isaiah  Downs,  F.  J.   Moore,  Jacob  Lieberknecht. 

1897 
F.  J.  Moore,  Jacob  Lieberknecht.  Isaiah  Downs. 

1898 
Jacob  Lieberknecht,  Isaiah  Downs,  J.  Cal  Duncan. 

1899 
Isaiah  Downs.  J.  Cal  Duncan,  J.  Lieberknecht. 

1900 
J.  Cal  Duncan,  J.  Lieberknecht,  Isaiah  Downs. 

1901 
J.  Lieberknecht.  Isaiah  Downs,  J.  Cal  Duncan. 

1902 
Isaiah  Downs,  J.  Cal    Duncan,  J.  Lieberknecht. 

1903 
J.  Cal  Duncan.  J.  Lieberknecht,  George  R.  Deihl. 

1904 
J.  Lieberknecht  (died),  George  R.  Deihl,  J.  Cal  Duncan,  William  Wilson  (to 
fill  vacancy). 

1905 
George  R.  Deihl,  J.  Cal  Duncan,  William  Wilson. 

1906 
George  R.  Deihl,  William  Wilson.  J.  Cal  Duncan. 

1907 
William  Wilson,  D.  W.  V.  Herrick,  R.  S.  Johnston. 

1908 
William  Wilson,  R.  S.  Johnston,  D.  W.  V.  Herrick. 

1909 
D.  W.  V.  Herrick,  R.  S.  Johnston,  O.  C.  Farmer. 

1910 

R.  S.  Johnston,  O.  C.  Farmer,  S.  F.  Wilson. 

1911 
O.  C.  Farmer.  S.  F.  Wilson,  R.  S.  Johnston. 

DRAINAGE    COMMISSIONER. 

1853 — Thomas  Stoddard,  elected  April  4,   1853. 
1857 — Alexander  Ross. 
i860— H.  C.   Blake. 


138  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

COUNTY    ROAD   SUPERVISOR. 

1851 — Samuel  McCullough,  elected  August  6,  1851. 

INSPECTOR    OF    WEIGHTS    AND    MEASURES. 

1846 — E.  B.  Isett,  elected  August  3.  1846. 
1847 — E.  B.  Isett,  elected  August  2,  1847. 


TERRITORIAL  LEGISLATURE. 

COUNCIL. 

1838-40 — James  M.  Clark.  First  and  Second  (Muscatine,  Louisa  and 
Slaughter). 

1840-44 — Francis  Springer,  Third,  Fourth,  Fifth  and  Sixth  (Louisa  and 
Washington). 

1845-46 — Enoch  Ross,  of  Washington  county.  Seventh  and  Eighth  (Louisa 
and  Washington). 

HOUSE   OF   REPRESENTATIVES. 

November  12,  1838,  to  January  25,  1839 — William  L.  Toole,  Levi  Thornton, 
John  Frierson,  S.  C.  Hastings,  First  (Represented  Muscatine,  Louisa  and  Slaugh- 
ter counties). 

November  4,  1839,  to  January  17,  1846 — Daniel  Brewer,  Jacob  Mintun,  Sec- 
ond (Louisa  and  Washington). 

November  2,  1840,  to  January  15,  1841 — William  L.  Toole.  Third. 

December  6,   1841.  to  February   18,  1842 — William  L.  Toole,  Fourth. 

December  5,  1842,  to  February  17,  1843 — Joseph  Newell,  Fifth. 

December  4,   1843,  t0  February  16,   1844 — George  W.  McCleary,  Sixth. 

May  5.  1845,  to  June  11,  1845 — George  W.  McCleary,  Seventh. 

December  1,  1845,  to  January  19,  1846 — George  W.  McCleary,  Eighth. 

From  only  partial  returns  of  the  election  in  August,  1846,  we  infer  that 
Andrew  Kendall,  of  Grandview,  was  elected  representative,  over  Dr.  J.  M.  Rob- 
ertson. As  Iowa  became  a  state  in  December,  1846,  this  election  was  rendered 
nugatory. 

STATE  LEGISLATURE. 

SENATE. 

1846-49 — Francis  Springer,  First,  First  Extra  and  Second. 
■850-53 — Norman  Everson,  Third  and  Fourth. 
1854-57— H.  T.  Cleaver,  Fifth.  Fifth  Extra  and  Sixth. 
1858-60 — Samuel  Reiner,   Seventh  and  Eighth. 
1862-64 — James  S.  Hurley,  Ninth.  Ninth  Extra  and  Tenth. 
1864-68 — James  M.  Robertson,   Eleventh  and  Twelfth. 
1870-72 — James  S.  Hurley,  Thirteenth  and  Fourteenth. 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  139 

1874 — Joseph  D.  Miles,  Fifteenth. 

1876-78 — William   Wilson,   Sixteenth  and   Seventeenth. 

1880-82 — John  W.   Prizer,  Eighteenth  and  Nineteenth. 

1884-86 — Francis  A.  Duncan,  Thirteenth,  Fourteenth,  Twentieth  and  Twenty- 
first. 

1888 — S.  T.  Chesebro,  Twenty-second. 

1890-92 — John   M.   Gobble,  Twenty-third  and  Twenty-fourth. 

1894-96 — C.  A.  Carpenter,  Twenty-fifth,  Twenty-sixth  and  Twenty-sixth 
Extra. 

1898-1900 — George  M.  Titus,  Twenty-seventh  and  Twenty-eighth. 

1902-04-06 — F.    M.    Molsberry,   Twenty-ninth,   Thirtieth   and   Thirty-first. 

1907-09 — Jay  I.  Nichols.  Thirty-second,  Thirty-second  Extra  and  Thirty- 
third. 

191 1 — Alexander  M.  Garrett,  Thirty-fourth. 

The  following  senators  of  the  above  list  resided  in  Washington  county :  Sen- 
ators Everson,  Miles,  Wilson  and  Prizer.  The  following  resided  in  Muscatine 
county :  Senators  Chesebro,  Gobble,  Titus  and  Nichols.  Those  interested  in 
the  matter  can  find  when  the  various  senatorial  districts  were  changed  by  refer- 
ence to  the  table  in  the  appendix,  showing  the  various  charters,  laws,  etc. 

MEMBERS   OF    HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES. 

Wright  Williams,  First,  First  Extra  and  Second. 

Andrew  Gamble,  Third. 

John  Cleaves,  Fourth. 

Micajah  Reeder,  Fourth. 

John  C.  Lockwood.  Fifth. 

Lewis  Kinsey,  Fifth  Extra. 

N.  W.  Burris,  Sixth. 

Andrew  J.  Kirkpatrick,  Sixth. 

Royal  Prentiss,  Seventh. 

D.  X.  Sprague,  Seventh. 

John  H.  Williamson,  Eighth  and  Eighth  Extra. 

John  Cleaves,  Ninth  and  Ninth  Extra. 

Enoch  Potter,  Tenth. 

N.  T.  Brown,  Eleventh. 

Albert  Ellis,  Twelfth. 

George  D.  Harrison,  Thirteenth. 

Francis  A.  Duncan,  Fourteenth. 

Benjamin  Jennings,  Fifteenth. 

Robert  E.  Benton,  Sixteenth. 

George  Jamison,  Seventeenth. 

William  A.  Colton,  Eighteenth.  , 

Francis  A.  Duncan,  Nineteenth. 

Oliver  H.  P.  Linn,  Twentieth. 

L.  A.  Riley,  Twenty-first  and  Twenty-Second. 

J.  F.  Holiday,  Twenty-third  and  Twenty-fourth. 

Harry  O.  Weaver.  Twenty-fifth,  Twenty-sixth  and  Twenty-sixth  Extra. 


140  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

Hilton  M.  Letts,  Twenty-seventh  and  Twenty-eighth. 

E.  L.   McClurkin,  Twenty-ninth,  Thirtieth  and  Thirty-first. 

Robert    L  Reaney,  Thirty-second,  Thirty-second   Extra  and   Thirty-third. 

James  M.  Brockway,  Thirty-fourth. 

G.  H.  Crow  was  elected  in  1866,  on  account  of  the  death  of  X.  T.  Brown, 
but  did  not  serve. 

Andrew  |.  Kirkpatrick  resided  in  Washington  county  and  represented  what 
was  called  a  floating  district  composed  of  Washington  and  Louisa  counties. 
This  floating  district  was  changed  and  Des  .Moines  and  Louisa  counties  were 
made  a  floating  district  and  D.  X.  Sprague,  residing  in  Louisa  county  was  a 
representative  of  the  floating  district  composed  of  Des  Moines  and  Louisa 
counties. 

LOUISA    COUNTY    MEMBERS   OF    CONSTITUTIONAL    CONVENTIONS. 

Convention  of  1N44 — John  W.  Brookbank,  William  L.  Toole.  Wright  Wil- 
liams. 

Convention  of   1846 — John  Ronalds. 

Convention  of   1857 — Francis   Springer,  chosen  president. 

Other  offices  held  by  Louisa  county  citizens: 

lames  M.  Clark.  President  Legislative  Council.  Extra  Session,  2nd  Ter. 
Assembly,  1840. 

Francis  Springer,  President  Pro  Tern  Sixth  Legislative  Council,  on  account 
of  failure  to  elect  a  president,  he  presided  from  Dec.  4.  1843,  to  Jan-   [I>   l!^->4- 

George  W.   McCleary,  Speaker  of  the   House.   Eighth  Legislative  Assembly, 

1845-6. 

George  W.  McCleary,  Secretary  of  State,  from  Dec.  2.  1850.  to  Dec.  I, 
1856.  (After  his  election  in  1850  Mr.  McCleary  became  a  resident  of  Johnson 
county. ) 

GUBERNATORIAL    APPOINTMENTS    TO   OFFICE    OF    PERSONS    IN    LOUISA    COUNTY. 

Dec.  8,   1836— Samuel   Smith.  Sheriff. 

Dec.  8.   1836 — William  Milligan,  Justice  of  the   Peace. 

Dec.  X,   [836 — Christopher  Shuck.  Justice  of  the  Peace. 

Dec.  8,   1836 — Isaac   Rinearson,  Justice  of  the  Peace. 

Dec.  8,   1836 — William  L.  Toole,  Justice  of  the  Peace. 

Nov.  25,    1837 — Seratus   C.    Hastings,    District    Attorney. 

Jan.  15.  1838 — James  G.  Hall.  Justice  of  the   Peace. 

Ian.    15,   1838 — Zadock  C.   Inghram,  Justice  of  the  Peace. 

Jan.   15.    183S — John   Reynolds,  Justice  of  the  Peace. 

Jan.   15,    1838 — William  Kennedy,  Justice  of  the  Peace. 

Jan.    15,   1838 — Isaac   Parsons.  Justice  of  the  Peace. 

[John  Reynolds  should  he  [ohn  Ronalds,  and  Inghram's  first  name  should 
be  spelled  Zadok.] 

Jan.  19,  1838 — Seratus  [Serranus]  C.  Hastings,  District  Attorney  for  Louisa 
County. 

All  the  foregoing  appointments  were  made  by  Gov.  Henry  Dodge  of  Wisconsin. 
Ian.    16,   183c) — Ruben   S.   Searls,  Judge  of  Probate. 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  141 

Jan.   16,   1839 — Cavil  M.  McDaniel,  Sheriff. 

Jan.  18,  1839 — Fourteen  Justices  of  the  Peace,  as  follows:  William  Milli- 
gan,  John  Gilliland,  John  Ronalds,  Jacob  Mintun,  Maxmillian  Eastwoods,  Isaac 
Parsons,  Samuel  Woodside,  Truman  S.  Clark,  Joseph  Crane,  George  Humphrey, 
William  Fowler,  Thomas  Stodard,  Hiram  Smith,  Christopher  Shuck. 

Jan.  19,  1839 — John  Ronalds,  Colonel  1st  Brigade,  2nd  Division.  1st  Regi- 
ment; Z.  C.  Inghram,  Lieutenant  Colonel,  1st  Brigade,  2nd  Division,  1st  Regi- 
ment; Robert  Childers,   Major.   1st   Brigade,  2nd  Division,   1st   Regiment. 

Jan.  13,  1841 — John  Rinearson,  Captain  Wapello  Cavalry,  in  place  of  M. 
Wilson,  resigned. 

— ,    1842 — Edward   II.   Thomas,   District  Attorney   for   Second   District. 

Lewis  Kinsey  appointed  Clerk  of  the  Supreme  Court,  Nov.  3,  1856.  Re- 
appointed Jan.    12,    i860,  served  until  January  7,    1867. 

Arthur  Springer,  member  of  the  Educational  Commission  to  Revise  the 
School  Laws,  appointed  in  December,   1907. 


FEDERAL    APPOINTMENTS. 

Francis  Springer,  was  Postoffice  Inspector,  Register  of  the  Land  office  at 
Fairfield,  and  Internal  Revenue  Collector.  For  dates  see  sketch  in  chapter  of 
Personal  Mention,  in  this  volume. 

Harry  O.  Weaver,  is  at  present  Revenue  Collector.  See  his  sketch  in 
Biographical  Volume. 


CONGRESSIONAL  DISTRICTS  AND  REPRESENTATIVES. 

TWENTY-NINTH    CONGRESS,    1846-47. 

The  state  was  not  yet  districted,  and  S.  C.  Hastings,  of  Muscatine,  and 
Shepherd  Leffler,  of  Burlington,  both  represented  the  entire  state. 

THIRTIETH    CONGRESS,    1 847-49. 

On  February  22,  1847,  the  legislature  divided  the  state  into  two  districts, 
and  Louisa  county  was  put  in  the  second  district,  comprising  the  counties  of 
Des  Moines,  Louisa,  Washington,  Muscatine,  Scott,  Clinton,  Cedar,  Johnson, 
Iowa  and  Poweshiek,  and  all  the  rest  of  the  state  north  of  a  line  drawn  through 
the  northern  boundary  of  Polk  county. 

Shepherd  Leffler  represented  the  second  district  in  the  thirtieth  congress. 

THIRTY-FIRST    CONGRESS,    1 849-5  I. 

On  January  24,  1848,  the  legislature  passed  an  act  changing  the  districts 
by  taking  Poweshiek  from  the  second  district  and  putting  it  in  the  first.  Shep- 
herd Leffler  represented  the  second  district  in  the  thirty-first  congress. 


142  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

THIRTY-SECOND    CONGRESS,    1 85 1 -53. 

Second  district  represented  in  this  congress  by  Lincoln  Clark,  of  Dubuque. 

THIRTY-THIRD    CONGRESS,     1853-55. 

Second  district  represented  in  this  congress  by  John  P.  Cook,  of  Davenport. 

THIRTY-FOURTH    CONGRESS,    1855-57. 

Second  district   represented  by  James   Thorington,   of   Davenport. 
January  28,    1857,  the  legislature   transferred  the  counties   of   Des    Moines, 
Louisa  and  Washington  from  the  second  to  the  first  district. 

THIRTY-FIFTH    CONGRESS,    1 857-59. 

First   district  represented   by    Samuel   R.   Curtis,   of  Keokuk. 

THIRTY-SIXTH    CONGRESS,    1859-61 

First  district  represented  by  Samuel  R.  Curtis. 

THIRTY-SEVENTH    CONGRESS,    1861-63. 

First  represented  at  first  session  by  Samuel  R.  Curtis,  who  resigned  to 
accept  commission  as  brigadier  general. 

James  F.  Wilson,  of  Fairfield,  was  elected,  October  8,  1861,  to  fill  the 
vacancy,  and  represented  the  district  at  the  second  and  third  sessions  of  this 
congress. 

THIRTY-EIGHTH    CONGRESS,    1 863-65. 

April  8,  1862,  the  state  having  become  entitled  to  six  members  of  congress, 
a  radical  change  was  necessary,  and  Louisa  county  was  left  in  the  first  district. 
but  the  district  was  composed  of  the  counties  of  Lee,  Des  Moines,  Henry. 
Jefferson,   Louisa,  Davis,  Van  Buren  and  Washington. 

Thirty-ninth   Congress,    1865-67 — James    F.    Wilson. 

Fortieth   Congress,    1867-69 — James   F.   Wilson. 

Forty-first  Congress,   1869-71 — George  W.  McCrary,  of   Keokuk. 

Forty-second  Congress.   1871-73 — George  W.   McCrary. 

FORTY-THIRD    CONGRESS,     1 872-73. 

April  17,  1872,  the  state  became  entitled  to  nine  members  of  congress,  and 
in  the  reapportionment  Davis  county  was  transferred  to  the  sixth  district,  leav- 
ing the  first  district  with  the  seven  counties  which  it  has  had  ever  since.  (Gen- 
eral J.  P..  Weaver  was  then  looming  up  as  a  probable  successor  of  McCrary, 
and  it  was  to  dispose  of  him  that  John  H.  Gear  had  Davis  county  taken  out  of 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  143 

the  first  district.     At  that,  General  Weaver  got  to  congress  eight  years  before 
Gear). 

George  W.  McCrary  represented  the  first  district  in  the  forty-third  congress. 

Forty-fourth    Congress,    1875-77 — George   W.    McCrary. 

Forty-fifth  Congress,  1877-79 — Dr.  Joseph  C.  Stone,  Burlington. 

Forty-sixth   Congress,    1879-81 — Moses  A.    McCoid,    Fairfield. 

Forty-seventh   Congress,    1881-83 — Moses   A.    McCoid,   Fairfield. 

Forty-eighth  Congress,  1883-85 — Moses  A.  McCoid,  Fairfield. 

Forty-ninth   Congress,    1885-87 — Benton   J.    Hall,    Burlington. 

Fiftieth   Congress,   1887-89 — John  H.  Gear,  Burlington. 

Fifty-first  Congress,   1889-91 — John  H.   Gear,  Burlington. 

Fifty-second   Congress,   1891-93 — John  J.   Seerley,  Burlington. 

Fifty-third   Congress,   1893-95 — Jonn   H.   Gear,  Burlington. 

Fifty-fourth   Congress,    1895-97 — Samuel  M.   Clark,   Keokuk. 

Fifty-fifth   Congress,   1897-99 — Samuel   M.   Clark,   Keokuk. 

Fifty-sixth   Congress,    1899-1901 — Thomas  Hedge,   Burlington. 

Fifty-seventh  Congress,   1901-03 — Thomas   Hedge,   Burlington. 

Fifty-eighth  Congress,    1903-05 — Thomas  Hedge,   Burlington. 

Fifty-ninth  Congress,   1905-07 — Thomas  Hedge,   Burlington. 

Sixtieth   Congress,    1907-09 — Charles  A.   Kennedy,   Montrose. 

Sixty-first  Congress,  1909-11 — Charles  A.   Kennedy,  Montrose. 

Sixty-second  Congress,   1911-13 — Charles  A.   Kennedy,  Montrose. 


CHAPTER  XI. 
COUNTY  FINANCES  AND  TAXES. 

INCREASE   IN  TAXES — LOCAL  GOVERNMENT — STATISTICS  FROM    TREASURER'S   REPORTS 
AND  TAX   LISTS — SWAMP  LANDS   AND  DRAINAGE. 

Local  government  is  an  interesting  study  in  itself,  and  one  to  which  the 
sovereigns  and  tax-payers  ought  to  devote,  occasionally  at  least,  a  few  moments 
of  silent,  prayerful,  and,  where  possible,  intelligent  consideration.  This  con- 
sideration ought  to  be  approached  with  a  feeling  composed  of  three  parts  of 
patriotism,  or  public  spirit,  to  one  part  of  selfishness,  and  one  of  economy. 
With  many  individuals  parsimony  would  be  the  more  appropriate  word,  but 
economy  sounds  better.  If  this  problem  is  approached  in  the  proper  spirit,  wc 
will  perhaps  all  agree  that  the  people  ought  to  have  the  best  and  most  efficient 
local  government  which  their  necessities  demand  and  their  circumstances  justify, 
and  that  this  government  should  be  obtained  as  economically  as  possible.  It 
is  not  meant  by  this  that  we  should  have  the  cheapest  government,  regardless 
of  quality :  but  that  we  should  get  the  very  best  government  at  the  least  cost. 
Most  people  will  agree  to  this  in  the  abstract,  but  will  take  neither  thought  nor 
pains  to  put  it  in  force.  Perhaps  a  study  of  the  county  finances  will  bring  this 
matter  more  closely  home  to  the  people,  because  their  pocket-books  are  affected. 
It  is  with  this  thought  that  we  have  been  induced  to  depart  somewhat  from 
the  beaten  path  of  county  histories,  by  collecting  information  drawn  from  our 
tax  levies  and  expense  registers.  It  may  be  interesting,  if  not  a  little  startling, 
to  learn  that  less  than  forty  years  ago  when  we  had  in  the  county  practically 
the  same  population  as  we  have  now  (to  be  exact,  just  22  more),  our  total  tax 
list  for  all  purposes,  including  state,  county,  school,  municipal  and  road,  amounted 
to  $84,129.36,  while  for  the  past  year  of  grace  it  was  $208,175.49.  Of  the  tax 
levied  in  1873,  $14,078.15  was  Air  Line  Railroad  tax,  which,  for  purposes  of 
comparison  should  be  deducted,  and  this  would  show  an  increase  of  $137,000 
in  the  current  taxes  of  the  county  in  less  than  forty  years  with  the  same  num- 
ber of  people.  The  mere  fact  of  this  enormous  increase  does  not  of  itself  indi- 
cate that  the  local  government  we  are  getting  now  is  not  worth  what  it  costs 
us,  but  it  ought  to  serve  to  put  us  upon  inquiry,  and  to  cause  us  to  study  the 
conditions  now  existing  and  to  see  where,  if  at  all,  savings  can  be  made.  It 
would  be  a  difficult  matter  to  make  those  who  are  familiar  with  affairs  as 
they  existed  forty  years  ago,  and  as  they  exist  today,  believe  that  our  local 
government  is  worth  three  times  as  much  to  us  now  as  it  was  then. 

Our  school  tax  in  that  time  has  grown  from  about  $35,000.00  to  $78,000.00, 
though  it  is  as  certain  as  it  is  lamentable,  that  the  schools  on  the  average  are 

145 


146  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

not  a  penny's  worth  better  than  they  were  then,  and  in  most  cases  are  of  less 
practical  value.  But  in  this,  as  in  other  cases  of  governmental  imperfections, 
we  may  console  ourselves  with  the  thought  that  the  people  rule,  and  that  they 
really  are  not  entitled  to  any  better  or  more  economical  school  system  than  they 
want,  and  that  the  people  of  this  state  have  recently  been  quite  pronounced  in 
their  adherence  to  a  system  which  puts  ten  million  dollars  a  year  and  the  edu- 
cational chances  of  a  half  million  children  in  the  keeping  of  an  unorganized  and 
uncaptained  army  of  forty  thousand  school  officials,  none  of  whom  are  re- 
quired to  have,  and  most  of  whom  do  not  have,  any  special  qualifications  for 
such  work.  We  have  in  this  county  a  superintendent  of  common  schools,  it  is 
true,  but  the  law  practically  limits  his  power  to  visiting  schools  and  scolding 
school  Ma'ms,  while  the  real  control  of  school  affairs  is  exercised  by  244  officials 
in  about  fifty-seven  different  ways. 

Tf  this  be  a  wise  and  logical  system  in  regard  to  our  school  affairs,  why  not 
turn  our  general  county  affairs  over  to  the  management  of  244  men? 

It  is  proper  to  observe  also,  that  the  greater  part  of  this  increase  of  $137,000 
in  our  total  county  tax  list  from  1873  to  1910,  is  not,  as  many  fondly  believe, 
due  to  the  increase  in  state  taxes.  The  state  tax  levy  in  Louisa  county  during 
the  period  above  mentioned,  has  only  increased  $9,025.32.  thus  leaving  $128,000 
of  this  increase  to  be  accounted  for  in  some  other  way. 

It  would  also  be  interesting  to  know  just  how  manv  thousands  of  dollars 
have  been  expended,  or  rather  wasted,  in  the  payment  of  road  taxes  in  this 
county  during  the  seventy-five  years  of  its  existence.  We  are  now  paying 
$17,000.00  a  year  for  the  privilege  of  using  the  roads  in  dry  weather, — a  privi- 
lege which  we  would  have,  if  we  only  paid  enough  road  tax  to  keep  up  the  few 
bridges  which  are  not  cared  for  out  of  the  County  Bridge  fund. 

Another  subject  worthy  of  attention  is  as  to  the  number  of  our  county 
officials.  It  is  not  long  since  a  leading  business  man  of  the  county  remarked 
that  the  county  business  could  be  done  by  two  competent  officials,  each  with  a 
competent  deputy,  fully  as  well  as  it  is  now  done,  and  at  a  considerable  saving. 
He  instanced  the  fact  that  there  were  several  banks  in  the  county,  which  each 
did  a  much  larger  amount  and  volume  of  business  in  a  year  than  the  county 
business  amounts  to.  Perhaps  if  he  had  known  that  it  has  cost  the  county 
over  $1,700.00  in  the  past  six  years,  and  $600.00  in  the  past  year  to  investigate 
its  county  officials,  he  would  have  been  strengthened  in  his  opinion.  It  is  hard 
to  escape  the  conclusion  that  if  this  expenditure  was  necessary,  the  system 
which  makes  it  so,  is  wrong;  and  of  course,  if  it  is  unnecessary,  the  wrong  lies 
in  the  expenditure  itself. 

In  the  early  years,  when  the  sheriff's  office  was  not  a  very  lucrative  posi- 
tion, he  was  made  county  assessor.  Now,  the  sheriff  has  the  least  to  do  of  any 
of  our  salaried  officials,  and  gets  much  the  best  pay,  while  our  assessments  in 
the  county  are  made  by  nineteen  different  assessors  in  nineteen  different  ways. 

It  goes  without  saying  that  these  suggestions  will  not  be  popular  in  some 
quarters;  and  it  may  be  that  they  are  too  radical.  They  will  accomplish  their 
purpose  if  they  set  even  a  few  people  to  studying  these  matters  for  themselves. 

As  we  have  already  seen,  the  first  body  which  had  charge  of  our  county 
affairs  was  the  Board  of  Supervisors,  but  its  powers  were  somewhat  limited. 
Our    next    governing    body,    so    to    speak,    was    the    Board    of    County    Com- 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  147 

missioners  or  as  it  was  sometimes  called,  Commissioners'  Court,  con- 
sisting of  three  members.  This  Board  of  Commissioners  held  sway  from 
1838  to  1 85 1.  At  that  time  the  people  of  the  state  seemed  to  have  become 
dissatisfied  with  the  county  government  as  administered  by  three  commissioners, 
and  when  the  laws  were  revised  provision  was  made  in  the  Code  of  1851  for  a 
County  Judge.  The  County  Judge  was  made,  by  law,  the  accounting  officer 
and  general  agent  of  the  County  and  was  invested  with  the  powers  which  had 
been  exercised  by  the  three  commissioners  and  the  Probate  Judge.  This  County 
Court  continued  until  1861  when  another  change  was  made  by  which  the  affairs 
of  the  county  were  to  be  controlled  by  a  Board  of  Supervisors  consisting  of 
one  from  each  township ;  in  this  county  the  new  board,  therefore,  was  composed 
of  twelve  members. 

In  1870  another  change  was  made  by  which  we  went  back  to  the  system  of 
three  supervisors,  and  that  has  continued  to  the  present  time. 

In  these  days  when  so  much  is  being  said  about  referendum,  it  is  well  for 
us  to  remember  that  under  the  County  Judge  system  of  governing  county  affairs, 
provision  was  made  for  the  submission  of  a  great  many  questions  to  a  vote  of 
the  people.  There  was  also  provision  made  in  some  cases  for  an  appeal  to  be 
taken  from  the  decision  of  the  County  Judge  to  the  people  at  the  ballot  box ; 
this  right  was  exercised  in  one  case  at  least,  in  this  county,  in  regard  to  the 
Wapello  Ferry  franchise.  It  may  be  that  the  people  in  their  wisdom  will  some 
day  return  to  the  County  Judge  system,  or  to  something  of  that  kind.  In  this 
county  we  had  but  three  County  Judges,  the  first  was  Wright  Williams,  the 
next  Francis  Springer  and  the  last  Joseph  L.  Derbin.  Judge  P.  M.  Casady  of 
Des  Moines,  who  was  one  of  the  ablest  and  most  successful  of  our  Iowa  pioneers, 
in  an  article  upon  Judge  Springer  read  by  him  before  the  Pioneer  Law  Makers 
Association  in  1900,  referring  to  the  fact  that  Judge  Springer  had  been  County 
Judge  of  Louisa  county,  said :  "The  office  of  County  Judge  of  Louisa  county 
was  a  very  important  one.  At  the  time  Judge  Mason  was  County  Judge  of 
Des  Moines  county,  Judge  Johnstone  was  County  Judge  of  Lee  county,  three 
prominent  and  well  respected  men  having  charge  of  the  county  business  of 
their  respective  counties.  If  such  men  had  continued  in  office,  the  County 
Judge  system  would  not  have  become  unpopular." 

It  is  hard  to  form  a  judgment  from  the  history  of  Louisa  county,  as  to  which 
particular  system  would  be  the  best.  In  the  last  analysis,  it  probably  depends 
more  upon  the  men  who  hold  the  offices  and  who  are  entrusted  with  the  people's 
affairs,  than  it  does  upon  the  name  or  character  of  the  office  or  the  number  of 
officers.  In  this  respect  we  may  agree  with  Pope  as  expressed  in  the  latter  part 
of  the  following  lines: 

"For  modes  of  faith  let  graceless  zealots   fight, 
His  can't  be  wrong,  whose  life  is  in  the  right ; 
For  forms  of  government,  let  fools  contest. 
That  which  is  best  administered,  is  best." 

A  complete  list  of  all  our  county  officials  so  far  as  there  are  any  records 
to  show  of  their  existence,  will  be  found  in  the  preceding  chapter.  Something  of 
the  manner  in  which  they  have  transacted  the  county  business  at  various  times 


148  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

and  of  the  expenses  incurred  and  taxes  levied,  may  be  learned  from  the  following 
financial  items  which  we  have  taken  somewhat  at  random.  It  would  be  im- 
possible to  give  all  the  financial  transactions  of  the  county,  and  we  have  made 
no  special  selection  except  as  to  the  period  during  which  the  Air  Line  Railroad 
taxes  were  being  paid.  We  have  given  account  of  all  the  taxes  for  all  of  the 
years  during  which  that  tax  was  paid,  covering  the  period  from  1869  to  1879. 
The  items  for  this  period,  and  for  the  earlier  years,  are  given  because  of  their 
historic  interest ;  those  of  later  years  are  given  because  they  are  thought  to  be 
of  importance   from   an  economical,  as  well  as  a  historical   standpoint. 

The  first  financial  item  we  find  is  in  an  old  book  which  has  nothing  on  the 
outside,  or  on  the  fly  leaf  to  indicate  what  it  is.  but  which  appears  to  be  the 
beginning  of  a  sort  of  cash  account  of  Louisa  county.  The  first  item  is  dated 
May  15,  1837,  from  which  it  appears  that  the  county  received  $28.50  from 
William   II.   R.   Thomas. 

The  next  item  is  November  2d  of  the  same  year  and  shows  the  receipt  from 
William  II.  Creighton,  collector  of  the  county,  $380.  This  was  probably  from 
poll  taxes.  These  two  items  make  a  total  of  $408.50,  and  on  the  following 
page  and  one  or  two  subsequent  pages  appear  payments  made  out  of  this  fund. 
There  are  payments  of  sums  ranging  from  eighty-five  cents  to  $2.70.  to  the 
various  grand  jurors  and  petit  jurors,  also  payment  to  Samuel  Smith,  sheriff. 
of  $10  for  summoning  the  grand  jurors  and  $3  for  two  days'  attendance  on 
court.  This  payment  is  under  date  of  May  15,  1837.  Z.  C.  Inghram,  clerk, 
was  allowed  $10  for  stationery,  and  William  II.  R.  Thomas  was  allowed  $1.50 
for  two  days'   attendance  on  court. 

Under  date  of  November  2.  1837.  are  the  following  items  of  payment: 
William  H.  R.  Thomas,  deputy  sheriff,  $12.25;  Z.  C.  Inghram  as  judge  of 
election  one  day,  $r  :  J.  S.  Rinearson,  clerk  of  the  board,  $2;  I.  H.  Rinearson, 
$40,  as  assessor.  Then  there  are  payments  to  William  Milligan  of  $5  and  to 
Jeremiah  Smith  of  $5  and  to  William  Kennedy  of  $4.87.  The  payments  to 
Milligan  and  Smith  are  undoubtedly  for  their  services  as  members  of  the  board 
of  supervisors  and  the  payments  in  William  Kennedy  was  doubtless  for  his 
services  as  clerk  of  the  board  and  township  clerk. 

The  first  treasurer's  report  found  on  the  file  is  a  very  brief  document.  We 
quote  it  in  full:  "To  the  board  of  county  commissioners,  a  true  statement  of 
all  the  moneys  received  and  of  all  the  moneys  received  and  disbursed  by  me 
since  the  October  term  of  A.  D.,   1838. 

Received  into  the  county  treasury,  $82.15. 
Paid  out,  $7.50. 

April  the  3d,  A.  D.,   1839.  Hiram  Smith,   Treasurer. 

L.  C.  I.  T." 

On  the  files  is  a  paper  said  to  be  an  "exhibit  of  the  receipts  into  the  county 
treasury  of  Louisa  county  since  the  1st  of  January,  1839."  and  it  shows  receipts 
for  fines  and  for  licenses  from  stores,  groceries  and  ferries  up  to  January  6, 
1840,  of  $291.31  r4,  and  from  county  revenue  paid  in  as  per  treasurer's  receipt, 
$5°7-S7T/2,  a  total  of  $799.1834.  The  same  paper  also  gives  an  exhibit  of  the 
expenditures  of  the  county  since  the  rst  of  January,   1830.  as  follows: 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 


I  in 


To  cash  paid  County   Corns,   for   services  as   a   board   doing  County 

business    $  202.37JX 

To  cash  paid  clerk  of  District  Court  for  official  services,   furnishing 

stationery   for  his  office,  etc 169.00 

To  cash  paid  clerk  to  commissioners  board  for  official  services,   fur- 
nishing stationery   for  the  use  of  his  office,  etc 160.37 

To  cash  paid  Shff.  &  Deputies  for  official  services 186.83 

To  amt.  paid  Grand   and    Petit  Jurors    281.04 

To  amt.  paid  Judges  &  Clerks  of   Elections    42.00 

To  amt.  paid  Witnesses  for  attendance  before  District  Court,  etc ...  .  38.63  V2 

To  amt.  paid  Const,   in   attendance   before   court 15.00 

To  amt.  pd.  house  rent  for  holding  District  and  County  Courts....  76.00 

To  amt.  paid  prosecuting   Atty 47-69 

To  amt.  pd.  chn.  bearers  and  staker  in   surveying  out  Wapello 23.00 

To  amt.  paid  crier   of   court    9.00 

To  amt.  paid  justice    fees,   etc [5.80 

To  amt.  paid  assessor   of   taxes    57-50 

To  amt.  paid  corns,  surveyor  chn.  and  marker  for  surveying  territorial 

road,    etc 103.31 

To  amt.  paid  Recorder  for  Recording  Town  plat  clerking,  sale  of  lots 

in  Wapello,  etc 10.00 

County   roads,   etc 0.00 


$1434-55 


We  find  another  interesting  document  from  which  it  appears  that  the  poll 
taxes  in  those  days  were  fully  as  hard  to  pay  as  the  heavier  taxes  of  the  present 
time.  On  July  9,  1840,  C.  M.  McDaniel,  collector,  filed  a  schedule  of  the  de- 
linquents for  the  year  1839.     We  give  the  names  and  amounts: 


"Samuel   Chaney    $1.12 

W.   H.   Sheldon 1.00 

John  Fleming 1.00 

George  Emerson    1.00 

Robert   Knox    1.00 

James  Williams    1.00 

Alhanon   Sebriel  1.62^ 

Bishop   Stephens    i-32/<2 

Charles   Ristien    1.00 

John  Payton   1.02^ 

Jacob    Holbrook   1.00 

John  Alloway  r-32^ 

Benjamin    C.    Maxon 1.00 

Nathan   Blevins    1.00 

William   Mooney    1.00 

Joshua    Steam    56J4 

William  A.  Dexter 1.00 

Isaac   Johnson    1-74ZA 


Albert  Morgan   1.00 

Charles   Hill    r.65 

John    Swair    1.00 

Moses  H.  Reed 1.00 

John   Creighton    1.00 

Anthony   Thrasher    1.00 

John  McGowin 1.32 

R.  E.  Slaughter 1.00 

William  Bevins 1.00 

James    Majors    i.cjo 

G.  W.  Barr 1.91 

Alexander    Smith    1.10 

Fliphelet    Chapman    1.00 

Angelo  Driskell    3.73 

Halcom  Jonson    1.20 

Jacob  Wren    t  .  so 

Joshua  Adams    \  .00 

Samuel  Bartimus   1.00 


150  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

E.  A.   Badgers i.oo  Jarred   Lewis    i.oo 

Zachariah    Easton    i.oo  George   Faxon    i.oo 

Joseph  Jeffreis   i.oo  J.   W.   McClewain i.oo 

William    Hendrix    i.oo  John   Ecker   I-51/^ 

David    M.    Hanson 1.84^  A.    J.    Stark 2.55 

Jacob  Martin    1.00  Esquire   Boyers    1.50 

Thomas  Knopp    1.51 '  2  Lewis   Nicewonger    i-07^4 

Charles  Woodworth    1.00  J.  C.  Brown 1.00 

Loring  Hows    ^■2,2V-  Joseph    Bigger    2-I7//2 

Samuel    Buel    1.24  A.    Beard    I-°7% 

William   Mustien    1.74  William    H.    Gordon 1.00" 

Auston   Bond    1.00  Joseph  Coder    1.00 

We  have  given  the  spelling  in  the  above  schedule  where  we  could  make  it 
out.  There  are  a  number  of  mistakes  that  will  be  apparent  to  almost  any  one. 
The  name  given  in  the  schedule  as  Alhanon  Sebriel  may  have  been  intended 
for   Elhanon    Siverly. 

In  addition  to  the  foregoing  names  the  schedule  contains  the  list  of  taxes 
dlegally  assessed,  being  poll  taxes  assessed  against  persons  over  sixty  years  of 
age.  There  are  six  of  them  assessed  at  a  dollar  each,  namely:  Sylvanus  Cary, 
Aaron  Chamberlain.  Richard  Slaughter,  Elisha  Searl.  Abram  Adams.  Sr.  and 
John  Gilliland. 

The  first  tax  levy  was  made  by  the  board  of  county  commissioners  on  July  3, 
1839,  when  it  ordered  the  levy  of  a  tax  of  five  mills  on  the  dollar  and  a  poll 
tax  of  one  dollar  per  head  on  every  male  white  inhabitant  over  the  age  of  twenty- 
one.  On  August  1,  1840.  the  tax  levy  was  five  mills  on  property,  and  the  poll 
tax  seventy-five  cents  on  each  qualified  voter  under  fifty  years  of  age.  On  Jan- 
uary 6,   1841,  the  following  exhibit  of  the  county's  financial  affairs  was  made: 

"By  amt.  of  Receipts  into  the  Treasury  for  fines  assessed,  Store,  Groc- 
ery &  Ferry  Licenses   $224.19^2 

By  Amt.  of  Treasurer's  rect.  for  tax  assessed  for  1839   214.37^2 

By  Amt.   Revenue   in   part  of  the  Revenue  assessed   for    1840  as   per 

Treasurer's   rect 887.65 


$1326.22" 

The  Expenditures  of  the  County  in  the  above  period  are  as  follows,  to  wit: 

"To  Cash  paid  County  Corns,   for  services  as  a  Board  doing  County 

business    $178.50 

Cash  paid  Sheriff  for  official  services   249.68% 

Cash  pd.  Clk.  of  District  Court  for  official  services 200.74 

Cash  paid  Clk.  to  Coins.  Board  for  official  services 154.341/ 

Cash  paid   assessor   of   Taxable  property    121.00 

Cash   pd.    Grand   Jurors    422.68 

Cash    pd.    Petit    Jurors    66i.o8j4 

Cash  pd.  Judges  &  Clks.  of  Election   45-8o 

Cash   pd.    witness   before    District    Court    39-07 

Cash  pd.  Constables    69.00 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  151 

Cash  paid  Prosecutor   50.00 

Cash  paid  Crier  of  Court   18.00 

Cash  pd.  Road  Comr.  etc 161.37J4 

Cash  pd.  house  rents  for  Court  &  Jury   50.00 

Cash  for  books  &  stationery  for  the  various  officers  entitled  thereto.  .  54.50 

Cash  pd.  on  publick  buildings   &c 45-50 

Cash  for  furniture  for  Clks.  office   35-°o 

Cash  pd.    illegal   assessments    24.00 

Cash  expended  on   Co.  property    16.00 

Cash   pd.   Co.   Treasurer    1441 

Cash  for  Court  house  stove 48.25 

Justices    fees    1-2>1V2 

Furniture  for  Corns.  Clk 7.29^2" 

The  receipts  of  the  county  for  the  year  1842  were  $2,090.83}^,  nearly  all  of 
which  was  from  the  collector  on  the  assessment  roll  of  1841,  being  we  suppose 
on  the  tax  levy  of  1840.  We  note,  however,  that  there  was  paid  in  that  year 
for  grocery  license  $25  and  on  fines  for  breaches  of  the  peace,  $41,  and  a  few 
small  items  for  ferry  license,  etc. 

Among  the  assets  of  the  county  given  on  the  treasurer's  statement  for  1842 
are  the  following:  Promissory  notes  against  sundry  persons  considered  respon- 
sible, given  for  town  lots  in  the  county  seat  in  the  year  1839,  the  legality  of  the 
collection  of  which  is  a  question  now  pending  in  the  supreme  court  of  this  ter- 
ritory, such  notes  amounting  in  principal  and  interest  to  $2,038.57,  also  on  hand 
for  the  sale  of  lots  subsequent  to  said  sale  of  1839,  notes  against  sundry  persons 
amounting,  including  principal  and  interest,  to  $434.89.  Also  the  county  orders 
on  hand  taken  in  payment  for  county  lots  which  orders  the  county  holds  against 
the  treasury,  $681.05.  The  expenditures  of  the  county  are  given  at  $i04i-351/4 
as  follows : 

"To  amount   paid   to  Co.    Commissrs.    for  A.    D.    1842    $  102.00 

To  amount  paid  to  Clk.  of  Dis.  Court  for  services  in  civil  and  crim- 
inal cases,  stationery,  etc 27.63 

To  amount  paid  to  John  Gilliland  Clerk  of  the  Co.  Com.  Board  for 

services  as  clerk   for   1842    117.80% 

To  amount  paid  to  C.  M.  McDaniel  Sheriff  for  fees  in  certain  crim- 
inal and  civil  cases,  1842   99-Z7lA 

To  amount  paid  to  C.  M.  McDaniel  as  Collr.  for  1841   165.48 

To  amount  paid  to  Wm.  H.  R.  Thomas,  Assessor,  for  1842 75-00 

To  amount  paid  to  Appraisers  of  Town  property   IO-75 

To  amount  paid  to  Collector  for  money  collected  by  mistake  for  1842  4.00 
To  amount  paid  to  R.  P.  Lowe  as  prosecutor  for  the  years  1841  and 

1842    225.00 

To  amount  paid  to  Bailiffs  for  attendance  before  Dis.  Court  for  1842  30.42 

To  amount  paid  to  Sundry  persons  for  wolf  scalps  for  1842 67.00 

To  amount  paid  to  John  Drake  for  fuel  for  Court  Room .75 

To  amount  paid  to  Chas.  Ristine  for  furniture  for  office  of  Clk.  of  the 

Dist.  Court    10.00 


152  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

To  amount  paid  to  P.  Swigart  for  furniture  for  probate  court I5-00 

To  amount  paid  to  J.  S.  Rinearson  for  furniture  for  Recorder's  office  7.00 

To  amount  paid  to  Sundry  persons  for  illegal  assessments   19.82 

To  amount  paid  to  N.  I.  &  C.  M.  Ives  for  error  in  judgt.  in  their 

favor  against  County   48-07 

To  amount  paid  to  Alexr.  Finley  for  making  returns  of  election  ....  1.00 

To  amount  paid  to  Jacob  Mintum  for  services  as  Clerk  of  election.  ...  1 1.00 
To  amount  paid  to  J.  S.  Rinearson  for  stationery  for  Recorder's  office 

for   '42    6.8714- 

To  amount  paid  to  G.  F.  Thomas  for  stationery   for  '42    1.50 

To  amount  paid  to  Geo.  L.  Coe  for  hauling  lumber  &c 2.00 

To  amount  paid  to  J.  W.  &  E.  Isett  for  stationery  furnished  Clk  of 

Dis.  Court  for  1842   3-§7^ 


$1041.35%' 


The  case  referred  to  as  then  pending  in  the  supreme  court  was  a  case  of  James 
M.  Clark  against  John  O'Laughlin,  reported  in  1st  Morris  Reports,  Page  375. 
James  M.  Clark,  plaintiff,  was  the  commissioner  appointed  to  sell  the  town  lots 
in  Wapello  belonging  to  the  county.  The  case  was  originally  tried  in  June, 
[842,  in  the  Louisa  county  district  court  before  Judge  Joseph  Williams,  who 
rendered  judgment  for  the  defendant  on  an  agreed  statement  of  facts.  Edward 
H.  Thomas  and  Ralph  P.  Lowe  were  the  attorneys  for  the  plaintiff  and  Learned, 
Grimes  &  Wood,  of  Burlington,  were  the  attorneys  for  the  defendant.  The  suit 
was  on  two  promissory  notes  given  by  O'Laughlin  as  part  payment  for  certain 
town  lots  in  Wapello.  It  appears  that  Commissioner  Clark  gave  O'Laughlin 
a  bond  for  a  deed  reciting  the  sale  to  O'Laughlin  of  certain  town  lots  for  the 
sum  of  $318  and  acknowledging  receipt  of  one-eighth  of  the  money  and  the 
giving  of  three  notes  for  $92.75,  each  payable  in  six,  twelve  and  eighteen  months 
from  the  date  of  the  sale,  that  being  June  18,  1839.  The  bond  was  conditioned 
that  these  notes  be  paid  when  due,  then  on  payment  of  the  last  note  O'Laughlin 
should  have  a  deed  for  his  lots,  but  should  he  fail  to  pay  either  or  both  the  first 
two  notes  when  due,  he  should  pay  twenty  per  cent  on  the  money  due  until  it 
was  paid  and  should  he  fail  to  make  full  payment  of  all  the  notes  when  the 
last  one  became  due,  with  interest  as  aforesaid,  then  the  lots  should  revert  to 
the  county  and  the  purchaser  should  forfeit  what  he  had  paid  on  the  lots.  Suit 
was  on  the  first  two  notes.  The  matter  at  issue  is  thus  stated  by  the  supreme 
court :  "The  only  question  in  the  case  is  to  determine  the  legal  effect  of  this 
contract.  Had  the  defendant  the  right  to  forfeit  all  he  had  paid,  and  thus  exon- 
erate himself  from  further  liability;  or  was  the  enforcement  of  the  forfeiture 
left  to  the  option  of  the  plaintiff?  We  think  the  latter  is  clearly  the  case.  .  .  . 
The  defendant  gave  his  promissory  notes  absolute  on  their  face,  which,  by  the 
law  of  this  territory,  might  be  negotiated,  and  in  the  hands  of  an  assignee  would 
at  all  events,  have  been  collectible.  That  fact  of  itself  would  seem  sufficient,  in 
the  absence  of  contrary  proof,  to  show  that  the  defendant  intended  to  bind  him- 
self absolutelv  to  pay  the  money."  The  decision  of  Judge  W'illiams  was  reversed 
and  it  was  held  that  the  notes  given  for  the  Wapello  lots  at  the  sale  in  June,  1839, 


were  binding. 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  153 

It  seems  that  in  1844  there  was  trouble  about  the  collection  of  taxes,  for  at 
the  May  session  of  the  county  commissioners  in  that  year,  William  J.  R.  Flack, 
collector,  was  ordered  to  advertise  a  sale  of  land  for  unpaid  taxes  and  to  begin 
the  sale  on  June  27th.  However,  at  the  July  session  of  the  board  it  was  ordered 
that  Collector  Flack  have  until  the  1st  of  January,  1845,  to  collect  the  taxes  and 
that  he  offer  the  lands  of  delinquents  for  sale  on  the  second  Monday  of  De- 
cember. The  tax  levy  which  up  to  this  time  had  been  five  mills  each  year  on 
county  property,  was,  at  the  July  session  in  1844  made  four  mills  for  county  pur- 
poses, with  a  poll  tax  of  fifty  cents  on  each  male  person  over  twenty-one  years; 
and  a  road  tax  of  ten  cents  on  each  dollar  of  property  assessed,  and  a  territorial 
tax  of  a  half  mill  on  each  dollar. 

We  find  the  reports  of  Collector  Flack  for  these  tax  sales,  the  first  of  the 
kind  ever  held  in  the  county,  and  they  are  of  interest  for  that  reason.  The  first 
report  covers  the  land  sales  for  taxes  of  1843,  held  on  the  28th  and  29th  of  June, 
and  the  1st  of  July,  1844.  for  the  sale  of  seven  different  tracts  of  land  all  as- 
sessed to  persons  who  were  named  as  non-residents  or  described  as  unknown 
owners.  The  total  county  tax  on  all  this  property  was  $8.7834,  the  territorial 
tax  was  forty-four  cents  and  the  additional  costs  were  $3.  At  this  sale  all  but 
one  of  the  tracts  were  sold  to  Edward  H.  Thomas,  the  other  being  sold  to 
Samuel  Townsend.  The  report  of  the  sale  held  on  Monday  and  Tuesday,  the 
9th  and  10th  days  of  December,  1844,  for  the  taxes  of  1842  and  1843  shows  the 
sale  of  seven  tracts  aggregating  six  hundred  and  forty  acres,  the  total  tax  of 
which  was  $10.37,  and  the  costs  $2.6234.  All  these  tracts  were  sold  to  Edward 
H.  Thomas. 

We  copy  in  full  the  statement  of  the  receipts  and  expenditures  of  the  county 
for  1844.  compiled  on  January  1,  1845: 

"receipts. 

"Received   from  Geo.  F.  Thomas,  Co.  Revenue  for  the  year   1844.  .$543.81^4 

Reed,  of  same  for  Territorial  tax  for  1844   59-68J4 

Reed,  of  Wm.  J.  R.  Flack  for  Co.  taxes  due  for  1842-3 1 199.4034 

From   same    for   Territorial   tax    for    1842-3    50.00 

From  Wm.  H.  1\.  Thomas  Co.  Revenue  for   1843 300.16 

Territorial  tax 20.33 

Ferry  Licenses — 

Messrs.  Todd  &   Brown    3.00 

E.   C.    Whipple    3-00 

Wm.  L.  Toole    1.00 

Grocery  Licenses 

Geo.  Helbig    30.00 

A.  Dressier 30.00 

License  to  sell  clocks — 

Ira   Brown    7.50 

Cash  reed,  on  Acct.  of  Estrays  8.50 

Cash  reed,  on  Acct.  of  fines   10.00 

$2272.3914 


154  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

EXPENDITURES. 

County  Commissioners — 

Wright    Williams    $     39.50 

Spencer    Wilson    40.00 

Merit  Jamison    40.50 

J .   R.  McGannon    5.00 

John  Gilliland,  Clk.   of   Co.   Commisrs 159.18% 

Z.  C.  Inghram  Clk.  of  Dist.  Court  for  services  &c 28.00 

Geo.  L.  Thomas,  Treasurer,  for  services 182.14*4 

Wm.  H.  R.  Thomas   9300 

Constables  for  services  at  District  Court    9.00 

Expenses  for  the  Court  House -.37/4 

Talesmen  on   Petit  Jury    1 1.00 

For  Surveying  and  other  expenses  on  Roads   21.25 

For  Wolf  Scalps   106.50 

Co.  Recorder  J.  S.  Rinearson  for  stationery    3.00 

Stationery  for  various  County  Officers 14-34 

Assessors — 

J.  S.  Morrison,  Columbus  City  Township   26.00 

James  Helverson,  Florence    21.00 

Joseph  Burr,  Grandview    20.00 

John  Benson,   Jefferson    20.00 

Geo.  W.  Messick,  Fredonia    20.00 

Jas.  W.  Isett,   Wapello    21.00 

District  Prosecutor — 

Edward  H.  Thomas    175-00 

Francis    Springer    10.00 

L.  D.  Stockton   10.00 

Jacob  Milligan  for  notifying  coins.  &c 1.50 

For  taking  acknowledgmt.  of  deeds    , -87^2 

For  guarding  a  prisoner 4.00 

Judges  of  Elections    29.90 

Clerks  of  Election    22.60 

Witnesses  in  Criminal  Cases   17.08 

Sundry  expenses  for  paupers   !3-50 

County  furniture    .75 

E.  H.  Thomas  bal.  on  old  account 2.65 

Amount  of  Expenditures   1 170.65^4 

Paid  out  for  free  ferry 1 14.75 


Assets  of  Louisa  County   $1285.40^4 

Notes  on  hand  given  for  lots  upon  the  Co.  qr.  sold  (some  doubtful) 

amounting  to    2465.54 

County  Revenue  uncollected  &  due  for  the  year  1843 II47-I4 

Ditto  for   1844   1569.99 

Town  lots   (value  unknown)    5182.67 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  155 

INDEBTEDNESS   OF  LOUISA   COUNTY. 


Amt.  of  Judgmt.  Ives  &c.  vs.  County   $  836.09 

Territorial  Tax  vs.  County i98-36 

County  Orders  outstanding  say 50.00 


Amt.  of  assets  over  indebtedness  exclusive  of  Town  lots  unsold  ....   4098.22 


RECAPITULATION  • 


Receipts  of  Louisa  County  for  1844 2272.39^ 

Expenditures  for  1844   1285.40^4 


Excess  of   receipts  over  expenditures    $  986.99^" 

Following  is  the  receipt  of  Treasurer  Thomas  for  the  tax  list  of  1845  : 

"Received  August  18,  1845,  of  the  Board  of  Commissioners  for  Louisa  county 
Iowa  Territory  six  several  abstracts  of  the  assessment  rolls  of  the  several  Town- 
ships in  said  County  for  collection  of  the  Taxes  therein  charged  for  the  year 
1845  amounting  to,  in  County  Tax  eighteen  hundred  and  sixteen  dollars  29^2 
cents  and  Territorial  to  Two  hundred  and  four  dollars  and  33J4  cents.  In  all 
Two  thousand  and  twenty  dollars  and  sixty-three  cents. 

George  F.  Thomas, 
Treasurer  &  Exoffic'w  Collector  of  Louisa  County,  I.  T." 

On  the  2 1st  of  January,  1846,  Treasurer  Thomas  made  a  complete  statement 
of  the  condition  of  the  county  treasury  at  that  date.  It  is  a  lengthy  document 
and  is  in  the  handwriting  of  Francis  Springer.  The  receipts  since  January  1st, 
1845,  are  given  as  follows: 

From  William  J.  R.  Flack  collector  for  the  year  1843 $  64.85 

From  William  J.  R.  Flack  in  county  orders    181.81 

Taxes  collected  by  the  treasurer  in  1845  on  the  tax  list  of  1844 9^9-44 

Penalties  on  delinquent  taxes   74-75 

Taxes  of  1845  collected  39°-85 

Various  other  items  on  ferry  licenses  and  notes  for  town  lots  in  Wapello 
bring  the  total  receipts  up  to  $829.20.  The  report  shows  also  that  the  treasurer 
had  paid  on  judgment  to  Kirkpatrick  &  Company  against  the  county  $470  and  to 
the  territorial  treasurer  $65,  and  had  taken  up  county  orders  amounting  to 
$1,026.17. 

The  report  then  gives  in  great  detail  the  assets  of  the  county  which  we  sum- 
marize as  follows : 

Outstanding  county  and  territorial  taxes    $2,417.23^4 

Cash  in  treasurer's   hands    339-84 

Notes   for  lots  in  Wapello    1,843.88 


156  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

Concerning  these  notes  it  is  said  :  "The  ahove  notes  were  all  given  for  lots 
in  Wapello  and  may  be  considered  available  (though  not  perhaps  for  the  whole 
amounts  due)  because  they  are  liens  upon  lots.  It  is  also  said  that  there  are  one 
hundred  and  thirty  unsold  lots  in  Wapello,  the  average  value  of  which  is  $20. 
making  for  this  last  term  $2.1 1:10. 

There  are  also  given  a  few  accounts  on  individuals  due  to  the  county,  amount- 
ing to  $55.(12'  j.  which  makes  the  total  assessment  of  the  county  $7,256.58%,  and 
its  liabilities  are  stated  as  follows: 

Due  S.  M.  Kirkpatrick  &  Company  on  judgment $    712. n 

Due  the   territory    247-54 

School   money    71.81 

Total  liabilities  of  the  county   1,031.46 

The  count)'  receipts  for  1846  given  in  Treasurer  Thomas'  report  of  January 
1.  1847,  amounted  to  81,022.7(1,  the  principal  amounts  being  from  collections  on 
the  tax  lists  of  1844,  1845  and  1846.  The  report  shows  county  orders  taken  up 
by  the  treasurer  amounting  to  $1,184.08,  and  the  payment  of  $480  on  the  Kirk- 
patrick judgment  and  the  payment  to  Francis  Springer  "captain  of  Louisa 
(  kiards"  of  the  following  items: 

•  >ne  stand  of  collars   $15.00 

One  French  born   8.00 

One  bugle    2.00 

(  )ne  trumpet  4  crook 6.00 

It  would  appear  from  the  following  report  that  it  was  either  the  duty  or  the 
custom  of  the  treasurer  to  make  a  separate  report  as  to  school  funds  in  his  hands. 

"To  S.  M.  Kirkpatrick,  Clerk  of  the  Board  of  Commissioners  of  Louisa 
(  ounty.  State  of  low  a.  The  following  is  a  report  of  the  amount  of  school  funds 
on  hand  on  the  first  Monday  of  March.  1847,  to  be  divided  among  the  several 
townships  in  said  Louisa  County,  State  of  Iowa. 

"Amount  collected  on  tax  duplicate  for  1846 $232.94 

Amount  arising  from  strays   83.00 

Amount  arising  from  breach  of  the  peace   TI3-25 

Amount  arising  from  grocery  license    100.00 

Total   amount    $529.19 

"Respectfully  submitted  to  your  Honor  this  eighth  day  of  March,  1847. 

G.  F.  Thomas, 
Treasurer  of  Louisa  County,  Iowa." 

The  following  is  the  receipt  of  the  taxes  collected  for  the  first  tax  list  levied  in 
the  county  after  Iowa  became  a  state  and  it  shows  that  statehood  was  expensive 
from  the  very  first. 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  157 

'■Received  Wapello  Aug.  H>,  1847,  of  the  commissioners  of  Louisa  County, 
State  of  Iowa,  the  tax  list  for  collection  for  the  year  Eighteen  hundred  and  forty- 
seven  (  184- ).     Amounts  as  follows  to  wit: 

cents  mills 

I  'oil  tax   $  3/8.50 

County  tax   1 1 15.48.8 

State   tax    1076.99.2 

Schooi  tax    269.24.8 

Samuel  Townsexd, 
Collector  of  Louisa  Comity,  Iowa" 

It  will  be  interesting  to  compare  the  receipt  for  the  tax  list  of  1847  with  the 
following  receipt  for  the  tax  list  for  the  year  1851 : 

"Received  Wapello,  September  10,  185 1,  of  the  Hon.  Wright  Williams,  County 
Judge,  the  tax  duplicate  for  the  year  1851,  for  collections. 

Amount    of    County   Tax    $2,148.12 

Amount  of  State  Tax 2,148.12 

Amount  of   School  Tax    358.02 

Amount  of  Road  Tax   716.04 

No.  of  Polls  965  at  50c 482.50 

No.  of  Polls  915  at  $2.00  assessed  for  road  purposes    1,830.00 


Amounting  in  all  to  the  sum  of   $7,682.80 

Samuel  Townsend, 
Treasurer  of  Louisa  County,  Iowa." 

The  report  of  Samuel  Townsend  made  July  7,  1852,  for  the  year  ending  July 
1st  contains  a  few  items  of  interest.  It  shows  the  total  amount  of  taxes  collected 
as  follows : 

County  Tax   $2,824.17 

State    Tax 2,138.41 

School  Tax '. .  .      655v8 

Road  Tax    1.896.75 

It  shows  payments  from  these  various  funds  as  follows : 

From    the    county    fund    $2,656.90 

From  the  school  fund 602.00 

On  account  of  roads   1 ,907.45 

being  a  slight  overpayment,  and  it  shows  paid  to  the  state  treasurer  $1,499. 

The  following  receipt  shows  the  tax  levy  made  in  1852  and  the  large  increase 
in  the  amount  of  countv  tax  is  accounted  for  by  the  building  of  the  new  court 
house : 


158  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

"Received  of  the  county  judge  for  collection  the  tax  list  of  Louisa  County, 
State  of  Iowa,  as  follows,  to  wit: 

Amount  of  county  tax  including  poll    $6,338.67 

Amount  of  state  tax 2,122.45 

Amount  of  school  tax   730.21 

Amount  of  poll  road  tax  on  personalty 2.174.24 

Amount  of  road  tax  on  real  estate 1,046.28 

Wapello,  September  15.  1852,  said  taxes  having  been  assessed  for  the  year 
1852. 

Samuel  Townsend, 
Treasurer  of  Louisa  County,  Iowa." 

The  following  is  an  abstract  of  the  assessment  for  the  year  1852: 

"Abstract  of  the  Assessment  of  Louisa  County,  for  the  year  1852,  as  made 
and  returned  by  Samuel  K.  Helmick,  Assessor. 

Property  No.  Val.  Cts. 

1.  Lands   (No.  of  acres)    168,089^  $990,859 

2.  Town    Lots    47,980 

3.  Horses    1,931  85.159 

4.  Mules  and  Asses    29  1 ,325 

5.  Neat    Cattle    7,444  73,201  y2 

6.  Sheep    5,°77  ''.849 

7.  Swine    10,942  ^-goS 

8.  Capital  employed  in  merchandise 48,550 

9.  Capital   employed   in  manufactories    21,867 

10.  Carriages  and  vehicles  of  every  description   <>--  10,718^4 

11.  Monies  and  credits    78,341 

12.  Taxable  household  furniture    ''.427 

13.  Stocks  or  shares  in  any  corporation  or  companv  . .  .  -.472 

14.  Boats  or  other  vessels 689 

15.  Annuities    

16.  Ferry    franchise    93 

17.  All  other  personal  property  not  enumerated -".533 

18.  Polls    1. 013 

Total   valuation    195, 502 y2     $1,414,969 

State  of  Iowa,  Louisa  County:  to  wit: 

I,  Jacob  Mintun,  Clerk  of  said  County,  do  hereby  certify  the  above  to  be  a 
true  and  correct  Abstract  of  the  Assessment  of  said  County  for  the  year  1852,  as 
taken  from  the  original  returns  now  on  file  in  this  Office. 

In  testimony  whereof  I  have  hereunto  set  my  hand  and  affixed  the  Seal 
of  said  County,  this  10th  day  of  June,  1852. 

Jacob  Mintun, 
Clerk  of  Louisa  County. 
By  G.  A.  Jones, 

Depty.  Clk." 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  159 

We  next  give  the  receipt  for  the  tax  list  of  1854: 

"Received  of  the  County  Judge  of  said  County  the  tax  list  for  the  year  1854, 
with  the  following  amounts  footed  up  for  collections,  to  wit : 

County    Tax    $8,100.92 

State   Tax    2,326.85 

School   Tax    928.69 

Poll  Road  Tax  2,552.07 

Road  Tax    1,858.38 

Total $15,766.91 

John  C.  Tucker, 
Treasurer  Louisa  County,  Iowa." 

From  the  report  of  Samuel  Townsend,  treasurer  of  Louisa  county,  for  the 
year  ending  June  30,   1856,  we  take  the  following  items: 

The  receipts  for  that  year  of  the  county  fund,  state  fund,  road  fund,  school 
fund  and  swamp  land  fund,  aggregated  $24,051.96,  the  greater  part  of  which 
was  county  fund.  The  road  tax  collected  that  year  was  a  little  over  $4,000. 
The  school  tax  collected  that  year  by  the  county  was  about  $1,200. 

The  same  treasurer's  report  for  the  year  ending  June  30,  1857,  according 
to  this  report  was :  Receipts  for  the  year  about  $34,000,  in  which  is  included 
the  item  of  railroad  tax  amounting  to  $5,340.34.  At  the  close  of  the  report 
for  1857  the  treasurer  gives  the  following  account  of  the  assets  and  liabilities 
of  the  county : 

ASSETS. 

Public  buildings   $  10,000 

Courthouse  square  and  town  lots 5.000 

Poor   farm   and  buildings 7-5oo 

Swamp  lands,  preempted  and  sold 21,147 

Claims  against  United  States  for  swamp  lands 20,000 

Fund  in  hands  of  treasurer   !,792 

Railroad  stock    100,000 

Interest  for  county  bonds  on  hand 1,466 

Unpaid  taxes   1 ,500 

Total  assets    $168,405 

LIABILITIES. 

Outstanding  warrants  about    $     2,000 

Railroad   bonds    100,000 

Interest  due  on  railroad  bonds 933 

Due  on  poor   farm  buildings 2,500 

Due  on  poor  farm 1 ,800 

Total  liabilities  $107,233 

Assets  over  liabilities   61,172 


160  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

The  following  is  the  treasurer's  receipt  for  the  tax  list  for  the  year  1S57, 
which   shows   among  other   things.   Mime   Air   Line   railroad   tax: 

"Received  Wapello,  November  25.  1857,  of  Jos.  L.  Derbin,  County  Judge 
of  said  County,  the  tax  duplicate  of  said  County  for  the  Year  1857  f°r  collec- 
tion  according  to  law.   said   duplicate  containing  the   following  taxes,   viz: 

County  Tax   $14,25.?. 71 

State    Tax    10.650.78 

School   Tax    2,658. 16 

Railroad   Tax 10,650.78 

Road   Tax    5,320.56 

T.  .tal  Amt.  of  Taxes $43>532-(  >' ' 

Nov.  -'5.  '57  William  A.  Colton, 

Treasurer. 
J.  M.  Wilson, 

Deputy." 

The  following  statement  covering  the  years  1858,  1859,  i860  and  1801.  was 
published  in  the  Wapello  Republican,  early  in  the  year  1862: 

Statement  of  Expenditures  of  Louisa  County  for  1858,  1859,  i860  and 
[861,  including  amounts  allowed  by  the  Board  of  Supervisors  at  January  session, 
[862. 

[86]  i860  185.,                 1858 

Attorneys   Fees    $    -'40.00  $      418.50  $      301.45       S      536.50 

Sal.  and  Ok.  Hire,  Co.  officers  3,009.57  3,814.71  4,172.48           3,201.10 

Jail    Expenses    No. 411  388.71  782.63              212.40 

Jail    Building   ''52.51  2,191.99       

Pauper  Expenses    ^(>2.22  77^-7''  040.34            1. 505. 12 

Poor   Farm   Expenses    185.68  198.51  32.80              130.00 

Printing    501 1.85  906.40  73-00              5-5-40 

Assessors    735-5°  402.31  854.98             302.50 

Roads  and  Bridges 51.50  219.85  0157               I02-55 

Swamp   Lands   281.76  3,162.83  224.52          17.483.43 

Elections     176.84  201.90  165.60               440.50 

Books  and  Stationery 390.87  717.88  340.64             on. 10 

Court  House  Expense 46.'>5  348.28           1,321.59 

Public  Square    17.75  109.22               562.83 

Contingent  Expenses 388.09  108.72  44'-77                7l-l9 

Township  Officers 370.27  433-34  401. 1 1              420.80 

District   Court    635.25  698.58  7<;4-35              7,fl-35 

Criminal  Expenses    425-75  "63-64  751-75              500.61 

Wood  and  Lights   85.79  1 14.65  128.40               239.50 

Inquest    16.25  107.38  51.45                66.20 

Grand  Jury  Expenses    481.00  470.20  497-79              571-10 

Volunteer  Relief  219.96  

Insane  Hospital '87.17  

$9,683.23       .SrO.103.20       $11,493.20       $29,620.46 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  161 

County  Warrants  outstanding  January  7,    1861 $19,779.91 

County  Warrants  outstanding  January  6,    1862 14,947.02 

County  Tax  uncollected    25,355.29 

County  Tax  collected  in   1861 12,679.58 

In  1866  the  assessed  valuation  of  property  was  as  follows : 

Lands    $1,731,324.00 

Town   property    154,938.00 

Personal  property    885,577.00 

Total    $2,771,839.00 

The  tax  levy  that  year  was  as  follows : 

State  Tax    $  6,932.97 

County  Tax   12,306.41 

School  Tax   (both  county  and  district) 26,024.70 

Road  Tax 864.72 

Insane  Hospital  Tax    2,769.71 

Bridge  Tax   2,769.71 

Total  Tax  Levy   $51,668.22 

The  tax  levy  for  1868  was  quite  similar  to  that  for  1866  except  in  the  matter 
of  school  taxes,  the  total  of  which  amounted  to  $32,219.77. 

The  treasurer's  receipt  for  the  tax  list  delivered  to  him  October  27,  1869, 
shows  a  total  of  $71,442.29,  of  which  the 

State  tax  was    $  6,432.54 

County   tax    14,189.03 

Bridge  tax   4,815.13 

Insane  hospital  tax    3,213.89 

This  year  an  Air  Line  railroad  tax  was  also  levied.  The  treasurer's  receipt 
for  this  tax  on  Dec-ember  13,  1869,  shows  the  amount  of  $57,900.22. 

The  treasurer's  receipt  for  the  tax  list  delivered  to  him  November  5,  1870, 
shows : 

State  tax    $  6,271.84 

County  tax    13,901.18 

Bridge  tax  4>7°3-88 

Railroad   tax    31,352.80 

An  "Airline"  tax  was  levied  in  February,  1870,  amounting  to 32,194.04 

The  treasurer's  receipt  for  the  tax  list  delivered  to  him  November  6,  1871, 
shows  a  total  tax  for  all  purposes  of  $110,080.59,  0I  which  the 

State  tax  was  $  7>555-93 

County   tax    16,428.85 

Vol.    3—11 


162  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

Bridge  tax   7.555-93 

Insane  hospital  tax    3>777-96 

Railroad   tax    37,779.61 

The  treasurer's  receipt  for  the  tax  list  delivered  to  him  November  1,   1873, 
shows : 

State  tax    $  7.039.05 

County   tax 14,078.15 

Bridge  tax   8,798.80 

Railroad  bond  tax    14,078.15 

District  school  tax   31,381.06 

County   school   tax    3,519.54 

The  total  of  this  list,  including  corporation  taxes,  road  taxes,  etc.,  amounts 
to  $84,129.36. 

The  treasurer's  receipt  for  the  tax  list  delivered  to  him  November  2,  1874. 
shows : 

State   tax    $  7,066.23 

County    tax    14,132.46 

Bridge  tax    7,066.23 

District   school  taxes    26,985.01 

County  school  taxes 3,533.12 

Insane  hospital    1 ,766.55 

Railroad   bond    35-33I-I5 

The  total  of  this  list  amounts  to  $101,145.56. 

The  treasurer's  receipt  for  the  tax  list  delivered  to  him  November  2,   1875, 
shows  : 

State  tax    $  7,287.64 

County    tax    18,219.10 

Bridge   tax    5,465-73 

District  school  tax   21,125.42 

County  school  tax    3,643.82 

Railroad  bond   18,219.10 

The  total  of  this  list  amounts  to  $81,314.40. 

The  treasurer's  receipt   for  the  tax  list  delivered  to  him  October  2^,,   1876, 
shows : 

State  tax    $  7,455.20 

County   tax    22,365.58 

Bridge  tax    5.59MO 

Railroad  bond   18,638.00 

District  school  tax   22,765.03 

County  school  tax    3,727.60 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  163 

The  total  for  this  list  for  all  purposes  is  $88,606.05. 

The  treasurer's  receipt  for  the  tax  list  delivered  to  him  November  2,  1877, 
is  not  materially  different  from  the  preceding,  the  total  being  $93,855.62.  The 
railroad  bond  tax  on  this  list  was  $11,069.52,  and  there  was  also  a  pauper  tax 
of  one  mill  on  the  dollar,  amounting  to  $3,689.84. 

The  treasurer's  receipt  for  the  tax  list  delivered  to  him  November  1,  1878, 
shows  substantially  the  same  as  the  preceding,  the  total  being  $92,057.81 ;  the 
railroad  bond  tax  was  $10,937.08,  and  there  was  also  this  year  a  pauper  tax  of 
$3,645.69,  being  one  mill. 

The  treasurer's  receipt  for  the  tax  list  delivered  to  him  November  3,  1879, 
shows  a  total  of  $84,810.02,  being  for 

State  tax    $  7,086.26 

County   tax    21 ,258.77 

Bridge  tax   10,629.39 

District  school  tax   24,211.21) 

County  school  tax 3-543- '  3 

Railroad  bond  tax   8,857.82 

We  may  note  in  passing  that  the  railroad  bond  tax  levied  in  1879  was  the 
last  of  that  tax  levied  and  that  the  total  amount  of  railroad  bond  tax  levied 
beginning  with  1869  and  ending  with  1879,  was  $285,217.24.  It  will  be  seen 
by  the  article  on  the  Air  Line  railroad  that  the  total  expense  of  that  project 
to  the  people  of  the  county  is  placed  at  $298,665.52.  The  addition  of  the 
$13,448.28  represents  the  interest  and  penalties  which  accumulated  on  the  taxes 
levied  in   1869,   1870  and   1871. 

The  receipt  for  tax  list  for  the  year  1891  shows  a  total  lax  for  all  purposes, 
including  corporation  taxes,  road  taxes,  etc.,  $77,424.14.     Of  this  the 

District  school  taxes  were    $31,255.46 

County  school  tax    3>73x-93 

State  tax    7,463.87 

County   tax    14,927.74 

Bridge  tax   : 9,329.84 

The  treasurer's  receipt  for  tax  list  delivered  to  him  on  December  30,  1893. 
shows  a  total  tax  levy  for  all  purposes,  including  schools,  corporations,  roads, 
etc.,  $93,700.65.     Of  this  the 

District  school  tax  was   $32,794.38 

County  school  tax    3,862.02 

State  tax    7,726.68 

County   tax    23,172.14 

Bridge  tax   11,586.07 

The  treasurer's  receipt  for  the  tax  list  delivered  on  December  1,  1895.  shows 
a  total  tax  levy  for  all  purposes  of  $96,158.74.     Of  this  the 


164  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

District  school  tax  was   $36,212.04 

County  school  tax    3-797-°9 

State  tax    9,492.60 

County    tax    22,782.49 

Bridge  tax    1 1 ,391 .27 

The   treasurer's   receipt    for  the   tax   list   delivered   on    December   31,    1898, 
shows  a  total  for  all  purposes  of  $98,300.05,  of  which  the 

District  school  tax  was   $36,395.32 

County  school  tax    3,475.74 

State  tax    11,122.37 

County    tax    1 5,640.82 

Bridge  tax   10,427.22 

Relief  for  the  poor 5,213.61 

The  treasurer's  receipt  for  the  tax  list  delivered  December  31.   1900,  shows 
a  total  for  all  purposes  of  $1 19,272.79,  of  which  the 

District  school  tax  was   $40,240.33 

County  school  tax    3,654.95 

State   tax    9,502.39 

County   tax    18,274.84 

Relief  of  poor 3,654.95 

County  farm  improvement  fund   10,967.43 

Bridge  tax   10,964.81 

The  insane  tax  on  this  list  was  $7,309.83,  which  is  fully  twice  as  large  as  it 
was  on  most  of  the  lists  previously  noted. 

The   treasurer's    receipt   in    December,    1902,    for   the   tax   list   of   that   year 
shows  as   follows : 

I  'oil  tax    $  1 ,699.00 

State  tax    13,601.09 

State  university 777-20 

State   normal   school    388.60 

State  college    777.20 

County   fund    15,545.10 

Poor  relief 7,772.05 

Bridge    fund    11 ,659.07 

Insane  hospital    1,943.01 

County  insane   : 97x-50 

County    school    1,336.03 

District  school   47,456.71 

County  road  tax   562.50 

Delinquent   road   tax    3,003.27 

Corporations    8,088.82 

County  board  of  health 906.41 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  165 

There  are  a  few  small  items  such  as  cemetery  tax,  dog  tax,  repairs  on  the 
Hoffman  levee,  etc.,  these  latter  amounting  to  about  $2,000.  The  total  of  the 
tax  list  for  this  year  was  $123,653.71. 

The  treasurer's  receipt  for  the  tax  list  delivered  to  him  in  December,  11)03, 
shows  as  follows : 

Poll   tax    $  1,656.00 

State   tax    12,630.80 

State   university    842.05 

State  college    842.05 

State  normal  school    4-I-°3 

County    fund 16,838.28 

Poor    relief    8,420.53 

Bridges   1 2,630.80 

County  insane    1 ,052.56 

County  road 4,210.27 

Township  road   tax    13,251.89 

Delinquent  road  tax  5,421.54 

County  school  tax    4,210.27 

District  school  tax   49,155.29 

Soldiers  relief   1,032.56 

Corporations 8,542.10 

There  are  a  few  smaller  items,  amounting  to  a  little  over  $1,000,  which 
bring  the  total  for  this  year  up  to  $144,474.73. 

It  will  be  noticed  that  the  total  tax  levy  took  a  jump  of  over  $20,000  from 
1902  to  1903.  It  was  not  long  after  this  increase  was  noticed  until  certain 
county  politicians  were  blaming  the  gentleman  who  then  happened  to  be  gover- 
nor, for  the  enormous  increase  in  taxes  in  this  county.  A  comparison  of  the 
items  of  tax  for  the  two  years,  however,  will  show  that  there  was  an  actual 
decrease  in  the  tax  levied  for  state  purposes  and  an  increase  in  almost  every- 
thing else. 

It  will  also  be  interesting  to  note  the  corporation  taxes  for  1903  for  principal 
towns  in  the  county  and  also  the  school  taxes  for  school  districts  which  em- 
brace these  same  towns.  It  must  be  borne  in  mind,  however,  that  the  boundaries 
of  the  school  districts  and  of  towns  are  not  identical,  there  being  considerable 
land  included  in  the  school  districts  which  is  not  included  in  the  towns. 

Columbus  Junction  school  district    $5,037.96 

Columbus   Junction    corporation    2,756.31 

Columbus  City  school  district    1,860.21 

Columbus   City   corporation    211.59 

Letts   school    district    1,847.81 

Letts  Corporation    416.60 

Grandview   school   district    766.44 

Grandview   corporation    1 70.46 


166  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

Morning    Sun    school    district    3,956.27 

Morning  Sun  corporation   1 ,933-87 

Oakville  school  district   671.57 

Oakville    corporation    462.51 

Wapello   school   district    7,162.09 

Wapello  corporation   2,760.30 

The  treasurer's  receipt  given  in  December,  1905,  for  the  tax  list  of  that  year 
shows  a  total  of  $148,296.02,  the  principal  items  of  which  are  as  follows: 

State   tax    $13,697.39 

Count)-   tax    21,404.51 

Bridges   17,123.56 

County  school  tax 4,280.89 

District   school  tax    56,592.86 

Township  road  tax 12,964.77 

County  road  tax   1,070.22 

Delinquent   road   tax    452.00 

The  treasurer's  receipt  for  the  tax  list  delivered  to  him  in  1907  shows  a  total 
of  $146,163.34,  the  principal  items  of  which  are  as  follows: 

State  Tax   $15,296.93 

County  Tax   19,796.03 

Poor    2,249.55 

Bridges    17,996.39 

County  School  Tax 4,499.10 

School  Districts 50,853.03 

Total  Road  Tax  14,403.40 

The  treasurer's  receipt  for  December,  1909,  shows  a  total  of  $168,873.26.  We 
note  the  following  items  : 

State  Tax   $15,887.68 

County  Tax    21,788.82 

Poor    2,269.97 

Bridges    18,157.36 

County  Road  Tax 2,269.67 

Township  Road  Tax   15,012.16 

Soldiers  Relief    9°7-99 

Poll   Tax 1,58400 

Dog  Tax    1,166.00 

County  School  Tax 4,539.34 

District  School  Tax 55,532.47 

Total  tax  for  this  year   $168,873.26 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  167 

We  note  also  for  1909  the  tax  levy  for  the  same  school  districts  and  incorpor- 
ated towns  as  are  given  for  1903. 

Columbus  Junction  School  District  $  6,613.51 

Columbus  Junction  Corporation 3,243.01 

Columbus  City  School  District   T,39742 

Columbus  City  Corporation 617.78 

Letts  School  District    2,160.32 

Letts  Corporation    604.96 

Morning  Sun  School  District  10,967.53 

Morning  Sun  Corporation 2,693.26 

Oakville  School  District   1,083.84 

Oakville  Corporation    698.05 

Wapello  School  District    5>249-46 

Wapello  Corporation    , 5,418.00 

Grandview  School  District   1,652.78 

Grandview  Corporation   426.88 

The  treasurer's  receipt  for  the  tax  list  delivered  to  him  in  December,   1910, 
shows  the  following: 

State  Tax   $16,064.37 

County  Fund   23,366.36 

Bridges    19.471.96 

Poor    3,894-39 

Soldiers  Relief 1,460.40 

State  University    973-60 

State  College   973-6o 

State  Normal  School   486.80 

County  School  Tax   4,867.99 

District  Schools 73,234.20 

Township  Road  Tax   15,245.05 

County  Road  Tax  2,434.00 

Poll  Tax   1,616.50 

Dog  Tax 1,126.00 

Delinquent  road  and  some  state  taxes  2,310.59 

Corporation  Tax   17,413.90 

Township  Cemetery  Tax       1,779-59 

General  Purposes   296.01 

Total  exclusive  of  drainage  taxes $188,434.63 


The  drainage  taxes  levied  at  the  same  time  to  be  paid  in  191 1  amounted  to 
$19,640.86,  making  the  total  contribution  of  the  people  of  Louisa  county  for  the 
benefits  of  state,  county  and  local  government,  $208,175.49. 


168  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

The  school  taxes  and  corporation  taxes  for  the  same  districts  and  towns  as 
heretofore  given  for  1903  and  1909,  were  on  the  1910  tax  list  as  follows: 

Columbus  Junction   School  District    $  7,165.69 

Columbus  Junction  Corporation   5,169.70 

Columbus  City  School  District 2,027.14 

Columbus  City  Corporation 904.23 

Letts  School  District    2,668.74 

Letts  Corporation    802.40 

Grandview  School  District   1,289.26 

Grandview  Corporation   790-!9 

Morning  Sun  School  District   9,151.28 

Mi niiing  Sun  Corporation   3,276.66 

Oakville  School  District    4,219.07 

Oakville  Corporation    614.40 

Wapello   School   District 7,475.02 

Wapello  Corporation    7,136.14 

Following  is  a  list  of  the  assessed  valuation  of  all  the  property  in  the  county 
for  the  years  from  1900  to  1901,  and  of  the  total  taxes  levied  in  the  county  for  all 
purposes  for  the  years  from   1900  to  1910: 

Popula-  Assessed  Value  of  Total  Taxes  of 

tion    Year                                               County  County  State  Taxes 

11,873 — 1900  $14,619,068.00  $119,389.18             $9,502.39 

1 901  15.330,664.00  1 18,94548 

i<K)2  15,544.100.00  123,653.71 

1903  16.841,068.00  144,474.73 

1904  16,980,092.00  145.691  40 

12,893 — T9°5  19,241,996.00  148,296.02 

1906  17.236,292.00  143.010.28 

[907  17,985.144.00  146,162.04 

1908  16,525.088.00  153,715.76 

1909  18,307.224.00  168,873.26 

1 2.555— iqio     208,175.49  16,064.37 

swamp  land  and  drainage. 

Closely  related  to  Finances  and  Taxes  is  the  subject  of  swamp  land  and 
drainage. 

This  matter  has  been  of  considerable  importance  to  Louisa  county  from  a  com- 
paratively early  date.  Our  first  County  Judge.  Wright  Williams,  seems  to  have 
made  the  first  move  in  the  matter,  soon  after  the  first  swamp  land  legislation 
was  enacted  by  the  Iowa  Legislature.  We  next  find  that  County  Judge.  Fran- 
cis Springer  interested  himself  in  the  matter,  and  the  records  contain  a  copy  of 
a  letter  addressed  by  him  to  the  commissioner  of  the  general  land  office  at  Wash- 
ington, complaining  of  the  fact  that  the  swamp  land  selections  for  Louisa 
I  ounty  were  not  made  available  to  the  county.     It  seenis   from   the  letter,  that 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  169 

the  land  office  had  adopted  a  rule  not  to  confirm  the  swamp  land  selections  for 
any  of  the  counties  in  Iowa  until  reports  had  been  received  from  all  of  the  coun- 
ties. The  letter  points  out  that  at  that  time  a  large  part  of  the  state  was  sparsely 
settled,  and  many  of  the  counties  not  yet  fully  organized.  It  is  stated  in  this  letter 
that  the  swamp  land  selections  in  Louisa  county  embraced  some  40.000  acres. 
This  letter  was  dated  April  20,   1865. 

About  1857  the  county  began  to  realize  something  from  its  swamp  lands. 
It  is  difficult  to  get  at  the  exact  facts  and  figures.  A  part  of  the  confusion  is  due 
to  the  fact  that  the  Swamp  Land  Act  passed  by  Congress  September  28.  1850, 
under  which  the  State  of  Iowa  secured  title  to  the  swamp  lands,  was  at  first 
believed  only  to  include  such  tracts  as  were  designated  on  the  plats  of  the  govern- 
ment surveys  as  swamp  lands  and  unfit  for  cultivation.  This  was  the  form  of 
the  bill  as  originally  reported,  but  it  had  been  amended  to  include  overflowed 
lands  without  reference  to  their  description  on  the  government  plats.  While  the 
country  was  settling  up,  thousands  of  acres  of  lands  which  were  in  fact  subject 
to  overflow,  but  which  were  not  designated  as  swamp  land  on  the  government 
plats,  were  settled  upon.  Of  course  these  lands  afterward  were  selected  as 
swamp  lands  and  claimed  by  the  various  counties  in  which  they  were  situated. 
Several  thousand  acres  of  swamp  lands  in  Louisa  county  were  settled  upon  prior 
to  their  selection,  and  many  others  had  been  sold  by  the  government  for  cash. 
Eventually  the  county  was  compensated  for  these  lands,  compensation  for  those 
sold  by  the  government  was  in  cash,  and  other  lands  were  granted  to  Louisa 
county  in  lieu  of  the  Louisa  county  swamp  lands  which  had  been  sold  before  the 
selection.  Most  of  these  lands  .were  situated  in  Emmet  and  Hancock  counties, 
and  were  afterwards  sold  by  the  county  for  prices  ranging  from  $1.25  to  $2.50 
per  acre. 

Under  the  act  of  Congress  it  was  contemplated  that  the  proceeds  of  the 
sales  of  swamp  lands  should  be  used  toward  reclaiming  them  and  for  making 
roads  and  bridges.  The  first  enterprise  of  this  kind  undertaken  by  the  county 
was  in  Eliot  township.  The  matter  was  brought  to  the  attention  of  Francis 
Springer,  County  Judge,  by  a  petition  signed  by  William  Stewart  and  a  number 
of  other  residents  of  that  locality  :  at  this  time  Alexander  Ross  was  Drainage 
Commissioner,  and  on  July  7,  1857,  he  issued  a  notice  stating  that  in  accordance 
with  an  order  of  the  County  Court,  the  work  on  Section  number  one  of  the 
swamp  land  improvement  in  Louisa  county  would  be  to  let  to  the  lowest  bidder 
on  August  8,  1857  :  the  work  was  described  as  being  the  construction  of  an  em- 
bankment commencing  2,000  feet  west  of  the  Iowa  slough  on  the  south  side  of  the 
Iowa  river,  and  running  east  and  north  three  miles  according  to  the  report  of 
the  county  surveyors  then  on  file:  or  so  much  thereof  beginning  at  the  initial 
point  at  the  west  end  as  the  means  at  the  disposal  of  the  County  Court  would 
allow.  Contract  for  the  work  was  let  on  August  8,  1857,  to  Michael  Buckley  & 
Co.  at  17 y2  cents  per  cubic  yard.  The  surveying  was  done  by  engineers  G.  P. 
Sherwood,  W.  S.  Kremer,  T.  W.  Bailey  and  A.  B.  Miller  at  different  times,  the 
principal  part  of  the  surveying  seems  to  have  been  done  by  G.   P.   Sherwood. 

The  amount  expended  by  Louisa  County  on  this  particular  improvement  was 
about  $9,262.85.  On  May  17,  1858,  the  County  Judge  notified  Michael  Buckley 
&  Co.,  that  the  means  at  the  disposal  of  the  County  Court  for  the  construction  of 
the  Eliot  township  levee  were  exhausted  and  that  they  should  discontinue  work. 


170  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

On  September  n.  1858,  it  was  reported  to  the  Court  that  a  continuance  of  the 
swamp  land  improvement  in  Section  One  would  enhance  the  value  of  lands  in 
Des  Moines  county,  and  that  Des  Moines  county,  at  its  expense,  would  build  three- 
fourths  of  a  mile  of  said  improvement  commencing  at  Station  128  of  the  original 
survey.    An  order  was  made  permitting  Des  Moines  county  to  continue  the  work. 

About  this  same  time,  that  is,  in  1857  and  1858,  the  county  expended  nearly 
Si  5.000.00  in  building  a  levee  on  Muscatine  Island;  and  also  expended  about 
$1,400.00  on  the  road  between  Toolsboro  and  Burris  City,  and  something  like 
$1,000  or  $1,200.00  in  Wapello  and  Morning  Sun  townships.  These  items  to- 
gether aggregate  nearly  $27,000.00  of  the  swamp  land  fund  which  was  expended 
by  this  county  in  1856,  1857  and  1858.  The  lands  which  the  county  received  in 
the  northern  part  of  the  state  were  not  sold  until  about  1870;  it  appears  that  the 
county  realized  from  these  lands  and  a  few  scattering  pieces  of  swamp  lands  still 
left  in  this  county,  about  $28,000.00  more,  and  a  considerable  part  of  this  money 
was  expended  in  drainage  projects  in  the  various  townships  which  contained 
swamp  lands,  other  than  Eliot  and  Port  Louisa.  The  expenditures  for  this  pur- 
pose at  this  time,  were  about,  as  near  as  can  be  ascertained  from  the  records, 
Si8,ooo.oo. 

A  Swamp  Land  Commissioner  was  appointed  for  each  of  the  various  town- 
ships where  money  was  to  be  expended.  T.  M.  Parsons  was  the  first  commis- 
sioner for  Jefferson  township,  and  was  succeeded  by  Asher  Sillick.  Jesse  Harris 
was  the  commissioner  for  Wapello  township,  William  Bell  for  Morning  Sun,  H. 
P.  Pike  for  Marshall,  James  Higbee  for  Elmgrove,  S.  E.  Wilson,for  Columbus 
City.  S.  S.  Wilcox  for  Union,  Phillip  Thompson  for  Concord  and  Milton  Car- 
penter  in  Oakland   township. 

I  (rainage  work  was  practically  at  a  standstill  in  this  county  from  this  time 
until  the  passage  of  the  new  drainage  law  by  the  30th  General  Assembly  which 
inaugurated  a  new  drainage  era.  A  large  number  of  drainage  districts  have  been 
organized  in  Louisa  County  under  this  law  and  the  amendments  that  have  since 
been  made  to  it,  and  we  append  hereto  a  brief  reference  to  those  of  importance. 
We  hail  hoped  to  be  able  to  give  the  figures  for  each  of  these  districts  showing  the 
ami  mnts  expended  for  different  purposes,  but  they  are  not  yet  available  for  any 
but  Xo.  4  which  are  given. 

On  September  16,  1903,  the  board  of  supervisors  established  what  has  since 
been  known  as  Drainage  District  No.  1,  which  included  all  that  portion  of  sec- 
tions 2T,.  24.  2^,  and  21 1,  township  J},  north,  range  2  west,  lying  within  the  cor- 
porate limits  of  the  town  of  Oakville.  This  took  in  practically  all  of  the  town  of 
Oakville.     The  total  cost  of  the  work  done  in  this  district  was  about  $2,000.00. 

Drainage  District  Xo,  2  was  established  on  the  petition  of  W.  S.  Gunnels, 
March  22.  1906,  to  include  about  2,717  acres.  The  engineer  was  J.  A.  Shriner 
and  his  original  estimate  of  the  cost  was  $11,311.20.  The  engineer  originally  re- 
ported that  the  main  ditch  in  this  district  should  be  six  feet  deep,  with  a  bottom 
width  of  twenty  feet  and  the  top  width  twenty-four  feet,  and  the  first  assessment 
of  the  costs  was  made  on  this  basis.  Later  it  was  agreed  by  all  parties  that  the 
ditch  be  only  twenty  feet  wide  at  the  top  and  five  feet  deep,  and  six  feet  wide 
at  the  bottom,  and  the  assessment  was  made  at  $9,355,  the  basis  being  at  a  rate 
of  about  $4  an  acre  for  land  benefited  one  hundred  per  cent.  It  w-as  found  after- 
wards that  it  was  necessarv  to  raise  something  like  two  or  three  thousand  dollars 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  171 

additional.  This  district  was  situated  southwest  of  Wapello  in  sections  4,  5,  6, 
7,  8  and  9,  of  township  yi,  north,  range  3  west,  and  in  sections  1,  12.  31  and  32  of 
township  74-3. 

District  No.  4  was  a  joint  district,  situated  in  Louisa  and  Des  Moines  counties. 
The  part  in  Louisa  county  was  situated  entirely  in  Eliot  township  and  about  three- 
fourths  of  the  land  in  the  entire  district  was  situated  in  Louisa  county.  Petition 
for  this  district  was  filed  by  G.  W.  Gale  and  others  on  June  20,  1907,  and  J.  A. 
Shriner  was  appointed  engineer.  His  first  report  seems  to  have  been  filed,  Feb- 
ruary 20,  1908,  and  his  estimate  of  the  number  of  acres  included  in  the  district 
was  16,750,  and  his  estimate  of  the  cost  was  as  follows : 

For  excavation  of  ditches    $  2,619 

Removal  of  obstruction  in  channels  1,000 

Boiler,  engine,  pumps  and  fixtures  27-J89 

Buildings  and  sitting  machinery   5,ooo 

Preliminary  expenses,  superintendents,  etc 3-55° 

Total     $39,388 

M.  J.  Deihl.  of  Louisa  county,  and  Gust  A.  Bergston,  of  Des  .Moines  county, 
were  appointed  commissioners  and  they  in  conjunction  with  the  engineer  went 
over  the  ground  and  these  commissioners  approved  the  engineer's  report  with  the 
addition  of  a  number  of  tile  drains,  which  would  cost  as  estimated  by  the  engineer, 
$2,926,  making  the  probable  cost  of  the  improvements,  $42,314,  as  estimated  by 
these  commissioners.  As  originally  contemplated,  this  district  included  the  town 
of  Oakville,  comprising  District  No.  1,  already  established  and  also  about  4,000 
acres  contiguous  to  Oakville,  mostly  on  the  south  and  southwest,  and  a  little  of 
it  immediately  north  of  Oakville.  The  landowners  of  this  part  of  the  proposed 
district  objected  to  its  being  taken  in,  with  the  result  that  when  the  district  was 
established  on  June  24,  1908,  this  land  was  left  out  of  the  district. 

On  June  27.  1908,  the  joint  boards  appointed  Jacob  A.  Harmon  engineer,  and 
required  him  to  give  bond  in  the  sum  of  $5,000  and  entered  into  a  contract  with 
him,  providing  for  him  to  do  all  the  work  required  as  engineer  and  to  employ  such 
additional  labor  as  might  be  necessary  and  that  the  compensation  therefor  should 
be  as  follows :  For  Jacob  A.  Harmon.  $10  per  day  for  the  time  actually  employed 
by  him  in  such  work  and  his  necessary  and  reasonable  traveling  expenses.  For  as- 
sistant engineers  and  draftsmen  $5  per  day;  for  recorders,  $3  per  day,  ten  hours 
to  be  a  day's  work  in  the  field,  and  for  all  other  labor  employed  on  such  work,  the 
actual  cost  thereof.  It  was  also  agreed  that  said  engineer  Harmon  should  be 
paid  in  installments  as  the  work  progressed,  five  per  cent  of  the  cost  of  construct- 
ing the  levee  and  ditches,  and  five  per  cent  of  the  cost  of  the  pumping  plant,  ma- 
chinery, etc.  Engineer  Harmon  made  elaborate  plans  for  the  entire  work  and 
the  same  was  completed  at  a  total  cost  of  $131,664.34.  The  principal  items  of 
this  cost  are  as  follows : 

Pumping  plant  complete,  including  machinery $46,521.31 

Open  ditches    31,579.81 

Tile  ditches 15,525.91 


172  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

Engineer's  residence i  ,980.09 

Attorney's   fees    1,280.00 

Miscellaneous    1 ,102.27 

Printing    694.25 

Damages     8,447.00 

Engineering   expenses    24,543.70 

Total  actual  cost    $131,674.34 

Estimated    when    established    42,314.00 

The  amount  stated  for  engineering  expenses  may  not  be  entirely  correct,  but 
it  is  the  nearest  approximation  that  can  be  made  from  the  records  in  the  Au- 
ditor's office  of  Louisa  county.  The  share  of  all  the  expense  of  District  No.  4 
borne  by  Louisa  county  was  three-fourths,  or  practically  that,  and  the  Auditor  has 
a  record  so  made  that  it  shows  the  various  amounts  paid  by  Louisa  -county  for 
the  various  purpose-;,  as  above  stated,  except  that  there  is  an  item  of  $6,246.52 
being  Louisa  county's  share  of  the  preliminary  expenses,  which  is  not  thus  sep- 
arated. The  amount  paid  by  Louisa  county,  including  this  last  item  is  $98,755.76, 
and  Des  Moines  county's  share  would  be  about  $32,918.58  making  a  total  cost 
of  $131.6,74.34. 

It  is  possible  that  there  were  a  few  hundred  dollars  in  the  preliminary  expense 
account  that  would  not  properly  be  chargeable  to  the  engineering  expenses,  but 
it  is  sa'fe  to  say  that  the  engineering  expenses  of  this  drainage  district  have 
already  amounted  to  considerable  more  than  one  half  of  the  original  estimate 
for  the  whole  enterprise.  Whatever  else  may  be  said  of  Drainage  District  No. 
4.  its  history  at  least  shows  the  wisdom,  from  the  engineer's  standpoint,  of  hav- 
ing a  contract  whereby  his  compensation  will  be,  in  addition  to  his  per  diem, 
five  per  cent  of  all  that  he  can  make  the  work  cost  the  district. 

The  amount  given  for  miscellaneous  expense  includes  some  extra  work  in 
the  Auditor's  office  of  the  two  counties,  surveying,  notices,  pav  of  commissioners, 
etc. 

In  regard  to  the  amount  of  $8,447.00  given  as  damages,  it  is  probable  that 
something  like  $4,000.00  of  that  was  for  the  purchase  of  the  farm  which  the 
supervisors  have  been  leasing  since  that  time. 

Soon  after  the  establishment  of  District  No.  4,  two  levee  districts  were  estab- 
lished, being  Nos.  5  and  6.  The  two  together  included  all  of  the  levee  on  the  Mis- 
sissippi and  Iowa  river  referred  to  so  far  as  it  protected  any  of  the  lands  in  Drain- 
age District  No.  4.  At  a  somewhat  later  period  the  entire  levee  constructed  by 
the  United  States  government  near  the  mouth  of  Flint  creek  was  included  in  one 
levee  district,  being  Louisa  and  Des  Moines  District,  No.  16,  and  this  latter  dis- 
trict absorbed  the  levee  districts  5  and  6. 

The  next  district  established  in  Louisa  county  was  Levee  District  No.  8, 
petitioned  for  by  J.  N.  Dutton  and  others.  This  levee  was  along  the  east  side  of 
the  Iowa  river  southeast  of  Wapello  and  north  of  Oakville,  and  commenced  near 
the  quarter  section  corner  on  the  south  side  of  section  22.  73-2.  and  extended 
about  five  and  a  quarter  miles  to  the  north  to  a  point  on  the  bluff  a  little  south 
and  west  of  section  8,  73-2.     This  district  included  about  2.600.      J.  A.  Shriner 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  173 

was  appointed  engineer  and  he  estimated  the  cost  of  the  levee  and  the  outlet  pipe 
for  the  interior  waters  of  the  district  to  be  $23,279.57.  The  contract  for  the 
work  in  this  district  was  let  to  W.  P.  Bumgardner,  of  Wapello,  and  he  sub-let 
the  same  to  Phelps  &  Peterson.  The  improvement  was  completed  for  about  the 
original  estimate.  The  order  of  the  board  establishing  this  district  was  made 
September  28.   1908,  and  the  work  was  completed  within  about  a  year. 

The  next  district  was  Levee  District  No.  9,  and  was  petitioned  for  by  J.  E. 
Dennis  and  others,  December  29,  190(1.  and  included  the  land  in  Oakland  town- 
ship known  as  Marsh  or  the  Big  Marsh,  lying  in  sections  3,  4,  5,  8,  9,  10,  15  and 
16,  in  township  76,  range  5,  and  included  about  890  acres.  W.  S.  Kremer  was 
appointed  engineer  of  this  district.  He  afterward  resigned  and  J.  A.  Shriner 
succeeded  him.  Mr.  Kremer's  original  estimate  of  the  cost  of  the  improvement 
to  be  made  in  this  district  was  $4,300.  The  contract  for  this  work  was  taken 
by  some  of  the  landowners  interested  in  it,  and  the  total  cost  was  not  far  from 
the  original  estimate. 

The  petition  for  Levee  District  Xo.  10,  signed  by  H.  B.  Brock  and  others  was 
filed  May  11,  1908.  and  J.  A.  Shriner  was  appointed  engineer.  He  made  his 
report  July  18,  1908,  favoring  the  establishment  of  the  district  and  showing  that 
it  comprised  a  total  of  2,346  acres,  all  in  the  north  part  of  Oakland  township, 
and  that  the  probable  cost  including  outlet  pipes,  etc.,  should  be  $3,890.25.  This 
district  was  established  on  March  4,  1909,  and  the  contract  was  let  to  W.  P.  Bum- 
gardner, of  Wapello.  The  total  cost  of  the  improvement  in  this  district  was 
$5,300. 

The  next  district  is  Levee  District.  No.  11,  which  includes  3,421  acres  of  land 
immediately  across  the  Iowa  river  from  Wapello.  J.  A.  Shriner  was  appointed 
engineer.  The  petition  for  this  district  was  signed  by  John  G.  Grim  and  others, 
and  filed  January  4,  1909.  J.  A.  Shriner  was  appointed  engineer  and  estimated 
the  probable  cost  to  be  $35,467.25.  The  district  was  established  on  May  21. 
1909,  and  the  contract  was  let  to  R.  H.  McWilliams,  of  Mattoon,  Illinois.  The 
commissioners  who  were  appointed  to  assess  the  costs  and  damages  in  this  dis- 
trict reported  that  the  items  for  which  the  assessments  were  made  were  as  follows  : 

For  work  under  contract   $25,000.00 

For   culverts    ' 2,000.00 

For  land  damages 3,000.00 

For  preliminary,  legal  and  engineering  and  contingencies 3,446.31 


Total   $33,446.31 

The  actual  amount  of  tax  levied  in  this  district  was  $34,108.28  and  it  will 
require  about  $1,700  more  to  finish  paying. 

The  next  district  established  was  Drainage  District,  No.  12,  which  takes  in 
about  13,000  acres  west  and  southwest  of  Wapello.  The  petition  was  filed  May 
26.  1909,  signed  by  J.  A.  Hale  and  others  and  J.  A.  Shriner  was  appointed  en- 
gineer. Mr.  Shriner  recommended  the  establishment  of  the  district,  stating  two 
plans  upon  which  the  work  might  be  done  and  estimated  the  probable  cost  on 
plan  No.  1  at  $73,855,  and  on  plan  No.  2,  $64,716.84.  The  following  estimated 
items  of  the  cost  were  included  in  each  of  the  two  plans,  namely: 


174  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

Land   damages   $6,000 

Railroad    crossings    • 4,000 

Preliminary  and  legal  expenses,  etc 6,000 

This  district  was  established  by  order  of  the  board  on  January  7,  1910.  The 
contract  was  let  to  Chapman  Brothers,  at  that  time  residents  of  Muscatine.  The 
total  cost  of  the  improvements  made  in  this  district  was  about  $90,000. 

Levee  District  No.  14  was  petitioned  for  November  11,  1909,  by  H.  O.  Weaver 
and  W.  E.  Shew,  and  J.  A.  Shriner  was  appointed  engineer.  This  district  included 
about  a  thousand  acres  on  the  east  side  of  the  Iowa  river,  immediately  north  of 
Hogback.     Air.  Shriner's  estimate  of  the  probable  cost  of  the  improvements  was: 

Levee  47,000  cubic  yards  at  20c $9,400 

Outlet  pipes    • 500 

Ditch  6,000  cubic  yards  at  20c 1.200 

Engineering,  legal  and  other  expenses 1,1 10 

Total    $12,210 

The  next  district  established  was  No.  13,  a  joint  district  in  Louisa  and  Musca- 
tine counties.  The  petition  was  filed  by  W.  H.  Hurley  and  others.  March  11. 
1910,  and  a  commission  was  appointed  by  the  boards  of  the  two  counties,  con- 
sisting of  J.  W.  Garner.  Louisa  county,  and  J.  C.  Park,  Muscatine  county,  and 
these  commissioners  selected  Engineer  F.  A.  McDonald  as  the  third  member  of 
the  commission.  This  district  was  located  on  Muscatine  Island,  about  one-third 
being  in  Muscatine  county  and  about  two-thirds  being  in  Louisa  county,  and  is 
said  to  contain  about  30,000  acres.  The  commission  estimated  the  total  expense 
of  the  improvements  proposed  in  this  district  at  $201,106.45.  Included  in  this 
estimate  is  $85,000  for  a  pumping  plant;  $8,500  for  engineering;  and  $9,338  for 
contingencies. 

On  June  14,  191 1.  the  boards  of  supervisors  appointed  Jacob  A.  Harmon, 
engineer,  to  make  a  survey  of  the  proposed  district,  with  plans  and  an  estimate 
of  the  cost.  Mr.  Harmon's  report  suggested  a  modification  of  the  plans  by  elimin- 
ating the  construction  of  a  levee  along  the  Mississippi  river  from  Port  Louisa 
to  Toolesboro.  recommending  that  that  levee  be  constructed  by  a  separate  levee 
district  to  be  organized  for  that  purpose,  and  suggesting  a  different  location  for 
the  pumping  plant  and  certain  modifications  due  to  that  change.  Air.  Harmon's 
estimate  is  as  follows : 

For  the  necessary  ditches $  49,830 

Pumping  plant,  machinery  and  building   1 10,000 

Sluice  way,  incidental  engineering,  court   costs,  etc 12,670 

Total    $172,500 

Air.  Harmon's  report  estimated  the  total  area  of  land  within  the  proposed 
drainage  district  to  be  15,900  acres,  and  that  the  average  cost  would  be  $10.90 
per  acre. 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  175 

This  district  was  established  by  the  supervisors  of  Louisa  and  Muscatine 
counties  on  October  24,  ign,  and  on  the  next  day  a  contract  was  made  by  them 
with  Jacob  A.  Harmon  of  the  Harmon  Engineering  Company  of  Peoria,  Illi- 
nois, as  engineer,  which  contract  provides  in  substance  that  Mr.  Harmon  should 
have  $25.00  per  day  for  his  time  on  said  work,  and  in  addition  thereto,  five  per 
cent  of  what  he  succeeded  in  making  it  cost  the  district ;  and  also  $10.00  per  day 
for  assistant  engineers,  $6.00  per  day  for  instrument  men,  $4.00  per  day  for 
recorders  and  $6.00  per  day  for  draughtsmen  and  computers,  and  also  pay  for 
all  other  labor,  traveling  and  living  expenses  while  on  the  work  away  from  the 
home  office  at  Peoria.  It  is  hardly  necessary  to  say  that  the  supervisors  who 
made  such  munificent  provision  for  the  engineer  were  not  expecting  to  have  to 
pay  any  part  of  it  out  of  their  own  pockets.  This  contract  means  that  the 
engineer  will  not  merely  get  big  pay  for  all  his  time  on  the  job,  and  the  same  for 
all  his  assistants,  but  in  addition  to  this  he  will  get  $5,500  for  preparing  the  plans 
of  the  pumping  plant,  and  nearly  $2,oco  for  making  specifications  and  profiles 
of  the  ditches,  etc.  If,  as  is  sometimes  the  case,  the  plans  and  specifications  of 
the  pumping  plants  are  furnished  in  advance  by  the  bidders,  the  tax-payers  might 
be  inclined  to  characterize  this  contract  by  a  harsher  word  than  we  have  used. 

There  was  some  work  done  by  M.  L.  Jamison  on  Muscatine  Island  in  1883, 
in  building  a  levee  which  had  been  petitioned  for  by  land  owners  of  Muscatine  and 
Louisa  Counties.  The  contract  price  for  the  work  was  something  like  $30,000. 
Quite  a  number  of  the  taxpayers  resisted  the  project;  the  first  tax  levied  was  set 
aside  by  the  court,  and  it  required  a  long  series  of  litigation  and  an  act  of  the  Iowa 
Legislature  to  enable  Mr.  Jamison  to  get  his  pay. 

This  matter  of  drainage  is  one  which  has  created  considerable  controversy  in 
the  county,  due  largely  to  the  manner  in  which  the  law  has  been  administered. 
The  benefits  which  accrue  from  necessary  drainage,  are  recognized  by  everybody, 
but  it  is  undoubtedly  true  that  some  of  the  drainage  projects  put  through  in  Louisa 
County  have  cost  the  tax-payers  far  more  than  they  should.  It  so  happens  that 
of  the  dozen  or  more  drainage  and  levee  districts  in  the  county  which  have  been 
established  by  the  Board  of  Supervisors,  there  is  not  a  member  of  the  Board  who 
has  any  land  in  any  of  these  districts.  This  probably  accounts  for  the  fact  that 
the  engineers  have  been  given  practically  absolute  power  to  determine  the  kind 
and  character  of  the  work  to  be  done. 

In  two  of  the  districts  viz:  No.  4  and  No.  13,  the  contracts  made  with  the  en- 
gineer are  so  drawn  as  to  make  it  to  his  pecuniary  interest  to  see  that  the  most  ex- 
pensive kind  of  improvements  shall  be  made.  In  addition  to*  this,  his  contract 
provides  that  he  shall  have  a  certain  amount  per  day  for  his  different  assistants 
ranging  from  $10.00  to  $3.00.  The  contract  is  open  to  the  construction  that  he  is 
to  receive  these  amounts  for  his  assistants  whether  they  cost  him  that  much  or  not. 
It  has  been  openly  charged  in  regard  to  District  No.  4,  that  the  bills  filed  by  the 
engineer  include  pay  for  various  assistants,  of  amounts  from  50  to  100  per  cent 
greater  than  the  amount  actually  paid  by  the  engineer.  At  one  time  at  a  joint 
session  of  the  Des  Moines  and  Louisa  County  Boards  this  matter  was  brought  to 
their  attention,  while  the  engineer  was  being  examined,  but  they  refused  to  allow 
it  to  be  inquired  into.  It  may  be  that  these  charges  were  entirely  unfounded  but 
the  taxpayers  as  well  as  the  impartial  observer  will  be  likely  to  think  that  if  this 
were  so,  it  could  have  been  shown  in  the  same  length  of  time  that  was  required 


176  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

for  the  supervisors  to  deliberate  upon,  and  sustain  a  technical  objection.  The 
drainage  law  is  lamentably  lame  in  that  it  does  not  provide  some  way  whereby 
the  taxpayers  protect  themselves  from  extravagance,  carelessness  or  incompe- 
tency of  those  who  control  drainage  projects.  The  people  of  Eliot  township  have 
been  taxed  nearly  $100,000,  by  the  six  men  who  compose  the  Boards  of  Super- 
visors of  this  and  Des  Moines  county,  while  the  voters  of  Eliot  township  have 
no  opportunity  to  vote  for  or  against  but  one  of  these  six  men.  If  this  is  the 
kind  of  government  our  forefathers  fought  for,  they  might  well  have  saved 
some  of  their  blood  and  treasure. 


CHAPTER  XII. 
LOUISA  COUNTY  SOLDIERS. 

TERRITORIAL    MILITIA ALPHABETICAL    LIST    OF    LOUISA    COUNTY    SOLDIERS    IN    THE 

WAR  OF  THE  REBELLION SOLDIERS    IN    THE    SPANISH-AMERICAN    WAR. 

The  first  territorial  governor  of  Iowa,  Robert  Lucas,  was  himself  something  of 
a  military  man,  and  at  once  interested  himself  in  an  effort  to  organize  a  territorial 
militia.  He  had  difficulty  in  many  of  the  counties  in  getting  them  to  take  any  in- 
terest in  the  matter,  but  it  is  undersood  that  the  military  spirii  showed  itself  quite 
early  in  this  county.  On  January  19,  1839,  Gov.  Lucas  made  the  following  militia 
appointments  in  this  county,  all  of  them  being  of  the  1st  Regiment  of  the  1st 
Brigade  of  the  2nd  Division : 

Colonel.  John  Ronalds. 

Lieutenant,  Z.  C.  Inghram. 

Major,  Robert  Childers. 

There  are  no  records  to  be  found  showing  just  what  military  organizations 
were  perfected  in  this  county  at  that  time.  Such  as  there  were,  however,  came 
very  near  having  something  to  do  in  connection  with  the  controversy  between  the 
state  of  Missouri  and  Iowa  territory  over  the  location  of  the  southern  boundary 
of  the  territory.  This  incident  is  sometimes  called  the  Border  War,  or  the  Puke 
War.  The  state  of  Missouri  claimed  that  the  northern  boundary  of  that  state  ex- 
tended far  enough  North  to  include  a  great  part  of  Van  Buren  County,  and 
brought  the  matter  to  a  crisis  by  sending  an  officer  up  there  to  collect  taxes.  This 
officer  was  arrested  and  put  in  jail  in  Van  Buren  County,  whereupon  the  governor 
of  Missouri  issued  a  tierce  proclamation  and  called  for  a  thousand  volunteers. 
Gov.  Lucas  responded  with  a  much  bigger  proclamation  and  called  for  1.200 
troops.  In  an  article  on  Louisa  County  history  in  the  Annals  of  Iowa  for  1870, 
William  L.  Toole,  referring  to  this  incident,  says : 

"Louisa  County,  like  its  adjoining  counties,  had  for  its  early  settlers  a  people 
patriotic  and  spirited,  as  was  fully  shown  at  the  time  of  our  border  war;  for,  al- 
though then  but  few  in  number,  they  eagerly  and  freely  attended  to  the  call  to 
repel  the  invaders."  Mr.  Toole  then  relates  that  public  meetings  were  held  and 
patriotic  speeches  delivered  and  resolutions  made  to  stand  ready  for  a  move 
against  the  intruders  from  Missouri.  The  display  of  patriotism  was  not  confined 
to  the  males,  but  the  wives  and  daughters  were  also  zealous  in  their  patriotism. 
Maximillian  Eastwood,  justice  of  the  peace,  blacksmith  and  tavern  keeper 
in  Toolesborough,  was  a  man  of  considerable  local  note  and  influence  and  his 
cabins  were  places  of  public  resort.    On  the  occasion  of  one  of  these  "war  meet- 

177 


178  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

ings,"  Mrs.  Eastwood,  who  was  a  favorite  among  the  people,  "assisted  by  her 
female  friends,  prepared  a  free  dinner  for  all  assembled,  and  enough  for  all. 
The  dinner  was  made  noted  through  the  huge  (John  or  journey)  cake  she  pre- 
pared for  the  occasion ;  it  was  fourteen  feet  long  and  about  one  foot  wide,  baked 
on  a  board  before  a  fire  fixed  along  a  large  log,  and  perhaps  the  largest  cake  ever 
made  in  Iowa." 

In  addition  to  the  public  meetings  referred  to  by  Mr.  Toole,  there  were  other 
warlike  occurrences  in  this  county  at  the  time,  notably  the  march  through  the 
county  of  a  company  of  the  militia  from  Muscatine.  It  is  said  also  that  a  com- 
pany from  Johnson  county  came  as  far  as  the  bluff  south  of  Wapello,  and  then, 
learning  that  there  would  be  no  war,  returned  home.  The  controversy  over  the 
boundary  was  settled  some  years  after  by  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States 
in  favor  of  the  contention  of  Iowa. 

Among  the  old  files  are  found  the  records  of  two  courts  martial  held  in  1840. 
The  following,  which  seems  to  have  been  held  on  Sept.  19,  1840,  was  doubtless 
held  in  Grandview  township,  although  it  does  not  so  state.     We  quote  it  literally : 

"I  do  heare  by  certyfy  that  the  folowing  is  a  corect  transaction  acording  to 
law.    Martin  Gray  Capt. 

"A  court  marcial  being  Detailed  of  the  undersined  acording  to  law  of  the  5 
"comp.  1  Reg.  1  Birgade  2  Division,  S.  M.  on  the  19th  of  September  1840  was 
"organised,  an  as  folows  asesed  the  fines  of  Delinquents  as  follows: 

"Jacob  Holbrook  fined  $2.00. 

"Wm.  Thompson,  Jim.  fined  $3.00. 

"Lot  Thornton,  fined  $2.00. 

"Thomas  MCoy,  fined  $3.00. 

"Thomas  Suleven.  fined  $2.00. 

"Wm.  Shoemaker,  fined  $3.00. 

"Abraham  Mclearey,  fined  $3.00. 

"Abraham  Sellers,  fined  $2.00. 

"S.  R.  Crow  .  prs., 
Jesse  Benefiel, 
Wm.  P.  Noreis, 
John  Tayler, 
AtExer.  Ross." 

It  seems  from  the  foregoing  that  Martin  Gray  was  captain  of  the  militia  at 
Grandview.     The  record  of  the  one  held  at  Florence  is  as  follows : 

"Court  Martial  Held  at  Florence  on  the  17th  Day  of  September  A.  D.,  1840, 
the  following  are  the  names  of  persons  Returned  by  the  Court  and  each  one 
Fined  two  dollars:  fame-  Morris.  James  Hate.  Joseph  <  >gle,  Obadiah  Garison, 
Mark  Davidson.  James  R.  Willson,  John  Devenport.  James  Willson,  Samuel 
Dunham,  Nathan  Linton.  Thomas  Stanly,  Henry  McFall,  Jefferson  Frizzle, 
Richard  Curry. 

Attest         Samuel  Smith. 
President  of  the  Court." 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  179 

These  fines  were  probably  for  failure  to  attend  drills. 

The  executive  journal  of  Gov.  Robert  Lucas  shows  that  on  January  13,  1841, 
he  appointed  John  Rinearson  captain  of  the  Wapello  Cavalry,  in  place  of  M. 
Wilson,  who  had  resigned.  Mrs.  Sarah  Hurley  says  she  remembers  the  Wapello 
Cavalry  quite  well,  and  that  it  was  in  the  habit  of  drilling  out  west  of  town ;  and 
that  her  uncle,  David  Clark,  who  at  that  time  lived  in  Muscatine  and  had  been 
commander  of  a  militia  company  back  in  Indiana,  came  down  here  occasionally 
to  drill  the  boys. 

It  was  the  duty  of  the  township  assessors  at  one  time  to  make  a  return  of  all 
of  the  able-bodied  males  between  the  ages  of  eighteen  and  forty-five,  and  these 
returns  are  among  the  files  for  Wapello,  Florence,  Jefferson,  Grandview  and 
Columbus  City  townships,  but  none  from  Fredonia  township.  From  the  report 
made  by  John  Gilliland,  Clerk  of  the  County  Board  of  Commissioners,  to  the  ad- 
jutant general,  on  June  24,  1844,  it  appears  that  the  persons  subject  to  military 
duty  in  the  county  were  as  follows :  Wapello  township,  143 ;  Florence  township, 
191 ;  Jefferson  township,  86;  Grandview  township,  117;  Columbus  City  township, 
143 ;  Fredonia  township,  estimated,  55.     Total,  635. 

The  return  from  Grandview  township  made  by  Joseph  Burr,  assessor,  shows 
that  there  were  the  following  officers  residing  in  that  township  at  that  time : 
Robert  Childers,  Colonel ;  Alex.  Ross,  Major ;  Nicholas  T.  Brown,  Lieutenant ; 
Morton  Brown,  2nd  Lieutenant. 

The  returns  from  other  townships  do  not  make  mention  of  any  officers.  One 
military  item  of  interest  is  found  in  the  report  of  Treasurer  George  F.  Thomas, 
made  January  1,  1847,  for  the  year  1846,  in  which  he  mentions  the  payment  to 
Francis  Springer,  "Captain  of  Louisa  Guards,"  of  the  following  amounts : 

One  stand  of  collars    $15.00 

One  French  Horn  8.00 

One  Bugle  2.00 

One  Trumpet,  4  Crook   6.00 

The  history  of  the  Union  Guards,  will  be  found  in  the  chapter  on  Columbus 
City. 

LOUISA    COUNTY   IN    THE    WAR    OF   THE   REBELLION. 

According  to  the  report  of  Adjutant  General  Baker,  made  in  1866,  the  quota 
of  troops  to  be  furnished  by  Louisa  county  for  the  suppression  of  the  rebellion 
under  the  calls  made  by  President  Lincoln  in  1861  and  1862  was  five  hundred, 
and  the  number  of  troops  furnished  by  the  county  under  these  calls  is  given  by 
the  same  report  as  eight  hundred  and  forty-two.  This  gives  the  county  a  surplus 
over  the  call  of  three  hundred  and  forty-two.  We  find  no  other  official  statement 
as  to  the  quota  to  be  furnished  by  Louisa  county  under  any  of  the  calls  made  by 
the  president  subsequent  to  this.  Since  then  the  number  of  troops  furnished  by 
this  county  in  the  war  of  the  rebellion  has  been  placed  at  eight  hundred  and  forty- 
two.  We  have  long  supposed  that  that  number  was  entirely  too  low,  and  have 
made  a  very  careful  investigation  in  the  effort  to  give  not  only  the  full  number 
of  soldiers'  furnished  by  this  county,  but  the  names  of  the  soldiers  with  their 
respective  commands. 


180  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

We  have  prepared  an  alphabetical  list,  which  is  given  at  the  close  of  this  chap- 
ter, showing  the  names  and  commands  of  all  the  Louisa  county  soldiers  so  far 
as  we  have  been  able  to  ascertain  them.  This  list  was  first  made  by  copying  from 
the  reports  of  the  adjutant  general  for  the  various  years  covering  the  rebellion, 
the  names  of  those  soldiers  who  were  credited  to  Louisa  county.  The  list  was 
then  submitted  to  quite  a  number  of  the  Louisa  county  soldiers  and  many  addi- 
tional names  were  suggested.  Colonel  J.  W.  Garner  was  kind  enough  to  go  over 
the  list  and  compare  it  with  the  adjutant  general's  reports  and  add  such  names 
as  he  could  think  of  not  found  there.  Colonel  Garner  himself  added  in  the  neigh- 
borhood of  one  hundred  names,  which  were  not  on  the  original  list.  The  list  of 
those  whose  commands  are  given  numbers  upward  of  twelve  hundred.  To  this 
list  there  are  fourteen  names  added,  all  of  whom  are  believed  to  have  been  resi- 
dents of  this  county  when  they  enlisted,  but  whose  commands  we  have  not  been 
able  to  learn. 

Louisa  county  furnished  nearly  the  whole  of  the  following  companies:  C 
of  the  Fifth  Infantry;  K  of  the  Eighth  Infantry:  F  and  G  of  the  Nineteenth 
Infantry;  F  of  the  Twenty-fifth  Infantry,  and  F  of  the  Thirty-fifth  Infantry. 
It  also  furnished  quite  a  number  in  Companies  C  of  the  Eleventh  ;  C  of  the 
Eighth :  E  of  the  Fourteenth  ;  C  of  the  Fourteenth  ;  I  of  the  Sixth  ;  E  of  the  Six- 
teenth ;  1 ).  G  and  H  of  the  Seventeenth,  and  one  or  more  in  the  following  com- 
panies:  A,  C,  D  and  E  of  the  First  Infantry:  Companies  A.  G  and  H  of  the 
Second  Infantry  ;  G  of  the  Fifth  ;  A  and  I  of  the  Seventh  ;  1 1  and  I  of  the  Eighth  ; 
A  of  the  Ninth  ;  F.  G  and  Ft  of  the  Eleventh  ;  K  of  the  Thirteenth  ;  K  of  the 
Fourteenth;  H  of  the  Fifteenth:  C  of  the  Sixteenth;  C  of  the  Eighteenth:  C 
of  the  Nineteenth;  D,  F  and  T  of  the  Twenty-fifth;  C  of  the  Thirtieth:  A  and 
D  of  the  Thirty-fifth;  II  and  G  of  the  Thirty-seventh;  C  of  the  Forty-first,  and 
B,  F  and  H  of  the  Forty-fifth;  and  Companies  A.  P.,  C,  D  and  E  of  the  First 
Cavalry  :  A.  H,  T  and  K  of  the  Second  Cavalry  ;  K  and  L  of  the  Fourth  Cavalry ; 
M  of  the  Seventh  Cavalry:  D,  E.  F.  II,  K.  L  and  M  of  the  Eighth  Cavalry  and 
A  of  the  Ninth  Cavalry.  There  were  also  some  Louisa  county  soldiers  in  the 
following  commands :  Engineer  Regiment  of  the  West ;  the  First  Battery  Iowa 
Light  Artillery;  the  Fourth  Veteran  Infantry;  Fifteenth  United  States  Regulars: 
the  Sixteenth  Illinois  and  the  Fifty-fifth  Illinois. 

A  fair  idea  of  the  patriotism  of  Louisa  county  and  her  devotion  {,,  the  Union 
can  be  gained  from  the  fact  that  by  the  census  of  i860  the  county  had  a  popula- 
tion of  but  10,370  and  that  she  furnished  during  the  war  1,217  soldiers.  This 
means  that  practically  fifty  per  cent  of  the  men  of  Louisa  county  enlisted  in  the 
army. 

It  is  not  our  purpose  to  write  a  history  of  the  war  of  the  rebellion,  nor  to  give 
a  detailed  account  of  the  various  battles  and  campaigns  in  which  Louisa  county 
soldiers  were  engaged.  It  is  probable  that  some  of  them  were  engaged  in  the 
following  battles,  and  doubtless  in  many  others :  Bull  Run,  Wilson's  Creek,  Bel- 
mont, Fort  Donelson.  Shiloh.  Chickahominy,  Manassas,  Antietam,  luka,  Corinth, 
Prairie  Grove,  Fredericksburg,  Chickasaw  Bluffs,  Arkansas  Post,  Chancellors- 
ville,  Champion  Hill,  Yicksburg,  Gettysburg,  Jackson,  Mississippi,  Sterling's 
Plantation,  Rappahannock,  Missionary  Ridge,  Mine  Run,  Virginia,  Meridian 
Expedition,  Sabine  Cross  Roads,  Wilderness,  Spottsylvania,  Totopotamy,  Gun- 
town.  Mississippi,  Atlanta  Campaign,  Cold  Harbor,  Sherman's  March  to  the  Sea, 
Petersburg,  Kenesaw  Mountain,  Tupelo,   Mississippi,  Nashville  and   Bentonville. 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  181 

It  is  hardly  necessary  to  say,  in  view  of  the  foregoing  record,  that  no  citizen 
of  Louisa  county  was  ever  drafted.  In  addition  to  paying  bounties  for  soldiers 
who  enlisted,  the  supervisors  of  the  county  did  a  great  deal  to  assist  the  families 
of  volunteers.  Their  records  show  that  they  received  a  circular  from  Governor 
Kirkwood  on  this  subject  and  later  a  letter  from  Judge  Francis  Springer,  and 
that  thereupon  the)'  appropriated  a  thousand  dollars  to  be  expended  in  the  vari- 
ous townships.  The  expenditure  of  this  money  in  each  township  was  under  the 
supervision  of  a  person  appointed  by  the  board  called  a  commissary.  The  super- 
visors expended  several  thousand  dollars  in  this  way  during  the  war.  It  is  also 
known  that  private  citizens  spent  money  freely  in  aid  of  the  families  of  soldiers 
where  such  aid  was  needed.  The  following  is  the  alphabetical  list  referred  to 
and  it  is  believed  that  nearly  every  soldier  who  enlisted  from  Louisa  county  is 
reported  in  the  list.  Many  of  them  enlisted  either  in  Burlington,  or  Muscatine, 
or  Keokuk,  and  for  this  reason  some  are  credited  to  those  localities,  when  in  fact 
they  belonged  in  Louisa  county.  .  The  list  contains  no  name  which  is  not  vouched 
for  by  some  of  our  Louisa  county  veterans,  or  contained  in  the  official  lists. 

By  the  use  of  this  list,  which  gives  the  company  and  regiment  of  each  soldier, 
it  will  be  an  easy  matter,  by  aid  of  the  recently  published  "Roster"  of  Iowa 
Soldiers,  to  get  the  military  history  of  any  Louisa  county  soldier.  The  "Roster" 
is  published  by  the  state,  and  has  been  quite  generally  circulated ;  it  also  contains 
a  history  of  the  organization  and  service  of  all  the  Iowa  regiments.  The  Iowa 
soldiers  bore  an  honorable  and  conspicuous  part  in  the  suppression  of  the  rebel- 
lion, and  those  from  Louisa  county,  while  claiming  no  superior  merit  over  their 
comrades  in  arms  from  other  counties  in  the  state,  cari  truthfully  claim  to  have 
done  their  full  share.     This  is  honor  enough. 

SOLDIERS    1861-65.    LOUISA    COUNTY. 

Abbott,  Charles  H.,  Thirtieth,  colonel. 

Acheson,  Anderson  D.,  Company  C,  Eleventh  Infantry,   private. 

Acheson,  Martin,  Company  A,  Ninth  Cavalry,  fifth  corporal. 

Acheson,  Ramsey,  Company  C,  Eleventh  Infantry,  private. 

Acheson,  Samuel  R.,  Company  C,  Eleventh  Infantry,  private. 

Albaugh,  Alexander,  Company  F,  Twenty-fifth  Infantry,  private. 

Albaugh,  John,  Company  C,  Fifth  Infantry,  first  lieutenant. 

Allen,  Charles  R.,  Company  B,  Thirty-seventh  Infantry,  wagoner. 

Allen,  Joseph,  Company  G,  Nineteenth  Infantry,  second  sergeant. 

Allen,  Joseph  B.,  Company  G,  Nineteenth  Infantry,  private. 

Allen,  Joseph  P.,  Company  K,  Eighth  Infantry,  private. 

Allen,  Newton,  Company  C,  Sixteenth  Infantry,  private. 

Allen,  William,  Company  G.  Nineteenth  Infantry,  private. 

Allen,  William  G.,  Company  F,  Twenty-fifth  Infantry,  captain. 

Allison,  Eugene,  Company  F,  Nineteenth  Infantry,  sergeant. 

Alloway,  William.  Company  H,  Fifteenth  Infantry,  private. 

Anderson,  Clark,  Company  K,  Second  Cavalry,  private. 

Archibald,  Robert  E.,  Company  H,  Forty-fifth  Infantry,  second  private. 

Archibald,  William  W.,  Company  — ,  Eighth  Infantry,  private. 

Arrowhood,  Thos.  J.,  Company  K,  Fourth  Cavalry. 


182  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

Ashbaugh,   Andrew  J.,   Company   H,   Forty-fifth  Infantry,   private. 

Ashby,  Alexander,  Company  K,  Eighth  Infantry,  private. 

Ashby,  Bladen,  Company  K,  Eighth  Infantry,  private. 

Asher,  George,  Company  E,  Sixteenth  Infantry,  private. 

Ashford,  Aaron  M.,  Company  C,  Eleventh  Infantry,  private. 

Ashford,  Elijah  M.,  Company  C,  Fifth  Infantry,  private. 

Ashford,  Jacob,  Company  — ,  Eleventh  Infantry,  private. 

Ashford,  Percifer  C,  Company  C,  Eleventh  Infantry,  private. 

Ashford,  William,   Company  C,  Eleventh   Infantry,  seventh  corporal. 

Asp,  John,  Company  I,  Engineer  Regiment  of  West   (Mo.),  artificer. 

Atcheson,  Samuel  W.,  Company  C,  Eleventh  Infantry,  private. 

Ayers,  Charles  F.,  Company  K,  Eighth  Cavalry,  private. 

Ayers,  William  M.,  Company  K,  Eighth  Infantry,  private. 

Bailey,  Caldwell,  Company  C,  Eighth  Infantry,  private. 

Bailey.  Charles  C,  Company  F,  Twenty-fifth  Infantry,  private. 

Bailey,  Charles  O.,  Company  C,  Fifth  Infantry,  private. 

Bailey,  George  E.,  Company  C,  Fifth  Infantry,  private. 

Bailey,  Hosford,  Company  C,  Eighth  Infantry,  private. 

Bailey,  Jonathan   E.,   Company   C,   Eighth   Infantry,   private. 

Bailey,  Thomas  W.,  Company  K,  Engineer  Regiment  of  West  (Mo.),  captain. 

Bailey,  Willard  F.,  Company  F,  Twenty-fifth  Infantry,  private. 

Bailey,  Willard  F.,  Company  I,  Fourth  Veteran  Infantry,  private. 

Bailey,  William  A.,  Company  C,  Nineteenth  Infantry,  private. 

Baldrige,  Alfred  E.,  Company  F,  Nineteenth  Infantry,  second  corporal. 

Baldrige,  John  W.,  Company  H,  Forty-fifth  Infantry,  private. 

Baldry,  Samuel,  Company  F,  Thirty-fifth   Infantry,  private. 

Ballaine,  Edward,  Company   F,   Twenty-fifth   Infantry,   private. 

Barcus,  Henry,  Company  K,  Eighth  Infantry,  private. 

Barkoff,  Wm.,  Company  D,  Seventeenth  Infantry,  private. 

Barr,  Robert,  Company  I,  Sixth  Infantry,  private. 

Barringer,  Abraham  C,  Company  F,  Twenty-fifth  Infantry,  private. 

Barringer.  Samuel,  Company  C,  Fifth  Infantry,  private. 

Barringer,  William.  Company  F,  Twenty-fifth  Infantry,  first  corporal. 

Barshaw,  John,  Company  K,  Engineer  Regiment  of  West  (Mo.),  private. 

Bates,  John  D.,  Company  K,  Eighth  Infantry,  private. 

Bayless,  Peter  M.,  Company  C,  Fifth  Infantry,  eighth  corporal. 

Beamer,  William  S.,  Company  E,  Sixteenth  Infantry,  private. 

Beane,    Horatio,    Company   E,   Fourteenth   Infantry,   private. 

Beatty,  J.  N.,  Company  E,  First  Infantry,  private. 

Beatty,  John  N.,  Company  K,  Eighth  Infantry,  second  lieutenant. 

Beck,  George,  Company  K.  Eighth  Infantry,  private. 

Beck,  V.  B.,  Company  A,  Ninth  Cavalry,  private. 

Beck,  William,  Company  K,  Eighth  Infantry,  private. 

Bede,  Jackson,  Company  E,  Eighth  Iowa  Cavalry,  private. 

Bede,  Richard,  Company  K,  Eighth  Iowa  Infantry,  private. 

Bedwell,  John  H..  Company  F,  Forty-fifth  Infantry,  private. 

Bell,  George  M.,  Company  F.  Nineteenth  Infantry,  private. 

Bell,  John,  Ninth  Infantry,  surgeon. 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  ik: 

Bell,  John   C,  Company   F,  Twenty-fifth  Infantry,  private. 

Bell,  John  S.,  Company  F,  Twenty-fifth  Infantry,  private. 

Bell,  Thomas,  Jr.,  Company  K,  Second  Cavalry,  saddler. 

Bell,  Thomas  S..  Nineteenth  Infantry,  assistant  sergeant. 

Bennett,  Joseph,  Company  I,  Sixth  Infantry,  private. 

Bennett,  Jas.  W.,  Company  D,  Ninth  Cavalry,  private. 

Benson,  George  H.,  Company  K,  Eighth  Infantry,  private. 

Benson,  Henry  H.,  Company  K,  Eighth  Infantry,  captain. 

Berkoff,  William,  Company  K,  Engineer  Regiment  of  West  (Mo.),  artificer. 

Bevins,  Charles,  Company  C,  Fifth  Infantry,  private. 

Bevins.  Cyrus,  Company  F,  Twenty-fifth  Infantry,  private. 

Bevins,  James  M.,  Company  F,  Twenty-fifth  Infantry,  private. 

Bigger,  William  F.,  Company  H,  Forty-fifth  Infantry,  third  sergeant. 

Bird,  John,  Company  F,  Nineteenth  Infantry,  captain. 

Bishop,  Zion,  Company  K,  Second  Cavalry,  private. 

Bissinger,  Mathias,  Company  K,  Engineer  Regiment  of  West  (Mo.),  artificer. 

Blair,  Martin,  Company  F,  Nineteenth  Infantry,  private. 

Blair,  William,  Company  M,  Eighth  Cavalry,  private. 

Blake,  Henry  C,  Company  C,  First  Cavalry,  private. 

Blake,  John  B.,  Company  E,  Sixteenth  Infantry,  private. 

Blake,  Leander,   Company   K,   Eighth   Infantry,   private. 

Blake,  Levi  M.,  Company  K,  Eighth  Infantry,  private. 

Blake,  Nehemiah,  Company  B,  Thirty-seventh  Infantry,  private. 

Blake.  Ward.  Company  K,  Eighth  Infantry,  private. 

Boke.  Samuel  F.,  Company  D,  Thirty-fifth  Infantry,  private. 

Bolean,  William  L.,  Company  G,  Eleventh  Infantry,  private. 

Bond,  Heber,  Company  A,  Seventh  Infantry,  private. 

Botha,  Detrich,  Company  K,  Eighth  Infantry,  private. 

Bowman,  Elliott  M.,  Company  C.  Eleventh  Infantry,  private. 

Bowman,  J.  F.,  Company  C,  Eleventh  Infantry,  private. 

Boyd,  Henry,  Company  B,   Forty-fifth   Infantry,  private. 

Branden,  William  P..  Company  C,  Fifth  Infantry,  private. 

Bras,  Alexander,  Company  C,  Fifth  Infantry,  private. 

Bras,  Charles  W.,  Company  H,  Forty-fifth  Infantry,  fourth  sergeant. 

Bras,  Edgar  A.,  Company  K,  Eighth  Infantry,  fourth  corporal. 

Bras,  Frank,  Engineer  Regiment  of  West. 

Bras,  Garry  A.,  Company  K,  Eighth  Infantry,  private. 

Breston,  George  W.,  Company  E,  First  Infantry,  private. 

Bretz,  Benjamin  F.,  Company  F,  Thirty-fifth  Infantry,  private. 

Bretz,  John,  Company  F,  Thirty-fifth  Infantry,  private. 

Brewer,  James  H.,  Company  E,  Twenty-fifth  Infantry,  private. 

Brewer,  Nathan  J.,  Company  K,  Thirteenth  Infantry,  sixth  corporal. 

Briggs,  George  N.,  Company  F,  Nineteenth  Infantry,  private. 

Brinley,  David,  Company  K,  Eighth  Infantry,  private. 

Briston,  George  W.,  Company  E,  First  Infantry,  private. 

Britt,  Alexander,  Company  E,  Sixteenth  Infantry,  private. 

Britt,  Sylvester,  Company  C,  Eleventh  Infantry,  private. 

Brown,  Basil,  Company  F,  Thirty-fifth  Infantry,  private. 


184  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

Brown,  Dennis,  Company  K,  Eighth   Infantry,  private. 

Brown,   Isaac  P.,  Company  C,  Fifth  Infantry,  private. 

Brown.  James.  Company  I,  Twenty-fifth  Infantry,  private. 

Brown,  Joshua,  Company  K,  Second  Cavalry,  private. 

Brown,  Mills  C,  Company  H,  Forty-fifth  Infantry,  private. 

Brown,  Robert  H.,  Company  F,  Nineteenth  Infantry,  private. 

Brown,  Thomas,  First  Battery  Iowa  Light  Artillery,  private. 

Brown,  Thomas  K.,  Company  F,  Nineteenth  Infantry,  private. 

Brown,  William  B.,  Company  H,  Forty-fifth  Infantry,  private. 

Brownson,  Edgar,  Company  B,  First  Cavalry,  private. 

Brownson,  Milan,  Company  K,  Eighth  Infantry,  private. 

Brubaker,  Abraham   II.,  Company  F,  Forty-fifth  Infantry,  private. 

Brubaker,  John  A..  Company  F,  Nineteenth  Infantry,  private. 

Brumage.  Thomas,  Company  E,  Sixteenth  Infantry,  private. 

Bryan,  Timothy,  Company  H,  Second  Cavalry,  private. 

Bryant.  Joseph,  Company  F,  Nineteenth  Infantry,  third  corporal. 

Buffington,  Joseph  H.,  Company  F,  Twenty-fifth  Infantry,  private. 

Buffington,  Joseph  R.,  Company  F.  Twenty-fifth  Infantry,  second  corporal. 

Buffington.  Richard  \\\,  Company  F,  Twenty-fifth   Infantry,  private. 

Buffington,  S.  A.,  Company  A.  Ninth  Cavalry,  private. 

Bunting,  Parish  L.,  Company  K,  Eighth  Infantry,  private. 

Burger.  Alfred  S.,  Company  K,  Second  cavalry,  private. 

Burris,  Benjamin,  Company  C,  First  Infantry,  private. 

Burris,  Charles,  Company  A,  Ninth  Cavalry,  private. 

Burris,  Jacob  B.,  Company  H,  Eighth  Cavalry,  private. 

Burris,  L.,  Company  A,  Ninth  Cavalry,  private. 

Burrows,  William  H.,  Company  G,  Nineteenth  Cavalry,  private. 

Buster,  S.,  Company  A,  Ninth  Cavalry,  private. 

Buster,  Simon,  Company  G,  Nineteenth  Cavalry,  private. 

Butcher,  Joseph,  Company  A,  Second  Cavalry,  private. 

Butler,  Finley,  Company  G,  Seventeenth  Infantry,  private. 

Butler,  Henry  C.  Company  A,  Seventh  Infantry,  private. 

Butler,  John  H.,  Company  C,  Fifth  Infantry,  private. 

Butler,  Sylvester,  First  Cavalry,  third  musician. 

Butler,  Webster,  Company  A,  Seventh  Infantry,  private. 

Butler,  William,  Company  E,  Sixteenth  Infantry,  corporal. 

Butman,  Alpha.  Company  F,  Twenty-fifth  Infantry,  private. 

Butman,  Alphonso,  Company  F,  Twenty-fifth  Infantry,  private. 

Butman,  Evander,  Company  L,  Second  Cavalry,  private. 

Butman,  Manson  B.,  Company  F,  Twenty-fifth  Infantry,  private. 

Caldwell.  Stephen  H.,  Company  C,  Eleventh  Infantry,  first  lieutenant. 

Calhoun.  Junius.  Company  C,  Fifth  Infantry,  fourth  sergeant. 

Campbell.  Andrew   ).,  Company  C,  Eleventh  Infantry,  private. 

Campbell,  William,  Company  G,  Nineteenth  Infantry,  private. 

Capper,  William.  Company  C,  Eleventh  Infantry,  private. 

Carey,  Charles.  Company  — ,  Eleventh  Infantry,  private. 

Carney.  Patrick,  Company  C.  Fifth  Infantry,  private. 

Carpenter,  Charles  E.!  Company  F,  Nineteenth  Infantry,  private. 


COL.   WESLEY   W.   CAKMOi: 


I 


V 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  185 

Carpenter,  John,  Company  G,  Seventeenth  Infantry,  private. 

Carringer,  George  C,  Company  C,  Eighth  Infantry,  private. 

Carringer,  William  H.,  Company  F,  Twenty-fifth  Infantry,  private. 

Carson,  Joseph  S.,  Company  H,  Second  Infantry,  private. 

Carter,  John  F.,  Company  F,  Thirty-fifth  Infantry,  private. 

Carey,  George  H.,  Company  C,  First  Cavalry,  private. 

Cellan,  James,  Company  C,  Fifth  Infantry,  private. 

Chapman,  Charles  W.,  Company  F,  Nineteenth  Infantry,  private. 

Chapman,  Madison  G.,  Company  F,  Nineteenth  Infantry,  private. 

Chapman,  Samuel,  Company  C,  First  Cavalry,  private. 

Chapman,  Thomas  D.,  Company  F,  Nineteenth  Infantry,  second  sergeant. 

Chapman,  William,  Company  G,  Nineteenth  Infantry,  private. 

Chase,  Levi,  First  Cavalry,  major. 

Chasteen,  J.,  Company  A,   Ninth  Cavalry,  private. 

Chenoweth,  Joel,  Company  K,  Eighth  Infantry,  private. 

Chenoweth,  Joel,  Company  A,  Ninth  Cavalry,  fifth  sergeant. 

Chenoweth,  William,  Company  F,  Nineteenth  Infantry,  first  corporal. 

Cissne,  Pomroy,  Company  A,  Eleventh  Infantry,  private. 

Clark,  Daniel,  Company  K,  Engineer  Regiment  of  West  (Mo.),  private. 

Clark,  James  W.,  Company  K,  Eighth  Infantry,  private. 

Clark,  John  W.,  Company  G,  Nineteenth  Infantry,  private. 

Clark,  Morris  W.,  Company  C,  Eleventh  Infantry,  captain. 

Clark,  Samuel,  Company  K,  Eighth  Infantry,  private. 

Clark,  Samuel.  Company  H,  Eighth  Cavalry,  seventh  corporal. 

Clark,  William,  Company  K,  Engineer  Regiment  of  West   (Mo.),  private. 

Clement,  Joseph  W.,  Company  G,  Nineteenth  Infantry,  private. 

Cocklin,  Reuben  F.,  Company  G,  Nineteenth  Infantry,  eighth  corporal. 

Coe,  David  M.,  Company  A,  Ninth  Cavalry,  second  lieutenant. 

Coe,  Edward  E.,  Company  H,  Forty-fifth  Infantry,  private. 

Coe,  George  F.,  Company  D,  Twenty-fifth  Infantry,  private. 

Cole,  Henry  H.,  Company  C,  Fifth  Infantry,  private. 

Cole,  Thomas,  Company  F,  Eighth  Cavalry,  private. 

Coleman,  David  F.,  Company  K.  Eighth   Infantry,  private. 

Coleman,  John  G.,  Company  G,  Thirty-seventh  Infantry,  private. 

Colip.  William  R..  Company  G,  Nineteenth  Infantry,  private. 

Colton,  Frank,  Company  E,  Fifteenth  United  States  Infantry. 

Colville,  Beman,  Company  B,  First  Cavalry,  private. 

Compton,  O.  P.,  Company  C,  Sixteenth  Cavalry,  fourth  corporal. 

Compton,  Wesley  B.,  Company  H.  Second  Infantry,  private. 

Conway.  Isaac  J.,  Company  G,  Nineteenth  Infantry,  private. 

Cook,  Archibald,  Company  C,  Fifth  Infantry,  second  corporal. 

Cooken,  Charles  F.,  Company  F,  Forty-fifth  Infantry,  private. 

Cooper,  Valentine,  Company  K,  Eighth  Infantry,  private. 

Corbin,  James  C,  Company  — ,  Second  Cavalry,  private. 

Cornelius,   F.  James,   Company   K.   Eighth   Infantry,   private. 

Cornelius,  Finley  J.,  Company  K,  Eighth  Infantry,  fifth  corporal. 

Cornelius,  John,  Company  K,  Eighth  Infantry,  private. 

Cosgriff,  Richard  L.,  Company  L,  Fourth  Cavalry,  private. 


186  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

Coulter,  John,  Company  K,  Second  Cavalry,  second  lieutenant. 

Covet,  Albert  L.,  Company  I,  Twenty-fifth  Infantry,  private. 

Cowgill,  James.  Company  G.  Nineteenth  Infantry,  private. 

Cowles,  Thomas,  Company  L,  Eighth  Cavalry,  private. 

Coyle.  Patrick,  Company  F,  Twenty-fifth  Infantry,  private. 

Craddock,  Albert,  Company  A.  Second  Cavalry,  private. 

Craddock,  John  W.,  Company  E,  Eighteenth  Infantry,  private. 

Craig,  Thomas,  Company  I,  Eighteenth  Infantry,  private. 

Crain,  David,  Company  G,  Nineteenth  Infantry,  private. 

Crammond,  William  J..  Company  — ,  Eleventh  Infantry,  private. 

Crane.  James  \Y..  Company  G,  Seventeenth  Infantry,  private. 

Crawford,  Thomas  H.,  Company  F,  Twenty-fifth  Infantry,  private. 

Creighton,  H.  L.,  Company  E,  First  Infantry,  private. 

Creighton,  Hugh  L.,  Company  C,  Thirtieth  Infantry,  second  lieutenant. 

Creighton,  Joseph  H..  Company  C,  Thirtieth  Infantry,  musician. 

Creighton.  Samuel.  Company  C.  Forty-first  Infantry,  private. 

Creighton,  Samuel  N.,  Company  E,  First  Infantry,  private. 

Creswell,  John  M.,  Company  D,  First  Cavalry,  private. 

Grill,  Charles  W..  Company  K,  Eighth  Infantry,  private. 

Crilly,  Theodore,  Company  H,  Forty-fifth  Infantry,  second  corporal. 

Crim,  Morris,  Company  F,  Twenty-fifth  Infantry,  private. 

Crow,  John  H.,  Company  C,  First  Infantry,  private. 

Crocker,  Wm.  H.,  Company  E,  Sixteenth  Infantry,  private. 

Cummins,  David,  Company  C,  Eleventh  Infantry,  private. 

Cunningham,  G.  W.,  Company  G,  Nineteenth  Infantry,  private. 

Cunningham,  Lewis,  Company  A,  Seventh  Infantry,  private. 

Cunningham,  William,  Company  G.  Nineteenth  Infantry,  musician. 

Cunningham,  William,  Company  K,  Eighth  Infantry,  eighth  corporal. 

Cutkomp,  William,  Company  D,  Thirty-fifth  Infantry,  private. 

Dakes,  Richard  H.,  Company  F,  Twenty-fifth  Infantry,  second  lieutenant. 

Daniels,  Emmer,  Company  K,  Eighth  Infantry,  private. 

Darnell,  Newton,  Company  D,  Eighth  Cavalry,  private. 

Darnutzer,  Christian,  Company  E,  Fourteenth  Infantry,  private. 

Darrow,  Wallace,  Company  F,  Eleventh  Infantry,  musician. 

Darrow,  William  H.,  Fifth  Infantry,  assistant  surgeon. 

Davidson,  Samuel,  Company  K.  Eighth  Infantry,  private. 

Davis,  Edward,  Company  F,  Twenty-fifth  Infantry,  private. 

Davis,  Robert,  Company  F,  Twenty-fifth  Infantry,  private. 

Davis,  William,  Company  A,  Seventh  Infantry,  private. 

Davison,  George  F.,  Company  A,  First  Cavalry,  private. 

Davison.  Hiram  B.,  Company  F,  Nineteenth  Infantry,  private. 

Davison,  Nathaniel,  Company  E,  Sixteenth  Infantry,  private. 

Dean,  Lewis,  Company  L,  Fourth  Cavalry,  private. 

De  Camp,  Marcellus.  Company  F,  Thirty-fifth  Infantry,  first  corporal. 

Dalzell,  Samuel  P..  Company  F,  Nineteenth  Infantry,  private. 

Denham.  Obed  E.,  Company  F,  Twenty-fifth  Infantry,  fifth  corporal. 

Dennis,  Asher,  Company  C,  Eleventh  Infantry,  private. 

Dennis,  Marvin,  Company  C,  Eleventh  Infantry,  private. 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  187 

Dennis,  Oliver,  Company  C,  Eleventh  Infantry,  private. 
Dennis,  William  C,  Company  F,  Twenty-fifth  Infantry,  private. 
Deppe,  Henry,  Company  I,  Sixth  Infantry,  private. 
Denham,  Hugh  L.,  Company  F,  Twenty-fifth  Infantry,  third  sergeant. 
Detwiler,   Michael,   Company   K,   Engineer  Regiment  of   West    (Mo.),  fifth 
sergeant. 

Devine,  Owen,  Company  F,  Twenty-fifth  Infantry,  private. 

Dickerson,  Aden  T.,   Company   E,   Eighteenth   Infantry,  private. 

Dickies,  Morris,  Company  D,  Seventeenth  Infantry,  private. 

Dildine,  W.  A.,  Company  G,  Nineteenth  Infantry,  private. 

Diller,  Henry,  Company  H,  Forty-fifth  Infantry,  private. 

Diller,  Henry,  Company  E,  Sixteenth  Infantry,  private. 

Dilley,  George  W.,  Company  B,  First  Cavalry,  private. 

Dilley,  Thomas  B.,  Company  C,  Fifth  Infantry,  private. 

Dobbs,  Elisha,  Company  F,  Nineteenth  Infantry,  musician. 

Dodd,  Hiempsal  S.,  Company  C,  Eleventh  Infantry,  private. 

Dodd,  James  B.,  Company  C,  Eleventh  Infantry,  private. 

Dodder,  Charles.  Company  G,  Nineteenth  Infantry,  private. 

Dodder,  Isaiah,  Company  A,  Seventh  Infantry,  private. 

Dodder,  Joseph,  Company  A,  Ninth  Cavalry,  private. 

Donahoo,  James,  Fifty-fifth  Illinois,  private. 

Donaldson,  Ogilva,  Company  G,  Nineteenth  Infantry,  fifth  corporal. 

Donnahoo,  W.  P.,  Company  A,  Ninth  Cavalry,  private. 

Dotson,  George  B.,  Company  F,  Nineteenth  Infantry,  private. 

Dotson,  Joseph  M.,  Company  K,  Second  Cavalry,  private. 

Dotson,  Mark,  Company  K,  Second  Cavalry,  wagoner. 

Dougherty,  James,  Company  C,  Sixteenth  Infantry,  private. 

Dowel,  W.  H.  W.,  Company  G,  Nineteenth  Infantry,  private.. 

Downs,  Davenport,  Company  C,  Fifth  Infantry,  private. 

Dryden,  William  H.,  Company  F,  Twenty-fifth  Infantry,  private. 

Dufley,  Peter,  Company  C,  Eleventh  Infantry,  private. 

Duggan,  Thomas  C,  Company  A,  Seventh  Infantry,  private. 

Duncan,  Andrew  L.,  Company  C,  Seventh  Infantry,  private. 

Duncan,  Harvey,  Company  C,  Seventh  Infantry,  private. 

Duncan,  James  C,  Company  C,  Seventh  Infantry,  private. 

Duncan,  James  H.,  Company  F,  Twenty-fifth  Infantry,  private. 

Duncan,  James  M.,  Company  F,  Twenty-fifth  Infantry,  private. 

Duncan,  John  C,  Company  C,  Eleventh  Infantry,  private. 

Duncan,  Samuel  H.,  Company  F,  Twenty-fifth  Infantry,  private. 

Duncan,  Samuel  J.,  Company  C,  Eleventh  Infantry,  private. 

Duncan,  Samuel  K.,  Company  F,  Twenty-fifth  Infantry,  private. 

Dunn,  Hiram,  Company  F,  Twenty-fifth  Infantry,  fourth  sergeant. 

Dunn,  John  H.,  Company  K,  Eighth  Infantry,  private. 

Easton,  George,  Company  C,  Eleventh  Infantry,  private. 

Easton,  Orlando  W.,  Company  C,  Eleventh  Infantry,  fourth  sergeant. 

Edgington.  Allen  T.,  Company  F,  Thirty-fifth  Infantry,  private. 

Edgington,  Francis  M.,  Company  F,  Thirty-fifth  Infantry,  private. 

Edgington,  Ira,  Company  F,  Thirty-fifth  Infantry,  private. 


188  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

Edmonds,  ,11.  John  W.,  Company  C,  Eleventh  Infantry,  private. 
Edmondson,  William  A.,  Company  C.  Eleventh  Infantry,  private. 
Edmondson.  William  W.,  Company  C,  Eleventh  Infantry,  private. 
Edwards,  Jacob  A.,  Company  C.  Eleventh  Infantry,  private. 
Edwards,  John  W.,  Company  L\  Thirty-seventh  Infantry,  private. 
Edwards,  Robert,  Company  F,  Forty-fifth  Infantry,  private. 
Edwards,  Rowland.  Company  F.  Twenty-fifth  Infantry,  private. 
Edwards.  William  M.,  Company  K,  Eighth  Infantry,  private. 
Edwards.  Zenos  L.,  Company  C.  Eleventh  Infantry,  private. 
Eicher,  Samuel,  Company  G,  Seventeenth  Infantry,  private. 
Ellis,  Albert,  Company  C,  Fifth  Infantry,  captain. 
Ellis.  Harvey   S.,  Company    EC,    Eighth   Infantry,  private. 
Ellis.  John  J..  Company  C,  Sixteenth  Infantry,  private. 
Endsley,  William  M.,  Company  C,  Eleventh  Infantry,  private. 
English,  James   M.,  Eighth  Cavalry,  sergeant. 
Epperly.  James.  Company  F.  Thirty-fifth   Infantry,  private. 
Epperly,  Thomas.  Company   F,  Thirty-fifth  Infantry,  private. 
Epperly.  William.  Company   F.  Thirty-fifth  Infantry,  private. 
Epperly.  Xachariah  D.,  Company  F,  Thirty-fifth   Infantry,  private. 
Erwin,  George,  Company  G.  Nineteenth  Infantry,  private. 
Erwin.  Jacob,  Company  G.   Nineteenth  Infantry,  private. 
Erwin.  Julio  N..  Company  A.  Seventh  Infantry,  private. 
Erwin,  Samuel   T.,   Company   H.   Forty-fifth    Infantry,  private. 
Estep,  Noah.  Company  C,  First  Cavalry,  private. 
Euke.  Argalya,  Company  — .   First  Cavalry,  private. 
Eversull,  Ezekiel  D..  Company   F,  Nineteenth  Infantry,  private. 
Ewing,  William.  Company  F,  Nineteenth  Infantry,  private. 
Fagmirc,   William,   Company   F,  Thirty-fifth    Infantry,   private. 
Fath.   Jacob.   Company   (,.    Nineteenth    Infantry,   private. 
Faux,  Morgan.  Company   I-:.   Sixteenth   Infantry,   private. 
Fickle.  James.  Company  K,   Second  Cavalry,  first  lieutenant. 
Fish,  Evan,  Company  F,  Twenty-fifth  Infantry,  private. 
Fisher.  Levi,  Company  F.  Nineteenth  Infantry,  private. 
Flack.  James  M.,  Company  C,  Eleventh    Infantry,  private. 
Flack.  Robert  F.   M.,  Company  C.  Eleventh  Infantry,  private. 
Fleming,  George  W.,  Company   F,  Twenty-fifth  Infantry,  private. 
Fleming.  Orson.  Company  B,  Forty-fifth   Infantry,  private. 
Fletcher.  ( ieorge  C.  Company  A.  Ninth  Cavalry,  farrier. 
Flynn.  Peter  P.,  Company  — ,  Second  Cavalry,  private. 
Foor,  Lewis  R..  Company  M,  Eighth  Cavalry,  private. 
Forbes,  Thomas  J.,  Company  F,  Twenty-fifth  Infantry,  private. 
Forbes.  William.  Company  B,  Thirty-seventh  Infantry,  private. 
Fortner.  Thomas  Company  M,  Eighth  Cavalry,  private. 
Fosbender,  William,  Company  K,  Second  Cavalry,  corporal. 
Foster.  Fenner,  Company  I,  Engineer  Regiment  of  West  (Mo.),  fourth  cor- 
poral. 

Foster,  Henry  A..  Company  K.  Fourth  Cavalry,  private. 
Fowler,  B.  F.,  Company  K.  Eighth  Infantrv.  private. 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  la',) 

Fowler,  E.  R.,  Company  A,  Seventh  Infantry,  second  lieutenant. 

Fowler,  Henry  S.,  Company  F,  Nineteenth  Infantry,  musician. 

Fowler,  John   B.,  Company  G.  Second   Infantry,  first  lieutenant. 

Fowler,  Jonas,  Company  K,  Eighth  Infantry,  private. 

Fowler.   William.  Jr.,   Company    F,   Nineteenth   Infantry,   private. 

Frazee.  Joseph,  Company  K,  Eighth   Infantry,  private. 

Frazier,  Elliott,  First   Battery  Iowa  Light  Artillery,  fourth  corporal. 

Frazier,  John  C,  First   Battery  Iowa  Light  Artillery,  private. 

Frazier,  William,   First   Battery   Iowa   Light  Artillery,  private. 

Freeland,  Isaac  C,  Company  F,  Nineteenth   Infantry,  private. 

Freeland,  William  S.,  Company  C,  Eighth  Infantry,  private. 

Freeman,  Jacob  D.,  Company  C,  Fifth  Infantry,  private. 

Friend,  William  EL,  Company  F,  Nineteenth  Infantry,  first  sergeant. 

Frisbie,  Ichabod,  Company  F,  Thirty-fifth  Infantry,  private. 

Fritts,   Samuel,   Company   C,   Eleventh   Infantry,   private. 

Fry,  Josiah,  Company  F,  Thirty-fifth  Infantry,  private. 

Fryer,  Edward,  Company  G,  Nineteenth  Infantry,  private. 

Fryer,  John  J.,  Company  G.  Nineteenth  Infantry,  private. 

Fulton,  Abram,  Company  B,  Thirty-seventh  Infantry,  private. 

Fulton,  Henry,  Sixth  Infantry,  musician. 

Fulton,  Hugh,  Company  G,  Nineteenth   Infantry,  wagoner. 

Funk,  Henry  L.,  Company  C.  Eleventh  Infantry,  private. 

Gable,  David,  Company  F.  Nineteenth  Infantry,  private. 

Gable,  Ohio,  Company  C,  Eleventh  Infantry,  private. 

Gambell.   John.   Company   C,   Eleventh    Infantry,   private. 

Gambell.  Leslie,  Company  C,  Eleventh  Infantry,  private. 

Gamble,  Martin.  Company  F,  Nineteenth  Infantry,  private. 

Gamble,  Milton,  Company  F,  Nineteenth  Infantry,  fifth  corporal. 

Gamble,  William.  Company  C,  Fifth  Infantry,  first  corporal. 

Garner  J.  Witfield,  Twenty-fifth  Infantry,  regimental  quartermaster. 

Gasky,  William,  Company  K,  Eighth  Infantry,  private. 

Gast,  Herman,  Company  G,  Nineteenth  Infantry,  private. 

Gay,  John,  Company  F,  Twenty-fifth  Infantry,  musician. 

Gebhart,  John,  Company  G,  First  Cavalry,  private. 

Geer,  Silas,  Company  — ,  Nineteenth   Infantry,  private. 

Gentzler.  Martin,  Company  C,  Eighth   Infantry,  private. 

Gephart,  Anthony,  Company  A,  Eighth  Infantry,  private. 

Getts,  John   P.,   Company   C,   Fifth   Infantry,   private. 

Getts,  Spencer   I!.,  Company  C,   Fifth  Infantry,  second  lieutenant. 

Gibbons.  William  B.,  Company  F.  Twenty-fifth  Infantry,  private. 

Gibbs,  Henry  F..  Company  F,  Nineteenth  Infantry,  private. 

Gibbs,  Valentine  L.,  Company  F,  Nineteenth  Infantry,  private. 

Gillett,  Ferdinand,  Company  K,  Fourteenth  Infantry,  private. 

Gillie,  James,  Company  D,  Twenty-fifth  Infantry,  private. 

Gilmore.  William,  Company  F,  Sixteenth  Illinois  Infantry,  private. 

Gillmore,  George,  Company  G.   Nineteenth  Infantry,  private. 

Gipple,   Isaiah,  Company  K.   Eighth   Illinois  Infantry,  private. 

Glasgow,  Donald  C,  Company  C,  Eleventh  Illinois  Infantry,  private. 


190  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

Goodwin,  Jacob  H.,  Company  K.  Second  Cavalry,  sergeant. 

Gordey,  William  P.,  Company  C,  Fifth  Infantry,  private. 

Gorsach,  Thomas,  Company  I,  Twenty-fifth  Infantry,  private. 

Goskey,  William,  Company  M,  Eighth  Cavalry,  second  corporal. 

Graham,  B.  I.,  Company  D,  Eighth  Cavalry,  private. 

Graham,  Daniel,  Company  M,  Eighth   Cavalry,  private. 

Graham,  John,  Company  C,  Fifth  Infantry,  private. 

Graham,  Joseph  R.,  Company  F,  Twenty-fifth  Infantry,  private. 

Graham,  Vano,  Company  C,  Fifth  Infantry,  private. 

Gravert,  Albert,  Company  C,  Fifth  Infantry,  private. 

Graves,  Amos,  Company  K,  Eighth  Infantry,  private. 

Graves,  Benoni,  Company  C,  Eleventh  Infantry,  private. 

Graves,  Daniel  C,  Company  K,  Engineer  Regiment  of  West  (Mo.),  artificer. 

Graves,  Elias,  Company  K,  Eighth  Infantry,  private. 

Gray,  Absalom,  Company  B,  Thirty-seventh  Infantry,  private. 

Gray,  Samuel  M.,  Company  I,  Eighth  Infantry,  private. 

Green.  John  A.,  Company  C,  Eleventh  Infantry,  private. 

Gregory,  James  F.,  Company  C,  Eleventh  Infantry,  private. 

Gregory,  Wallace,  Company  G,  Seventeenth  Infantry,  private. 

Gregory,  William.  Company  G,  Nineteenth  Infantry,  third  sergeant. 

Griffith,  Samuel  J.,  Company  G,  Nineteenth  Infantry,  private. 

Griswold,  Edward  O.,  Company  C,  Fifth  Infantry,  private. 

Griswold,  Henry  E.,  Company  F,  Nineteenth  Infantry,  private. 

Grodewohl.  Lewis,  Company  K,  Engineer  Regiment  of  West  (Mo.),  private. 

Grubb,  John  L.,  Company  C,  Fifth  Infantry,  captain. 

( runn,  John  M.,  Company  C,  Eleventh  Infantry,  private. 

<  iuthrie,  James  H.,  Eighth  Cavalry,  quartermaster  sergeant. 

Guthrie,  John  L.,  Company  K,  Eighth  Infantry,  private. 

Guy,  Robert,  Company  C,  Eighth  Infantry,  private. 

Haas,  Adam,  Company  K.  Eighth  Infantry,  private. 

Haas,  Jacob,  Company  C,  Forty-first   Infantry,  private. 

Hahn,  George,  Company  K,  Eighth  Infantry,  private. 

Hall,  Eugene  W.,  Company  E,  First  Cavalry,  private. 

Hall,  H.  C,  Company  A,  Ninth  Cavalry,  private. 

Hall,  I.  N.,  Company  E,  First  Cavalry,  private. 

Hall,  James,  Company   K,  Eighth   Infantry,   private. 

Hall,  M.  O.,  Sixth  Indiana  Cavalry,  captain. 

Hall,  S.  E.,  Company  A,  Ninth  Cavalry,  private. 

Hall,  Stephen  R.,  Company  A,  Second  Cavalry,  private. 

Hall,  Thomas.  Company  C,  Fifth  Infantry,  private. 

Hall,  Thomas  L.,  Company  A,  Seventh  Infantry,  private. 

Hall,  W.  Clark,  First  Cavalry,  first  musician. 

Hall,  Walter  F..  Company  C,  Fifth  Infantry,  musician. 

Hall,  William  A.,  Company  F,  Nineteenth  Infantry,  third  sergeant. 

Hall,  William  F.,  Company  F,  Twenty-fifth  Infantry,  private. 

Hall,  Winfield  S.,  Company  A,  Second  Cavalry,  private. 

Hamill,  Joseph  N.,  Company  H,  Second  Infantry,  private. 

Hamill,  Robert  A.,  Company  H,  Second  Infantry,  private. 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  191 

Hamilton,  Alexander  T.,  Company  C,  First  Cavalry,  private. 

Hamilton,  James  W.,  Company  C,  Sixteenth  Infantry,  private. 

Hann,  Oscar,  Company  C,  Fifth  Infantry,  private. 

Hardesty,  Joseph  P.,  Company  A,  Ninth  Cavalry,  private. 

Hardesty,  William  M.,  Company  A,  Ninth  Cavalry,  private. 

Harris,  John  M.,  Company  E,  Fourteenth  Infantry,  private. 

Harris,  Joshua  C,  Company  C,  Sixteenth  Infantry,  private. 

Hartman,  William  P.,  Company  F,  Twenty-fifth  Infantry,  private. 

Hashar,  Jacob,  Company  G,  Nineteenth  Infantry,  private. 

Hatton,  Thomas  B.,  Company  G,  Nineteenth  Infantry,  sixth  corporal. 

Haun,  William  H.,  Company  K,  Eighth  Infantry,  second  lieutenant. 

Havenhill,  Alexander  H.,  Company.  G,  Nineteenth  Infantry,  private. 

Hawkins,  Henry   C,   Company   C,   Eleventh   Infantry,   private. 

Hawkins,  John  A.,  Company  G,  Nineteenth  Infantry,  private. 

Hayden,  Aurelius.  Company  I,  Second  Cavalry,  private. 

Hayes,  John  E.,  Company  K,  Eighth  Infantry,  private. 

Hayes,  Martin,  Company  M,  Eighth  Cavalry,  private. 

Hayes,  Morris,  Company  K,  Eighth  Infantry,  private. 

Hayes,  William  T.,  Company  K,  Eighth  Infantry,  first  lieutenant. 

Hegger,  John  H,  Company  F,  Nineteenth  Infantry,  private. 

Heindel,  Jacob,  Company  F,  Nineteenth  Infantry,  private. 

Heininger,  John,   Company  F,  Thirty-fifth  Infantry,   private. 

Heins,  John  F.,  Company  K,  Engineer  Regiment  of  West  (Mo.),  artificer. 

Helmick,  Jeremiah,  Company  G,  Nineteenth  Infantry,  private. 

Helmick,  William,  Company  F,  Nineteenth  Infantry,  private. 

Hemingway,  Manley,  Company  F,   Nineteenth  Infantry,  private. 

Hemingway,  T.,  Company  F,   Nineteenth   Infantry,  private. 

Henderson,  Andrew,  Company  C,   Fifth  Infantry,  private. 

Hendricks,  Ir.a,  Company  K,  Eighth  Infantry,  private. 

Hendrix,   William,   Company   F,   Thirty-fifth   Infantry,   private. 

Herron,  David  P.,  Company  F,  Nineteenth  Infantry,  private. 

Herron,  James  H.,  Company  I,  Sixth  Infantry,  private. 

Herron,  John  R.,  Company  A,  Ninth  Cavalry,  private. 

Herron,  Samuel,  Company  C,  Fifth  Infantry,  private. 

Herron,  William   M.,   Company   F,    Nineteenth   Infantry,   private. 

Hershay,  Christian,  Company  F,  Twenty-fifth  Infantry,  private. 

Hewett,  Robert  B.,  Company  F,  Twenty-fifth  Infantry,  private. 

Hiatt,  Ellis,  Company  B,  First  Cavalry,  private. 

Hicklin,  James  H.,  Company  G,  Nineteenth  Infantry,  fourth  sergeant. 

Hidlebaugh,  Alexander,  Company  F,  Thirty-fifth  Infantry,  private. 

Hidlebaugh,  David,  Company  F,  Thirty-fifth  Infantry,  private. 

Higbee,  Joseph,  Company  F,  Nineteenth  Infantry,  private. 

Higby,  Merrill  P.,  Company  — ,  Nineteenth  Infantry,  private. 

Higgs,  George  W..  Company  K,  Eighth  Infantry,  private. 

Hight,  John  A.,  Company  H,  Second  Infantry,  private. 

Hight,  J.  G,  Company  C,  Eighth  Infantry,  private. 

Hiler,  Richard  S.,  Company  F,  Twenty-fifth  Infantry,  private. 

Hill,  Amos  C,  Company  C,  Eleventh  Infantry,  private. 


192  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

J  lines,   John,   Company    F,    Nineteenth    Infantry,   private. 
Ilinkle.  William,  Company  (1.  Nineteenth  Infantry,  private. 
1  lodge.  Ambrose,  Fourth  Cavalry,  adjutant. 
Hoffman.  John.  Company  A,   Ninth  Cavalry,  adjutant. 
Hoffman.  William,  Company  ( i.  Nineteenth  Cavalry,  adjutant. 
Holland,  Ellison.  Company  ( i.  Nineteenth  Infantry,  fifth  sergeant. 
Holland,  Thomas.  Company  E,   Fourteenth  Infantry,  private. 
Holland.  William,  Company  A,   Ninth  Cavalry,  second  corporal. 
Hood,  James  S.,  Company  F,  Eleventh   Infantry,  private. 
Hoover,  Charles,  Company  A,  First  Infantry,  private. 
Hopper,  Frederick,  Company  K.  Eighth   Infantry,  private. 
Houtz,  George,  Company    I,   Sixth   Infantry,  private. 
Howe,  Samuel  IT.  Company  E,  First  Cavalry,  private. 
Howey,   Harris.  Twentieth    Infantry,  surgeon. 

Huff,  Barney  W.,  Company  G,  Nineteenth  Infantry,  first  sergeant. 
Huff.  Charles  W..  Company  < 1,   Nineteenth  Infantry,  captain. 
Huffman.  Jacob,  Company  G,  Nineteenth  Infantry,  private. 
Hughes,   Edward,   Company  F.  Twenty-fifth   Infantry,  private. 
Hulick,  Joseph.  Company  I,  Engineer  Regiment  of  West,  private. 
Ilulick.   Samuel,   Company   K,   Eighth   Infantry,  private. 
Hull,  Thomas,   Company    F,    Thirty-fifth    Infantry,   private. 
Hull,  Thomas  L.,  Company  A.  Seventh  Infantry,  private. 
Humiston,    James,    Company    K,    Engineer   Regiment   of   West    (Mo.),    first 
corporal. 

Humiston,  John,  Company  K.  Engineer  Regiment  of  West,  artificer. 

Humphrey.  George  W..   Company  K,  Eighth   Infantry,  private. 

Humphrey,  James  M.,  Company  K,  Eighth    Infantry,  private. 

ITunsecker,  Abram  C,  Company  K,   Eighth  Infantry,  private. 

Hunsecker,  Jacob  C,  Company  K,  Eighth  Infantry,  private. 

Hunt,  Henry,  Company  G,   Nineteenth   Infantry,  private. 

Hunt,   Huron,  Company   B,  Thirty-seventh   Infantry,  third  corporal. 

Hunt.  William.   Company    F,  Nineteenth    Infantry,  private. 

Hunter,  Chris  C,  Company  I,  Engineer  Regiment  of  West   (Mo.),  artificer. 

Hunter,  John,   Company  C,   Fifth    Infantry,   private. 

Hupp,  Frederick.  Company  K.  Eighth  Infantry,  private. 

Hurley.   David   C.   Company    II.    Forty-fifth    Infantry,   private. 

Hurley,  Emery  H.,  Company   F,   Nineteenth  Infantry,  private. 

Hurley.   John,   Forty-fifth    Infantry,   assistant   surgeon. 

Hutchison,  David   M.,  Company    K,    Eighth    Infantry,   private. 

Hutchison,  John,  Company    K,    Eighth    Infantry,  private. 

Isett,  John  H.,  Eighth  Cavalry,  major. 

Isett.  Fulton,  Company  C,  Fifth  Infantry,  second  sergeant. 

Jackson,  Horatio  P.,  Company  I.  Sixth  Infantry,  private. 

Jackson,    Joseph    J..    Eleventh    Infantry,    private. 

James.   Daniel.   Company   E,   Sixteenth   Infantry,   private. 

fames,  John  F.,  Company  C.  Eighth  Infantry,  private. 

James,   Levi,   Company   C,   Eleventh   Infantry,  private. 

Jamison.    Merit,    Company    I.    Sixth    Infantry,    private. 


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HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  193 

Jarvis,  Jesse  B.,  Company  E,  Eighteenth  Infantry,  first  corporal. 
Jefferson,   Thomas,   Company   F,   Thirty-fifth   Infantry,   private. 
Jeffries,  Jeremiah,  Company  C,  Eighth  Infantry,  private. 
Jennings,  Elijah,  Company  C,  Eleventh  Infantry,  private. 
Jennings,  Mifflin,  Company  C,  Eleventh  Infantry,  private. 
Jennings,  William  II.,  Company  C,  Eleventh  Infantry,  private. 
Jewett,  Moses.  Company  K,  Engineer  Regiment  of  West  (Mo.),  private. 
John,  Philip,  Company  F,  Nineteenth  Infantry,  private. 
Johnson,  George   H.,   Company   F,   Nineteenth    Infantry,   private. 
Johnson,  James  B.,  First  Battery  Iowa  Light  Artillery,  private. 
Johnson,  Peter,  Company  F,  Thirty-fifth  Infantry,  private. 
Johnson,  Philip  M.,  Company  F,  Twenty-fifth  Infantry,  private. 
Johnson,  Samuel  W.,  Company  H,  Forty-fifth  Infantry,  private. 
Johnson,  William  D.,  Company  G,   Nineteenth  Infantry,  private. 
Johnston,  Andrew  D.,  Company  C.  Eleventh  Infantry,  private. 
Johnston,  John  C,  Company  B,  Forty-fifth  Infantry,  private. 
Johnston,  Thomas  J..  Company   C,   Eleventh   Infantry,   eighth   corporal. 
Jondisch,  Augustus,  Company  A,   Ninth  Cavalry,  private. 
Jones,  Hugh  O.,  Company  C,  Eleventh  Infantry,  private. 
Jones,   James   B.,   Company   K,    Engineer   Regiment   of   West    (Mo.),   third 
sergeant. 

Jones,  John  F.,  Company  F,  Twenty-fifth  Infantry,  private. 

Jones,  Wells,  Company  C,  Eleventh  Infantry,  private. 

Jones,  William  J.,   Company  F,   Twenty-fifth   Infantry,  private. 

Jones  William  O.,  Company  F,  Twenty-fifth  Infantry,  private. 

Jones,  William  P.,  Company  C,  Eleventh  Infantry,  private. 

Joslvn,   Orlando  V.,  Company  E,  Thirty-fifth   Infantry,  private. 

Joy,  Edwin  J.,  Company  G,   Nineteenth  Infantry,  private. 

Joy,  Joseph  E.,  Company  C,  Fifth  Infantry,  sergeant. 

Kassabaum,  Abraham,  Company  B,  Forty-fifth  Infantry,     sergeant. 

Kassabaum,  James,  Company  C,   Sixteenth   Infantry,  private. 

Keach,  William.  Company  G,  Seventeenth  Infantry,  first  lieutenant. 

Keaver,  William  O.  S.,  Company  C,  First  Cavalry,  private. 

Keever,  John  P.,  Company  I,  Sixth  Infantry,  private. 

Keller,   Henry  D.,   First  Cavalry,  musician. 

Kellogg,  James  F.,  Company  C,  Fifth  Cavalry,  musician. 

Kelly,  Milo  A.,  Company  F,  Twenty-fifth  Infantry,  musician. 

Kennedy,  Jeremiah,  Company  C.  Fifth  Cavalry,  private. 

Kent,  Jeptha  L.,  Company  C,  First  Cavalry,  private. 

Kern,   Gottlieb,  Company  G,  Nineteenth   Cavalry,  private. 

Kerr,  Alexander,  Company  K.  Eighth  Cavalry,  private. 

Key,  David,   Company  I,   Sixth  Infantry,  private. 

Key,  John  H..  Company  E,  Sixth  Infantry,  first  lieutenant. 

Key,  Joseph  S.,  Company  K,  Second  Cavalry,  private. 

Key,  Solomon  P.,  Company  F,  Nineteenth  Cavalry,  first  lieutenant.. 

King,  James  L..  First  Cavalry,  battalion  sergeant-major. 

King,  Richard  E.,  Company  K,  Fourth  Cavalry,  private. 

Kingen,  John   P.,   Company  E,  Eighteenth   Infantry,   private. 


194  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

Kinsey,  Lemuel  M.,  Company  K,  Eighth   Infantry,  private. 

Kinsey,   Plummer  P.,   Company  I,   Sixth   Infantry,  private. 

Kingsland,  Harry  E.,  Company  F,  Thirty-fifth  Infantry,  private. 

Kincaid,  James  W.,  Company  H,  Eighth  Cavalry,  fourth  sergeant. 

Kincaid,  Legrand   B.,  Company   E,   Sixteenth   Infantry,  private. 

Kircher,  Frederick,  Company  ('.,  Nineteenth  Infantry,  private. 

Kirk,    John.    Company    D,    First    Cavalry,    private. 

Kirk,   Sherman,   Company  C,   Fifth   Infantry,  private. 

Klingaman,   Washington.    Company   E,    First   Cavalry,   private. 

Knap,  Clinton,  Company  D,   Thirty-fifth  Infantry,   private. 

Knight.  Alonzo,   Company  F,  Twenty-fifth  Infantry,   private. 

Knight.  Charles  E.,   Company   F,   Nineteenth   Infantry,  private. 

Knipes,  Thomas,  Company  G,   Nineteenth   Infantry,  private. 

Knouss,  Andrew  J„  Company   K,  Thirteenth  Infantry,  private. 

Knouss,  David,  Company  K,  Thirteenth  Infantry,  private. 

Knouss.  Isaiah,  Company  C,  Eighth  Infantry,  private. 

Knouss,   Samuel,   Company  B,   Thirty-seventh   Infantry,   private. 

Knouss,  Samuel  J.,  Company  K,  Thirteenth  Infantry,  private. 

Knowls,   David   A.,  Company   C,  Thirteenth  Infantry,  private. 

Korn,  August,  Company   F,  Nineteenth    Infantry,  private. 

Kremer,  Wesley  P.,  Company  I,  Sixth   Infantry,  private. 

Kuder,  George  M.,  Company  A,  Seventh  Infantry,  private. 

Kuder,  Jackson  A.,  Company  E,  Sixteenth  Infantry,  private. 

Kyi,  Zachariah,  Company  G.  Nineteenth  Infantry,  private. 

Lacey,  C.  P.,  Fifty-fifth  Illinois. 

Lacey,  Edwin  B.,  Company  F,  Thirty-fifth  Infantry,  private. 

La  Cornu,  John,   Company   F,  Twenty-fifth  Infantry,  private. 

Landes,  Peter,  Company  A,  Nineteenth  Infantry,  private. 

Lane,  Alexander  M.,  Company  A,  Twenty-fifth  Infantry,  private. 

Lane,  Jackson  A.,  Company  K,  Thirteenth  Infantry,  private. 

Lane,  Joseph   B.,  Company  A,  Twenty-fifth  Infantry,  private. 

Lathrop,  George  P..  Company  K,  Eighth  Infantry,  private. 

Lathrop,  Gilead   P.,  Company  K,  Eighth   Infantry,  private. 

Latta,   Edward   T.,   Company   K,   Eighth    Infantry,   private. 

Lauback  Joseph  S.,  Company  C,  Sixteenth  Infantry,  private. 

Lautz,   George   F.,   Company  C,   Eighth   Infantry,  private. 

Law,  Charles  H.,  Company  G,  Nineteenth  Infantry,  private. 

Lawrence,  Albert,  Company  F,  Twenty-fifth  Infantry,  private. 

Leffler,  Abraham,  Company  K,  Second  Cavalry,  private. 

Lerou,  George  H.,  Company  K,  Eighth  Infantry,  private. 

Lerow,  William  R.,  Company  G,  Nineteenth  Infantry,  private. 

Lesnet,  Martin  S„  Company  F,  Nineteenth  Infantry,  private. 

Lester.  Christopher.  Company  G,  Nineteenth  Infantry,  private. 

Letts,  David  G.,  Company  H,  Forty-fifth  Infantry,  private. 

Lewis.  Asa.  Company  G,  Nineteenth  Infantry,  private. 

Limbocker.  Alfred  S.,  Company  C,  Eleventh  Infantry,  second  sergeant. 

Limbocker,  George,  Company  C,  Eighth  Infantry,  private. 

Limbocker.  George  W.,  Company  C,  Eleventh  Infantry,  first  lieutenant. 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  195 

Limbocker,  Jerry  M.,  Company  G,  Fifth  Infantry,  captain. 
Limbocker,  Thomas,  Company  C,  Fifth  Infantry,  private. 
Lincoln,  Abraham  H.,  Company  C,  Eighth  Infantry,  private. 
Linderman,  August,  Company  — ,  Nineteenth  Infantry,  private. 
Linderman,  John    H.,    Company    K,    Engineer    Regiment    of    West    (Mo.), 
artificer. 

Lindsey,  John   F.,  Company   H,   Forty-fifth   Infantry,  private. 
Linn,  Findley   M.,   Company  F,  Nineteenth  Infantry,  seventh   corporal. 
Linn,  Oliver  H.  P.,  Company  F,  Thirty-fifth  Infantry,  fourth  sergeant. 
Linton,  H.  B.,  Company  I,  Sixth  Infantry,  sergeant. 
Linton,  Ira,  Company  K,  Sixth  Infantry,  lieutenant. 
Little,  Sylvester,  Company  F,  Twenty-fifth  Infantry,  private. 
Littleton,  George, 

Littleton,  John  W.,  Company  F,  Nineteenth  Infantry,  private. 
Littleton,  Kendall,  Company  F,  Nineteenth  Infantry,  private. 
Littleton,  Noah,  Company  F,  Nineteenth  Infantry,  private. 
Littleton,  William  M.,  Company  K,  Eighth  Infantry,  fifth  corporal. 
Littleton,  Thomas  S.,  Company  C,  Fifth  Infantry,  fifth  corporal. 
Livingston,  G.  B.  S.,  Company  C,  Eleventh  Infantry,  fifth  corporal. 
Lockwood,  Edwin  J.,  Company  G,  Eleventh  Infantry,  first  lieutenant. 
Lockwood,  John  C,  Thirtieth   Infantry,   regimental   quartermaster. 
Lovem,  Edward,  Company  — ,   Seventh  Infantry,  private. 
Luckey,  Albert,  Company   F,  Twenty-fifth   Infantry,   private. 
Luckey,  James  R.,  Company  C,  Fourteenth  Infantry,  private. 
Luckey,  Jeremiah,  Company  F,  Twenty-fifth  Infantry,  private. 
Luckey.  John,  Company  E,  Sixteenth  Infantry,  private. 
Luckey,  Samuel,   Company   B,   Thirty-seventh   Infantry,   private. 
Lunbech,  Andrew  J.,  Company  C,  Fifth  Infantry,   fourth  corporal. 
Lynch,  James,   Company  H,  Eighth  Cavalry,  private. 
McCardel,  John   K..   Company  F,  Twenty-fifth  Infantry,  private. 
McCaw,  William  J.,  Company  I,  Second  Cavalry,  private. 
McClure,  Robert,  Company  C.  Fifth  Infantry,  private. 
McConahay,  Joseph,  Company  A.  Ninth  Cavalry,  private. 
McConnell,  Alexander  E.,  Company  C,  Sixteenth  Infantry,  private. 
McCowen,  Alexander,   Company   K,   Eighth   Infantry,  private. 
McCowen,  William,  Company  K,  Fourth  Cavalry,  private. 
McCoy,  Charles,  Company  F,  First  Cavalry,  private. 
McCoy,  Francis  M..  Company  C,  Eleventh  Infantry,  private. 
McCoy,  John  W.,  Company  C,  Eleventh  Infantry,  private. 
McCoy,  Joseph,  Company  C.  Eleventh  Infantry,  private. 
McCoy,  Samuel,   Company  — ,   Nineteenth   Infantry,  private. 
McCoy,  Samuel  H..  Company  C,  Eleventh  Infantry,  private. 
McCray,  Addison,  Company  K,  Second  Cavalry,  sergeant. 
McCullough,  Allen,  Company  E,  Fourteenth  Infantry,  private. 
McDaniel,  Fred  H.,  Company  F,  Thirty-fifth  Infantry,  corporal. 
McDaniel,  John  P..  Company  F,  Nineteenth   Infantry,  private. 
McDaniel,  William  H.,  Company  F,   Nineteenth   Infantry,  private. 
McGill,  William,  Company  H,  Forty-fifth  Infantry,  private. 


196  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

McGrau,  Thomas,  Company  K,  Eighth   Infantry,  private. 
McGraw,  George,  Company  G,  Nineteenth   Infantry,  private. 
McGraw,  Squire.  Company  G,  Nineteenth   Infantry,  private. 
McFfenry,   Thomas,   Company   K.   Eighth   Infantry,   first   corporal. 
McKay,  Daniel,  Company  F,   Nineteenth   Infantry,  private. 
McKay,  Norval  W.,  Company   I,  Sixth  Infantry,  private. 
McKav.  William  H..  Company  F,  Twenty-fifth  Infantry,  private. 
McKee,  James  H.,  Company  G.  Nineteenth  Infantry,  private. 
McKinney,  James   R.,  Company   I,  Twenty-fifth   Infantry,  private. 
McKinzie,   Sylvester,   Company   C.   Eighth   Infantry,   private. 
McXemer.  Nicholas  W.,  Company  E,  Sixteenth  Infantry,  private. 
McNemer.  Philip,   Company   E,    Sixteenth   Infantry,   sixth   corporal. 
McNall,  Judson  S.,  Company  A,  Seventh  Infantry,  private. 
McNatton.  Joseph  II..  Company  C,  First  Infantry,  private. 
McPherson.  Orman.  Company  G,  Nineteenth   Infantry,  private. 
McQueen,  John,  Company  K,   Eighth   Infantry,  private. 
McSweeney,   Ed,   Company  F.   Eighth  Cavalry,  private. 
McSweeney,  Daniel,  Company   F.   Eighth  Cavalry,  private. 
Malier,   Michael,   Company   D,  Thirty-fifth   Infantry,   private. 
Mallory,  Samuel  W..  Company  ( i.  Nineteenth   Infantry,  private. 
Mauley.   Andrew  J..  Company  C,  Eleventh  Infantry,  private. 
Manley,  Franklin   C.   Company  C,   Eleventh    Infantry,   sixth   corporal. 
Mauley,  James,   Company   C,   Eleventh   Infantry,   private. 
Mann,  John   F..   Company  G.   Nineteenth    Infantry,   private. 
Mann,  William   IT.  Company   I,   Sixth   Infantry,  private. 
Manners,  Joseph,  Company  C,  Eleventh  Infantry,  second  corporal. 
Manners,  William  A..  Company  C.   Eleventh   Infantry,  private. 
Marchant,  Joseph,  Company  C,  First  Cavalry,  private. 
Marchant.  Samuel.  Company  C,  First  Cavalry,  private. 
Marshall.  John  L.,  First  Cavalry,  musician. 

Marshall,  William    H.,   Company   G,    Nineteenth    Infantry,   private. 
Martin,  Ackissen,  Company  K,  Eighth  Infantry,  private. 
Martin,  Alvin  H.,  Company  L,  Eighth  Cavalry,  private. 
Martin,  Jacob  C,  Company  C,  Fifth  Infantry,  private. 
Martin,  James,  Company  K,   Eighth   Infantry,  private. 
Martin.  John,   Company  C.  Eleventh   Infantry,  third   corporal. 
Massie.  Vinton,  Company  G.   Nineteenth   Tnfantry,  second   sergeant. 
Masten,  Ames,  Company  K.  Eighth   Infantry,  private. 
Mathews,  John  A..  Company  C,  Eleventh  Infantry,  wagoner. 
Maxson,  Francis  M.,  Company   F,  Nineteenth  Infantry,  private. 
Maxwell.  Absalom,    Company   E,   Sixteenth    Infantry,   private. 
Maxwell.  Wilson   S..  Company   C,   Forty-first   Infantry,   private. 
Mellinger,  John,   Company  — .   First   Cavalry,   private. 
Mench,  Charles,  Company  C.  Fifth  Infantry,  private. 
Merchant,  Joseph,  Company  D,  First  Cavalry,  private. 
Merrill,  Asa,  Company  C.   Eleventh  Cavalry,  private. 
Merrill,  George  W.,  Company  C,  Eleventh  Cavalry,  first  corporal. 
Merrill,  Peter,  Jr.,  Company  F,  Twenty-fifth  Infantry,  fifth  sergeant. 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  197 

Merrill,  Samuel,   Company  C,   Fifth   Infantry,  private. 

Merrill.  Thomas  G..  Company  C,  Fifth   Infantry,  second  corporal. 

Mewhirter,  Andrew   B.,   Company   G,   Nineteenth   Infantry,  wagoner. 

Mickey,  Isaac,   Company  F,  Twenty-fifth   Infantry,   private. 

Mickey,  John,  Company  D,   Eighth  Cavalry,  private. 

Mickey,  William   H..  Company  F.  Eighth  Cavalry,  private. 

Millan,    lames   H.,  Company  G,   Nineteenth   Infantry,   private. 

Miller,  Alexander,  Company  F,   Nineteenth   Infantry,   private. 

Miller,  Henry   D.,    Company    C.    Eleventh    Infantry,   private. 

Miller,  Nicholas,   Company   F,   Nineteenth    Infantry,   private. 

Miller,  William   P.,  Company  F,  Twenty-fifth   Infantry,  second  lieutenant. 

Milligan.  James,  Company  F,  Twenty-fifth   Infantry,  private. 

Milligan,  William  H.,  Company   I.  Sixth   Infantry,  private. 

Mincher,  Calvin,  Company  F,  Nineteenth  Infantry,  private. 

Mintun,  Elbridge,    Company   H,    Forty-fifth    Infantry,    fourth   corporal. 

Mintun,  Henry,  First  Cavalry,  musician. 

Mitchell,  Alvin   L..  Company  C,  Eleventh   Infantry,  first  sergeant. 

Mitchell.  John.   Company   F,   Nineteenth   Infantry,   private. 

Morgan,  Daniel,   Company  F,  Twenty-fifth   Infantry,   seventh   corporal. 

Morgan,  George  W.,  Company   F,   Twenty-fifth   Infantry,  wagoner. 

Morgan,  Richard,   Company   G,   Nineteenth    Infantry,   seventh  corporal. 

Morgan,  William,  Company  C,  First  Cavalry,  private. 

Mondan,  William  W.,  Company  H.  Forty-fifth   Infantry,  private. 

Moore,  David  B.,  Company  C,  Fifth  Infantry,  private. 

Moore,  Henry   R.,   Company   E,   Fifteenth  United   States    Infantry,   private. 

Moore,  John,  Company   C.   Fifth   United   States   Infantry,   private. 

Moore,   Toseph  M.,   Company  C,  Eleventh   United   States   Infantry,   private. 

Moore,  Robert  J.  W.,  Company  K.  Eighth  United  States  Infantry,  private. 

Moore,  Shannon  R.,  Company  G,  Fourth  Veteran   Infantry,  private. 

Morris,  Alexander,   Company   K,   Eighth    Infantry,   private. 

Morris,  Andrew   J.,    Company   F,    Nineteenth    Infantry,    private. 

Morris,  Charles,   Company   H,   Forty-fifth   Infantry,   private. 

Morris,  Charles   F.,   Company   F.   Nineteenth   Infantry,  fifth   corporal. 

Morris.  John  W..  Company  C,  First  Cavalry,  private. 

Morris,  Martin  C,   Company   C,   First   Cavalry,   private. 

Morris,  Thomas  B.,  Company  M,  Eighth  Cavalry,  first  corporal. 

Morris,  Thomas  C,   Company   C,    Eleventh  Cavalry,  private. 

Murfish,  A.,  Company  K,  Eighth  Cavalry,  private. 

Murphy,  Dennis,   Eighth   Cavalry,   chaplain. 

Murphy,   lohn  H.,  Company   G,   Seventeenth   Infantry,  private. 

Murray,  Henry,  Jr.,   Company   F,   Nineteenth   Infantry,   private. 

Murray,  Joseph.  Company  E,   Sixteenth   Infantry,  third  corporal. 

Murray,   loshua,  Company  H.   Second   Infantry,  private. 

Myers,   Frederick,   Company  B,  Thirty-seventh   Infantry,   second   corporal. 

Nash,  David,  Company   K,  Fourth  Cavalry,  private. 

Neal,   Toseph,  Company   C,   Eleventh   Infantry,   captain. 

Neal,  William,  Company  B,  Forty-fifth    Infantry,  private. 

Neal.  William  H.,  Company  C,  Fifth   Infantry,  private. 


198  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

Nellis,  George  S..  Company  G.  Nineteenth  Infantry,  third  corporal. 

Nelson,  Joel  A.,   Company   B.  Thirty-seventh   Infantry,   sixth   corporal. 

Nelson.  Peter,  Company  G,  Nineteenth  Infantry,  private. 

Nesbitt,  William,  Company  — , 

Neville,   Isaac  A.,  Company  E,  Fourteenth   Infantry,  private. 

Nevitt,  Joseph  H.,  Company  F.  Thirty-fifth  Infantry,  private. 

Newman,  Oliver  W.,  Company  G,  Nineteenth  Infantry,  private. 

Nichols,  Alvin  J.,  Company  G,  Nineteenth  Infantry,  private. 

Norrill,  James,  Company  F,  Twenty-fifth  Infantry,  private. 

Norris,   Ira,  Company  K,  Eighth  Infantry,  private. 

Oats,  John  W.,  Company  M,  Eighth  Cavalry,  private. 

Ochiltree,  John.   Company  C,  Sixteenth   Infantry,  private. 

Ochiltree,  Thomas  J.,  Company  M,  Eighth  Cavalry;  fifth  sergeant. 

Ogden,  Thomas  A.,  Company  G,  Nineteenth  Infantry,  private. 

Olds,  Briggs,  Company  E,   Sixteenth   Infantry,  private. 

Olds,  David,  Company  A.  Ninth  Cavalry,  private. 

Olds.  Henry  F..  Company  C.  Eighth   Infantry,  private. 

Olds.  Jeremiah,  Company  A,  Ninth  Cavalry,  private. 

Olmstead,  Josiah  G.,  Company  B,  Thirty-seventh  Infantry,  seventh  corporal. 

Ong,  Finley  M.,  Company  K,  Eighth  Infantry,  musician. 

Orr.   Samuel  F..  Company  C,  Fifth  Infantry,  sixth  corporal. 

Orr,  Samuel  W.,  Company  K,  Eighth  Infantry,  private. 

Orr,  Samuel  Y.,  Company  — ,  Eighth   Infantry,  private. 

Orr,  William  F.,  Company  C.  Fifth   Infantry,  private. 

Orris,  Levi,   Company    F,   Twenty-fifth    Infantry,    private. 

Orris,  Martin  L.,  Company  C.  Eighth  Infantry,  private. 

Orris,  Reuben,  Company  C.  Eighth  Infantry,  private. 

Osborne,  Joseph  S.,  Company  C.  Fifth  Infantry,  private. 

Owens,  James,  Company  C,   Sixteenth   Infantry,  private. 

Owens,  John  A..  Company  F.  Twenty-fifth  Infantry,  private. 

Owens,  Lewis  L..  Company  I.  Sixth  Infantry,  private. 

Owens,  Robert  O.,  Company   I.   Second  Cavalry,  private. 

Owens,  William.   Company   C.    Sixteenth   Infantry,   seventh   corporal. 

Paisley,  Francis  T.,  Company  M,  Eighth  Cavalry,  private. 

Paisley.  Isaiah.  Company  C.  Sixteenth  Infantry,  private. 

Paisley,  John,   Company   M,  Eighth   Cavalry,  private. 

Paislev,  Samuel   F.,   Company   C,   Sixteenth    Infantry,   private. 

Pallet.  Leander  M.,  Company  A,  Seventh   Infantry,  private. 

Pallet.  Theodore.  Company  G,  Eleventh   Infantry,  private. 

Palmer,  George,   Company  C.   Fifth   Infantry,  private. 

Palmer,  Robinson  C,  Company   K,   Eighth   Infantry,  fourth   sergeant. 

Paschal,  Allen   S.,   Company  F,  Twenty-fifth   Infantry,   private. 

Paschal,  George  C,  Company  F,  Twenty-fifth  Infantry,  private. 

Paschal.  James  D.,  Company  F.  Twenty-fifth    Infantry,   fourth  corporal. 

Paschal,  Joseph.   Company   B,   Thirty-seventh    Infantry,    private. 

Paschal,  Milton   C,  Company  F,   Thirty-seventh   Infantry,  private. 

Paschal,  William,    Company    B,   Thirty-seventh    Infantry,    private. 

Patterson,  Charles  W.,  Company  F.  Nineteenth  Infantry,  private. 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  199 

Patton,  James  F..  Company   F,  Twenty-fifth   Infantry,   third  corporal. 

Patton,  John,  Company  C,  Eleventh  Infantry,  private. 

Patton,  John   H.,  Company   F,   Twenty-fifth   Infantry,  private. 

Patton,  Robert  J„  Company  K,  Engineer  Regiment  of  West  (Mo.),  artificer. 

Patton,  William,  Company  C,  Eleventh   Infantry,  private. 

Paxson,  John,  Company   F,  Twenty-fifth  Infantry,  private. 

Paxton,  James  R..  Company  F,  Twenty-fifth  Infantry,  private. 

Paxton,  Robert  J.,  Company  K,  Fourth  Cavalry,  private. 

Payson,  John,   Company  I,  Twenty-fifth   Infantry,  private. 

Payton,  James,  Company  C,  Eleventh  Infantry,  private. 

Pay  ton,  Richard  E.,  Company  C,  Fifth  Infantry,  fourth  corporal. 

Payton,  William.   Company  G,  Nineteenth   Infantry,   fourth  corporal. 

Peck,  John  H.,  Company  F,  Forty-fifth  Infantry,  private. 

Peel,  Samuel  K.,  Company  E,  Twenty-fifth  Infantry,  private. 

Pennington,  Edward,  Company  G,  Nineteenth  Infantry,  private. 

Perkins,  Tobias,  Company  I,  Sixth  Infantry,  private. 

Pery,  Eugene  P.,  Company  F,  Twenty-fifth  Infantry,  private. 

Peterson,  Andrew,  Company  K.  Engineer  Regiment  of  West  (Mo.),  artificer. 

Phares,  William  H.,   Company  K,  Eighth  Infantry,  private. 

Philips,  Andrew,  Company  F,  Twenty-fifth  Infantry,  private. 

Pierce,  Albert  H.,  Company   C,   Fifth   Infantry,  private. 

Pierce,  Lyman  B.,  Company  K,   Second  Cavalry,  corporal. 

Pierpont,  Anson  T.,  Company  G,  Nineteenth  Infantry,  private. 

Pierpont,  Isaac  N.,  Company  G,  Nineteenth  Infantry,  private. 

Pierson,  Simeon,  Company  F,  Twenty-fifth  Infantry,  private. 

Pierson,  Sineus,   Company   I,   Twenty-fifth  Infantry,  private. 

Pike,  Hennas  P.,  Company  I,  Sixth  Infantry,  private. 

Pike.  Henry  C,  Company  F,  Nineteenth  Infantry,  private. 

Pike,  Homer,  Company  D.  Ninth  Cavalry,  private. 

Pinkerton,  James  B.,  Company  F,  Twenty-fifth  Infantry,  private. 

Plumer,  Ira,  Company  K,  Eighth  Infantry,  private. 

Pontzius,  James  M.,   Company   F.   Nineteenth   Infantry,   private. 

Pontzius,  William   H.  Company  M,   Eighth  Cavalry,  third   sergeant. 

Potter,  Charles   R.,  Company  F,   Nineteenth   Infantry,  eighth  corporal. 

Powers,  Haymond  J.,   Company  G,   Seventeenth  Infantry,  private. 

Pratt,  Adam,  Company  F,  Twenty-fifth  Infantry,  private. 

Presbery,  George,  Company  — ,   Fourteenth  Infantry,  private. 

Presbery,  John  C,  Company  F.   Nineteenth   Infantry,  private. 

Pressly,  Thomas  C,  Company  A,  Ninth  Cavalry,  private. 

Prettymah,  Isaac,   Company   F,   Twenty-fifth   Infantry,   private. 

Prettyman,  William  H,  Company  F,  Twenty-fifth  Infantry,  private. 

Price,  James  P.,  Company  B,  Forty-fifth   Infantry,  private. 

Price,  Joseph,  Company  C,  Fifth  Infantry,  private. 

Price.  Michael,  Company  F.  Twenty-fifth  Infantry,  private. 

Pugh,  Sanford,  Company  G,  Nineteenth   Infantry,  private. 

Pugh,  William,   Company   G,    Nineteenth    Infantry,   private. 

Racer,  Dennis,  Company  F,  Nineteenth  Infantry,  private. 

Racer,  Joseph,  Company  F,   Nineteenth   Infantry,  private. 


200  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

Racer,  William,   Company   II,   Eighth   Cavalry,   private. 
Ramey.  William   H.,  Company   I,    Twenty-fifth   Infantry,   private. 
Ramey,  William   H.,   Company   F,  Twenty-fifth    Infantry,  private. 
Ramey,  William   R.,   Company    F,   Twenty-fifth    Infantry,  private. 
Randall,  Warren   X..  Company  C,  Eighth  Infantry,  private. 
Rathfon,  George,   Company   F,  Nineteenth  Infantry,  private. 
Rathfon,  Leonard.   Company    F,   Nineteenth   Infantry,  private. 
Rathfon,   Samuel,    Company    F,    Nineteenth    Infantry,    eighth    corporal. 
Rausenherger,  Harvey,  Company    1.   Second   Cavalry,  private. 
Ranshenberger,  J.   C,  Company   F,  Second   Cavalry,  private. 
Raushenberger.  Sylvan,   Company  K.   Second  Cavalrv,   private. 
Raushenberger,   William,   Company   F,   Nineteenth   Infantry,  private. 
Rawmiller,  William,  Company  F,  Nineteenth  Infantry,  private. 
Raymond,  Isaac  M.,  Company    F,    Nineteenth    Infantry,  private. 
Recce.  Benjamin  F.,  Company  L,  Eighth  Cavalrv,  private. 
Reece,  Martin,  Company  C.  Eleventh  Infantry,  private. 
Reed,  James  M.,  Company   F,  Twenty-fifth   Infantry,  private. 
Reed.  John  A.,  Company  — ,  First  Cavalry,  private. 
Reed,  Thomas.  Company  C,   Eleventh  Infantry,  private. 
Reeder.  James  W.,  Company  C,  Eleventh  Infantry,  fifth  corporal. 
Reiner.    Edwin.   Company   C,   Fifth    Infantry,   first   lieutenant. 
Reese,  James   P.,  Company    F,  Twenty-fifth   Infantry,  private. 
Reese,  Valentine,  Company  C,   Fifteenth   U.  S.    [nfantry,  private. 
Reeser.  Washington,  Company   F,  Forty-fourth    Infantry,  private. 
Reiner,  Ed.  S..  Company  C.  Thirteenth  Infantry,  adjutant. 
Reister,  David,  Company  C,  Eleventh  Infantry,  private. 
Rerhoad.  Conrad,  Company  K,  Eighth   Infantry,  private. 
Rexroth,   George,   Company  — ,   Nineteenth  Infantry,  private. 
Reynolds,  Chalmers,  Company  C,  Eleventh  Infantry,  private. 
Reynolds,  C.  M.,  Company  A,  Seventh  Infantry,  private. 
Reynolds,  Theodore  G.,  Company  A,  Seventh  Infantry,  private. 
Reynolds,  Samuel,  Company  K,  Eighth  Infantry,  third  corporal. 
Reynolds,  William  D..  Company  A,  Seventh   Infantry,  first  lieutenant. 
Rice,  Jacob,  Company  C,  Thirty-fifth   Infantry,  private. 
Richley,   Philip,  Company  G,  Nineteenth   Infantry,   private. 
Ricketts,  William,  Company  K,  Eighth   Infantry,  first  sergeant. 
Rickey.  Joseph  S..  Company  F,  Eleventh  Infantry,  private. 
Riggs.   Augustus.   Company    F,    Thirty-fifth    Infantry,   private. 
Riley.  Isaac  T.,  Company  C.  Sixteenth  Infantry,  wagoner. 
Riley,  Lewis  A.,  Company   II,  Forty-fifth   Infantry,  private. 
Rinehart,    Nicholas.    Company    C,   Fifth    Infantry,    seventh    corporal. 
Risocher,  John   S.,   Company  H,   Second   Infantry,   private. 
Ritter,  Jonas,  Company  F,  Twenty-fifth  Infantry,  private. 
Robbins,  David  A..  Company   I'.,   Forty-fifth  Infantry,  private. 
Roberts,  Israel  N.,  Company  C,  Eighth   Infantry,  private. 
Roberts,  Levi,  Company  K,  Thirteenth  Infantry,  private. 
Robertson,  James,  Company  C,  Eighth  Infantry,  private. 
Robertson,    Samuel   S..   Company    F,   Twenty-fifth    [nfantry,   private. 


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HISTORY  OF 'LOUISA  COUNTY  201 

Robertson,  Thomas.  Company  C,  Eighth   Infantry,  private. 

Robertson,  William,  Company  C,  Fifth  Infantry,  eighth  corporal. 

Robertson,  William   S.,   Fifth   Infantry,  major. 

Robinson,  Charles.  Company  — ,  Fourteenth  Infantry,  private. 

Robinson.   John   T..   Company   G,    Nineteenth   Infantry,   second   corporal. 

Robinson,  Joseph  A.,   Company  A.   Eleventh   Infantry,  private. 

Robinson,  Homer  A.,  Company  F,  Twenty-fifth  Infantry,  private. 

Robinson.  Omer,  Company  A,  Ninth  Cavalry,  second  lieutenant. 

Robinson,  William  B.,  Company  A,  Eleventh   Infantry,  private. 

Rock,  James,  Company  D,  Seventeenth   Infantry,  private. 

Ross,  Joseph,  Company  G,  Nineteenth  Infantry,  private. 

Ross,   Oscar,   Company    F,   Nineteenth    Infantry,    fourth    corporal. 

Ross,  Thomas  K.,  Company  F,  Nineteenth   Infantry,  third  corporal. 

Rowe.  Adam,  Company   F,  Thirty-fifth   Infantry,  private. 

Rowe,  William  N.,  Company  D,  Seventeenth  Infantry,  private. 

Rozer.  Franklin  A.,  Company  E,  Sixteenth  Infantry,  private. 

Rumerv.  George,  Company  E,  Eighteenth  Infantry,  private. 

Rusk.  Samuel  M.,  Company  E,  Eighteenth  Infantry,  private. 

Rutt,  Hiram,  Company  F.  Twenty-fifth  Infantry,  private. 

Ryan,    ferry  A.,  Company  G,  Nineteenth  Infantry,  private. 

Ryan,   lohn,  Company  F,   Nineteenth  Infantry,  private. 

Ryan,  Michael,  Company  K,  Eighth  Infantry,  eighth  corporal. 

Sands,  John  W.,  Company  C,  Eleventh  Infantry,  private. 

Saunders,  William  C,  Company  M,  Eighth  Cavalry,  private. 

Sayrs,    Jeremiah,  Company  B,  Thirty-seventh    Infantry,   eighth  corporal. 

Schofield,  George  W.,  Company  K,   Fourth   Cavalry,  private. 

Schofield.  Isaac,  Company  C,  Fifth  Infantry,  private. 

Scott,  Albert  G..  Company  C,  Fifth  .Infantry,  private. 

Scroggs,  Joseph  A..  Company  C,  Eleventh  Infantry,  private. 

Scull,  James  M.,  Company  H,  Forty-fifth  Infantry,  private. 

Scull,  William  V.,  Company  F.  Nineteenth  Infantry,  private. 

Seeford,  George,  Company  K,  Engineer  Regiment  of  West  (Mo.),  artificer. 

Sellers,  James  N.,  Company  C,  Sixteenth   Infantry,  private. 

Sellers,  Josiah.  Company  C.   Sixteenth    Infantry,  private. 

Sellers,  Newton  N.,  Company  C,  Sixteenth  Infantry,  private. 

Selman.  Joshua.   Company   F,  Twenty-fifth   Infantry,  private. 

Serell,  Aaron  C,  Company  F,  Nineteenth  Infantry,  private. 

Shaw.    Francis   L..   Company    F,   Twenty-fifth    Infantry,   private. 

Sheets.  Robert,  Eighth  Iowa. 

Shepard,  Daniel  M.,  Company  C,  Eleventh  Infantry,  private. 

Shepard,   William   C,  Company   A,   Second   Cavalry,   private. 

Shepherd,  Cicero  H.,  Company  C.  Eleventh  Infantry,  private. 

Shindley,  William.  Company  — ,  Eleventh  Infantry,  private. 

Shipman,  Alem  B.,  Company  K,  Eighth  Infantry,  private. 

Shipman,   Charles   B.,   Company   I.    Sixth   Infantry,   private. 

Shipman,  Joseph  R.,  Company  F,  Nineteenth  Infantry,  private. 

Shipman.  Wesley  C.  Company  F,  Nineteenth  Infantry,  private. 

Shisel,  Demeter,  Company  F,  Twenty-fifth   Infantry,  private. 


202  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

Sillick.  Asher,  Company  K,  Engineers  Regiment  of  the  West. 

Simpson,  James,  Company   G,   Nineteenth  Infantry,  private. 

Sisk,  John  C.,  Company  G,  Twenty-seventh  Infantry,  Illinois,  private. 

Siverly,  George,   Company  H,    Forty-fifth   Infantry,   private. 

Siverly,   Ivory,  Company   F,   Nineteenth  Infantry,  private. 

Small.  Isaac  L..  Company  H,  Eleventh  Infantry,  private. 

Small,    lames  L.,  Company   H,  Eleventh  Infantry,  private. 

Smice,  David.   Company  E,  Sixteenth   Infantry,   private. 

Smice,    Harrison    Henry,    Company    E,    Sixteenth    Infantry,   private. 

Smice,  John,  Company  F,   Nineteenth   Infantry,  private. 

Smice,  Wesley.  Company  E,   Sixteenth  Infantry,  private. 

Smice,  William,  Company  K,  Eighth  Infantry,  private. 

Smith,  Alvah   S.,   Company   F,   Twenty-fifth   Infantry,   private. 

Smith.  Edwin,  Company  F,  Nineteenth  Infantry,  private. 

Smith,  Herschel  Y.,  Company   F,   Forty-fifth   Infantry,  private. 

Smith,  James.  Company  G,  Nineteenth  Infantry,  private. 

Smith.  James  R.,  Company  C,  Fifth  Infantry,  private. 

Smith,  John  C,  Company  F,  Twenty-fifth  Infantry,  first  lieutenant. 

Smith,  Joseph  R..  Company  F,  Thirty-fifth  Infantry,  private. 

Smith,  Loammie  M.,  Company  F,  Nineteenth  Infantry,  second  lieutenant. 

Smith.  Seth.  Company  G.  Seventeenth  Infantry,  private. 

Smith,  Sumner,  Company  K,  Eighth  Infantry,  third  sergeant. 

Smith.  William   C,  Company   K,   Eighth   Infantry,  private. 

Sowash,  Daniel,  Company  F,  Nineteenth  Infantry,  private. 

Sowash.  Jacob.  Company  C,  Fifth  Infantry,  private. 

Snyder.  Samuel,  Company  I,  Eleventh  Infantry,  private. 

Spafford,  Andrew  J.,  Company   F,  Twenty-fifth  Infantry,  private. 

Spafford,  B.  F..  Company  F.  Twenty-fifth  Infantry,  private. 

Spafford.  James  W.,  Company  C,  Fifth  Infantry,  private. 

Spafford,  Julius  T.,  Company  C,  Fifth  Infantry,  private. 

Spafford.  William  H.  H..  Company  K,  Eighth  Infantry,  private. 

Sprague,  George  B.,  Company  K,  Eighth  Infantry,  private. 

Sprague,  John  E.,  Company  F,  Nineteenth  Infantry,  private. 

Springsteen,  David  R..  Company  F,  Nineteenth  Infantry,  private. 

Sprows,  John,  Company  I,  Engineer  Regiment  of  West  (Mo.),  wagoner. 

Stacy,  Isaac  K.,  Company  K,  Eighth  Infantry,  private. 

Stahley,  Frederick,  Company  — ,  Second  Cavalry,  private. 

Stamm,  Severenous,  Company  K,  Second  Cavalry,  bugler. 

Stark.  Thomas  G.,  Company  F,  Twenty-fifth  Infantry,  second  lieutenant. 

Starks,   William   D.,   Company   K,    Fourteenth    Infantry,  private. 

Stauber.  Justus  L.,  Company  C,  Eleventh  Infantry,  private. 

Stein,  John  H.,  Company  K,  Eighth  Infantry,  private. 

Steneman,  Isaac  L.,  Company  K,  Eighth  Infantry,  private. 

Stephens,  James  F..  Company  C,  Fifth  Infantry,  private. 

Stephens,  John,  Company  C,  Fifth  Infantry,  private. 

Stephens,  Oran,  Company  C,  Fifth  Infantry,  private. 

Sterlin,  James  C,  Company  B,  Thirty-seventh  Infantry,  second  lieutenant. 

Sterrett,  Albert  P..  Company  F.  Twenty-fifth  Infantry,  private. 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  203 

Sterrett,  David,  Company  K,  Eighth  Infantry,  private. 

Sterrett,  Robert,  Company  K,  Eighth  Infantry,  second  corporal. 

Stevens,  Jacob  L.,  Company  F,  Thirty-fifth  Infantry,  private. 

Stewart,  Thomas,  Company  G,  Seventeenth  Infantry,  fourth  sergeant. 

Stewart,  William  C,  Company   F,   Nineteenth   Infantry,  private. 

Stineman,   Peter,   Company   G,    Nineteenth    Infantry,   private. 

Stingle,  John,  Company  A,  Ninth  Cavalry,  private. 

Stocks,  John  W.,  Company  C,  Thirtieth  Infantry,  private. 

Stoddard,  Mason  W.,  Company  C,  Eleventh  Infantry,  private. 

Stone,  Henry  M.,  Company  H,  Forty-fifth   Infantry ,_  private. 

Stone,  Joseph,  First  Cavalry,  musician. 

Stoneman,  Jesse  F.,  Company  K,  Eighth  Infantry,  seventh  corporal. 

Story,  Cornelius  A.,  Company  F,  Twenty-fifth  Infantry,  private. 

Story,  John,  Company  K,  Eighth  Infantry,  private. 

Story,  Joseph,  Company  F,  Nineteenth  Infantry,  private. 

Story,  Thomas,  Company   F,  Twenty-fifth   Infantry,   private. 

St.  Peter,  Theordore,  Company  A,  Thirty-fifth  Infantry,  private. 

Strange,  John,  Company  F,  Nineteenth  Infantry,  private. 

Stroops,  Eli,  Company  E,  Sixteenth  Infantry,  private. 

Stroud,  Lewis  H.,  Company  K,  Eighth  Infantry,  private. 

Sullivan,  James  B.,  Company  K,  Eighth   Infantry,  private. 

Sullivan,  Joshua   B.,   Company  I,   Eleventh   Infantry,  private. 

Swan,  John  A.,  Company  M,  Eighth  Cavalry,  private. 

Swank,  Francis  J.,  Company  A,  Second  Cavalry,  private. 

Swank,  Louis  E.,  Company  A,  Second  Cavalry,  private. 

Syfrits,  Christian,  Company  I,  Eleventh  Infantry,  private. 

Swygard,  Frederick,  Company  C,  Thirtieth  Infantry,  private. 

Talbot,  William  J.,  Company  C,  Eleventh  Infantry,  private. 

Taylor,  Andrew  M.,  Company  G,  Nineteenth  Infantry,  captain. 

Taylor,   Henry   H.,  Company  I,   Sixth   Infantry,  private. 

Taylor,  James  J.,  Company   K,   Second  Cavalry,  private. 

Taylor,  John,   Company  K,  Second   Cavalry,   private. 

Taylor,  Julius  S.,  Company  G,  Nineteenth  Infantry,  private. 

Taylor,  Samuel,  Company  G.  Nineteenth  Infantry,  private. 

Tedford,  George  B.,  Company  F,  Twenty-fifth  Infantry,  private. 

Tedford,  James  G.,  Company  C,  Eleventh  Infantry,  private. 

Tedford,  James  M.,  Company  F,  Twenty-fifth  Infantry,  private.      . 

Tedford,  William  A.,  Company  H,  Second  Infantry,  private. 

Tedford,  William  H.,  Company  F,  Eleventh  Infantry,  private. 

Teets,  Henry  J.,  Company  G,  Nineteenth  Infantry,  private. 

Teets,  William  L.,  Company  FI,  Forty-fifth  Infantry,  sixth  corporal. 

Tharp,  Lee,  Company  K,  Eighth  Infantry,  sixth  corporal. 

Thomas,  Cicero,  Company  F.  Nineteenth  Infantry,  private. 

Thomas,  Edward  H.,  Company  F,  Nineteenth  Infantry,  seventh  corporal. 

Thomas,   Griffith.   Company   F,   Twenty-fifth   Infantry,   private. 

Thomas,  Henry,  Jr..  Company  F,  Twenty-fifth  Infantry,  fourth  sergeant. 

Thomas,  Isham,  Company  G,  Twenty-fifth  Infantry,  private. 

Thomas,  James.  Company   F.   Twenty-fifth  Infantry,  private. 


204  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

Thompson.   Baylis.   Company    I,    Eleventh   Infantry,  private. 

Thompson.  James  T.,  Company   F,  Thirty-fifth  Infantry,  private. 

Thompson,  Samuel  A.,  Company  K,  Eighth  Infantry,  first  lieutenant. 

Thompson,   Stewart.   Company   C.    Fifth    Infantry,   private. 

Thompson.  William.  Company  H,   Forty-fifth  Infantry,  private. 

Thompson.  William   li.,  Company  A,   Seventh  Infantry,  private. 

Tice,  Adam  E.,  Company  C.  Eleventh  Infantry,  private. 

Tice,  David  E.,   Company  K,  Thirty-fifth   Infantry,  private. 

Tindall,  George,  Company   C,   Fifth  Infantry,  sixth  corporal. 

Tinmoney,   E.  M.,  Fifteenth   United   States  Infantry,  captain. 

Tiser,  Andrew.  Company  K,  Engineer  Regiment  of  West  (Mo.),  artificer. 

Todd,  James  R.,   Company   F,  Twenty-fifth   Infantry,   eighth  corporal. 

Todd,  Oliver  P..  Company  C,  Eleventh  Infantry,  private. 

Tompkins,  Ahner  W.,  Company  K.  Eighth  Infantry,  private. 

Tompkins,  John.  Company  C,   Fifth   Infantry,  private. 

Tompkins,  Sila-  W.,  Company  C.   First   Infantry,  private. 

Toole,  Charles  E..  Company  L,  Eighth  Cavalry,  private. 

Townsend.  Minus.  Company  G,  Xineteenth  Infantrv.  private. 

Townsley,  William.  Company  F.  Thirty-fifth  Infantry,  private. 

Trask.   Herman  ].,  Company   K,   Eighth   Infantry,   private. 

Trible,  Elijah,  Company  F,  Twenty-fifth   Infantrv,  private. 

Triggs,  William,  Company  A,  Ninth  Cavalry,  private. 

Tucker,  George,  Company  G,   Nineteenth  Infantry,  private. 

Tucker,  John  W.,  Company  E,  Sixteenth  Infantry,  private. 

Tucker,  Lewis.  Company  C,  Fourteenth  Infantry,  private. 

Tucker,   Philip  M..  Company  E.   Sixteenth  Infantry,  private. 

Tudor,  Hugh,  Company  F,  Twenty-fifth   Infantry,  private. 

Turkington,  Samuel,  Company  ( I,   Nineteenth  Infantry,  private. 

Turner.  James.  Company  I.  Sixth  Infantry,  captain. 

Turner.  Otho  W..  Company  B,  Thirty-seventh  Infantry,  private. 

Turnley,  Andrew  J.,  Company   F,   Xineteenth   Infantry,  private. 

Tuttle.  Simeon,  Company  — ,   First  Cavalry,  private. 

Twiggs.  William  M..  Company  C.  Eleventh  Infantry,   second   lieutenant. 

Ufford,  Thomas.  Company  H.  Eleventh  Infantry,  private. 

Usher,   Andrew   J.,   Company  — ,   First  Cavalry,   private. 

Utt,  Elias  B.,  Company  F,  Twenty-fifth  Infantry,  private. 

Utter1,  Adelbert.  Company  K,  Eighth  Infantry,  private. 

Utter,   Williston,  Company  K,  Eighth  Infantry,  private. 

Vandervort,  Charles.   Fifty-fifth   Illinois. 

Yandervort,   Francis  A.,  Company  K,   Eighth  Infantry,  private. 

Vandervort,  William  A.,  Company  G,  Eleventh  Infantry,  private. 

Yandevard,  John  D.,  Company   F.  Thirty-fifth  Infantry,  private. 

Yandyke,  Corwin  C,  Company  II.  Second  Infantry,  private. 

Vandyke,  J.  D.  W.,  Company  C.  Fourteenth  Infantry,  private. 

Vandyke,  John  W.  S.,  Company  H,  Second  Infantry,  private. 

Vandyke.  William  H.  H.,  Company  H,  Second  Infantry,  private. 

Vanhorn,  John  B.,  Company  C.  Fifth  Infantry,  fifth  sergeant. 

Vanloon,   Charles.   Company   F,   Xineteenth    Infantry,   private. 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  205 

Vanorman,  Joseph  F.,  Company  C,  Eleventh  Infantry,  private. 

Vanormand.  Daniel  W-,  Company  C.  Eighth  Infantry,  private. 

Vaughn,  Elsa,  Company  H,  Eighth  Cavalry,  private. 

Wabtz,  George  B.,  Company  C.  Eleventh  Infantry,  private. 

Wagner,  John  H.,  Company   F.  Thirty-fifth  Infantry,  private. 

Wagner,  Joseph  F.,  Company   F,   Nineteenth  Infantry,  private. 

Wagoner.   Deter,   Company   G.    Nineteenth   Infantry,   private. 

Walcot,  Lewis   E.,   Company  F,  Twenty-fifth   Infantry,  private. 

Walker,  David  C,  Company  F,  Twenty-fifth  Infantry,  private. 

Walker,  Hiram,  Company  G.  Second  Cavalry,  private. 

Walker,  William,  Company  F,  Twenty-fifth  Infantry,  private. 

Walker.   William  A.,  Company  I,   Twenty-fifth   Infantry,  private. 

Wall.   William,  Company  A,   Second  Cavalry,  private. 

Wallace,  William  B.,  Company  C,  Fifth  Infantry,  fifth  corporal. 

Waltz.  George  B.,  Company  C.  Eleventh  Infantry,  private. 

Waltz.  Henry  C.  Company  E,  Eighteenth  Infantry,  private. 

Wanzer,   Henry,   Company   M,    Seventh   Cavalry,   quartermaster   sergeant. 

Ware.  Levi.  Company  F.  Thirty-fifth  Infantry,  private. 

Washburn,  William  J.,  Company  C,  Eleventh  Infantry,  private. 

Wasson,  John  H..  Company  D.  Seventeenth  Infantry,  private. 

Watson,  John.  Company  B,  Thirty-seventh  Infantry,  private. 

Watts,  Benjamin  B.,  Company  C,  Sixteenth  Infantry,  private. 

Watts,   lames,  Company  A,  Second  Cavalry,  private. 

Watts,  James  F.,  Company  G.  Nineteenth  Infantry,  private. 

Watts,    lames  M.,  Company  C.  Eleventh  Infantry,  private. 

Watts.  Thomas  J.,  Company  C,  Fifth  Infantry,  private. 

Weaver.  Erastus,  Company  C,  Sixteenth  Infantry,  musician. 

Weber,  Frederick,  Company  G,  Nineteenth  Infantry,  private. 

Weeks,  Lysander.  Company  K,  Eighth  Infantry,  captain. 

Weise,  August.  Company  F.  Nineteenth  Infantry,  private. 

Welch,  Ambrose.   Company  C,  Eleventh   Infantry,  private. 

Welch.  William,  Company  C,  Eleventh  Infantry,  private. 

Welsh.  John,  Company  E,  Sixteenth  Infantry,  private. 

Wescha,  Richard,  Company  F.  Thirty-fifth  Infantry,  private. 

Wescot.  Miles  D.,  Company  C,  Eighth  Infantry  private. 

Wesier,  Peter,  Company  K.  Second  Cavalry,  eighth  corporal. 

West.  Wesley,  Company  C,  Eleventh  Infantry,  private. 

Westervelt,  John.  Company  D,  Nineteenth  Infantry,  private. 

Westfall,  John  W..  Company  I,  Sixth  Infantry,  private. 

Wheeler,  Charles,  Company  K.  Eighth  Infantry,  private. 

Whicher.  Thomas.  Company  F.   Sixteenth  Illinois  Infantry,  private. 

Whicher.   Wiley,   Company   F,   Eleventh   Infantry,   private. 

Whicher,  William  D..  Company  E.  Eighteenth  Infantry,  private. 

Whisler,  Adam.  Company  K,  Engineer  Regiment  of  West   (Mo.),  artificer. 

White,  James,  Company  K,  Eighth  Infantry,  private. 

Whitescarver,  John   S.,  Company  K.  Eighth  Infantry,  private. 

Wiggins,  Hiram  H.,  Company  G,  Nineteenth  Infantry,  private. 

Wilcox.  Robert  B..  Company  F,  Twenty-fifth  Infantry,  private. 


206  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

Will,  John,  Company  F,  Twenty-fifth  Infantry,  private. 

Willcox,  William  V.,  Company  H,  Eighth  Cavalry,  trumpeter. 

Williams,  Alva  T..  Company  D,  Seventeenth  Infantry. 

Williams.  Austin,  Company  G,   Nineteenth   Infantry,  third  corporal. 

Williams.  Dennis.  Company  K.  Engineer  Regiment  of  West  (Mo.),  musician. 

Williams.   Gamaliel   B.,   First   Cavalry,   third   musician. 

Williams,  Ira  W.,  Company  F,  First  Cavalry,  private. 

Williams,  James,  Company    F,    Nineteenth   Infantry,   private. 

Williams,  James   L.,   Company   B,  Forty-fifth   Infantry,   private. 

Williams,  John,  Company  C,  Eleventh  Infantry,  private. 

Williams,  Oscar  N.,  Company   15,  First  Cavalry,  private. 

Williams,  Thomas   S..  Company    11.    First   Cavalry,   private. 

William-.   Ward   W..   Company   K,   Fourth   Cavalry,  private. 

Williams,  Warren.  Company  1',.  First  Cavalry,  private. 

Williamson.  Elisha  T..  Company   F,  Twenty-fifth  Infantry,  first  lieutenant. 

Williamson,  William  C,  Company  K.  Fourth  Cavalry,  private. 

Willis,  James  M.,  Company  C,  Eleventh  Infantry,  private. 

Willis.   Sylvester.  Company   C,   Eleventh    Infantry,  private. 

Willtrout,   David,  Company  — ,   Nineteenth  Infantry,  private. 

Wilson,  Alonzo,  Company  K,   Eighth   Infantry,  private. 

Wilson.  James  C,  Company  G,  Nineteenth  Infantry,  private. 

Wilson.  John   F..  Company  K,   Fourth  Cavalry,  private. 

Wilson.   John  W.,  Company  G   Nineteenth   Infantry,  private. 

Wilson,   William  F„  Company   F.  Twenty-fifth   Infantry,  private. 

Winder,  David  D.,  Company  A,  Ninth  Cavalry,  private. 

Winder,  Thomas  C,  Company  ( i.  Eleventh  Infantry,  private. 

Wires,  John  T.,  Company  C,   Eleventh  Infantry,  private. 

Wood.  Aurelius,  Company  F,  Nineteenth  Infantry,  private. 

Wood.  John,   Company   F.   Nineteenth   Infantry,  private. 

Woodruff.  Chalmers.  Company  F.  First  Cavalry,  private. 

Woodruff.  Robert  F.,  Company  — ,  Second  Cavalry,  private. 

Woolcot,  William  P..,  Company  C.  Eighth  Infantry,  private. 

Woolwine.  George  W..  Company   G   Nineteenth  Infantry,  first  corporal. 

Worley,   Robert.   Company   F.   Twenty-fifth    Infantry,   private. 

Wren.    John.    Company    F,    Twenty-fifth    Infantry,    private. 

Wright,    Bazaleel  F.,  Company  G,  Nineteenth  Infantry,  second  lieutenant. 

Wright,  Cyprian  L.,  Company  F,  Nineteenth  Infantry,  private. 

Wylie,  James  R..  Company  D,  Fourth  Infantry,  private. 

Wylie,    John   J..   Company   A.    First   Infantry,   private. 

Wvman.  Joel   W.,   Company  G   Nineteenth    Infantry   private. 

Wynkoop,  Gerodes.  Company  C.  Eleventh  Infantry,  private. 

Yeager,  Harvey  B..  Company  I.  Twenty-fifth  Infantry,  private. 

Young.   Charles,   Company  B,   Thirty-seventh   Infantry,   fifth   corporal. 

Young,   Edward,   Company   F,   Twenty-fifth    Infantry,  private. 

Young.  Lewis,  Company  A.  Ninth  Cavalry,  private. 

York,  William  G.  Company  G,  Seventeenth  Infantry,  private. 

Zeiger,  James  M.,  Company  C,  Eleventh  Infantry,  fifth  corporal. 

Zimmerman.  John.  Company  K,  Eighth   Infantry,  private. 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  207 

Henry  Fleming.  Robert  Gillenwater. 

Peter  Godwin.  George   Simpson. 

C.  Martin.  William  Norris   (colored). 

Samuel  Warnstaff.  James  Milton. 

Edmund   Linton.  Daniel  .Milton. 

L.  C.  Williams.  Robert  McClure. 

Patrick  Coin. 

LOUISA    COUNTY    SOLDIERS    IN    THE    SPANISH-AMERICAN    AND 

PHILIPPINE  WARS. 

50TH   REGIMENT,    CO.    "C." 

Commodore  Bond,  Morning  Sun. 
Roy  L.  Hendrix,  Letts. 
Samuel  M.  Jamison,  Wapello. 
William  Killough,  Morning  Sun. 
Charles  Nichols,  Morning  Sun. 
Harry  Marshall,  Morning  Sun. 
Win.  T.  Ochiltree,  Morning  Sun. 
Frank  Paisley,  Morning  Sun. 
Hugh  Paisley,  Morning  Sun. 
Carl  Thompson,   Morning  Sun. 
Claude  Thompson,   Morning  Sun. 
John   Wilson,    Morning    Sun. 

5OTH    REGIMENT,    CO.    "d." 

John  C.  Jones,  Cotter. 

5OTH    REGIMENT,    CO.    "('.." 

Harold  R.  Stapp,  Columbus  Junction. 

50TH    REGIMENT,    CO.    "l." 

John  C.  Bowman,  Columbus  Junction. 
Edwin  C.  Hendrix,  Letts. 
Harry   C.   Knaub,   Columbus  Junction. 
Charles  Willey,  Columbus  Junction. 
Walter  V.  Willey,  Columbus  Junction. 

50TH    REGIMENT,    CO.    "M." 

Walter   M.   Kilpatrick,   Morning  Sun. 
Ezra  Keller,   Morning  Sun. 
Fred  Lacey.  Wapello. 

5 1ST    REGIMENT,    CO.    "d." 

Spencer  B.  Paxton,  Columbus  Junction. 


208  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

5 1ST    REGIMENT,    CO.    "F." 

Wm.  H.  Lacey,  Wapello. 

Thos.   F.   McLaughlin.  Wapello. 

Frank  L.   Bishop,  Wapello. 

Homer  J.  Darrow,  Columbus  Junction. 

Thomas   II.   Grubb,   Columbus  Junction. 

Jay  Hale,  Wapello. 

Norman   T.  Witherow,   Wapello. 

Eugene  II.  Pease,  Wapello. 

Evan  M.   Roberts,  Columbus  Junction. 

Alvin   Simmons,  Columbus  Junction. 

Charles  W.  Finley,  Morning  Sun. 

loel  A.  Windmiller,  Morning  Sun. 

Robert  11.  Wilcox,  Columbus  Junction. 

3  1  s  E    REGIMENT,    CO.    "K." 

Edwin   1'.   Shellabarger,  Columbus  Junction. 

4OTII     U.    S.    VOLUNTEERS. 

Company  B.  John  Gunnels,  Wapello. 

Company  C.  Wm.   E.   Biggs.   Wapello. 

Company  C.  Wm.   Davis,  Wapello. 

Company  C.  Roy  Johnson.  Wapello. 

Company  C.  Howard  Kelley,  Wapello. 

Company  D.  Geo.   Schaffer,   Wapello. 

Musician.  Gordon    Younkin,    Wapello. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 
TRAXSPORTATIOX  FACILITIES. 

THE   RIVERS THE  RAILROADS — THE   AIR   LINE   RAILROAD. 

THE   IOWA    AND    CEDAR    RIVERS. 

We  have  only  been  able  to  get  fragmentary  and  disconnected  facts  relating 
to  the  navigation  of  the  Iowa  and  Cedar  rivers.  The  first  steamer  of  which  we 
have  any  account  was  called  the  "Ripple"  and  ascended  the  Iowa  river  as  far  as 
Iowa  City,  arriving  there  on  June  20,  1841.  This  event  created  great  excitement 
in  Iowa  City,  and  a  full  account  of  it  is  given  in  the  Iowa  City  Standard,  of 
Tuesday,  June  24,  1841.  On  June  21st  there  was  a  public  meeting  of  the  citi- 
zens and  a  committee  was  appointed  to  invite  Captain  D.  Jones  of  the  "Ripple" 
and  his  passengers  and  crew  to  a  public  dinner.  The  dinner  was  held  at  the 
National  Hotel  and  on  that  occasion  addresses  were  made  by  Major  John  B. 
Xewhall,  of  Burlington,  author  of  "Sketches  of  Iowa,"  and  by  Captain  Jones 
and  some  others.  The  "Ripple"  started  on  this  trip  from  Burlington,  on  the 
Mississippi,  and,  according  to  Major  Xewhall,  it  was  the  first  steamer  to  navi- 
gate the  "Iowa  Fork."  Just  what  Major  Xewhall  meant  by  the  term  Iowa 
fork  is  hard  to  determine.  It  might  be  that  he  meant  to  distinguish  it  from  the 
Cedar,  and  to  allow  us  to  infer  that  the  Cedar  had  been  navigated  by  steamers 
before  that  time ;  but  he  also  said  in  his  speech  that  the  people  from  every  vil- 
lage and  cabin  from  the  mouth  of  the  Iowa  to  Iowa  City,  were  much  excited  by 
this  voyage  made  by  the  "Ripple"  and  hailed  its  arrival  with  loud  huzzahs,  the 
firing  of  rifles  and  other  manifestations.  This  statement  would  indicate  that  the 
"Ripple"  was  the  first  steamer  to  ascend  either  the  Iowa  or  the  Cedar. 

In  the  Bloomington  Herald  of  August  2,  1844,  there  is  a  notice  that  the 
"Maid  of  Iowa"  would  leave  Burlington  on  the  15th  of  August  and  ascend  the 
Cedar  river  as  far  as  Washington  ferry. 

The  next  steamboat  item  we  find  is  from  a  document  in  the  office  of  the 
Louisa  county  recorder,  from  which  it  appears  that  the  steamboat  'Tola,"  James 
Sharkey,  captain,  and  James  Viets,  pilot,  on  May  8,  1845,  in  descending  the 
Iowa  river  at  a  point  about  eight  or  nine  miles  below  Iowa  City,  ran  over  a  log 
which  was  entirely  concealed  in  the  water,  and  that  several  timbers  of  the  boat 
were  broken  and  several  planks  much  shattered,  causing  the  steamboat  to  sink 
immediately  in  the  Iowa  river ;  that  thereupon,  in  order  to  save  the  cargo  of 
said  boat,  all  persons  named  (and  the  names  of  thirteen  persons  are  given  in  the 
record)  shifted  the  freight  on  said  boat  and  got  her  under  way,  but  by  the  even- 
ing of  May  9th  said  boat  was  found  to  be  in  a  sinking  condition  and  the  freight 
was  consequently  taken  from  the  boat  and  put  on  shore. 

209 


210  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

There  was  considerable  activity  on  the  Iowa  river  in  Louisa  county,  begin- 
ning about  1846.  In  May,  1846,  there  was  a  steamboat  loaded  at  Todd's  landing, 
near  Columbus  City,  with  produce  for  Wesley  Jones  and  William  D.  McCord, 
of  Burlington. 

In  Tune,  1847,  Joseph  L.  Derbin  had  a  barge  built  at  Fredonia,  which  was 
launched  on  the  19th  of  June  and  loaded  with  produce  for  St.  Louis.  We  give 
herewith  the  facsimile  of  a  notice  posted  in  Columbus  City  of  date  July  13,  1847, 
concerning  a  fast  sailing  horse  boat  under  charge  of  Captain  Wheelock. 

In  Tune,  1848,  the  barge  of  Joseph  A.  Luckett  was  built  at  Todd's  ferry  and 
loaded  with  produce  for  the  St.  Louis  market,  and  a  little  later  in  the  same 
vear  the  barge  "Lexington"  was  built  at  Fredonia.  In  the  same  year  the  steamer 
"Piasa."  owned  by  Joseph  L.  Derbin  and  E.  B.  Isett.  began  making  trips  on  the 
Iowa  river  as  far  up  as  Iowa  City,  and  continued  this  whenever  the  stage  of 
the  water  permitted,  up  to  the  spring  of  1850.  In  1849  the  river  was  quite 
low  and  the  "Piasa"  stuck  on  a  sandbar  at  Whipple's  ferry  opposite  Fredonia. 
The  steamboat  "Herald"  made  three  trips  to  Iowa  City  in  1849.  one  the 
latter  part  of  March,  and  the  other  two  in  April.  The  steamboat  "Hawkeye" 
went  to  Cedar  Rapids  in  the  latter  part  of  March,  1849.  The  "Hawkeye"  again 
went  to  Iowa  City  in   1852. 

The  "Magnet"  went  to  Iowa  City  in  April,  1850,  at  a  time  when  the  "Piasa" 
was  also  there.  At  the  time  of  the  great  flood  of  the  Iowa  in  1851.  steamboats 
could  not  land  at  Todd's  ferry,  but  their  landing  place  for  Columbus  City  trade 
was  at  David  Flack's  landing. 

In  the  spring  and  summer  of  1851  the  following  steamers  appear  to  have 
navigated  the  Iowa,  most  of  them  as  far  as  Iowa  City:  The  "Daniel  Hillman," 
Arnold,  captain;  the  "Archer,"  Rogers,  master;  the  "Uncle  Toby."  Clark,  master. 
Early  in  June  occurred  the  unprecedented  flood  in  the  Iowa  river,  when  it 
reached  the  highest  point  known.  About  this  time  the  "Uncle  Toby"  took  freight 
from  Wapello  to  Iowa  City,  and  a  number  of  Wapellonians  went  to  Iowa  City 
on  this  boat  on  a  pleasure  trip. 

We  quote  the  following  articles  from  the  Louisa  County  Times  of  April  20, 
1851:  "One  day  last  week  our  citizens  were  gratified  with  the  sight  of  several 
boats  laden  with  flour,  etc.,  on  their  way  toward  the  Mississippi — they  were 
built  and  cargoed  at  Cedar  Rapids,  in  Linn  county.  Now  it  does  appear  strange 
to  us,  when  flat  boats,  heavily  freighted,  can  find  their  way  out  of  one  of  the 
tributaries  of  the  Iowa  into  said  rivers  and  thence  to  the  Mississippi.  We  cannot 
be  blessed  with  the  sight  of  a  small  class  steamer  at  our  place  every  week  at 
least.  Why,  there  is  any  quantity  of  freight  here  just  waiting  to  be  shipped,  if 
a  boat  would  only  give  us  a  call,  and  then  as  we  said  before,  if  flat  boats  heavily 
freighted  can  run  out.  what  is  to  prevent  small  steamers  from  plying  regularly 
between  here  and  Burlington,  or  some  other  point  on  the  Mississippi?  The 
river  at  this  time  is  about  its  lowest  stage,  and  yet  these  boats  appeared  to  get 
along  without  much  trouble." 

The  Louisa  County  Times  of  April  6,  1852.  announced  that  the  fine  new 
steamer  "Black  I  lawk"  rounded  t"  last  Saturday  on  her  way  to  Iowa  City,  and 
the  same  paper  under  date  of  May  11.  1852.  has  the  following  item:  "Nearly 
every  day  a  steamboat  touches  the  wharf  at  the  foot  of  what  is  called  Gawky 
street, — rather  a  pretty  place  by  the  way.  though  so  oddly  named." 


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HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  211 

In  May,  1852,  the  steam  packet  "Yankee"  was  making  trips  up  the  Iowa 
and  Cedar  rivers.  The  boat  was  under  command  of  Captain  Lavielle.  It  ap- 
pears from  a  communication  in  the  Louisa  County  Times  of  June  1,  1852, 
written  by  B.  F.  Wright,  who  had  recently  taken  a  trip  on  this  boat  up  to  Cedar 
Rapids  and  back,  that  the  trip  from  Wapello  began  on  the  morning  of  May 
13th  and  that  the  boat  arrived  at  Cedar  Rapids  on  the  evening  of  May  20th, 
having  encountered  a  strong  wind  and  had  to  lay  up  the  previous  night  on  ac- 
count of  the  fog.  The  article  also  states  that  the  boat  left  Cedar  Rapids  at  12 
o'clock  M.  on  the  21st  of  May,  and  a  little  further  on  states  that  it  arrived  at 
Wapello  about  12  o'clock  M.  on  the  21st.  This  latter  date  is,  of  course,  a  mis- 
print, but  we  have  no  means  of  knowing  the  exact  length  of  this  trip. 

We  copy  the  following  article  from  the  Louisa  County  Times  of  May  17, 
1853:  "The  'Dan  Hillman'  and  'Excel,'  two  steamboats  of  character,  have  been 
plying  with  remarkable  success  in  the  Iowa  and  Cedar  rivers.  The  'Dan  Hill- 
man'  was  reported  sunk  in  Cedar  river,  but  it  turns  out  to  be  a  hoax,  as  she 
passed  here  in  fine  style  yesterday  morning,  and,  it  appears,  has  been  making 
money  by  maneuvering  in  Cedar  river.  The  'Excel'  went  up  on  Sunday  even- 
ing, bound  for  Iowa  City,  loaded  to  her  guards.  She  is  some  at  running,  sure. 
We  have  never  seen  a  boat  in  the  Iowa  stem  the  rapid  current  opposite  this 
place  with  such  power  and  speed.  She  has  made  the  quickest  trip  'on  record' 
from  this  place  to  Iowa  City,  leaving  here  on  Tuesday  morning,  and  returned  on 
Thursday,  meanwhile  discharging  and  receiving  a  large  amount  of  freight  and 
laying  by,  from  accident,  four  hours." 

The  "Dan  Hillman"  made  several  trips  from  St.  Louis  to  the  forks  of  the 
Iowa  and  Cedar  rivers  in  1853.  On  one  of  these  trips  she  had  a  full  cargo  of 
general  merchandise  for  Philip  Gore  and  Colonel  W.  W.  Garner,  the  two  lead- 
ing merchants  of  Columbus  City.  Colonel  Garner's  part  of  the  cargo  consisted 
of  iron,  stoves,  nails  and  furniture. 

May  30,  1854,  the  Iowa  was  said  to  be  in  good  condition  for  boating  and  the 
little  steamer  "Berlin"  landed  at  Wapello  on  a  Friday,  bound  for  Cedar  Rapids. 

In  1859  the  steamer  "Cedar  Rapids"  was  making  trips  to  and  from  that 
city.  This  is  one  of  the  boats  referred  to  in  the  article  of  Mr.  Thomas,  which 
is  given  at  the  conclusion  of  this  chapter. 

We  find  from  the  Wapello  Republican  that  in  the  spring  of  1861  the  steamers 
"Orion,"  "Black  Hawk"  and  "Eureka"  were  arriving  at  and  departing  from 
Wapello  occasionally. 

The  Republican  of  April  24,  1862,  notes  that  on  Sunday  "the  fine  little  steamer 
'Gen.  Halleck'  arrived  at  our  landing,  bringing  a  quantity  of  freight  for  Messrs. 
M.  P.  Vanloon  and  O.  Robinson,  merchants  of  this  city.  On  Monday  she  re- 
ceived a  load  of  freight  and  left  for  Burlington." 

The  same  paper  for  May  1,  1862,  chronicles  the  arrival  of  the  "Forest 
Queen"  on  Monday  evening,  April  28th,  and  states  that  after  receiving  a  quantity 
of  freight  from  Messrs.  Herrick  &  Davison,  she  departed  the  next  day  for  St. 
Louis. 

About  this  time  the  Iowa  river  was  within  a  few  inches  of  as  high  as  it 
had  been  in  185 1,  and  Long  creek  was  so  high  that  at  one  time  no  mail  was  car- 
ried across  it  for  five  or  six  days. 


212  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

Another  steamer  that  was  navigating  the  Iowa  about  this  same  time  was 
called  the  "Catawba,"  Captain  Root. 

The  next  item  we  rind  in  the  Republican  is  of  date  August  8,  1865,  and 
states  that  the  little  steamer  •'Turtle"  has  been  making  frequent  trips  recently, 
principally  loaded  with  lumber  for  the  lumber  yard  of  Mr.  Semple. 

In  August,  1866,  the  "Iowa  City"  was  making  two  trips  a  week  between 
Wapello  and  Burlington.  Captain  Reninger  was  her  commander,  and  the  cabin 
passengers'  fare  to  Burlington  and  return  was  $4;  deck  passengers,  $2.  It  is 
said  that  on  one  of  its  trips  from  Burlington  two  Burlington  grain  buyers  boarded 
the  "Iowa  City"  to  buy  a  lot  of  wheat  that  was  known  to  be  at  the  Wapello  mill. 
This  was  in  September,  i860.  Just  as  the  boat  was  about  to  start  one  of  the 
-rain  buyers  went  ashore,  remarking  so  that  the  other  could  hear  him,  that  it  was 
not  worth  while  for  both  of  them  to  go.  However,  he  had  no  intention  of  leav- 
ing the  field  to  the  other  man,  but  got  a  horse  and  beat  the  boat  to  Wapello,  and 
bought  the  wheat. 

At  this  time  a  number  of  railroad  bridges  had  been  built  across  the  Iowa 
and  Cedar  rivers,  and  railroad  transportation  had  in  a  great  measure  taken  the 
place  of  river  transportation,  ami  the  people  were  beginning  to  want  to  erect 
wagon  bridges  across  the  river. 

On  April  10.  18(18.  Congressman  Loughridge,  of  Iowa,  introduced  a  bill  in 
the  house  of  representatives  declaring  the  Iowa  river  not  navigable  above  Wapello. 

Just  previous  to  this  a  resolution  had  been  offered  in  the  senate  of  the  Iowa 
legislature,  asking  congress  to  take  such  action.  This  resolution  was  favorably 
reported  by  the  senate  committee  on  commerce,  and  our  Louisa  county  senator, 
Dr.  James  M.  Robertson,  was  favorable  to  it.  Senator  Fairall.  of  Iowa  City, 
was  opposed  to  it,  and  desired  to  substitute  Iowa  City  in  place  of  Wapello. 

On  April  2d.  1868,  the  legislature  adopted  a  memorial  and  joint  resolution 
asking  congress  to  declare  the  Iowa  river  unnavigable  from  the  city  of  Wapello 
north,  ami  on  May  6.  1870.  an  act  of  congress  was  approved,  which  provided 
that  so  much  of  the  Iowa  river  in  the  state  of  Iowa  as  lies  north  of  the  town 
of   Wapello  shall  be  declared   not   a  navigable   river  or  public  highway. 

We  will  state  in  this  connection,  although  a  little  out  of  its  regular  order, 
that  in  August,  1894.  a  provision  was  inserted  in  the  river  and  harbor  bill  which 
provided  that  "so  much  of  the  Iowa  river  within  the  state  of  Iowa  as  lies  be- 
tween the  town  of  Toolsboro  and  the  town  of  Wapello  in  the  county  of  Louisa, 
shall  not  be  deemed  a  navigable  river  or  public  highway,  but  dams  and  bridges 
may  be  constructed  across  it." 

In  1868,  the  "Gussy  Girclon,"  owned  by  Harris  brothers  of  Turlington,  with 
Ed.  Thomas  at  the  wheel,  made  frequent  trips  between  Burlington  and  Wapello. 

In  1869  the  only  boats  which  we  have  any  account  of  were  the  "Swallow" 
and  the  "Lily."  It  seems  that  in  July,  1869,  the  "Swallow"  carried  to  Pittsburg 
Point  some  fifteen  tons  of  iron  to  use  in  laying  the  track  of  the  B.  C.  R.  &  AT. 
railroad  in  the  long  cut  near  that  town.  The  "Lily"  seems  to  have  been  run 
by  Ed.  Thomas  on  his  own  hook  and  she  made  trips  from  Wapello  to  any  point 
on  the  Mississippi  river  where  it  could  be  made  to  pay.  The  steamer  "Swallow" 
is  designated  as  being  from  Oquawka.  a  side  wheeler,  drawing  fifteen  inches  of 
water  when  running  light  and  having  a  freighting  capacity  of  500  sacks  of  grain. 

According  to  the  Wapello  Republican  the  "Swallow"  had  a  great  deal  to  do 
during  the  spring  of  1869. 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  213 

A  large  stern  wheeler,  "Try  Us,"  with  Ed  Thomas  as  pilot,  came  up  the 
Iowa  river  on  May  25th  as  far  as  Florence  and  laid  up  there  because  Mr.  Thomas 
did  not  believe  she  could  get  over  the  sandbars  just  below  Wapello.  Her  barge 
was  sent  up  to  Wapello  after  a  load  of  high  wines  from  the  Wapello  distillery. 

We  conclude  this  chapter  with  an  article  written  by  Edward  H.  Thomas, 
who  was  for  many  years  a  pilot.  Mr.  Thomas  is  a  namesake  of  Edward  H. 
Thomas,  one  of  the  pioneer  lawyers  of  the  county,  and  was  a  son  of  William  H. 
R.  Thomas,  whose  name  figures  quite  prominently  in  the  early  history  of  the 
county.  Mr.  Thomas  was  also  a  gallant  soldier  in  the  Nineteenth  Iowa.  Many 
of  the  older  residents  of  the  county  will  remember  Mr.  Thomas  and  his  charm- 
ing sister,  Miss  Lou  Thomas,  and  will  be  glad  to  know  that  both  are  still  living 
in  Ottumwa,  where  Mr.  Thomas  has  charge  of  the  postoffice  at  South  Ottumwa. 

NAVIGATING   THE    IOWA    AND    CEDAR   RIVERS. 

By  E.  H.  Thomas. 

I  have  been  requested  to  furnish  some  information  for  the  history  of  Louisa 
county,  in  reference  to  navigation  on  the  Iowa  and  Cedar  rivers.  I  have  no 
data  from  which  to  work,  and  what  I  shall  say  shall  be  entirely  from  memory. 
If  some  errors  are  made  they  will  have  to  be  overlooked.  As  I  was  born  on 
the  west  bank  of  the  Iowa  river,  about  six  miles  below  Fredonia,  nearly  seventy 
years  ago,  and  later  on  lived  in  Wapello  up  to  1870,  I  remember  many  of  the 
boats  which  navigated  these  two  streams  during  the  late  '40s  and  for  many 
years  thereafter. 

The  settlement  of  the  Iowa  and  Cedar  river  valleys  commenced  about  1836. 
People  from  the  east  came  in  there,  farmers  and  merchants.  Towns  were 
started  here  and  there  and  the  farmers  commenced  the  cultivation  of  the  soil. 
The  land  was  very  productive.  The  early  farmers  brought  but  little  money 
with  them  and  the  merchants  who  furnished  them  with  supplies  were  compelled 
to  take  their  pay  in  grain  and  pork.  The  nearest  market  was  St.  Louis.  The 
merchants  bought  their  groceries  there  and  their  dry  goods  in  Cincinnati.  As 
the  land  was  brought  under  cultivation,  the  merchants  became  loaded  with  the 
products  of  the  farm.  They  purchased  the  stuff  cheap  enough — corn  at  ten 
cents  per  bushel  and  pork  about  a  dollar  and  a  half  per  hundred, — but  what 
to  do  with  it  was  the  knotty  problem  for  the  merchants. 

At  Wapello,  the  Isett  brothers,  Mark  Davison  and  J.  C.  Lockwood  erected 
large  warehouses  and  packing  houses  near  the  river,  in  which  to  store  the 
grain  and  pork.  Such  storehouses  were  built  at  other  towns  along  the  two 
rivers.  During  the  '40s  there  were  but  few  steamboats  on  the  Upper  Mississippi, 
and  they  could  not  be  induced  to  navigate  the  Iowa  and  Cedar. 

I  believe  it  was  Captain  Joe  Luckett.  of  Toddtown,  who  conceived  the  idea 
of  building  and  operating  a  fleet  of  barges  to  St.  Louis.  In  those  days  they 
were  called  "keel  boats."  A  company  was  organized,  five  or  six  of  the  barges 
were  built  and  the  people  of  the  valleys-  had  their  first  communication  with  the 
markets  of  the  country.     This  was  about  the  close  of  the  Mexican  war  and  I 

remember   that   the   boats   were   named   after   the   heroes   of   that   conflict, the 

General  Scott,  General  Taylor,  General  Wadsworth,  etc. 


214  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

Loaded  with  grain  and  pork  and  handled  with  oars,  the  boats  were  floated 
to  St.  Louis.  There  they  were  reloaded  with  goods  for  the  merchants  and 
towed  back  by  steamboat  to  the  mouth  of  the  Iowa  river.  Here  was  where 
the  laborious  work  commenced.  It  required  eight  men,  four  on  a  side,  with 
polls,  to  push  a  barge  up  against  the  current  of  the  river.  Where  a  very  swift 
place  was  encountered,  a  line  was  taken  ahead  and  made  fast,  and  the  boat  was 
then  pulled  up  stream  along  the  shore.  The  barge  line  was  in  successful  opera- 
tion for  several  years,  but  as  the  lands  of  the  L'pper  Mississippi  valley  were 
brought  under  cultivation,  it  soon  caused  a  surplus  in  the  St.  Louis  market 
and  prices  went  off.  About  this  time  corn  sold  as  low  as  eight  cents  per  bushel 
and  pork  at  a  dollar  and  a  quarter.  The  owners  of  the  fleet  of  boats  discovered 
that  their  margin  of  profit  was  too  small,  that  the  expense  account  of  the  boats 
was  taking  it  all.  Some  cheaper  and  quicker  method  must  be  devised  to  get 
this  stuff  to  St.  Louis. 

The  next  proposition  was  to  purchase  a  steamboat  which  would  carry  a 
cargo  and  tow  the  barges.  A  Captain  Durbin,  who  had  experience  on  the 
water,  was  sent  to  the  Ohio  river  and  there  purchased  a  steamboat  called  the 
Piasa,  and  brought  her  to  Wapello.  The  arrival  of  the  boat  was  the  greatest 
event  of  the  '50s,  not  excepting  the  big  barbecue  and  the  breaking  of  dirt  for 
the  Philadelphia,  Fort  Wayne,  Platte  River,  San  Francisco  Air  Line  Railroad. 
Crowds  followed  the  Piasa  on  both  banks  of  the  river,  and  at  every  landing 
her  docks  were  loaded  with  the  natives.  Had  the  Piasa  been  provided  with 
sufficient  power,  it  might  have  been  a  paying  proposition,  but  she  was  slower 
than  a  yoke  of  cattle.  She  would  often  consume  three  weeks'  time  in  making 
a  round  trip  to  St.  Louis.  The  shippers  soon  found  that  this  was  also  a  losing 
proposition  and  the  Piasa  and  some  of  the  barges  were  sold.  One  of  the  barges, 
the  General  Wadsworth.  now  lies  buried  deep  down  in  the  sand  just  below 
Wapello. 

However,  the  Piasa  did  one  thing.  She  demonstrated  that  the  Iowa  and 
Cedar  rivers  could  be  navigated  by  a  steamboat.  So  in  the  early  '50s  the 
Mississippi  steamers  came  into  the  trade  and  navigated  the  two  streams  up  to 
about  1869.  Among  the  boats  running  during  the  '50s,  I  remember  the  Ken- 
tucky, Uncle  Toby,  John  Bell,  Cedar  Rapids,  Adelia.  Magnet,  Eureka,  Time 
and  Tide,  and  there  were  others  whose  names  I  cannot  recall.  After  the  Civil 
war  came  the  Young  Eagle,  Iowa  City,  T.  P.  Benton,  Annie  Gordon,  Red  Bird, 
and  others. 

There  were  two  of  these  steamers  which  were  built  expressly  for  the  Iowa 
and  Cedar  river  trade — the  Cedar  Rapids  and  the  Iowa  City.  Somewhere  in 
the  '50s,  before  the  railroads  invaded  that  section  of  the  country,  there  came  to 
the  then  small  town  of  Cedar  Rapids,  a  widow,  and  she  brought  some  money 
with  her.  Her  husband  had  made  a  fortune  in  operating  steamboats  on  the 
Ohio  river.  She  told  the  people  of  Cedar  Rapids  that  the  one  thing  needed  to 
bring  them  prosperity  was  water  transportation  to  and  from  the  markets  of 
the  country ;  in  other  words,  a  steamboat  which  would  make  regular  trips  to 
and  from  St.  Louis.  They  agreed  with  her  and  she  at  once  went  back  to  the 
Ohio  river,  had  the  steamer  built  and  named  it  after  the  town  in  which  she  had 
lived  on  the  beautiful  Cedar  river.  In  a  short  time  the  Cedar  Rapids  came 
steaming  up  the  Iowa.     The  lady,  whose  name  I  have  forgotten,  was  not  only 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  215 

the  owner  of  the  boat,  but  the  captain  of  it.  She  was  a  large,  fine  looking 
woman,  had  an  easy  and  rapid  flow  of  language,  and  under  her  direction  the 
crew  of  men  was  kept  on  the  move.  In  fact,  her  word  was  the  law  on  the 
steamboat   Cedar  Rapids. 

The  Cedar  Rapids  was  a  stern  wheel,  had  good  power  and  a  cabin  the  full 
length  of  her,  but  she  was  too  large  for  the  Iowa  and  Cedar  rivers  and  an 
ugly  brute  to  handle.  She  would  very  frequently  run  away  with  the  pilot  and 
go  into  the  bank  and  the  woods.  However,  the  "Rapids,"  as  we  called  her, 
did  a  paying  passenger  and  freight  business  for  some  time.  Her  steering  gear 
finally  put  her  out  of  business.  On  one  of  her  trips  to  St.  Louis  she  had  a 
collision  with  the  Lucy  May.  It  was  a  dark  night  and  the  wind  was  blowing. 
As  the  "Rapids"  approached  the  ascending  boat,  the  pilot  lost  control  of  her 
and  she  went  into  the  Lucy  May,  head  on.  The  "Rapids"  had  a  good  heavy, 
hull  and  was  but  slightly  injured  but  the  Lucy  May,  with  her  cargo,  went  to 
the  bottom  of  the  Mississippi  river.  When  the  Cedar  Rapids  hit  the  levee  at 
St.  Louis,  she  was  attached  and  sold  to  pay  for  the  Lucy  May  and  her  cargo, 
which  was  a  total  loss.  Some  passengers  on  the  Lucy  May  were  drowned,  and 
the  pilot  of  the  "Rapids"  and  other  officers  were  jailed  on  a  charge  of  man- 
slaughter. The  widow,  after  this  experience,  went  out  of  the  transportation 
business. 

As  I  see  it,  the  Iowa  City  was  the  only  boat  ever  in  the  trade  which  fit  the 
two  rivers.  She  had  good  power,  built  for  fifty  passengers,  and  when  light 
her  draft  was  but  twenty  inches.  She  towed  two  barges,  and  with  four  feet 
of  water  in  the  rivers,  the  three  boats  loaded  to  three  and  a  half  feet,  carried 
five  thousand  sacks  of  corn.  She  did  a  good  business  there  for  nearly  four 
seasons,  or  until  the  building  of  the  Burlington  &  Cedar  Rapids  railroad  put  her 
out  of  the  trade.  In  other  words,  as  on  the  Mississippi,  the  shippers  abandoned 
the  cheaper  method  of  transportation  and  sent  all  of  their  stuff  by  rail,  which 
I  regard  as  a  serious  mistake.  People  who  live  along  the  shore  of  a  river  which 
can  be  navigated  for  even  a  portion  of  the  year,  should  use  it.  Water  trans- 
portation is  the  cheapest  method  known  and  the  operation  of  boats  to  and  from 
river  points  largely  reduces  the  freight  rates  by  rail. 

THE   RAILROADS. 

Louisa  county  now  has  very  ample  railroad  facilities.  The  Chicago,  Rock 
Island  &  Pacific  has  a  line  crossing  the  county  east  and  west,  through  Letts- 
ville,  Fredonia,  Columbus  Junction  and  Cotter.  This  line  was  originally  known 
as  the  Mississippi  &  Missouri  Railroad  Company.  The  records  show  that  the 
condemnation  proceedings  for  procuring  the  right  of  way  were  begun  by  A.  O. 
Patterson,  attorney,  in  October,  1855.  Peter  A.  Dey  was  the  chief  engineer. 
The  road  was  completed  to  Fredonia  by  the  4th  of  July,  1857.  This  remained 
the  terminus  of  the  road  so  far  as  traffic  was  concerned,  for  several  months. 
The  road  was  completed  to  the  Sand  Bank  early  in  the  winter  of  1857-58.  It 
was  completed  to  Washington  in   1859. 

An  effort  was  made  to  get  this  road  to  run  through  Columbus  City,  and  a 
number  of  the  citizens  there,  including  Colonel  W.  W.  Garner  and  George  D. 
Harrison,  exerted  themselves  to  this  end.    At  one  time  Colonel  Garner  surveyed 


216  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

a  line  crossing  the  Iowa  river  half  a  mile  or  so  south  of  the  present  bridge, 
and  passing  immediately  south  of  Columbus  City.  However,  some  of  the  heavy 
property  owners  of  Columbus  City  thought  that  the  road  was  sure  to  come 
through  and  refused  to  aid  in  securing  it. 

The  Mississippi  &  Missouri  Railroad  was  often  ridiculed  by  the  Wapello 
Intelligencer,  during  the  years  1853  and  1854.  The  issue  of  February  13,  1854, 
contains  the   following: 

"Hurrah  for  the  Muscatine  and  Oskaloosa  Railroad !  From  a  gentleman 
who  has  just  returned  from  Muscatine  we  learn  that  work  has  actually  com- 
menced upon  that  much  talked  of  road.  He  states  that  one  boss  and  two  hands 
are  actually  engaged  upon  the  work.  Should  they  prove  to  be  industrious  and 
energetic  it  is  confidently  expected  that  the  mad  will  reach  the  Iowa  River 
some  time   during  the   present  century." 

The  Rock  Island  also  owns  a  line  of  railway  extending  through  the  county 
north  and  south,  by  way  of  Morning  Sun,  Wapello.  Bard  and  Columbus  Junction. 
This  road  was  first  called  the  Cedar  Rapids  and  Burlington  Railway  Compam , 
and  it  begun  securing  its  right  of  way  in  this  county  in  the  spring  of  1868.  It 
was  completed  to  Wapello  in  1869.  The  people  of  Columbus  City  township 
did  not  want  to  see  it  stop  at  Wapello,  and  they  raised  something  like  $10,000 
to  have  it  built  as  far  as  Columbus  Junction.  Cyril  Carpenter,  one  of  the 
leading  citizens  of  Oakland  township,  made  a  large  contribution  to  have  the 
road  extended  on  farther  north.  This  line  has  gone  under  various  names  since 
that  time.  Tt  has  been  known  as  the  Burlington,  Cedar  Rapids  &  Minnesota  : 
then  the  Burlington,  Cedar  Rapids  &  Northern,  and  in  June,  1002,  it  was  leased 
for  ninety-nine  years  to  the  Rock  Island  which  now  controls  it. 

The  next  railroad  to  be  built  through  any  part  of  the  county,  was  the 
Narrow  Gauge,  called  the  Burlington  &  Northwestern.  This  merely  touches 
the  county  in  the  southwest  corner,  the  only  station  in  this  county  being  Wyman. 
It  was  built  through  the  county  about   1881. 

The  Iowa  Central  Railway  has  a  line  of  road  passing  through  the  county 
east  and  west,  going  through  Oakville,  Elrick  Junction,  Newport,  Morning  Sun 
and  Marsh.  This  road  was  first  known  as  the  Chicago,  Burlington  &  Pacific, 
and  the  greater  part,  if  not  all  of  its  right  of  way  deeds  were  procured  in  1882 
and  1883,  and  it  was  constructed  about  that  time.  In  July.  1888,  it  was  sold 
under  foreclosure  proceedings  to  the  Iowa  Railway  Company,  and  in  the  fol- 
lowing month  it  was  again  sold  to  the  Iowa  Central  Railway  Company. 

The  next  addition  to  the  county's  railway  facilities  was  the  Muscatine,  North 
&  South  Railroad  Company.  Tt  was  built  in  i8q8  from  Muscatine  to  Elrick 
Junction,  and  passes  through  Grandview  and  Wapello. 

Taxes  were  levied  to  aid  in  the  construction  of  this  road,  in  Grandview 
township,  Wapello  township  and  in  the  City  of  Wapello.  The  proposition  to 
vote  this  tax  was  bitterly  resisted  at  the  time.  At  this  writing,  this  road  has 
been  extended  by  way  of  Oakville,  south  to  Burlington. 

The  Chicago,  Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul  Railway  Company  has  an  excellent 
line  of  road,  passing  in  nearly  an  east  and  west  direction  through  Oakland  and 
Union  townships.     The  only  station  in  this  county  is  Gladwin,  in  Union  town- 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  217 

ship.  The  company  began  its  right  of  way  proceedings  in  the  year  1901.  and 
settled  with  every  landowner  in  this  county,  whose  land  it  touched,  without 
litigation. 

A  great  many  other  railroads  have  been  built  through  this  county,  on  paper, 
aside  from  the  Air  Line.  There  was  a  Keokuk,  Mt.  Pleasant  &  Muscatine,  and 
an  Iowa  Union  Railway  Company,  both  projected  at  about  the  same  time  as 
the  Air  Line.  In  1867  there  was  quite  a  movement  to  build  a  railroad  from 
Muscatine  to  Wapello.  Articles  of  Incorporation  were  adopted  and  directors 
elected.  John  Bird  of  Wapello,  was  president,  and  Allan  Brunhall  of  Muscatine. 
was  secretary. 

In  1879  the  Mt.  Pleasant,  Wapello  and  Muscatine  Railway  was  agitated.  A 
meeting  was  held  in  Wapello  in  August,  1879,  at  which  Senator  James  Harlan 
presided,  and  L.  A.  Reiley  was  secretary.  Articles  of  incorporation  were 
adopted.  The  capital  stock  was  fixed  at  $1,000,000  and  the  following  directors 
were  elected :  Henry  Ambler,  James  Harlan  and  H.  S.  Clark  of  Henry  county. 
I.  S.  Hurley,  J.  P.  Walker  and  George  Jamison  of  Louisa  county ;  and  S.  <  i. 
Stine,  S.  E.  Whicher  and  G.  B.  Johnson  of  Muscatine  county. 

In  1871  the  Mississippi  &  Northwestern  Railroad  project  was  taken  hold 
of  and  a  tax  was  voted  in  Marshall  and  in  Wapello  townships  in  the  fall  of  that 
year. 

THE    AIR    LINK    RAILROAD. 

Louisa  county  has  its  share  of  railroads  and  has  had  its  full  share  of  rail- 
road projects,  but  the  one  which  at  one  time  caused  the  people  to  indulge  in 
the  most  buoyant  hopes,  and  later,  to  feel  the  keenest  chagrin,  was  the  Air 
Line  project — a  project  for  which  the  people  of  Louisa  county  paid  nearly 
.$300,000  without  getting  the  railroad. 

In  185 1  a  number  of  distinguished  men,  among  whom  were  General  Robert 
C.  Schenck,  General  Wilson,  Judge  Humphrey  and  others  equally  noted,  began 
a  movement  to  organize  an  air  'me  railroad  from  some  central  point  in  Pennsyl- 
vania to  Fort  Wayne,  Indiana.  Meetings  were  held  in  1852  along  the  proposed 
line,  newspapers  advocated  the  movement  and  companies  were  formed  to  prose- 
cute the  work.  In  1853  the  star  of  this  agitation  took  its  way  as  far  westward 
as  New  Boston,  and  from  there  into  Iowa.  It  was  confidently  believed  by 
that  time  that  this  road  could  and  would  be  put  through  Louisa  county  and  on 
to  the  Missouri  river.  To  further  this  project,  articles  of  incorporation  of  the 
Philadelphia,  Fort  Wayne  &  Platte  River  Air  Line  Company  were  filed  in  this 
county,  on  Tune  23,  1853.  signed  by  the  following  named  board  of  directors: 
James  Noffsinger.  John  Bell,  Jr..  John  Bird,  H.  T.  Cleaver.  William  L.  Toole, 
S.  M.  Kirkpatrick,  J.  W.  Isett.  Wright  Williams,  Samuel  Townsend. 

These  articles  provided  that  the  main  track  of  said  road  should  commence 
on  the  Mississippi  river  at  or  near  Toole*s  Landing  and  run  through  or  by 
Wapello,  thence  westerly  on  or  near  an  air  line  to  the  Missouri  river,  opposite 
the  Platte  river  valley.  The  amount  of  the  capital  stock  was  fixed  at  $5,000,000 
to  be  increased  as  emergency  should  demand.  The  shares  were  $100  each  and 
it  was  provided  that  when  one  hundred  shares  should  be  taken,  the  subscribers 
should  assemble  at  the  courthouse  in  Wapello,  at  which  time  one  per  centum 
on  each  share  should  be  paid  to  the  presiding  officer  of  the  board,  to  be  by  him 


218  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

paid  to  the  treasurer  of  the  corporation.  It  will  thus  be  seen  that  this  corporation 
was  expected  to  commence  business  on  a  paid  up  capital  of  $100.  But  one 
hundred  dollars  would  not  go  very  far  toward  building  a  railroad,  and  the  fol- 
lowing petition  will  indicate  the  source  whence  it  was  expected  to  get  some  of 
the  necessary  aid : 

"To  the  Hon.  the  County  Court  of  Louisa  Co.: 

"The  undersigned,  your  Petitioners,  would  respectfully  ask  that  you  submit 
to  a  vote  of  the  people  the  question  of  Louisa  Co.  taking  stock  in  the  Phila- 
delphia, Fort  Wayne  &  Platte  River  Air  Line  Railroad  Company,  to  the  am't. 
of  i  Hundred  Thousand  Dollars,  believing  such  investment  would  be  for  the 
best  interests  of  the  Co.,  and  we  humbly  ask  your  Honor  to  submit  the  question 
to  vote  as  soon  as  may  be  practicable. 

(Signed)     "John   Bell,  Jr., 
John  Bird, 
Samuel  Townsend, 
S.  M.  Kirkpatrick, 
H.  T.  Cleaver, 

Board  directors  Philadelphia.  Fort  Wayne  &  Platte  River  Air  Line  Railroad  Co. 

"A.  M.  Taylor, 
Dennis  Williams, 
Joseph  Thomas." 

The  endorsement  on  the  back  of  this  petition  is  as  follows: 

The  within  submitted  this  30th  day  of  July,  1853, 

W.  Williams, 
County  Judge." 

After  a  spirited  campaign  an  election  was  held  on  Saturday.  September  3, 
1853,  to  pass  upon  the  proposed  subscription  of  $100,000  in  aid  of  this  railroad. 
It  seems  that  the  sponsors  of  the  project  had  been  able  to  satisfy  a  majority  of 
the  people  in  all  but  two  of  the  seven  townships  in  the  county.  The  proposition 
was  carried  by  a  vote  of  619  for  to  230  against.  Wapello  and  Jefferson  town- 
ships were  unanimous  for  it,  and  there  were  fair  majorities  in  Florence,  Grand- 
view  and  Columbus  City  townships,  while  Concord  and  Oakland  townships 
were  practically  unanimous  against  it. 

So  far  as  the  records  show,  nothing  seems  to  have  been  done  in  the  "air 
line"  business  until  August  11,  1855,  at  which  time,  as  appears  by  a  notice  filed 
in  the  county  judge's  office,  the  directors  of  the  company  met  at  Wapello  and 
formally  located  the  Philadelphia,  Fort  Wayne  &  Platte  River  Air  Line  Railroad 
through  Louisa  county. 

The  next  thing  was  to  begin  the  construction  of  the  road,  and  this  was  done 
with  much  ceremony  and  flourish  of  trumpets,  on  Saturday,  September  29,  1855. 
History  says  that  it  was  a  cold,  disagreeable  morning,  unfavorable  for  the  be- 
ginning of  any  enterprise,  but  notwithstanding  this,  the  people  came  flocking  into 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  219 

town  from  almost  every  direction,  and  at  one  o'clock  a  large  crowd  assembled 
in  front  of  the  court  house,  formed  in  a  procession,  with  the  Virginia  Grove 
brass  band  at  their  head,  and  marched  out  west  of  town  to  a  point  on  the  lands 
now  owned  by  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Woodruff.  Sheriff  A.  M.  Taylor  was  marshal 
of  the  day,  and  the  following  was  the  order  of  procession :  First,  Virginia  Grove 
brass  band ;  second,  speakers  of  the  day,  being  Dr.  John  Bell,  L.  P.  Wells  and  E. 
Hurd,  at  that  time  chief  engineer  of  the  road ;  third,  board  of  directors  of  the 
Iowa  division;  fourth,  corps  of  engineers  with  their  instruments;  fifth,  invited 
guests  in  carriages ;  sixth,  citizens  and  strangers  in  carriages ;  seventh,  horse- 
men. The  procession  moved  down  Main  street  to  Clinton  street,  down  Clinton 
to  Second,  up  Second  to  Merchant,  and  out  Merchant  street  to  the  point  of 
breaking  ground. 

Arriving  at  the  appointed  place,  the  directors  stepped  forward,  each  taking 
his  station  opposite  his  respective  wheelbarrow,  and  seizing  his  respective  shovel, 
prepared  to  throw  dirt.  The  first  shovelful  was  raised  by  Dr.  H.  T.  Cleaver, 
which  exercise  was  of  course  preceded  by  music  by  the  band.  Next  Dr.  Bell 
mounted  his  wheelbarrow,  or  undertook  to,  but  impartial  history  says  that  both 
the  Doctor  and  the  wheelbarrow  were  upset.  Dr.  Bell  made  a  second  attempt, 
however,  and  was  more  successful,  and  delivered  his  speech.  Then  the  work  was 
commenced  in  earnest  and  ground  was  broken  upon  the  great  Air  Line  railroad 
in  Iowa.  A  box  was  deposited  in  the  earth,  containing  a  plate,  upon  which  was 
inscribed:  "Philadelphia,  Fort  Wayne  &  Platte  River  Air  Line  Railroad,  Sep- 
tember 29,  1855,  E.  Hurd,  Engineer,"  together  with  a  glass  jar  containing  a 
scroll  on  which  was  written  the  names  of  the  directors  of  the  road,  with  a  brief 
statement  of  its  history  up  to  date. 

This  exercise  was  followed  by  another  piece  of  music,  and  then  L.  P.  Wells, 
editor  of  the  Wapello  Intelligencer  delivered  the  oration  of  the  day,  which  was 
received  with  great  enthusiasm.  Mr.  Wells  gave  a  short  history  of  the  road,  spoke 
of  the  troubles  through  which  it  had  passed,  the  neglect  and  contumely  that  had 
been  shown  it  and  the  constant  cry  of  humbug  that  had  been  raised  against  it, 
but  he  was  proud  that  all  difficulties  had  been  overcome  and  that  now  the  road 
was  in  as  good  condition  as  any  in  the  country.  Mr.  Hurd,  the  chief  engineer, 
then  made  a  few  remarks  telling  of  the  progress  of  the  road  through  Illinois, 
promising  its  early  completion  to  the  Mississippi  river  and  the  speedy  completion 
of  the  forty  miles  west  of  the  Mississippi.  The  procession  then  marched  back  to 
the  court  house  to  partake  of  a  dinner  that  had  been  prepared  by  the  good  ladies 
of  Wapello.  From  an  article  in  the  Mount  Pleasant  Observer,  whose  editor  was 
present,  we  quote  the  following  extract  to  show  how  it  was  looked  upon  by  out- 
siders: "We  visited  Wapello  the  latter  part  of  last  week  in  order  to  witness 
the  breaking  of  ground  on  the  Philadelphia,  Fort  Wayne  &  Platte  Valley  Rail- 
road, which  came  off  at  that  place  on  last  Saturday.  It  was  evident  during  the 
forenoon  that  a  large  crowd  would  be  in  attendance,  for  from  all  quarters  came 
wagons,  buggies  and  horses  carrying  people  into  town.  Delegations  were  present 
from  Marshall,  Brighton,  Washington,  Lancaster  and  Indianola." 

Then  after  giving  a  brief  account  of  the  exercises,  the  Mount  Pleasant  paper 
proceeds  as  follows:  "Mr.  Chase,  of  St.  Louis,  has  the  contract  for  building 
forty  miles  of  this  road  west  of  the  Mississippi.  He  is  to  complete  the  road, 
put  on  ten  first  class  engines  and  rolling  stock  in  proportion,  at  $23,000  per  mile. 


■220  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

There  has  been  two  routes  surveyed  west — one  running  via  Marshall,  in  this 
county,  then  to  Brighton,  and  from  thence  westward  to  Council  Bluffs.  If  the 
road  should  go  to  Marshall  it  will  pass  along  the  northern  line  of  this  county, 
thus  adding  increased  facilities  and  wealth  to  Henry  county.  The  citizens  of 
Wapello  are  awake  on  railroad  matters  and  express  a  willingness  to  vote  stock 
to  the  Keokuk.  Mount  Pleasant  and  .Muscatine  Railroad,  whenever  called  for. 
Wapello  is  finely  situated  on  the  west  bank  of  the  Iowa  river;  considerable  im- 
provement is  going  on.  Her  railroad  prospects  are  giving  an  impetus  to  trade 
and  causing  an  advance  in  real  estate.  The  town  contains  about  a  thousand  in- 
habitants, has  a  large  and  handsome  court  house  and  a  number  of  churches.  She 
lacks  good  hotels — the  complaint  was  general  in  this  respect.  We  would  not,  how- 
ever, complain,  for  we  were  kindly  invited  and  enjoyed  the  hospitalities  of  Dr. 
Cleaver  during  our  stay  there.  The  celebration  was  a  fine  affair  and  will  long 
be  remembered  by  the  people.  It  appears  to  be  a  fixed  fact  now  that  the  Air 
Line  railroad  will  be  built." 

This  project  was  looked  upon  with  favor  by  people  outside  the  state  ami 
away  from  its  proposed  route.  A  correspondent  in  the  Missouri  Republican, 
over  the  signature  of  Uno,  published  an  article  about  this  time,  from  which  we 
make  a  few  extracts:  "By  articles  of  association  filed  with  the  secretary  of 
state  for  the  state  of  Iowa,  in  the  month  of  February,  1853,  this  company  (re- 
tering  to  the  Air  Line  company  )  is  fully  empowered  to  construct  a  railroad  from 
the  Mississippi  river,  opposite  Xew  Boston,  through  Wapello  to  Council  Bluffs. 
This  is  the  Iowa  portion  of  that  great  road,  which,  on  account  of  its  air  line  pecu- 
liarities, turning  neither  to  the  right  nor  to  the  left  fur  any  consideration,  is  con- 
sidered the  shortest  road,  even  from  Philadelphia  to  Sacramento  City,  the  dis- 
tance from  Philadelphia  to  Council  Bluffs  by  this  line  surveyed  and  located  all 
the  way,  being  only  1,242  miles,  while  the  distance  from  New  York  to  Sacra- 
mento by  this  route  is  stated  as  3.108  miles — the  distance  from  Council  Bluffs 
to  Sacramento  being  estimated  at   1,829  miles.     .     .     .     This  railroad  from  the 

Atlantic  ocean  to  Nebraska  territory. — an  air  line  more  than  half  the  way — 
has  been  viewed  by  the  people  of  St.  Louis  as  a  visionary  scheme,  but  when 
they  hear  that  one  of  the  contractors  of  our  Pacific  railroad,  L.  Thompson,  com- 
menced building  one  of  the  divisions  from  Lacon,  in  Illinois,  early  last  July,  and 
that  Mr.  Levi  Chase,  another  and  heavy  contractor,  on  our  Pacific  railroad,  who 
completed  our  railroad  to  Herman  last  August, — eighty-one  miles — and  who  is 
now  finishing  his  contract  so  that  the  road  will  be  pushed  on  to  Jefferson  city,  one 
hundred  and  twenty-five  miles,  next  month;  when  they  hear  that  he  has  taken 
the  contract  to  build  the  eastern  division  of  this  Iowa  road,  beginning  on  the 
Iowa  river  at  Wapello,  and  working  both  ways,  east  and  west,  at  once,  they  may 
be  sure  that  solid  men  have  taken  hold  of  the  Air  Line  route  of  Iowa." 

At  this  time  Francis  Springer  was  county  judge,  having  succeeded  Wright 

Williams  nearly  a  year  before.  It  is  a  part  of  the  unwritten  history  of  the 
county  that  Judge  Springer,  although  many  of  the  promoters  of  this  road  were 
warm  personal  friends  of  his,  did  not  have  much  faith  in  the  project,  and  after 
he  succeeded  to  the  county  judgeship  he  was  approached  as  to  his  attitude  in  the 
matter  of  the  issuance  of  the  proposed  bonds,  which  had  been  previously  author- 
ized by  a  vote  of  the  people,  and  he  expressed  the  opinion  that  if  the  bonds  were 
issued  there  should  be  a  proviso  in  them  making  their  payment  conditioned  upon 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  221 

the  construction  of  the  railroad,  and  he  declared  that  he  would  not  issue  them 
without  such  a  provision,  unless  clearly  convinced  that  such  was  the  desire  of 
the  people  of  the  county. 

We  find  on  the  county  court  records  under  date  of  December  10.  1855,  a 
proclamation  for  a  vote  of  the  people  of  the  county  on  the  question  of  subscribing 
$50,000  to  the  capital  stock  of  the  Keokuk,  .Mount  Pleasant  &  Muscatine  Rail- 
road Company,  the  election  to  be  held  on  January  12.  1856.  Toward  the  close 
of  this  proclamation  is  the  following  clause :  "The  adoption  of  the  above  proposi- 
tion will  be  considered  an  expression  of  the  opinion  of  the  people  of  the  county 
in  favor  of  authorizing  a  subscription  to  the  Philadelphia,  Fort  Wayne  &  Platte 
River  Air  Line  Railroad  Company,  which  was  voted  on  the  3d  of  September, 

I8S3-" 

The  insertion  of  this  last  clause  gave  great  offense  to  all  the  friends  of  the 

Air  Line  project.  Plow-  it  was  looked  upon  by  some  may  be  gathered  from  the 
following  communication,  which  was  published  in  the  Wapello  Intelligencer  of 
January  I.  1856:  "It  is  a  custom  in  all  countries  governed  by  constitutional  au- 
thorities, for  the  rulers  to  give  an  account  of  their  actions  to  the  governed,  when- 
ever called  upon,  and  those  rulers  who  do  not  explain  to  the  satisfaction  of  the 
governed,  any  or  all  of  their  actions,  are  looked  upon  as  acting  despotically.  In 
the  columns  of  your  paper  is  a  proclamation,  calling  upon  the  citizens  of  this 
county  to  vote  upon  a  question  upon  which  they  have  already  given  a  very  de- 
cisive voice.  A  large  and  respectable  portion  of  the  voters  of  Louisa  county 
would  like  to  have  Mr.  Francis  Springer's  reasons  for  submitting  the  question 
anew,  as  to  whether  the  county  shall  take  stock  in  the  Philadelphia,  Fort  Wayne 
&  Platte  River  Railroad.  You  may  rest  assured,  Air.  Editor,  that  a  large  portion 
of  the  voters  of  the  county  feel  outraged  by  the  latter  clause  in  the  proclamation. 
Perhaps  'Mr.  Springer  would  favor  us  through  your  columns  with  the  reasons 
for  his  actions  in  the  premises.  It  is  an  old  axiom  that  'the  salve  must  be  as 
broad  as  the  sore.'  " 

The  attitude  of  Judge  Springer  on  the  subject  of  issuing  Air  Line  railroad 
bonds  was  a  matter  of  extended  comment  and  rather  exciting  debate  all  over  the 
county,  and  it  is  said  that  at  one  time  while  he  was  holding  county  court  here, 
an  immense  throng  of  people  attended  the  session  of  court  and  were  very  excited 
and  demonstrative  in  urging  the  issuance  of  the  bonds.  The  writer  well  remem- 
bers to  have  heard  from  the  lips  of  the  then  county  judge  that  he  did  not  issue 
the  bonds  until  he  had  been  presented  with  petitions  signed  by  a  respectable 
majority  of  the  legal  voters  of  the  county,  including  many  of  the  largest  prop- 
erty owners  and  most  prominent  citizens ;  but  in  subsequent  years  the  fact  that 
such  petitions  were  ever  presented,  has  been  doubted  by  men  who  were  supposed 
to  be  quite  well  informed  about  such  things.  It  was  with  some  satisfaction, 
therefore,  that  we  found  these  petitions  with  the  signatures  attached  (some  nine 
hundred  and  seventy-one  names),  and  we  append  herewith  as  a  necessary  part  of 
the  history  of  this  transaction  a  copy  of  one  of  the  petitions,  with  the  names  of 
some  of  the  leading  signers. 

To  the  Hon.  Francis  Springer,  County  Judge  of  Louisa  County,  Iowa. 

The  Undersigned,  voters  of  Louisa  County,  having  understood  that,  from  the 
recent  vote  upon  the  proposition  to  subscribe  Stock,  you  did  not  feel  authorized 


222  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

to  take  the  stock  in  the  Philadelphia.  Fort  Wayne  and  Platte  River  Air  Line 
Railroad,  we  would  respectfully  request  you  to  subscribe  said  Stock,  authorized 
by  the  vote  September  3rd  1853:  Win,  J.  R.  Flack,  T.  W.  Bailey,  Alanson  F. 
Bemis,  Edward  B.  Isett,  John  M.  Brown,  Jesse  Yanhorn,  James  Davison,  J.  S. 
Marshall,  John  R.  Sisson,  James  Cummings,  Franklin  Griswold,  John  N.  Bald- 
rige,  T.  R.  J.  Ellis,  Wm.  Kemp,  J.  C.  Stirlen,  Jerry  Browning,  Forgay  Owens, 
R.  S.  Strong,  Y.  Willoughby.  John  Hurley,  Henry  Marsden,  H.  P.  May,  James 
F.  Patton,  Robert  Coulter,  Oliver  Benton,  Win.  T.  Nichols,  lames  H.  Marshall, 
Joseph  Higbee,  J.  B.  Nichols.  Joseph  Bates,  J.  T.  Cowles,  John  Keck,  J.  C. 
Tucker,  J.  L.  Browning,  William  Shoop,  James  Keever,  Jeremiah  Smith,  John 
Hays,  Thomas  G.  Taylor,  E.  Keach,  W.  A.  Knowlton,  John  L.  Sweeney,  Wiley 
Gregory,  Samuel  Jamison,  Harvey  Bell,  John  Deihl,  George  Jamison,  John  R. 
Springsteen.  Samuel  Hamilton,  Alexander  Hamilton,  Mark  Davison,  Henry 
Myerholz,  James  Brogan,  William  Clark.  Wm.  Shipman,  Francis  Wykert.  Amzi 
Donaldson,  Henry  Thompson,  Dennis  Williams,  C.  W.  Bras,  George  L.  Coe, 
Wm.  L.  Toole,  George  H.  Mosier.  T.  M.  Parsons.  G.  W.  Wesley.  John  Hale, 
George  Grasham,  Ephrani  Owens,  S.  K.  Helmick.  H.  Hawkins.  John 
('.riffith,  John  Morgan.  1 ).  W.  1  lerrick,  Thomas  Newell,  A.  D.  Hurley,  Peter 
Lambert,  George  Presbury,  James  R.  McDaniel,  J.  M.  Herrick,  Francis  Curran, 
William  Brogan,  John  M.  Wilson,  George  Yanhorn,  Oliver  Mickey,  S.  B.  Cleaver, 
B.  H.  Druse,  Samuel  Barr,  Fredrick  Weber,  John  Allison,  G.  F.  Thomas,  Wil- 
liam Keach,  George  Nearhood,  R.  E.  Archibald,  J.  R.  Kinsey,  John  Jenkins, 
John  Sprinkle.  James  A.  Fleming,  J.  H.  Trask,  Nathaniel  J.  Ives,  C.  Morgan,  M. 
Jamison,  William  Jamison,  James  Semple,  John  P.  Walker,  George  Hutchison, 
Abram  McCleary,  Thomas  Fleming,  Samuel  Duncan,  George  Key,  S.  G.  Black- 
born,  B.  F.  Wright,  F.  M.  Ong.  W.  J.  Hewitt,  O.  A.  Taylor,  J.  B.  Miller,  Frank- 
lin Bras,  D.  N.  Sprague.  J.  H.  Graham.  Ozias  Smith,  Aug.  Wehmier,  James 
Sterrett,  Samuel  Chaney.  A.  M.  Taylor,  H.  McClurkin,  R.  Archibald,  W.  B. 
Robison,  Dennis  Gregory,  Chas.  Downs,  Royal  Prentiss,  Lewis  Kinsey,  J.  B. 
Latta,  George  Beck,  Andrew  Brockert,  David  Grimes,  William  H.  Creighton, 
Richard  Staige,  Robert  Gillis.  John  Pluff,  J.  D.  Barr,  Samuel  Bell,  Levi  Wood- 
ruff, L.  P.  Wells,  A.  Hodge,  W.  H.  Milligan.  Wm.  Owens,  Merit  Jamison,  Ernst 
Winter,  J.  B.  Grubb,  W.  J.  Ronalds.  PI.  T.  Cleaver,  H.  C.  Blake,  James  Drake, 
J.  G.  Umphreys.  John  A.  Brown,  A.  P.  Hensleigh,  R.  W.  Gray.  Hugh  Paisley, 
John  L.  Foor.  V.  Massie,  M.  P.  Yanhorn.  Joshua  Marshall.  Joseph  Mickey, 
Levi  Bozman,  Jesse  Hamilton.  John  Stafford.  H.  H.  Mickey.  D.  P.  Curran,  Jno. 
Bell.  Oliver  Ball,  Parkis  Woodruff,  Gustavus  Jones,  Thomas  Stoddard,  Alfred 
Limbocker,  Joseph  Storey,  John  Bird,  II.  Christy,  Joseph  B.  McDill,  James 
Blanchard,  T.  A.  Ball,  Kennedy  Storey.  G.  B.  Williams,  G.  A.  Plook,  Harmon 
Mallory,  Willard  Mallory.  Harvey  Harris,  Henry  Jennings,  Barton  Jones,  Joseph 
Paschal,  Jos.  L.  Derbin.  J.  W.  Isett,  Wm.  McClemm,  John  Reed,  Elias  Marshal, 
John  Le  Cornu,  James  Crawford,  John  Milligan,  Abiathur  Williams,  Wilson  R. 
Woodruff,  P.  C.  Brown,  David  Woodruff,  Zebina  Williams.  B.  P.  Weston,  George 
I^ngland,  Gideon  Bayne.  J.  S.  Hurley,  Christian  Heins.  Joseph  Schofield,  Jacob 
Mintun,  Jesse  Graham,  David  McMichael.  James  1).  Martin.  Stephen  McKinley. 
Thomas  Garvin,  H.  J.  N.  Parsons.  Joseph  P.  Parsons,  Jacob  Syphrit,  John  Ken- 
nedy, G.  Ii.  Crow,  B.  F.  Coe,  H.  J.  McCormick.  John  Dill,  David  McKinley. 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  223 

The  election  on  the  question  of  subscribing  $50,000  to  the  Keokuk  &c.  rail- 
road enterprise,  was  held  on  January  12th,  1856,  and  it  was  found  that  the  re- 
turns from  Wapello,  Morning  Sun,  Oakland,  and  Union  townships  did  not  meet 
the  legal  requirements.  By  throwing  out  these  four  townships,  the  proposition 
would  be  carried  by  27  votes;  by  counting  these  townships,  it  would  be  defeated 
by  30.  The  county  judge  solved  the  difficulty  by  again  submitting  the  question 
to  the  people,  and  it  was  carried. 

From  about  1850  to  1858  several  counties  in  Iowa  issued  their  bonds  in 
aid  of  railroad  building,  exchanging  these  bonds  for  a  like  amount  of  stock  in 
the  railway  enterprise.  The  question  of  the  validity  of  these  bonds  was  not 
long  finding  its  way  into  the  courts.  One  of  the  early  cases,  perhaps  the  first 
one,  was  that  of  Dubuque  County  vs.  The  Dubuque  &  Pacific  Railroad  Corn- 
pan}',  reported  in  4  Greene,  p.  1.  This  decision  held  that  the  bonds  were  valid 
obligations  against  the  county :  it  was  followed  by  some  six  or  seven  more 
similar  cases,  decided  the  same  way,  the  last  one  of  these  being  a  Johnson  county 
case,  decided  in  1859,  and  reported  in  the  10th  Iowa,  p.  157.  In  the  latter 
case,  and  in  most  of  the  others,  there  was  a  marked  division  of  opinion  among 
the  Supreme  Court  judges,  and  some  strong  dissenting  opinions  were  rendered. 
In  1862,  in  a  case  from  Wapello  County,  the  Iowa  Supreme  Court  took  a  differ- 
ent view,  and  reversed  its  former  line  of  cases,  and  held  that  the  county  bonds 
in  aid  of  railroads  were  invalid,  and  they  continued  to  hold  to  that  view  as  to 
all  bonds  issued  during  the  period  we  are  considering.  But,  about  1863  a  case 
reached  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States,  involving  these  same  questions, 
as  to  bonds  of  the  city  of  Dubuque,  which  had  been  issued  and  sold  under  the 
sanction  of  the  first  decisions  of  our  court,  holding  such  bonds  to  be  valid.  The 
United  States  Supreme  Court  followed  the  earlier  decisions  of  our  Supreme 
Court,  and  held  the  bonds  to  be  valid,  and  that  court  continued  to  hold  the  same 
day  as  to  all  such  bonds  which  were  issued  and  sold  under  the  authority  and 
sanction  of  the  first  decisions  of  our  court. 

Then  came  the  question  as  to  paying  the  bonds,  and  as  to  the  power  and 
authority  of  the  State  and  Federal  courts  in  the  matter,  as  to  how  in  case  the 
Federal  courts  proved  to  be  the  more  powerful,  they  would  go  about  it  to  have  the 
judgments  paid. 

On  January  26,  1856,  it  is  recorded  that  the  board  of  directors  of  the  Air 
Line  company  applied  for  the  county  subscription  of  $100,000,  and  desired  to 
have  their  application  considered  in  connection  with  sundry  petitions,  and  we 
may  presume  that  the  sundry  petitions  were  those  to  which  we  have  already 
referred.  At  that  time  it  was  ordered  that  the  further  consideration  of  the  appli- 
cation be  continued  until  the  next  regular  term  of  the  court  and  that  the  con- 
tractors be  requested  to  furnish  the  court  with  a  certified  copy  of  any  contracts 
they  had  made  for  the  construction  of  the  road  and  an  official  statement  of  the 
actual  available  means  of  said  company. 

There  seems  to  have  been,  about  this  time,  a  very  good  list  of  signers  to  a 
petition  asking  the  county  judge  not  to  issue  the  Air  Line  bonds.  There  are  two 
of  these  petitions  among  the  old  papers  of  this  date.  They  are  not  in  very  good 
condition  and  some  of  the  names  can  hardly  be  distinguished.  The  prime  mover 
in  getting  them  up  seems  to  have  been  J.  B.  Latta.  Sr.,  and  these  petitions  con- 
tain one   hundred  and   sixtv-one   names,   chieflv   from   Grandview   and   Concord 


■2-2i  HISTORY  (  >F  LOUISA  COUNTY 

townships.  We  cannot  tell  from  anything  in  the  records  of  the  county  court 
nor  in  the  tile-  which  are  still  preserved,  just  what  showing  the  Air  Line  com- 
pany made  to  the  county  court  in  reference  to  its  available  assets  and  the  contract 
it  had  made  for  the  construction  of  the  line  in  this  county,  but  it  is  to  be  pre- 
sumed that  they  made  some  showings  which  satisfied  the  county  judge  of  their 
good  faith  in  the  matter.  We  find  that  on  February  25,  1856.  Air  Line  bonds 
for  $1,000  each,  numbered  from  one  to  ten,  inclusive,  were  issued,  signed  by 
Francis  Springer,  county  judge,  and  by  Lewis  Kinsey,  county  clerk,  and  that 
thereafter,  from  time  to  time,  during  the  year  of  1857,  the  remainder  of  the 
$100,000  subscription  was  taken  and  bonds  issued  therefor.  As  these  bonds 
figure  extensively  in  subsequent  Air  Line  history,  we  give  herewith  a  facsimile 
of  bond  No.  43.  with  two  of  the  coupons  still  attached.  We  also  give  a  fac- 
simile of  the  endorsement  made  upon  the  back  of  this  bond,  signed  by  Robert 
Schenck,  president,  and  Lewis  Kinsey,  secretary. 

About  this  time  congress  was  making  land  grants  in  favor  of  various  rail- 
wax  enterprise^  and  had  some  few  years  before  made  a  very  valuable  land  grant 
in  favor  of  the  Mississippi  &  .Missouri  Railroad  Company,  which  was  built 
through  this  county  and  is  now  known  as  the  Rock  Island,  and  the  friends  of 
the  Air  Line  project  had  presented  a  petition  to  congress  in  1854  praying  for 
a  grant  of  land  in  aid  of  its  construction.  This  matter  was  up  in  congress,  and 
seems,  according  to  the  files  of  the  Wapello  Intelligencer,  to  have  been  opposed 
or  at  least  sadly  neglected  by  one  of  our  Iowa  senators,  Hon.  George  W.  Jones, 
of  Dubuque.  An  idea  of  the  progress  of  the  work  may  be  gained  from  the  fol- 
lowing article  in  the  Wapello  Intelligencer  of  July  29,  1856:  "We  understand 
Levi  Chase,  the  contractor  on  the  above  named  road,  has  gone  east  to  purchase 
a  locomotive,  iron,  and  the  various  implements  necessary  for  the  completion 
of  the  same.  The  work  is  progressing  as  rapidly  as  the  most  sanguine  could 
expect,  although  it  is  difficult  to  get  hands  to  stand  up  to  the  work  this  hot 
weather.  Today  we  walked  clown  First  street,  to  where  they  were  digging 
away  for  the  hutment  of  the  river  bridge.  Having  removed  several  feet,  per- 
haps fifteen,  of  soil  and  sand,  they  came  to  solid  blue  clay  which  goes  down 
to  the  bed  of  the  river  and  we  do  not  know  how  much  further.  They  had  dug 
down  about  eight  feet  in  the  clay,  wdiere  they  were  making  a  smooth  surface, 
on  which  the  immense  piles  of  huge  stones  that  covered  the  ground  for  acres 
around,  were  to  be  laid.  The  masons  are  to  commence  laying  the  stone  this 
week  wdio,  by  the  way,  will  have  a  most  interesting  time  handling  those  monster 
stones,  some  of  which  are  nearly  as  large  as  an  Irish  shanty." 

The  interest  in  the  Air  Line  project  was  by  no  means  confined  to  Louisa 
countv.  It  excited  a  great  deal  of  interest  in  many  of  the  counties  west  of 
here,  especially  in  Washington.  Mahaska  and  as  far  out  as  Warren  county. 
Canvasses  were  made  and  meetings  were  held  in  its  interest  during  the  spring 
and  summer  of  1856.  One  held  at  Indianola  about  this  time  will  serve  as  a 
sample  of  others.  Resolutions  were  adopted  expressing  deep  interest  in  the 
speedy  construction  of  the  Philadelphia,  Fort  Wayne  &  Platte  Yalley  Air  Line 
Railroad,  and  expressing  the  belief  that  it  was  the  only  road  which  proposed 
to  pass  through  Warren  county  and  favoring  a  proposition  that  the  county  judge 
should  take  S100.000  stock  in  the  road  and  calling  for  a  meeting  to  lie  held  of 


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HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  225 

the  citizens  of  the  whole  county  at  some  future  date  and  of  preliminary  meet- 
ings looking  toward  securing  a  full  attendance. 

About  this  time  the  town  of  Burris,  which  was  to  be  the  starting  point  of  the 
Air  Line  railroad  on  this  side  of  the  Mississippi,  began  to  assume  some  pro- 
portions. The  history  of  that  town  will  be  found  elsewhere,  as  it  probably  de- 
serves a  small  chapter  by  itself. 

On  February  28th  a  meeting  was  held  at  Wapello  "for  the  purpose  of  fur- 
thering a  project  of  the  utmost  importance  to  Wapello,  Burris  City,  the  county 
of  Louisa,  and  the  whole  country  west  of  Louisa  county.  Levi  Chase,  the  con- 
tractor, stated,  in  response  to  a  request,  that  the  county  bonds  issued  to  the 
company  had  been  taken  by  him  and  the  money  advanced  upon  them  and  ex- 
pended upon  the  work,  and  that  $100,000  in  money,  or  its  equivalent,  would  en- 
able him  to  grade  the  road  and  secure  its  completion  from  the  Mississippi  river 
to  a  point  some  five  miles  west  of  Wapello.  On  motion  of  Dr.  Cleaver,  a  com- 
mittee of  three,  including  Dr.  Cleaver,  John  Corson  and  E.  Foster,  was  appointed 
to  wait  upon  the  mayor  of  Wapello  and  the  council  and  solicit  them  to  order 
an  election  on  a  proposition  to  aid  the  Air  Line  railroad,  and  Samuel  Townsend, 
Leonard  Sawyer  and  Ambrose  Key  were  appointed  a  committee  to  confer  with 
the  citizens  of  Burris  City  in  regard  to  obtaining  a  subscription  from  them  for 
the  same  proposition.  We  find  in  the  Wapello  Intelligencer  of  March  31,  1857, 
a  little  item  to  the  effect  that  the  proposition  for  the  city  of  Wapello  to  sub- 
scribe $20,000  stock  to  the  Philadelphia,  Fort  Wayne  &  Platte  River  Air  Line 
railroad  had  been  submitted  to  a  vote  of  the  citizens  on  the  Saturday  previous, 
being  the  28th,  and  that  the  vote  on  the  question  was  124  in  favor  of  the  sub- 
scription and  one  against  it.  In  the  same  paper  also  we  find  a  statement  of  the 
financial  condition  of  the  Air  Line  company,  which  will  be  of  interest  in  this  con- 
nection, and  states  a  number  of  facts  which  we  do  not  find  recorded  anywhere 
else.  It  will  be  noticed  that  the  private  subscription  collected  in  Louisa  county 
at  that  date  is  stated  at  $26,986,  and  that  the  "assets  for  Louisa  county"  were 
stated  to  be  $10,335.30,  or  just  $335.30  more  than  the  amount  of  the  ten  bonds 
recently  issued  by  the  county  judge : 

"stock  account. 

"Amount  stock   subscribed   by   Louisa  county $100,000.00 

Amount   private   stock  in   Louisa  county 42,400.00 

Amount  by  Levi  Chase,  on  contract   25,000.00 

Amount    Washington    county    subscription 50,000.00 

Amount  private  stock  in  Washington  county 25,000.00 

Total    subscription    $242,400.00 

AMOUNT    OF    STOCK    COLLECTED. 

Of  Louisa  county,  in  bonds    $100,000.00 

Of  Washington   county,   in   bonds 5,000.00 

On  private  subscription,  Washington  county    2,000.00 

On  private  subscription,   Louisa  county 26,986.00 

Total  amount  collected    $133,986.00 

Vol.  I— 1 5 


226  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

ASSETS. 

Amount  of  unpaid  Washington  county   stock    $  45,000.00 

Amount  of  unpaid  Washington  private  subscription 23,000.00 

Amount  of  unpaid  Louisa  county 15.414.00 

Amount  Washington  county  bonds  in  the  hands  of  R.  C.  Schenck,  the 

president,  to  be  sold  on  account    5.000.00 

Amount  Louisa  county  bonds  in  the  hands  of  Levi  Chase,  to  be  sold, 

to  apply  on  the  payment  of  company's  notes,  given  him  for  cash.  .  29,000.00 

Amount   Chase's   subscription   on   contract 25,000.00 

Amount  Louisa  county  bonds  in  hands  of  S.  Townsend,  to  be  sold  to 

pay  for  money  advanced  by  him 5,000.00 


Total  assets    $147,414.00 


LIABILITIES. 


For  bills  payable  to  Levi  Chase $30,869.45 

For  retained  percentage 25,983.64 

For  bills  payable  to  engineers 1,275.61 

For  bills  payable  on  sundry  accounts    8,000.00 


Total   liabilities    $69,078.70 

AMOUNT  OF   MONTHLY   ESTIMATES  TO   DECEMBER   I,    1 856. 

For  grading  and  ties   $i  10,922.02 

For  bridging    18,996.20 


Total   $129,918.22 

Less  20  per  cent,  retained  percentage 25,983.64 


$103,934.58 

Amount  paid  for  right  of  way   2,546.50 

Amount  paid  for  engineering    1 1,999.07 

Amount  paid  for  incidental   expenses    •       8,091.30 


Total  estimates    $126,571.35 


RECAPITULATION. 


Total    amount    of    assets    $147,414.00 

Total    amount    of    liabilities    69,078.70 


Balance  to  company's  credit    $  78,335.30 

Deduct  Washington  county  unpaid  stock 68,000.00 


Leaves  assets  for  Louisa  county $  10,335.30 

W.  C.  Wilson, 
March  31,  1857  Secretary." 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  227 

It  was  found,  however,  that  more  money  would  be  needed,  and  steps  were 
taken  which  resulted  in  the  calling  of  an  election  to  be  held  on  May  16,  1857, 
to  vote  upon  the  question  of  the  county  subscribing  $100,000  in  addition  to 
the  amount  subscribed  originally. 

The  petition  asking  the  county  court  to  order  this  election  was  signed  by 
490  taxpayers,  which  was  considerable  more  than  the  number  required  by  law> 
in  order  to  compel  the  submission  of  the  question.  We  give  below  the  tables 
of  the  vote  by  townships  on  the  question  of  this  additional  $100,000  subscription : 

Township  For  Against 

Elm    Grove    17  15 

Eliot    26  7 

Columbus   City    31  286 

Concord    o  89 

Grandview    13  175 

Jefferson    ■ 267  4 

Marshall   71  7 

Morning  Sun 56  48 

Oakland    o  53 

Port    Louisa    20  78 

Union    o  63 

Wapello    425  6 


Total  926  831 

The  records  of  the  county  court  show  that  this  vote  was  canvassed  by 
Francis  Springer,  county  judge,  and  James  C.  Stirlen  and  Jacob  Mintun,  justices 
of  the  peace,  and  that  they  considered  the  returns  from  the  townships  of  Con- 
cord, Marshall  and  Wapello  to  be  defective  but  did  not  think  proper  to  reject 
them  and  that  thereupon  N.  M.  Letts  and  Micajah  Reeder,  tax  payers  and 
voters  of  the  county  gave  notice  that  they  would  contest  said  election. 

Jefferson  township  cast  271  votes  at  this  election,  while  at  the  election  held 
just  about  one  month  previous,  the  highest  vote  cast  on  any  state  or  county 
office  was  ill,  and  in  August  following,  when  the  new  constitution  was  sub- 
mitted, the  total  vote  on  that  question  was  94,  being  73  for  it  and  21  against  it. 
History  does  not  say  whether  these  150  extra  voters  came  from  New  Boston 
or  "Bogus  Island,"  or  whether  they  merely  failed  to  come  out  at  previous  and 
subsequent  elections. 

In  accordance  with  the  notice  of  the  contest,  a  number  of  the  prominent 
citizens  who  were  opposed  to  the  additional  subscription  for  the  Air  Line,  con- 
tested the  election  held  on  May  16th,  employing  Henry  O'Connor,  of  Musca- 
tine, and  Charles  H.   Phelps,  of  Burlington,  and  they  were  successful. 

About  this  time  a  new  railroad  project  came  into  vogue,  being  known  as 
the  Iowa  Union  Railroad  Company,  which  was  proposed  to  run  from  Iowa  City 
southeasterly  through  Oakland  township,  crossing  the  Iowa  about  at  Todd's 
Ferry.  According  to  the  map  which  was  used  at  that  day,  it  would  seem  that 
this  Iowa  Union  road  was  to  connect  with  the  Keokuk,  Mount  Pleasant  & 
Muscatine  railroad  near  where  Columbus  Junction  now  is.     On  this  map  the 


228  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

latter  road  is  shown  as  extending  north  and  south  through  Marshall  and  Colum- 
bus City  townships,  running  a  little  west  of  the  old  William  Helmick  farm  in 
Marshall  township.  Jt  seems  that  the  Air  Line  advocates  and  the  Iowa  Union 
advocates  combined  forces,  for  on  June  22,  1857,  we  find  that  petitions  signed 
by  more  than  one-fourth  of  the  voters  of  the  county  were  presented  to  the 
county  judge,  asking  him  to  submit  at  the  August  election  the  question  whether 
the  county  would  subscribe  $100,000  to  the  Air  Line  Railroad  Company,  and 
also  whether  it  would  subscribe  $100,000  to  the  Iowa  Union  Railroad  Com- 
pany, and  in  accordance  with  the  provisions  of  law  these  two  questions  were 
submitted  to  the  people  and  voted  on,  on  Monday,  August  3,  1857.  The  first 
proposition  carried  by  717  to  639,  and  the  second  carried  by  709  to  592.  The 
same  men  who  had  so  successfully  contested  the  election  of  May  16th,  also 
contested  the  one  of  August  3d  and  the  following  item  taken  from  the  Wapello 
Intelligencer  of  September  24,  1857,  sufficiently  states  the  result  of  the  contest 
and  the  points  decided:  "The  injunction  upon  the  issue  of  the  bonds  of  this 
county  to  the  Air  Line  and  Union  railroads  was  granted  by  the  supreme  court 
in  full  bench,  on  the  10th  inst.  The  ground  fur  the  injunction  was  the  illegality 
of  issuing  count)'  bonds  for  a  greater  amount  than  $50,000  under  the  new  con- 
stitution. The  points  held  by  the  court  were,  first,  that  although  the  stock  was 
subscribed,  the  bonds  were  not  issued  prior  to  the  adoption  of  the  new  constitu- 
tion, and  a  debt  of  more  than  the  above  amount  could  not  be  created;  second, 
that  the  vote  in  favor  of  the  loans  did  not  create  the  debt  until  the  issue  of  the 
bonds  by  the  count}'  judge,  whose  official  act  alone,  as  agent  of  the  county, 
made  the  loans  binding." 

So  far  as  we  have  been  able  to  discover,  this  case  was  not  officially  reported ; 
but  from  a  statement  in  the  paper  it  was  probably  decided  under  Section  3, 
Article  11,  of  the  constitution,  which  was  adopted  upon  the  same  day  that  the 
subscription  was  voted,  it  being  the  clause  that  prohibits  any  county  or  other 
political  municipal  corporation  from  becoming  indebted  for  an  amount  exceed- 
ing five  per  cent  on  the  amount  of  taxable  property  thereof. 

YVe  have  been  unable  to  find  anything  which  definitely  states  just  how  long 
after  this  injunction  the  work  w:as  continued  on  the  Air  Line  road,  but  it  was, 
probably  discontinued  within  a  few  months  thereafter.  Mr.  Chase,  the  con 
tractor,  and  John  Bird  and  some  others  recovered  judgments  against  the  Air 
Line  company  in  May,  1858.  These  suits  were  begun  in  Louisa  county  and 
transferred  to  Des  Moines  county  for  trial.  Some  light  is  thrown  upon  the 
matter  by  the  proceedings  of  arbitration  between  Levi  Chase  and  the  Air  Line 
company,  which  were  had  under  an  agreement  dated  September  20,  1859,  whereby 
the  railroad  company  and  Levi  Chase  agreed  to  submit  to  Judge  Thomas  W. 
Newman.  H.  II.  Ilawley  and  Fritz  Henry  Warren  as  arbitrators  all  matters 
of  difference  between  them,  arising  from  or  growing  out  of  the  contracts  be- 
tween them  for  building  a  certain  portion  of  the  road  of  said  company  in 
Louisa  and  Washington  counties.  By  a  subsequent  agreement  Judge  T.  C.  Hall 
was  substituted  for  H.  H.  Hawley  as  one  of  the  arbitrators,  and  on  February 
23,   1861,  the  arbitrators  filed  their  decision  as  follows: 

"To  the  Hon:  District  Court  of  Louisa  County,  State  of  Iowa: 

"The  undersigned  arbitrators  chosen  by  Levi  Chase  and  the  Philadelphia. 
Fort  Wayne  &   Platte   River  Air  Line  Rail  Road  Company  lo  hear  and  decide 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  229 

certain  disputes  and  differences  existing  between  said  parties  growing  out  of 
certain  contracts  for  the  construction  of  a  portion  of  a  certain  Rail  Road  therein 
named  all  of  which  will  more  fully  appear  by  the  articles  of  submission  hereto 
attached  and  marked  exhibit  A,  would  respectfully  report,  that  they  caused  due 
notice  of  the  time  and  place  of  hearing  the  matters  submitted,  to  be  given  to 
said  parties,  and  in  accordance  therewith  the  arbitrators  and  each  of  the  paries 
(parties)  litigant  appeared  at  the  office  of  Hall,  Harrington  &  1  Iall  in  the  City 
of  Burlington,  Des  Moines  County,  State  of  Iowa,  the  said  Chase  in  person 
and  the  said  R.  R.  Company  by  Samuel  Townsend,  president  of  said  company 
and  Charles  H.  Phelps  and  D.  N.  Sprague,  his  attorneys,  and  in  the  presence 
of  both  of  said  parties  the  said  arbitrators  were  duly  sworn  and  qualified  to 
perform  their  duties  as  arbitrators  under  said  submission. 

"Both  parties  expressing  their  readiness  to  proceed  to  the  trial  in  said  cause 
and  no  objection  appearing  we  proceeded  to  hear  said  matters  in  dispute,  and 
the  same  proceeded  with  the  hearing  of  testimony  until  the  evening  of  the  20th 
of  Februarv.  A.  D.  1861,  and  adjouned  until  the  next  morning  at  9  o'clock. 
We  met  again  at  the  appointed  time  and  place  and  proceeded  with  the  investiga- 
tion of  the  matters  and  things  in  dispute  from  day  to  day  until  the  23rd  of 
Feby.,  1861,  and  having  heard  the  testimony  submitted,  and  the  argument  of 
parties  and  their  counsel,  and  fully  considered  the  evidence  find  the  following, 
to  wit,  that  there  was  a  full  settlement  of  said  parties  made  August  7,  1857, 
for  work,  labor,  &c,  &c,  under  said  contracts  in  evidence,  except  as  to  work 
done  on  abandoned   line. 

"We  find  that  at  the  time  of  said  settlement  and  prior  thereto  there  was  due 
said  Chase  on  notes  &  interest  &  on  labor,  &c.  performed  since  said  settlement 
&  on  percentage  reserved  by  the  R.  R.  Company  under  the  contract.  .  .$57903.15 
Also  damages  from  breach  of  contract,  less  work  on  abandoned  line.  .    57156.27 


Total-  anit.  due  Chase    .  .  • .  .$115,059.42 

exculsive    (exclusive)   of  Judgements  in  District  Court 

"We  find  that  said  Chase  has  recvd  of  the  company  since  settlements  marie 

August  7,  1857,  as  follows: 

Sundry   collections   of   stock   due   the   company  on    Sub  & 

interest  on  same   $5,192.91 

Proceeds  of  15  Louisa  Co.  Bonds  sold  at  45  cts.  on  $  and 

interest    8,887.50 

2  Louisa  Co.  Bonds  at  $1,000  each  and  interest  on  same.  .  .  .    2,500.00 
Stock  of  Co'y.  recvd  on  contract 3,500.00 

$20,079.51 

Net  amt.  due  Chase  on  general  account  to  date $94,979.91 

"We  also  find  that  the  R.  R.  Company  is  entitled  to  a 

credit  of  $  9500.00 

and  interest  on  same  to  date  of  May  f>,  '58 — for  County 

Bonds    ( 19)   sold    [305.50 

Total    $10,805.50 


230  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

which  credit  should  be  applied  on  Judgement  in  D  Court  of  Des  Moines  County, 
Iowa,  in  case  of  J.  Bird  vs.  said  Company,  for  $13,770.54  rendered  May  6, 
1858,  and  made  as  of  the  date  of  the  judgement  leaving  due  on  said  jdmt.  May 
6,  '58,  balance  of  $2,965.04,  which  was  then  the  true  amt.  due  on  same. 

"We  also  find  that  there  should  be  a  credit  on  Judgement  of  Levi  Chase  vs. 
said  Company  for  the  sum  of  amts.  of  stock,  &c.  collected  for  the  company  & 
int.  on  same  to  May  6,  '58,  $734.80,  which  credit  is  to  be  on  judgement  in  Des 
Moines  Co.  Dist.  Court  rendered  May  6,  '58,  for  $12,703.05 — leaving  balance 
due  May  6,  '58, — to  said  Chase  on  same,  $11,968.25. 

"From  which  finding  we  hereby  make  and  report  the  following  award,  to 
wit,  that  said  Philadelphia,  Fort  Wayne  &  Platte  River  Air  Line  Rail  Road 
Company  is  justly  owing  and  indebted  to  Levi  Chase  from  the  evidence  seen  & 
heard  the  sum  of  Ninety-four  thousand  Nine  hundred  and  seventy-nine  Dollars 
and  ninety-one  cents  ($94.1)711.1)1),  exculsive  (exclusive)  of  the  judgements  he 
has  against  said  Company  above  referred  to,  and  to  draw  ten  per  cent  interest 
from  this  date.  We  also  award  that  credits  be  duly  entered  on  the  judgements 
which  said  Chase  holds  against  said  company  according  to  the  aforesaid  finding 
to  bear  date  of  May  6,    1858. 

"We  also  award  that  each  of  said  parties  litegant  pa}'  one-half  of  the  costs 
of  this  arbitration — There  being  none  claimed  except  our  fees  for  services  4 
days  at  21$  per  day — $84.00,  which  is  the  amt.  agreed  by  the  parties  in  the 
submission,  February  23,  t86i.  J.  C.  Hall, 

T.  W.  Newman, 
Fitz  Henry  Warren, 

Arbitrators." 

So  ended  the  great  Air  Line  railroad  project;  which  was  intended  to  make 
(and  doubtless  would  had  it  succeeded)  of  Wapello  one  of  the  leading  cities 
in  the  state  and  an  important  station  on  a  great  thoroughfare  between  Phila- 
delphia and  the  Pacific  coast.  Put  with  the  death  of  the  Air  Line  the  $100,000 
bonds  issued  did  not  die.  Their  payment,  however,  became  a  live  question 
along  about  1868,  at  which  time  numerous  suits  were  commenced  against  the 
county  in  the  federal  courts  to  enforce  the  payment  of  the  bonds  and  the 
coupons.  This  railroad  bond  question  in  which  so  many  of  the  counties  of  the 
state  were  interested,  had  already  brought  about  a  sharp  and  decisive  conflict 
between  the  decisions  of  the  courts  of  this  state  and  the  federal  courts,  and 
furnishes  one  of  the  most  interesting  chapters  in  the  legal  history  of  this  state. 
In  the  early  decisions  of  the  supreme  court  of  Iowa  on  this  subject  it  had  been 
held  by  a  divided  court  that  the  counties  of  the  state  had  a  constitutional  right 
to  issue  bonds  in  aid  of  railroad  enterprises,  but  in  December,  1859,  the  court 
settled  the  matter  so  far  as  this  state  was  concerned  by  holding  the  issuance  of 
such  bonds  to  be  beyond  the  power  of  the  county  and  declaring  the  bonds  them- 
selves to  be  void.  Shortly  after  this  latter  decision  a  suit  was  commenced  in  the 
district  court  of  this  county  to  enjoin  the  supervisors  from  levying  a  tax  for  the 
purpose  of  paying  these  bonds.  The  court  granted  the  injunction  and  made 
it  perpetual.  Relying  upon  this  injunction  for  their  protection  and  being  backed 
up  by  an  almost  overwhelming  sentiment  of  the  people,  the  board  of  supervisors 
refused  to  pay  the  judgments  rendered  in  the  federal  court  and  in  consequence 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  231 

of  that  refusal  the  federal  court  issued  a  writ  of  mandamus,  ordering  the  board 
to  levy  taxes  for  the  payment  of  the  judgments  against  the  county.  Still  the  hoard 
refused  and  the  United  States  marshal  arrested  the  members  of  the  board  for  con- 
tempt in  failing  to  levy  the  taxes  in  accordance  with  the  writ  of  the  federal  court. 
Members  of  the  board  at  that  time  were  Benjamin  Jennings,  Elm  Grove  township  ; 
H.  C.  Blake,  Morning  Sun :  J.  Q.  Buffington,  Columbus  City  township;  John  Deihl, 
Wapello  township;  Henry  A.  Keyes,  Oakland  township;  Richard  S.  Strong, 
Jefferson  township;  Robert  Carson,  Union  township;  James  R.  Letts,  Grand- 
view  township;  F.  F.  Kiner,  Marshall  township;  S.  A.  McDaniel,  Concord 
township;  Levi  Stephen,  Port  Louisa  township;  and  P.  D.  Bailey,  Eliot  town- 
ship. The  members  of  the  board  were  taken  to  Des  Moines  and  required  to 
give  bond  in  the  sum  of  $500  each  for  their  appearance  before  the  United  States 
court  at  its  October  term,  1869.  The  legislature  in  1868  had  passed  an  act 
intended  to  provide  the  way  for  the  counties  owing  railroad  bond  debts  to  settle 
them,  and  negotiations  were  carried  on  with  the  attorneys  for  the  bondholders 
looking  toward  some  sort  of  a  compromise.  In  November,  1869,  the  board  of 
supervisors  ordered  a  special  election  for  December  29th  following,  upon  the 
question  "Shall  the  county  of  Louisa  settle'  its  debts  owing  on  bonds  and  coupons, 
issued  to  aid  in  the  construction  of  the  Philadelphia,  Fort  Wayne  &  Platte 
River  Air  Line  railroad."  This  was  to  be  done  under  the  act  approved  April 
2,  1868,  before  referred  to.  This  election  brought  on  a  heated  controversy 
which  will  be  fairly  understood  by  reading  some  of  the  various  communications 
and  editorials  found  in  the  newspapers  of  that  time. 

Andrew  Gamble,  who  was  a  member  of  the  board  of  supervisors  in  1869, 
but  not  a  member  at  the  time  the  board  was  placed  under  arrest,  had  come  to 
the  conclusion,  very  reluctantly,  that  there  was  no  way  to  prevent  the  payment 
of  these  bonds,  and  he  was  very  anxious  that  the  county  should  take  advantage 
of  the  act  of  the  legislature  authorizing  a  settlement  by  the  issuance  of  new 
obligations,  and  he  addressed  the  following  communication  to  the  taxpayers 
and  voters  of  the  county:  "Fellow  Citizens:  Doubtless  you  are  all  aware  that 
sundry  persons  have  obtained  judgment  in  the  Circuit  Court  of  the  LTnited 
States  against  this  county,  amounting  in  the  aggregate  to  about  seventy-five 
thousand  dollars.  These  judgments  all  draw  interest  at  the  rate  of  seven  per 
cent  from  the  date  of  their  rendition,  and  were  all  obtained  on  the  coupons  of 
the  bonds  issued  to  the  Philadelphia,  Fort  Wayne  &  Platte  River  Air  Line 
Railroad.  At  the  late  called  session  of  the  Board  of  Supervisors  of  the  county, 
a  tax  of  eighteen  mills  on  the  dollar  of  all  the  taxable  property  of  the  county 
was  levied  to  aid  in  paying  off  these  judgments.  This  amount  with  the  previous 
levy  for  state,  county,  school,  road,  and  other  purposes,  swells  the  aggregate 
of  your  taxes  this  year  to  very  nearly  if  not  quite  four  per  cent  of  all  your 
taxable  property!  and  presents  to  every  taxpayer  in  the  county  this  serious 
question:  How  is  this  tax  to  be  paid?  Can  we  pay  it?  There  is  in  my  opinion 
but  one  answer  to  these  questions,  and  that  is,  practice  strict  economy  and  re- 
solve to  do  it,  even  if  it  costs  some  sacrifice.  It  were  worse. than  useless  for 
you  or  me  to  indulge  in  invectives  and  criminations  against  the  holders  of  this 
class  of  our  indebtedness,  or  those  who,  by  their  votes,  brought  this  burden 
upon  us.  Suffice  it  to  say  we  have  for  years  fought  these  creditors  of  the 
county   from  the  lowest  to  the  highest  of  our  state  courts,  and  today  it   is  but 


232  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

poor  consolation  for  them  to  tell  us  as  they  do  in  the  Lee  county  habeas  corpus 
case,  that,  although  these  bonds  were  issued  contrary  to  law  and  are  therefore 
null   and   void,  yet    when   we  get    into   the   United   States   courts   they   have   no 
power  to  help  us.     This  debt  is  a  lien  upon  every  foot  of  land  in  Louisa  county, 
and,  much  as  we  may  dislike  to  do  it,  it  will  have  to  be  paid,  and  in  my  humble 
opinion  the  sooner  this  is  done  the  better  it  will  be  for  us  and  for  the  county. 
T  hear  some  persons  say  that  they  will  pay  all  their  other  taxes  but   refuse  to 
pay  this.     A  more  unwise  or  impolitic  course  could  not  well  be  devised  by  the 
worst  enemies  of  the  county.     It  is  the  same  old  song  that  has  been  sung  over 
and  over  again  until  we  are  brought  to  the  very  brink  of  ruin,  or  what  is  worse, 
repudiation.      When    these   bonds   were    first   issued    we   commenced    paying   the 
taxes  on  them,  and  had  we  continued  to  do  so,  all  would  have  been  well :  but 
in  an  evil  hour  we,  almost  with  one  accord,  refused  to  pay,  under   what   now 
proves  to  be  the   delusive  hope   that   we  could   avoid   the   payment   of   principal 
and  interest  altogether.     Xow  every  one  regrets  that  such  a  course  was  taken, 
and  realizes  how  easily  he  could  have  paid  his  proportion  yearly.     Xow  a  por- 
tion of  the  people  proposes  to  remedy  the  error  we  then   committed  by  doing 
the  same  thing  over  again.     Again,  it   is   well   known   to  everybody  that   a    few 
years  ago  we  could  have  bought  up  our  entire  indebtedness  at   less  than   fifty 
cents  on   the  dollar,   but  those   in   authority   refused   to   do  so,   and   the   people 
backed  them  in  their  refusal.     In  the  meantime  we  have  paid  the  lawyers  and 
the  court  officers  several  thousand  dollars  in   fees,   that   had   much   better  been 
applied   to  the  extinguishment  of  the   debt,  yet   today   we   find  ourselves   beaten 
at  every  point,  and  judgments  against  us  to  a  large  amount,  which  some   feel 
unwilling   and    others    unable   to   pay.      I    am    asked    daily    on    what    terms    our 
creditors  are  willing  to  compromise.     To  all  such   1  can  only  say  that  whilst  we 
continue   to  fight   we  cannot  expect  much   in   the   way  of  compromise.      If   we 
propose  to  pay  only  at  the  tail  end  of  an  execution,   we  may  as  well  and  had 
better  retain  our  self  respect  by  asking  no  favors  of  any  one.      Xo,  my  friends, 
we  must  change  our  course  of  policy  on  this  question  if  we  would  accomplish 
anything.      We  must   pay  this  tax   in  good    faith   and   the   sooner   we  do   it   the 
better  it   will   be    for   us,  as   by   pursuing   such   a   course   we   will   convince   our 
creditors  that  the  fight  is  over  and  that  we  are  willing  to  submit  to  the  decision 
of  the  courts.     By  pursuing  this  course  we  shall  also  save  all   further  expense 
of  useless  litigation  and  be  able  successfully  to  appeal  to  our  creditors   for  an 
extension   of  time,   should   that   be   desirable.      In   conclusion,    fellow   citizens.    I 
beg  your  pardon   for  volunteering  to  you  this   advice,   but    I    could   do   no   less 
under  all  the  circumstances.     Over  sixteen  years  ago   I  counseled  you  through 
this   same   medium   not  to   issue   these   bonds,   but   you   disregarded   my   advice. 
You  have  a  perfect  right  to  do  so  again  when   I  advise  you  to  pay  them." 

And  we  find  in  some  of  the  newspapers  of  that  day  vehement  editorials 
against  voting  to  settle  the  indebtedness.  We  take  a  few  sentences  from  an 
article  in  the  Wapello  Republican  of  December  25.  1869:  "We  shall  vote  no. 
because  we  are  unwilling  to  pay  the  whole  of  these  railroad  bonds  and  the 
accrued  interest  and  because  we  do  not  wish  to  take  any  step  that  would  look 
as  though  we  were  willing  to  pay  them.  The  laws,  justly  interpreted,  do  not 
compel  us,  because  the  bonds  were  issued  without  the  due  sanction  of  law.  and 
morals  do  not  compel  us  because  the  railroads  with  whom  we  contracted  failed 
to   fulfill  their  part  of  the  engagement,  and  because  we  received  no  equivalent 


F.  F.  Killer,  Levi  Stevens,  Robert  Carson,  P.  D.  Bailey,  H.  A.  Keyes,  J.  R.  Letts 
H.  C.  Blake,  Richard  Strong,  S.  A.  McDaniel,  John  Diehl,  J.  Q.  Buffington,  Henry  Jennings 
LOUISA  COUNTY  BOARD  OF  SUPERVISORS,  WHO  WERE  TAKEN  TO  DES  MOINES 
IN  THE  FALL  OF  1S6S  BY  THE  UNITED  STATES  MARSHAL  IN  CON- 
NECTION WITH  THE  AIR  LINE  RAILROAD  LITIGATION 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  233 

for  our  money.  Yet  the  bondholders  want  us  to  vote  'yes'  and  having  adopted 
their  compromise  law  they  expect  us  to  issue  them  new  and  valid  bonds  for 
their  old  and  doubtful  ones,  with  all  the  accrued  interest." 

In  the  litigation  connected  with  the  payment  of  these  railroad  bonds  from 
beginning  to  end,  the  board  of  supervisors  employed  many  able  lawyers  and 
did  everything  in  their  power  to  prevent  the  payment  of  the  bonds.  D.  C. 
Cloud,  of  Muscatine,  perhaps  had  more  to  do  with  the  defense  of  these  cases 
on  the  part  of  the  county  than  any  other  one  lawyer,  and  the  following  article 
from  him,  written  to  the  Chicago  Post,  contains  much  interesting  information 
and  shows  the  position  taken  by  the  county  at  the  time.  We  take  Mr.  Cloud's 
article  from  the  Wapello  Republican  of  December  26,  1869: 

"As  the  attention  of  the  public  is  at  the  present  time  somewhat  engaged  in 
discussing  the  apparently  belligerent  attitude  of  the  people  of  those  counties  in 
the  state  of  Iowa  who  issued  their  bonds  to  railroad  companies,  and  as  we  are 
neither  milliners  nor  secessionists,  nor  even  repudiators,  permit  me  to  attempt 
to  give  what  I  understand  to  be  our  position.  To  do  this  intelligently,  I  must 
go  back  to  the  time  of  the  issuing  of  the  bonds.  Prior  to  the  year  1853  it  was 
a  question  frequently  discussed  in  all  those  parts  of  the  state  where  the  people 
expected  railroads  to  be  constructed,  as  to  whether  municipal  corporations  could 
aid  in  their  construction.  Most  all  those  persons  who  pretended  to  any  legal 
knowdedge  contended  that  such  power  did  not  exist ;  that  it  was  expressly  denied 
or  withheld  by  the  constitution  of  the  state  and  that  there  was  no  statute  author- 
izing it.  About  this  time  a  case  was  made  in  Dubuque  county,  and  report  said 
that  our  supreme  court  had  decided  that  the  power  existed  under  the  constitu- 
tion, and  that  Section  114  of  the  Code  of  1851  gave  the  corporations  power  to 
subscribe  stock  to  railroad  companies.  I  say  report  said  so,  for  in  fact  130 
opinion  was  filed  with  the  clerk  of  the  court  as  provided  by  statute,  nor  was  it 
ever  seen  until  it  appeared  in  4th  Greene's  Reports,  published  in  1858.  When 
this  volume  was  published  it  contained  an  opinion  by  the  majority  of  the  court 
in  favor  of  the  authority.  Nearly  all  of  the  bonds  ever  issued  in  this  state  were 
issued  and  negotiated  before  any  opinion  or  decision  was  written,  filed  with 
the  clerk  of  the  court,  or  published  ;  consequently,  those  who  took  the  bonds 
from  the  railroad  companies  did  so  upon  mere  report  as  to  what  the  court  had 
decided,  and  did  not  act  upon  any  knowledge  derived  from  an  adjudication  of 
the  question  involved ;  in  other  words,  they  were  not  'innocent  purchasers.'  I 
do  not  know  fully  the  history  of  the  issuing  of  these  bonds,  save  in  one  or  two 
counties.  Louisa  county  subscribed  $100,000  stock  to  the  Philadelphia,  Fort 
Wayne  &  Platte  River  Railroad  Company  in  1856,  at  a  time  when  the  nearest 
point  upon  which  any  work  was  being  done  on  said  road  was  at  least  two 
hundred  miles  distant.  Yet  in  order  to  get  possession  of  the  bonds  of  this 
county,  the  company  began  work  in  the  county,  called  for  and  got  the  bonds 
of  the  county  as  fast  as  they  could,  and  so  soon  as  they  had  got  the  full  amount, 
suspended  work,  and  until  the  present  time  have  done  nothing  on  the  road. 
They  disposed  of  the  bonds  for  a  small  consideration  (some  as  low  as  twenty- 
three  cents  to  the  dollar),  and  the  county  got  nothing  for  them.  The  railroad 
company  guaranteed  the  payment  of  principal  and  interest  of  the  bonds,  and 
put  the  proceeds  in  their  pockets.     Muscatine  county  issued  bonds  to  the  amount 


234  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

of  $150,000  to  the  Mississippi  &  Missouri  Railroad  Company  in  January,  1854, 
under  the  following  circumstances:  The  company  organized  as  a  corporation 
under  the  laws  of  Iowa  to  build  three  divisions  of  their  railroad  in  Iowa.  The 
first  division  extended  west  from  Davenport  via  Iowa  City,  the  second  from 
Muscatine  west  to  the  Missouri  river,  and  the  third  extending  from  Muscatine 
to  Cedar  Rapids. 

"The  proposition  whether  the  county  should  aid  in  the  construction  of  the 
second  and  third  divisions  of  this  road  by  subscribing  $150,000  stock  was  sub- 
mitted to  the  voters  of  the  county  in  October,  1853,  and  the  vote  being  in 
favor  of  the  proposition,  the  county  judge  issued  the  bonds  to  the  above  amount. 
These  bonds  were  issued  and  sold,  upon  the  guarantee  of  the  company,  before 
any  decision  of  the  supreme  court  was  written  or  filed,  and  did  not  upon  their 
face  refer  either  directly  or  indirectly  to  the  authority  under  which  they  were 
issued  to  aid  in  the  construction  of  the  railroad.  They  simply  recited  that  the 
county  owed  George  C.  Stone,  or  bearer,  the  sum  of  $1,000  (that  being  the 
amount  of  each  bond)  for  money  borrowed,  and  that  the  faith  of  the  county 
was  pledged  for  the  payment  of  the  interest  and  principal,  as  they  matured, 
neither  the  second  nor  third  divisions  of  the  road  were  ever  built,  vet  our  bonds 
were  taken  and  sold,  and  we  are  called  upon  to  pay  them. 

"Many  of  the  other  counties  were  swindled  as  badly  and  some  even  worse 
than  those  above  named. 

"Owing  to  a  diversity  of  opinion  in  the  different  courts,  we  have  got  into  an 
unsettled  state  upon  this  bond  question.  The  first  decision  of  our  state  supreme 
court  that  was  filed  and  published  was  the  case  of  Clapp  vs.  Cedar  county,  5 
Iowa,  page  15.  In  that  case  a  majority  of  the  court  decided  in  favor  of  the 
validity  of  the  bonds,  because  of  the  decision  of  the  Dubuque  case,  but  say  they 
had  not  yet  seen  the  opinion  in  the  case ;  but.  as  it  had  been  decided,  they  would 
adhere  to  that  decision,  and,  at  the  same  time,  state  that  the  authortiy  to  sub- 
scribe stock  to  railroads  was  not  conferred  by  Section  114  of  the  Code  of  Iowa 
(the  section  that  Judge  Greene  when  he  published  his  fourth  volume,  decided 
did  confer  the  power).  This  decision  was  made  in  1857,  and  after  most  of  the 
bonds  of  the  different  counties  had  been  negotiated.  Following  this  decision 
some  three  more  were  made  of  the  same  import  in  1858  and  1859.  All  of  these 
decisions  were  made  by  a  divided  court,  one  of  the  three  judges  (Judge  Wright) 
dissenting.  Following  these  decisions,  commencing  in  1859,  the  supreme  court 
of  this  state  rendered  some  six  of  seven  decisions  reversing  former  decisions, 
and  deciding  that  the  power  did  not  exist  under  the  constitution  of  the  state, 
nor  had  the  legislature  enacted  any  law  by  which  these  municipal  corporations 
could  become  stockholders  in  railroad  companies.  These  decisions  were  made 
by  a  unanimous  court,  and  have  become  the  fixed  and  settled  law  of  the  state, 
and  were  made  before  the  question  was  passed  upon  by  the  United  States  su- 
preme court.  The  case  of  Gelpeke  vs.  the  City  of  Dubuque  (1st  Wallace,  page 
1751.  is  the  first  in  which  the  United  States  courts  decided  adversely  to  the 
decisions  of  our  state  courts,  and  we  think  that  decision  unjust  and  in  conflict 
with  the  laws  of  the  United  States,  and  the  rule  of  decisions  as  established  by 
that  court.  In  the  case  of  Leffingwell  vs.  Warren,  decided  but  one  year  before 
the   Gelpeke   case.   Justice    Swayne  .in    the   opinion    of   the   court,    says,   that    in 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  235 

questions  arising  under  state  laws,  the  United  States  courts  will  follow  the  de- 
cisions of  the  state  courts;  that  such  decisions  are  as  binding  upon  them  as 
the  text,  and  that  when  state  courts  change  their  decisions,  the  United  States 
courts  would  follow  the  last  settled  decision  (I  do  not  quote  verbatim,  but 
give  the  substance). 

"In  the  Gelpeke  case  Justice  Swayne,  while  he  recognizes  the  rule  in  the  case 
of  Leffingwell  vs.  Warren,  says:  'It  cannot  be  expected  that  this  court  will 
follow  every  such  oscillation,  from  whatever  cause  arising,  that  may  possibly 
occur.'  In  other  words,  he  calls  the  first  decisions  made  by  a  divided  court, 
at  one  time,  based  on  the  ground,  and  then  on  a  new  and  distinct  ground,  without 
harmony  or  order,  'settled  decisions,'  and  calls  the  uniform  and  unanimous  deci- 
sions of  the  state  courts  for  a  number  of  years,  decisions  that  are  in  harmony  with 
the  constitution  and  laws  of  the  state  oscillations,  and  refuses  to  follow  them  as 
we  think,  in  violation  of  the  express  law  of  congress  enacted  in  1789,  and  now  in 
full  force.  We  are  now  in  an  oscillating  situation.  On  the  one  hand  we  have  the 
decisions  of  our  courts  against  the  validity  of  these  bonds ;  on  the  other,  the 
United  States  courts  in  favor  of  the  validity  of  the  bonds,  with  writs  of  man- 
damus coming  thick  and  fast.  The  edict  of  this  court  has  gone  forth  and  we 
are  commanded  to  pay  whether  we  can  or  not.  The  United  States  court  is  send- 
ing its  officers  among  us,  commanding  us  to  submit,  and  threatening  us  with  the 
military  power  of  the  government  if  we  do  not  yield.  Some  of  us  have  resolved 
to  adhere  to  the  decisions  of  our  state  courts,  believing  that  some  rights  are 
still  left  to  the  states,  and  that  under  the  laws  of  the  United  States  even  the 
supreme  court  must  respect  those  rights,  and  while  we  do  not  expect  to  secede 
from  the  Union,  or  arise  in  our  majesty  to  resist  forcibly  the  power  that  is 
crushing  us  to  the  earth,  we  do  expect  to  use  all  legal  means  we  have  in  the 
vindication  of  our  rights.  We  will  resist  as  long  as  we  can,  and  if  we  must  pay 
in,  will  get  off  as  cheaply  as  possible.  We  do  not  recognize  the  debt  as  just;  we 
claim  to  have  been  swindled ;  we  do  not  look  upon  ourselves  as  repudiators,  but 
claim  that  the  bonds  having  been  obtained  by  fraud,  and  sold  and  guaranteed  by 
the  railroad  companies,  the  holders  of  those  bonds  should  look  to  the  companies 
with  whom  they  have  dealt  for  their  pay.  By  order  of  the  United  States  courts, 
taxes  have  been  levied  in  some  of  the  counties  as  high  as  six  per  cent.  We 
cannot  pay  them.  If  we  cannot  get  rid  of  these  levies,  of  course  property  will 
be  seized  and  effort  made  to  sell  it.  We  do  not  intend  to  purchase  each  other's 
property.  The  bondholders  must  purchase,  and  as  they  leave  our  counties  with 
a  long  train  of  lame  and  blind  horses,  worn  out  mules,  no-horned  coz^s,  old 
wagons  and  steers,  with  a  few  old  threshing  machines,  and  other  articles  too 
numerous  to  mention,  they  will  probably  feel  disposed  to  sell  out  at  a  discount, 
or  should  they  attempt  to  sell  real  estate  (which  they  cannot  do  if  there  is  per- 
sonalty), they  will  not  find  it  possible  to  prosecute  a  suit  in  each  individual 
case.  Our  position  is  to  defend  as  long  as  we  can;  and  if  no  satisfactory  settle- 
ment can  be  had,  then  by  all  lawful  means  to  retard  and  prevent  the  collection 
of  these  unjust  judgments,  in  the  hope  of  being  able  to  compel  such  a  settlement 
as  we  can  accept,  and  not  without  a  faint  hope  that  the  supreme  court  of  the 
United  States,  as  it  oscillates  from  one  position  to  another,  may  oscillate  so 
far  as  to  decide  in  accordance  with  the  settled  decisions  of  our  own  courts,  and 


236  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

relieve  us  from  the  oppression  resulting  from  fraud  in  the  first  instance,  fol- 
lowed by  unjust  decisions  of  courts." 

In  this  paper  there  is  much  other  literature  on  this  subject,  some  of  which 
will  be  of  interest  as  indicating  the  rather  curious  legal  positions  taken  at  that 
time.  The  following  is  an  extract  from  an  article  in  reply  to  the  article  of  Andrew 
Gamble  which  we  have  heretofore  given:  "Again  we  are  admonished  to  pay 
such  judgments  and  bonds  for  the  reason  'that  these  debts  are  a  lien  upon  every 
foot  of  land  in  Louisa  county."  That  proposition  is  startling,  and  may  have 
induced  some  persons  to  pay  who  otherwise  would  have  not.  It  is  equally  as 
absurd  as  startling.  Let  us  see :  Who  are  these  judgments  against?  Louisa  count)'. 
To  whom  must  these  judgment  creditors  look  for  their  money?  Louisa  county. 
Who  owns  the  land  and  town  lots  in  this  county?  Surely  Louisa  county  does 
not  own  every  foot.  Louisa  count)-  may  own  some  swamp  land  and  upon  that 
the  lien  may  exist,  but  on  no  more." 

The  same  paper  contains  the  position  of  Hon.  Rush  Clark,  of  Iowa  City, 
who  at  a  railroad  bond  convention  held  at  Muscatine  a  short  time  before  that 
had  delivered  one  of  the  principal  addresses.  This  convention,  by  the  wav, 
was  attended  by  delegates  from  eight  counties,  viz :  Lee.  Muscatine,  Johnson, 
Washington,  Louisa.  Iowa,  Poweshiek,  Jefferson  and  Cedar,  and  was  presided 
over  by  J.  B.  Grinnell,  governor,  anil  Samuel  J.  Kirkwood  was  chairman  of  the 
committee  on  resolutions.  Among  other  things  Mr.  Clark  said:  "We  are  told 
the  courts  have  disposed  of  this  question  and  decided  against  us,  but  resting  on 
the  merits  of  the  question,  we  deny  that  judgments  by  the  federal  courts  are  a 
lien  upon  the  property  of  citizens.  .  .  .  The  judgments  are  conclusive  as 
to  corporations,  but  not  as  to  citizens;  as  to  county  or  city,  but  not  as  to  people. 
Private  property  is  safe  from  the  debt  of  a  municipal  corporation.  It  is  the 
same  as  a  creditor  saying  that  if  he  cannot  collect  what  A  owes  him  he  will  col- 
lect from  B.  His  neighbor,  the  bondholder,  took  the  worthless  bonds  from  the 
county  and  city  in  their  own  trust  and  now  demand  that  individual  taxpayers 
shall  pay  it.  Let  them  take  the  property  of  the  county.  What  if  that  property  is 
exempt  from  execution?  The  bondholders  should  have  thought  of  that  when 
they  took  the  bonds.  .  .  .  We  are  not  counties — I  am  not  Johnson  county. 
There  is  a  refuge  for  the  people  which  we  should  have  and  will  have  if  we 
stand   firmly   by  our  rights." 

The  Muscatine  convention  before  referred  to  declared  that  the  recent  de- 
cisions of  the  federal  courts  involving  railroad  bonds  seemed  "subversive  to 
the  authority  and  dignity  of  our  state  courts,  and  dangerous  to  the  rights  and 
privileges  of  the  citizens  of  the  states  if  not  positive  and  unwarranted  encroach- 
ments upon  the  jurisdiction  of  the  state  courts,  and  recommended  the  payment 
of  all  taxes  except  the  railroad  bond  tax.  and  a  refusal  to  pay  that  until  all  legal 
and  practical  remedies  were  exhausted." 

The  voters  of  the  county  at  the  election  on  December  29,  1869,  refused  by 
an  overwhelming  majority — almost  unanimously — to  accept  the  proposition  to 
settle  the  bonded  indebtedness  under  the  recent  act  of  the  legislature,  the  people 
resting  in  the  belief  that  the  federal  courts  either  could  not  or  would  not  enforce 
the  payment  of  the  taxes.  This  belief  had  been  strengthened  by  reason  of  the 
fact  that  in  the  early  part  of  the  year  1869  or  perhaps  earlier,  an  application 
had  been  made  to  the   federal  court  in  a  case  concerning  Washington  or  John- 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  237 

son  county  bonds  for  the  appointment  of  a  commissioner  to  levy  and  collect  the 
taxes,  and  this  application  had  been  heard  in  Des  Moines  by  Supreme  Court 
Justice  Samuel  F.  Miller,  and  overruled,  and  it  was  hoped  that  the  United 
States  supreme  court  would  take  the  same  view  of  it.  But  this  hope  was  ground- 
less. The  United  States  supreme  court  reversed  Justice  Miller's  decision,  and 
as  a  result  the  United  States  marshal  was  sent  here  and  began  the  collection  of 
the  taxes.  After  he  had  collected  some  taxes  (we  have  not  been  able  to  ascer- 
tain just  the  amount,  but  believe  it  to  have  been  about  $6,000)  the  marshal  de- 
parted. As  this  is  the  only  case  in  which  a  "foreign"  officer  has  ever  been  sent 
to  collect  taxes  in  this  county,  the  notice  issued  by  the  United  States  marshal  at 
that  time  was  published  in  the  papers  of  the  county  will  doubtless  be  of  interest: 

"To  the  Taxpayers  of  Louisa  Count}- : 

"The  undersigned  has  been  appointed  by  the  U.  S.  Circuit  Court  at  Des 
Moines  to  collect  the  tax  levied  to  satisfy  certain  judgments  in  favor  of  Francis 
Fellows  and  Adolph  Knipper.  I  can  be  found  at  the  County  Treasurer's  Office, 
where  all  persons  who  have  neglected  to  do  so  are  requested  to  call  and  pay 
their  R.  R.  tax.  These  taxes  bear  one  per  cent  a  month  for  the  first  three 
months  after  the  1st  day  of  March,  two  per  cent  a  month  for  the  second  three 
months,  three  per  cent  a  month  for  the  third  three  months,  and  four  per  cent  a 
month  thereafter  until  paid.  And  the  Court  has  directed  me  to  collect  from 
the  delinquent  taxpayers  my  costs  and  the  costs  of  the  Court. 

"The  late  period  at  which  this  order  has  come  into  my  hands  will  prevent 
me  from  making  personal  demand  or  selling  personal  property,  except  in  those 
cases  where  the  taxpayer  has  no  real  estate.  The  real  property  of  all  persons 
who  fail  to  pay  their  taxes  will  be  duly  advertised  and  sold. 

"G.  W.  Clark. 

"U.  S.  Marshal. 
"By  J.  S.  Clark, 

Deputy. 
"Wapello,  1st  July,  1870." 

The  matter  was  arranged  so  as  to  dispense  with  the  presence  of  the  United 
States  marshal  and  to  have  the  taxes  collected  in  the  ordinary  way  by  our  county 
officials.  This  arrangement  was  largely  brought  about  my  Andrew  Gamble, 
Francis  Springer  and  W.  S.  Kremer  on  the  part  of  the  county,  and  Grant  & 
Smith,  of  Davenport,  attorneys  for  the  principal  bondholders.  The  people  gen- 
erally began  to  pay  these  taxes  in  August,  1870,  and  the  greater  part  of  them 
were  paid  by  December,  1873.  The  amount  of  taxes  paid  for  these  Air  Line 
bonds  from  November,  1869,  to  January,   1879,  amounts  to  $275,806.25. 

The  following  report  made  by  County  Auditor  Allen,  in  June,  1870,  shows 
the  expenses  of  the  litigation  that  had  been  paid  at  that  time  and  an  estimate 
of  those  still  unpaid : 

"To  D.  C.  Cloud  for  Atty.   fees   $1,241.50 

To  Henry  O'Connor  for  Atty.   fees 324.50 

To  C.  H.  Phelps  for  Atty.  fees 224.49 


238  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

To  D.   X.   Sprague   for  Atty.   fees 500.00 

To  Tracey  &  Hurley  for  Atty.   fees i/5-OO 

To  J.  Tracey  for  Atty.  fees 325.00 

To  J.  S.  Hurley  for  Atty.  fees 340.00 

To  Bird  &  Sprague  for  Atty.  fees 25.00 

To  G.  B.  Corkhill,  Clerk  U.  S.  Court 5/i-8o 

To  G.  W.  Clark,  U.  S.  Marshal 192.00 

Expenses  of  Board  in  attending  U.  S.  Court  and  Special  Sessions. .  1,463.00 

Costs  Pd.  in  Case  of  Bolter  vs.  County 173-28 

Total  Paid   $5,555-57 

Amount  of  Court  &  Atty.   fees  now  due  and  unpaid  estimated  at.  .  .  .$1,000.00 

Total  costs   $6,555-57 

"Respectfully   submitted, 

"Wm,  G.  Allen,  Co.  Auditor." 

Another  item  of  expense  is  the  taxes  originally  levied  in  1856,  1857,  185S 
and  1859,  for  the  payment  of  the  interest  on  these  bonds.  The  amount  collected 
in  taxes  then  was  about  $16,299.70.  The  total  cost  of  our  Air  Line  railroad 
experience  therefore  was  about  $298,665.52. 

Here  we  close  a  subject  which  has  been  both  interesting  and  expensive  to 
the  people  of  this  county.  At  the  time  the  road  was  first  proposed  a  great 
majority  of  the  people  were  anxious  to  aid  it  because  they  believed  in  it.  After 
it  failed,  the  great  majority  of  the  people  of  the  county  criticised  and  condemned 
many  of  the  men  who  had  been  instrumental  in  furthering  the  project.  Looking 
at  the  matter  from  this  distance  and  considering  the  immense  benefit  that  would 
have  accrued  not  merely  to  Wapello  and  to  Burris  City,  but  to  the  entire  county, 
by  the  building  of  this  road,  the  men  who  favored  it  were  partly  in  the  right- 
We  know  now.  however,  and  have  learned  it  at  a  great  cost,  that  it  would  have 
been  better  to  listen  to  the  voice  of  those  who  pointed  out  the  fact  that  the 
enterprise  did  not  have  sufficient  capital  behind  it,  and  who  were  anxious  that 
the  obligations  of  the  county  should  be  issued  in  such  a  way  that  thev  would 
only  be  payable  in  the  event  that  the  county  secured  the  railroad. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 
OUR  COURTS  AND  LAWYERS. 

FIRST  COURT JUDICIAL  DISTRICTS JUDGES SOME  EARLY  LAWSUITS,  ETC. LOUISA 

COUNTY   LAWYERS. 

The  act  of  congress,  approved  June  28,  1834,  attached  what  is  now  Iowa  to 
the  territory  of  Michigan,  for  the  purpose  of  temporary  government ;  and  on  Sep- 
tember 6th  of  the  same  year,  the  legislative  council  of  Michigan  divided  what  is 
now  Iowa,  into  two  counties,  Dubuque  and  Des  Moines,  and  these  counties  were 
made  subject  to  the  jurisdiction  of  the  United  States  circuit  court  for  Iowa 
county,  Michigan  Territory.  This  Iowa  County  was  east  of  the  Mississippi,  and 
had  no  relation  to  what  afterward  became  Iowa  Territory. 

The  organic  act  of  Wisconsin  Territory,  approved  April  20,  1836,  by  which 
the  Iowa  country  was  made  a  part  of  Wisconsin  Territory,  provided  for  a  division 
of  Wisconsin  Territory  into  three  judicial  districts.  And  accordingly  by  an  act 
approved  November  15,  1836,  the  Wisconsin  territorial  legislature  established 
the  judicial  districts  and  made  the  counties  of  Dubuque  and  Des  Moines  con- 
stitute the  second  judicial  district,  and  provided  in  the  same  act  that  Judge  David 
Irvin  of  the  supreme  court  should  perform  district  court  duties  in  the  second 
district. 

As  we  have  already  seen  in  Chapter  VII,  Judge  Irvin  held  the  first  court  in 
Louisa  county  in  April,  1837.  He  also  held  another  term  of  court  in  the  spring 
of  1838.  By  the  organic  act  of  the  territory  of  Iowa,  approved  June  12,  1838,  it 
was  provided  that  the  territory  should  be  divided  into  three  judicial  districts  and 
that  temporarily,  and  until  otherwise  provided  by  law  of  the  legislative  assembly, 
the  governor  should  define  the  judicial  districts  of  the  territory  and  assign  the 
judges  who  should  be  appointed  for  such  territory,  to  the  several  districts,  etc. 

The  first  establishment  of  judicial  districts  in  the  territory  of  Iowa  was  made 
July  25,  1838,  by  the  proclamation  of  William  B.  Conway,  signing  himself  as 
"Acting  Governor  of  the  Territory  of  Iowa."  Mr.  Conway  was  at  that  time  the 
duly  appointed  and  qualified  secretary  of  the  territory,  and  had  arrived  on  the 
scene  of  action  before  the  newly  appointed  governor,  Robert  Lucas,  and  hence, 
Mr.  Conway  took  it  upon  himself  to  "start  things"  in  his  own  way.  Mr.  Conway's 
proclamation  defined  the  judicial  districts  of  the  territory  and  the  assignment  of 
judges  of  the  supreme  court  to  their  respective  districts.  Under  this  proclama- 
tion the  second  district  was  composed  of  the  counties  of  Scott,  Musquitine,  Louisa, 
Slaughter  and  Johnson,  and  Judge  Joseph  Williams  was  assigned  to  hold  district 
court  therein,  and  the  court  term  in  Louisa  county  was  to  begin  on  the  third 

239 


240  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

.Monday  in  October.  Afterward,  on  January  21,  1839,  the  judicial  districts  of 
Iowa  Territory  were  established  by  the  legislature,  and  the  second  district  was 
composed  of  the  counties  of  Louisa,  Muscatine,  Cedar,  Johnson  and  Slaughter, 
with  Linn  county  attached  to  Johnson,  and  with  Jones  county  attached  to  Cedar 
for  judicial  purposes.  Shortly  after  this  the  name  of  Slaughter  county  was 
changed  to  Washington. 

We  insert  here  the  sketch  of  Judge  Joseph  Williams,  taken  from  the  pamphlet 
"Our  Judges."  written  by  George  Frazee,  Esq.,  of  Burlington: 

"Of  the  early  history  of  Judge  Williams  I  have  not  been  able  to  obtain  any 
information.  Presumably  he  was  a  native  of  Pennsylvania,  since  he  was  ap- 
pointed from  that  state  one  of  the  associate  judges  of  the  territorial  supreme 
court  by  Van  Buren  in  [838,  came  to  Iowa  to  assume  the  duties  of  that  position 
and  became  a  resident  of  Bloomington,  the  name  of  which  has  since  been  changed 
to  Muscatine.  At  that  time  he  must  have  been  of  middle  age,  since,  when  I  first 
became  acquainted  with  him  in  1849,  he  seemed  to  be  verging  on  the  downhill 
side  of  life. 

"At  that  time  the  territory  was  divided  into  three  districts,  the  southern,  mid- 
dle, and  northern,  one  of  the  judges  residing  in  each,  and  individually  presiding 
over  the  district  courts  held  therein,  from  which  appeals  could  be  taken  to  the 
supreme  court  composed  of  the  three  sitting  in  bank  presided  over  by  Chief  Jus- 
tice Charles  Mason.  All  of  these  three  were  democrats,  and  that  party  being 
dominant  at  Washington  during  the  territorial  existence  except  during  the  short 
period  of  President  Harrison's  incumbency,  all  of  the  three,  though  appointed 
for  terms  of  four  years,  were  twice  reappointed,  once  by  Tyler,  who,  though 
elected  by  the  whigs  to  the  vice  presidency,  had  gone  into  the  ranks  of  the  op- 
posite party,  and  secondly,  by  President  Polk.  The  Hon.  T.  S.  Parvin  tells  us 
how  the  last  appointment  was  secured.  Judge  Williams,  upon  the  accession  to 
Polk  and  change  of  administration,  fearing  that  he  might  be  superseded,  started 
for  the  capital  himself  to  do  what  he  could  towards  averting  that  danger.  Of 
course  he  went  by  the  only  feasible  route  of  those  days,  by  river  to  Wheeling  or 
Pittsburg,  and  thence  by  stage  and  perhaps  partly  by  rail  to  his  destination — a 
long  and  tedious  journey.  On  the  way  he  fell  in  with  a  lady,  whose  destination 
was  the  same  as  his  own,  with  whom  he  made  a  traveler's  acquaintance,  without 
learning  her  name,  and  to  whom  in  the  course  of  conversation  he  communicated 
the  purpose  of  his  journey.  The  Judge  was  eminently  social,  running  over  with 
anecdote  and  repartee,  and  especially  gallant  towards  the  ladies.  These  qualities 
interested  the  lady,  as  well  as  others.  On  reaching  the  capital  they  parted,  and 
a  day  or  two  afterwards  the  Judge  called  upon  the  President  with  the  purpose 
of  urging  his  re-appointment.  He  was  received  with  manifest  favor,  and  on  stat- 
ing his  errand  was  promptly  assured  that  his  desire  should  be  gratified.  The 
1 'resident  then  told  him  that  he  wished  to  introduce  him  to  a  lady,  who  in  a  few 
minutes  entered  the  room,  and  who,  to  the  Judge's  surprise,  proved  to  be  Mrs. 
Polk,  who,  it  seems  had  made  her  husband  acquainted  with  his  attentions  on  the 
way,  and  the  favorable  opinion  she  had  formed  in  regard  to  him.  The  Judge 
being  successful  in  his  own  case,  ventured  farther  and  suggested  that  his  as- 
sociates on  the  bench  were  equally  worthy,  and  left  with  the  comforting  assurance 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  241 

that  there  would  he  no  change,  and  there  was  none,  and  all  three  retained  then- 
positions   until   the   territory   hecame   a   state. 

"The  constitution  provided  that  the  territorial  officers  should  continue  to  ex- 
ercise their  functions  until  they  were  duly  superseded  by  officers  of  the  state,  and. 
though  the  state  was  admitted  December  28,  1846,  judges  of  the  supreme  court 
were  not  elected  until  December,  1848.  Meanwhile,  Judge  Mason  resigned  in 
!une,  1847,  and  Judge  Williams  was  appointed  chief  justice  in  his  place,  and  John 
F.  Kinney  appointed  in  place  of  Williams.  The  latter  was  elected  chief  justice  of 
the  state  supreme  court,  December  7,  1848.  his  term  expiring  January  15,  1855, 
thus  occupying  the  bench  of  the  supreme  court  of  territory  and  state  for  about 
seventeen  years. 

"Judge  Williams  was  somewhat  under  the  middle  height,  well  proportioned, 
very  active  and  vigorous,  of  excellent  address,  a  pleasing  countenance,  a  lively 
temper  and  disposition.  I  cannot  describe  the  man  better  than  by  adopting  the 
language  of  Judge  Springer,  who  knew  him  much  longer  and  much  more  inti- 
mately than  I  did.  He  writes  of  him :  "Though  not  a  first-rate  lawyer,  he  was 
a  good  judge — popular  as  a  man  and  as  a  judge.  He  had  wonderful  versatility 
of  gifts  outside  of  the  judgeship.  He  and  my  friend,  Edward  H.  Thomas,  were 
the  life  and  center  of  attraction  in  the  social  circles  of  evenings  when  on  court 
circuits.  Thev  were  both  adepts  in  vocal  and  instrumental  music.  The  Judge 
was  at  home  on  almost  any  instrument,  banjo,  drum,  fiddle,  as  well  as  those  of  a 
higher  grade.  Mr.  Thomas'  specialty,  though  good  on  other  instruments,  was 
the  flute,  on  which  he  had  few  equals  anywhere.  The  Judge's  gift  as  a  comedian 
would  keep  a  crowd  in  a  roar;  as  a  ventriloquist  he  would  sometimes  astonish 
the  natives.  He  was  withal  a  consistent  member  of  the  Methodist  church,  and  a 
warm  friend  of  temperance.  His  kindness  and  respect  shown  to  the  younger 
members  of  the  bar  were  notable  and  appreciated,  and  he  had  a  trait  sometimes 
seen  in  great  men.  that  of  not  caring  for  money.'  What  a  pleasant  companion 
he  must  have  been  to  the  members  of  the  bar  in  the  cramped  quarters  of  log 
taverns  when  traveling  round  the  circuit  and  wrestling  all  day  with  the  dry  and 
musty  mysteries  of  the  law,  the  anxieties  of  clients,  or  the  palpable  evasions  ot 
reluctant  witnesses." 

After  the  admission  of  Iowa  into  the  Union  as  a  state,  the  first  general  as- 
sembly on  February  4,  1847,  established  the  judicial  districts  of  the  state,  and 
Louisa  county  was  placed  in  the  first  district,  composed  of  the  counties  of  Lee, 
Des  Moines,  Washington,  Henry  and  Louisa.  By  the  act  approved  January  15, 
1849,  Washington  county  was  detached  from  the  first  district  and  attached  to 
the  fourth  district.  The  judges  of  the  first  district  under  the  constitution  of  1846 
were  as  follows:  George  H.  Williams,  of  Lee  county,  elected  April  5,  1847; 
Ralph  P.  Lowe,  of  Lee  county,  elected  April  6,  1852,  resigned  in  1857;  John  W. 
Rankin,  of  Lee  county,  appointed  by  the  governor,  April  9,  1857,  qualified  April 
13,  1857;  Thomas  W.  Clagett,  of  Lee  county,  elected  April  6,  1857,  qualified 
May  16,  1857. 

Judge  George  H.  Williams,  the  first  judge  of  this  district  after  Iowa  became  a 
state,  was  born  in  Columbia  county,  New  York,  March  23,  1823,  and  was  ad- 
mitted to  the  bar  in  1844,  and  immediately  removed  to  Lee  county,  in  this  state. 
Flewas  elected  district  judge  at  the  early  age  of  twenty-four  years  and  continued 

Vol.  1—16 


242  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

upon  the  bench  until  1852.  In  this  latter  year  he  was  a  democratic  presidential 
elector  and  cast  his  vote  for  Franklin  Pierce,  who  in  1853  appointed  him  chief 
justice  of  the  territory  of  Oregon.  Judge  Williams  served  six  years  in  the  United 
States  senate  from  the  state  of  Oregon,  his  service  ending  in  1871.  At  this  time 
he  was  a  republican.  In  1872  he  was  appointed  attorney  general  by  President 
Grant,  and  in  the  following  year  he  was  nominated  by  President  Grant  for  chief 
justice  of  the  United  States  supreme  court.  This  nomination,  however,  was  with- 
drawn before  it  was  acted  upon.  Judge  Williams  resigned  the  position  of  attorney 
general  in  1875  and  resumed  the  practice  of  law.  His  subsequent  history  we  are 
not  familiar  with. 

Judge  Ralph  P.  Lowe  was  born  in  Ohio  in  1808,  and  located  at  Muscatine 
(then  Bloomington)  in  1838.  He  was  a  member  of  the  first  constitutional  con- 
vention of  Iowa  in  1844.  In  1849  he  removed  to  Keokuk  and  was  our  district 
judge  from  1852  to  1857,  in  which  latter  year  he  was  elected  governor  of  the 
state  to  succeed  Governor  James  W.  Grimes.  In  1861  he  was  elected  a  member 
of  the  supreme  court  and  served  in  that  capacity  for  eight  years.  After  this  he 
returned  to  the  practice  of  law  at  Keokuk,  but  being  employed  by  the  state  to 
prosecute  its  claims  growing  out  of  the  Des  Moines  river  land  grant,  and  other 
grants,  and  some  claims  growing  out  of  the  rebellion,  Judge  Lowe  removed  to 
Washington  City,  where  he  resided  until  his  death,  which  occurred  December  22, 
1883.  Judge  Lowe  was  a  lawyer  of  ability  and  a  man  of  good  character,  and  he 
had  the  good  will  and  esteem  of  the  members  of  the  bar  and  all  others  who  came  in 
contact  with  the  courts. 

John  W.  Rankin  was  born  in  Warren,  Ohio,  in  June,  1823,  and  came  to 
Keokuk,  Iowa,  in  1848,  and  became  a  member  of  the  firm  of  Curtis,  Rankin  & 
Love.  The  firm  later  became  Rankin,  Miller  &  Enster,  Mr.  Miller  being  Justice 
Samuel  F.  Miller  of  the  United  States  supreme  court.  Judge  Rankin  was  later 
associated  with  George  W.  McCrary  in  the  firm  of  Rankin  &  McCrary.  Mr. 
McCrary  served  this  district  four  terms  as  a  representative  in  congress,  and  was 
afterward  secretary  of  war  in  the  cabinet  of  President  Hayes,  and  later  became 
United  States  circuit  judge  for  the  eighth  circuit.  Judge  Rankin  served  as  dis- 
trict judge  of  this  district  for  but  a  little  more  than  thirty  days,  but  he  was  one  of 
the  greatest  lawyers  who  ever  sat  upon  this  bench.  He  was  also  at  one  time  state 
senator  from  Lee  county  and  was  colonel  of  the  Seventeenth  Regiment  of  Iowa 
Infantry  in  the  war  of  the  rebellion.  He  was  one  of  the  leaders  in  the  republi- 
can party  of  Iowa  in  the  early  history  and  was  a  delegate  to  the  convention  which 
nominated  Lincoln  for  president.     He  died  Jul}-   10,  1869. 

Judge  Thomas  W.  Clagett  was  a  Marylander,  bom  in  August,  181 5,  and  came 
to  Keokuk  in  1850.  He  is  said  to  have  been  a  wealthy  man  when  he  came  here — ■ 
a  fact  which  distinguishes  him  from  nearly  all  the  other  early  members  of  the 
bar.    We  quote  again  from  Mr.  Frazee,  the  following  concerning  Judge  Clagett: 

"He  was  elected  judge.  April  6.  1857.  ail(l  qualified  May  25th  following.  He 
continued  to  occupy  the  bench  for  the  term  fixed  by  the  statute,  and  was  a  can- 
didate for  reelection,  in  opposition  to  Judge  Springer.  One  of  the  peculiarities 
of  that  election  was  the  stump  canvass  of  the  district  by  Judge  Clagett  in  his  own 
behalf.  His  occupancy  of  the  bench  was  not  pleasant  or  in  any  way  satisfactory 
to  the  bar.     He  proved  to  be  impatient,  hastv,  irascible,  rash  and,  as  was  gener- 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  243 

ally  thought,  quite  tyrannous  and  unendurable.  He  seemed  determined  not  only 
to  preside  as  judge,  but  also  to  conduct  both  sides  of  every  litigated  case  accord- 
ing to  his  passing  whims.  Sometimes  he  would  not  listen  to  argument;  often 
he  would  limit  the  time  to  be  occupied  in  the  trial  and  in  argument  to  jury  and 
often  was  offensive  in  his  remarks  to  the  bar  at  large  or  to  a  particular  member. 
On  one  occasion  what  he  said  to  M.  D.  Browning  was  so  insulting  that  the  latter, 
always  polite  and  considerate,  was  so  incensed  that  he  assaulted  the  judge  on  the 
bench  and  probably  would  have  seriously  injured  him  had  not  others  interposed 
to  prevent  it.  Clagett  imposed  a  penalty  of  twenty-four  hours  in  the  county  jail 
on  Mr.  Browning,  to  which  every  member  of  the  bar  then  present  attended 
him,  leaving  the  judge  alone  in  his  glory,  who  went  on  calling  cases  and  dis- 
missing them  for  want  of  prosecution,  as  a  punishment  for  the  evident  condem- 
nation of  his  conduct.  At  another  time  he  required  bail  of  one  hundred  thousand 
dollars  for  a  trifling  misdemeanor,  simply  because  some  one,  not  concerned  in 
the  matter,  chanced  to  observe  in  his  hearing  that  the  defendant  could  procure 
bail  to  that  amount,  which  in  fact  I  think  he  did  without  leaving  the  court  room. 
I  mention  these  facts  not  to  derogate  from  the  real  worth  of  Judge  Clagett  as  a 
man,  but  as  one  more  illustrative  of  the  fact  that  some  natures,  'clothed  with  a 
little  brief  authority,  play  such  fantastic  tricks  before  high  heaven  as  make  the 
angels  weep.'  Off  the  bench  the  judge  was  as  pleasant,  sociable  and  agreeable 
as  any  one  need  to  be.  He  was  quite  attractive  in  conversation,  kind  and  court- 
eous to  all,  liberal  and  generous  to  others,  a  beloved  neighbor,  a  sincere  and  help- 
ful friend ;  and,  as  that  nestor  of  the  Keokuk  bar,  Daniel  F.  Miller,  writes  me, 
'a  very,  very  honest  and  kind  hearted  man,  for  whom  he  entertained  great  per- 
sonal friendship.'  After  leaving  the  bench,  the  Judge  represented  Lee  county  in 
the  general  assembly  of  1861-62,  and  next  became  proprietor  and  editor  of  the 
Keokuk  Constitution,  a  democratic  newspaper  which,  under  his  administration 
during  the  rebellion,  was  one  of  the  most  ultra  of  its  northern  advocates.  There 
was  an  army  hospital  at  Keokuk  and  at  times  considerable  numbers  of  sick  and 
convalescing  soldiers  there;  and  so  violent  was  Clagett,  and  so  much  did  he  in- 
cense the  'boys  in  blue'  that  they  one  night  riotously  assailed  the  Constitution 
office  and  tossed  the  whole  concern  into  the  Mississippi  river.  There  was  an 
official  investigation  of  this  violation  of  law,  resulting  in  censure  of  the  officers 
then  in  command,  but  not  in  the  discovery  of  the  actual  offenders.  The  judge, 
after  an  interval,  resumed  publication  of  his  paper  with  no  change  of  opinion  or 
spirit,  throughout  the  war  and  afterwards  until  his  death,  April  14,  1876,  at  which 
time  he  had  pretty  much  exhausted  all  his  means  and  earnings." 

A  great  many  anecdotes  have  been  told  concerning  Judge  Clagett  and  his 
court  in  this  county.  One  of  them,  for  which  we  do  not  vouch,  is  that  in  a 
noted  criminal  case  he  instructed  the  jury  that  it  was  incumbent  on  the  defend- 
ant to  establish  his  innocence  beyond  a  reasonable  doubt.  The  other  story  illus- 
trates the  wit  of  Henry  O'Connor.  Mr.  O'Connor  was  engaged  in  making  an 
argument  to  the  jury  in  a  case  in  which  Judge  Clagett  had  already  made  a  ruling 
adverse  to  O'Connor's  client,  and  one  which  was  likely  to  have  an  important  bear- 
ing on  the  verdict  of  the  jury.  During  the  course  of  his  argument,  O'Connor 
repeatedly  alluded  to  the  court's  ruling,  giving  the  jury  plainly  to  understand 
that  the  court  was  wrong.    Judge  Clagett  would  call  O'Connor  to  order  whenever 


244  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

he  referred  to  the  court's  ruling,  but  O'Connor  persisted  in  criticising  it  so  often 
and  so  pointedly  that  Clagett  finally  said  to  him  :  "Air.  O'Connor,  I  must  insist 
that  you  observe  the  respect  due  from  the  bar  to  the  bench."  whereat  Mr.  O'Con- 
nor blandly  replied :  "Your  honor.  I  have  the  most  profound  respect  for  the  bench 
— no  matter  who  occupies  it." 

After  the  adoption  of  the  constitution  of  1857,  the  seventh  general  assembly 
by  an  act  approved  March  20,  185S,  established  the  judicial  districts  of  the  state. 
The  act  declares  that  the  first  district  shall  be  composed  of  the  counties  of  Lee, 
Henry,  Des  Moines  and  Lucas.  The  word  Lucas,  however,  is  a  mistake,  it  hav- 
ing been  intended  for  Louisa,  as  Lucas  county  was  by  the  act  placed  in  the  sec- 
ond district. 

The  judges  of  the  first  district  under  the  constitution  of  1857  were  as  follows: 
Francis  Springer,  Louisa  county,  elected  October  12,  1858,  re-elected  October  14. 
1862,  and  October  9,  1866,  resigned  in  November,  1869;  Joshua  Tracy,  Des 
Moines  county,  appointed  November  6,  1869,  elected  October  11,  1870,  resigned 
in  April,  1874;  P.  Henry  Smyth,  Des  Moines  county,  appointed  April  25,  1874, 
resigned  in  September,  1874;  Thomas  \\".  Newman,  Des  Moines  county,  appointed 
September  25,  1874,  elected  October  13.  1874;  A.  H.  Stutsman,  Des  Moines 
county,  elected  October  8,  1878,  re-elected  November  7,  1882. 

It  is  proper  to  insert  here  something  about  the  circuit  court,  because,  when 
in  [886  this  count}-  was  put  into  the  sixth  district,  die  circuit  court  was  by  the 
same  act  abolished.  By  an  act  of  the  general  assembly,  approved  April  6,  1868, 
the  judicial  districts  of  the  state  were  divided  into  two  circuits  called  first  and 
second,  and  a  circuit  judge  provided  for  each  of  these  circuits.  The  first  district 
was  divided  by  making  Lee  and  Henry  counties,  the  first  circuit,  and  Des  Moines 
and  Louisa  counties,  the  second  circuit.  Judge  John  B.  Drayer,  of  Henry  county, 
was  elected  as  the  first  judge  for  the  first  circuit,  and  Judge  John  C.  Power,  of 
Burlington,  was  elected  the  first  judge  of  the  second  circuit.  This  arrangement 
continued  for  about  four  years,  when  by  the  act  approved  March  29  1872  the 
two  circuits  in  each  judicial  district  were  consolidated  and  the  judge  who  pre- 
sided in  the  first  circuit  of  each  district  was  designated  to  preside  in  the  cir- 
cuit court  of  the  entire  district.  Judge  Drayer  thus  became  the  sole  circuit  judge 
in  the  district.  This  latter  arrangement  continued  also  for  about  four  years  when, 
on  March  6,  1878,  some  of  the  districts  were  subdivided  again  into  two  circuits, 
the  first  district  being  one  of  these.  The  governor  appointed  Charles  H.  Phelps 
of  Burlington,  judge  of  the  second  circuit,  which  was  composed  of  Des  Moines 
and  Louisa  counties,  as  it  had  been  before.  In  1884  the  constitution  was  so 
amended  as  to  authorize  the  legislature  to  re-organize  the  judicial  districts  of  the 
state  and  to  increase  the  number  of  judges;  consequently,  the  twenty-first  general 
assembly,  by  an  act  approved  April  io,  1886,  abolished  the  circuit  courts  and  pro- 
vided for  a  general  re-organization  of  the  district  courts,  and  of  the  judicial  dis- 
tricts of  the  state,  to  take  effect  January  1.  1887.  LTnder  this  act  Louisa  county 
was  placed  in  the  sixth  judicial  district,  composed  of  the  counties  of  Jasper, 
Poweshiek,  Mahaska,  Keokuk,  Washington  and  Louisa.  This  district,  while  it 
continued,  was  sometimes  called  the  "shoestring"  district.  At  the  time  of  the 
passage  of  the  act  last  referred  to,  Judge  W.  R.  Lewis,  of  Poweshiek  county, 
was  a  circuit  judge,  whose  term  had  not  yet  expired  and  the.  people  of  his  countv 
were  very   indignant   that   he   had   been   legislated   out   of  office.     Judge   Lewis. 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  245 

though  always  a  republican,  consented  to  become  an  independent  candidate  for 
district  judge  in  the  new  district.  The  republican  candidates  were  J.  Kelley  John- 
son, of  Oskaloosa,  David  Ryan,  of  Newton,  and  Lewis  A.  Riley,  of  Wapello. 
We  have  not  the  official  returns  of  this  election  at  hand,  but  our  recollection  is 
that  the  entire  population  of  Poweshiek  county  voted  for  Judge  Lewis,  with  the 
result  that  his  vote  was  largely  in  excess  of  that  of  either  Judge  Ryan  or  Mr. 
Riley.  In  the  official  count  it  appeared  that  Judge  Ryan  had  a  few  more  votes 
than  Mr.  Riley,  and  our  first  judges  under  the  new  arrangement  were  Johnson, 
Lewis  and  Ryan. 

J.  Kelley  Johnson  was  elected  November  2,  1886,  re-elected  November  4, 
1890,  died  in  1894;  David  Ryan,  elected  November  2,  1886,  re-elected  November 
4,  1890,  and  November  6,  1894;  W.  R.  Lewis,  elected  November  2,  1886;  A.  R. 
Dewey,  elected  November  4,  1890,  re-elected  November  6,  1894;  Ben  McCoy, 
elected  November  6,  1894,  to  fill  vacancy  caused  by  the  death  of  J.  Kelley 
Johnson. 

Another  change  was  made  by  the  twenty-sixth  general  assembly  by  the  pas- 
sage of  the  act  approved  April  20,  1896,  creating  the  twentieth  judicial  district. 
This  act  provided  that  the  counties  of  Des  Moines,  Henry  and  Louisa  should 
constitute  the  twentieth  judicial  district  and  be  entitled  to  two  judges.  The  act 
also  provided  that  there  should  be  elected  at  the  general  election  in  1896,  and 
every  four  years  thereafter,  one  district  judge  who  should  enter  upon  the  dis- 
charge of  his  duties  on  the  1st  of  January  following,  and  that  there  should  be 
elected  in  the  twentieth  district  at  the  general  election  in  the  year  1898,  and  every 
four  years  thereafter,  one  district  judge  who  should  enter  upon  the  discharge 
of  the  duties  of  his  office  on  the  1st  of  January.  1899,  etc.  The  act  also  declared 
that  the  office  of  one  of  the  district  judges  of  the  twentieth  judicial  district  as 
defined  by  the  act,  was  vacant,  and  authorized  the  governor  to  fill  the  vacancy, 
and  the  appointee  to  hold  his  office  until  the  first  day  of  January,  1897. 

Under  this  act  we  have  had  but  two  judges — Judge  W.  S.  Withrow,  of 
Mount  Pleasant,  and  Judge  James  D.  Smyth,  of  Burlington.  At  the  time  this  act 
was  passed  Judge  Smyth  was  judge  of  the  first  district  and  had  been  since  1891. 

A  sketch  of  Judge  Springer  will  be  found  elsewhere  in  this  work.  Judge 
Springer  was  succeeded  by  Joshua  Tracy,  who  held  the  office  of  district  attorney 
from  1859  to  1869,  when  he  was  appointed  to  fill  the  vacancy  occasioned  by  the 
resignation  of  Judge  Springer. 

Joshua  Tracy  was  born  in  Belmont  county,  Ohio,  July  12,  1825.  He  settled 
in  Burlington  in  1850  and  studied  in  the  office  of  M.  D.  Browning.  In  1852  he 
was  admitted  to  the  bar  and  formed  a  partnership  with  Judge  Browning.  He 
held  the  office  of  city  solicitor  in  Burlington  and  represented  Des  Moines  county 
in  the  house  of  representatives  of  the  fifth  general  assembly.  From  1863  until 
his  appointment  to  the  bench,  he  was  in  partnership  with  T.  W.  Newman,  Esq. 
When  he  resigned  his  position  as  judge  in  1874,  he  resumed  the  practice  of 
law  in  partnership  with  his  son,  Samuel  K.  Tracy.  Judge  Tracy  was  at  one 
time  president  of  the  Burlington  <x  Southwestern  railroad,  and  was  for  several 
years  general  solicitor  of  the  Burlington,  Cedar  Rapids  &  Minnesota  Railway 
Company,  and  the  Burlington,  Cedar  Rapids  &  Northern  Railway  Company.  In 
1880  he  was  elected  president  of  the  latter  company,  which  position  he  held 
until  his  death  on  the  18th  of  May,  1884.     Judge  Tracy  was  a  large,  well  pro- 


246  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

portioned  man,  having  a  pleasant  expression  and  an  excellent  face.  He  was  a 
man  of  great  force  of  character  and  great  natural  ability,  and  was  successful 
both  at  the  bar  and  on  the  bench.  The  members  of  the  Des  Moines  county  bar 
paid  him  this  handsome  tribute:  "By  his  death,  the  bar  of  this  county  and  the 
state  has  been  deprived  of  one  of  its  oldest  and  most  eminent  members,  whose 
career  was  marked  by  ceaseless  energy,  great  executive  ability  and  eminent  suc- 
cess, and  society  one  of  so  noble  a  nature  as  could  neither  forget  a  favor  nor 
harbor  a  revenge." 

Judge  P.  Henry  Smyth  was  born  in  Washington  county,  Virginia,  March 
10,  1829.  He  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  Henry  county.  Tennessee,  in  1849,  and 
commenced  the  practice  of  law  the  following  year  at  Cleveland,  Ohio.  In  1857 
he  located  in  Burlington,  practicing  law  in  partnership  with  his  brother-in- 
law,  Davis  J.  Crocker,  and  a  little  later  in  partnership  with  Henry  Strong,  and 
still  later,  in  partnership  with  his  son,  James  D.,  our  present  district  judge. 
Judge  P.  Henry  Smyth  resigned  too  soon  after  his  appointment  to  make  a  record 
on  the  bench,  but  he  was  a  man  of  great  force  and  ability,  and  one  of  the  leaders 
of  the  Burlington  bar.  He  had  an  elegant  property  at  Cleveland,  Ohio,  where 
he  spent  his  last  years. 

Judge  Smyth  was  succeeded  by  Judge  Thomas  W.  Newman,  who  was  ap- 
pointed by  Governor  Carpenter  in  the  fall  of  1874.  Judge  Newman  was  a  Mary- 
lander,  born  January  23,  1829,  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1850  and  came  at  once  to 
Burlington,  where  he  began  the  practice  in  partnership  with  W.  S.  Graff.  He 
was  elected  county  judge  of  Des  Moines  county  in  1855  and  served  until  1857. 
He  was  a  captain  in  the  Eleventh  United  States  Infantry  and  served  for  about  two 
years  at  Burlington  and  in  Indianapolis  as  a  mustering  officer,  when  he  resigned 
and  re-entered  the  practice  of  law  in  Burlington.  Judge  Newman  took  an  active 
interest  in  the  Burlington  University  and  was  connected  with  it  from  the  time 
of  its  organization  until  his  death.  Judge  Newman  was  a  very  attractive  and 
agreeable  man  and  took  a  high  rank  among  the  lawyers  and  judges  of  the  state. 
He  died  at  Burlington,  November  2,  1892. 

Our  next  district  judge  was  Abraham  H.  Stutsman,  who  was  born  in  Mor- 
gan county,  Indiana,  December  21.  1840.  In  1861  he  enlisted  at  Burlington  in 
the  First  Iowa  Cavalry  and  served  until  1864,  when  he  was  discharged  on 
account  of  a  wound  received  in  the  summer  of  1863,  which  resulted  in  the  loss 
of  his  left  arm.  After  this  he  read  law  in  the  office  of  Judge  J.  M.  Beck,  at  Fort 
Madison,  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar  at  Keokuk  in  1865.  In  the  following  year 
he  located  at  Chariton,  in  Lucas  county,  then  took  a  course  in  the  law  school  of 
the  Michigan  University,  from  which  he  graduated  in  1868.  He  was  a  member  of 
the  thirteenth  general  assembly  from  Lucas  county.  He  returned  to  Burlington 
in  1870  and  held  the  office  of  city  solicitor  and  police  judge  for  a  number  of 
years.  He  was  elected  district  judge  in  1878  and  re-elected  in  1882.  After  the 
close  of  his  last  term  he  re-entered  the  practice  of  law  at  Burlington,  but  in  a 
short  time  removed  to  California,  where  he  now  resides. 

We  take  the  following  notice  of  Judge  Drayer  from  Mr.  Frazee's  work,  here- 
tofore referred  to:  "John  Breitenback  Drayer,  the  first  judge  of  the  first  circuit, 
was  born  at  Lebanon,  Lebanon  county,  Pennsylvania,  April  7,  1823.  His  parents 
were  German.  His  father,  a  watchmaker,  with  his  family  removed  to  Hamilton, 
Ohio,  when  John  B.  was  about  ten  years  old,  and  there  the  latter  learned  and 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  247 

followed  his  father's  trade  until  he  reached  the  age  of  nineteen  years,  at  which 
time  he  began  the  study  of  law  in  the  office  of  Hon.  John  Woods,  of  Hamilton, 
and  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  April,  1844,  upon  reaching  his  majority,  quite 
early  enough  for  a  young  man  who  had  enjoyed  only  a  very  limited  common- 
school  education.  He  commenced  practice  at  Hamilton  and  there  remained  for 
about  eight  years,  then  removing  to  Eaton,  Preble  county,  Ohio,  where  he  con- 
tinued to  practice  until  March,  1858,  at  which  time  he  became  a  resident  of  Mt. 
Pleasant,  Iowa.  Soon  after  this  removal  he  became  a  member  of  the  Iowa  con- 
ference of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  church  as  a  minister  and  preached  for  about 
three  years,  at  the  end  of  which  period  he  entered  the  military  service  of  the 
United  States  as  captain  of  Company  H,  Thirtieth  Volunteer  Infantry,  serving 
as  such  for  about  seven  months,  when  he  was  compelled  to  resign  because  of 
bad  health.  On  his  return  to  Mt.  Pleasant,  he  was  elected  county  judge  in  the 
fall  of  1863,  and  retained  that  position  until  the  1st  of  January,  1869,  when, 
having  been  elected  judge  of  the  circuit  court  at  the  preceding  general  election, 
in  1868,  he  entered  upon  the  duties  of  that  office.  He  was  re-elected  in  1872 
and  again  in  1876,  holding  the  position  until  January  1st,  1881,  when  he  was 
succeeded  by  Judge  Jeffries.  Judge  Drayer  was  first  married  to  Miss  Mary 
M.  YVithrow,  of  Butler  county,  Ohio,  January  5,  1847;  secondly,  to  Miss  Mary 
J.  McCable,  of  Eaton,  Ohio,  February  4,  1854;  and  thirdly,  to  Mrs.  Amanda 
Baird,  of  Butler  county,  Ohio,  December  24,  1872.  He  died  at  Seven  Miles 
Station,  Butler  county,  Ohio,  in  the  fall  of  1891,  leaving  one  daughter,  Mrs. 
Anna  Sullivan,  who  still  resides  in  Mt.  Pleasant." 

Although  Judge  Drayer  was  the  first  judge  of  the  first  circuit  of  the  first 
judicial  district,  he  was  not  the  first  circuit  judge  to  hold  court  in  Louisa  county. 

Judge  John  C.  Power  was  the  first  judge  of  the  second  circuit  in  this  dis- 
trict, and  hence,  our  first  circuit  judge.  He  was  born  at  Mount  Vernon,  Ohio, 
April  18,  1841,  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar  at  Burlington  in  October,  1862. 
He  was  a  gallant  soldier,  having  been  a  member  of  the  Eighth  Iowa  Cavalry, 
and  was  captain  of  Company  D.  In  the  fall  of  1865  he  was  elected  county  judge 
of  Des  Moines  county  and  was  re-elected  in  1867.  He  resigned  this  position  to 
accept  the  place  of  circuit  judge.  After  serving  one  term  he  resumed  the  prac- 
tice of  law,  first  as  a  member  of  the  firm  of  Power  &  Antrobus,  next  as  a  member 
of  the  firm  of  Power  &  Huston,  and  later  formed  a  partnership  with  his  son 
under  the  name  of  Power  &  Power,  of  which  firm  he  is  still  the  active  head. 
Judge  Power  is  a  man  of  most  exemplary  character,  and  has  an  enviable  record 
both  at  the  bar  and  on  the  bench. 

Charles  H.  Phelps  was  born  at  Middlebury,  Vermont,  in  1825.  He  first 
taught  school  for  a  short  time  and  then  studied  law  in  the  office  of  Senator 
Seymour,  of  Middlebury,  who  was  a  relative  of  his  father.  He  was  admitted 
to  the  bar  in  1849  an(^  m  tne  following  year  began  the  practice  of  law  at 
Burlington  in  partnership  with  Judge  J.  C.  Hall.  In  a  year  or  two  he  entered 
into  partnership  with  Henry  W.  Starr  and  later  was  a  partner  of  General  S.  L. 
Glasgow.  In  1878  he  was  appointed  by  Governor  Gear  circuit  judge  and  held 
that  office  until  1886,  when  he  was  elected  district  judge  of  the  first  district  as 
then  constituted,  which  consisted  of  the  counties  of  Lee  and  Des  Moines. 
Judge  Phelps'  service  in  this  county  on  the  bench  was  entirely  as  circuit  judge. 
Prior  to  his  appointment  to  the  bench  he  had  considerable  practice  in  the  courts 


248  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

of  Louisa  county.     He  was  not  an  industrious  man  nor  a  hard  student,  but  he 
had  a  wonderful  legal  mind,  and  a  memory  which  never  failed  him. 

We  have  not  the  material  at  hand  from  which  to  write  an  adequate  sketch 
of  the  judges  who  presided  over  our  court  while  this  county  was  a  part  of  the 
sixth  judicial  district.  Of  our  present  judges.  James  D.  Smyth  and  W.  S. 
Withrow,  we  need  only  say  that  the  people  of  Louisa  county  would  not  exchange 
them  for  any  other  two  judges  in  the  state.  While  no  one  could  tell  from  the 
judicial  conduct  of  these  gentlemen  that  they  had  any  politics  whatever,  it  is 
nevertheless  true  that  Judge  Smyth  is  a  democrat  in  politics,  and  Judge  With- 
row is  a  republican,  and  for  some  years  it  has  been  the  unwritten  law  in  this 
district  that  when  the  democrats  nominate  Judge  Smyth  the  republicans  will 
make  no  nomination  against  him,  and  that  when  the  republicans  nominate  judge 
Withrow,  the  democrats  will  run  no  candidate  against  him.  In  this  way  the 
people  of  the  twentieth  district  have  eliminated  politics  and  partisanship  from 
the  judicial  office. 

DISTRICT    ATTORNEYS. 

From  January  i,  1859,  to  January  1,  1887,  we  had  district  attorneys,  and  the 
list  of  the  men  who  occupied  that  office  in  this  district  is  as  follows :  foshua 
Tracy,  Des  Moines  county,  elected  October  12,  1858,  re-elected  October  14, 
1862,  and  October  9,  1866,  resigned  in  November.  1869;  George  B.  Corkhill. 
Henry  county,  appointed  November  6,  1869 ;  D.  N.  Sprague,  Lee  county,  elected 
October  11,  1870,  re-elected  October  13,  1874;  T.  A.  Bereman,  Henry  county, 
elected  October  8,  1878:  D.  N.  Sprague,  Lee  county,  elected  November  7,  1882. 

.  SOME   EARLY   LAW    SUITS. 

From  the  records  of  the  early  law  suits  we  have  found  many  things  of  his- 
torical  interest,  showing  the  doings  of  earl)-  settlers  whose  names  figured  in  our 
early  history,  as  well  as  the  names  of  sonic  whose  names  do  not  appear  anywhere 
else.  Besides,  these  suits  throw  some  light  mi  the  character  and  habits  of  those 
who  are  concerned  in  them,  and  much  more  upon  the  manner  of  preparing  legal 
documents  and  conducting  legal  proceedings  in  the  early  days.  Following  is  a 
sample  of  an  indictment  found  at  the  first  term  of  the  district  court  held  in  this 
county : 

"United  States  of  America,  Territory  of  Wisconsin,  County  of  Louisa. — District 
Court  for  said  County,  April  term  A.  D.   1837. 

"The  grand  jurors  selected  tried  and  sworn  in  and  for  the  body  of  the  County 
aforesaid  upon  their  oaths  present,  that  James  Gordon  and.  Joshua  Smith  late 
of  the  County  aforesaid  not  having  God  before  their  eyes;  but  being  persons  of 
disolate  habits  of  life-  did  on  the  25th  day  of  March  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  One 
thousand  Eight  hundred  and  thirty-seven  start  set  on  foot  play  and  bet  at  and 
on  a  certain  game  of  chance  with  cards  comonly  called  all  fours.  In  the  peace 
of  God  and  the  United  States  to  the  great  damage  of  divers  good  and  worthy 
citizens  and  gainst  the  dignity  of  the  United  States  of  America  and  the  form  of 
the  Statute  in  such  case  made  and  provided,  and  so  the  grand  jurors  aforesaid  do 


ANDREW  GAMBLE,  H.  M.  LETTS,  W.  P.  SMITH 
Supervisors  of  Louisa  County,  June,  1871 


ro«    IKN(W 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  -J49 

"Found  on  the  testimony  of  Phillip  Maskell,  one  of  the  grand  jurors  sworn  to  give 
evidence. — James  W.  Woods,  Atty.  pro  tern." 

The  records  show  that  Loth  these  defendants  were  arrested  on  this  indictment 
and  gave  bond  with  John  Kern  as  security  in  the  sum  of  $55.  l'hillip  Maskell 
seems  to  have  been  the  only  witness  summoned,  but  the  case  was  never  tried. 
The  records  show  the  following  motion,  signed  by  James  Gordon:  The  de- 
fendants move  the  court  to  quash  the  indictment  in  this  case,  because  (1st)  the 
said  indictment  is  not  endorsed  by  the  clerk  of  this  court  as  required  by  law ; 
(2d)  the  indictment  charges  no  offense  known  to  the  law;  (3d)  the  indictment 
should  allege  the  offense  to  have  been  committed  without  a  special  act  of  the 
legislative  council  of  the  territory  of  Wisconsin. 

It  subsequently  appears  that  David  Rorer  represented  the  defendants  and 
moved  the  court  to  quash  the  indictment  for  reasons  filed,  and  after  argument 
on  the  motion  the  indictment  was  quashed.     The  costs  amounted  to  $5-3i .'  4  ■ 

From  the  record  of  a  civil  suit  begun  on  the  21st  of  April  1837,  by  William 
H.  Dennison  against  William  Fleming,  we  learn  that  both  these  parties  were  in 
Louisa  county  as  early  as  July  12,  1836,  for  it  is  alleged  that. on  that  date  Flem- 
ing gave  his  note  to  Dennison  in  Louisa  county  for  the  sum  of  $87.50,  payable  on 
November  1st,  1836.  James  W.  Woods  was  the  attorney  for  the  plaintiff.  The 
name  of  the  defendant's  attorney  does  not  appear  in  the  record  but  the  final 
entry  shows  that  the  case  was  dismissed  at  the  plaintiff's  costs,  which  were 
$5.12%. 

There  is  also  the  record  of  a  suit  by  Henry  Thompson  against  William  Milli- 
gan  and  M.  P.  Mitchell.  It  is  entitled  "Trespass"  and  seems  to  have  been  com- 
menced by  Henry  Thompson,  filing  an  affidavit,  stating  that  on  or  about  June  7, 
1837,  in  Louisa  county,  a  certain  William  Milligan  and  M.  P.  Mitchell  of  said 
county  "came  to  the  dwelling  house  of  him  this  deponent  and  then  and  there 
vi  et  armis  forcibly  and  against  the  will  of  him  this  deponent  and  against  the 
peace  and  dignity  of  the  United  States  of  America  and  this  territory  took  from 
this  deponent  certain  household  property  goods  and  chattels  (belonging  to  him,  this 
deponent  to  wit)  :  Beds  and  bedding,  cooking  utensils,  certain  articles  of  queens- 
ware,  trunk,  table  and  sundry  other  articles  ;  and  the  said  property  was  taken 
from  the  said  William  Milligan  and  M.  P.  .Mitchell  and  carried  away  so  that  the 
said  goods  and  chattels  hath  been  and  were  greatly  injured  and  damaged  and 
the  said  deponent  was  deprived  of  the  use  and  possession  of  the  same,  and  the 
said  William  Milligan  and  M.  P.  Mitchell  did  him  the  said  deponent  then  and 
there  greatly  abuse  and  ill  treat  and  then  and  there  drew  and  presented  a  cocked 
pistol  at  the  said  deponent  and  threatened  him,  the  said  deponent  then  and 
there  to  shoot,  kill  and  murder,"  &c.  This  affidavit  winds  up  by  claiming  damages 
to  the  amount  of  $3,000. 

Upon  the  filing  of  this  affidavit  in  the  district  court  Clerk  Inghram  issued  the 
following  capias : 

"Wisconsin  Territory,  Louisa  County,  ss. 
The  United  States  of  America  To  the  Sheriff  of  said  County,  Greeting: 

"You  are  hereby  commanded  to  take  William  Milligan  and  Milton  P.  Mitchell 


250  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

if  to  be  found  within  your  county  and  them  safely  keep  so  'that  you  have  their 
bodies  before  the  District  Court  of  said  County  on  the  first  day  of  the  next  term 
thereof  to  be  begun  and  holden  in  and  for  said  county  in  the  Town  of  Wapello, 
on  the  first  Thursday  after  the  third  Monday  in  September  we  set  to  answer  unto 
Henry  Thompson  in  a  plea  of  Trespass  to  his  damage  three  thousand  dollars. 
Hereof  fail  not  at  your  peril  and  have  you  then  there  this  writ.  Witness  the 
Honorable  David  Irvin  Judge  of  the  Second  Judicial  District  of  the  Territory  of 
Wisconsin  and  sealed  with  the  temporary  seal  of  the  said  court,  tiiis  third  day 

of  July  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  Eight  hundred  and  thirty- 
(ss)     seven    and   of   the    Independence   of   the    United    States   of   America   the 

sixty-first." 

An  order  was  made  by  Judge  Irvin,  dated  July  4,  1837,  fixing  bail  in  this 
case  at  the  sum  of  $500.  The  return  of  the  sheriff  on  the  capias  is  as  follows: 
"By  virtue  of  the  within  capias  I  have  took  the  bodys  of  William  Milligan  and 
Milton  P.  Mitchell  and  took  R.  H.  Slaughter  and  James  Clark  as  bail  for  said 
Milligan's  appearance  at  the  court,  20th  July,  1837,  and  M.  P.  Mitchell,  22d 
July,  1837,  and  Jeremiah  Smith  and  John  II.  Benson  as  bail  for  M.  P.  Mitchell's 
appearance  at  court. 

For  serving,  each  $1.00 $2.00 

Travel    fee    62y2 

For  taking   bond IOO 


$3.62^ 
(Signed)         Samuel  Smith,  Sheriff, 

L.  Co.  W.  T." 

The  records  show  the  bonds  referred  to  by  the  sheriff  as  bail  and  show  also 
that  subsequently  subpoenas  were  issued  for  a  number  of  witnesses,  among 
them  Philip  B.  Harrison,  Christopher  Shuck,  Isaac  Ramsey,  George  Clark  Reed, 
Abigail  Ramsey,  Elias  Keever,  A.  H.  Lee,  William  L.  Toole,  Daniel  Brewer, 
John  W.  Ferguson  and  several  of  the  Rinearsons.  This  case  was  settled  by  an 
agreement  dated  May  3,  1838,  whereby  Henry  Thompson  withdrew  and  dis- 
missed the  suit,     and  William  Milligan  agreed  to  pay  the  costs. 

Another  suit  that  was  brought  soon  after  this  one  and  settled  on  the  same 
day  was  the  case  of  Milligan  against  Harless.  We  may  infer  from  it  that  Martin 
Harless  had  some  connection  with  the  suit  of  Thompson  against  Milligan,  or 
with  the  events  that  led  up  to  it,  for  it  seems  that  on  July  22d,  1837,  William 
Milligan  made  affidavit  before  the  clerk  of  the  district  court  in  an  action  of 
trespass  on  the  case  for  slander,  against  Martin  Harless,  stating  that  Harless 
had  falsely  accused  Milligan  of  forging  the  names  of  P.  B.  Harrison  and  Chris- 
topher Shuck,  justices  of  the  peace,  to  a  writ  called  a  writ  of  restitution.  In 
this  suit  Milligan  claimed  $1,000  damages  from  Harless.  Harless  was  taken 
in  custody  upon  capias  and  gave  bond  in  the  sum  of  $300  with  John  Bevins  and 
Thomas  England  as  security. 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  251 

The  subpoenas  show  that  William  Milligan  had  the  following  witnesses 
summoned:  Hiram  Smith,  Isaac  Ramsey,  E.  Chapman,  Henry  Johnson,  Noah 
Parrish,  Henry  Brendle,  Henry  Slaughter  and  Richard  Slaughter,  while  the 
defendant  Harles's  seems  to  have  caused  summons  to  be  issued  for  Philip  B. 
Harrison,  Henry  Warnstaff,  Charles  D.  Gilliam,  and  also  for  Christopher  Shuck, 
with  his  docket  entry  and  all  the  papers  belonging  in  the  case  of  William  Milli- 
gan against  Henry  Thompson  in  an  action  of  "forcible  entry  and  detainer." 
This  case  was  settled  on  May  4,  1838,  by  each  party  paying  his  own  costs. 

We  learn  from  a  suit  between  William  H.  Creighton  and  William  H.  Shuck 
that  about  April  1st,  1837,  Mr.  Creighton  and  James  Wilson  went  after  some 
meal  and  took  it  to  the  "slew,"  and  that  when  Creighton  proposed  to  take  the 
meal  across  in  a  canoe,  Shuck  said  to  him  that  he  could  go  through  with  the 
wagon  and  that  if  the  meal  was  lost  he  would  pay  for  it;  that  Shuck  went  in 
the  slough  and  got  stalled  and  that,  in  spite  of  all  efforts  of  all  three  of  the 
parties  to  save  the  meal,  about  thirty-five  bushels  of  it  was  lost.  Mr.  Creighton 
first  brought  his  suit  before  William  Milligan,  justice  of  the  peace,  and  recov- 
ered judgment  against  Shuck  for  $45,  with  $6.05  costs.  Mr.  Shuck  appealed 
to  the  district  court.  This  appeal  was  dismissed  on  motion  of  Chapman  & 
Grimes,  attorneys  for  Creighton,  which  motion  was  based  upon  the  following 
reasons:  (1st)  because  there  was  no  issue  made  up  in  court  daily  appearing 
upon  the  record;  (2d)  because  it  does  not  appear  from  the  transcript  which  of 
the  parties  took  the  appeal. 

There  were  a  great  many  indictments  for  assault  and  battery  at  the  first 
term  of  court  held  in  this  county.  One  was  against  John  Kern  for  an  assault 
upon  Joseph  Carter  in  February,  1837.  Another  was  against  Thomas  D.  Kil- 
lough  for  an  assault  upon  James  Criswell  in  April,  1837.  Another  was  against 
Isaac  Parsons  for  assaulting  our  first  school  teacher,  J.  W.  Ferguson,  on  July 
15,  1836.  Another  was  against  John  Westfall  for  assaulting  William  Dupont 
in  April,  1837.  Another  was  against  Joseph  Carter  for  assaulting  Riley  Driskel. 
Another  was  against  William  Kennedy  for  assaulting  James  Irwin,  December 
6,  1836. 

There  was  an  indictment  against  John  W.  Ferguson  for  assaulting  Samuel 
S.  Gourley  on  February  25,  1837,  and  another  against  Samuel  S.  Gourley  for 
assaulting  John  W.  Ferguson  on  the  same  date. 

The  indictments  for  assault  and  battery  were  all  much  alike ;  we  give  one  of 
them  : 

"The  grand  jurors  selected,  tried  and  sworn  in  and  for  the  body  of  the 
county  aforesaid  upon  their  oaths  presented  for  Isaac  Parsons  of  the  county 
aforesaid  on  the  15th  day  of  July  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight 
hundred  and  thirty-six,  with  force  and  arms  at  the  county  aforesaid  in  and 
upon  one  J.  W.  Ferguson  in  the  peace  of  God  and  the  United  States  then  and 
there  being,  did  make  an  assault,  and  him  the  said  J.  W.  Ferguson  then  and 
there  did  beat,  bruise,  wound  and  ill  treat  so  that  his  life  was  greatly  despaired 
of  and  other  wrongs  to  the  said  J.  W.  Ferguson  then  and  there  did  to  the  great 
damage  of  the  said  J.  W.  Ferguson,  and  against  the  peace  of  dignity  of  the 
United  States  of  America  and  contrary  to  the  said  statute  in  such  case  made 
and  provided  and  so  the  grand  jurors  aforesaid  do  say." 


252  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

Another  case  is  an  indictment  against  Orin  Briggs,  Robert  Briggs  and  |.  \\  . 
Ferguson,  charging  that  on  July  28,  1837.  the)'  "with  force  and  arms,  being 
unlawfully  assembled  together  in  a  warlike  manner  did  make  an  affray  to  the 
terror  and   disturbance  of  divers  of  the   citizens,   etc." 

Another  case  is  that  of  Samuel  Smith  against  Rufus  P.  Burlingame,  attach- 
ment for  the  sum  of  $750,  issued  June  17,  1837.  At  this  time  Samuel  Smith 
was  sheriff  and  it  was  necessary  to  place  the  writ  in  the  hands  of  the  coroner  for 
service.  Mr.  Burlingame  was  then  in  the  mercantile  business  at  the  town  of 
Iowa  and  it  appears  from  the  papers  that  his  store  goods  were  levied  on  and 
that  these  goods  were  appraised  by  Charles  B.  Field  and  William  Guthrie  at 
$2,913.76.  The  coroner  also  levied  on  two  yoke  of  oxen,  one  chain,  one  large 
<>\  wagon  which  were  appraised  at  $175.  one  cow  and  calf  appraised  at  $30 
and  also  2,000  rails  and  ten  acres  of  "broke  prairie"  immediately  west  of  the, 
adjoining  town  of  Iowa  appraised  at  -$61.25.  Mr.  Burlingame  gave  a  delivery 
bond  to  the  coroner  for  these  goods,  the  bond  being  signed  by  Francis  Blake, 
Jeremiah  Smith  and  William  Dupont.  In  May,  1838,  the  case  seems  to  have. 
been  settled  and  dismissed,  each  party  paying  half  the  costs. 

It  appears  that  our  first  postmaster,  C.  A.  Ballard,  also  was  in  litigation. 
On  July  19,  1837.  Ridgely  &  Billou,  by  Browning  &  Perrin.  their  attorneys, 
brought  an  action  of  assumpsit  against  him  for  $280.  I.  W.  Woods  represented 
Mr.  Ballard  and  moved  to  quash  the  writ,  (1st)  because  it  was  not  made  return- 
able to  the  district  court  but  to  the  judge;  (2d)  because  the  writ  was  not  in  the 
name  of  the  parties,  but  of  a  firm,  and  because  it  was  not  properly  endorsed. 
This  motion  after  "mature  consideration,"  as  the  record  shows,  was  sustained. 

We  must  not  omit  to  mention  a  suit  in  which  our  first  settler.  Christopher 
Shuck  was  interested;  it  was  the  case  of  Christopher  Shuck  vs.  Orin  Briggs. 
This  was  a  slander  suit  and  was  dismissed  at  the  cost  of  defendant  June  11. 
1839,  as  the  records  of  the  District  Court  show.  A  little  paper  filed  in  the  County 
Recorder's  office  dated  June  8.  1830.  explains  why  the  case  was  dismissed;  it 
is  as  follows : 

"To  the  Public.  Some  time  in  March  last  through  the  influence  of  passion 
I, — in  the  presence  of  Several  individuals  made  Several  statements  derogatory 
of  the  character  of  Christopher  Shuck.  Esqr.,  only  for  the  purpose  of  irritating 
him — I  stated  he  was  a  sheep  thief,  a  horse  thief  &c  &c  which  charge  may  do 
Mr.  Shuck  some  injury  abroad.  To  prevent  which  and  to  repair  the  injury  done 
Mr.  Shuck.  I  take  this  method  of  making  it  known  that  I  do  not  know  of  any 
act  of  his  that  would  warrant  me  in  making  the  above  charges — and  as  I  before 
Mated   I   made  them  only  for  the  purpose  of  irritating  him." 

June  8.  1839.  Orix  Briggs. 

In  the  presence  of 

Wm.   Fleming. 
Albert   Cadwf.ll. 

Another  item  in  the  Court  records  which  will  give  us  an  insight  into  the 
habits  of  the  pioneers  is  found  in  the  probate  record  of  the  estate  of  S.  S.  Gourlev, 
one  of  the  early  settlers  of  the  county.     Tt  shows  that  William  Milligan  filed  a 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  253 

note  for  $25.00  against  Mr.  Gourley's  estate,  and  that  Edward  II.  Thomas  was 
appointed  by  the  Court  to  defend  on  behalf  of  the  estate.  The  note  was  duly 
proven,  and  the  consideration  therefor  was  also  duly  proven,  and  the  Court's 
finding,  after  stating  the  foregoing  facts,  is  as  follows:  "It  is  adjudged  by  the 
Court  that  said  consideration  is  a  bad  one." 

Enough  interesting  items  could  be  found  in  the  probate  records  alone  to  fill  this 
volume,  but  we  will  content  ourselves  with  giving  the  final  entry  made  by  our 
last  probate  Judge,  .Merit  Jamison,  on  August  5,   1851,  it  is  as  follows:     "Court 
adjourned. 
"Signed  I."    Intended,  of  course,  for  sine  die. 

The  District  Court  records  show  numberless  reports  made  by  the  Grand  Jury, 
most  of  which  are  strictly  formal.  For  the  past  few  years  the  Grand  Jury  have 
condemned  our  Count)-  jail  at  least  once  a  year  and  sometimes  oftener.  We  think 
it  worth  while  to  give  the  report  made  at  the  October.  1865,  term  of  the  District 
Court,  which  is  as  follows: 

"Grand  Jury  Room.     Wapello,  Iowa,  Oct.  26,  1865. 

To  Hon.  Francis  Springer,  Judge  of  the  District  Court  of  Louisa  County, 
Iowa : 

The  Grand  Jury  in  the  discharge  of  their  duties  have  visited  and  examined 
the  County  Jail.  The  Jurors  were  gratified  to  find  it  tenantless,  no  persons  being 
confined  therein,  which  they  consider  a  good  argument  in  favor  of  the  morals  and 
law-abiding  qualities  of  the  citizens  of  the  County. 

The  Grand  Jury  after  much  patient  investigation  into  the  cases  of  liquor  sell- 
ing have  come  to  the  conclusion,  either  that  this  pernicious  traffic  has  nearly  ceased 
(except  for  medical  purposes)  or  else  that  there  is  a  great  deal  of  hard  swearing 
done  to  shield  the  perpetrators. 

All  of  which  is  respectfully  submitted. 

A.  Gamble, 

Foreman." 

LOUISA   COUNTY    LAWYERS. 

Lest  those  who  read  this  book  should  forget,  we  again  refer  to  the  fact  that 
this  publication  consists  of  two  volumes,  one  a  Biographical  and  the  other  a 
Historical  volume,  and  that  the  author  of  this  Historical  volume  has  had  no  con- 
nection with  the  Biographical  volume.  It  is  to  be  presumed  that  all  the  residents 
of  the  county  at  the  present  time  who  desired  their  biographies  or  the  biographies 
of  any  of  their  friends  or  relatives  in  this  work  have  made  arrangements  therefor 
with  the  publishers.  The  author  has.  however,  in  this  Historical  volume,  inserted 
brief  biographical  notices  of  a  few  of  our  departed  pioneers,  because  they  are 
considered  as  representatives  of  the  early  pioneers,  and  because  their  sketches  will 
not  likely  appear  in  the  biographical  volume 

As  is  well  known,  the  first  resident  lawyers  in  the  county  were  Francis 
Springer  and  Edward  H.  Thomas,  who  came  here  December  21,  1838. 

The  next  resident  lawyer  to  settle  here  was  Colonel  John  Bird,  who  came  in 
1843. 


254  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

Next  came  James  Noffsinger,  who  was  not  much  of  a  practitioner,  but  devoted 
his  attention  more  to  the  newspaper  business,  having  started  the  Louisa  County 
Times  in  1850. 

B.  F.  Wright  came  in  1853,  from  Indianapolis,  Indiana. 

James  S.  Hurley  came  to  the  County  in  1840.  but  came  to  Wapello  as  an  at- 
torney in  1854. 

D.  N.  Sprague  came  in  1855,  and  Levi  Chase  came  about  the  same  time  as 
Sprague,  or  perhaps  a  little  earlier;  we  have  not  the  exact  date  of  his  arrival. 

These  five  men.  Bird,  Wright,  Hurley.  Sprague  and  Chase  gave  Wapello 
a  strong  bar  during  the  years  of  their  activity.  Sketches  of  Mr.  Hurley  and 
Mr.  Sprague  will  be  found  in  the  chapter  on  Personal  Mention ;  we  have  not 
adequate  material  for  writing  sketches  of  the  other  three. 

Colonel  Bird  was  not  only  an  active  man  in  the  practice  of  law,  but  was  a 
man  of  great  public  spirit,  and  took  great  interest  in  the  promotion  of  any 
enterprise  which  promised  well  for  Wapello.  Both  he  and  Mr.  Hurley  were 
instrumental  in  getting  the  B.  C.  R.  &  M.  Railroad  to  Wapello. 

B.  F.  Wright  was  active  at  the  bar  for  a  great  many  years,  and  was  nearly 
always  in  demand  during  his  palmy  days  to  assist  in  the  defense  of  noted 
criminal  cases,  as  well  as  to  make  public  addresses.  Mr.  Wright  was  a  member 
of  Company  G  of  the  19th  Iowa,  and  came  out  of  the  war  as  second  lieutenant. 

Colonel  Bird  organized  Company  F  of  the   19th  Iowa  and  was  its  captain. 

Another  prominent  member  of  the  Wapello  liar  who  now  lives  in  Utah,  was 
E.  W.   Tatlock,  who  came  here  in   1869. 

In  October.  1874,  J.  B.  Wilson  was  admitted  to  practice,  and  for  a  long 
time  (he  firm  of  Tatlock  &  Wilson  was  well  known  in  the  legal  circles  of  the 
county.     Mr.  Wilson  is  now  practicing  in  Fredonia,  Kansas. 

After  John  Hale  retired  from  the  Clerk's  office  he  became  a  partner  with 
James  S.  Hurley;  a  sketch  of  Mr.  Hale  will  be  found  elsewhere. 

The  present  members  of  the  Louisa  County  bar.  are  as  follows: 

Columbus  Junction:  C.  A.  Carpenter;  D.  N.  Johnson;  F.  M.  Molsberry 
and  E.  B.  Tucker. 

Morning  Sun:     Fred  Courts  and  Guy  J.  Tomlinson. 

Wapello:  Oscar  Hale:  W.  H.  Hurley;  L.  A.  Reiley ;  Arthur  Springer; 
H.  O.  Weaver  and  C.  M.  Wright. 

We  append  herewith  an  alphabetical  list  of  all  the  lawyers  who  have  ever 
been  resident  practitioners  in  this  county:     Charles  H.   Abbott,  John  Bird,  W. 

E.  Blake.  J.  B.  Brigham,  R.  C.  Burchell.  Charles  Baldwin,  C.  A.  Carpenter. 
Robert  Caldwell,  Levi  Chase,  Fred  Courts,  H.  E.  Curran,  James  M.  Edwards, 
P.  W.  Forbes,  F.  E.  Goble,  W.  H.  Gray,  W.  P.  Gregory,  John  Hale,  Oscar  Hale,- 
G.  B.  Haddock,  James  S.  Hurley,  W.  H.  Hurley,  R.  H.  Hanna,  K.  O.  Holmes, 
John  Huff,  A.  W.  Jarvis,  D.  N.  Johnson,  Jerry  M.  Limbocker,  A.  P.  Limbocker, 

F.  M.  Molsberry,  Perry  McVey,  James  Noffsinger,  Joseph  L.  Paschall,  Royal 
Prentis,  H.  W.  Perkins,  L.  A.  Reiley,  Francis  Springer,  D.  N.  Sprague,  Frank 
Springer,  Arthur  Springer,  E.  W.  Tatlock,  E.  H.  Thomas,  Guy  J.  Tomlinson, 
E.  M.  Timony,  E.  B.  Tucker,  James  M.  Virgin,  H.  O.  Weaver,  J.  B.  Wilson, 
G  W.  Watters,  G.  T.  Whisler,  B.  F.  Wright,  A.  M.  Williams,  C.  M.  Wright. 

We  have  included  in  this  list  the  names  of  Hon.  W.  E.  Blake  of  Burlington, 
and   Hon.   Frank   Springer  of   Las   Vegas,   New   Mexico,  both   of   whom   have 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  255 

attained  great  distinction  in  their  profession,  and  both  of  whom  were  residents 
of  the  county  at  the  time  they  were  admitted  to  the  bar,  and  both  of  them  first 
began  practice  at  Burlington,  Mr.  Blake  as  the  partner  of  Judge  Newman,  and 
Mr.  Springer  as  the  partner  of  Hon.  Henry  Strong. 

For  a  short  time  there  was  a  lawyer  by  the  name  of  Dunlap  at  Burris  City ; 
there  was  also  a  lawyer-editor  by  the  name  of  Stafford  connected  with  the 
"Burris  Commercial,"  but  his  residence  was  New  Boston  most,  if  not  all  the 
time. 


CHAPTER  XV. 


LOUISA    COUNTY    DOCTORS. 


Many  of  our  early  doctors  have  left  no  data  from  which  to  make  adequate 
biographical  sketches  of  them.  One  of  the  early  doctors  in  the  county  was 
Reuben  S.  Searl.  He  lived  at  Harrison  for  a  time.  His  wife  was  a  sister  of 
Levi  Stephen. 

Another  early  doctor  was  John  W.  Brookbank,  who,  besides  being  a  doctor, 
was  something  of  a  politician  and  represented  this  county  in  the  first  constitu- 
tional convention.     He  was  a  splendid  man,  and  a  fine  doctor. 

Dr.  Howey  came  to  the  county  about  this  time  and  first  settled  in  Harrison, 
and  while  he  was  there  formed  a  partnership  with  Dr.  Brookbank,  the  firm 
having  offices  both  in  Wapello  and  Harrison.  Dr.  Howey's  first  wife  was  a 
Delabar,  who  was  buried  in  the  Harrison  cemetery.  Dr.  Howey  next  married 
a  daughter  of  Joshua  Marshall.  His  third  wife  was  Miss  McMahill.  In  his 
early  years  Dr.  Howey  was  rather  an  active  practitioner  but  later  he  abandoned 
the  practice  of  medicine  for  the  drug  business. 

Another  early  doctor  was  Enoch  K.  Maxson,  of  Fredonia,  who  came  here 
probably  as  early  as  1840.  He  is  said  to  have  had  quite  an  extensive  practice 
in  the  forks  of  the  river  and  east  of  there,  and  to  have  been  quite  popular  in 
that  section.  He  died  early  in  the  '40s.  Dr.  Samuel  R.  Isett  of  Cairo,  was  also 
an  early  doctor. 

The  first  doctor  at  Columbus  City  was  James  M.  Robertson,  who  came  there 
from  Burlington  and  had  been  a  wholesale  and  retail  druggist  at  Burlington 
for  a  few  years.  Dr.  Robertson's  name  figures  extensively  in  the  history  of 
Columbus  City. 

Other  Columbus  City  doctors  in  those  early  years  were:  Dr.  Skillman,  B.  G. 
Neal,  W.  M.  Clark,  W.  A.  Colton,  John  Overholt,  and  it  is  said  that  Dr.  John 
Bell,  Jr.,  was  a  resident  of  Columbus  City  for  a  very  short  time.  In  1856  Colum- 
bus City  boasted  of  seven  doctors,  whose  names  will  be  found  in  the  history  of 
that  place.  At  a  somewhat  later  date  Dr.  John  Overholt  came  to  Columbus 
City.  One  of  the  noted  doctors  of  that  place  was  Dr.  W.  S.  Robertson,  who  was 
at  one  time  captain  of  the  Union  Guards,  was  a  major  in  the  Union  army,  but 
resigned  early  in  the  war,  because,  as  it  is  said,  he  was  not  appointed  colonel 
of  the  Thirtieth  Iowa,  when  Charles  H.  Abbott  of  this  county  received  that 
position.  Dr.  Robertson  became  one  of.  the  foremost  doctors  of  the  state,  and 
was  one  of  the  organizers  of  the  medical  department  of  the  State  University 
and  for  a  long  time  a  member  of  its  faculty. 

Drs.  Clark  and  Colton  kept  a  drug  store  at  Columbus  City.  Dr.  Colton  was 
an  active  practitioner  for  some  time.     In  1858  he  was  elected  county  treasurer, 

257 


258  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

being  one  of  the  few  democrats  elected  in  this  count}-  that  year.  He  moved  to 
Des  Moines  in  18(17.  "here  he  continued  in  the  drug  business  until  1876,  when 
he  came  to  Columbus  Junction  and  was  elected  cashier  of  the  Louisa  County 
National  Hank  soon  afterward,  which  position  he  held  for  a  great  many  years. 
During  his  residence  at  Columbus  Junction,  he  was  elected  a  member  of  the 
eighteenth  general  assembly.  lie  was  also  one  of  the  leading  Masons  of  the 
county.  Few  men  in  the  county  have  enjoyed  to  a  greater  degree  the  confidence 
and  respect  of  the  whole  people  than  did  Dr.  Colton. 

Another  of  the  doctors  in  the  north  end  of  the  county  before  the  war  was 
Solomon  Dill,  who  in  1859  was  located  at  Altoona.  which  was  the  postoffice 
name  for  Hillsboro  and  Lafayette;  Dr.  Dill  afterward  lived  at  Fredonia  for 
many  vears.     Dr.  A.  L.   Baird  lived  at  Ononwa  in   1859. 

Manv  of  the  Louisa  county  doctors  are  referred  to  in  an  excellent  paper 
prepared  by  Dr.  \Y.  S.  Grimes,  of  Wapello,  and  read  at  a  recent  meeting  of  the 
Louisa  County  Medical  Society.  "With  Dr.  Grimes'  permission,  we  copy  the 
article   in    full  : 

"The  Louisa 'County  Medical  Society  was  organized  April  24,  1852.  at 
Wapello,  Iowa.  It  evidently  is  one  of  the  pioneer  county  societies  of  the  state, 
the  State  Medical  Society  having  been  organized  and  incorporated  in  1861.  At 
the  first  meeting  of  the  society.  Dr.  J.  M.  Robertson,  of  Columbus  City,  was 
elected  president ;  Dr.  T.  G.  Taylor,  of  Wapello,  secretary  ;  Dr.  J.  B.  Latta,  of 
Grandview,  treasurer.  Drs.  H.  T.  Cleaver,  John  Bell,  Jr.  of  Wapello,  and  J. 
H.  Graham,  of  Morning  Sun,  were  appointed  censors.  At  that  meeting  a  con- 
stitution, by-laws  and  code  of  ethics  were  adopted. 

"It  seems  that  the  above  named  physicians  were  all  that  were  in  attendance 
at  the  time  of  organization.  At  the  next  meeting,  January  19,  1853,  Drs.  H. 
Belknap,  John  Cleaves  of  Columbus  City,  and  A.  S.  Condon  were  admitted  to 
membership.  Where  the  latter  was  located  in  the  county  I  have  been  unable 
to  learn.  Dr.  John  Bell,  Sr..  of  Wapello,  was  admitted  as  an  honorary  member 
of  the  society.  April  16,  1853.  Dr.  W.  M.  Clark,  of  Columbus  City,  was  admitted 
at  the  same  time.  In  January,  1854,  Dr.  B.  G.  Neal,  of  Columbus  City,  was 
admitted  to  membership.  On  January  3-  1855,  the  operation  of  removing  a 
bar  of  lead  from  the  stomach  of  L.  W.  Bates,  was  performed  by  Dr.  John 
Bell.  Jr..  assisted  by  Drs.  J.  M.  Robertson.  H.  T.  Cleaver,  J.  H.  Graham  and 
T.  G.  Taylor.  This  operation  was  performed  at  the  home  of  the  patient,  a 
small  cabin,  six  miles  northwest  of  Wapello.  A  full  report  of  the  case  was 
made  by  Dr.  John  Bell  to  the  'Boston  Medical  and  Surgical  Journal,'  January 
19.,  i860,  a  reprint  of  which  will  be  attached  to  this  report.  (This  bar  of  lead 
is  now  in  my  possession). 

"May  2^,,  1855,  Dr.  W.  A.  Colton,  of  Columbus  City,  was  admitted  to 
membership,  and  on  April  19,  1856,  Dr.  W.  S.  Robertson,  of  Columbus  City  was 
admitted  to  membership.  Some  years  after  this  he  was  elected  professor  in  the 
medical  department  of  the  Iowa  State  University,  which  position  he  held  until 
the  time  of  his  death,  which  occurred  in  Muscatine,  Iowa. 

"May  28,  1856,  Dr.  D.  McCaughn,  of  Morning  Sun,  was  admitted  to  mem- 
bership. There  were  no  other  accessions  to  the  society  until  April  18.  1857. 
when  Dr.  John  Muldoon,  of  Wapello,  was  admitted.     July   17.  1858.  Dr.  C.  H. 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  259 

Curtis  (location  unknown  to  me)  was  admitted  to  membership.  April  20,  1861, 
Dr.  S.  E.  Jones,  of  Grandview,  was  made  a  member.  [Dr.  Curtis  died  at  Colum- 
bus City  in   1859. — Editor.]. 

"November  16,  1864,  Dr.  I.  C.  Brown,  of  Columbus  City,  was  admitted. 
November  15,  1865,  Dr.  J.  F.  Grimes,  of  Wapello  (a  brother  of  the  writer), 
was  admitted  to  membership.  July  12,  1866,  Dr.  D.  W.  Overholt,  then  at 
Grandview,  but  later  of  Columbus  Junction,  was  admitted.  April  17,  1867, 
Drs.  J.  W.  Holliday.  then  at  Morning  Sun,  now  located  at  Burlington,  and 
O.  E.  Deeds,  of  Wapello,  were  made  members. 

"April  18,  1 87 1,  Drs.  A.  B.  McCandless,  of  Columbus  City,  Frank  Tustison, 
of  Wapello,  and  B.  G.  Kimmel.  of  Winfield,  were  admitted.  May  30,  1872, 
J.  A.  Thompson,  of  Cairo,  and  later  of  Letts,  was  admitted.  April  19,  1873, 
W.  S.  Grimes,  of  Wapello,  was  made  a  member,  and  on  May  15,  1873,  Drs. 
H.  Ochiltree  and  S.  R.  Spaulding,  of  Morning  Sun,  were  admitted. 

"July  10,  1873,  Drs.  Thomas  Blackstone,  of  Cairo,  S.  Dill,  of  Fredonia,  and 
George  P.  Neal,  of  Columbus  Junction,  were  admitted  to  membership.  Novem- 
ber 13,  1873,  Dr.  N.  W.  Mountain,  of  Lettsville.  was  admitted.  In  April,  1874, 
Dr.  J.  A.  Scroggs,  of  Grandview,  was  admitted  to  membership.  Soon  after  he 
located  in  Muscatine  and  later  in  Keokuk,  Iowa,  where  he  accepted  the  chair 
of  obstetrics  in  the  Keokuk  Medical  College  in  1882.  He  held  this  position 
until  1908,  when  the  college  was  merged  with  Drake  University.  He  died  in 
Keokuk,  August  2^,  1910.  Dr.  M.  W.  Lilly,  of  Grandview,  now  of  Chicago, 
was  admitted  in   1875. 

"Dr.  H.  S.  Rogers,  of  Grandview,  joined  the  society  in  1878,  which  mem- 
bership he  held  until  his  removal  to  Red  Oak  in  1885.  Drs.  D.  J.  Higley,  of 
Grandview,  and  J.  L.  Overholt,  of  Columbus  Junction,  were  admitted  prior  to 
1890,  the  exact  date  of  which  I  have  been  unable  to  learn. 

"From  1887  to  1890  no  meetings  of  the  society  were  held.  On  April  26, 
1900,  a  meeting  was  held  in  Columbus  Junction,  when  the  following  named 
physicians  were  admitted  to  membership :  D.  Y.  Graham,  W.  R.  Smyth.  W.  S. 
McClellan,  of  Morning  Sun  :  J.  H.  Chittum,  of  Wapello ;  J.  W.  and  C.  S.  Clegg, 
of  Columbus  Junction ;  and  J.  W.  Morgan  and  S.  J.  Lewis,  of  Columbus  City. 

"May  9.  1901,  H.  C.  Brown,  of  Columbus  Junction,  J.  H.  Wallahan  and  E. 
A.  Sailor,  of  Wapello,  were  admitted  to  membership.  October  24.  1901,  Dr. 
G.  W.  Armentrout,  of  Letts,  was  made  a  member,  and  on  June  14,  1902,  A.  M. 
Cowden,  of  Grandview,  was  admitted.  September  10,  1903,  Drs.  A.  M.  Rogers, 
O.  G.  Messenger,  of  Wapello,  and  R.  C.  Ditto,  of  Oakville,  were  admitted  to 
membership.  October  13,  1904.  Drs.  F.  A.  Hubbard  and  E.  C.  Rogers,  of 
Columbus  Junction,  were  admitted.     The  latter  is  now  a  resident  of  Wapello. 

"It  is  my  belief  that  the  following  named  physicians  were  at  one  time  mem- 
bers of  the  society,  but  the  records  of  the  earlier  meetings  having  been  destroyed 
by  fire,  so  I  am  unable  to  be  definite.  They  were:  Frank  Graham,  now  of 
Atlantic,  Iowa  ;  E.  I.  Hall,  at  one  time  a  resident  of  Columbus  Junction,  after- 
ward moved  south  to  Louisiana ;  E.  F.  Latta,  a  son  of  J.  B.  Latta,  of  Grand- 
view,  and  formerly  a  partner  with  his  father,  later  located  at  Unadilla,  Nebraska, 
wdiere  he  died  January  29,  1894. 

"So  far  as  I  have  been  able  to  ascertain,  this  included  all  who  are  or  have 
been  members  of  the  society   from  its  organization  to  the  present  time.     For- 


260  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

merly  the  meetings  were  held  quarterly  and  one  day's  program  covered  a  broad 
field.  To  illustrate :  At  a  meeting  held  April  19,  1856,  the  following  members 
were  appointed  to  give  'dissertations'  at  the  next  meeting,  viz :  Dr.  J.  M.  Robert- 
son, 'On  General  Practice ;'  Dr.  T.  G.  Taylor,  'Obstetrics  and  Diseases  of 
Women  and  Children ;'  Dr.  H.  T.  Cleaver,  'On  Surgery ;'  Dr.  John  Cleaves, 
'Pathological  Anatomy ;'  Dr.  W.  A.  Colton,  'Materia  Medica  and  Therapeutics.' 

"In  those  days  the  only  means  of  transportation  was  private  conveyance 
(there  being  no  railroads  in  this  part  of  the  state).  Hotel  accommodations 
not  being  good,  all  were  entertained  at  the  home  of  a  member,  where  the  meet- 
ing was  held.  One  pleasant  feature  was  customary,  for  the  wives  to  accompany 
their  husbands  and  enjoy  the  hospitality  of  the  host,  which,  I  assure  you,  added 
interest  as  well  as  pleasure  to  the  occasion. 

"All  the  original  organizers  of  the  society  were  living  when  I  became  a 
member.  It  was  not  only  my  privilege,  but  my  pleasure,  to  become  intimately 
acquainted  with  some  of  them,  and  some  of  whom  I  considered  very  dear 
friends.  Joining  the  society  one  year  before  graduating  from  medical  college, 
I  was  required  to  write  a  thesis  on  a  subject  selected  by  the  society  and  pass 
examination  before  the  board  of  censors. 

"Remembering  my  association  with  these  medical  pioneers,  I  wish  to  speak 
particularly  of  some  of  them,  Dr.  J.  H.  Graham  being  the  oldest.  He  was  born 
in  Kentucky,  April  22,  1823,  and  graduated  from  Ohio  Medical  College,  March 
2,  1847.  He  practiced  in  Ohio  for  two  years,  when  he  came  to  Iowa,  locating 
at  Morning  Sun,  where  he  remained  until  1869,  when  he  moved  to  Grandview. 
After  a  few  years  he  returned  to  Morning  Sun  and  continued  in  practice  until 
the  time  of  his  death,  which  occurred  June  12,  1897.  Thus,  you  see,  for  fifty 
years  he  remained  in  active  practice  of  his  chosen  profession.  Diagnosis  was 
one  of  his  strong  points.  He  often  said  to  me,  'When  you  have  made  a  correct 
diagnosis,  it  will  be  very  easy  to  apply  the  remedy.'  He  was  also  a  severe  critic, 
and  for  a  time,  until  I  became  thoroughly  acquainted  with  him,  I  thought  him 
to  be  not  only  severe,  but  sarcastic.  After  I  learned  to  know  him,  I  found  this 
was  only  outward,  for  beneath  it  all,  his  feelings  were  of  the  warmest,  kindliest 
and  most  sympathetic.  At  the  time  of  my  admission  to  the  society,  he  was  one 
of  the  board  of  censors,  and  I  assure  you  no  question  was  left  unasked ;  no 
criticism  unsaid,  until  I  thought  he  surely  'had  it  in  for  me.'  This  feeling  after- 
ward gave  way  to  one  of  admiration,  and  I  always  am  glad  of  an  opportunity 
to  meet  him  in  consultation  and  ask  his  advice  in  difficult  cases.  I  knew  I 
would  get  an  honest  opinion,  based  upon  his  many  years  of  experience. 

"Dr.  T.  G.  Taylor,  one  of  the  original  organizers  of  the  society,  was  in 
active  practice  in  Wapello  for  many  years.  He  was  a  native  of  one  of  the 
Carolinas.  I  have  no  reliable  information  from  which  I  can  give  his  biography. 
It  has  been  reported  to  me  he  was  not  a  graduate  of  any  medical  college.  His 
manner  was  very  pleasant  and  affable,  winning  the  confidence  of  his  patients. 
He  moved  to  Muscatine,  where  he  continued  in  active  practice  until  his  death, 
which  occurred  in  1887  or  1888. 

"Dr.  J.  B.  Latta,  another  of  the  organizers,  and»  a  pioneer  physician  of  Louisa 
•county,  was  born  in  Ohio,  November  26,  1823.  He  graduated  from  Ohio  Medi- 
cal College  in  1849  and  located  at  Grandview,  Iowa.  I  was  not  as  intimately 
acquainted  with  him  as  with  some  of  the  other  old  members,  but  knew  him  to 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  261 

be  a  very  competent  and  successful  physician  and  to  have  had  an  extensive 
practice  for  many  years.  He  later  moved  to  San  Diego,  California,  where  he 
died  November  26,   1896. 

"Dr.  Hiram  T.  Cleaver  was  born  in  Pennsylvania,  February  17,  1822.  While 
knowing  him,  I  was  never  closely  associated  with  him  but  obtained  the  follow- 
ing information  from  his  daughter,  Mrs.  Dr.  Scroggs:  'He  graduated  at  New 
Lisbon,  Ohio,  in  1841.  While  in  that  institution  his  tutor  in  Greek  and  Latin 
was  the  famous  Clement  C.  Vallandinghara,  who  became  so  prominent  in  the 
history  of  that  section  during  the  Civil  war.  He  read  medicine  with  Dr.  T. 
Green  at  New  Lisbon,  with  whom  he  remained  for  three  years.  He  then  formed 
a  partnership  with  him  and  practiced  there  until  1848.  He  then  moved  to 
Wapello,  Iowa,  and  practiced  here  until  1862.  While  here  he  served  as  state 
senator  from  1854  to  1858.  In  1862  he  moved  to  Keokuk  and  assumed  charge 
of  the  Estes  House  Government  Hospital.  In  the  same  year  he  was  granted 
a  diploma  from  the  College  of  Physicians  &  Surgeons,  of  Keokuk.  While 
there  be  accepted  the  chair  of  obstetrics  and  gynecology  in  the  college,  which 
position  he  held  until  1881.  In  1878  he  was  one  of  five  delegates  from  the 
American  Medical  Association  sent  to  the  British  and  Foreign  Medical  Asso- 
ciation held  in  Parte,  England.  He  died  in  Las  Yegas,  New  Mexico,  January 
11,   1888.' 

"Dr.  J.  M.  Robertson,  of  Columbus  City,  while  a  pioneer  practitioner,  was 
not  a  graduate  of  any  medical  college,  so  far  as  I  can  ascertain.  He  was  still 
in  active  practice  in  the  county  when  I  joined  the  society,  but  it  was  never  my 
pleasure  to  meet  him.  He  was  reported  to  have  had  a  good  practice  and  was  a 
very  successful  physician. 

"Dr.  John  Bell,  Jr.,  was  one  of  the  original  members  of  the  society.  He  prac- 
ticed medicine  at  Wapello  for  some  years,  when  he  removed  to  Davenport,  where 
he  remained  several  years,  then  moved  to  Dallas,  Texas.  He  was  a  very  suc- 
cessful practitioner.  The  operation  which  he  performed — removing  a  bar  of  lead 
from  Bates'  stomach — showed  him  to  be  a  daring  and  successful  surgeon.  This 
operation  was  performed  before  the  days  of  antiseptics,  and  when  very  little 
abdominal  surgery  had  been  performed.  I  had  the  pleasure  of  meeting  him  but 
once  during  his  life.     He  died  in  Dallas,  Texas,  some  twenty-five  years  ago. 

"It  would  afford  me  pleasure  to  go  down  the  line  and  speak  of  other  pioneer 
members  of  the  society  with  whom  it  was  my  pleasure  to  be  acquainted.  I 
feel  I  must  make  mention  of  Dr.  B.  G.  Neal,  who  was  located  at  Columbus 
City  in  1848  or  1849.  At  that  time  he  was  not  a  graduate  in  medicine  but  in 
1856  received  a  diploma  from  Rush  Medical  College  of  Chicago.  I  have  been 
reliablv  informed  he  performed  a  "Caesarean  Section"  in  the  early  '60s  near 
Columbus  City,  the  only  time  that  operation  was  ever  performed  in  the  county, 
so  far  as  I  can  learn.  He  died  a  few  years  ago  at  his  home  in  Columbus  Junc- 
tion, Iowa." 

Dr.  Grimes  might  have  claimed  for  the  Louisa  County  Medical  Society  that  it 
was  the  first  county  medical  organization  in  Iowa,  as  this  is  undoubtedly  the  fact. 

Dr.  B.  G.  Neal  was  a  printer  by  trade,  also,  and,  in  the  printing  office  of 
George  Paul,  at  Iowa  City  set  a  great  part  of  the  type  for  the  publication  of 
the  Code  of  1851. 


262  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

EXTRACTING    A    BAR    OF    LEAD    FROM     THE    STOMACH 

The  operation  performed  by  Dr.  John  Bell.  Jr..  of  extracting  a  bar  of  lead 
from  the  stomach  of  L.  W.  Bates,  which  is  referred  to  by  Dr.  Grimes  in  his 
paper,  made  Dr.  Bell  quite  famous  among  the  medical  fraternity  of  the  country. 
Dr.  Bell  wrote  an  account  of  this  operation,  which  was  originally  published  in 
the  Iowa  Medical  &  Surgical  Journal,  of  April.  1855.  and  was  republished  in 
the  Boston  Medical  &  Surgical  Journal,  in  January,  i860.  \Ye  make  the  fol- 
lowing extracts  from  the  article:  "On  Christmas  clay.  1854,  I  was  summoned  to 
see  L.  W.  Bates,  aet.  32,  who  it  was  said,  while  performing  the  feat  of  running 
a  bar  of  lead  down  his  throat,  had  accidentally  let  it  slip,  so  that  it  descended 
into  his  stomach;  but  before  I  left  my  office,  he  came  in,  followed  by  a  crowd. 
I  asked  him  if  he  bad  swallowed  a  bar  of  lead.  He  said  that  he  had  and  that  it 
was  nothing  wonderful  for  him  to  do,  as  he  had  swallowed  a  number  at  previous 
times.  This  was  said  in  a  half  waggish  manner,  and  being  to  all  appearances 
partially  intoxicated  and  having  withal  a  reputation  of  being  an  expert  at  juggling 
and  sleight  of  hand.  I  supposed  it  to  be  one  of  his  tricks,  anil  this  opinion  was 
strengthened  from  the  fact  that  he  seemed  to  be  suffering  no  inconvenience.  I 
believed  it  to  be  a  hoax;  but  to  satisfy  myself  further,  I  passed  a  sound  down 
the  aesophagus   into  the   stomach   but  could   discover   nothing." 

Dr.  Bell  then  relates  in  his  article  that  Mr.  Bates  returned  again  in  a  little 
while,  accompanied  by  Dr.  Cleaver,  and  that  after  a  brief  consultation,  he  and  Dr. 
Cleaver  examined  him  but  found  no  satisfactory  evidence  of  the  bar  of  lead 
being  there.  They  told  Bates  to  go  about  his  business  and  if  it  troubled  him 
any  to  let  them  know.  It  seems  that  Bates  went  to  work  and  worked  for  about 
four  davs,  and  becoming  unwell,  sent  for  Dr.  Robertson,  of  Columbus  City, 
and  the  latter  sent  for  a  number  of  outside  physicians  to  meet  him  at  the  patient's 
home,  which  was  about  six  miles  from  Wapello.  Drs.  Bell,  Taylor  and  Cleaver, 
from  Wapello,  Drs.  Robertson  and  Xeal  from  Columbus  City  were  there,  as  well 
as  Dr.  Graham,  and  Dr.  Crawford.  This  was  on  January  1st.  These  doctors 
were  unable  to  convince  themselves  that  there  was  any  bar  of  lead  in  Bates' 
stomach,  but  they  prescribed  treatment  for  him  and  awaited  results.  Dr.  Bell 
was  called  again  the  next  day  and  found  the  patient  in  great  suffering,  and  vomit- 
ing a  dark  watery  fluid.  An  examination  then  convinced  the  doctors  that  he  had 
in  fact  swallowed  the  bar  of  lead.  On  January  3d.  Dr.  Bell  performed  the  oper- 
ation in  the  presence  of  Drs.  Robertson,  Cleaver,  Graham  and  Taylor.  The 
operation  is  thus  described  by  Dr.   Bell  in  the  paper  referred  to: 

"The  patient  having  been  properly  placed  and  secured,  chloroform  was  ad- 
ministered. It  produced,  at  first,  some  nausea,  and  he  threw  up  a  quantity  of 
black,  foetid,  waterv  fluid.  As  soon  as  insensibility  ensued.  I  made  an  incision 
from  the  point  of  the  second  false  rib  to  the  umbilicus,  dividing  the  skin  and  the 
cellular  membrane ;  thence  through  the  abdominal  muscles  to  the  peritoneum, 
which  1  laid  hare  the  whole  length  of  the  incision.  1  then  made  a  minute  opening 
at  the  lower  end  of  the  section,  through  the  peritoneum,  passed  in  the  director, 
and  with  a  probe-pointed  bistoury  divided  it  through  the  entire  length  of  the 
incision.  The  division  of  the  peritoneum  produced  a  spasmodic  contraction  of 
the  muscles  of  the  abdomen,  and  a  large  quantity  of  the  omentum  and  bowels 
was  ejected  from  the  orifice.     Increasing  the  chloroform  controlled  the  spasm. 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  263 

and  I  replaced  the  bowels  as  speedily  as  possible,  and  passed  my  hand  inward 
and  upward  through  the  incision,  grasped  the  stomach  and  immediately  discov- 
ered the  bar  of  lead  and  its  position.  It  lay  in  a  direction  from  right  to  left, 
the  upper  end  resting  against  the  wall  of  the  stomach  to  the  right  of  the  cardiac 
orifice;  the  lower  end  in  the  greater  curvature  of  the  stomach,  to  the  left  of  and 
below  the  pylorus.  As  it  was  impracticable  to  reach  the  upper  end.  I  seized  the 
bar  between  my  thumb  and  middle  finger,  and  with  the  fore  finger  on  the  lower 
end  of  it,  I  retracted  it  upward  and  backward  for  the  purpose  of  making  the 
incision  in  the  stomach  as  high  up  as  possible.  I  then  passed  a  scalpel  in,  along 
the  sides  of  the  fore  finger  as  a  director,  and  divided  the  coats  of  the  stomach 
immediately  at  the  end  of  the  bar,  making  the  incision  parallel  with  the  muscular 
fibres,  and  not  larger  than  to  admit  of  the  removal  of  the  lead.  I  then  introduced 
a  pair  of  long  forceps,  seized  and  drew  out  the  lead,  and  placed  the  stomach  in 
its  natural  position.  The  external  orifice  was  closed  with  the  ordinary  interrupted 
suture  and  adhesive  straps,  a  compress  applied,  and  a  roller  around  the  body.  The 
time  occupied  in  operating  was  twenty  minutes." 

Dr.  Bell's  article  then  gives  a  medical  history  of  the  case  subsequent  to  the 
operation,  from  which  it  seems  that  the  patient  was  discharged  as  cured  on 
Wednesday,  Tanuary  17th.  This  operation  is  considered  one  of  the  most  re- 
markable ever  performed.  The  editor  of  the  Boston  Medical  &  Surgical  Journal 
says  of  it :  "We  believe  this  extraordinary  case  to  be  wholly  unique  in  the  an- 
nals of  medicine." 

The  original  bar  of  lead  is  now  in  possession  of  Dr.  W.  S.  Grimes,  and  at 
a  recent  meting  of  the  railway  surgeons  held  in  Denver,  Dr.  Grimes,  in  response 
to  numerous  requests,  took  the  bar  of  lead  there  and  exhibited  it,  and  read  Dr. 
Bell's  report  of  the  case. 

Not  long  after  the  operation.  Bates  went  to  Kansas  and  soon  got  into  some 
sort  of  trouble  there.  We  have  no  authentic  history  of  him  but  in  the  Columbus 
City  Enterprise  it  was  stated  in  1859  that  a  report  had  come  from  Kansas  that 
Bates  had  been  hung  there  for  horse  stealing.  This  is  certainly  a  mistake,  as 
Bates  was  seen  by  N.  W.  ("B")  McKay  in  the  Missouri  Penitentiary  in  1861.  At 
that  time  Mr.  McKay  was  on  guard  duty,  and  recognized  Bates. 

We  may  add  to  Dr.  Grimes'  notice  of  Dr.  Bell  that  he  taught  school  in  Des 
Moines  county  in  the  winter  of  1854-5;  that  he  was  one  of  the  original  mem- 
bers of  the  Iowa  State  Medical  Society ;  that  he  was  one  of  the  leading  demo- 
crats of  the  county  in  his  clay,  having  been  at  one  time  their  candidate  for  State 
Senator.  Tradition  says  that  at  the  time  Dr.  Bell  performed  his  famous  opera- 
tion, the  other  doctors  present  were  quite  certain  that  even  if  the  bar  of  lead  could 
be  located  and  extracted,  the  patient  could  not  recover ;  and  some  of  them  were  a 
little  nervous  at  the  thought  of  possible  criminal  prosecution.  Dr.  Bell  graduated 
from  the  Missouri  Medical  College  at  St.  Louis,  first  practiced  at  Palmyra,  Ohio; 
then,  in  1837,  located  at  Mt.  Pleasant.  Iowa,  and  a  little  later  at  Columbus  City, 
and  settled  in  Wapello  about  1844. 

Dr.  William  H.  Darrow  deserves  special  mention.  He  was  an  early  settler, 
having  come  to  Columbus  City  with  his  father  and  other  members  of  the  family 
some  years  prior  to  1850.  He  was  born  in  Summit  County,  Ohio,  August  17, 
1838,  his  father  being  George  Darrow,  who,  after  settling  at  Columbus  City,  en- 


264  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

gaged  in  the  timber  business  and  at  one  time  had  a  saw  mill  on  the  Iowa  river 
about  twelve  miles  north  of  Columbus  City. 

In  1 85 1,  when  only  thirteen,  William  entered  the  drug  store  of  Clark  &  Coi- 
ton,  at  Columbus  City,  where  he  earned  and  saved  enough  to  take  him  through 
the  Keokuk  Medical  College,  at  which  he  graduated  in  February,  1859.  lie  at 
once  hung  out  his  shingle  at  Columbus  City.  At  that  time  there  was  probably  a 
surplus  of  medical  talent  there,  for  we  find  our  young  doctor,  a  little  later,  en- 
gaged  in  the  grocery  business.  When  Captain  John  L.  Grubb.  of  Columbus  City, 
got  up  Company  "C"  of  the  5th  Iowa,  Dr.  Darrow  enlisted  as  a  private  in  that 
company.  This  was  on  July  1st,  1861.  He  was  mustered  into  service  Julv  16th, 
1861,  and  was,  about  this  time,  appointed  Hospital  Steward.  On  April  30,  1862, 
he  was  promoted  "Additional  Assistant  Surgeon,"  and  on  September  16,  1862, 
he  was  made  Assistant  Surgeon,  which  position  he  held  until  he  was  mustered 
out,  at  Chattanooga,  Tenn.,  July  30,  1864.  his  term  of  service  having  expired. 
After  his  return  from  the  army  he  practiced  medicine  at  Cairo,  in  this  county, 
until  1872,  when  he  moved  to  Columbus  Junction,  becoming  not  merely  one  of 
its  pioneer  business  men,  but  also  one  of  its  most  useful  and  successful  citizens, 
In  1875,  in  addition  to  his  medical  practice,  he  engaged  in  the  drug  business,, 
forming  a  partnership   with   Mr.   G.   A.    Salmon,   which   continued    for   a  great 

many  years.     Dr.   Darrow   first  married  Miss  Clark,  a  sister  of  Dr. 

William  M.  Clark,  one  of  his  first  employers.     This  was  net  a  happy  marriage. 

In  1872,  he  married  Miss  Emily  Frances  Weaver,  of  Marshall  Township, 
and  she,  with  their  son.  John  Donald  Darrow,  still  reside  at  Columbus  Junction, 
at  which  place  Dr.  Darrow  died,  Sunday,  July   15th,  1894. 

The  sterling  qualities  of  manhood  possessed  by  Dr.  Darrow  are  well  at- 
tested by  the  affection  which  the  soldiers  of  the  5th  Iowa  always  had  for  him, 
and  which  led  them,  on  one  occasion,  to  present  him  with  a  case  of  surgical 
instruments  "as  a  small  token  of  esteem  and  regard  for  the  unwearied  care  and 
great  skill  with  which  he  treated  them  when  sick  and  wounded  at  New  Madrid, 
Tiptonville,  Fort  Pillow,  Corinth,  Iuka,  Yazoo  Pass,  Raymond,  Jackson,  Cham- 
pion Hill,  Yicksburg,  and  Missionary  Ridge."  And  so  long  as  he  continued  in 
practice,  he  exercised  the  same  "unwearied  care  and  great  skill,"  and  his  patients 
had  much  the  same  regard  for  him  as  did  his  army  comrades. 

Ignatius  C.  Brown,  M.  D.,  of  Columbus  Junction,  la,  was  born  in  Roane 
County,  Tenn.,  May  10,  1835,  and  was  a  son  of  the  Rev.  Thomas  and  Jane  (Mc- 
Dowell Patton  )  Brown.  His  parents  were  born  in  Virginia,  and  were  of  Scotcli- 
Irish  descent.  Ignatius  was  educated  at  Maryville  College,  at  Maryville,  Tenn.. 
and  pursued  his  medical  course  at  the  Jefferson  Medical  College  of  Philadelphia, 
Pa.,  being  graduated  in  the  class  of  '61.  He  began  practice  in  Eastern  Tennessee, 
at  a  place  called  Philadelphia,  and  in  the  spring  of  1863  removed  to  Danville, 
Ind.,  where  he  remained  one  year,  after  which  he  became  a  resident  of  Columbus 
(  ity,  la.,  where  he  pursued  the  practice  of  his  profession  for  a  term  of  two 
years.  He  next  established  himself  at  Clifton,  then  a  thriving  station  on  the 
Chicago  Rock  Island  &  Pacific  Railroad,  in  Louisa  County,  since  abandoned.  Dr. 
Brown  was  the  first  established  physician  at  that  point,  where  he  remained  in 
practice  until  1876,  and  then  removed  to  Columbus  Junction,  where  he  was  in 
successful  practice  up  t<>  the  time  of  his  death.     At  Danville.   Ind.,  in  the  month 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  265 

of  January,  18(14,  the  Doctor  was  united  in  marriage  with  Miss  Ruth  A.  Ham- 
let, who  was  born  at  Danville,  and  was  the  daughter  of  William  Hamlet,  Esq. 
Dr.  Brown  died  March  21st,  1900,  and  Mrs.  Brown  died  October  18th,  1909. 

Dr.  Brown  was  one  of  the  best  educated  physicians  we  ever  had,  and  was 
often  called  in  consultation  by  the  other  doctors  of  the  county.  He  was  well 
informed  on  general  subjects,  and,  because  of  his  modesty  and  genial  disposi- 
tion, was  a  general  favorite.  He  never  "dissected"  the  characters  of  his  profes- 
sional brethren. 

Another  Louisa  County  doctor  who  deserves  special  mention  was  Frank 
Tustison.  He  was  born  January  25,  1837,  in  Crawford  County,  Ohio.  His 
father's  name  was  Charles  Tustison  and  was  a  native  of  Pennsylvania.  The  Tus- 
tison family  lived  for  a  while  in  Defiance  County,  Ohio,  and  later  in  Edgar 
County,  111.  Dr.  Tustison  studied  medicine  under  the  direction  of  Dr.  Hull,  a 
prominent  physician  of  Newville,  Ind.,  where  Dr.  Tustison  had  attended  school. 
Dr.  Tustison  graduated  at  the  Keokuk  Medical  College  in  1864.  He  practised 
medicine  at  Ainsworth  in  Washington  county,  Iowa,  until  1871,  when  he  moved 
to  Wapello,  and  later  in  1874,  formed  a  partnership  with  Dr.  W.  S.  Grimes 
under  the  firm  name  of  Tustison  &  Grimes.  Dr.  Tustison  was  married  three 
times,  his  last  marriage  being  August,  1880,  when  he  married  Miss  Sophia  Hook, 
daughter  of  George  W.  Hook,  a  prominent  settler  in  Jefferson  township.  Dr. 
Tustison  died  in  Wapello  in  the  fall  of  1900.  He  was  one  of  the  ablest  and 
most  successful  physicians  who  ever  practised  in  Louisa  County,  and  had  the 
respect  and  good  will  of  all  who  knew  him. 

The  doctors  in  Louisa  County  at  present  are:  W.  S.  Grimes,  Wapello;  J.  II. 
Chittum,  Wapello;  E.  C.  Rogers,  Wapello;  F.  L.  Darrow,  Columbus  Junction; 
J.  L.  Overholt,  Columbus  Junction;  F.  A.  Hubbard,  Columbus  Junction;  M.  11. 
Summers,  Columbus  Junction ;  J.  W.  Pence,  Columbus  Junction ;  D.  Y.  Graham, 
Morning  Sun;  W.  R.  Smyth,  Morning  Sun;  W.  S.  McClellan,  Morning  Sun; 
S.  J.  Lewis,  Columbus  City;  R.  C.  Ditto,  Oakville;  C.  B.  Childs,  Oakville;  D.  J. 
Higlev.  Grandview;  J.  C.  Armentrout.  Lettsville ;  T.  L.  Eland.  Lettsville. 


PUBLIC   LIB 


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JACOB  MINTUN 


WRIGHT  WILLIAMS 


CHAPTER  XVI. 
PERSONAL  -MENTION. 

One  of  the  pioneers  who  deserves  more  than  a  passing  notice  in  this  history 
is  Wright  Williams,  the  first  county  judge  of  the  county,  whose  picture  we  have 
been  fortunate  enough  to  get.  Mr.  Williams  was  born  in  Crawford  county, 
Indiana.  He  came  to  this  county  in  1836  and  took  high  rank  from  the  very 
first  among  those  who  were  entrusted  with  its  important  public  affairs.  He  was 
elected  county  commissioner  soon  a-fter  the  formation  of  Iowa  territory  and  held 
the  office  from  1839  to  September  30.  1844.  When  the  first  convention  for  the 
purpose  of  a  state  constitution  was  elected,  Louisa  county  had  three  members. 
This  was  in  1844  and  Wright  Williams  was  chosen  as  one  of  the  delegates  from 
this  county  to  that  body.  Again,  after  the  territory  of  Iowa  was  admitted  as  a 
state  in  1846,  Wright  Williams  was  chosen  to  represent  the  county  in  the  first 
legislative  assembly  and  again  to  represent  it  in  the  second  legislative  assembly. 
Later,  when  the  governing  body  of  county  affairs  was  changed  from  a  board  of 
commissioners  to  a  county  judge  in  185 1,  Wright  Williams  was  by  common  con- 
sent regarded  as  the  best  and  safest  man  in  the  county  with  which  to  inaugurate 
that  system,  although  there  were  several  other  aspirants  for  the  place.  He  held 
this  office  until  his  death,  November  21,  1854. 

The  respect  in  which  Air.  Williams  was  held  at  that  day  may  be  better  gath- 
ered from  the  following  article  taken  from  the  newspaper  of  that  time  than  in 
any  other  way.  In  the  Wapello  Intelligencer  of  November  12,  1854,  are  found 
the  proceedings  of  the  merchants  of  Columbus  City,  held  November  22d,  at  the 
counting  room  of  Wesley  W.  Garner,  for  the  purpose  of  testifying  their  respect 
for  the  memory  of  Hon.  Wright  Williams.  At  this  meeting  the  following  res- 
olutions were  adopted : 

''Resolved,  That  our  places  of  business  be  closed  this  day  at  two  o'clock,  and 
we  attend  the  funeral. 

"Resolved,  That  we  condole  in  the  most  heartfelt  sincerity  with  his  afflicted 
family,  and  that  Messrs.  E.  S.  Bert.  H.  R.  Moore  and  Thomas  Simpson  be  ap- 
pointed a  committee  to  transmit  the  resolutions  to  them. 

"Resolved,  That  the  proceedings  of  this  meeting  be  published  in  the  Wapello 
Intelligencer  at  Wapello,   Iowa,  and  the  Telegraph  at   Burlington,  Iowa." 

The  following  obituary  notice  of  Mr.  Williams  appeared  in  the  same  paper, 
December   19,   1854: 

"Died  at  his  residence  in  Wapello,  on  the  21st  inst..  of  congestion  of  the 
bowels,  Wright  Williams,  in  the  fiftieth  year  of  his  age.     The  death  of  such  a 

267 


268  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

man  as  Mr.  Williams  deserves  more  than  passing  notice.  He  had  been  a  resident 
of  this  county  for  some  sixteen  years.  During  that  period  it  was  the  good  for- 
tune of  the  writer  of  this  to  share  his  acquaintance  and  friendship.  Few  have 
lived  among  us  in  that  time  to  whom  his  name  and  fame  have  not  been  familiar. 
Few  men  have  enjoyed  more  largely  the  confidence  of  the  people — always 
agreeable  in  his  intercourse  with  his  fellowmen,  he  had  the  happy  gift  of  a  dis- 
criminating mind,  a  sound  and  intelligent  judgment  and  an  honest  heart.  His 
excellent  business  qualifications  enabled  him  to  perform  the  duties  of  the  various 
offices  he  held  in  such  a  manner  as  to  justify  their  choice.  His  first  appearance 
in  the  county  seems  to  have  pointed  him  out  as  a  fit  recipient  of  public  trust. 
Accordingly  we  find  him  as  early  as  1839  elected  a  member  of  the  board  of 
county  commissioners  in  company  with  William  Milligan  and  Israel  L.  Clark. 
Serving  with  credit  in  that  capacity,  we  find  him  next,  in  1854,  after  an  animated 
canvass  against  strong  competition,  returned  with  W.  L.  Toole  and  the  lamented 
Dr.  Brookbank.  a  member  of  the  first  convention,  for  the  formation  of  a  con- 
stitution and  state  government.  We  next  find  him,  in  1846,  elected  a  member 
of  the  house  of  representatives,  to  which  place,  after  serving  two  sessions,  he 
is  re-elected  in  1848.  Lastly,  upon  the  going  into  operation  of  the  new  code,  by 
the  provisions  of  which  the  old  board  of  county  commissioners  was  abolished, 
its  powers  vested  in  a  single  person,  we  find  him  in  1851,  elected  to  the  re- 
sponsible post  of  county  judge,  which  office  he  held  up  to  the  time  of  his  de- 
cease. The  difficult  and  arduous  duties  of  this  office  he  discharged  with  ability 
and  to  the  general  satisfaction  of  his  constituents.  When  this  can  be  said  with 
truth  of  a  man  who  has  had  to  pass  upon  for  two  years  and  a  half  the  various, 
difficult  and  delicate  questions  which  belong  to  the  county  court,  it  will  be  con- 
sidered as  praise  enough." 


William  Kennedy  took  an  important  part  in  the  early  public  affairs  of  the 
county.  He  was  one  among  the  very  earliest  permanent  settlers,  having  come 
here  probably  in  April,  1836.  He  was  born  in  Butler  county,  Ohio,  December 
23,  1809.  His  early  education  was  rather  limited,  his  time  being  passed  mostly 
among  the  frontier  settlements.  In  1837,  at  a  time  when  Louisa  county,  under 
the  law,  constituted  but  one  township,  Mr.  Kennedy  was  elected  township  clerk, 
an  office  which  at  that  time  was  nearly  as  important  as  if  it  had  been  called 
county  clerk.  Mr.  Kennedy  settled  in  Port  Louisa  township,  where  he  con- 
tinued to  reside  up  to  the  time  of  his  death.  While  he  w^as  always  a  farmer,  he 
started,  in  1838.  what  is  said  to  have  been  the  first  mill  established  in  the  county, 
and  he  continued  to  conduct  this  enterprise  for  several  years.  Mr.  Kennedy  was 
a  strong  whig  and  later  a  strong  republican,  and  was  a  member  of  the  United 
Presbyterian  church. 


\\  illiam  L.  Toole  was  born  in  Yirginia.  April  6,  1803,  his  ancestors  having 
come  originally  from  England,  and  having  been  among  the  earliest  settlers  of 
Virginia.  The  father  and  Mr.  Toole,  with  all  the  family,  moved  from  Yirginia 
to  Indiana  in  1822  and  settled  near  Lafayette  in  that  state.  In  1836  William  L. 
Toole  came  to  this  county  and  located  near  the  mouth  of  The  Iowa  river.     He 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  269 

was  one  of  the  most  prominent  figures  in  the  early  history  of  the  county,  having 
served  in  many  important  public  positions.  He  was  elected  a  member  of  the 
first  board  of  county  commissioners  in  1838  while  this  county  was  still  in  the 
territory  of  Wisconsin.  He  was  also  elected  to  the  first  territorial  house  of  rep- 
resentatives for  the  territory  of  Iowa  in  1838  and  also  to  the  house  of  the  third 
territorial  assembly  in  1840,  and  to  the  fourth  in  1841.  He  was  likewise  one  of 
the  Louisa  county  delegates  to  the  constitutional  convention  in  1844.  It  is 
greatly  to  be  regretted  that  no  adequate  biography  of  Mr.  Toole  has  ever  been 
published  and  that  the  material  therefor  is  not  now  obtainable.  One  of  the  most 
signal  and  important  services  which  Mr.  Toole  did  for  the  county  was  to  write 
a  series  of  articles  for  the  Iowa  Historical  Record,  in  which  he  gave  the  best 
account  we  have  been  able  to  find  of  the  early  history  and  early  settlement  of 
the  county. 


Andrew  Gamble  was  born  in  Belmont  county,  Ohio,  August  1,  1816.  His 
father  died  when  Andrew  was  but  eight  years  of  age  and  in  consequence  he 
was  thrown  upon  his  own  resources  at  a  very  early  age.  After  getting  what 
education  he  could,  as  best  he  could,  he  taught  school  for  a  few  years  and  then 
moved  to  Union  county,  Indiana,  where  he  was  elected  sheriff  in  1845.  Soon  after 
this  he  came  to  Louisa  county,  where  he  engaged  in  farming  in  what  is  now 
Union  township.  Mr.  Gamble  was  a  man  who  quickly  impressed  himself  upon 
those  associated  with  him  as  being  a  man  of  keen  discernment  and  rugged  hon- 
esty. He  soon  became  quite  well  known  in  the  county,  and  in  1850  was  elected 
a  member  of  the  third  legislative  assembly  of  the  state.  In  1854  he  moved 
from  Louisa  county  to  Illinois  but  after  a  short  stay  there,  returned  to  Col- 
umbus City,  where  he  went  into  the  grocery  business  and  also  served  occa- 
sionallv  as  justice  of  the  peace.  During  his  residence  in  Columbus  City,  Mr. 
Gamble  edited  the  Columbus  City  Courier  for  a  short  time.  This  was  in  1856. 
In  our  article  on  Columbus  City  we  have  copied  the  salutatory  editorial  written 
by  Mr.  Gamble  and  would  commend  the  perusal  of  it  to  all  who  would  under- 
stand* the  frankness  and  sincerity  of  this  worthy  pioneer.  Mr.  Gamble  spent 
his  remaining  days  in  Columbus  City,  although  from  1872  until  his  death,  he  was 
closely  identified  with  the  business  interests  of  Columbus  Junction.  When  the 
Louisa  County  National  Bank  was  organized  at  Columbus  Junction,  Mr.  Gamble 
was  made  its  first  president  and  held  that  position  up  to  the  time  of  his  death. 
Mr.  Gamble  had  much  to  do  both  as  a  private  citizen  and  as  a  member  of  the 
board  of  supervisors  with  the  settlement  of  the  Air  Line  railroad  bond  troubles 
and  it  is  quite  certain  that  if  the  people  had  given  more  heed  to  his  advice  at 
the  time  the  controversy  first  arose,  the  county  would  have  saved  many  thou- 
sands of  dollars,  and  the  payment  of  what  was  paid,  would  have  been  much  easier 
by  being  extended  over  a  longer  period  of  time. 


George  F.  Thomas  was  born  in  Chester  county,  Pennsylvania,  in  1816,  and 
came  to  this  county  in  1838,  settling  in  Wapello.  His  grandfather,  Michael  Fink, 
served  with  General  Washington  in  many  of  the  battles  of  the  Revolutionary 


270  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

war.  Mr.  Thomas  began  his  life  work  as  a  merchant  tailor  at  the  age  of  nine- 
teen, and  continued  that  occupation  for  a  number  of  years  after  he  came  to  this 
county.  In  1839  he  was  elected  treasurer  of  the  county  and  held  that  office 
under  repeated  re-elections  until  184(1.  He  also  held  the  office  of  justice  of  the 
peace  in  Wapello  township  for  five  or  six  years.  In  1862  President  Lincoln 
appointed  him  postmaster  at  Wapello  and  he  served  the  people  in  that  capacity 
so  faithfully  that  he  continued  to  hold  the  office  until  1885.  In  1837  Mr. 
Thomas  married  Elizabeth  K.  M'intun,  who  was  a  native  of  Ohio,  and  a  daughter 
of  Jacob  Mintun,  one  of  the  early  settlers  of  this  county.  Airs.  Thomas  died  in 
1805.  Mr.  Thomas  was  a  whig  for  a  great  many  years  and  became  a  member 
of  the  republican  party  on  its  first  organization.  He  became  a  member  of  the 
Methodist  church  at  a  very  early  age  and  always  took  a  great  interest  in  the  work 
of  the  church  and  the  Sabbath  school. 


Edward  H.  Thomas.  The  first  resident  lawyers  in  this  county  settled  in 
Wapello  in  December,  1838.  They  were  Edward  H.  Thomas  and  Francis 
Springer,  who  came  here  together  from  Portland,  Maine,  where  Mr.  Thomas  was 
born  in  1813.  He  studied  law  in  the  office  of  Stephen  Longfellow,  father  of  the 
poet  Longfellow,  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1835.  He  resided  in  Louisa 
county,  in  Wapello,  for  something  like  twenty  vears  and  afterward  lived  in  Des 
Moines  county  for  seven  or  eight  years.  Later  he  returned  to  Portland,  where  he 
spent  the  remainder  of  his  days.  .Mr.  Thomas  was  a  man  of  wide  reading  and 
fine  education,  and  was  an  accomplished  lawyer.  In  1854  he  was  appointed  by 
Governor  Chambers  district  attorney  for  the  judicial  district  in  which  Louisa 
county  belonged,  and  held  that  position  for  two  vears.  He  was  married  in  1855 
to  Miss  Charlotte  A.  Dubois.  They  had  two  sons.  Edward  and  Charles.  Mrs. 
Thomas  died  in  Burlington,  December  28,  1861,  and  soon  afterward  Mr.  Thomas 
removed  to  Portland,  Maine.  Mr.  Thomas  was  honored  and  respected  by  all  the 
early  settlers.  They  called  him  "Lawyer  Tom."  For  many  vears  before  hi--  death 
Mr.  Thomas  was  doubly  afflicted  by  the  entire  loss  of  his  eyesight  and  the  partial 
loss  of  his  hearing,  but  he  bore  his  misfortune  like  a  philosopher  and  nearly  al- 
ways appeared  to  be  in  good  spirits.  He  never  forgot  his  early  days  and  early 
friends  in  this  county  and  frequently  sent  a  letter  or  a  poem  to  be  read  at  the  old 
settlers'  meetings. 


John  Deihl  came  to  Louisa  county  from  Franklin  county.  Pennsylvania,  in 
1836.  At  the  same  time,  another  pioneer,  Philip  IS.  Harrison,  came  to  the  county 
from  Pennsylvania  and  these  two  men  became  partners  in  a  number  of  enter- 
prises. They  bought  or  entered  considerable  land  in  and  about  the  old  town  of 
Florence.  Mr.  Deihl  was  a  storekeeper  at  Florence  for  six  or  seven  years. 
I  Ie  was  the  first  and  only  postmaster  at  Florence,  having  been  appointed  to  that 
office.  July  5,  1839.  and  served  until  February  n.  1846  when  the  postoffice  there 
was  discontinued.  Mr.  Deihl  was  also  a  member  of  the  board  of  county  com- 
missioners in  1841,  1842  and  1843.  He  was  also  a  member  of  the  board  of  super- 
visors in   1867  and  1868.     This  was  the  board  that  was  taken  to  Des  Moines  by 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  271 

the  United  States  marshal  for  failing  to  levy  an  Air  Line  bond  tax.  Air.  Deihl 
made  no  pretenses  to  learning  but  was  a  man  of  more  than  ordinary  ability,  and 
of  most  excellent  judgment  in  regard  to  business  affairs.  He  was  thoroughly 
honest,  frank  and  outspoken  and  had  no  patience  with  pretenses  or  shams  of 
any  kind.  In  his  early  manhood  he  was  a  strong  supporter  of  the  whig  party 
and  naturally  became  one  of  the  leading  members  of  the  republican  partv  from 
the  time  of  its  organization. 


One  of  the  pioneers  who  had  much  to  do  with  the  early  history  of  the  county 
and  the  territory  was  John  Ronalds,  who  was  born  in  Caledonia  county,  Vermont, 
July  12,  1799,  and  died  in  this  county,  March  23,  1873.  Before  coming  to  Iowa, 
Mr.  Ronalds  lived  in  Indiana  and  Illinois,  settling  in  the  latter  state  in  1830,  at  a 
place  then  called  White's  Landing,  but  afterward  called  Commerce,  and  later 
named  Nauvoo.  While  living  in  Illinois,  Mr.  Ronalds  was  appointed  a  lieutenant 
and  saw  some  service  at  the  time  of  the  Black  Hawk  war,  but  his  command  was 
engaged  in  guarding  some  of  the  settlements  and  did  not  participate  in  any  of 
the  battles.  Mr.  Ronalds  with  his  family  came  to  Louisa  county  in  1836,  crossing 
from  New  Boston.  Mr.  Ronalds  was  a  member  of  the  first  county  board,  called 
the  board  of  supervisors,  which  was  elected  in  1837.  He  was  also  a  member  of 
the  constitutional  convention,  which  framed  the  constitution  of  1846.  He  was 
also  appointed  by  Governor  Lucas  as  a  colonel  in  the  territorial  militia.  We  give 
in  connection  with  this  sketch  facsimile  copies  of  both  Mr.  Ronalds'  military 
commissions.  It  will  be  noticed  that  the  Illinois  commission  has  made  a  mistake 
in  giving  the  name  "Reynolds"  instead  of  "Ronalds." 

Mr.  Ronalds  was  also  for  many  years  justice  of  the  peace,  having  been  first 
appointed  in  1838.  Mr.  Ronalds  was  a  public-spirited  man  of  exemplarv  charac- 
ter and  took  an  active  interest  in  public  affairs  and  the  public  welfare  up  to  the 
time  of  his  death.  He  was  elected  by  the  Iowa  territorial  legislature  in  1839,  as 
one  of  the  commissioners  to  locate  the  capital  of  the  territory,  and  for  that  reason 
a  brief  history  of  the  location  of  the  capital  will  be  of  especial  interest  to  Louisa 
county  people.  The  first  act  on  this  subject  was  entitled  "An  act  to  locate  the 
seat  of  government  of  the  territory  of  Iowa,  and  for  other  purposes,"  approved 
January  21,  1839,  and  provided  that  the  legislative  assembly  should  meet  at  Bur- 
lington until  by  proclamation  of  the  governor  the  public  buildings  at  the  perma- 
nent seat  of  government  should  be  declared  ready  for  its  reception ;  and  that  three 
commissioners,  consisting  of  one  person  from  each  judicial  district  of  the  terri- 
tory should  be  appointed  by  joint  ballot  of  the  council  and  house  of  representa- 
tives to  locate  and  establish  a  permanent  seat  of  government.  The  act  also  pro- 
vided that  such  commissioners,  or  a  majority  of  them,  should,  on  the  first  day  of 
May  meet  at  Napoleon  and  proceed  to  locate  the  seat  of  government  at  the  most 
eligible  point  in  Johnson  county;  that  they  should  agree  upon  a  plan  and  issue 
proposals  for  the  erection  of  the  necessary  public  buildings ;  and  that  they  should 
agree  upon  one  of  their  board  to  be  acting  commissioner,  whose  duty  should  be 
to  superintend  in  person  the  rearing  and  finishing  of  the  buildings. 

Provision  was  also  made  for  the  employment  of  competent  surveyors  and  other 
necessary  labor,  and  the  laying  out  of  six  hundred  and  forty  acres  in  lots,  streets, 
etc. 


272  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

A  supplementary  act  provided  that  so  soon  as  the  place  should  be  selected  and 
the  consent  of  the  United  States  obtained,  the  commissioners  should  proceed  to 
lay  out  a  town  to  be  called  Iowa  City.  This  act  also  provided  for  the  sale  of  lots 
and  named  the  three  commissioners,  Chauncey  Swan,  John  Ronalds  and  Robert 
Ralston,  who  were  to  locate  the  seat  of  government  and  superintend  the  erection 
of  the  buildings. 

On  March  3,  1839,  an  act  of  congress  was  approved,  making  a  donation  of 
one  section  of  land  to  the  territory  of  Iowa  for  the  purpose  of  erecting  public 
buildings  thereon.  As  we  have  already  seen,  the  act  of  the  territorial  legislature 
provided  that  the  commissioners  to  locate  the  seat  of  government  should  meet 
May  1st,  1839.  When  that  day  arrived,  Chauncey  Swan,  of  Dubuque  county, 
was  the  only  commissioner  present.  About  noon  he  mounted  a  dry-goods  box 
and  made  a  short  speech  to  the  crowd  present.  He  said  that  the  act  of  the  legis- 
lature directed  the  commissioners  to  meet  at  Napoleon  on  the  1st  day  of  May, 
and  that  should  a  majority  of  them  fail  to  meet  there  on  that  day,  their  actions 
would  be  null  and  void.  Mr.  Swan  then  called  for  a  volunteer  to  undertake  to 
bring  another  commissioner  to  Napoleon  before  midnight.  A  man  named  Philip 
Clark  volunteered  this  service  and  started  for  John  Ronalds,  of  Louisa  county, 
the  nearest  commissioner,  who  resided  thirty-five  miles  from  Napoleon.  We 
quote  the  conclusions  of  this  matter  from  Dr.  Shambaugh's  "Iowa  City,"  from 
which  we  have  abbreviated  what  proceeds  in  reference  to  the  same  subject : 

"Henry  Felkner,  who  was  among  the  anxious  crowd  at  Napoleon  on  that 
memorable  May  day,  continues  the  narrative  as  follows:  'Of  course  there  was 
much  anxiety  lest  the  effort  should  prove  a  failure.  Fears  were  entertained  that 
(  John)  Ronalds  might  not  be  at  home,  or  not  disposed  to  come,  or  that  he  could 
not  reach  the  place  in  time.  But  these  were  all  idle  fears,  for  as  soon  as  (Philip) 
Clark  told  him  the  situation  he  got  ready  at  once  and  they  started  with  the  deter- 
mination to  reach  their  destination  in  time.  While  they  were  going  at  their  best 
speed  the  watchers  at  Napoleon  had  their  doubts  and  their  fears,  and  as  it  began 
to  draw  on  towards  midnight,  and  no  tidings,  their  fears  began  to  give  way  to 
despair.  (Chauncey)  Swan  often  consulted  his  watch  and  then  would  send  some 
one  out  to  listen.  But  no  sound  could  be  heard.  This  was  repeated  frequently, 
until  at  last  the  sound  of  horses'  hoofs  were  heard  in  the  distance,  approaching 
rapidly.  They  did  not  slack  up  until  they  had  arrived  at  the  place  of  meeting. 
And  when  the  riders  dismounted  and  went  in  (Chauncey)  Swan  again  consulted 
his  watch  and  found  that  it  was  just  five  minutes  to  twelve  o'clock.'  Robert 
Walker,  a  justice  of  the  peace,  was  on  hand  to  administer  the  oath,  which  was 
signed  by  the  commissioners  and  the  date  'May  1st,  1839,'  thereunto  affixed.  It 
has,  however,  been  shrewdly  intimated  by  one  present  that  perhaps  the  hands  of 
Mr.  Swan's  watch  were  turned  back  that  night;  'for  it  was  noticed  that  from 
midnight  to  sunrise  were  the  shortest  six  hours  on  record.'  It  is  not  improbable 
that  Mr.  Swan  did  either  stop  his  watch  or  turn  back  its  hands ;  for  it  is  difficult 
to  understand  how  a  man  on  horseback  could  travel  seventy  miles  in  twelve  hours 
over  such  roads  as  existed  in  the  territory  at  that  time. 

"On  the  morning  of  May  2d  the  two  commissioners,  Chauncey  Swan  and 
John  Ronalds,  'proceeded  to  examine  the  county  of  Johnson  with  a  view  to  select 
the  most  eligible  point  for  said  location.'  They  did  some  preliminary  surveying. 
The  location  was  finally  made  on  Section  Ten,  Township  Seventy-nine  North, 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  273 

Range  Six  West  of  the  Fifth  Principal  Meridian,  on  the  4th  day  of  May,  one 
thousand  eight  hundred  and  thirty-nine.  The  site  was  indicated  by  a  post  or  slab, 
driven  in  the  ground  about  where  the  old  capitol  building  now  stands,  bearing 
the  following  inscription  : 

SEAT  OF  GOVERNMENT, 

City  of  Iowa. 

May  4th.   1839. 
C.  Swan, 
John  Ronalds, 
Robt.  Ralston, 

Commissioners. 
Witness, 

Geo.  W.  Kelly. 

J.    H.    McKenny,   Des    Moines. 

J.  W.  Isett,  Louisa. 

J.  Dillon,  Dubuque. 

sec.   10,  t.  79,  r.  C\  w.  5TII   MER. 

"Robert  Ralston,  of  Des  Moines  county,  the  commissioner,  who  did  not  appear 
at  the  meeting  on  the  1st  of  May,  arrived  at  Napoleon  on  the  6th  of  May  and 
agreed  to  the  proceedings  of  the  majority  of  the  commissioners.  On  the  "th  day 
of  May,  Chauncey  Swan  was  appointed  by  the  board  'Acting  Commissioner'  to 
superintend  in  person  the  affairs  in  connection  with  the  seat  of  government." 

On  June  27,  1839,  the  board  of  locating  commissioners  ordered  that  Thomas 
Cox  and  John  Frierson  should  be  employed  to  survey  Iowa  City,  and  L.  Judson 
to  draw  the  necessary  plans,  and  these  men,  under  the  supervision  of  Acting 
Commissioner  Swan,  commenced  their  work  on  the  1st  of  July.  The  second  sur- 
vey, however,  was  suspended  for  a  Fourth  of  July  celebration.  A  tall  young 
oak  tree,  standing  on  the  spot  now  occupied  by  the  capitol  building,  was  stripped 
of  its  branches  and  made  a  flagpole  and  the  American  flag  was  placed  at  the  top 
of  it.  There  was  an  old-fashioned  picnic  dinner,  after  which  toasts  were  offered 
and  responded  to  and  the  Declaration  of  Independence  was  read.  The  oration 
of  the  day  was  by  John  Frierson,  and  he  is  said  to  have  delivered  his  oration 
standing  in  a  wagon,  with  one  foot  elevated  upon  a  barrel  of  Cincinnati  whiskey, 
and  while  history  makes  no  mention  of  the  quality  of  the  whiskey,  it  does  say 
that  the  oration  was  a  good  one.  After  the  celebration,  the  work  of  surveying 
the  town  was  pushed  forward  rapidly.  At  the  southeast  corner  of  the  section  a 
monument  of  rough  gray  limestone  was  erected  as  a  permanent  lankmark.  This 
monument  is  still  to  be  seen  on  Summit  street  in  Iowa  City.  There  are  two  in- 
scriptions upon  it.     The  inscription  on  the  side  facing  the  east  reads : 

"M.  Vanburen 

PRESIDENT  OF  THE  U.  S. 
AND 

R.  Lucas 

GOV.   OF  THE  TERRITORY" 


274  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

The  inscription  on  the  side  facing  the  west  reads : 

"Iowa  City 

The  Capital  of 

Iowa  Territory 

as  situated  on 

Section  N°  10. 

Township  79  X.  R. 

6  W  of  the  5th  I"   M 

located 

May  4th    1S39 

By  Messrs 

Chauncey   Swan 

John  Ronalds 

and 

Robert  Ralston 

Commrs  &  Surveyed 

B   Messrs 

Cox  Frierson  &  Judson 

under  the  direction  of 

C.  Swan,  ActR  Com." 

One  of  the  streets  of  Iowa  City  running  east  and  west  was  named  after  Mr. 
Ronalds. 

It  is  proper  to  say  that  this  name  is  sometimes  written  Ronald,  but  we  prefer 
to  use  the  spelling  that  was  common  at  the  time  Mr.  Ronalds  was  in  active  public 
life. 


John  Hale  was  born  in  Greene  county,  Ohio.  August  8.  1825.  and  died  on 
Thanksgiving  day,  November  25,  1909.  His  parents  were  John  and  Asenath 
(Searl)  Hale.  His  father  was  a  native  of  Bedford  county,  Yirginia,  and  a  car- 
penter by  trade.  In  1835  the  family  moved  to  Putnam  county,  Illinois,  and  after- 
ward lived  in  the  counties  now  known  as  Bureau  and  Marshall.  John  Hale  came 
to  this  county  September  29.  1839,  when  he  was  but  fourteen  years  of  age,  and 
his  father's  family  followed  in  about  three  months.  The  only  school  in  the  town- 
ship was  at  Toolesboro,  and  it  was  some  years. before  any  other  existed  there. 
During  his  first  four  years  of  life  in  Jefferson  township,  Mr.  Hale  managed  to 
attend  school  at  Toolesboro  about  two  weeks.  The  rest  of  the  time  he  worked 
at  whatever  he  could  get  to  do  in  the  way  of  carpenter  work.  His  teacher  while 
at  Toolesboro  was  Rev.  Fisk,  a  Presbyterian  preacher,  who  taught,  worked  in 
the  garden,  helped  the  farmers  on  week  days  and  preached  on  Sundays.  John 
Hale  soon  became  an  expert  with  the  carpenter's  tools  and  as  his  father  was 
rather  a  sickly  man.  John  had  the  greater  share  in  the  support  of  the  family. 
even  when  he  was  but  fourteen  or  fifteen  years  of  age.  A  little  later  he  attended 
a  six  weeks'  term  of  school  at  Harrison.  He  boarded  with  Albert  O.  Stickney, 
the  father  of  Mrs.  Calista  E.  Carpenter,  and  he  paid  his  board  in  work,  but  the 
work  was  done  for  Dr.  Austin  at  Toolesboro  in  the  following  summer.     At  that 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  275 

time  Austin  was  operating  a  distillery  at  Toolesboro  and  John  Hale  was  doing 
some  work  there,  when  Air.  Stickney  came  from  Harrison  with  an  empty  barrel 
in  his  wagon.  Mr.  Stickney  had  a  big  held  of  wheat  to  cut  and  in  those  days 
people  thought  they  could  not  harvest  without  plenty  of  whiskey.  The  barrel 
was  filled  and  John  Hale  paid  for  his  board  by  paying  for  the  whiskey.  This 
seems  strange  now,  but  was  nothing  unusual  at  the  time.  Mr.  Hale's  father 
died  in  1845,  leaving  him  the  head  of  the  family.  On  July  2,  1848,  he  was  mar- 
ried to  Miss  Esther  Palmer,  a  daughter  of  Nathaniel  D.  Palmer.  This  Mrs.  Hale 
died  in  1863,  leaving  four  children:  Lydia,  now  Mrs.  C.  P.  Lacey,  of  Wapello; 
Izola,  who  died  December  25.  1905 ;  Rush,  who  died  at  Yillisca,  Iowa,  about 
1902;  and  Lauren,  whose  home  is  in  Kansas.  On  March  1st.  1866,  Mr.  Hale 
was  again  married  to  Miss  Clara  Rhodes,  of  Kossuth,  who  was  a  daughter  of 
Grafton  Rhodes,  an  early  pioneer  of  Des  Moines  county.  Six  children  were 
born  to  this  union,  two  of  whom  died  in  infancy.  Jay,  a  son,  who  was  a  soldier 
in  the  Philippine  war,  died  about  nine  years  ago  in  Kansas.  Hal,  another  son, 
who  married  Miss  Franc  MacFarland,  died  in  Fredonia,  Kansas,  about  seven 
years  ago.     Oscar,  a  son,  and  Nellie,  a  daughter,  still  live  in  Wapello. 

John  Hale  enjoyed  to  a  remarkable  extent  the  respect  and  confidence  of  neigh- 
bors and  acquaintances.  He  was  a  school  teacher,  township  clerk,  justice  of  the 
peace,  assessor,  school  director  and  secretary  of  the  school  board.  In  1856  he  was 
elected  clerk  of  the  district  court  and  held  that  office  for  fourteen  consecutive 
years.  He  was  admitted  to  the  bar  while  he  was  still  clerk  and  soon  after  became 
a  member  of  the  firm  of  Hurley  &  Hale,  long  known  as  one  of  the  leading  firms 
of  the  county.  Later  he  became  a  member  of  the  firm  of  Hale  &  Hale,  having 
taken  his  worthy  son  Oscar  into  partnership  with  him,  and  he  was  a  member  of 
that  firm  at  the  time  of  his  death. 

In  early  life  Mr.  Hale  was  a  whig  in  politics  and  was  an  active  member  of 
the  republican  party  from  the  time  of  its  organization.  It  is  safe  to  say  that  no 
man  who  ever  lived  in  the  county  was  ever  better  informed  than  Mr.  Flale  in 
regard  to  its  early  history,  and  that  no  one  has  ever  done  more  to  preserve  that 
history  and  to  keep  alive  the  old  settlers'  organizations  than  Mr.  Hale.  He  was 
also  a  man  possessing  a  keen  sense  of  humor,  a  good  story  teller  and  a  good 
writer  of  machine  poetry  on  any  occasion  or  any  subject.  He  was  also  a  sincere 
lover  of  nature  and  knew  all  the  wild  and  tame  flowers  and  shrubs  that  grow  in 
this  vicinity,  and  always  had  plenty  of  flowers  about  his  own  premises. 

It  was  the  melancholy  pleasure  of  the  writer  to  deliver  the  address  at  the 
funeral  of  this  worthy  pioneer,  and  to  pay  him  the  following  tribute  of  respect: 

"Friends :  We  are  here  to  mourn.  We  are  here  also  to  rejoice.  We  mourn 
the  loss  of  John  Hale,  the  husband,  the  father,  the  brother,  the  friend,  the  com- 
panion, the  lawyer,  the  citizen,  the  man.  But  we  rejoice  that  his  long 
and  useful  life  was  spent  among  us,  and  that  we  were  permitted  to  know  him, 
and  to  love  him,  and  to  be  known  and  loved  by  him.  We  rejoice  that 
in  commemorating  him,  his  virtues  and  character  permit  us  to  give  full 
rein  to  the  promptings  of  our  hearts,  knowing  that  we  can  say  nothing  true 
of  him  that  is  not  good,  and  nothing  good  that  is  not  also  true.  When  asked  to 
take  part  in  this  service  I  turned  instinctively  to  the  precious  paper,  now  in  my 
possession,  written  by  Mr.  Hale  concerning  my  own  father.     Its  first  sentences 


276  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

are  so  expressive  and  appropriate,  and  tell  so  plainly  why  he  would  not  have  us 
unduly  mourn  for  him,  that  I  cannot  help  applying  them  to  him:  'In  the  fullness 
of  years  he  has  laid  down  the  burdens  of  life,  and  while  we  cannot  but  have  a 
natural  feeling  of  regret  that  we  will  no  more  meet  him  in  his  accustomed  place, 
yet  our  better  reason  tells  us  that  we  should  feel  glad  that  we  have  been  favored 
so  long  by  his  presence.  A  life  spent  as  his  has  been,  and  spared  so  long,  and 
ended  only  when  his  labors  seemed  complete,  leaves  no  cause  for  rational  sorrow 
at  its  close.' 

"And  so,  in  the  presence  of  death,  let  us  think  of  his  life.  Let  us  remember, 
as  he  would  have  us,  that  life  and  death  are  equally  certain,  and  equally  common 
to  us  all.  It  is  not  my  purpose  at  this  time  to  attempt  to  review  the  life  of  our 
beloved  friend.  His  history  is  familiar  to  practically  all  who  are  here.  And  why 
should  it  not  be?  He  was  the  oldest  Mason  in  the  county.  He  was  the  oldest 
Odd  Fellow  in  the  county.  He  was  the  oldest  lawyer  in  the  county.  He  was  the 
oldest  man  in  the  county  who  ever  held  an  important  county  office,  and  he  held 
that  office  as  long,  I  think,  as  any  other  man.  The  universal  testimony  of  those 
who  knew  him,  is  that,  in  every  walk  of  life,  his  walk  was  upright.  In  every 
relation  of  life  he  was  honest,  sincere,  kind  and  true.  In  a  time  when  most  people 
have  gone  money  mad,  he  neither  worshiped  the  'almighty  dollar.'  nor  the  things 
for  which  it  stands.  But  he  has  left  to  his  family,  and  to  us,  a  heritage  far  above 
wealth  or  riches.  He  has  left  the  memory  of  a  man  faithful  to  every  trust,  and 
true  to  every  friend,  and  has  exemplified,  in  a  life  of  over  eighty  years,  the  defini- 
tion of  pure  religion  which  we  find  in  the  good  book:  'Pure  religion  and  unde- 
filed,  before  God  and  the  Father,  is  this,  to  visit  the  widow  and  the  fatherless  in 
their  affliction,  and  to  keep  himself  unspotted  from  the  world.' 

"As  a  lawyer.  Air.  Hale  worked  for  his  clients  rather  than  for  himself.  He 
believed  in  the  peaceful  settlement,  rather  than  in  the  strife  and  war  of  litiga- 
tion. He  applied  to  the  work  of  his  noble  profession  the  sentiment  of  the  great 
orator  who  said:  'As  the  cedars  of  Lebanon  are  higher  than  the  grass  of  the 
valley ;  as  the  heavens  are  higher  than  the  earth  ;  as  man  is  higher  than  the  beasts ; 
as  he  that  ruleth  his  spirit  is  greater  than  he  that  taketh  a  city ;  so  are  the  virtues 
and  victories  of  peace  greater  than  the  virtues  and  victories  of  war.' 

"His  activities  in  the  profession  have  long  since  been  taken  over  by  his  worthy 
son  and  partner,  but  to  the  old  settlers  of  the  county,  and  to  all  who  take  an 
interest  in  their  history,  his  death  is  a  los>  which  cannot  be  repaired.  His  was 
the  life,  more  than  any  other  one,  which  linked  the  present  of  the  county  with  its 
past.  Thus  another  pioneer  has  gone.  Another  of  our  state  builders  has  ceased 
his  work.     But  what  a  work  thev  have  left  behind  them! 


"  'They  built   the   state   more  glorious   than   they   thought. 
Those  simple  carvers  of  an  earlier  time. 
Though  rude  the  tools,  and  few,  with  which  they  wrought. 
The  passing  vears  have  made  their  work  sublime.' 

"But  what  of  those  pioneers  who  have  gone  before?     Are  the}'  building  an- 
other state?"    Are  they  plowing  in  other  fields,  or  practicing  in  other  courts?    The 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  277 

unanswered  question  of  the  centuries  comes  back  to  us,  as  it  came  to  the  patriarch 
of  old,  'If  a  man  die,  shall  he  live  again?' 

"Today  we  can  at  least  make  answer  in  the  beautiful  words  of  the  poet: 

"  'To  live  in  hearts   we  leave  behind, 
Is  not  to  die.'  " 


The  story  of  Louisa  county  would  not  be  complete  without  a  sketch  of  Francis 
Springer,  and  it  might  not  be  considered  appropriate  for  the  editor  of  this  his- 
tory to  write  it.  We  take  the  following  from  Mr.  George  Frazee's  pamphlet,  en- 
titled "Our  Judges,"  which  was  published  at  Burlington  in  1895  : 

"Judge  Springer  was  born  in  Maine,  April  15,  181 1.  His  father.  Nathaniel 
Springer,  was  a  shipbuilder  at  Bath,  of  Swedish  descent,  ruined  financially  by 
the  embargo.  His  mother,  Mary  Clark,  was  a  daughter  of  Captain  John  Clark, 
said  to  have  been  a  member  of  the  'Boston  Tea  Party'  of  December  18,  1773, 
subsequently  engaged  in  navigation,  and  a  sufferer  from  French  spoilation  prior 
to  1800,  claims  for  part  or  all  of  which  were  at  last  allowed  and  paid  to  his  heirs 
in  1891. 

"At  the  age  of  eleven  years  Francis  became  a  member  of  a  farmer's  family 
in  Strafford  county,  New  Hampshire,  where  he  made  his  home  for  the  next  ten 
years,  working  on  the  farm  and  getting  such  education  as  was  attainable  in  dis- 
trict schools,  where  'reading,  'riting  and  'rithmetic'  were  taught  during  the  win- 
ter, in  the  intervals  some  instruction  from  friends,  and  in  his  eighteenth  year  a 
full  term  at  the  Rochester  Academy,  at  the  close  of  which  his  preceptor  certified 
that  he  was  qualified  to  teach  school.  That  winter  he  taught  a  country  school 
for  the  enormous  compensation  of  ten  dollars  a  month  and  board  among  his 
family  patrons,  and  the  next  year  attended  another  term  at  the  academy  and 
taught  another  country  school,  and  the  two  succeeding  years  he  taught  village 
schools — one  at  Rochester  and  the  other  at  Farmington — pursuing  his  studies  him- 
self. In  1833  he  returned  to  Maine  and  the  following  year  commenced  the  study 
of  law  in  the  office  of  William  Goodenow,  at  Portland,  at  odd  times  acted  as 
assistant  editor  of  the  Portland  Courier — then  owned  and  edited  by  Seba  Smith, 
author  of  the  celebrated  'Jack  Downing  Letters,' — and  was  admitted  to  the  bar 
in  1838;  and,  being  attacked  by  the  western  fever,  in  October  of  that  year,  in 
company  with  his  friend,  Edward  H.  Thomas,  who  had  studied  law  in  the  office 
of  Stephen  Longfellow,  father  of  Henry  W.,  the  poet,  and  was  two  years  his 
senior  at  the  bar,  started  for  the  unknown  but  attractive  'far  west.'  The  two 
came  by  steamer  to  Boston,  thence  by  rail  and  steamer  to  New  York,  by  rail 
to  Harrisburg,  by  canal  boat  to  Pittsburg,  crossing  the  mountains  by  the  aid  of 
a  stationary  engine,  by  steamer  from  Pittsburg  to  St.  Louis,  by  stage  to  Jackson- 
ville and  thence  in  open  wagon  to  Burlington.  The  two  pilgrims  were  seven 
weeks  on  the  way,  including  their  stoppages  for  a  day  or  two  at  the  several  points 
mentioned,  where  they  met  and  conversed  with  some  of  the  most  prominent  pub- 
lic men  of  those  clays,  to  whom  they  had  letters  of  introduction.  They  had  in- 
tended to  locate  in  Illinois,  but  at  Cincinnati,  upon  the  advice  of  Judge  Storer, 


278  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

they  changed  tiieir  destination  to  Iowa,  reaching  Burlington  on  Sunday,  the  21st 
day  of  December,  and  on  that  night  had  a  jolly  time  with  the  members  of  the 
bar,  who  speedily  discovered  the  musical  and  social  talents  of  Mr.  Thomas,  the 
meeting  being  followed  by  an  illumination,  caused  by  the  burning  of  a  new  build- 
ing in  which  it  was  held — ignited,  as  was  supposed,  by  the  accidental  dropping  of 
a  cigar  among  the  shavings. 

"The  legislature  was  then  sitting,  and  they  remained  in  Burlington  about  a 
week,  making  acquaintances  with  many  prominent  men  of  the  territory.  As  a 
result  of  their  inquiries,  they  decided  to  locate  in  Louisa  county.  On  December 
27th  they  started  for  Wapello  on  foot;  passed  the  night  in  a  two-roomed  log 
cabin,  ventilated  by  such  openings  between  the  logs  as  enabled  them  to  watch 
the  stars  from  their  beds,  and  in  the  afternoon  of  Sunday  reached  Wapello  and 
met  there  an  'old  settlers'  welcome.' 

'"Louisa  county  then  contained  about  1,200  inhabitants.  The  courts  were 
held  in  a  log  cabin,  and  the  grand  jury  deliberated  in  an  adjacent  ravine.  Messrs. 
Springer  and  Thomas  were  the  first  lawyers  located  there,  and  at  the  first  term 
of  the  court  (April.  1839)  were  retained  in  forty  cases,  contested  by  such  attor- 
neys as  Alfred  Rich,  Hugh  T.  Reid  and  Philip  Veile,  of  Lee ;  David  Rorer,  M.  D. 
Browning,  W.  W.  Chapman,  James  W.  Woods.  James  W.  Grimes,  and  Henry 
W.  Starr,  of  Des  Moines ;  Stephen  Whicher,  Ralph  P.  Lowe,  William  G.  Wood- 
ward and  Jacob  Butler,  of  Muscatine — all  of  whom  are  now  deceased.     • 

"In  1840  Judge  Springer  was  elected  a  member  of  the  legislative  council 
from  the  district  composed  of  Louisa  and  Washington  counties  and  the  country 
west  of  them,  for  the  third  and  fourth  general  assemblies — the  third  meeting  at 
Burlington,  November  2,  1840.  and  the  fourth  at  Iowa  City,  convening  Decem- 
ber 2.  1841,  and  adjourning  February  18,  1842.  At  the  general  election,  in  1842, 
he  was  elected  from  the  same  district  a  member  of  the  fifth  and  sixth  general 
assemblies,  the  last  of  which  adjourned  February  16,  1844.  The  first  state  elec- 
tion was  held  October  26,  1846,  at  which  Judge  Springer  was  chosen  state  sena- 
tor, and  served  as  such  in  the  first  and  second  general  assemblies,  the  last  of 
which  adjourned  January  15,  1849.  In  the  summer  of  1849,  and  again  in  1850, 
he  was  appointed  special  agent  of  the  postoffice  department  to  visit  the  postoffices 
in  Wisconsin  and  collect  government  moneys  and  transfer  them  to  St.  Louis. 
In  May,  185 1,  he  was  appointed  by  President  Fillmore,  register  of  the  land  office 
at  Fairfield,  which  office  he  held  until  May,  1853.  Returning  to  Wapello,  he  re- 
mained there  a  few  weeks  and  then  removed  to  Columbus  City  for  the  purpose  of 
improving  his  health  and  improve  some  farm  lands  he  owned  near  that  place. 
In  1854  he  was  elected  prosecuting  attorney  for  Louisa  county,  became  ex-omcio 
county  judge  upon  the  death  of  the  former  occupant,  and  was  elected  to  that 
position  in  1855.  In  1856  he  was  a  delegate  to  the  first  national  convention  of 
the  republican  party,  which  convened  at  Philadelphia,  June  17th  of  that  year, 
and  nominated  Fremont  for  the  presidency,  and  where  he  met  Henry  Wilson,  of 
Massachusetts  (afterwards  senator  and  vice-president  of  the  United  States), 
who  professed  that  he  had  been  his  pupil  at  Farmington.  In  the  same  year  he 
was  nominated  and  elected  a  member  of  the  constitutional  convention  which  was 
held  at  Iowa  Citv  in  January,  1857,  was  unanimously  nominated  by  the  republican 
members  as  their  candidate  for  the  presidency  of  that  body,  and  was  duly  elected 
over  Judge  Hall,  the  democratic  choice.    In  1858  he  was  elected  judge  of  the  dis- 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  279 

trict  court  for  this  judicial  district,  was  re-elected  in  1862,  and  again  in  1866,  and 
served  until  November,  1869,  when  he  resigned  to  take  the  office  of  collector  of 
internal  revenue  for  the  first  Iowa  collection  district,  made  vacant  by  the  resigna- 
tion of  General  Belknap,  who  became  secretary  of  war  under  President  Grant, 
and  in  this  office  he  remained  until  1876. 

"Judge  Springer  was  married  in  December,  1842,  to  Miss  Nancy  R.  Colman, 
daughter  of  Hon.  John  M.  Colman,  of  Iowa  City,  a  native  of  Kentucky.  She 
was  born  in  Terre  Haute,  Indiana,  January  8,  1825,  and  died  of  pneumonia,  at 
Cimarron,  New  Mexico,  November  12,  1874,  while  visiting  her  son  Frank. 
Six  sons  and  two  daughters  were  the  fruits  of  their  union.  Two  of  the  sons 
died  in  infancy  and  one  of  the  daughters  in  her  second  year.  Of  the  sons, 
Frank,  the  third,  has  acquired  a  high  reputation  in  New  Mexico,  as  a  lawyer  of 
great  ability;  Warren  C.  was  drowned  while  bathing  in  the  Iowa  river,  in  1872; 
Arthur,  the  fifth  son,  is  an  able  lawyer  residing  at  Wapello ;  and  Charles,  the 
youngest  son,  has  resided  in  New  Mexico  since  1881,  engaged  in  the  stock  and 
ranch  business.  The  only  surviving  daughter,  Nellie,  is  the  wife  of  Hilton  M. 
Letts,  and  resides  at  Columbus  Junction. 

"In  person,  Judge  Springer  is  somewhat  above  medium  height,  rather  slender 
than  stout.  In  his  manner  invariably  courteous  and  affable,  and  in  temper  and 
disposition  agreeable  and  kind.  As  a  judge  he  honored  the  bench  by  its  occu- 
pancy ;  able,  conscientious,  impartial,  prompt,  considerate ;  his  three  successive 
elections  sufficiently  assure  us  that  he  was  as  popular  with  the  public  as  he 
proved  himself  satisfactory  to  the  bar.  At  this  writing  (May,  1895)  he  still 
lives,  at  the  age  of  eighty-four  years,  to  enjoy  the  blessing  of  a  well  spent  life, 
the  love  and  reverence  of  his  numerous  descendants  and  sincere  affection  and 
esteem  of  the  community  in  which  he  has  lived  so  long  and  served  so  faithfully." 

On  Monday  afternoon,  April  11,  191 1,  a  committee  of  the  Des  Moines 
County  Bar  Association  presented  to  the  district  court  then  in  session,  a  portrait 
of  Judge  Springer,  which  had  been  donated  by  his  son,  Frank  Springer,  of  Las 
Vegas,  New  Mexico,  in  response  to  a  previous  request  of  the  bar  association. 
A  number  of  speeches  were  made  on  that  occasion,  and  we  take  the  following 
quotation  from  the  remarks  made  by  Judge  J.  C.  Power: 

"Judge  Springer's  claim  to  honor  does  not  depend  upon  anything  that  we 
may  say  here.  Peculiar  circumstances  may  for  a  moment  bring  those  who  are 
very  unworthy  of  recognition  into  places  of  power  and  influence,  but  without 
worth  they  disappear  as  speedily  as  they  came  into  view ;  but  Judge  Springer's 
reputation  is  built  upon  a  more  enduring  foundation.  On  that  December  day 
when  he  and  his  future  associate  in  practice,  Mr.  Thomas,  started  to  walk  from 
Burlington  to  Wapello,  with  the  view  of  finding  a  permanent  location,  he  was 
practically  unknown  in  Iowa ;  and  yet  in  a  year  from  that  time  he  had  been 
called  by  the  people  of  the  community  in  which  he  had  cast  his  lot,  to  represent 
them  in  an  important  capacity,  and  for  nearly  forty  years  thereafter,  possibly 
without  single  interruption,  and  without  at  any  time  ever  having  met  a  sugges- 
tion that  he  was  an  office  seeker  or  a  mere  politician,  Judge  Springer  was  called 
upon  to  fill  positions  of  continually  increasing  importance,  and  discharged  all 
of  the  duties  incident  to  such  responsibilities  in  such  a  way  as  to  reflect  great 


280  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

honor  to  himself,  and  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  people  at  large.     This  fact  is  a 
more  eloquent  tribute  to  his  worth  and  ability  than  can  be  expressed  in  words." 

We  take  the  following  extract  from  the  remarks  made  by  Judge  W.  S. 
Withrow : 

"Francis  Springer,  whose  portrait,  with  others,  we  here  today  accept,  was 
one  of  the  men  who  gave  freely  of  ability  and  strength  in  the  constructive  days 
of  our  statehood.  ...  As  has  been  said  by  Mr.  Blake,  he  was  the  president 
of  the  constitutional  convention  of  1857,  which  prepared  and  submitted  to  the 
people  of  the  young  state  for  their  adoption,  the  constitution  which  is  yet  our 
fundamental  law.  So  well  was  that  work  done  by  Judge  Springer  and  his  less 
than  two  score  associates,  that  after  more  than  half  a  century  of  growth  and 
achievement  under  it.  with  but  few  amendments,  that  instrument  meets  in  full 
measure  the  needs  of  this  commonwealth.  The  men  who  did  that  work  built 
for  the  future  of  a  virile,  hopeful  and  peaceloving  people,  safeguarding  the 
rights  of  the  living  and  of  generations  then  unborn,  as  does  the  master  engineer 
in  a  material  way  build  for  the  needs  and  comforts  of  tomorrow.  Judge 
Springer  thus  stands  in  history  as  the  head  of  that  pioneer  body  of  lawmakers 
who  constructed  enduringly  and  well  for  his  chosen  state.  It  was  fitting  that 
upon  the  conclusion  of  that  work  he  should  assume  the  duties  of  the  bench,  and 
in  the  old  first  judicial  district,  of  which  Des  Moines  county  was  a  part,  en- 
force the  laws  which  were  based  upon  that  constitution,  and  uphold  the  rights 
guaranteed  under  it.  And  this  for  ten  years,  as  we  are  told,  he  did  with  dignity, 
ability  and  impartiality,  at  all  times  seeking  to  do  exact  justice  under  the  law." 

Francis  Springer  died  at  Columbus  Junction,  October  2,  t8q8. 


One  of  the  pioneers  of  whom  personal  mention  should  be  made  was  William 
P.  Brown,  who  was  born  in  Kentucky,  October  25,  1793,  and  was  married  in 
Jefferson  county,  Indiana,  to  Miss  Alice  Craw  ford,  who  was  a  native  of  Virginia. 
Air.  Brown  came  to  Louisa  county  in  a  very  early  day  in  1837,  or  1838,  and 
entered  a  claim  in  Morning  Sun  township.  It  is  said  that  his  first  trip  out  here 
was  on  horse  back,  and  that  he  came  again  in  1838  and  built  his  log  cabin,  the 
first  one  built  in  that  part  of  the  county.  To  raise  this  log  cabin,  it  took  the 
united  efforts  of  all  the  settlers  living  within  a  radius  of  ten  miles,  and  also  two 
gallons  of  whiskey.  Mr.  Brown  came  here  with  his  family  in  1839.  lie  died 
January  28,  1865.  He  was  one  of  the  most  active  and  influential  men  in  his 
part  of  the  county  and  was  always  ready  to  do  his  part  toward  the  promotion 
of  any  public  enterprise.  He  tried  to  have  the  Burlington  and  Louisa  county 
plank  road,  which  extended  as  far  north  as  Dodgeville,  continued  as  far  as 
Morning  Sun,  and  he  built  a  bridge  across  Honey  creek  for  this  purpose.  He 
was  many  times  elected  a  justice  of  the  peace.  He  was  also  the  first  postmaster 
in  Morning  Sun,  having  been  appointed  at  the  time  that  office  was  established, 
on  June  19,  1851. 

Damon  Xoble  Sprague  was  born  at  Exeter,  near  Cooperstown.  New  York, 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  281 

March  21,  1832.  Mr.  Sprague's  ancestors  settled  in  Rhode  Island  early  in  the 
eighteenth  century  and  many  of  them  took  part  in  the  Colonial  or  Revolutionary 
war.  Mr.  Sprague's  father,  Jenks  S.  Sprague,  was  quite  a  noted  physician  in 
his  day  and  was  at  one  time  president  of  the  New  York  State  Medical  Society. 
Mr.  Sprague  received  his  education  at  the  common  schools  and  at  the  age  of 
seventeen  began  teaching  and  boarding  around  among  the  scholars,  and  in  this 
way  he  earned  money  to  pay  his  way  through  college.  He  attended  the  Ilart- 
wick  Seminary  and  the  Delaware  Collegiate  Institute  and  a  little  later  began 
studying  law  in  the  office  of  Spencer  &  Kernan,  at  Utica,  New  York.  Roscoe 
Conkling  was  at  the  same  time  connected  with  this  law  office.  Mr.  Sprague 
was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1854,  and  in  April  of  the  following  year  located  at 
Wapello.  In  1856  he  formed  a  law  partnership  with  Colonel  John  Bird,  which 
continued  until  i860.  Mr.  Sprague  was  elected  representative  from  the  "flotorial" 
district  of  Des  Moines  and  Louisa  counties  in  1857,  defeating  General  Fitz 
Henry  Warren  in  the  two  counties  by  sixteen  majority.  Mr.  Sprague  was 
elected  district  attorney  of  the  old  first  judicial  district  composed  of  the  counties 
of  Louisa,  Lee,  Des  Moines  and  Henry,  and  was  re-elected  in  1874,  defeated  bv 
T.  A.  Bereman  in  1878,  and  again  elected  in  1882.  After  his  first  election  as 
district  attorney,  Mr.  Sprague  moved  to  Keokuk,  where  he  made  his  home  until 
1886,  returning  then  to  Wapello.  Mr.  Sprague  was  always  a  democrat  in  poli- 
tics, but  was  a  strong  supporter  of  the  Union  during  the  Civil  war  and  made 
the  first  LTnion  speech  in  Louisa  county.  He  was  an  active  member  of  the 
society  known  as  the  Sons  of  the  American  Revolution,  and  was  president  of 
the  Iowa  State  Society  in  1900.  During  his  service  as  district  attorney.  Mr. 
Sprague  tried  a  great  many  important  criminal  cases  and  was  accounted  one  of 
the  most  successful  prosecutors  in  the  state.  Mr.  Sprague  also  took  a  great 
interest  in  the  history  of  the  county  and  was  for  a  number  of  years  president 
of  the  Old  Settlers'  Society. 

Mr.  Sprague  was  married,  June  25,  1863,  to  Miss  Mary  O.  Isett,  a  daughter 
of  E.  B.  Isett,  and  a  most  charming  and  lovable  woman.  Mrs.  Sprague  died  in 
1899.  Her  death  left  Mr.  Sprague  practically  alone  in  the  world  and  his  health 
and  strength  declined  quite  rapidly.  He  died  August  12,  1902,  at  Richfield 
Springs,  New  York,  while  on  a  visit  there,  and  was  buried  in  the  Wapello 
cemetery  beside  his  wife  and  little  daughter,  Helen. 


Mark  Davison  was  born  near  Hull,  England,  May  7,  1815,  and  came  to  this 
country  when  but  three  years  old,  the  family  settling  in  Washington  county, 
Pennsylvania,  on  a  farm.  He  was  married  there,  in  June,  1838,  to  Miss  Eliza 
Linton,  and  the  marriage  ceremony  was  performed  by  Ephraim  Blaine,  justice 
of  the  peace,  and  the  father  of  the  late  James  G.  Blaine. 

Mr.  Davison  removed  to  Iowa  in  1840,  accompanied  by  his  brother-in-law, 
Nathan  Linton,  and  both  resided  in  the  southern  part  of  the  county.  Mr. 
Davison  began  business  as  a  merchant  in  Wapello  in  1847,  ar,d  for  the  remaining 
fifty  years  of  his  life  he  was  closely  identified  with  the  business  interests  of 
the  community  and  with  the  public  affairs  of  the  county,  and  deservedlv  ranks 


282  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

as  one  of  the  most  prominent  and  successful  of  our  early  settlers.  He  dealt  in 
nearly  all  kinds  of  merchandise,  bought  and  fed  cattle  and  hogs,  bought  grain 
and  had  a  large  warehouse,  or  packing  house,  where  he  stored  the  grain  and 
packed  pork.  His  first  warehouse  or  packing  house  was  between  Van  Buren 
and  Mechanic  streets,  fronting  on  the  alley  not  far  from  the  back  part  of  D.  C. 
Thomas'  store.  In  the  early  days  the  most  of  the  hog  meat  brought  in  was 
already  dressed,  as  there  was  very  little  slaughtering  then  done  in  Wapello. 
Later,  about  1859  or  i860,  Mr.  Davison  did  some  business  in  the  old  Isett 
packing  house  down  near  where  Lou  Bourn  now  lives.  Probably  few  people 
know  that  in  the  early  days  before  corn  shellers  came  into  use,  the  shelling  of 
corn  was  done  bv  the  corn  being  spread  out  on  the  floor  of  the  warehouse  and 
boys  riding  around  over  the  corn  on  ponies.  Our  friend  E.  H.  Thomas,  of 
Ottumwa,  says  that  he  operated  one  of  these  pony  corn  shellers  in  Mr.  Davison's 
warehouse  years  ago. 

About  1869  there  seemed  to  be  a  good  opening  in  Wapello  for  a  banking 
institution,  and  Mark  Davison  and  George  Jamison  decided  to  start  one.  In  a 
week  or  two,  however,  Mr.  Jamison  decided  that  he  did  not  care  to  go  into  it 
but  Mr.  Davison  did,  and  he  sold  out  his  mercantile  establishment  to  his  son 
H.  B.,  and  opened  a  private  bank.  The  bank  thus  started  by  Mr.  Davison  con- 
tinues to  this  day  and  is  now  known  as  the  Commercial  Bank  and  is  one  of  the 
strong  financial  institutions  of  the  county.  It  is  owned  and  conducted  by  Mr. 
Davison's  son  Joiner,  and  his  grandson,  R.  D.  McCullough.  Besides  his  mer- 
cantile business  and  banking  business,  Mr.  Davison  at  one  time  operated  a  saw- 
mill over  about  Port  Louisa. 

He  also  owned  and  operated  several  good  farms.  Mr.  Davison  died  in 
1897,  leaving  surviving  him  three  sons :  H.  B.  Davison,  who  is  now  president 
of  the  Citizens  Bank  of  Wapello ;  John  Austin  Davison,  who  is  a  prominent 
banker  in  Wichita,  Kansas ;  and  Joiner  Davison,  who  is  president  of  the  Com- 
mercial Bank  of  Wapello.  He  left  also  one  daughter,  Mary,  who  was  at  the 
time  the  wife  of  J.  B.  McCullough,  but  who  died  in  1901.  Mr.  Davison's  two 
older  sons,  Frank  and  H.  B.,  were  in  the  army,  where  Frank  died. 

MRS.    JANE    MINCHER 

The  following  article  is  taken  from  Air.  Jamison's  historical  articles  in  the 
Columbus  Junction  Gazette;  it  was  written  while  Mrs.  Mincher  was  alive,  but 
it  describes  so  well  pioneer  experiences,  that  we  have  made  no  change  in  it : 

"One  of  the  interesting  characters  in  the  history  of  Louisa  county  is  Mrs. 
Jane  Mincher,  who  still  lives  in  Wapello,  at  the  age  of  a  little  over  eighty  years. 
Since  a  girl  of  twelve  or  thirteen  she  has  been  identified  with  the  county ;  dur- 
ing the  most  of  that  time  in  Wapello  township,  though  the  first  several  years  in 
Marshall  township.  Her  father,  George  Key,  was  an  Indian  trader  some  years 
before  he  moved  his  family  to  Iowa ;  was  in  Burlington  about  two  years.  His 
home  was  in  Crawfordsville,  Indiana.  He  shipped  his  supplies  by  flatboat 
down  the  Wabash  to  the  Ohio,  down  the  Ohio  to  Cairo,  thence  up  the  Mississippi 
by  steamer  to  Burlington.     These  goods  were  consigned  to  John  S.  David,  long 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  283 

a  prominent  man  in  Burlington,  who  then  had  a  little  clapboarded  warehouse 
down  on  the  levee. 

"Mr.  Key  had  been  a  visitor  a  time  or  two  over  Louisa  county  and  was  im- 
pressed with  its  rich  soil  and  fine  timber  lands  and  streams,  so,  soon  after  the 
Black  Hawk  purchase,  he  laid  his  claim  in  what  was  afterwards  called  Virginia 
Grove.  Think  this  must  have  been  as  early  as  1834  or  1835,  as  the  family  came 
here  across  the  country  in   1837. 

"George  Key's  claim  and  first  entry  was  a  well  known  stopping  place  for  years 
for  people  on  their  way  to  Burlington. 

"From  Crawfordsville,  Indiana,  to  Louisa  county,  is  about  300  miles.  They 
were  nearly  forty-five  days  making  the  trip,  averaging  about  seven  miles  a  day. 
That  seems  like  slow  moving  to  us,  and  it  was  slow  progress  even  for  those 
times,  but  it  was  in  the  spring  of  the  year;  there  were  few  roads  and  no  bridges. 
They  were  subject  to  floods  and  to  oceans  of  mud.  Hardly  a  day  passed  that 
they  did  not  have  at  least  one  wagon  mired  down. 

"Theirs  was  quite  a  caravan,  consisting  of  three  wagons  and  a  two-horse 
carriage.  One  of  these  wagons  was  an  enormous  old  'Pennsylvania'  wagon 
as  big  as  an  ordinary  room.  There  was  an  enormous  box  eighteen  feet  long,  or 
more,  stoutly  framed  together,  the  ends  being  nearly  two  feet  higher  than  the 
center,  the  bottom  of  the  center  that  much  lower  than  the  bottom  of  either  end. 
To  this  wagon  were  attached  four  yoke  of  oxen.  The  other  wagon  had  the  old 
fashioned  'spike'  team  of  three  horses ;  the  carriage,  two  horses.  Besides  the 
wagons  and  their  teams  were  a  drove  of  young  horses,  cattle  and  nearly  a  hun- 
dred head  of  sheep.  These  necessitated  several  riding  horses  to  carry  the 
drivers.  This  live  stock  partly  accounted  for  the  slow  progress  made,  as  the 
live  stock,  especially  the  sheep,  gave  them  great  trouble  in  crossing  the  un- 
bridged  streams. 

"Then,  as  we  have  already  stated,  mireing  down  of  teams  was  of  no  unusual 
occurrence.  Mrs.  Mincher,  who  rode  a  horse  all  the  way  and  assisted  in  driving 
the  live  stock,  tells  us  that  it  was  no  uncommon  sight  to  see  the  help  waist  deep 
in  the  mud  and  water  unloading  the  wagons  of  their  contents  and  carrying  them 
out  on  high  and  dry  ground  so  they  could,  by  doubling  up  the  teams,  pull  the 
vehicles  out  of  the  mud. 

"The  party  consisted  of  twenty-one  persons.  At  the  head  was  Mrs.  Key, 
who,  by  the  way,  was  a  sister  of  Jacob  Mintun  who  came  a  few  years  later, 
and  her  family,  consisting  of  four  sons  and  six  daughters  and  ten  others,  a  part 
of  whom  Mrs.  Mincher  has  forgotten,  but  among  them  was  Edward  Mincher, 
whom  she  afterwards  married  and  Jack  Reed,  who  remained  with  them  many 
years,  but  who  finally  made  his  home  with  Zaddock  Jarvis,  where  he  died. 
The  others  were  mostly  young  men  who  took  this  opportunity  to  come  west. 

"When  they  came  to  Iowa  they  found  Mr.  Key  waiting  for  them  with  a 
genuine  summer  home.  It  consisted  of  a  rail  pen,  three  sides  built  up  solid, 
the  other  entirely  open,  the  corners  held  up  by  rails  butting  in  from  the  outside. 
This  was  covered  with  elm  bark,  put  on  good  and  thick  and  weighted  down  to 
hold  it  in  place.  It,  with  the  covered  wagon,  made  them  a  comfortable  home 
until  fall  by  which  time  Mr.  Key  had  raised  a  fine  crop  and  built  a  very  fair 
house,  made  of  framed  timbers  that  had  been  hewn.  This  was  weatherboarded 
with  clapboards,  ceiled  with  clapboards  and  roofed  with  clapboards.    This  house 


284  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

looked  pretty  well,  but  it  was  terribly  cold,  and  the  huge  fireplaces  were  worked 
to  their  limit  to  keep  the  noses  and  toes  from  getting  frosted. 

"That  winter  mess  pork,  which  in  those  days  meant  all  the  hog,  nose,  jowls. 
feet  and  tail,  pickeled.  was  $21.00  a  barrel,  flour  $12.00  a  barrel.  But  by  the 
next  year  or  two,  when  they  began  to  have  pork  to  sell,  they  were  forced  to 
take  a  $1.25  a  cwt.  for  dressed  hogs  and  glad  to  get  the  cash  at  that. 

'"They  ate  little  flour  that  winter,  even  the  most  aristocratic  of  the  settlers, 
and  corn  meal  was  often  a  luxury.  There  were  no  power  mills  nearer  than 
Lowell,  on  the  Skunk  river,  and  it  was  a  journey  of  several  days  to  patronize  it. 
as  teams  were  frequently  kept  waiting,  day  after  day,  for  their  turn. 

"Now,  the  present  generation  would  probably  resort  to  parched  corn,  but 
we  are  told,  that  becomes  very  monotonous.  So  the  settlers  resorted  to  the 
home  made  grater.  This  was  made  by  punching  nail  holes  through  heavy  plate 
tin  which  was  fastened  to  a  clapboard,  the  tin  slightly  curved  to  let  the  grit 
drop  through.  The  Key  family  kept  four  of  these  machines  in  operation  weeks 
at  a  time.  They  worked  well  when  the  corn  was  not  too  ripe,  so  it  would  shell 
off.     When  it  got  this  ripe,  it  was  necessary  to  soak  the  corn  before  grating  it. 

"Along  towards  winter  a  whole  wagon  load  of  corn  was  shelled,  and  put  in 
sacks  and  taken  in  the  old  Pennsylvania  wagon  behind  two  yoke  of  oxen  to 
Lowell  and  ground  into  meal.  This  was  a  real  improvement  on  the  grated  meal, 
especially   for  bread  making  purposes.     The  other  did  pretty  well  for  mush. 

"Butter  often  sold  for  5  cents  a  pound;  eggs,  5  cents  a  dozen  or  less,  and 
lid  regular  market  for  either  at  these  prices.  This  condition  extended  over  a 
great  many  years.  An  abundance  of  goods  produced  at  home,  a  dearth  of 
those  shipped  in.  The  Keys  and  doubtless  their  neighbors,  made  most  of  their 
clothing  out  of  wool  and  flax.  Mr-.  Ley  was  an  adept  at  this:  she  had  learned 
it  in  Virginia,  where  it  had  been  the  custom  to  do  such  things  from  the  first. 
Besides  clothing  she  made  the  table  linen  ami  all  sorts  of  underwear  for  the 
household.  The  men  and  boys  wore  jeans;  the  women  and  girls  'linsey-woolsey.' 
The  new  made  garments  were  worn  on  Sundays ;  the  last  year's  was  used  for 
every  dav  wear." 


Cvril  Carpenter  was  born  in  Chenango  county,  Xew  York,  March  25,  1824. 
and  is  a  son  of  Cyril  and  Amanda  1  .Mason)  Carpenter.  At  the  age  of  thirteen 
he  went  to  Indiana  where  he  remained  for  about  three  years,  when  he  engaged 
to  drive  an  ox  team  to  Iowa,  and  arrived  in  Louisa  county  on  the  17th  of 
October,  1840.  locating  in  Oakland  township.  He  got  his  start  by  breaking 
prairie  in  various  parts  of  the  count),  and  subsequently  entered  considerable 
government  land  in  Oakland  township.  His  first  wife  was  Mary  A.  Blake. 
daughter  of  Joseph  Blake,  one  of  the  pioneers  of  Oakland  township,  for  whom 
Mr.  Carpenter  drove  an  ox  team  from  Indiana  to  Iowa.  Sometime  after  the 
death  of  his  first  wife  Mr.  Carpenter  married  Calista  E.  Stickney,  who  was  a 
daughter  of  Albert  and  Cornelia  (  Trask)  Stickney,  born  at  Harrison,  January 
14,  1840.  In  his  early  life  Mr.  Carpenter  was  a  democrat,  but  about  the  time 
the  war  broke  out,  he,  like  Andrew  Gamble  and  many  other  men  of  that  class, 
joined  the  republican  party. 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  28.') 

In  1874  he  was  elected  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Supervisors  and  served 
in  that  capacity  for  six  years.  Mr.  Carpenter  was  a  firm  believer  in  public 
improvements,  and  it  was  almost  entirely  due  to  his  efforts  that  the  two  bridges 
across  the  Iowa  river  near  Columbus  Junction  were  built.  The  first  of  these 
bridges  built  was  the  one  at  Fredonia,  and  it  cost  something  like  $20,000,  which 
was  $5,000  more  than  the  supervisors  were  authorized  to  appropriate  without 
a  vote  of  the  people.  At  that  particular  time  a  vote  of  the  people  for  a  bridge 
in  either  end  of  the  county  was  equivalent  to  a  county  seat  fight.  Through  the 
efforts  of  Mr.  Carpenter  and  leading  citizens  of  Columbus  Junction,  that  town 
contributed  $5,000  toward  the  erection  of  the  bridge.  The  bridge  at  Todd 
Town  cost  less  than  the  amount  to  which  the  Board  was  limited,  and  was  com- 
pleted and  opened  for  traffic  on  the  4th  of  July.  1879,  but  it  was  not  built  with- 
out considerable  opposition  on  the  part  of  the  people  from  the  south  end  of  the 
county.  Mr.  Carpenter  was  a  firm  friend  of  Columbus  Junction  and  spent  his 
time  and  money  freely  to  make  it  the  county  seat,  and  to  build  and  strengthen 
its  educational  and  commercial  concerns.  This  is  especially  true  of  its  first 
bank:  but  he  lived  long  enough  to  experience  the  injustice  and  ingratitude  which 
sometimes  control  the  actions  of  soulless  men  and  soulless  corporations.  He 
died   in   March.   1900. 


Andrew  M.  Taylor  was  born  at  Woodstock,  Shenandoah  county,  Virginia,  De- 
cember 14,  1822,  and  came  to  Wapello  from  Springfield,  Ohio,  in  the  fall  of 
1 85 1.  While  at  Springfield  he  had  invented  a  wool  carding  machine,  and  soon 
after  he  came  to  Wapello  he  and  a  man  named  Jerome  Gibbs  put  up  a  building- 
near  the  old  grist  mill  and  did  wool  carding  for  a  while.  Mr.  Taylor  sold  the 
building  to  Gibbs  and  afterwards  it  was  used  for  a  saw  mill. 

Taylor  was  elected  Sheriff  in  1853,  1855,  1857  and  1859.  He  organized 
Company  "G"  of  the  19th  Iowa  Infantry  and  was  commissioned  captain  on  Au- 
gust 21.  1862.  He  was  wounded  severely  September  29,  1863,  at  Atchafalaya, 
Alabama,  sometimes  called  Sterling  Farm.  He  was  taken  from  there  to  New 
Orleans  to  the  old  St.  Louis  Hotel,  then  being  used  for  a  hospital,  and  died  there 
of  his  wounds  November  4th.  1863. 

Captain  Taylor  was  one  of  our  most  popular  and  competent  sheriffs.  At  the 
time  he  raised  his  companv  he  was  presented  with  a  magnificent  sword  and  belt. 
Some  years  after  the  war,  his  son  Ed.  tried  to  locate  and  secure  this  sword. 
Through  the  efforts  of  Major  Merrick,  an  ex-confederate  soldier,  of  San  An- 
tonio, Texas,  it  was  learned  from  the  man  who  shot  Captain  Taylor  at  Atchafalaya. 
that  the  sword  was  given  by  him  at  the  time  into  the  possession  of  Captain  Oaks 
of  Columbus,  Texas.  This  sword  was  in  the  possession  of  Captain  Oak's  widow 
for  a  time,  and  is  now  believed  to  be  in  possession  of  the  Masonic  Lodge  at  Col- 
umbus. Texas.  Efforts  are  still  being  made  to  secure  the  return  of  the  sword  to 
Captain  Taylor's  family. 

Tt  is  in  honor  of  Captain  Taylor  that  the  Wapello  G.  A.  R.  Post  is  named. 


One  of  the  earlv   settlers   of   this   county   who   deserves   special   mention   is 
George  Gillaspv,  though  in  the  early  county  records  the  name  is  misspelled  in  var- 


286  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

ious  ways.  Of  him,  Hon.  Edward  Johnstone,  writing  in  the  Iowa  State  Register 
soon  after  his  death,  said:  "Evidently  reared  amid  surroundings  of  a  somewhat 
rude  life,  without  early  or  late  privileges  for  education,  a  rail-splitter,  wood- 
chopper  and  bull-whacker,  he  grew  up  to  be  one  of  the  most  noted  men  of  the 
state.  By  constant  contact  and  struggle  with  the  world,  and  a  keen  observer 
of  men     *  he  made  himself  a  fair  scholar,  a  public  speaker  of  unusual 

force,  and  one  of  the  most  attractive  talkers  I  ever  heard."  From  the  foregoing 
it  may  be  imagined  what  his  life  was  in  the  early  days  in  this  county.  He  was 
frequently  engaged  in  quarrels  and  fights,  but  usually  came  out  of  them  with  the 
respect  of  those  who  knew  the  circumstances.  He  occasionally  served  as  bailiff 
of  the  Court.  On  one  occasion  he  was  indicted  for  an  assault  with  intent  to  com- 
mit murder.  He  was  found  guilty  by  a  jury,  and  his  punishment  fixed  at  a  fine 
of  $15.00  and  imprisonment  for  one  hour.  He  took  a  sudden  notion  to  abandon 
his  wild  life  and  began  work  for  a  farmer.  He  persevered,  and  after  accumulating 
a  little  means,  went  to  Ottumwa,  and  was  for  many  years  the  leading  citizen  of 
that  city,  and  died  there  in  the  winter  of  1881-82.  He  was  a  member  of  the 
Constitutional  convention  in  1857,  and  was  at  one  time  the  Democratic  candidate 
for  Governor,  and  made  an  active  campaign  over  the  entire  state. 


Samuel  K.  Helmick,  one  of  the  honored  pioneers  of  the  county,  whose  por- 
trait we  present  in  this  connection,  came  to  Louisa  county  in  1840.  At  that  time 
he  was  twenty  years  of  age.  He  was  a  man  of  more  than  ordinary  education, 
and  this,  combined  with  his  high  character  and  intelligence,  soon  won  him  a  posi- 
tion of  prominence  and  influence  in  the  county.  He  was  one  of  the  clerks  of 
the  first  constitutional  convention  held  at  Iowa  City  in  1844.  He  was  sheriff  of 
the  county  during  the  years  1850.  1851,  1852  and  1853.  During  part  of  his  term 
as  sheriff,  the  sheriff  was  ex-officio  county  assessor.  In  private  life  he  was  a 
genial,  whole  souled  man  and  was  always  ready  to  give  his  time  and  use  his  in- 
fluence for  the  good  of  the  community.  He  was  a  prominent  Mason  and  was 
one  of  the  leading  members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  church  at  Columbus  City. 


DANIEL    II.    REYNOLDS. 

It  is  not  generally  known  that  a  Louisa  county  citizen  became  a  Confederate 
general,  but  such  is  the  fact.  Daniel  H.  Reynolds,  was  born  near  Centerburg, 
Ohio,  Dec.  14,  1832,  of  Virginia  and  Maryland  parentage.  Came  to  Louisa 
county  in  1854.  and  while  here  read  law.  He  went  to  Tennessee  in  1857  and  was 
admitted  to  practice  law  at  Somerville,  in  that  state,  in  1858.  Soon  after  he  re- 
moved to  Lake  Village,  Ark.  In  1861  he  entered  the  service  of  the  Confederate 
states  in  Company  "A"  of  the  First  Ark.  Cavalry.  He  became  Captain  on  June 
14,  1861,  and  was  rapidly  promoted,  becoming  major  and  lieutenant  colonel  in 
1862  and  colonel  in  1863;  in  1864  he  was  made  brigadier  general  and  assigned 
to  command  Reynolds'  brigade. 

He  was  in  many  notable  battles  of  the  war,  in  several  of  which  Louisa  county 
soldiers  were  engaged.     One  battle  he  was  in  was  called  by  the  Confederates  the 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  287 

battle  of  Oak  Hills,  Mo.,  but  we  know  it  as  "Wilson's  Creek";  another  was  called 
Elkhorn,  Ark.,  but  we  speak  of  it  as  "Pea  Ridge."  lie  was  also  at  Chickamauga, 
Resaca,  Kenesaw  Mountain,  and  through  the  Atlanta  campaign  in  the  summer  of 
1864.  He  was  in  the  battle  of  Bentonville,  N.  C.  on  March  19,  1865,  and  like  our 
own  Capt.  W.  G.  Allen,  lost  a  leg  at  that  place. 

For  the  foregoing  particulars  in  regard  to  Gen.  Reynolds  we  are  indebted  to 
the  Confederate  Veteran  of  Nashville,  Tenn.,  of  date  May  11,  191 1;  that  paper 
also  stated  that  he  was  then  living  at  Lake  Village,  Ark.,  but  in  response  to  a 
letter  addressed  to  him,  we  learned  from  his  widow  that  he  died  March  14,  1902. 
She  also  stated  that  he  came  to  Louisa  county  in  the  fall  of  1854,  taught  school 
for  some  months  and  read  law,  and  removed  to  Tennessee  in  1855. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 
VILLAGES  AND  TOWNS. 

Louisa  county  has  never  lacked  for  towns  or  town  sites,  but  many  a  once 
pretentious  town  or  prospective  city  has  long  since  given  way  to  the  corn  field 
or  the  pasture.  The  county  now  has  Wapello,  Columbus  Junction,  Morning  Sun, 
Columbus  City,  Oakville,  Grandview,  Lettsville,  Cotter  or  Cotterville,  Wyman, 
Cairo,  Fredonia,  Elrick  Junction,  Toolsboro,  Marsh,  Gladwin,  Newport  and 
Bard,  being  seventeen  in  all.  A  few  of  these  places  are  little  more  than  railway 
stations,  and  can  hardly  be  said'  to  have  any  special  history  distinct  from  that  of 
the  neighborhood  in  which  they  are  situated ;  others  doubtless  have  some  inter- 
esting matter  connected  with  their  growth  which  has  escaped  us.  In  addition  to 
existing  towns,  there  are  those  which  are  past  and  gone.  The  list  of  these  is 
as  follows :  Cuba  City,  Tecumseh,  Sterling,  Yellow  Banks,  Iowa  Town,  Florence, 
Harrison,  Pittsburg.  Cateese  and  Port  Allen,  all  on  the  Iowa  River ;  Burris 
City,  Port  Washington  and  Port  Louisa  on  the  Mississippi ;  the  list  also  in- 
cludes Hillsboro,  Lafayette,  Altoona,  Odessa.  Virginia  Grove,  Hope  Farm,  Can- 
nonsburg,  Clifton,  Spring  Run,  Oakland,  Palo  Alto  and  Forest  Hill.  Perhaps 
we  should  also  include  Walling's  Landing,  as  this  existed  before  Port  Louisa 
was  started  and  was  quite  a  well  known  shipping  point  in  the  early  days.  There 
was  also  the  old  town  site  of  Columbus  City.  There  were  two  Port  Louisas,  one  of 
them  sometimes  called  West  Port.  We  should  also  include  Lower  Wapello,  as 
that  was  probably  entirely  distinct  from  the  present  city. 

Of  some  of  these  ancient  villages  we  know  even  less  than  we  do  of  the  works 
of  the  Mound  Builders,  for  in  regard  to  the  latter,  we  at  least  know  their  loca- 
tion, and  this  is  more  than  we  know  about  a  few  of  our  early  towns. 

Mr.  Toole  in  the  Annals  of  Iowa  for  1870  says:  "In  its  early  days  it  (Louisa 
county)  had  a  full  share  of  speculative  or  prospective  cities,  in  the  eyes  of  the 
proprietors,  that  are  now  dead  or  extinct  towns  and  embraced  in  boundaries  of 
corn  fields,  viz :  Beginning  at  the  mouth  of  the  Iowa  river  it  had  first,  Cuba  City, 
next  Sterling,  Tecumseh.  Yellow  Banks,  Iowa  Town,  Florence,  Harrison,  Pitts- 
burg and  Cateese  all  on  the  Iowa  river." 

We  may  assume  that  Cuba  City  was  quite  near  the  mouth  of  the  Iowa  river, 
and  it  was  probably  at  this  place  where  Lieutenant  Lea  was  refused  shelter  in 
February,  1836.  "in  the  only  house  there,  occupied  by  a  drinking  crowd  of 
men  and  women."  Sterling,  sometimes  called  Mt.  Sterling,  was  afterwards 
added  to  Toolesboro  as  Frank's  addition. 

We  have  no  information  as  to  the  exact  location  of  Tecumseh,  nor  of  Yellow 
Banks,  but  it  is  probable  that  Yellow  Banks  was  situated  on  the  north  side  of 
the  Iowa  river  near  the  Oakville  bridge,  as  that  place  has  always  been  known  as 

289 


290  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

Yellow  Banks.  The  early  settlers  claimed  that  there  was  a  French  trading  house 
at  Yellow  Banks  long  before  the  Black  Hawk  war,  and  that  the  remains  of  the 
buildings  were  to  be  seen  there  when  the  county  was  first  settled. 

IOWA  TOWN. 

Iowa  Town  was  one  of  the  very  earliest  trading  points  in  the  county,  and 
was  probably  situated  in  section  27-73-3  Just  west  of  Iowa  slough  on  the  bank  of 
the  Iowa  river.  At  the  first  term  of  Court  in  April,  1837,  Rufus  P.  Burlingame 
procured  a  ferry  license  to  run  a  ferry  across  the  Iowa  river  at  Iowa  Town. 

The  first  tavern  license  issued  in  the  county  was  granted  to  William  Dupont 
July  11.  1837,  and  was  for  Iowa  Town  for  one  year  from  that  date.  This  tavern 
license  was  granted  by  the  Board  of  Supervisors,  our  first  county  board,  and  at 
the  meeting  at  which  it  was  granted,  the  tavern  rates  for  Louisa  county  were 
established.  The  price  for  a  night's  lodging  was  \2.y2  cents;  for  a  meal  37^  cents, 
and  for  board  by  the  day,  $1.00.  At  that  time  a  tavern  license  included 
also  the  right  to  sell  liquor,  and  the  board  fixed  the  price  for  every  drink  of 
liquor  at  I2J4  cents. 

An  election  was  held  at  "Towatown,"  on  March  5th.  1838,  and,  from  the  names 
of  the  voters  it  is  likely  that  this  was  then  the  voting  place  for  all  of  the  present 
township  of  Eliot,  the  lower  part  of  Wapello  township,  and  probably  a  part  of 
Jefferson,  because  Christopher  Shuck  was  one  of  the  judges  of  the  election.  Iowa 
Town  was  in  Florence  precinct,  beyond  a  doubt,  but  the  precinct  boundaries  were 
not  defined  at  that  time,  so  far  as  we  can  find. 

From  the  records  of  one  of  the  early  lawsuits  we  can  obtain  a  fair  idea  of  the 
kind  and  quality  of  goods  kept  in  a  "town"  store  at  the  first  settlement  of  the 
County.  It  appears  that  Rufus  P.  Burlingame.  who  owned  the  Ferry  at  Iowa 
Town,  also  had  a  store  there,  and  that  in  June,  1837,  while  this  county  was  in 
Wisconsin  territory,  Samuel  Smith,  our  first  sheriff  brought  an  attachment  suit 
against  Burlingame  for  $750.00.  The  writ  was  served  by  Isaac  Parsons,  cor- 
oner, and  the  return  shows  that  he  levied  on  a  stock  of  goods,  and  that  this 
stock  was  inventoried  by  Charles  B.  Field  and  William  Guthrie.  The  total 
inventory,  including  a  $25.00  ferry  boat  amounted  to  $2,913.76.  We  take  the  fol- 
lowing items  from  the  inventory: 

Palm  Leaf  Hats $     8.20      Coffe    25.00 

Fur  Coats    20.00      1  Box  Prunes 2.00 

Razors    &    Straps S^.-yj      Mackeral 8.00 

Tobacco   62.00      Seal  Caps    37.50 

Calico    199.00      Silk  Hats 88.00 

Silks  &  Crapes 18.75       Cutlery  &c 45.00 

Ready-made  clothing 334-75      I-ace  and  Muslin   312.04 

Satinetts    57.00      Circassian    11.30 

Satinetts 32.24      Shell  &  Horn  combs 78.25 

Bombazetts    4.78      Beaverteens 10.56 

Cambrick 20.88      Blankets    80.00 

Vesting    4545      Cloaks   12.00 

Cassamere    23.00  Mereno  cloth  and  Bombazetts.  .  41.77 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  291 

Broad  cloth   85.20      Handkerchiefs    !7-SO 

Camlet    33.75      Ribbons    10.00 

37-5  Brown  Holland  Cotton  Flannel 

Bar  soap    2.00  .,   ,-                                                   ,,    ,, 

1  (.V  hncev   84.85 

Sugar    96.00 

Shirts  &   Stockings 63.56'  Flred°gs    J-25 

Shirts  &c   49.92  Nails ^-oo 

Socks  &  Stockings 25-72  Shawls  &  Hdkfs 42.21 

Crockery    70.87  Gloves   21.75 

About  this  same  time  William  Dupont  was  granted  permission  to  build  a 
bridge  across  Iowa  Slough  on  the  road  to  New  Boston,  and  the  rates  of  toll  were 
fixed  at  one  half  of  the  ferry  rates  on  the  Iowa  river,  but  whether  the  bridge 
was  ever  built,  or  not,  it  is  certain  that  Iowa  Town  soon  disappeared.  If  it  was 
ever  "laid  out"  or  platted,  the  record   can  not  now  be   found. 

FLORENCE. 

John  B.  Newhall,  of  Burlington,  in  his  "Sketches  of  Iowa"  says  that  he  was  at 
one  time  a  part  owner  of  the  town  site  of  Florence,  and  that  it  was  at  one  time 
the  home  of  Black  Hawk  and  Keokuk.  According  to  Mr.  Newhall,  it  was  the 
rallying  point  for  the  followers  of  Black  Hawk  before  they  crossed  over  into 
Illinois  to  begin  the  war  of  1832.  It  was  also  the  place  known  in  the  Indian 
treaty  of   1832  as  "Keokuk's   Principal  Village." 

The  town  of  Florence  was  not  laid  out,  of  course,  until  after  September, 
1836,  but  if  it  was  ever  platted  there  is  no  record  of  it  now.  It  was  a  place  of 
some   importance    from   about    1838   until    1846. 

William  Phinney  began  keeping  tavern  there  in  April,  1838.  Philip  B.  Har- 
rison was  granted  a  ferry  license  by  the  District  Court  in  April,  1837  "at  the 
town  of  Florence." 

John  Deihl  was  appointed  postmaster  July  5th,  1839,  and  continued  in  that 
office,  until  it  was  discontinued  on  Feb.  nth.  1846.  During  most  if  not  all  of 
this  time  Mr.  Deihl  kept  a  store  there.  Silas  Foster  also  kept  store  there  in 
1839,  and  Calvin  Donaldson  began  mercantile  business  there  in  January,   1841. 

TOOLESBORO. 

Toolesborough  was  laid  out  by  William  L.  Toole  on  the  northwest  quarter 
of  section  11,  township  -jt,,  range  2.  It  appears  from  the  certificates  on  this  plat 
that  the  original  was  filed  for  record  with  J.  S.  Rinearson,  recorder  for  Louisa 
county,  Wisconsin  Territory,  on  July  23,  1837,  and  was  re-entered  for  record  on 
May  7,  1840.  There  is  a  certificate  of  John  Gilliland,  county  surveyor,  dated 
May  2,  1840,  stating  that  he  had  examined  by  actual  survey  and  admeasure- 
ment the  plat  and  plan  of  the  town  of  Toolesborough  heretofore  laid  out  by 
William  L.  Toole,  situate  in  the  northwest  quarter  of  section  n,  75-2,  and  that 
it  corresponded  "with  the  plan  to  which  these  marginal  notes  are  annexed." 

Frank's  addition  to  Toolesborough  was  laid  out  by  Franklin  Bras,  May  10, 
1856,  on  lot  No.  6  of  section  n,  73-2. 


292  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

Toolesboro  was  the  first  place  settled  in  the  county  and  at  that  time  was 
called  Black  Hawk.  It  was  for  man)-  years  the  manufacturing  and  commercial 
center  of  the  county.  When  it  was  first  settled  the  Iowa  river  ran  close  under 
the  bluff  and  near  the  town,  and  there  was  good  river  communication  for  seven 
or  eight  months  in  the  year.  It  was  the  pioneer  port  of  entry  for  Louisa  county. 
It  also  had  the  first  postoffice  in  the  county,  having  been  established  May  27,  1837, 
with  William  L.  Toole  as  the  first  postmaster.  Flisha  Hook  was  appointed  post- 
master May  5,  1838,  and  William  L.  Toole  was  again  appointed  May  3,  1842. 
Charles  N.  Cleveland  was  appointed  June  26,  1845.  Jared  H.  Trask  was  ap- 
pointed February  2,  1846.  Nathaniel  G.  Fitch  was  appointed  January  21,  1847. 
William  L.  Toole  was  again  appointed  April  20th.  1848.  Tared  H.  Trask  was 
appointed  a  second  time  on  February  28.  1851.  William  L.  Toole  was  appointed 
for  the  fourth  time  on  August  4,  1852.  Robinson  C.  Palmer  was  appointed 
June  10,  1856.  Albert  W.  Parsons  was  appointed  July  17,  1856.  George  W. 
Graves  June  25,  1858.  Geoige  II.  Mosier  September  18,  1861. 

Toolesboro  is  one  of  the  most  beautiful  locations  to  lie  found  anywhere. 
There  is  probably  no  more  sightly  place  anywhere  on  the  Mississippi  river. 
Standing  on  one  of  the  mounds  that  fringes  the  brow  of  the  bluff,  the  eye  can 
sweep  across  tree  tops  and  river  fully  ten  miles  to  the  bluff  on  the  opposite 
side,  and  up  and  down  the  Mississippi   for  twenty  or  thirty  miles. 

In  its  palmy  days  Toolesboro  had  two  distilleries,  three  mills,  for  grinding 
corn,  one  fur  wheat,  as  well  as  some  good  stores  and  a  fair  sized  warehouse. 

John  Hale  said  that  when  he  came  to  Toolesboro  in  1839  the  following 
houses  were  to  be  seen,  viz :  On  the  hill  were  W.  D.  Palmer's,  then  Cadwell's, 
who  kept  a  little  store  and  a  big  barrel  of  whiskey,  and  afterwards  had  a  dis- 
tillery under  the  hill;  William  L.  Toole's  store  and  postofHce;  then  Elisha  Hook's 
and  a  log  schoolhouse  opposite.  This  was  the  first  school  building  built  in 
Louisa  county;  a  cabin  near  Hook's,  occupied  by  some  family  forgotten.  Nearby 
was  a  double  log  cabin  occupied  by  Maximilian  Eastwood,  and  in  flaming  red 
letters  the  sign:  "M.  E.  Inn."  This  was  probably  the  first  tavern  in  Louisa 
county.     Close  to  this  was  another  cabin  occupied  by  Simeon  Bartemas  and  wife. 

Under  the  hill  were  the  following  buildings :  One  occupied  by  a  family  by 
the  name  of  Mitchell;  next  George  W.  Fleming's,  then  Henry  Sheets,  his  wife 
and  sister,  Mrs.  Ruth  Guest ;  Jonas  Ruffner's  house,  and  nearby  his  grist  mill. 
He  ground  both  corn  and  wheat  but  couldn't  bolt  the  flour ;  this  was  sifted  by 
the  housewives  at  home.  William  Medler's  and  another  cabin,  and  a  sort  of 
tenement  house  completed  the  list. 

C.  H.  Fisk  was  the  first  permanent  preacher  located  here,  but  the  noted 
circuit  rider  of  the  .Methodist  church,  Peter  Cartwright,  is  believed  to  have 
preached  here  at  a  very  early  day.  At  one  time  the  Rev.  G.  N.  Power,  a  brother 
of  Judge  J.  C.  Power  of  Burlington  was  the  regular  Methodist  minister  sta- 
tioned at  Toolesboro,  and  spent  a  winter  there. 

For  a  description  of  the  "Old  Fort"  at  Toolesboro,  see  the  chapter  on  the 
"Mound   Builders." 

Ezra  F.  Dennison  who  was  perhaps  the  leading  merchant  of  Toolesboro  in 
his  time,  and  also  a  pork  packer,  is  said  to  have  had  the  biggest  wedding  ever 
"pulled  off"  in  this  part  of  the  country.  It  took  place  on  July  12th.  1842,  under  a 
big  oak  tree,  at  the  foot  of  the  bluff  almost  on  the  line  between  Louisa  and  Des 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  293 

Moines  counties.  The  bride  was  Miss  Mary  L.  Staige,  daughter  of  Richard 
Staige,  a  prominent  settler  and  land  owner  in  what  is  now  Eliot  township,  lie 
owned  the  Edwards  farm.  The  marriage  ceremony  was  performed  by  Justice 
Bras,  while  the  bride,  groom,  and  about  ioo  guests  were  all  on  horseback.  After 
the  ceremony  the  entire  company  went  to  the  home  of  the  groom  at  Toolesboro. 
The  ferry  boat  and  a  dozen  or  more  skiffs  put  them  across  the  Iowa  river  in 
time  for  a  big  dinner,  at  which  there  were  something  like  500  guests.  John  Male 
built  the  big  oven,  in  which  the  pigs,  turkeys,  chickens  and  ducks  were  roasted. 

Geo.  H.  Mosier  was  for  a  long  time  the  merchant  of  Toolesboro,  and  ranked 
among  the  best  merchants,  and  among  the  leading  public  men  of  the  county. 

John  Dennison  about  1846  made  crocks  in  Toolesboro  for  several  months. 

At  one  time  Toolesboro  had  an  incorporated  manufacturing  concern.  In 
February,  1844,  the  Legislature  incorporated  the  "Toolesboro  Manufacturing 
Company"  with  William  Shepherd,  Daniel  West,  H.  D.  Smith,  Ezra  F.  Dennison, 
Jonathan  Parsons  and  William  L.  Toole  as  incorporators.  The  capital  stock 
was  limited  to  $40,000.00  in  shares  of  $100.00  each,  and  the  company  was  author- 
ized to  take  from  the  Iowa  river  sufficient  water  for  their  purposes  at  a  point 
on  said  river  nearly  opposite  Iowa  Town,  and  convey  the  same  over  or  through 
any  suitable  grounds  by  means  of  a  canal,  race  or  water-way  to  a  point  at  or 
near  Toolesboro. 

HARRISON. 

There  is  no  record  of.  the  original  plan  or  plat  of  the  town.  The  earliest 
record  we  have  is  in  the  old  plat  book  and  this  appears  to  have  been  a  re-survey. 
We  quote  from  the  record  as  follows :  "Plat  or  plan  of  the  town  of  Harrison. 
This  town  re-surveyed  and  laid  out  by  William  Kennedy  is  situate  on  the  east  side 
or  left  bank  of  the  Iowa  river  in  the  county  of  Louisa.  The  lots  are  60  feet 
front  by  142  back,  with  the  exception  of  those  fronting  said  river  which  are 
50  feet  front  by  132  back.  Main  street  is  84  feet  wide,  all  others  66.  The  alleys 
are  15  feet  wide.  The  bearings  of  the  street  are  north  40  degrees  east,  by  south 
50  degrees  east,  etc.'"  This  re-survey  is  certified  to  by  John  Gilliland,  county 
surveyor,  on  May  11,  1841,  and  was  acknowledged  by  William  Kenned)'  before 
J.  J.  Rinearson,  justice  of  the  peace,  July  2,  1841. 

Harrison  was  laid  out  by  William  Kennedy  with  the  intention  and  expectation 
of  making  it  the  county  seat.  It  was  at  one  time  quite  a  lively  place  for  that 
early  day. 

J.  R.  Rockafellar  had  a  license  to  sell  merchandise  there  in  1830,;  we  are  not 
certain  whether  or  not  he  was  the  first  merchant  there.  There  was  a  mill,  a 
schoolhouse,  and  a  number  of  other  stores. 

Harrison  was  a  candidate  for  the  county  seat  at  the  election  in  1839  along 
with  Fredonia  and  Wapello,  but  the  returns  of  that  election  cannot  be  found. 

The  town  of  Flarrison  was  started  as  early  as  1837,  for  we  find  in  the  records 
of  the  first  Board  of  Supervisors  an  account  of  holding  a  meeting  at  Harrison 
during  that  year. 

One  of  the  first  doctors  in  the  county  was  Reuben  S.  Searl,  who  lived  at  Har- 
rison, and  later,  about  1840,  Dr.  Harris  Howey  resided  there. 

For  a  number  of  years  there  was  a  ferry  across  the  Iowa  near  Harrison. 


294  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

In  addition  to  Harrison,  four  other  towns  have  been  platted  in  Port  Louisa 
township,  as  follows:  Port  Washington  in  1848,  Port  Louisa  in  1849,  Port 
Louisa  again  in  1854,  and  Odessa  in  1861. 

The  earliest  place  in  Port  Louisa  of  any  business  importance  was  called  Wall- 
ing's  Landing,  which,  as  we  understand  it,  was  about  the  same  place  as  was 
platted  for  the  town  of  Port  Louisa  as  afterward  laid  out  by  John  C.  Lockwood 
in  1854.  This  was  the  shipping  point  for  a  large  part  of  the  county  prior  to  the 
advent  of  the  railroads,  and  at  one  time  there  was  a  great  deal  of  business  done 
there. 

There  was,  as  noted  above,  a  Port  Louisa  laid  out  by  Henry  Rockafellar  in 
1849,  considerably  west  of  the  place  we  understand  to  have  been  Wallings  Land- 
ing. 

No  postoffice  seems  to  have  been  established  at  any  of  these  Port  Louisa 
towns  except  Harrison. 

We  notice  from  the  early  road  records  that  Walling's  Landing  was  a  well 
recognized  point  as  early  as  1842-43  and  continued  to  be  so  probably  until  1849, 
as  notices  were  circulated  for  public  meetings  there  as  late  as  1847. 

In  1 85 1  Lockwood  &  Fleming  advertised  in  the  Louisa  County  Times  as  hav- 
ing a  store  at  Port  Louisa.  This  was  probably  at  the  town  platted  by  Henry 
Rockafellar.  In  February  of  the  same  year  there  was  an  advertisement  contain- 
ing a  notice  of  the  proposed  incorporation  of  the  Port  Louisa,  Wapello  &  Vir- 
ginia Grove  Plank  Road  &  Bridge  Company,  of  which  J.  W.  Isett  was  president; 
J.  C.  Lockwood,  secretary,  and  H.  Rockafellar,  treasurer.  A  little  later  in  the 
year  this  company  advertised  for  sealed  proposals  for  throwing  up  and  grading 
about  2,000  feet  of  the  road  between  the  bluff  and  the  town  of  Port  Louisa. 

In  the  Wapello  Intelligencer  of  May  24,  1853,  there  is  a  lengthy  communica- 
tion from  J.  C.  Lockwood,  concerning  the  affairs  of  the  Port  Louisa,  Wapello 
and  Virginia  Grove  plank  road,  in  which,  among  other  things,  he  states  that  the 
original  stock  subscribed  west  of  the  Iowa  river  was  $840,  and  east  of  the  Iowa 
river  was  $1,620,  on  which  there  had  been  collected  up  to  date  $1,095,  and  the 
company  had  paid  for  bridge  timbers,  etc..  $577.70,  and  had  paid  Henry  Thomp- 
son on  contract  for  building  the  embankment,  $517.92,  and  that  there  yet  re- 
mained to  be  done  work  between  the  highlands  and  Muscatine  slough  amounting 
to  about  $1,600. 

Tn  the  Intelligencer  of  March  6,  1854,  is  the  first  notice  of  the  sale  of  town 
lots  in  Port  Louisa : 

"Here's  a  Chance  for  Business  Men. 

We  will  offer  at  public  auction  on  Tuesday,  the  2d  day  of  Mav,  1854,  the 
following  Real  Estate : 

75  Building  Lots 

(being  the  first  sale) 

In  the  Town  of  Port  Louisa. 

Iowa. 

Embracing  the  most  desirable  sites  for  Stores,  Warehouses,  Shops  and  Dwell- 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  295 

ingS — on  a  part  of  which  such  buildings  are  already  erected  and  if  desired  will 
be  sold  with  the  Lots.     Also  a 

NEW    STEAM    SAW    MILL. 

With  rotary  and  Lath  Saws  attached,  now  doing  a  good  business.    Also  a 

STEAM    FLOURING   MILL, 

in  the  vicinity  in  good  running  order,  with  a  good  run  of  Country  Custom. 

Sale  to  be  made  on  the  premises  commencing  at  12  o'clock  m.,  when  terms 
will  be  made  known.  For  particulars  apply  to  the  subscribers  on  the  premises, 
or  by  mail  through  this  office. 

Lockwood  &  Williamson." 

The  Port  Louisa  plank  road  from  Port  Louisa  to  the  bluff  west  of  that  village 
was  finished  late  in  the  winter  of  1853-4.  The  stockholders  of  the  company  had 
a  meeting  at  Port  Louisa,  on  Saturday,  February  11,  1854,  for  the  purpose  of 
establishing  the  rates  of  toll.  These  rates  were  established  as  follows:  For  a 
wagon  with  two  horses,  mules  or  oxen,  15  cents  per  trip;  for  wagon  with  one 
horse,  mule,  or  ox,  10  cents ;  for  wagon  once  passing,  10  cents ;  for  every  addi- 
tional horse,  etc.,  in  a  team,  5  cents :  for  horseman  on  horseback,  10  cents ;  for 
footman,  5  cents :  for  loose  cattle,  2  cents ;  hogs,  1  cent ;  sheep,  1  and  2  cents : 
persons  going  to  and  from  church  and  funerals,  and  children  going  to  and  from 
school,  free. 

At  this  time  Port  Louisa  was  thought  to  be  destined  to  be  quite  an  important 
place.  It  had  the  only  good  landing  on  the  Mississippi  river  in  this  county.  It 
also  had  a  most  complete  sawing  establishment ;  and  there  was  a  good  steam  grist 
mill  but  a  short  distance  from  there.  There  was  usually  a  large  amount  of 
pine  lumber  on  hand  at  the  sawmill,  being  brought  down  by  rafts  on  the  Missis- 
sippi. 

In  the  Wapello  Intelligencer  of  March  4,  1856,  George  Hutchinson,  "for- 
warding and  general  merchant"  at  Port  Louisa,  gives  the  "exports"  from  that 
point  during  the  previous  year  as  follows :  22,052  sacks  of  wheat,  9,690  sacks  of 
oats,  1,231  sacks  of  rye,  13,660  sacks  of  corn,  205  sacks  of  potatoes,  144  sacks  of 
flaxseed,  26  sacks  of  mustard,  326  pounds  of  pork,  8,022  pes.  bulk  meat,  85 
sacks  of  hams,  956  bbls.  of  lard.     (A  sack  is  about  two  bushels.) 

The  paper  claims  that  there  was  more  than  that  shipped  from  Wapello  & 
Toole's  Landing  and  via  Burlington  &  Muscatine. 

In  the  Wapello  Republican  of  January  3rd,  1861,  Hutchinson  &  Berner  of 
Port  Louisa  have  a  large  advertisement  of  their  dry  goods,  clothing,  grocery  and 
notions  store  and  state  that  they  have  "unsurpassed  facilities  for  storing  grain," 
and  "pay  the  highest  prices  for  wheat,  corn  and  pork"  and  "press  and  bale  hay 
on  short  notice."  Notwithstanding  the  fact  that  Port  Louisa  township  has  been, 
most  of  the  time,  without  any  town,  its  citizenship  has  always  ranked  with  the 
very  best  in  the  county.  In  the  early  days,  as  well  as  later,  a  strong  religious 
sentiment  prevailed  there,  and  there  have  been  a  great  many  United  Presbyterian 
families  among  its  settlers.  For  the  names  of  the  prominent  early  settlers  the 
reader  is  referred  to  the  chapter  on  townships.  The  following  are  the  particu- 
lars as  to  the  laying  out  of  the  four  towns  referred  to,  as  shown  on  the  town 
plat  book  in  the  Recorder's  office : 


296  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

PORT  WASHINGTON, 

laid  out  by  William  Hardin  and  William  Johnson  on  lot  No.  2,  section  8,  town- 
ship 74  north,  range  2  west,  on  the  bank  of  the  Mississippi  river.  This  would 
be  in  the  northeast  quarter  of  section  8,  surveyed  by  A.  D.  Hurley,  county  sur- 
veyor, September  26,  1848. 

PORT  LOUISA, 

laid  out  by  Henry  Rockafellar,  proprietor,  October  20,  184'),  on  the  north  end 
of  the  northwest  quarter  of  the  northeast  quarter  of  section  7  and  the  southwest 
quarter  of  the  southeast  quarter  of  section  6,  township  74  north,  range  2  west, 
surveyed  by  A.  D.  Hurley,  county  surveyor.  This  was  west  of  Port  Louisa  and 
sometimes  called  West  Port  Louisa. 

PORT  LOUISA, 

laid  out  by  John  C.  Lockwood,  surveyed  by  John  R.  Sisson,  county  surveyor, 
March  20,  1854,  and  acknowledged  by  John  C.  Lockwood,  April  4,  1854.  It  was 
laid  out  on  the  bank  of  the  Mississippi  river,  immediately  south  of  what  is  known 
as  the  cut-off  of  Muscatine  slough  on  lot  No.  4,  in  section  5,  township  74  north, 
range   2   west. 

ODESSA. 

laid  out  by  M.  P.  Yanloon,  May  15,  1861,  on  lots  1  and  2  in  section  18,  township 
74  north,  range  2.  The  east  end  of  block  1  extends  to  the  main  channel  of  the 
lake.  The  west  edge  of  the  alley  passes  through  the  quarter  section  corner,  being 
sections  7  and  18. 

FREDONI \ 

was  laid  out  by  Alvin  Clark  in  July.  1840,  and  the  plat  is  surveyed  by  John  Gilli- 
land,  county  surveyor,  under  date  February  12,  1846.  The  town  was  situate  on 
the  east  bank  of  the  Iowa  river,  immediately  below  the  junction  of  the  Towa  and 
Cedar  rivers  in  section  20.  township  75  north,  range  4  west. 

VLIMEDA, 

a  part  of  Fredonia.  was  laid  out  by  James  Waterbury,  July  28,  1859,  in  the  south- 
west corner  of  the  northeast  quarter  of  section  20,  75-4. 

It  is  often  said  that  Fredonia  came  near  being  the  capital  of  Iowa ;  that  it 
only  lost  it  by  one  vote.  Sometimes  the  number  of  votes  lacking  is  given  at 
three,  etc.  There  is  really  no  foundation  for  the  story,  in  the  way  in  which  it  is 
usually  told.  Neither  Fredonia,  nor  any  other  place  in  this  county,  ever  had  any 
chance  to  be  the  capital.  It  is  true,  however,  that  Fredonia,  Black  Hawk,  Wapello 
and  many  other  places  were  proposed  and  voted  for  in  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives, while  there  was  a  contest  going  on  between  Mt.  Pleasant  and  Iowa  City, 
and  that  they  only  lacked  from  one  to  three  votes  of  a  majority  in  the  House. 
This  was  in  the  winter  of  1838-9;  but  there  was  never  any  serious  intention  of 


Southwest  from  Bund  Stand 


Northwest  from  Band  Stand 


n  8  n 


1      I 


Cherry  Street  Looking  South 


,,.-.—  '. 


"""—-.. 


sniiiliS  n  t  itiiii 


Northeast  from  Band  Stand  Southeast  from  Band  Stand 

SCENES  IN  LETTS 


LBNM   an'O 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  297 

locating  the  capital  here,  and  the  name  of  Fredonia  was  never  even  voted  upon 
in  the  Council. 

Enoch  K.  Maxson  was  the  first  doctor  in  Fredonia ;  he  had  a  "grocer's  license" 
in  1840,  as  did  also  Mrs.  Lucinda  Bliven,  who  afterward  married  William  Todd. 

In  July,  1839,  Marvel  Wheelock  was  licensed  to  keep  a  tavern  at  Fredonia, 
and  also  to  run  a  ferry  across  the  Iowa  river  "below  the  forks." 

Lotrip  Darling,  an  early  settler  in  Concord  township,  or  rather,  Fredonia 
township,  as  it  was  first  called,  was  the  first  blacksmith  in  Fredonia. 

The  railroad  reached  Fredonia  in  1857,  and  ran  its  first  train  east  from  there 
on  July  4th  of  that  year.    George  Haywood  was  the  first  agent. 

John  Bryson  sold  lumber  there  after  the  railroad  came,  then  went  to  Colum- 
bus City,  and  later  to  Clifton.  Fredonia  was  something  of  a  "seaport"  in  the 
days  of  traffic  on  the  Iowa  river,  but  what  little  we  have  learned  about  that  is  to 
be  found  in  the  chapter  on  transportation. 

A  series  of  meetings  were  held  at  Fredonia  in  1842  by  Rev.  James  L.  Scott, 
who  made  a  missionary  tour  from  Rhode  Island  to  the  great  west  that  year,  and 
published  a  journal  which  contains  some  interesting  items  about  Fredonia,  Hills- 
boro  and  that  vicinity.  Mr.  Scott's  journal  says  that  he  traveled  from  Burling- 
ton to  Fredonia  May  25,  1842,  and  gives  the  distance  as  forty-four  miles.  Aside 
from  a  few  newly  commenced  settlements  and  an  occasional  grove  he  found  the 
scene  along  the  way  practically  the  same,  being  "an  unbounded  sea  of  prairie." 
At  twilight  he  reached  the  Towa  river,  his  patience  being  sorely  taxed  by  the 
indolence  of  the  lads  who  tended  the  ferryboat  at  Clark's  ferry. 

He  describes  Fredonia  as  "A  small  village,  situated  on  the  bank  of  the  Iowa 
river,  just  at  the  junction  of  the  Iowa  and  north  fork  of  the  Cedar  rivers.  I 
have  often  thought  while  here  that' they  had  as  commodious  a  location  for  a  large 
town  as  I  ever  saw  in  the  interior  of  a  country."  He  noted  the  fine  timber  all 
around,  which  seemed  to  him  to  be  much  taller  than  that  in  Illinois,  and  noted 
also  that  they  were  then  erecting  a  steam  sawmill  opposite  Fredonia. 

Referring  to  Hillsboro.  which  is  better  known  now  by  the  name  of  Toddtown 
he  says :  "Hillsboro  is  conveniently  located  for  a  harbor  and  town,  and  had 
already  begun  to  erect  its  edifices.  It  lies  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  river  from 
Fredonia,  and  about  one  mile  above  on  the  Iowa  branch.  Through  it  a  terri- 
torial road  passes  from  Burlington  to  Iowa  City.  Here  Captain  Wheelock  keeps 
a  commodious  ferryboat."  He  also  refers  to  several  "neat  buildings"  that  had 
just  been  commenced. 

He  has  this  to  say  of  Columbus  City,  although  he  gets  the  name  slightly  wrong. 
"About  three  miles  back  on  the  route  to  Burlington  is  Columbia  City,  a  small 
village,  but  I  cannot  now  see  what  will  keep  it  alive,  as  it  is  situated  on  a  dry 
prairie.     It  has.  however,  a  very  pleasant  location." 

In  the  latter  part  of  May,  Rev.  Scott  began  a  series  of  meetings  at  Fredonia. 
Of  the  first  one  he  says :  "At  eleven  o'clock  the  people  began  to  flock  to  Fre- 
donia and  we  listened  to  a  discourse  from  a  Methodist  brother.  At  two  p.  111. 
I  addressed  the  congregation  and  commenced  a  series  of  meetings  which  were 
kept  up  as  much  as  consistent  until  my  health  completely  failed,  and  I  was  obliged 
to  leave  a  weeping  and  anxious  people.  .  .  .  Four  o'clock  p.  m.  I  addressed 
a  congregation  of  anxious  hearers.  Many  came  from  distance.  Had  a  meeting 
again  in.  the  evening.     Sinners  began  to  inquire  the  way  to  heaven." 


298  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

Under  date  of  May  27th  is  the  following  report  in  his  journal :  "Took  a 
circuitous  route  back  of  Fredonia  (probably  east)  through  the  prairies,  inter- 
spersed with  groves.  We  traveled  on  a  ridge  of  land  which  led  us  through  one 
plantation  where  was  about  800  acres  under  cultivation.  On  either  side  of  the 
road  were  large  fields  of  wheat,  corn,  oats  and  potatoes.  .  .  .  We  kept  the 
ridge  for  some  distance  and  were  able  to  survey  much  of  the  surrounding  country, 
which  for  picturesque  scenery  and  agricultural  conveniences  surpasses  every- 
thing I  ever  saw  before,  or  expect  to  see  again." 

On  the  28th.  which  was  Sabbath,  the  reverend  gentleman  held  services  and 
then  went  to  Osceola,  or  Hillsboro,  and  spent  the  night.  On  the  next  day  he 
passed  down  the  river  from  Hillsboro  to  Fredonia  in  a  canoe  in  company  with 
Captain  Wheelock  and  lady.  On  this  day  the  people  gathered  from  far  and  near 
and  the  good  man  was  almost  persuaded  to  settle  down  in  Fredonia. 

From  that  time  Sabbath  meetings  continued  until  the  8th  of  June,  when  he 
was  obliged  by  ill  health  to  close  in  the  middle  of  a  sermon.  He  was  pained  at 
heart  to  leave  this  field  and  expressed  the  fervent  wish  that  "Zion  did  but  know 
the  deep  wretchedness  and  anxieties  of  many  of  the  people  scattered  through  the 
great  western  valley,"  and  the  belief  that,  if  so,  they  would  "fly  to  their  relief  and 
help   exterminate  the   heresies,   infidelity,   popery  and   Mormonism." 

One  of  the  most  interesting  things  in  Mr.  Scott's  little  book  is  what  he  says 
about  Osceola.  This  is  the  name  given  by  Mr.  Scott  to  the  high  hill  or  bluff  at 
Toddtown  on  the  bank  of  the  Iowa  river,  just  west  of  the  Rock  Island  track. 
He  says :  "West  of  the  territorial  road  at  Hillsboro  is  the  rising  bank  of  Osceola, 
or  the  mound  upon  which  the  Indians  came  to  trade,  as  this  was  the  converging 
point  of  the  nations  general  resort.  We  ascended  to  its  conical  head.  This  is 
about  100  feet  above  the  river,  which  flows  directly  beneath,  and  about  one  mile 
from  Fredonia.  ...  A  prospect  from  the  summit  must  present  a  still  more 
tempting  scene  than  that  from  the  towering  mound  which  overhung  the  beloved 
city  in  the  eastern  world,  fust  before  us  between  the  two  rivers  was  Port 
Island." 

He,  of  course,  meant  Port  Allen.  Farther  on  he  says:  "Northwest  of  us 
we  saw  a  tree  which  from  its  distance  resembled  an  umbrella.  I  was  informed 
that  it  was  a  large  oak  eighteen  miles  distant  and  stood  on  the  great  territorial 
road  which  leads  from  Burlington  to  Iowa  City.  About  two  miles  south  of  us 
was  Columbus  City.  Thus  in  every  direction  we  could  survey  the  'garden  of  the 
west.' 

"I  the  night  while  standing  there  that  this  mound  might  yet  sustain  an  acad- 
emy, and  from  it  the  student  might  survey  the  geographic  features  of  both  river 
and  sky." 

Further  on  he  says  of  this  general  locality:  "The  Iowa  river  is  one  of  the 
largest  tributaries  of  the  Mississippi,  affording  steamboat  navigation  the  principal 
part  of  the  year  to  Fredonia  and  Hillsboro.  From  thence  to  Iowa  City  it  is 
susceptible  of  keelboat  navigation.  With  this  view  of  the  subject  it  is  readily 
inferred  that  the  towns  at  the  confluence  of  the  Iowa  and  Cedar  rivers  will 
eventually  take  the  lead  in  commerce,  notwithstanding  the  capital  is  above  them 
in  point  of  location,  and  its  population  far  superior."  Concerning  the  wild  fruits 
and  wild  animals  in  the  Iowa  country  he  says:  "Wild  plums  almost  of  unnum- 
bered varieties  grow  in  profusion,  and  the  deep  recesses  of  the  forests  abound 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  299 

in  wild  grapes,"  etc.  He  mentions  also  crab  apples  and  various  kinds  of  berries, 
and  foxes,  raccoons,  opossum,  gophers,  porcupines,  squirrels,  otter  and  deer,  and 
says  that  the  rivers,  lakes  and  creeks  abound  in  speckled  trout,  white  perch,  black 
and  rock  bass,  catfish,  shad,  eels,  sturgeon  and  buffalo. 

He  describes  with  much  feeling  his  departure  from  Fredonia  and  the  "bursts 
of  sorrow"  with  which  the  people  received  the  intelligence  that  he  was  about 
to  leave  them.  In  conclusion  he  says  that  a  church  was  constituted  and  founded 
in  Fredonia  in  which  Dr.  Enoch  Maxson  was  clerk.  He  refers  to  Fredonia  as 
a  very  convenient  location  for  a  large  town,  being  on  the  bank  of  the  Iowa  river 
"up  and  down  which  the  proud  steamer  frequently  plays,  laden  with  almost  every- 
thing necessary  for  domestic  use  in  this  newly  settled  country." 

As  noted  elsewhere,  when  the  townships  were  first  established,  what  is  now 
Concord  was  a  part  of  Fredonia  township,  which  embraced  all,  or  practically 
all,  of  the  present  townships  of  Oakland  and  Concord.  In  those  days  Fredonia 
was  a  place  of  considerable  importance.  It  was  incorporated  in  1874,  the  vote 
on  the  question  being  taken  on  May  30th,  and  resulting  25  for  incorporation 
and  none  against.  The  population  is  given  as  follows:  1870 — 150;  1875 — 
123;  1880 — 157;  the  population  of  Fredonia  seems  to  have  been  included  with 
that  of  the  township,  and  not  given  separately,  in  the  subsequent  enumerations. 
Cram's  Atlas  for  191 1  gives  the  population  for  1910  at  250,  but  this  may  be 
only  an  estimate. 

LAFAYETTE  AND  IIILLSBORO. 

LAFAYETTE 

was  laid  out  by  Jacob  Schmeltzer,  Elizabeth  Wheelock,  William  Edwards,  James 
M.  Edwards  and  Augustus  Dubreuil,  and  surveyed  by  John  R.  Sisson,  county- 
surveyor,  May  14,  1856,  and  acknowledged  by  the  various  proprietors  before 
Wesley  W.  Garner,  notary  public,  August  1,  1856.  It  appears  to  have  been 
laid  out  just  south  of  the  town  of  Hillsborough  and  the  greater  part  of  it  was 
in  the  southeast  quarter  of  the  northwest  quarter  of  section  19,  although  the 
east  part  of  it  was  about  142  feet  extended  over  into  the  southwest  quarter  of 
the  northeast  quarter  of  section  19.  This  plat  was  also  about  600  feet  wide 
east  and  west  and  about  1,200  or  1,300  feet  long  north  and  south. 

HILLSBOROUGH 

was  laid  out  by  William  Todd  on  the  south  bank  of  the  Iowa  river  immediately 
adjoining  the  fern'  landing,  known  as  Todd's  ferry.  It  was  surveyed  by  John 
Gilliland,  county  surveyor,  April  28,  1842,  and  acknowledged  by  William  Todd 
before  J.  S.  Rinearson,  notary  public,  June  17,  1842.  The  part  laid  out  seems 
to  have  been  about  60  feet  wide  east  and  west  by  about  1,500  feet  north  and 
south . 

The  place  where  these  two  towns  were  is  now  included  in  the  limits  of 
Columbus  Junction.  Hillsboro,  as  it  has  usually  been  called,  was  once  quite  a 
business  point  for  shipping  on  the  Iowa  river.  For  a  few  years,  about  1858 
to  1 861,  there  was  a  postoffice  here,  called  Altoona.  The  census  of  i860  gives 
the  population  of  Hillsboro  at  63,  while  that  of  1870  places  it  at  46. 


300  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

Fitch  &  Luckett  packed  pork  at  Hillsboro  and  Marvel  Wheelock  and  Allan 
Pease  had  stores  there.     Philander  Bouton  had  a  store  at  Lafayette. 

CLIFTON 

is  described  on  the  plat  book  as  the  second  station  west  of  Muscatine  on  the 
Mississippi  &  Missouri  railroad,  situated  on  the  southwest  quarter  of  the  north- 
east quarter  and  the  southeast  quarter  of  the  northwest  quarter  of  section  23, 
township  75  north,  range  5  west,  and  was  laid  out  by  Joseph  A.  Green  and 
George  C.  Stone,  October  16,  1S58.  The  railroad  extends  east  and  west  with 
a  bend  to  the  north  through  the  south  half  of  the  plat,  the  greater  part  of  the 
town  as  platted  being  on  the  north  side  of  the  railroad. 

Haywood's  addition  to  Clifton  was  laid  out  by  George  Haywood,  September 
4.  1865.  The  location  is  described  as  follows  on  the  plat  book:  "Such  addition 
is  laid  upon  the  east  side  and  will  not  vary  far  from  589  feet  wide  of  the  north- 
east quarter  of  the  northwest  quarter  of  section  23  of  township  j$  north,  of  range 
5  west,  and  adjoins  the  original  town  plat  of  Clifton  on  the  north  and  is  an 
extension  north  the  entire  length  of  said  northeast  quarter  of  the  northwest 
quarter  of  section  2^." 

Clifton  is  now  but  a  memory,  and  yet  the  census  of  i860  gives  it  46  people 
and  that  of  1870  gives  it  200.  In  1867  the  Methodists  and  Catholics  each  built 
churches  there.  It  had  two  lumber  yards,  two  hotels  and  several  stores.  Geo. 
Haywood  was  the  first  agent  there,  as  he  had  been  at  Fredonia :  he  was  also 
the  first  postmaster.  Wm.  Klotz  kept  hotel  there,  and  Geo.  \V.  Merrill.  I.  L.  & 
P.  H.  Collins,  and  Russell  &  Gallup  had  stores.  Clifton  was  at  one  time  the 
shipping  point   for  Columbus  City,  Union  and  part  of  Wapello  townships. 

OAKLAND  TOWNSHIP  AND  ITS  TOWNS. 

rile  first  official  name  given  to  the  territory  comprising  Oakland  township 
after  it  became  a  part  of  Louisa  county,  which  was  not  until  January,  1839, 
was  Catteese.  The  designation  of  this  district  was  intended  both  for  a  road 
district  and  a  voting  precinct,  and  it  was  provided  that  the  voting  place  should 
be  at  Hugh  Coland's.  This  name  is  given  at  other  times  as  "Calm"  or  "Callan." 
Whatever  the  proper  spelling  was,  it  is  quite  certain  he  was  an  early  settler  in 
Oakland  township,  and  probably  lived  near  the  bank  of  the  Iowa  river  almost 
due  west  from  Levi  1  Hake's  residence. 

Among  the  other  early  settlers  were  Joseph  Blake,  Peter  Blake,  Curtis 
Knight  and  Absalom  Dollarhide.     William  Blake.   M.  Seydell,  and  John   Brown. 

Joseph  Blake  was  for  a  time  the  leading  man  in  Oakland  township. 

Absalom  Dollarhide  had  a  grist  mill  on  Prairie  creek,  not  far  from  tile 
bridge  in  the  southwest  quarter  of  section  22. 

The  first  town  established  or  attempted  to  be  established  in  Oakland  town- 
ship was  called  Catteese.  William  L.  Toole  refers  to  this  in  his  writings  in 
the  "Annals  of  Iowa."  He  says,  that  in  a  very  early  day  there  was  great  rivalry 
between  Catteese  and  Fredonia.  and  at  one  time  there  was  a  lot  sale  in  Catteese. 

Catteese  was  undoubtedly  the  forerunner  of  the  original  town  of  Port  Allen, 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  301 

which  was  located  on  high  ground  just  across  the  river  north  from  old  "Todd 
Town." 

In  July,  1839,  Mr.  Samuel  Davis,  editor  of  a  Whig  paper  called  the  "Peoria 
Register,"  was  making  a  tour  through  Wisconsin,  and  was  writing  letters,  one 
of  which  was  published  in  the  Iowa  News  of  Dubuque.  It  is  dated  Catteese, 
July  4,  1837,  and  while  it  is  quite  an  interesting  letter,  it  does  not  say  anything 
about  Catteese  or  the  immediate  country  around  it,  but  the  fact  that  it  is  dated 
at  Catteese  shows  that  it  was  then  on  the  map. 

We  have  an  interesting  little  book  which  once  belonged  to  Curtis  Knight, 
which  he  called  his  "bill  book."  It  begins  in  1831  and  extends  over  to  about 
1853.  There  are  but  few  items  in  it.  The  first  entry  covers  about  four  pages, 
and  seems  to  be  an  inventory  or  invoice  of  goods  bought  by  Curtis  Knight  in 
1831,  but  the  name  of  the  vendor  is  not  decipherable  now. 

We  gather  from  some  of  the  entries  in  this  book  that  Mr.  Knight  settled  in 
Oakland  township  in  the  spring  of  1838. 

If  Mr.  Knight  had  recorded  all  the  happenings  in  the  "forks  of  the  river," 
in  those  early  days,  his  book  would  possess  very  great  interest.  He  might  have 
enlightened  us  as  to  the  Saturday  gatherings  for  the  promotion  of  horseracing 
and  the  manly  art  of  fisticuffing.  These  were  favorite  sports  with  the  people  of 
the  southern  half  of  Oakland  township  until  long  after  the  war. 

The  custom  in  early  days  of  borrowing  and  lending  is  well  illustrated  by 
some  of  the  entries  in  this  book.     We  give  some  sample  entries :  • 

"Iowa  &  Seeder  Forks,  Louisa  County 

June  4,  1838.     Peter  Blake  debtor  to  Curtis  Knight: 

To  8  lbs.  of  bacon .•  .$1.00 

To  lA  bushel  of  seed  corn 5° 

To  One  half  day  sawing  plank 50 

To  one  bushel  of  corn   i-OO 

To  Y\  yard  linen 37 

August  3,  1838.     To  breakage  of  wagon  tongue 2.50 

Lent  to  Peter  Blake.  4  small  pans  of  corn  meal  at  one  time  and  2  at  another. 

Lent  four  large  pans  of  flour. 

Lent  2  bowls  of  salt. 

Lent  one  tea  cup  of  pepper. 

Lent  1  tea  cup  of  shugar. 

Lent   1  bowl  of  salt. 

Settled." 

From  a  few  entries  in  the  book  it  seems  that  Mr.  Knight  was  a  store  keeper, 
and  charged  Jayhue  Bedwell  with  an  Ox  yoke,  staple,  ring  and  post  $3.00,  and 
with  different  sums  for  different  kinds  of  cloth,  one  item  of  7  1/3  yards  of 
"cassamer"  at  $13.75.  He  sells  bacon,  corn,  skein  silk,  pickeled  pork,  potatoes, 
coffee,  onions,  saddles,  honey  and  various  other  items.  The  price  for  coffee 
seems  to  have  been  20  cents  a  pound,  and  corn  meal  50  cts.  a  bushel. 


302  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

Hugh  Callin's  name  is  found  in  one  entry  under  date  of  December  4,  1840. 

PORT  ALLEX. 

Port  Allen  was  the  next  town  in  Oakland  township  and  was  laid  out  by 
George  W.  Allen,  Joseph  Blake,  William  Blake  and  Peter  Blake,  March  19, 
1841,  and  was  located  in  the  forks  of  the  Cedar  and  Iowa  rivers.  It  was  sur- 
veyed by  John  Gilliland,  County  Surveyor,  and  the  plat  was  acknowledged  by 
the  above  named  proprietors  on  March  20,  1841,  before  Enoch  K.  Maxson, 
Justice  of  the  Peace. 

This  was  quite  a  pretentious  place  for  a  little  while,  there  being  a  ferry 
across  the  Iowa  river  on  the  road  to  Fredonia  and  across  the  Iowa  to  the  south. 
At  one  time  the  ferry  license  was  in  the  name  of  a  man  named  lohn  Brown, 
and  it  is  said  that  he  and  also  Mr.  Allen  kept  store  in  Port  Allen. 

The  government  records  show  that  Port  Allen  had  the  following  postmasters : 

Curtis  Knight,  appointed  June   15,   1848. 

Jesse  Graves,  appointed  March  30,   1854. 

William   H.   Hayward,   appointed  February    19,   1856. 

Hiram  Hall,  appointed  May  21,  1857. 

David  M.  Inghram,  appointed  June  18,   1861. 

We  do  not  think  that  any  of  these  men  kept  the  postoffice  at  the  Port  Allen 
which  was  located  by  George  W.  Allen. 

At  the  time  that  Curtis  Knight  was  postmaster,  he  kept  the  postoffice  at  his 
house,  which  was  on  the  bank  of  the  Iowa  river  about  three-quarters  of  a  mile 
north  of  the  platted  town,  and  at  that  time  it  had  probably  been  abandoned. 
The  other  postmasters  given  for  Port  Allen  were  located  at  the  town  platted 
as  Oakland,  which  was  situated  some  three  miles  north  and  west  of  there  in 
sections  36  and  25. 

A  little  later  than  the  time  we  speak  of,  came  Cyril  Carpenter,  Charles  H. 
Abbott.  Shakespeare  McKee,  Milton  Carpenter,  W.  B.  Davis,  Alvah  Morse, 
Delatus  Graves,  H.  A.  Keyes  and  William  Nelson.  A  brief  sketch  of  Cvril 
Carpenter  will  be  found  in  the  chapter  on  personal  mention. 

An  interesting  story  is  told  of  how  Oakland  township  came  to  be  established : 
it  was  originally  a  part  of  Fredonia  township,  with  the  township  headquarters 
and  voting  place  at  Fredonia.  which  necessitated  the  people  living  in  Oakland 
township  crossing  the  river  when  they  wanted  to  vote  or  transact  township 
business.  Practically  all  the  township  officers  were  elected  from  the  Fredonia 
side.  At  one  election  Colonel  Abbott  organized  the  Oakland  township  voters, 
and  made  up  a  ticket  of  township  officers  all  of  whom  belonged  in  Oakland 
township.  To  prevent  undue  excitement  on  the  Fredonia  side,  the  Oakland 
township  voters  went  over  in  skiffs  one  and  two  at  a  time,  and  their  plan  was 
not  discovered  until  the  polls  were  about  to  close,  but  too  late  to  prevent  the 
success  of  Abbott's  plan.  The  result  was,  that  when  nearly  all  the  township 
officers  belonged  in  Oakland  township  the  people  on  the  Fredonia  side  were 
willing  for  a  division. 

OAKLAND 

was  laid  out  by  James  McKee,  Erastus  Graves,  W.  H.  Crocker  and  Charles  H. 
Abbott  on  sections  25  and  36,  township  76  north,  range  5  west,  the  quarter  sec- 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  303 

tion  corner  of  the  north  boundary  of  section  36  being  the  geographical  center 
of  the  town  plat.     It  was  surveyed  by  John  R.  Sisson,  county  surveyor,  October 

5-   i854- 

CAIRO. 

The  history  of  Hope  Farm  and  Cairo  properly  belong  together.  Hope  Farm 
was  located  on  the  land  now  owned  by  John  Bretz,  east  of  Cairo.  It  was  started 
by  the  Isetts,  Dr.  Samuel  R.  Isett  and  J.  Wilson  Isett ;  they  settled  in  that 
neighborhood  probably  as  early  as  1837.  J.  Wilson  Isett  had  a  store  at  Hope 
Farm  as  early  as  1839.  It  is  said  that  the  first  school  in  this  vicinity  was  located 
about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  east  of  Hope  Farm.  The  early  school  teachers  were 
Elijah  Lathrop  and  Veazy  P.  Bunnell,  and  they  probably  taught  there  in  1838 
and  1839,  although  the  exact  date  cannot  be  stated.  Frank  Griswold,  now  a 
resident  of  Wapello  went  to  school  there,  as  did  also  the  late  Mrs.  Weaver, 
mother  of  Hon.  H.  O.  Weaver,  of  Wapello. 

The  postmasters  at  Hope  Farm  were  as  follows : 

Samuel  Isett,  appointed  February  22,  1840 ;  James  W.  Isett,  appointed  Decem- 
ber 29,  1840;  Franklin  Griswold,  appointed  August  18,  1843;  John  Marshall, 
appointed  March  25,  1844;  Joseph  B.  Nichols,  appointed  January  14,  1850; 
Thomas  J.  R.  Ellis,  appointed  October  4,  1850.  The  postoffice  at  Hope  Farm 
was  discontinued  March  23,  1856. 

The  postmasters  at  Cairo  down  to  war  times  were  as  follows : 

John  Marshall,  appointed  July  1,  1856;  Jefferson  W.  Davis,  appointed  April 
18,  1857;  David  McKinley,  appointed  March  13,  1858;  Alonzo  D.  Hickok. 
February  20,  1865.  It  can  be  safely  assumed  that  practically  all  of  these  post- 
masters were  store  keepers  at  the  time  they  held  the  postoffice. 

There  was  a  hotel  in  Cairo  called  the  Louisa  House,  kept  by  Mrs.  Lucy 
Hummeston,  afterward  Forbes.  Mrs.  Hummeston  first  kept  hotel  and  called 
it  the  Louisa  House,  on  the  farm  where  Leslie  Nichols  now  lives ;  the  old  sign 
of  the  hotel  was  taken  to  Cairo  and  used  there.  Mrs.  Hummeston  was  a  daughter 
of  Franklin  Griswold,  who  with  his  brother  were  among  the  very  earliest 
settlers  in  Marshall  township ;  the  brother,  Ira  Griswold,  framed  the  Wapello 
Mill  when  it  was  first  erected. 

Aside  from  the  early  store  keepers  and  those  already  mentioned,  the  pioneer 
settlers  of  Marshall  township  were  Richard  Slaughter,  George  Key,  Nixon 
Scott,  Richard  Restine,  John  Sellers,  Annanias  Simpkins.  H.  M.  Ochiltree, 
whose  name  is  connected  with  the  history  of  Morning  Sun,  first  settled  on  a 
piece  of  land  in  Marshall  township.  A  little  later  came  Robert  Niccolls,  John 
N.  Baldrige  and  Oliver  Benton ;  also  Abraham  Hill,  who  built  what  was  known 
as  Hill's  Mill  on  Long  creek  near  the  Dan  McKay  farm.  Another  early  settler 
was  Christopher  Fox,  the  grandfather  of  Mrs.  Ralph  Butler,  who  was  quite  a 
character  in  his  day  and  had  seen  active  service  in  the  Black  Hawk  war.  In 
the  early  '60s  Jesse  Vanhorn  was  prominent  in  Cairo,  and  had  much  to  do 
with  building  the  Cairo  church.  He  also  erected  a  grist  mill  on  Long  creek 
about  three  miles  down  the  creek  from  the  Derbin  mill. 

About  this  same  time  M.  M.  Carson  was  running  a  pump  factory  at  Cairo. 

This  was  also  the  home  of  Rev.  F.  F.  Kiner,  who  will  be  remembered  as 
one  of  the  supervisors  who  were  taken  to  Des  Moines  by  the  United  States 


304  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

marshal.  Mr.  Kiner  came  here  from  Jefferson  county  shortly  after  the  war 
was  over;  he  was  a  soldier  and  wrote  a  book  describing  his  life  in  prison. 

Following  is  what  the  records  show  as  to  the  laying  out  of  Cairo  and  its 
additions : 

CAIRO 

was  laid  out  by  James  H.  Marshall  on  the  northwest  quarter  of  the  southwest 
quarter  of  the  northwest  quarter  of  section  28,  township  74  north,  range  4  west, 
surveyed  by  W.  S.  Kroner,  June  15,  1865. 

Vanhorn  &  Kiner's  addition  to  Cairo  surveyed  by  William  C.  Blackstone, 
county  surveyor,  April  23,  1869.  The  plat  does  not  state  where  the  addition  is 
situated. 

Marshall's  addition  to  Cairo,  laid  out  by  John  S.  Marshall,  October  4,  1866, 
and  surveyed  by  William  C.  Blackstone.  said  to  be  laid  out  on  the  north  side  of 
Cairo  proper. 

Vanhorn's  addition  to  Cairo,  laid  out  by  Jesse  Vanhorn,  April  12,  1875,  in 
the  south  half  of  the  southwest  quarter  of  the  northwest  quarter  of  section  28,  74-4. 

The  population  of  Cairo  has  usually  been  included  in  Marshall  township, 
but  it  was  given  separately  in  the  census  of  1880.     At  that  time  it  was  123. 

COTTERVILLE 

was  laid  out  by  Margaret  E.  Cotter.  January  23,  1878,  situated  on  the  north 
side  of  the  north  half  of  the  northwest  quarter  of  section  20,  75-5,  and  on  the 
north  side  of  the  Chicago,  Rock  Island  &  Pacific  railroad. 

An  addition  was  made  to  Cotterville  by  R.  T.  Jones,  May  3,  1899,  by  making 
a  subdivision  of  outlot  2  in  the  west  part  of  the  town. 

Jenkins'  addition  to  Cotterville,  laid  out  December  30,  1904,  by  Catherine 
Ann  Jenkins,  Richard  Jenkins  and  John  Jenkins,  in  the  southwest  part  of  the 
west  "half  of  the  southwest  quarter  of  section  17,  75-5,  adjoining  the  town  on 
the  north. 

The  place  is  now  called  Cotter;  it  is  well  located  on  the  Chicago,  Rock  Island 
&  Pacific  railroad  about  five  miles  west  of  Columbus  Junction.  It  had  several 
good  stores,  and  is  the  trading  point  for  a  great  many  of  the  Welsh.  It  also 
has  a  strong  bank,  of  which  Robert  T.  Jones  is  president  and  R.  L.  Richards  is 
cashier. 

GRANDYIEW 

was  laid  out  by  Alvin  Clark  and  Robert  Childers  on  the  southwest  quarter  of 
section  22,  township  75  north,  range  3  west,  surveyed  by  John  Gilliland,  county 
surveyor,  July  3,  1841. 

Springer's  addition  to  Grandview.  laid  out  by  Francis  Springer,  surveyed  by 
lohn  Gilliland.  Tune  7,  1843.  It  was  laid  out  on  land  immediately  south  of  the 
original  town  of  Grandview.  The  part  north  of  Monroe  street  which  consists 
of  six  blocks  containing  six  lots  each,  is  said  to  be  a  part  of  the  original  plat  as 
laid  out  by  Clark  and  Childers. 

Jackson's  addition  to  Grandview.  laid  out  by  John  Jackson,  in  the  southwest 
quarter  of  the  southeast  quarter  of  section  22,  township  75  north,  range  3  west. 


NORTH    OX    MAIX    STREET,    GRANDVIEW 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  305 

being  immediately  east  of  the  original  town  of  Grandview,  surveyed  by  W.  S. 
Kremer,  surveyor,  July   11,   1857. 

January  24,  1843,  the  legislature  of  Iowa  passed  an  act  incorporating  a 
seminary  of  learning  in  Grandview,  to  be  called  the  Grandview  Seminary,  and 
named  as  the  incorporators,  Henry  Rockafellow,  William  Thompson,  John 
Ronalds,  Spencer  Wilson,  Robert  Childres,  Gabriel  Walling,  George  Humphreys, 
Alexander  Ross,  Martin  Gray  and  Clark  Alexander.  And  in  February.  1844, 
an  act  was  passed  incorporating  the  Grandview  Literary  &  Philosophical  Society, 
and  naming  as  incorporators,  Alexander  McCall.  Lewis  Kinsey,  Robert  Childres, 
Spencer  Wilson,  Abraham  McCleary. 

The  postomce  was  established  in  Grandview  May  2nd,  1838,  and  the  following 
is  a  list  of  the  postmasters  up  to  war  times,  with  the  dates  of  their  appoint- 
ments: Alvin  Clark,  May  2,  1838;  Gabriel  Walling,  October  13.  1839:  Benj. 
Gibboney,  July  8,  1847:  J.  B.  Latta,  December  10,  1849;  David  Winder.  April 
10,  1850;  Robert  Gillis,  April  16,  1851  ;  George  Hutchinson,  April  14,  1853: 
Nathan  M.  Stone,  March  8,  1855  ;  James  H.  Sprague,  September  6,  1855  :  David 
Winder,  March  2,  1865.  It  is  safe  to  say  -that  all  these  postmasters  were  store 
keepers  at  the  time  they  held  the  postomce. 

It  is  said  that  the  first  house  in  Grandview  was  built  by  Gabriel  Walling  in 

I837- 

Grandview  has  always  been  noted  for  the  high  moral  sentiment  which  pre- 

vades  most  of  its  citizens  and  also  for  its  devotion  to  the  cause  of  education. 

It  is  said  that  the  first  school  taught  in  Grandview  township  was  in   1839  in  a 

cabin  in  the  village  of  Grandview,  and  that  it  was  taught  by  Miss  Rachel  Gray. 

Grandview  Institute — A.  B.  Hartzell,  principal,  advertises  in  Wapello  Repub- 
lican of  March  28.  1 861  "that  the  7th  term  of  this  well-known  institute  will 
commence  April  15,  1861." 

The  Republican  of  November  10.  1866,  says  that  "The  Grandview  Academy, 
under  the  direction  of  Prof.  McClanahan,  seems  to  be  doing  quite  as  well  as 
its  founders  anticipated.  The  building  itself  is  a  spacious  two  story  brick,  and 
having  been  just  completed,  it  wears  a  clean,  nice,  pleasant  appearance  through- 
out.    Some  forty  scholars  are  already  in  attendance,  &c." 

Later,  Lewis  Kinsey,  who  was  at  one  time  Justice  of  the  Peace  in  Grand- 
view  township,  taught  school  there.  In  1844  a  seminary  building  was  erected, 
and  a  good  school  was  taught  there  for  a  number  of  years.  We  think  another 
educational  institution,  called  the  Grandview  Seminary  was  incorporated  under 
the  general  incorporation  law  in  1869,  or  about  that  time,  and  that  in  1874, 
Professor  E.  R.  Eldrige  became  principal  of  it.  Professor  Eldrige  was  one  of 
the  leaders  in  the  movement  to  re-organize  normal  schools  in  Iowa,  and  through 
his  efforts  the  Grandview  Seminary  was  converted  into  the  Eastern  Iowa  Normal 
School  which  began  its  first  session  in  the  fall  of  1874,  with  Professor  Eldrige 
as  president,  James  A.  Kennedy,  vice  president,  W.  F.  Davis,  secretary  and 
Tohn  A.  Thompson  principal  of  the  Commercial  department.  Mr.  Kennedy 
and  Mr.  Davis  were  both  experienced  teachers,  and  the  Eastern  Iowa  Normal 
School  as  conducted  at  Grandview  for  a  number  of  years  was  of  untold  benefit 
to  the  community  and  the  county.  An  arrangement  was  made  by  which  the 
Grandview  public  schools  were  made  "Model  schools"  for  the  normal  school 
and  were  taught  by  the  seniors  and  juniors  under  the  supervision  of  the  normal 


306  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

school  faculty.  Joseph  Sypheit  and  Miss  Hutchinson  were  teaching  in  the 
public  schools  of  Grandview,  and  were  added  to  the  normal  school  faculty. 

At  that  time  Grandview  was  thought  to  have  a  prospect  for  a  railroad,  but 
as  soon  as  the  hope  of  a  railroad  vanished,  it  was  felt  the  institution  would  be 
more  prosperous  if  located  where  it  could  have  the  advantages  of  railroad  trans- 
portation, and  so,  about  1881,  through  the  influence  of  N.  M.  Letts,  the  Eastern 
Iowa  Normal  School  was  moved  to  Columbus  Junction.  It  was  re-organized 
with  a  new  charter  and  a  new  board  of  trustees  and  received  title  to  Block  5 
in  Columbus  Junction,  on  which  was  a  $25,000  building  which  had  been  erected 
by  the  people  of  Columbus  Junction  for  the  courthouse  in  case  they  could  suc- 
ceed in  getting  the  county  seat  removed  to  that  place.  The  normal  school  pros- 
pered at  Columbus  Junction  for  several  years,  but  soon  after  Professor  Eldrige 
accepted  the  presidency  of  the  State  Normal  School  of  Alabama,  the  normal 
school  died  and  the  building  subsequently  became  the  property  of  the  Columbus 
Junction   school  district. 

We  copy  the  following  item  from  the  Wapello  Intelligencer  of  January  31, 
1854,  which  shows  what  outsiders  thought  of  Grandview  at  that  time:  "In 
conversation  with  a  gentleman  near  Grandview,  we  learn  that  that  pleasant 
village  is  improving  finely.  Several  good  buildings  have  been  erected  there  the 
past  season,  among  which  is  quite  an  extensive  dwelling,  of  brick,  by  Dr.  I.  B. 
Latta,  which  adds  to  the  appearance  of  the  town.  Our  informant  states  that 
there  is  quite  a  stirring  business  in  the  way  of  trade  carried  on  there.  Three 
business  establishments  are  flourishing.  Messrs.  Fleming  &  Giles  have  nearly 
sold  out  their  very  large  stock  of  fall  and  winter  goods  and  are  making  prepara- 
tions to  bring  on  a  heavier  stock  the  coming  spring,  than  ever  before.  Mr. 
Hutchinson  is  said  to  have  sold  out  quite  an  extensive  stock  of  goods  besides 
doing  a  good  business  in  the  way  of  accommodating  the  traveling  public  at  his 
commodious  hotel. 

To  those  who  merely  pass  through  Grandview,  it  may  seem  strange  that  so 
much  business  would  be  done  there.  But  were  they  to  pass  over  the  township 
and  see  the  many  rich  farms  that  are  pouring  their  products  into  market,  and 
taking  in  exchange  the  requisite  supplies  for  farm  and  fireside — they  will  at 
once  see  the  whys  and  wherefores  of  this  trade.  Many  wealthy  farmers  reside 
in  Grandview  township,  and  the  beauty  of  it  all  is  that  the  material  is  there  in 
abundance  for  multitudes  more,  if  good  soil  is  any  criterion.  From  its  beauti- 
ful and  elevated  position,  one  would  naturally  enough  be  led  to  the  conclusion 
that  it  is  a  healthful  location.     This  we  are  authentically  informed  is  the  fact." 

Grandview  has  always  been  a  stronghold  of  prohibition  and  many  meetings 
in  furtherance  of  the  cause  have  been  held  there.  We  find  the  proceedings  of 
a  meeting  held  June  10,  1862,  in  the  Wapello  Republican,  and  the  fourth  resolu- 
tion passed  by  that  meeting  might  well  be  heeded  by  our  officers  at  the  present 
day. 

Prohibition  meeting  at  Grandview.  June  10.  1862.  Following  Preamble  and 
Resolution   unanimously  adopted. 

Whereas,  the  evil  of  intemperance  prevails  in  this  community  to  an  alarm- 
ing extent  and  seems  to  be  increasing  daily,  therefore  Resolved : 

1st.  That  the  time  has  come  when  it  becomes  an  imperative  necessity  for 
all  persons  to  take  a  decided  position  on  the  question. 


IU STORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  307 

2d.  Resolved,  that  persons  engaged  in  the  nefarious  traffic  of  intoxicating 
liquors  (including  lager  beer)  are  engaged  in  an  unholy  business,  and  are  the 
common  enemies  of  our  race. 

3d.  Resolved,  that  the  order  loving  citizens  of  this  place  lend  a  helping 
hand  to  arrest  the  progress  of  intemperance  in  our  midst. 

4th.  Resolved,  that  as  it  is  the  province  of  law  to  preserve  order  as  well 
as  to  prevent  crime,  we  believe  it  to  be  the  duty  of  any,  and  all  of  our  civil 
officers  to  bring  to  justice  any  person  or  persons  found  guilty  of  violating  the 
law,  in  vending  liquors  or  becoming  intoxicated. 

5th.  Resolved,  that  those  engaged  in  selling  lager  beer,  and  other  intoxi- 
cating liquors,  are  requested  to  desist  immediately. 

John  A.  Hartzell, 
S.  E.  Jones, 
J.  Frisbee, 

Com.  on  Resolution. 

Grandview  has  always  been  a  church  center.  It  is  a  very  difficult  matter 
to  get  detailed  church  history,  but  in  the  case  of  one  of  the  churches  of  Grand- 
view,  the  Congregational,  we  have  been  favored  by  Reverend  T.  O.  Douglas 
of  Grinnell,  with  its  history,  which  is  as  follows : 

"The  Grandview  church  was  organized  June  19,  1857.  The  list  of  pastors 
is  as  follows : 

"Adam  Blumer,  '5/--59 ;  Henry  Langpaap.  '59-'6o :  Frederick  W.  Judeisch, 
'6o-'7S;  Henry  Hetzleiv '75-78;  Andrew  Kern,  '78- '86 ;  Henry  Vogler,  '86- '88 : 
Gustav  L.  Brackemeyer,  '88-92 ;  E.  F.  Kluckhohn,  '92-94 ;  William  Berg,  '95- 
'97;  C.  W.  Anthony,  '97-98;  P.  J.  Theil,  1900-1902;  Henry  W.  Stein.  '02-03;  H. 
S.  Everet,  '04-06 ;  W.  L.  Childress,  '07-08 ;  Samuel  E.  Eells,  '09.  Originally,  as 
you  will  see  by  the  names  of  the  pastors,  this  church  was  German.  A  number 
of  years  ago  the  English  was  introduced  into  some  of  the  services.  More  and 
more,  as  the  years  went  by,  the  congregation  became  English,  and  in  1903  the 
German  was  dropped  entirely,  and  in  1906  the  church  transferred  its  member- 
ship from  the  German  to  the  Davenport  Association.  Only  a  short  time  ago 
three  of  the  charter  members  were  still  alive,  and  in  constant  attendance  upon 
the  services  of  the  church.  The  church  building  was  dedicated  June  27,  1858. 
The  building  is  now  being  remodeled  and  refurnished.  The  present  pastor,  Mr. 
Eells,  is  the  son  of  one  of  our  early  missionaries,  who  was  pastor  at  Farmington. 
Webster,  Cincinnati,  Lucas  Grove  and  Sabula,  1866  to  1876.  He  is  still  alive, 
residing  at  Payson,  Illinois.  I  am  not  able  to  say  very  much  about  the  different 
pastors.  Henry  Langpaap  was  in  the  state  from  '59  to  '68,  preaching  at  Grand- 
view,  Pine  Creek,  Davenport,  Garnavillo,  Lansing  Ridge,  etc.  You  will  notice 
that  Mr.  Judeisch  was  pastor  of  the  Grandview  church  for  fifteen  years.  He 
was  born  in  Prussia,  November  11,  1820.  He  came  to  America  in  1850,  coming 
first  to  Muscatine.  He  moved  to  Pine  Creek  in  1853,  and  began  preaching  in 
1859.  From  1875  to  1892  he  was  pastor  of  the  church  at  Davenport.  He  died 
May  5,  1900.     At  our  meetings  of  Association  he  always  spoke  in  English  but 


308  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

prayed  in  German.  Some  of  us  who  had  no  knowledge  of  die  German  language 
learned  the  opening  sentence  of  his  prayer:  'Wir  danken.  Dir,  lieher  Vater." 
One  of  the  many  contributions  of  Germany  to  Iowa  was  this  good  man.  Fred- 
erick \Y.  Judeisch.     He  gave  us  forty  years  of  service. 

"Andrew  Kern  gave  us  twenty-three  years  of  service,  preaching  at  Grand- 
view.  Minden,  Lansing  Ridge.   New   Hampton,  etc. 

"The  other  men  had  short  pastorates,  and  were  not  in  the  state  for  a  great 
while,  and  perhaps  need  no  special  mention  here." 

It  is  said  that  the  first  church  built  in  Grandview  was  by  the  Methodists,  and 
that  they  erected  a  new  building  about   1871. 

The  United  Presbyterians  also  have  a  congregation  in  Grandview,  and  they 
erected  a  church  building  about    [854. 

Grandview  got  her  first  railroad  in  189S,  when  the  Muscatine,  North  & 
South  Railroad  was  constructed,  and  since  that  time  it  has  grown  quite  a  little 
and  taken  on  some  city  airs. 

Grandview  was  first  incorporated  in  1878.  August  8.  187,8,  E.  IS.  Lacey  and 
thirty-three  others  filed  a  petition  for  incorporation.  The  commissioners  appointed 
to  hold  the  election  were  E.  B.  Lacey,  J.  H.  Benson.  A.  Brown,  D.  W.  Walker 
and  Geo.  Hummell.  and  on  Oct.  11.  1878,  the  vote  on  the  question  of  incorpora- 
tion was  29  for  to  21  against.  Some  years  afterward  the  corporation  was  aban- 
doned, and  Grandview  remained  a  village  until  1901.  when  it  was  again  incor- 
porated. The  petition  was  filed  March  5,  1901,  and  D.  J.  Higiey.  D.  M.  Bridges, 
John  Schafer.  A.  M.  Cowden  and  W.  B.  Robison  were  appointed  commissioners. 
An  election  was  held  and  the  vote  was  56  for  incorporation  to  36  against.  Feb- 
ruarv  13,  1901,  the  following  officers  were  elected:  A.  M.  Cowden.  mayor;  G.  F. 
Schafer,  clerk;  D.  M.  Bridges,  treasurer;  Peter  Muller,  James  Thorp,  W.  E. 
Schweitzer,  William   Guthrie,    I- din    F.   Robison  and  T.   B.   Christy,  councilmen. 

The  present  officers  are:  Mayor,  Win.  Dickerson ;  recorder.  Ed.  Haas;  coun- 
cilmen. C.  W.  Graham.  O.  W.  McGrew,  J.  M.  P.uster.  Peter  Muller  and  John 
J.  Beik. 

The  population  of  Grandview  is  given  differently  in  some  of  the  official 
publications.  The  following  we  believe  to  be  nearly  correct:  1854 — <;i  ;  i860 — 
138;  1870 — 160:  1880—105:  1885 — 22<i:  1905—278;  inio— 374. 

Through  the  courtesy  of  Rev.  E.  C.  Brooks,  of  Wapello,  we  have  had  access 
to  the  early  conference  reports  of  the  M.  E.  church.  111  which  we  find  the  fol- 
lowing interesting  items  pertaining  to  the  early  history  of  that  denomination  in 
Grandview. 

Grandview  was  in  the  Rock  river  conference  in  1842,  and  Joseph  L.  Kirk- 
patrick  is  named  as  pastor;  Luther  McVoy  was  pastor  in  1843,  and  the  member- 
ship is  given  as   166.     This  must  have  included  quite  a  scope  of  country. 

Grandview  was  in  the  Iowa  conference  in  1844  and  Laban  Case  was  pastor, 
with  a  membership  stated  at  233. 

In   1845  Sidney  Wood  was  pastor,  anil  the  membership  is  given  at  134. 

In  1846  John  H.  Dennis  was  pastor,  with  130  members;  in  1847  Joseph  W. 
Maxon  was  pastor  with  138  members;  in  1848  Wm.  Burris  was  pastor  with 
155  white  and  3  colored  members;  in  184(1  Joseph  Jamison  was  pastor  with  120 
members;  in  1850  H.  N.  Wilbur  was  pastor  with   143  members;  in   1851  Lucas 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  309 

C.  Woodford  was  pastor  with  222  members;  in  1852  J.  T.  Coleman  was  pastor 
with  183  members.  W.  R.  IUake  was  pastor  in  1853,  E.  Lathrop  in  1854  and  J. 
T.  Manderville  in  1855. 

.MORNING  SUN 

was  laid  out  by  Cicero  Hamilton,  September  13,  1851,  on  the  northeast  corner 
of  the  northeast  quarter  of  the  southeast  quarter  of  section  25,  township  73  north, 
range  4  west. 

Brown's  addition  to  Morning  Sun,  laid  out  by  William  I'.  Brown,  surveyed  by 
John  R.  Sisson,  April  17,  1855,  situated  on  the  southeast  corner  of  the  south- 
east quarter  of  the  northeast  quarter  of  section  25,  township  "7,  north,  range  4 
west. 

Wilson  Griffin's  addition  to  Morning  Sun,  surveyed  by  John  R.  Sisson,  De- 
cember 19,  1855,  and  laid  out  on  the  northwest  quarter  of  section  30,  township  73 
north,  range  3  west. 

Brown's  second  addition  to  Morning  Sun  laid  out  by  William  P.  Brown,  sur- 
veyed by  W.  S.  Kremer,  March  27,  1859,  laid  out  in  the  southeast  corner  of 
the  southeast  quarter  of  the  northeast  quarter  of   section  25.   73-4. 

Cicero  Hamilton's  addition  to  Morning  Sun  laid  out  on  the  northeast  quarter 
of  the  southeast  quarter  of  section  25,  township  jt,  north,  range  4  west.  This  is  a 
small  addition,  containing  four  blocks  and  it  seems  that  the  original  plat  was  lost. 
In  the  dedication  Mr.  Hamilton  states  that  "Having  heretofore  on  certain  lots 
laid  out  a  town  described  and  known  as  Hamilton's  addition  to  Morning  Sun,  the 
records  having  been  lost,  the  same  having  been  surveyed  by  J.  R.  Sisson,  at  that 
time  county  surveyor  of  Louisa  county,  and  state  of  Iowa,  and  filed  for  record 
by  him  and  to  my  knowledge  was  recorded  and  I  hereby  certify  that  the  plat 
hereto  attached  is  a  complete  copy  for  all  practical  purposes  and  is  substantially 
the  same  as  heretofore  laid  out  for  me  and  for  my  benefit.  The  lots  all  hav- 
ing been  sold  and  deeded  by  me  in  good  faith,  I  therefore  make  this  second  plat 
with  my  full  consent  that  the  same  can  be  put  on  the  county  records,  etc." 

April  30,  1870,  Josiah  YTertrees  laid  out  what  is  commonly  called  Vertrees' 
addition  to  Morning  Sun,  but  the  plat  does  not  purport  to  be  anything  more  than 
a  subdivision,  and  was  laid  out  on  the  south  side  of  the  southwest  quarter  of 
the  northwest  quarter  of  section  30,  township  73  north,  range  3  west,  and  sur- 
veyed by  Thomas  W.  Bailey,  county  surveyor. 

Marshall's  addition  to  Morning  Sun  laid  out  by  Elias  .Marshall,  April  21. 
1873,  and  surveyed  by  W.  S.  Kremer,  surveyor,  situated  in  the  southeast  corner 
of  the  northwest  quarter  of  the  southwest  quarter  of  section  30,  jy^i- 

Marshall's  second  addition  to  Morning  Sun  laid  out  by  Elias  Marshall,  Febru- 
ary 22,  1875,  in  southeast  corner  of  northwest  quarter  of  southwest  quarter  of 
section  30-73-3. 

Harriet  Nixon's  addition  to  Morning  Sun  laid  out  on  the  east  half  of  the 
east  half  of  the  west  half  of  section  30,  73-3. 

Morning  Sun  station  laid  out  by  James  Sterrett  on  the  west  half  of  the  south- 
east quarter  of  section  30,  73-3,  August  24,  1870,  surveyed  by  Peter  Houtz. 
deputy  county  surveyor. 


310  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

East  Morning  Sun  laid  out  by  Josiah  Nicol  on  September  4,  1870,  beginning 
at  the  southwest  corner  of  the  west  half  of  the  northeast  quarter  of  section  30, 

73-3- 

Samuel  Reid's  addition  to  Morning  Sun,  consisting  of  four  lots,  surveyed  by 
Peter  Houtz,  county  surveyor,  March  13,  1873,  and  appears  to  be  situated  in 
the  northeast  quarter  of  the  southeast  quarter  of  section  25,   73-4. 

Samuel  Hamilton's  addition  to  Morning  Sun,  surveyed  by  W.  S.  Kremer, 
September,  1873,  and  laid  out  on  the  northeast  quarter  of  the  northwest  quarter 
of  the  southwest  quarter  of  section  30,  y^-T,. 

Wilmering's  addition  to  Morning  Sun,  laid  out  by  Herman  Wilmering,  better 
known  as  "Dutch  Jake,"  in  April,  1874,  surveyed  by  Peter  Houtz,  county  sur- 
veyor, and  laid  out  on  the  south  half  of  the  northwest  quarter  of  section  30, 

72,-3- 

There  are  a  number  of  subdivisions  of  lots  and  out  lots  which  cannot  be 
properly  classed  as  additions  but  are  found  on  the  plat  book.  There  is  also  a 
plat  of  the  railway   depot  grounds  at   Morning  Sun. 

W.  T.  Vertrees'  addition  to  Morning  Sun,  surveyed  by  VV.  S.  Kremer,  April 

22,  1895,  and  situated  on  the  northwest  part  of   the  southwest  quarter  of  the 
northwest  quarter  of  section  30,  72,~3- 

Nancy  Wilson's  addition  to  Morning  Sun.  surveyed  by  W.  S.  Kremer,  April 

23,  1892,  and  situated  on  the  northeast  corner  of  the  southwest  quarter  of  the 
southwest  quarter  of  section  30,  7^-^  and  adjoins  Gifford's  addition  on  the  east. 

Hayes'  addition  to  Morning  Sun,  surveyed  by  W.  S.  Kremer,  for  A.  D.  Hayes, 
August  15,  1899,  and  'aid  out  on  tne  east  s'x  acres  of  lot  1  in  the  southeast  quarter 
of  the  northwest  quarter  of  section  30,  73-3. 

In  the  records  of  the  county  court  is  found  the  account  of  the  filing  of  a  peti- 
tion of  H.  C.  Blake  and  twenty  others  asking  Judge  Derbin  to  order  an  election 
to  be  held  in  the  village  of  Morning  Sun  to  decide  on  the  question  "Shall  the 
addition  to  Morning  Sun  laid  oft"  by  Wilson  Giffin,  and  generally  known  as 
Giffin's  addition  to  Morning  Sun,  be  added  to  and  become  a  part  of  said  vil- 
lage"? This  election  appears  to  have  been  ordered,  and  held  on  Nov.  7,  1857, 
resulting  in  a  majority  in  favor  of  the  proposition. 

The  first  settlement  in  the  vicinity  of  the  present  town  of  Morning  Sun  is 
thought  to  have  been  made  by  Jonathan  Harkeman,  from  Ohio.  He  came  in 
1836.  He  was  a  blacksmith  by  trade,  and  was  the  inventor  and  maker  of  the 
first  diamond  plow.  The  first  school  in  this  vicinity  was  probably  taught  by  T. 
P.  Brown,  a  little  north  of  the  town. 

The  first  postmaster  in  Morning  Sun  was  W.  P.  Brown,  but  the  first  post- 
office  in  Morning  Sun  township  was  at  "Virginia  Grove,"  and  the  office  was 
called  by  that  name.  Mr.  Brown  had  the  postoffice  before  the  town  was  laid  out, 
and  it  is  believed  that  he  gave  Morning  Sun  its  name.  H.  C.  Blake  was  the 
second  postmaster  at  Morning  Sun. 

W.  P.  Brown  also  built  the  first  house  in  the  present  limits  of  Morning  Sun, 
and  his  son,  J.  C.  Brown,  opened  the  first  store  in  this  building.  Other  early 
merchants  were  Wright,  Blake,  llunl,  Stormont  and  Jamison. 

Cicero  Hamilton  had  a  saw  mill  in  the  early  days  of  the  town.  The  town  of 
.Morning  Sun  was  incorporated  in  1867:  on  June  3rd  of  that  year  Henry 
McClurkin,  J.  C.   Brown  and  Henry  C.   Blake  presented  to  County  Judge  Wm. 


MORNING    SUN   TUBLIC    SCHOOL 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  311 

G.  Allen  the  petition  of  44  residents,  asking  for  incorporation,  and  on  same  day 
the  order  was  made  for  the  organization  of  the  town.  J.  C.  Brown  was  the  first 
mayor,  and  was  elected  in  August,  1807. 

In  September,  1874.  W.  E.  Smith,  M.  M.  Carson,  James  Higbee,  Elliot 
Frazer,  J.  W.  Cavan  and  others  petitioned  the  circuit  court  for  an  election  upon 
the  question  of  annexing  the  additions  known  as  Wilmering's  addition,  Morning 
Sun  Station,  East  Morning  Sun  and  eight  acres  adjoining  East  Morning  Sun.  The 
court  appointed  M.  M.  Carson,  James  Higbee,  W..  E.  Smith,  J.  C.  Shirk  and  |. 
W.  Cavan  commissioners  to  hold  an  election  in  the  territory  proposed  to  be 
annexed,  and  they  held  an  election  on  Oct.  31,  1874.  at  which  a  majority  of  the 
people  voting  were  favorable  to  the  proposition;  and  on  Nov.  12,  1874,  the 
council,  by  resolution  approved  the  annexation. 

Present  officers  are :  P.  A.  Yohe,  mayor ;  W.  B.  Garvin,  clerk ;  J.  W.  Smith, 
treasurer.  Councilmen :  J.  F.  Holiday,  W.  R.  Smyth,  J.  L.  Vertrees,  E.  L.  Mc- 
Clurkin  and  T.  E.  Skinner. 

Morning  Sun  has  always  given  good  support  to  its  schools. 

In  1867  it  built  the  finest  schoolhouse  in  the  county  at  that  time.  A  few 
years  ago  the  building  was  destroyed  by  fire,  and  Morning  Sun  immediately 
replaced  it  with  a  modern  edifice  which  is  also  the  best  in  the  county. 

The  population  of  Morning  Sun  at  the  various  census  enumerations  has  been 
as  follows:  1869—279;  1870—314;  1873—445;  1875—785;  1880—812;  1885— 
880;  1890 — 881;  1895 — 987;  1900 — 948;  1905 — 981;  19 10 — 897. 

Morning  Sun  is  a  thriving,  up-to-date  place,  with  two  railroads,  two  good 
banks,  a  newspaper  which  has  one  of  the  best  job-printing  offices  in  this  part  of 
the  state,  and  a  number  of  good  stores  and  strong  church  organizations.  One  of 
the  churches  was  the  Associate  Reform  congregation  of  Virginia  Grove,  and  is 
said  to  have  been  organized  by  Rev.  Samuel  Finley  in  1840.  It  is  now  known  as 
the  United  Presbyterian  church  of  Morning  Sun.  John  Wilson,  John  Hamilton, 
Henry  M.  Ochiltree  and  Wilson  Giffin  were  elders,  and  Rev.  Jackson  Duff  pastor 
in  its  early  years.  Rev.  William  M.  Graham,  Rev.  Thomas  Samson,  and  Rev. 
T.  C.  McKilday  have  been  pastors,  Rev.  Fred  Elliott  is  the  pastor  at  this  time. 

METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH 

No  authentic  record  of  the  earliest  Methodist  services  in  the  vicinity  of  what 
is  now  Morning  Sun  can  be  found.  It  is  believed  that  the  pioneer  itinerants  ■ 
preached  in  various  residences  and  neighboring  schoolhouses  as  early  as  the 
forties.  It  is  well  known  that  Methodist  preachers  by  the  names  of  Wilson. 
Prather  and  Wayman  held  revival  meetings  near  Morning  Sun  before  the  Civil 
war.  The  first  regularly  organized  class  in  Morning  Sun  was  formed  by  a  Rev. 
Mr.  Paschal  of  Columbus  City,  soon  after  the  war,  and  the  charter  members  were 
Samuel  Hamilton  and  wife,  R.  Delzell  and  wife,  M.  Jarvis  and  wife,  Dr.  O. 
Reynolds  and  wife  and  Mrs.  Cramer.  We  find  that  this  class  was  supplied  with 
preaching  by  local  preachers  by  the  names  of  Pell  and  Bird,  and  pastors  of 
neighboring  charges.  The  services  were  first  held  in  the  home  of  William  P. 
Brown,  afterwards  in  the  Presbyterian  church  and  still  later  in  Schenk's  hall. 

Morning  Sun  was  officially  organized  as  a  charge  of  the  Iowa  Conference  in 
1871  and  Bishop  Ames  appointed  as  its  first  pastor  Rev.  Morris  Bamford.     Con- 


312  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

cord.  Otter  Creek  and  Virginia  Grove  were  parts  of  the  Morning  Sun  circuit 
until  1890  when  these  appointments  were  discontinued  and  in  place  of  Virginia 
Grove  a  class  was  organized  at  Marsh.  The  Marsh  appointment  belonged  to 
Morning  Sun  until  1901  when  it  was  made  a  part  of  the  .Mt.  Union  circuit  and 
Morning  Sun  became  a  station.  The  first  Methodist  church  building  was  erected 
in  Morning  Sun  in  1873;  this  was  improved  and  enlarged  in  1884.  The  beauti- 
ful church  building  as  it  now  stands  was  constructed  in  1896  during  the  pastor- 
ates of  W.  T.  Henness  and  A.  S.  Loveall.  It  was  dedicated  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  B. 
I.    Ives,   Dec.   20,    1896.      It  now   represents  a   value   approximately   of  $10,000. 

The  Methodist  Episcopal  communion  and  community  of  Morning  Sun  has 
enjoyed  a  wholesome  and  quite  regular  growth  during  the  thirty-nine  years  of 
its  history.  From  the  small  beginnings  herein  mentioned,  the  membership  has 
increased  until  it  now  numbers  approximately  three  hundred.  The  present  out- 
look for  Methodism  in  Morning  Sun  is  very  encouraging.  Following  is  a  list 
of  pastors,  men  of  strength  and  character. 

Early  itinerants  and  supplies:  Joseph  Paschal,  Rev.  Mr.  Bell,  Rev.  Mr.  Bird, 
Rev.   Mr.    1'rather,   Rev.  Mr.   Wilson,  Rev.  Mr.  Wayman. 

Regular  pastors:  Morris  Banford,  J.  R.  Noble,  G.  M.  Tuttle,  J.  E.  Corley, 
S.  S.  Martin,  Geo.  Nulton,  J.  W.  Lewis,  J.  II.  Armaeost,  P.  J.  Henness  (two 
terms),  J.  M.  Hoober,  A.  S.  Loveall,  A.  E.  Buriff,  D.  C.  Bevan,  J.  A.  Boatman, 
F.  W.  Adams.  C.  R.  Zimmerman.  George  Blagg. 

FIRST  PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH 

The  First  Presbyterian  Church  of  Morning  Sun,  Iowa,  was  organized  by  order 
of  the  Presbytery  of  Iowa,  May  28,  [849,  as  a  result  of  the  pioneer  missionary 
lain  us  of  Rev.  Launcelot  Graham  Bell.  "Father  Bell,*'  as  he  was  commonly 
called,  was  at  this  time  pastor  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  of  Fairfield,  Iowa. 
There  were  eighteen  charter  members,  namely:  John  N.  Baldrige.  .Mrs.  Eliza 
Baldrige,  Mrs.  Margaret  E.  Benton.  Mrs.  Ally  Brown,  Hamilton  Brown,  Mrs. 
Sarah  Brown,  Thomas  P.  Brown,  James  Coulter.  Mrs.  Jane  Coulter.  Hamilton 
Hewitt.  Mrs.  Priscilla  Hewitt,  W.  J.  Hewitt,  Mrs.  Fliza  Joy,  Anna  Nichols, 
Mrs.  Ellen  Nichols.  Mrs.  Rebecca  Nichols,  J.  M.  Swan,  and  .Mrs.   Nancy  Swan 

After  a  sermon  by  Father  Bell  the  church  was  formally  organized  in  the  Asso- 
ciate Reformed  Church,  under  the  name  of  "The  Presbyterian  Church  of  Vir- 
ginia Grove."  and  as  such  the  infant  organization  was  reported  to  the  Presbytery 
of  Iowa,  and  the  church  continued  to  be  known  by  this  name  until  the  early  six- 
ties, when  the  name  was  changed  to  "The  First  Presbyterian  Church  of  Morning 
Sun.  Iowa." 

On  the  date  of  organization  the  following  elders  were  duly  elected:  Hamil- 
ton Brown,  James  Coulter  and  J.  McConnell  Swan.  The  first  session  meeting 
was  held  September  2,  1849,  and  was  moderated  by  Rev.  Salmon  Cowles.  Hamil- 
ton Brown  was  elected  clerk  of  session,  which  office  he  retained  until  June,  1800. 

In  1849  a  call  was  extended  to  Rev.  Salmon  Cowles,  which  he  accepted,  and 
he  was  duly  installed  September  30,  1850,  and  continued  as  pastor  until  September, 
1853.  The  names  and  dates  of  those  succeeding  to  the  pastorate  of  the  church 
areas  follows:  Rev.  F.  B.  Dinsmore,  1854-1860;  temporary  supplies.  Rev.  J.  B. 
McBride  and  Mr.  B.  Wall  in  [861  ;  Rev.  D.  T.  Campbell.  1861-1877;  Rev.  A.  W. 


jj 

1  / 

~>  i 

m 

LOOKING   WEST   OX  DIVISION   STREET.  MORNING   SUN 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  313 

Colver,  nine  months,  1878;  Rev.  J.  E.  Karnes,  1879-1886;  Rev.  M.  M.  Cooper. 
1887-1889;  Rev.  H.  C.  Keeley,  six  months;  Rev.  J.  K.  Alexander,  1891-1899; 
Rev.  S.  H.  Parvin,  1899-1903;  Rev.  William  MacKay,  1903-1909;  Rev.  A.  E. 
Cameron,   1909 — . 

The  succession  of  elders  is  as  follows:  James  Coulter,  1849-1857;  James  M. 
Swan,  1S49-1867;  Hamilton  Brown,  1849-1873;  Joseph  Benton,  1855-1857;  J.  \\  . 
Taylor,  1857-1862;  Adam  Hill,  1857-1898;  Joseph  Swan,  1860-1900;  R.  II. 
Stewart,  1866-1877;  William  -McClure,  1866-1872;  W.  J.  Hewitt,  1874-1894; 
William  Shirk,' 1874- 1882 ;  Columbus  Delong,  1878-1897;  D.  H.  Morrison,  1878- 
1908;  J.  B.  Wright,  1879-1897;  J.  A.  Swan,  1896-1899;  J.  M.  Morrison,  1896- 
1910;  E.  M.  Swan,  1896 — ;  C.  F.  Hewitt,  1900 — ;  T.  J.  Achiltree,  1901-1904; 
J.  C.  E.  Yohe,  1901 — . 

The  first  building  owned  by  the  congregation  stood  just  east  of  Elm  wood 
cemetery.  The  present  beautiful  edifice  was  built  during  the  pastorate  of  Rev. 
J.  K.  Alexander,  and  was  dedicated  to  the  worship  of  God,  November  19,  1893. 
The  old  church  building  and  site  were  sold  to  the  trustees  of  the  Christian  Church 
of  Morning  Sun. 

The  church  is  at  present  (1911)  in  a  flourishing  condition  along  all  lines. 
The  present  membership  is  230.  Rev.  A.  E.  Cameron,  pastor.  Elders :  Henry 
Beck,  C.  F.  Hewitt,  E.  M.  Swan,  W.  C.  Swan,  W.  A.  Thompson,  and  J.  C.  E. 
Yohe.  Trustees:  J.  E.  Boltz,  Oren  S.  Gibbs,  Tohn  Green,  f.  A.  Hull,  Levi  Wolf. 
P.  A.  Yohe. 


REFORMED    PRESBYTERIAN    CHURCH. 

The  Reformed  Presbyterian — commonly  called  Covenanter — congregation  of 
Morning  Sun  was  organized  July  9,  1873.  with  forty-six  members.  At  that  time 
A.  W.  Cavin  and  James  McCaughan  were  chosen  ruling  elders,  and  James  Mont- 
gomery, W.  J.  Cubit  and  W.  F.  Cook,  deacons. 

The  congregation  took  steps  immediately  to  erect  a  house  of  worship.  A  sub- 
stantial frame  building,  46x32  feet,  with  a  vestibule  18x10,  was  ready  for  occu- 
pancy by  the  end  of  the  year.  Early  the  following  year  the  Rev.  C.  D.  Trum- 
bull, at  that  time  serving  a  congregation  in  Des  Moines  county,  was  called  to  the 
pastorate.  The  call  was  accepted  and  he  was  installed  in  the  office  early  in  April 
and  still  ministers  to  the  people.  Four  hundred  and  thirty-five  names  have  been 
added  to  the  roll  of  members  since  the  organization.  Many  of  the  members  have 
died  or  have  removed  from  the  bounds.  The  report  this  year  shows  the  present 
membership  to  be  one  hundred  and  fifty — of  whom  only  three,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  J. 
W.  Cavan  and  W.  J.  Cubit,  were  charter  members.  The  register  shows  sixty- 
six  marriages  and  two  hundred  and  thirty-five  baptisms,  mostly  infants,  in  the 
congregation. 

In  1895  the  church  building  was  remodeled,  additions  built,  refrescoed,  re- 
furnished and  generally  improved.  Extensive  repairs  have  been  ordered  and  are 
already  in  progress  this  year. 

The  present  officers  are  C.  D.  Trumbull,  pastor:  R.  Elliott,  S.  E.  McElhinney, 
J.  W.  Cavan.  Thos.  McClement  and  W.  J.  Marshall,  ruling  elders,  and  W. 
T.  Cubit.  J.  T.  Hensleigh  and  J.  D.  Boal,  deacons. 


314  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

LETTSVILLE. 
ONONWA 

was  laid  out  by  Joseph  A.  Green,  October  6,  1855,  in  sections  5  and  6,  township 
75  north,  range  3  west. 

Denegre's  addition  to  Ononwa  seems  to  have  been  laid  out  immediately  east 
of  the  original  town  on  December  2.  1857,  by  James  D.  Denegre. 

Linn's  addition  to  the  town  of  Letts,  formerly  the  town  of  Ononwa,  was  laid 
out  by  O.  H.  P.  Linn,  January  18.  1893. 

The  greater  part  of  the  history  of  Lettsville  embraces  a  period  which  is  within 
the  memory  of  most  of  those  now  living  there,  and  which  it  has  not  been  our 
intention  to  include  in  this  work,  except  in  a  very  general  way.  It  was  laid  out 
about  the  time  of  the  advent  of  the  Mississippi  and  Missouri  River  Railroad 
Company,  now  the  Rock  Island,  and  has  ever  since  been  a  place  of  considerable 
local  importance,  and  a  shipping  point  for  a  number  of  the  leading  cattle  raisers 
and  cattle  feeders  of  the  county.  The  name  of  the  town  originally  was,  as  shown 
by  the  plat,  Ononwa.  In  April,  1868,  S.  C.  Curtis  presented  to  the  board  of 
supervisors  a  numerously  signed  petition  asking  that  the  name  be  changed  from 
Ononwa  to  Lettsville  because  its  similarity  to  Onawa  in  the  western  part  of  the 
state  caused  a  large  per  cent  of  its  mail  to  be  missent,  and  often  caused  delays 
in  freight  and  express  matter.  The  board  of  supervisors  ordered  the  necessary 
steps  to  be  taken  to  change  the  name,  and  on  April  23,  John  Hale,  clerk  of  the 
board  of  supervisors,  issued  a  notice  stating  that  such  a  petition  had  been  pre- 
sented, and  that  the  matter  would  be  heard  at  the  June  session  of  the  board;  at 
that  session  the  petition  was  granted  and  the  name  changed  to  Lettsville,  although 
the  postoffice  was  given,  and  still  retains  the  name  of  Letts. 

The  railroad  was  finished  as  far  as  Lettsville  some  time  in  1856.  Among  the 
first  hotelkeepers  was  Seth  C.  Curtis.  The  first  doctor  in  Lettsville  was  A.  L. 
Bayard. 

W.  K.  Trabue  was  the  first  railroad  agent,  and  also  the  first  postmaster. 
The  following  communication  by  the  then  Ononwa  correspondent  to  the 
Muscatine  Journal  will  be  interesting  to  the  people  of  Lettsville.  It  was  written 
May  10,  1859.  and  will  give  some  idea  of  the  conditions  existing  then:  "As 
news  is  not  very  plenty  in  this  goodly  city  of  Ononwa,  I  will  make  known  the 
wants  of  the  people  through  your  valuable  paper.  Wanted,  in  Ononwa  school 
district,  one  or  more  school  teachers,  who  can  come  well  recommended — one  who 
is  willing  to  furnish  a  schoolhouse,  and  whose  influence  will  pay  his  board,  as 
he  will  have  to  board  around.  There  is  also  a  good  opening  for  a  saloon,  as 
there  are  only  two  in  the  place,  and  nary  church.  Any  person  wishing  a  good 
situation  will  find  steady  employment  and  good  wages.  Pay  after  the  next  crop. 
"P.  S. — It  is  expected  that  whoever  gets  the  job  will  attend  some  one  of  the 
churches  in  Ononwa.    Application  made  in  person  to  the  director." 

Lettsville  now  has  good  schools,  good  churches,  and  is  a  thrifty  and  law-abid- 
ing community,  with  a  good  bank,  a  good  opera  house,  and  a  live  newspaper.  It 
also  has  a  good  button  factory. 

It  was  incorporated  in  by  the  Circuit  Court  in  1877.  A  petition  for  that  pur- 
pose was  filed  May  26,  1877.  stating  that  there  were  226  persons  then  residing 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  315 

there.  Watters  &  Goble,  a  law  firm  of  Columbus  Junction,  represented  the  peti- 
tioners, and  W.  H.  Moles,  A.  Megrew,  Dr.  X.  W.  Mountain,  T.  M.  Curtis  and 
J.  L.  Small  were  appointed  commissioners.  An  election  was  held  on  July  28th, 
1877,  and  the  vote  was  forty-five  for  incorporation  to  seventeen  against.  Isaac 
Shellabarger  was  the  first  mayor. 

In  this  same  year  (1867)  James  N.  Schofield  built  a  large  flouring  mill,  cost- 
ing about  $10,000,  and  the  Methodists  built  a  church. 

The  present  town  officers  are:  Mayor,  V.  G.  Shellabarger;  recorder,  C.  C. 
Snyder;  councilmen,  Hon.  A.  M.  Garrett,  Ulric  Garrett,  H.  M.  Rasley,  W.  K. 
Ross,  Bert  Coder. 

The  Masons  have  a  good  lodge — Triangular  Lodge  No.  245 — which  was 
chartered  in  1867.  Its  present  officers  are:  J.  H.  Collins,  W.  M. ;  M.  J.  Mc- 
Cormick,  J.  W. ;  L.  U.  Gipple,  S.  W. ;  Ulric  Garrett,  secretary;  E.  R.  McCormick. 
treasurer. 

The  statistics  of  population  of  Lettsville  are  as  follows:  1870,  88;  1880. 
300;  1885,  307;  1890.  325;  1895,  348;  1900,  387;  1905.  410;  1910,  433. 

COLUMBUS  JUNCTION. 

laid  out  by  J.  W.  Garner,  March  1,  1870,  on  the  east  half  of  the  southeast  quar- 
ter of  the  southwest  quarter  of  section  19,  75-4;  afterward  in  1876,  Mr.  Garner 
laid  out  on  the  same  plat  Garner's  addition  to  Columbus  Junction,  being  a  part 
next  the  railroad  which  had  not  been  laid  out  in  lots  before  that. 

"The  addition  to  Columbus  Junction"  laid  out  by  B.  W.  Magee,  Henry  C. 
Wortham  and  Simeon  W.  True,  July  17,  1872,  on  the  west  half  of  the  southeast 
quarter  of  the  southwest  quarter  of  section  19,  and  the  east  half  of  the  northwest 
quarter  of  section  30,  75-4. 

H.  C.  Wortham  &  Company's  second  addition  to  Columbus  Junction  laid  out 
by  Henry  C.  Wortham,  Simeon  W.  True,  B.  W.  Magee,  Alfred  Cosgrove  and 
Benjamin  Britt,  May  1,  1874,  in  the  southeast  quarter  of  the  northwest  quarter  of 
section  30,  75-4. 

True's  addition  to  Columbus  Junction  laid  out  by  Wortham,  True  &  Magee, 
August  10,  1877.  This  addition  is  situated  chiefly  in  the  south  half  of  the  north 
half  of  the  southwest  quarter  of  section  19. 

Crim's  addition  to  Columbus  Junction  laid  out  by  Charles  M.  Crim,  October 
19,  1892,  situated  on  lots  1,  5  and  6,  and  the  east  63  feet  of  lot  2  of  F.  J.  Moore's 
subdivision  of  the  south  half  of  the  southwest  quarter  of  section  19,  75-4. 

Todd  &  Baker's  addition  to  Columbus  Junction  laid  out  by  William  Todd  and 
W.  L.  Baker,  January  31,  1871,  situated  in  the  southwest  corner  of  the  north- 
west quarter  of  the  southeast  quarter  of  section  19,  75-4. 

Wilcox  &  Carpenter's  addition  to  Columbus  Junction,  laid  out  by  O.  P.  Wil- 
cox and  C.  A.  Carpenter,  May  18,  1899,  situated  on  the  south  and  west  parts  of 
the  south   half  of  the   northwest  quarter  of  the  southwest  quarter  of  section 

19.  75-4- 

Pence's  addition,  laid  out  by  J.  W.  Pence,  October  21st,  1897,  on  the  south- 
west quarter  of  the  southwest  quarter  of  section  19,  75-4. 

Britt's  addition  to  Columbus  Junction,  surveyed  by  Peter  Houtz,  in  December, 
1876,  and  laid  out  by  B.  F.  Britt,  Harriet  J.  Darrow  and  A.  Darrow  on  the  east 
half  of  the  northwest  quarter  of  section  30,  75-4. 


316  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

McGee's  addition  to  Columbus  Junction,  surveyed  by  Peter  Houtz,  April  13, 
[878,  laid  out  by  B.  W.  McGee,  Henry  C.  Wortham,  Herman  Wilmering  and 
Francis  Springer,  on  the  southeast  part  of  the  west  half  of  the  northwest  quar- 
ter, and  the  northwest  quarter  of  the  southwest  quarter  of  section  30,  75-4. 

Columbus  Junction  was  originally  known  as  the  Sand  Bank.  The  first  train 
of  cars  on  the  Mississippi  &  Missouri  River  railroad  ran  to  this  town  on  Novem- 
ber 17,  1857,  and  this  was  the  end  of  the  road  for  nearly  a  year.  Some  time  prior 
to  this  tbe  people  of  Wapello  held  meetings  to  organize  a  company  to  build  a  road 
from  Wapello  to  the  Sand  Bank,  but  this  project  fell  through.  Some  time  in 
1858  the  station  at  the  Sand  Bank  was  discontinued  and  a  station  was  established 
at  Clifton;  but  before  the  Clifton  station  was  established  there  was  considerable 
business  clone  at  Sand  Bank.  Grain  and  stock  were  bought  there  and  the  people 
of  the  north  part  of  the  county  west  of  the  Iowa  river  got  the  most  of  their  goods 
at  that  p< lint.  After  the  Clifton  station  was  established  there  was  nothing  doing 
al  the  Sand  Bank  until  tbe  Burlington,  Cedar  Rapids  &  Minnesota  railroad  was 
located.  It  crossed  the  M.  &  M..  now  the  Rock  Island,  at  this  point,  and  it  was 
then  that  Mr.  J.  W.  Garner,  the  owner  of  the  land,  determined  to  establish  the 
new  town  of  Columbus  Junction.  The  first  lot  was  sold  to  George  Jamison, 
of  Wapello,  and  Mr.  Garner  made  other  sales  occasionally  until,  in  1871,  he  sold 
ninety-six  lots,  and  five  acres  adjoining  them  to  H.  C.  Wortham  &  Company,  of 
Mattoon,  Illinois.  The  company  of  this  firm  consisted  of  S.  W.  True  and  B.  W. 
Magee.  On  February  7th  the  first  train  of  cars  on  the  Burlington,  Cedar 
Rapids  &  Minnesota  railroad  came  to  Columbus  Junction,  and  it  is  said  that  on 
that  day  Colonel  W.  W.  Garner  bought  the  first  ticket  sold  there. 

One  of  the  first  men  to  engage  in  business  in  Columbus  Junction  was  August 
Gilbert,  who  came  from  Muscatine.  He  had  a  house  framed,  loaded  upon  the 
cars  of  the  M.  &  M.  railroad,  and  shipped  to  Clifton  Station,  and  from  there  had 
it  transported  to  the  Sand  Bank  and  put  up,  and  in  February,  1870,  commenced 
business,  running  a  restaurant  and  keeping  boarder*-,.  When  Wortham  &  Com- 
pany purchased  the  town  site  from  Mr.  Garner  they  intended  to  push  the  town. 
In  1872  they  built  the  Wortham  House,  which  was  opened  to  the  traveling  public 
in  October  of  that  year.  It  covered  four  lots  beginning  with  the  one  where 
Carr's  clothing  store. now  is.  and  including  the  three  lots  south  of  it,  and  these 
were  used  as  business  houses,  and  the  hotel  part  was  upstairs. 

The  Louisa  County  National  Bank  was  opened  in  one  of  the  store  reom^  of 
this  building  in  July,  1872.  Andrew  Gamble  was  its  first  president  and  John  W. 
True  its  first  cashier.  General  James  M.  True  also  occupied  one  of  the  store 
rooms  in  this  block  ami  Sargent  &  Carter  had  a  stock  of  general  merchandise  in 
another  of  the  rooms. 

The  postoffice  at  Columbus  Junction  was  opened  in  July,  1872,  in  the  north 
store  room  of  the  Wortham  House  block,  with  Mrs.  Gentzler  as  postmistress 
At  that  time  the  fixed  salary  of  the  office  was  $12  a  year.  In  April,  1874,  Charles 
M.  Fulton  became  postmaster  and  shortly  after  this  he  moved  the  office  to  a 
frame  building  on  Walnut  street.  In  September,  1886,  Mr.  Fulton  was  succeeded 
in  the  postoffice  by  George  P.  Neal. 

For  the  first  two  years  the  town  grew  rapidly  and  proceedings  were  then 
taken  to  incorporate  it.  C.  M.  Fulton.  Marvel  Wheelock,  S.  W.  True,  W.  F. 
Hall  and  William  Todd   were  the  commissioners  appointed  and  on   May  25th, 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  317 

1874,  an  election  was  held  on  the  question  of  incorporation,  at  which  fifty-five 
votes  were  cast  "for"  and  seventeen  "against."  The  first  officers  elected  were: 
Mayor,  C.  M.  Fulton;  members  of  the  council,  George  W.  Merrill,  O.  E.  Hohbie. 
Robert  Foster,  Theo.  Crilly  and  A.  T.  Lewis;  recorder,  W.  I7.  Hall.  James  R. 
Smith  was  appointed  marshal,  but  declined,  and  Augustus  Darrow  was  named  in 
his  place.  R.  H.  Hanna  was  the  first  town  attorney.  The  present  officers  are  as 
follows:  Mayor,  D.  S.  Buffington ;  clerk.  M.  D.  Hanft ;  marshall,  J.  M.  Green: 
assessor,  J.  D.  Darrow;  councilmen.  J.  B.  Johnson,  J.  J.  Stapp,  T.  J.  Bolenbeck, 
R.  J.  Reaney,  and  O.  M.  Cavin. 

The  first  public  school  taught  in  Columbus  Junction  was  in  a  small  house 
built  for  that  purpose  a  couple  of  years  after  the  town  was  started.  Before  that, 
however,  Miss  Kitty  Truesdell  had  taught  a  select  school.  Among  the  early 
school  teachers  were  Miss  Sarah  White,  Mr.  Slater  and  A.  W.  Hall.  At  one 
time  the  building  owned  by  Asa  Merrill  was  used  for  school  purposes.  This  was 
in  1874.  Afterward  the  building  which  was  erected  for  a  court  house  was  used 
for  a  few  years  for  school  purposes  and  in  the  fall  of  1882  a  fine  school  build- 
ing was  erected  on  Front  street.  Professor  Edwards  was  the  first  principal  in 
the  new  building  and  afterwards  Professor  J.  EC.  Pickett  was  principal,  next  Pro- 
fessor G.  H.  Mullen,  who  has  been  one  of  the  noted  educators  of  the  state,  but 
is  now  retired.  The  present  superintendent  of  the  Columbus  Junction  schools  is 
Professor  G.  W.  Weber  and  the  schools  use  both  the  building  once  erected  for 
a  court  house  and  the  school  building. 

Beginning  about  1872  there  was  considerable  agitation  in  the  north  end  of  the 
county  for  a  removal  of  the  county  seat  from  Wapello  to  Columbus  Junction. 
A  petition  was  finally  circulated  for  an  election  and  at  the  same  time  the  citizens 
of  the  north  end  of  the  county  subscribed  a  fund  of  about  $25,000  and  erected  a 
fine  two-story  brick  building  suitable  for  a  court  house  and  placed  the  title  in 
five  trustees,  namely:  Francis  Springer,  N.  M.  Letts  and  F.  A.  Duncan.  W.  W. 
( iarner  and  O.  E.  Hobbie. 

A  long  and  bitter  contest  ensued  between  Columbus  Junction  and  Wapello, 
and  much  ill  feeling  was  generated  and  many  harsh  and  uncalled  for  things  were 
said  by  people  on  each  side  about  people  on  the  other,  but  it  would  serve  no  use- 
ful purpose  to  recite  them  here. 

A  number  of  elections  were  had,  at  various  times.  Some  were  authorized 
by  law  and  some  turned  out  not  to  be  legal.  Much  litigation  was  indulged  in 
on  both  sides.  The  election  held  on  October  12th,  1875.  was  a  lively  one  in 
every  sense  of  the  word  ;  it  was  attended  by  every  legal  voter  in  the  county,  and 
possibly  a  few  more.  Wapello  was  victorious  at  the  election  by  twenty  majority, 
which  showed  that  the  people  of  the  county  were  pretty  evenly  divided.  It  was 
freely  charged  that  the  Columbus  Junction  folks  had  imported  a  lot  of  illegal 
voters  especially  for  this  election,  but  in  view  of  the  vote  polled  at  the  ensuing 
election,  in  1876,  impartial  history  must  refute  the  charge.  It  appears  that  the 
total  vote  cast  in  Columbus  City  township  at  the  county  seat  election  in  1875 
was  717,  and  the  total  vote  there  in  the  following  year  was  704.  Had  there  been 
a  very  large  illegal  vote  in  1875  the  "shrinkage"  in  1876  would  have  been  much 
more  than  thirteen. 

Following  is  the  vote  by  townships  on  the  county  seat  question  in  1875.  also 
the  total  vote  of  that  year,  and  the  total  vote  of  each  township  at  the  presidential 
election  in  1876: 


318  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

VOTE   AT  THE   COUNTY  SF.AT   ELECTION,  OCT.    12,    1875 


Wapello 

Columbus  City  township   18 

Concord  township 5 

Elliott   township    82 

Elm  Grove  township   10 

Grandview  township 158 

Jefferson  township 200 

Marshall  township    133 

Morning  Sun  township   322 

Oakland  township 3 

Port  Louisa  township    158 

Union   township    

Wapello  township 506 


Columbus 

Total 

Total 

Junction 

vote 

vote,  1876 

699 

717 

704 

172 

177 

173 

82 

77 

137 

M7 

"5 

185 

343 

330 

209 

158 

62 

195 

i95 

4i 

363 

387 

126 

129 

120 

10 

168 

i45 

137 

137 

146 

13 

519 

416 

1604  1584  3188  2966 

Columbus  City  Lodge  No.  107,  Ancient  Free  and  Accepted  Masons,  was 
instituted  under  a  dispensation  of  the  Iowa  Grand  Lodge  February  24,  1857, 
with  W.  D.  Trebilcock,  W.  M. ;  J.  F.  Reiner,  S.  W. ;  William  S.  Allen.  J.  W. 
Meetings  were  first  held  in  the  hall  over  the  store  of  Harrison  &  Barrett,  in 
Columbus  City.  It  next  met  in  the  second  story  of  the  drug  store  building  of 
Clark  &  Coleman,  and  afterwards  was  established  in  the  third  story  of  the 
brick  building  erected  by  Harrison  &  Barrett.  In  1876  at  was  removed  to 
Columbus  Junction,  and  secured  a  hall  over  the  store  then  kept  by  Easton  & 
Brown,  where  it  has  held  its  meetings  ever  since.  Since  its  removal  to  Colum- 
bus Junction  the  lodge  has  grown  in  numbers  and  strength  and  is  recognized  as 
one  of  the  strongest    Masonic  institutions  of  the  county. 

Columbus  Junction  has  a  Woodman  Lodge,  an  Odd  Fellows  Lodge,  and  a 
K.  of  P.  Lodge,  but  we  have  not  the  particulars  as  to  their  organization  or 
officers.  The  K.  of  P.  Lodge  is  named  Liberty  Lodge,  No.  22,  and  was  first 
organized  at  Columbus  City.  It  was  reorganized  at  Columbus  Junction  in  1880. 
One  of  the  members  of  this  lodge — Hon.  F.  M.  Molsberry — was  Grand  Chan- 
cellor of  the  state  a  few  years  ago. 

The  newspapers  now  published  at  the  Junction  arc  the  Safeguard  and  the 
Gazette ;  the  former  was  started  by  R.  H.  Moore  at  Columbus  City,  but  later 
removed  to  the  Junction.  Paul  Maclean  and  J.  B.  Hungerford,  both  prominent 
newspaper  men  of  Iowa  today,  were  at  one  time  connected  with  the  Safeguard. 
The  Gazette  was  started  by  O.  I.  Jamison,  and  it  was  in  this  office  that  Hon.  W. 
D.  Jamison,  now  of  the  Shenandoah  World,  began  his  career  as  a  journalist. 

Some  years  ago  the  Columbus  Junction  Herald  was  published  there.  Samuel 
Crocker,  J.  G.  Sehorn,  and,  we  believe,  W.  S.  Jarboe.  were  connected  with  it. 

Columbus  Junction  also  has  its  full  share  of  churches,  the  Methodist,  Presby- 
terian and  Evangelical  being  the  best  represented  there. 

One  of  the  institutions  in  which  the  people  of  Columbus  Junction  and  the 
surrounding  country   take  great   pride,   is   the   Columbus   Junction   Chautauqua. 


Rock  Islam]  Bridge 


Looking  North  on  Main  Street 


High  School 


Methodist  Episcopal  Church 


"  i 

W11**- 

" 

tffc«       -*! 

i 

a^ ... 

^^^M 

Gilbert  House 


Rock  Island  Bridge 


COLUMBUS  JUNCTION  VIEWS 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  319 

This  is  one  of  the  pioneers  in  this  line  of  work  in  southeastern  Iowa,  and  has 
been  a  marked  success,  both  as  a  source  of  entertainment,  and  as  a  means  of 
promoting  the  moral  and  intellectual  development  of  the  community.  The 
association  owns  a  beautiful  grove  covering  some  twenty  acres,  which  is  recog- 
nized as  an  ideal  location. 

The  population  of  Columbus  Junction,  as  shown  by  recent  enumerations, 
has  been  as  follows:  1885 — 965;  1890 — 953;  1895 — 1,048;  1900 — 1,099;  1905 — 
1,127. 

UNION  TOWNSHIP. 

This  was  so  long  a  part  of  Columbus  City  township  that  it  has  very  little 
early  history  not  already  given.  In  addition  to  the  early  settlers  named,  this 
township  has  furnished  a  number  of  men  well  known  in  the  county.  The  Colton 
family  first  settled  in  Union  township  and  so  did  Andrew  Gamble.  During  the 
ten  years  that  we  had  a  supervisor  from  each  township.  Union  township  was  rep- 
resented by  Robert  A.  White,  James  Harmon.  Robert  Carson  and  S.  N.  Spurgeon. 
Peter  Rinely  was  for  many  years  a  justice  of  the  peace,  and  so  was  John  Het- 
field.  Others  whose  names  are  associated  with  Union  township  affairs,  are 
Wm.  T.  Blair,  Nelson  Alloway,  Joshua  Lucky,  Adam  Crim,  Thomas  Ogier.  Geo. 
W.  Duncan,  Asher  Dennis,  Josiah  Orr,   Mathew   Edmundson. 

The  only  town  ever  platted  in  Union  township  is  Gladwin,  situated  in  the 
central  part  of  the  southeast  quarter  of  the  northwest  quarter  of  section  28,  76-5, 
on  the  south  side  of  the  Chicago,  Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul  railroad.  It  was  laid  out 
by  W.  I.  Blanchard  and  J.  L.  Giesler,  Sept.   18,  1903. 

OAKVTLLE. 

was  laid  out  by  Abe  and  Harry  T.  Parsons,  December  11,  1891,  on  the  north- 
west quarter  of  the  northwest  quarter  of  section  25,  township  73  north,  range 
2  west,  south  of  the  Iowa  Central  railroad.  The  original  town  consisting  of 
three  blocks,  containing  in  all  thirty-five  lots.  Since  then  additions  to  Oakville 
have  been  laid  out  as  follows :  Downey's  addition,  by  John  and  Elizabeth 
Downey,  May  6,  1895;  Elrick's  addition,  laid  out  by  James  W.  Elrick,  December 
19,  1895;  Elrick's  second  addition  laid  out  by  James  W.  Elrick,  May  28,  1897; 
Brader's  addition  laid  out  by  John  H.  Brader,  May  7,  1898;  and  Downey's  sec- 
ond addition  laid  out  by  John  and  Elizabeth  Downey,  October  21,  1898;  Parson's 
addition  to  Oakville  laid  out  by  Abe  Parsons,  June  18,  1901 ;  Waterhouse's  ad- 
dition to  Oakville  laid  out  by  Alice  M.  Waterhouse,  June  29.  1901  ;  Roderick's 
addition  to  Oakville  laid  out  by  John  L.  Roderick,  May  9,  1902;  Carter's  ad- 
dition to  Oakville  laid  May  4.  191 1;  and  Williams'  addition  to  Oakville  laid  out 
by  W.  B.  Williams,  September  4,  191 1. 

The  Oakvillian  who  promised  a  history  of  that  flourishing  and  enterprising 
town,  has  failed  us.  The  first  postoffice  in  that  vicinity  was  Palo  Alto.  Oakville 
was  incorporated  by  the  District  Court  on  petition  of  Geo.  L.  Seevers  and  29 
others,  filed  Sept.  5th.  1902.  The  court  appointed  M.  P.  Cook,  E.  J.  McFadden, 
H.  T.  Parsons,  E.  M.  Bell  and  J.  C.  Thomson,  commissioners,  and  they  held  an 
election  on  Sept.  30  on  the  question  of  incorporation.  The  vote  was  45  for  to 
28  against.     The  first  election  for  officers  was  held  on  Oct.  21,   1902,  at  which 


320  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

the  following  were  chosen:  Mayor,  II.  T.  Parsons;  clerk,  E.  M.  Bell;  treasurer, 
E.  J.  McFadden ;  council.  W.  E.  Lynn,  W.  D.  Carter,  J.  A.  Duncan,  D.  D.  Mar- 
shall, W.  T.  Waterhouse,  Bert  Gawthrop. 

Oakville  has  two  railroads,  two  banks,  good  schools,  good  churches,  and  is  a 
splendid  trading  point,  whether  one  wants  to  buy  or  sell,  and  its  people,  and  the 
people  of  the  country  around  it,  average  up  with  the  best  in  the  county. 

The  population  of  Oakville  in  1895  was  given  at  87,  in  1905,  at  317,  and  in 
iQ  10,  at  389. 

Two  other  town--  have  been  laid  out  in  Eliot  township,  as  follows : 

ELRICK, 

laid  out  by  Jacob  W.  Elrick,  October  3,  1891,  on  the  west  half  of  the  southwest 
quarter  of  section  28,  and  the  east  half  of  the  southeast  quarter  of  section  29, 
all  in  township  73-2.  The  greater  part  of  this  town  has  since  been  vacated. 
This  town  of  Elrick  was  laid  out  immediately  east  of  Smith  creek  where  the 
Iowa  Central  railway  crosses  it.  and 

Elrick  Junction,  laid  out  by  H.  O.  Weaver,  March  7,  1899.  It  is  in  the 
north  half  of  the  northwest  quarter  of  section  29,  jy2,  north  of  the  Iowa  Central 
railway  track. 

The  town  of  Elrick  is  practically  abandoned ;  Elrick  Junction  is  located  at 
the  place  where  the  M.  N.  &  S.  Ry.  connects  with  Iowa  Central,  and  has  a  good 
general  store,  and  a  hotel. 

Other  towns,  not  already  referred  to.  are : 

CANNONSBURGH, 

laid  out  by  R.  B.  Cannon  on  the  northwest  quarter  of  the  northeast  quarter 
of  section  28,  township  74  north,  range  5  west,  surveyed  by  John  Huston,  April 
2,  1856.  This  was  an  "Air  Line"  town.  J.  E.  Nesbit  had  a  store  here,  but  the 
"town"  lias  long  since  passed  away. 

MARSH, 

laid  out  by  Moses  Chilson,  December  10,  1884,  situated  on  the  northeast  quarter 
of  section  30,  73-4,  and  it  adjoins  the  Iowa  Central  railway  right  of  way  on  the 
north. 

NEWPORT, 

laid  out  by  Harriet  H.  Briggs.  December  23,  1885,  on  the  northwest  part  of  the 
southwest  quarter  of  the  southeast  quarter  of  section  27,  73-3. 

WYMAN, 

laid  out  by  T.  W.  Barhydt,  trustee,  in  the  northwest  quarter  of  the  northeast 
quarter  and  the  northeast  quarter  of  the  northwest  quarter  of  section  30,  74-5. 
Wyman  is  the  only  town  in  Elm  Grove  township,  and  is  a  good  trading  point, 
especially  since  the  establishment  of  the  new  bank  there. 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  321 

BURRIS  CITY. 

To  write  the  story  of  the  rise  and  fall  of  Burris  City  seems  almost  like  delv- 
ing- into  the  musty  archives  of  ancient  or  medieval  history  and  tracing-  the 
growth  and  decline  of  a  Babylon  or  Ninevah.  But  Burris  City  was  a  real  and 
pretentious  city  of  more  than  a  thousand  souls,  but  little  more  than  a  half  century 
ago;  now,  the  casual  visitor  finds  only  here  and  there  a  broken  fragment  of 
stone  or  pottery,  a  slight  mound  or  depression  to  mark  the  spot  where  once 
stood  this  thriving  village.  Seldom,  indeed,  has  so  short  a  time  witnessed  so 
complete  an  obliteration  of  so  extensive  and  costly  a  monument  of  man's  ambi- 
tion. 

Burris  City  was  laid  out  and  platted  in  1855,  and  in  the  two  following  years 
the  most  of  the  building  was  done. 

[n  1857  Burris  City  was  at  the  zenith  of  its  glory;  there  were  five  or  six- 
good  stores,  a  large  warehouse,  a  drug  store  owned  by  Dr.  B.  G.  Neal.  The 
Ellsworth  Hotel,  a  brick  structure  two  stories  high,  was  the  best  hotel  building 
at  that  time  in  the  count}-.  All  the  products  of  the  surrounding  country  found 
here  a  ready  market ;  several  hundred  men  engaged  in  grading  the  Air  Line 
Railroad  were  quartered  here,  many  with  their  families.  A  sawmill  was  cutting 
the  native  timber  into  building  and  bridge  material,  and  the  town  was  humming 
with  industry. 

On  April  6,  1855,  a  city  election  was  held  and  the  following  officers  elected: 
Lysander  Wicks,  mayor ;  J.  F.  Howard,  marshal ;  Martin  Mason,  recorder ; 
Chas.  S.  McLane,  treasurer ;  aldermen,  first  ward,  A.  M.  Steward  ;  Henry  M. 
Debolt,  Jay  Martin :  aldermen,  second  ward,  Frederick  Gruber,  C.  P.  Norton, 
and  S.  L.  Hauk;  aldermen,  third  ward,  A.  Moon,  J.  Moon,  and  M.  Norris. 

July  24,  1857.  the  Burris  City  Hotel  Company  was  incorporated,  with  an 
authorized  capital  stock  of  not  exceeding  forty  thousand  dollars.  Incorporators 
were:  N.  W.  Burris,  J.  M.  Bloomfield,  A.  Key,  J.  T.  Burris,  B.  G.  Neal,  A. 
Millen,  John  Eichelberger,  Lysander  Wicks.  J.  M.  Albert,  R.  W.  'Wilson,  and 
Franklin   Bras. 

September  16,  1857,  The  Burris  Manufacturing  Company  filed  articles  of 
incorporation,  with  authorized  capital  stock  of  two  hundred  thousand  dollars ; 
shares,  five  hundred  dollars  each,  with  a  provision  that  said  company  could 
commence  operation  after  twenty-five  shares  were  taken  by  as  many  individuals. 
Among  the  stockholders  whose  names  are  recorded  are  James  Harlan,  Francis 
Springer,  Alfred  T.  Burris,  G.  A.  Ellsworth,  Wm.  Baker,  Frank  Bras,  Wm.  L. 
Toole.  J.  L.  Grubb,  Jno.  R.  Sisson,  C.  R.  Dugdale. 

The  assessment  of  lots  owned  by  N.  W.  Burris  in  Burris  City  as  certified 
to  by  J.  M.  Bloomfield,  consists  of  tzt'o  thousand,  eight  hundred  and  forty-eight 
lots,  ranging  in  value  from  three  hundred  dollars  to  four  hundred  and  fifty 
dollars  each,  and  amounting  to  the  aggregate  sum  of  one  million,  one  hundred 
and  fifty-eight  thousand,  one  hundred  dollars.  On  the  tax  books  for  1859  the 
greater  part  of  these  lots  were  assessed  to  "unknown  owners,"  at  from  twenty- 
five  dollars  to  fifty  dollars  each. 

Certificates  to  the  1855  assessment  are  as  follows : 

"I,  J.  M.  Bloomfield,  of  the  City  of  Burris,  Louisa  County,  Iowa,  hereby 
certify  that  the  foregoing  is  a  true  copy  of  the  assessments  of  the  lots  in  said 


322  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

city  belonging  to  X.  W.  Burris  as  it  appears  by  record  and  which  was  assessed 
by  me.    Witness  my  hand  this  27th  of  May,  1857. 

J.  M.  Bloomfield, 

Assessor." 

"I,  L.  Wicks,  mayor  of  the  city  of  Burris,  Louisa  Co.,  Iowa,  hereby  cer- 
tify that  J.  M.  Bloomfield,  which  name  appears  on  the  foregoing  certificate  and 
who  with  the  same  as  assessor  of  said  city  of  Burris,  was  duly  elected  and 
qualified  and  is  now  assessor  and  his  acts  as  such  is  entitled  to  true  credit.  I 
also  certify  that  the  signature  purporting  to  be  his  is  Jenuwine.  Witness  my  hand 
this  27th  da}-  of  May,  1857. 

L.  Wicks, 
Attest :  Mayor. 

M.  Mason, 
Recorder." 

State  of  Iowa,  Louisa  County,  ss. 

"I,  John  Hale,  Clerk  of  the  District  Court  of  said  county,  do  hereby  certify 
that  L.  Wicks,  and  J.  M.  Bloomfield,  whose  names  are  subscribed  to  the  foregoing 
certificate  as  mayor  and  assessor  of  the  city  of  Burris.  were  on  the  6th  day  of 
April,  A.  D.  1857,  elected  to  said  office  as  appears  of  record  in  my  office.  In  testi- 
mony whereof  I  have  hereunto  subscribed  my  name  and  affixed  the  seal  of  said 
Court  at  Wapello,  this  4th  day  of  June,  1857. 

John  Hale,  Clerk  Dist.  Court,  Louisa  County,  Iowa." 

A  map  of  Louisa  County,  issued  by  C.  R.  Dugdale  in  1858,  shows  the  Air  Line 
railroad  running  through  the  county,  also  the  Keokuk,  Mt.  Pleasant  and  Musca- 
tine Railroad  running  north  through  Marshall  township,  just  west  of  the  old 
W.  A.  Helmick  place,  to  Columbus  City;  this  was  said  to  be  under  contract  and 
partly  completed. 

Many  persons  still  living  in  the  county  and  their  descendants  have  cause  to 
remember  this  costly  "mirage"  which  they  followed  as  many  had  done  before, 
and  man}-  have  done  since,  to  disaster  and  ruin. 

In  justice  to  the  promoters  of  the  Burris  City  enterprise  it  may  be  truly  said 
that  they  all  went  down  together ;  not  one,  so  far  as  the  records  show,  but  came 
out  of  the  speculation  a  loser. 

Burris,  as  it  was  originally  called,  was  laid  out  by  X.  W.  Burris  in  1855,  and 
contained  over  five  thousand  lots.  It  was  incorporated  by  a  special  act  of  the 
Legislature,  approved  January  28,  1857,  and  after  this  it  was  known  as  Burris 
City. 

Rut  for  the  fatal  defect  of  nature's  creation — the  lack  of  sufficient  elevation — 
the  location  of  Burris  City  was  geographically  ideal ;  situated  midway  between 
the  cities  of  Burlington  and  Muscatine,  on  the  bank  of  the  great  Mississippi  river, 
and  at  the  mouth  of  the  Iowa  river,  its  riparian  advantages  were  equalled  by  but 
few,  and  surpassed  by  no  inland  city  in  the  United  States. 

But  the  much  vaunted  strength  of  Burris  City  proved  its  weakness  in  the 
end;  the  melting  snows  from  thousands  of  square  miles  of  rolling  prairies,  joined 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  323 

with  the  abundant  spring  rains,  brought  the  annual  overflow  and  Burris  City, 
sub-aqueous,  aquatic  Burris  City,  like  the  securities  issued  by  its  founder,  failed 
from  a  superabundance  of  water. 

The  exodus  of  the  settlers  of  Burris  City  in  1858  and  1859  was  as  rapid  as  had 
been  their  incoming.  The  failure  of  the  Air  Line  railroad,  and  the  overflow  of 
the  waters  disheartened  the  promoters  and  created  a  veritable  panic  among  the 
inhabitants ;  many  forsook  their  houses  and  in  many  cases,  penniless,  fled  to  more 
favored  locations.  Some  of  the  frame  buildings  were  sold  to  the  farmers  and 
others  and  were  cut  in  sections  and  hauled  away  to  all  parts  of  the  county.  The 
abandoned  town  site,  once  valued  more  than  a  million  dollars,  was  picked  up  by 
piece  meal  at  tax  sales,  and  is  now  used  for  grazing  purposes. 

Sic  transit  gloria  mundi. 

[The  foregoing  article  on  Burris  City  was  written  by  Mr.  }.  R.  Smith,  who, 
as  a  boy,  often  visited  it  and  traded  at  its  stores.] 

The  following,  from  another  eye  witness,  was  printed  in  the  Humming  Bird, 
a  small  monthly  paper  published  in  Muscatine.  The  issue  we  quote  from  is  dated 
June,  1874. 

"RECOLLECTIONS    OF    BURRIS    CITY THE   CITY    AS    IT    WAS    IN    1857-8 ITS   GROWTH, 

PROSPERITY',  DECLINE  AND  ENTIRE  DISAPPEARANCE — BY   N.    QUAD 

"A  passenger  on  one  of  our  Mississippi  packets  will  see  nothing  to  indicate 
that  a  few  short  years  ago  a  lively  and  prosperous  town  of  600  to  700  inhabitants 
and  supporting  a  city  charter  with  Mayor  (Lysander  Weeks)  and  other  metro- 
politan officials,  occupied  the  broad,  flat,  marshy  region  embracing  about  a  sec- 
tion of  land  bounded  by  a  high  bluff  on  the  west,  on  the  east  by  the  Mississippi 
river  and  by  the  Iowa  on  the  south,  in  Louisa  County,  this  State.  The  most  reck- 
less speculator  would  not  for  a  moment  entertain  the  thought  of  locating  a  town 
there  now.  Even  'Coal  Oil  Johnny'  could  not  be  induced  to  purchase  the  land 
if  it  were  offered  at  $10  per  acre.  Yet  we  know  parties  who  paid  $10  per  foot 
(front)  for  desirable  lots  on  Second  street,  and  refused  an  advance  on  the  pur- 
chase price.  At  this  time  (in  i857-'8)  there  was  considerable  excitement  in  Burris 
City  in  anticipation  of  the  'early  completion  of  the  Great  American  Central  Rail- 
way,' which  was  partially  graded  and  on  which  Burris  was  to  be  an  important 
point.  Maps  were  printed  and  distributed  all  over  the  country  at  an  immense  ex- 
pense, showing  the  city  as  a  second  New  York  in  size  and  importance.  It  is  need- 
less to  say  that  the  map  was  slightly  overdrawn.  It  is  said  that  a  drunken  man  sees 
'double.'  Taking  this  to  be  true,  we  conclude  that  fifteen  or  twenty  engravers, 
all  drunk,  had  each  a  hand  in  preparing  the  stone  upon  which  the  map  was  printed. 

"Mr.  Nathan  Burris,  proprietor  of  the  town,  was  a  young  man  of  probably 
36  to  40  years,  very  active,  large  hearted,  and  above  all,  honest  in  his  dealings  with 
his  fellow  men.  He  was  firmly  impressed  with  the  belief  that  he  had  'struck 
oil' — that  the  place  would  of  necessity  be  one  of  the  largest  and  most  prosperous 
in  the  Mississippi  Valley,  and  for  a  time  many  others  were  of  the  same  opinion. 
Vain  hope !  The  town  with  its  large  brick  hotels,  general  stores,  drug  stores,  its 
mill,  its  printing  office,  furniture  store,  carpenter  shops  and  numerous  other  estab- 


324  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

lishments,  where  are  they  now  ?  Where  are  the  lawyers,  and  doctors,  the  me- 
chanics and  laborers,  and  their  wives,  sons  and  daughters  ?  They  are  scattered 
like  chaff  in  a  gale.  They  may  be  found  in  all  parts  of  the  world.  But  there  are 
many  whom  we  will  never  meet  again  on  earth.  They  have  gone  to  a  City  whose 
corner  lots  will  never  depreciate,  whose  streets  are  never  muddy  and  whose  skies 
are  ever  bright !  Among  these  are  the  good  wife  of  Nathan  Burris,  who  departed 
thi>  life  in  1S58.  Our  readers  must  pardon  us  for  the  belief  that  her  death  was 
the  death  of  the  town  whose  obituary  we  feel  called  upon  to  write.  Her  husband's 
loss  weighed  heavily  upon  him.  His  ambition  was  gone,  his  energy  had  departed, 
anil  he  walked  the  streets,  not  as  the  active  business  man,  not  with  the  elastic  step, 
the  pleasant  smile  and  bow  and  ready  hand  for  the  friends  he  met,  but  with  a 
broken  down,  dejected  air,  paying  little  or  no  attention  to  those  whom  he  met.  He 
remained  at  Burris  City  only  a  short  time  after  his  wife  died.  After  disposing  of 
the  greater  portion  of  his  property  and  settling  up  his  business,  he  went  west  in 
the  hope  of  recuperating  his  health  and  former  physical  strength  rather  than  filling 
his  depleted  exchequer.  From  the  day  of  his  departure,  the  town  seemed  to  be 
on  a  down  grade,  and  it  had  grown  beautifully  less  by  degrees  until  in  1868  (I 
think)  the  last  building — an  old  warehouse — was  removed,  leaving  nothing  to 
mark  the  spot  where  a  few  year-  ago  were  heard  the  click  of  type,  the  ring 
of  the  anvil,  the  blowing  of  steam  whistles,  the  hum  of  business  in  all  its  branches, 
and  the  hurried  tread  of  the  crowd  that  thronged  the  sidewalk.  The  locality  has 
no  attractions  now  save  for  the  rattlesnake,  crawfish  and  bullfrog,  whose  right  and 
title  to  the  place  is  undisputed,  and  whose  musical  accomplishments,  so  varied  and 
yet  so  charmingly  blended,  render  it  a  most  inviting  spot  to  those  who  are  haunted 
by  melancholy  and  desire  to  commit  suicide. 

"A  levee  thrown  up  at  great  expense  along  the  bank  of  the  Iowa  river  to  pre- 
vent the  overflow  of  the  low  lands  upon  which  the  town  was  built  was  washed 
away  by  the  high  waters,  and  skiffs  and  flatboats  were  the  fashionable  vehicles 
of  the  denizens  for  several  weeks,  when  the  waters  receded,  leaving  numerous 
beds  of  the  finny  tribe  in  the  pools  on  every  hand.  The  Stafford  House,  built  of 
brick,  was  kept  in  good  style  by  Charles  W.  Stafford,  and  had  one  time  during 
the  winter  of  i857-'s8,  eighty-four  regular  boarders.  About  forty  of  these  were 
wood  choppers,  who  worked  in  the  large  timber  a  short  distance  below  town. 

"A  Guernsey  press  was  purchased  by  Mr.  Burris  for  Edward  Stafford,  who 
had  proposed  to  publish  a  paper  in  Burris  City,  but  failed  to  remove  his  office 
from  New  Boston  before  a  mortgage  sale  removed  it  to  the  type  foundry.  The 
press  stood  in  the  old  warehouse  until  it  was  purchased  by  John  Mahin  and 
brought  to  Muscatine.     The  Journal  was  printed  upon  this  press  until   1870. 

"A  sawmill  a  short  distance  above  town  and  the  Brick  Makers  at  Black  Hawk 
did  a  good  business  while  the  town  was  being  built 

"Our  residence  in  Burris  City  was  of  short  duration,  and  our  individual  ex- 
perience brief.  We  engaged  to  work  in  the  winter  of  1858  for  Dunlap  &  Ells- 
worth, who,  like  many  other  sensible  men  have  foolishly  done,  launched  upon  the 
literary  sea,  a  28-column  weekly  newspaper,  known  as  the  Burris  Iowan.  The 
town  had  at  that  time  about  500  or  600  inhabitants,  several  dry  goods,  grocery 
and  drug  stores,  and  nearly  every  business  usually  represented  in  a  town  of  that 
size.  Mr.  Dunlap  was  a  lawyer,  and  Mr.  George  W.  Ellsworth  was  a  druggist, 
and  by  the  way,  proprietor  of  as  fine  an  establishment  of  the  kind  as  can  be 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  325 

found  in  Muscatine  today.  Neither  of  the  partners  knew  anything  about  the 
business,  and  Mr.  D.  being  a  lawyer,  with  more  brains  than  money,  and  a  [earful 
appetite  for  an  article  sometimes  kept  in  drugstores,  Mr.  Ellsworth,  as  a  natural 
result  was  compelled  to  pay  all  bills  and  gratuitously  furnish  fuel  to  run  the  edi- 
torial engine.  Well,  the  Burris  Iowan  was  born,  blessed,  buried  and  cursed,  all 
within  two  short  months.  The  writer  of  this  article,  then  a  youth  of  19  summers, 
propelled  the  Burris  Iowan,  taking  orders  on  the  hotel  and  drugstore  for  pay, 
until  forbearance  ceased  to  be  a  virtue,  when  one  day  there  was  a  'strike'  and  the 
paper  suspended.  Previous  to  this  time,  however,  sometime  in  1857,  a  very  re- 
spectable paper  was  printed  at  Burris.  by  the  Robinson  Bros.  It  was  gotten  up 
in  good  style  neatly  printed  and  filled  with  the  choicest  matter  and  newsy.  I  do 
not  know  how  long  it  was  printed,  but  probably  not  more  than  five  or  six  months. 
In  i856-'57  Ed.  Stafford,  a  man  of  considerable  talent  and  an  immense  area  of 
cheek,  and  in  whom  few  men  had  so  much  confidence  as  'Nate'  Burris,  published 
the  New  Boston  Reporter  and  Burris  Commercial,  a  32-column  weekly  paper  at 
New  Boston,  111.,  two  miles  below  Burris  City." 

COLUMBUS  CITY. 

What  seems  to  be  the  plat  of  the  original  town  of  Columbus  City  is  certified 
to  by  John  Gilliland,  county  surveyor,  but  is  not  dated.  It  was  laid  out  by 
David  Mortimore  as  proprietor.  The  streets  from  north  to  south  were  named 
as  follows :  Utah,  Mulberry,  Church,  Philadelphia,  Market,  Main,  Jefferson, 
Washington  and  Spring.  Beginning  on  the  east  side,  the  north  and  south  streets 
were  named  as  follows  :  Water.  Pearl,  Chestnut,  Columbus,  Iowa,  Burlington 
and  Hamilton.  Market  street  was  150  feet  wide,  Alain,  Philadelphia,  Colum- 
bus, Iowa,  Burlington,  Chestnut  and  Pearl  streets  were  100  feet  wide,  and  the 
others  75  feet  wide.  Most  of  the  lots  were  50x150  feet.  The  streets  bore  north 
twenty-nine  degrees  east,  by  north  sixty-one  degrees  west.  The  plat  does  not 
state  on  what  ground  the  town  was  laid  out  but  on  the  back  of  it  is  a  certified 
acknowledgment,  dated  June  18,  1840,  made  by  John  Gilliland,  justice  of  the 
peace,  which  he  certifies  that  on  that  day  David  Mortimore  acknowledged  the 
instrument  to  be  the  original  plat  and  plan  of  Columbus  City. 

Rice  and  Mortimore  advertised  a  sale  of  lots  in  Columbus  City  to  be  held  on 
Thursday,  July  16,  1840.  The  notice  of  the  sale  which  they  had  printed  and 
circulated  at  the  time  is  an  interesting  and  valuable  historical  item  and  we  are 
under  obligations  to  Colonel  J.  W.  Garner  for  one  of  the  original  copies.  It  is 
as  follows : 

Columbus  City — Yaluable  Town   Lots  at   Public   Sale. 

There  will  be  several  hundred  in-lots  offered  at  Public  Auction,  commencing 
on  Thursday,  the  16th  July,  1840,  on  the  premises. 

This  town  is  beautifully  situated  one  and  a  half  miles  south  of  the  forks 
of  the  Iowa  and  Cedar  rivers,  in  Louisa  County,  Territory  of  Iowa,  about 
half  way  from  Iowa  City  to  Burlington,  immediately  on  the  main  Territorial 
roads,  one  running  from  Iowa  City  to  Burlington,  crossing  the  river  at  Sturges' 
Ferry,  and  the  other  running  from  Wapello  to  Iowa  City,  crossing  the  river 
at  the  Forks ;  there  are  also  several  other  roads  crossing  through  this  place. 


326  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

The  location  is  upon  a  beautiful  elevation  where  the  timber  and  prairie 
intersect,  it  is  also  surrounded  by  a  large  body  of  choice  farming  land  not  sur- 
passed bv  any  other  portion  of  the  territory,  and  this  portion  of  country  is  set- 
tling thick  and  fast. 

As  regards  health,  Columbus  City  has  the  advantage  of  choice  spring  and 
well  water  and  fine  rolling  prairies,  varying  from  one  to  three  miles  in  width, 
passing  on  the  south  and  extending  many  miles  up  the  river,  and  is  bounded 
on  the  north  by  a  large  body  of  choice  timber. 

There  are  several  buildings  now  in  progress,  and  there  will  be  one  or  more 
mills  in  operation  by  next  fall. 

Steam  Boats  have  been  and  can  run  up  to  this  point,  which,  with  other 
advantages  will  doubtless  make  this  one  of  the  most  flourishing  and  interesting 
towns  in  the  Territory. 

Emigrants  and  others  who  wish  to  make  investments  of  money  in  good  town 
property  are  respectfully  requested  to  attend  this  sale,  as  a  view  of  the  place, 
together  with  a  knowledge  of  the  Territory,  will  doubtless  convince  all  that 
this  is  an  important  point. 

Terms  of  sale — one  fourth  of  the  purchase  money  in  hand,  the  balance  in 
two  equal  payments,  six  and  twelve  months. 

Levi  Rice, 

David  Mortimore, 

June  15th,  1840.  Proprietors. 

The  above  plat  was  probably  located  chiefly  in  the  northwest  quarter  of 
section  31,  township  75  north,  range  4  west,  and  possibly  extended  over  north 
into  the  southwest  quarter  of  section  30.  David  Mortimore  and  Levi  Rice  were 
interested  together  in  what  is  known  as  the  old  town  of  Columbus  City,  and  the 
records  of  original  entries  show  that  Levi  Rice  entered  the  west  half  of  section 
31  and  the  southwest  quarter  of  section  30.  The  angle  of  the  bearing  of  the 
streets  also  points  to  the  same  conclusion,  because  it  seems  that  the  old  road 
from  Wapello  to  the  ferry  across  the  Iowa  river  had  about  the  same  bearing 
and  direction  as  the  north  and  south  streets  in  this  plat  would  have.  It  would 
also  appear  by  the  advertisement  for  the  sale  of  lots  in  Columbus  City  as  made 
and  published  by  Edward  F.  Willson  and  others  in  1841  that  the  town  as  laid 
out  by  Edward  F.  Willson  was  not  in  the  same  location  as  the  one  laid  out  by 
Mortimore  and  Rice. 

Edward  F.  Willson's  plat  of  Columbus  City,  laid  out  March  23,  1841.  The 
streets  shown  on  this  plat  running  east  and  west  were  as  follows,  beginning 
at  the  north:  Mulberry,  Church,  Philadelphia,  Market,  Main,  Jefferson,  Wash- 
ington and  Pring,  and  the  north  and  south  streets  beginning  at  the  east  were 
Water,  Pearl,  Chestnut,  Columbus,  Iowa  and  Arlington.  Most  of  the  lots  were 
50x150  feet  and  all  streets  were  75  feet  wide  except  Main  and  Market  streets, 
which  were  100  feet  in  width.  The  plat  does  not  state  upon  what  particular 
ground  it  is  located  but  we  know  it  was  located  in  the  northeast  quarter  of  sec- 
tion 36,  township  75  north,  range  5  west,  being  just  a  little  west  of  the  town 
as  laid  out  by  Mortimore  and  Rice.  The  land  was  entered  by  David  Dix  and 
conveyed  to  Edward  F.  Willson.  who  at  that  time  lived  in  Burlington. 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  327 

Immediately  after  the  laving  out  of  Willson's  addition,  as  it  was  then  called, 
but  Columbus  City,  as  it  is  now  called.  Mr.  Willson  seems  to  have  conveyed  a 
large  number  of  lots  to  the  half  dozen  other  men  whose  names  are  signed  to 
the  following  notice,  which  seems  to  have  been  published  in  the  Burlington 
Patriot  not  long  after  its  date. 

''emigrants  to  iowa  ! 

"The  subscribers  having  located  the  plat  of  Columbus  City  upon  a  more 
elevated  and  advantageous  site  than  heretofore,  are  now  prepared  to  dispose  of 
lots  upon  the  most  favorable  terms.  Viewing  it  as  a  matter  of  the  highest  import- 
ance that  the  youth  of  our  Territory  should  enjoy  the  privilege  of  a  thorough 
academic  and  collegiate  education,  arrangements  are  now  in  progress  for  the 
erection  of  a  suitable  building  to  be  put  up  immediately  for  the  reception  of 
pupils  of  both  sexes  the  present  season.  .  .  .  Columbus  City  is  situated  in 
Louisa  County,  at  the  confluence  of  the  Iowa  and  Cedar  Rivers,  on  a  beautiful 
rolling  and  healthy  prairie,  abounding  with  as  fine  springs  of  running  water  as 
are  to  be  found  in  any  of  the  Eastern  States.  ...  As  six  or  eight  of  the 
most  public  thoroughfares  in  the  Territory  centre  at  this  point,  it  will  conse- 
quently be  the  great  deposits  for  pork,  and  produce  generally,  in  this  part  of  the 

Territory.     .     .     . 

Edward   F.   Willson, 
J.  M.  Robertson, 
William  Reynolds, 
C.  M.  McDaniel. 
William  L.  Toole, 
Samuel    Hutchison, 

Proprietors. 
March  25,  1841." 

Rice  and  Mortimore  had  a  great  many  lawsuits  beginning  about  the  time 
they  laid  out  the  old  town  of  Columbus  City.  The  result  seems  to  have  been 
that  David  Mortimore  acquired  the  interest  of  Rice  in  the  town  plat.  Mr.  Morti- 
more was  anxious  to  give  his  new  town  a  good  start  by  providing  for  a  seminary 
of  learning,  and  this  resulted  in  a  very  interesting  and  curious  incident  of  more 
than  local  importance.  On  December  1,  1840,  William  L.  Toole,  who  was  then 
a  member  of  the  territorial  legislature  from  this  county,  introduced  House  File 
No.  41,  entitled  "A  bill  to  establish  a  seminary  of  learning  at  Columbus  City  in 
Louisa  county."  On  December  2d  this  bill  was  read  a  second  time  and  on  motion 
of  David  Hendershot,  of  Des  Moines  county,  it  was  made  the  order  of  the  day 
for  Friday,  December  4th.  On  December  4th,  on  motion  of  Mr.  Toole  the  house 
resolved  itself  into  a  committee  of  the  whole  house  for  the  purpose  of  consider- 
ing this  bill.  After  some  time  spent  in  consideration  of  the  bill.  Mr.  Teeple. 
chairman  of  the  committee  of  the  whole,  reported  that  the  committee  had  directed 
him  to  report  the  bill  back  to  the  house  with  certain  amendments,  which  were 
then  agreed  to  by  the  house.  The  journal  of  the  house  does  not  state  what  these 
amendments  were  but  we  may  presume  from  the  record  which  follows  that  these 
amendments  were  to  strike  out  the  lottery  plan  of  selling  certain  lots  to  raise 
money  for  the  erection  of  a  seminary  of  learning  and  insert  instead  a  provision 


328  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

to  sell  the  lots  by  a  public  or  private  sale.  After  these  amendments  were  agreed 
to  it  seems  that  Mr.  Toole  and  the  friends  of  the  bill  were  not  satisfied  and  the 
bill  was  referred  to  the  committee  on  incorporations.  This  committee  consisted 
of  David  Hendershot,  of  Des  Moines  county.  James  Brierly,  of  Lee  county,  and 
Timothy  Mason,  of  Dubuque  county. 

The  committee  soon  after  reported  the  bill  without  change  and  it  was  laid  on 
the  table.  Mr.  Hendershot  from  the  minority  of  the  committee  made  a  report 
and  submitted  with  this  report  a  new  bill,  House  File,  No.  86.  We  may  gather 
what  the  new  bill  contained  from  the  report  of  Mr.  Hendershot,  from  which  we 
make  the  following  extracts:  "The  objects  of  the  bill  are  expressed  in  its  title 
and  the  seminary  proposed  to  be  established  is  intended  for  the  education  of 
youth  of  both  sexes.  The  bill  provides  for  a  donation  of  forty  lots  of  ground  in 
Columbus  City,  being  a  donation  by  Mr.  David  Mortimore,  by  the  --ale  of  which, 
as  provided  in  said  bill,  a  fund  is  expected  to  be  raised  sufficient  to  put  the 
seminary  into  immediate  operation.  To  accomplish  these  objects,  an  act  of  in- 
corporation is  asked  for  and  in  order  to  render  this  donation  of  town  lots  im- 
mediately available  and  also  to  enhance  the  fund  derived  from  their  sale,  the  bill 
asks  the  privilege  to  dispose  of  these  lots  by  lottery.  Objections  to  this  clause  of 
the  bill  led  to  its  reference  to  your  committee  and  to  this  subject  the  attention  of 
the  committee  has  been  mostly  directed."' 

The  report  then  proceeds  at  some  length  to  discuss  the  subject  of  iotteries, 
severely  condemning  the  ordinary  lottery  schemes  and  the  way  in  which  they  are 
usually  carried  out,  and  deprecating  their  tendency  to  produce  undue  excitement 
and  to  promote  a  spirit  of  gambling,  etc.,  and  then  says  "but  the  lottery  asked  for 
in  this  bill  is  of  a  very  different  character.  ...  Its  capital  is  a  limited  number 
of  town  lots  of  a  value  that  every  one  understands.  There  cannot  lie  any  fraudu- 
lent scheme  proposed,  for  there  is  no  bonus  to  cover,  no  profits  to  be  made  but 
what  grows  out  of  the  sale  of  the  lots,  and  all  this  is  for  the  benefit  of  the  com- 
munity who  are  deeply  interested  in  promoting  the  means  of  education  .  .  . 
and  the  drawing  of  such  a  lottery  for  such  a  purpose  your  committee  cannot  sup- 
pose will  ever  be  likely  to  ripen  into  an  injurious  custom  or  to  introduce  any 
gambling  habits  into  the  community.  Lesides,  your  committee  are  of  the  opinion 
that  if  this  privilege  is  not  granted  in  this  bill  the  only  mode  by  which  the  trustees 
can  dispose  of  these  lots,  the  only  capital  on  which  they  depend  for  establishing  the 
institution  must  be  a  private  sale,  or  a  sale  at  auction  to  the  highest  bidder.  The 
process  of  the  first  will  be  so  slow  as  to  prevent  the  seminary  from  going  into 
operation  for  years  to  come,  like  most  others  that  have  been  chartered  in  this 
territory — and  the  last  would  sacrifice  the  property  and  defeat  the  beneficent  de- 
sign of  the  donor." 

The  report  estimated  that,  sold  in  either  of  these  ways,  the  lots  would  bring 
from  two  to  three  thousand  dollars,  but  disposed  of  by  lottery  they  would  bring 
from  ten  to  twelve  thousand  dollars.  The  minority  therefore  recommended  the 
passage  of  the  bill  with  the  privilege  of  disposing  of  the  lots  by  lottery. 

Final  action  on  this  matter  was  taken  on  December  21st,  at  which  time  the 
house  then  again  went  into  a  committee  of  the  whole  on  the  new  bill  of  House 
File  86.  The  committee  of  the  whole  recommended  an  amendment  and  Mr.  Sum- 
mers, of  Scott  county,  moved  to  strike  out  the  words  "lottery  or  otherwise"  and 
insert  "public  or  private  sale."     This  motion  was  carried  by  a  vote  of  fifteen  to 


U.  P.  Church 


Christian  Church 


Main   Street 


Public  School  m.  E.  Church 

SCENES  IN  COLUMBUS  CITY 


L 


: I 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  329 

nine,  as  follows:  Yeas:  Avery,  Box,  Brierly,  Isett,  Lash,  Lewis.  Mason,  Miller, 
Porter,  Steel,  Summers,  Van  Antwerp,  Whitaker,  Wilson  of  Henry  county,  and 
Wilson,  of  Jefferson  county.  Nays  were  Browning,  Felkner,  Hendershot  Leffler, 
Robertson,  Teeple,  Toole,  Walworth  and  Speaker  Cox. 

This  action  of  the  house  killed  the  lottery  plan  and  we  may  infer  that  the  pro- 
moters felt  that  no  other  plan  would  be  of  any  immediate  benefit,  for  on  motion 
of  Mr.  Hendershot,  the  enacting  clause  of  the  bill  was  stricken  out. 

There  seems,  however,  to  have  been  a  Columbus  City  seminary  organized  in 
the  year  1S41,  for  we  find  that  Edward  F.  Willson  deeded  outlot  No.  4  to  the 
trustees  of  the  Columbus  City  Seminary.  This  deed  was  dated  October  22,  1841, 
and  is  recorded  in  Book  B,  Page  216. 

No  seminary  building  was  ever  constructed  on  outlot  No.  4  and  nothing 
seems  to  have  been  done  with  it  until  in  January,  1847,  when  the  state  legislature 
passed  an  act  authorizing  Wesley  W.  Garner,  James  M.  Robertson  and  William 
L.  Toole  to  sell  outlot  No.  4  in  Columbus  City  and  to  execute  a  conveyance  there- 
for. The  act  provided  that  the  proceeds  should  first  be  applied  to  the  payment  on 
the  date  accorded  by  the  trustees  of  the  Columbus  City  Seminary  and  that  if  any 
money  should  remain  after  the  payment  it  should  be  invested  in  books  for  the 
use  of  some  public  library  in  Columbus  City.  It  is  understood  that  the  principal 
part  of  the  proceeds  went  to  pay  a  debt  due  Dr.  James  M.  Robertson  from  the 
Columbus  City  Seminary. 

The  earliest  merchant  mentioned  in  any  Columbus  City  history  is  Italian 
Myler,  who  started  a  store  there  in  1842.  His  store  sign  was  "I.  Myler,  Picayune 
Grocery."  Mr.  .Myler  was  a  well  digger  and  worked  out  at  his  trade  much  of 
the  time,  keeping  his.  store  open  on  Saturdays  and  other  days  when  there  was 
likely  to  be  a  crowd  in  town.  Myler  was  a  noted  character  in  Columbus  City, 
and  he  often  broke  into  county  history  by  getting  his  name  on  the  court  docket. 
He  continued  in  business  until  his  death,  in  1885,  and  at  one  time  had  quite  a 
large  business. 

But  according  to  the  county  records  there  were  store  keepers  in  Columbus 
City  much  earlier  than  1842.  Some  were  in  the  old  town.  We  find  that  on 
August  15,  1840,  a  license  to  sell  merchandise  was  granted  to  Gildea  &  McGan- 
non,  and  their  place  of  business  was  given  as  Columbus  City.  And  on  December 
11,  1840,  a  similar  license  was  granted  to  G.  B.  Alexander  &  Company  located 
at  Columbus  City.  Charles  Wightman.  afterward  a  prominent  citizen  of  Bur- 
lington, and  at  one  time  County  Judge  of  Des  Moines  County,  was  either  a  clerk 
or  a  partner  in  the  store  of  Alexander  &  Company.  These  two  stores  were  in 
the  old  town,  of  course,  as  the  other  was  not  laid  out  until  1841.  It  is  likely 
that  the  first  real  store,  or  at  least  among  the  first,  at  Columbus  City,  was  kept 
by  Philip  Gore.  Mr.  Gore  deserves  honorable  mention  as  one  of  the  pioneers 
in  the  founding  of  Columbus  City.  He  was  postmaster  from  1845  to  1849  and 
was  justice  of  the  peace  for  a  number  of  years  and  also  School  Fund  Commis- 
sioner. He  was  a  man  of  good  character  and  of  much  more  than  ordinary  ed- 
ucation. He  was  not,  however,  as  is  generally  supposed,  the  first  postmaster  at 
Columbus  City. 

Following  is  a  list  of  the  postmasters  at  Columbus  City,  with  the  date  of  their 
appointment,  as  given  by  the  postoffice  department  up  to  1864 :  Tobias  Hammer, 
appointed  March  3,   1843;  Uriah  Limbocker,  June   14,   1844;  Philip  Gore.  June 


330  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

14,  1845;  John  Gardner.  February  19.  1849:  J.  A.  Luckett,  April  23,  1849;  Ben- 
jamin G.  Neal,  June  10,  1854:  William  M.  Clark,  June  19,  1851 ;  John  Gardner. 
April  17,  1852;  William  A.  Colton,  June  24.  1854;  William  G.  Allen.  September 
8,  1857;  William  O.  Kulp,  June  9,  1859;  William  G.  Allen,  July  1,  1859;  Elisha 
T.  Williamson,  May  4,  1861  ;  James  Goble,  February  9,  1866.  There  was  a  time 
after  the  appointment  of  J.  A.  Luckett  when  Colonel  W.  W.  Garner  was  in  charge 
of  the  postoffice.  but  his  name  does  not  appear  in  the  list  furnished  from  the  post- 
office  department.  There  is  a  tradition  that  William  H.  R.  Thomas  was  post- 
master at  Columbus  City  at  a  very  early  day,  supposed  to  have  been  prior  to  1843, 
but  it  may  well  be  doubted  whether  this  tradition  has  any  foundation. 

A  little  later  there  were  some  first-class  stores  in  Columbus  City  and  for  many 
years  it  was  one  of  the  leading  trading  points  in  the  county,  its  trade  extending 
into  Muscatine,  Johnson,  Washington  and  Henry  counties. 

One  of  the  leading  firms  for  some  years  was  Fitch  &  Luckett  and  X.  G.  Fitch 
&  Company,  and  another  was  Harrison  &  Barrett.  The  first  drug  store  was 
opened  by  the  firm  of  Clark  &  Colton.  both  being  doctors. 

The  first  physicians  to  locate  in  Columbus  City  were  Dr.  J.  M.  Robertson.  Dr. 
E.  H.  Skillman,  Dr.  John  Bell.  Dr.  John  Cleaves,  Dr.  William  M.  Clark,  Dr.  B. 
( ,.  Xeal.  Dr.  William  A.  Colton,  and  Dr.  W.  S.  Robertson  and  they  came  in  about 
the  order  named  here. 

The  earlv  tavern  keepers  were  Dr.  Skillman,  Philip  Gore  and  John  Gardner. 

The  first  hardware  store  was  established  by  Colonel  W.  W.  Garner  in  the 
year  1850  or  1 85 1.  This  was  the  first  store  of  its  kind  in  either  Louisa  or  Wash- 
ington counties  and  commanded  a  very  large  trade. 

We  have  a  number  of  shipping  bills  connected  with  the  business  of  Colonel 
Garner,  which  throw  some  light  on  the  means  of  transportation  in  those  days, 
the  freight  charged,  etc.     The  first  is  dated  April  22,  1851,  and  is  as  follows: 

"Mr.  W.  W.  Garner,  to  Steamer  Black  Hawk.  Dr. 

To  Freight  on  8732  lb.  Iron  at  40c  pr.  100 $34-93 

To  Freight  on  Lot  from  Burlington   I-°° 

$35-93 
April  22d.  1851.  Rec'd  Pay't,  W.  M.  Zalzell,  Clerk." 

The  above  does  not  state  where  the  8732  pounds  of  iron  came  from  but  we 
are  informed  it  came  from  St.  Louis. 

Another  shipping  bill  is  dated  April  17,  1852,  from  John  Phillips  &  Company 
of  St.  Louis,  by  the  steamboat  called  the  Black  Hawk,  of  some  iron  and  steel  at 
forty  cents  per  hundred  pounds,  to  be  delivered  near  Columbus  City. 

Another  shipping  bill  is  from  the  same  firm,  October  19,  1852,  by  the  steam- 
boat Milton— a  shipment  of  hardware  to  be  delivered  at  Port  Louisa,  consigned 
to  Lockwood  &  Williamson  at  the  rate  of  fifty  cents  a  hundred. 

Another  bill  is  for  goods  shipped  by  Colonel  W.  W.  Garner  from  Todd's 
Landing.  June  6,  1853,  by  the  steamboat  Daniel  Hillman,  for  Brown,  Phillips  & 
Company,"  of  St.  Louis.  The  shipment  was  for  thirty-six  sacks  of  flaxseed  at 
the  rate  of  fourteen  cents  per  bushel. 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  331 

The  project  of  building  a  bridge  across  the  Iowa  river  at  or  near  the  forks 
■of  the  Cedar  and  Iowa  was  broached  as  early  as  1850  by  the  people  of  Columbus 
City  who  were  greatly  interested  in  it.  The  first  meeting  toward  this  end  of 
which  we  have  any  knowledge  was  held  March  27,  1850.  At  least  we  may  pre- 
sume it  was  so  held,  because  of  the  following  notice : 

"ISRIDGE   MEETING. 

"It  is  in  contemplation  tc  build  a  Bridge  across  the  Iowa  river,  at  or  near  the 
forks  of  Cedar  and  Iowa.  In  this  project  the  whole  State  has  an  interest;  but 
those  more  immediately  interested,  on  the  west  side  of  the  river,  are  persons  re- 
siding between  English  river  and  Virginia  Grove,  and  as  far  west  as  Keokuk  and 
Mahaska  counties.  A  general  meeting  will  be  held  at  Columbus  City,  on  Wed- 
nesday, 27th  of  March  inst,  at  noon  of  the  day,  to  talk  about  it  and  see  how 
much  money  can  be  raised.     Let  everybody  come. 

"Columbus  City,  March  11,  1850." 

The  above  notice  is  copied  from  one  of  the  original  bills  printed  and  circulated 
at  the  time. 

Another  project  that  interested  the  people  of  Columbus  City  in  those  days 
was  the  proposed  extension  of  the  plank  road  leading  north  from  Burlington, 
and  it  would  seem  from  the  following  notice,  which  is  copied  from  one  of  the 
original  bills,  that  a  meeting  was  held  for  this  purpose  at  Columbus  City  on 
March  12,  1852: 

"PLANKROAD   MEETING! 

"THERE  will  be  a  Plankroad  meeting  at  the  School  House,  in  Columbus 
City,  on  Friday,  the  12th  day  of  March  next,  the  object  of  which  will  be  to  make 
our  arrangements  for  the  extension  of  the  Burlington  and  Louisa  County  Plank- 
road to  Columbus  City.  All  that  feel  an  interest  in  such  an  enterprise  are  re- 
quested to  attend. 

Philip  Gore, 
Alfred  Limbarker, 
W.  W.  Garner, 
Committee  of  Correspondence. 
"Columbus  City,  Feb.  27th,  1852." 

The  name  Limbarker  is  a  misprint ;  it  should  be  Limbocker. 

The  plank  road  from  Eiurlington  north  was  built  by  the  Burlington  &  Vir- 
ginia Grove  Plank  Road  Company,  incorporated  in  1851.  We  are  not  able  to 
state  just  how  far  north  from  Burlington  the  road  was  actually  built  but  it  was 
at  least  as  far  as  Dodgeville.  The  first  officers  of  this  company  were :  President, 
Hiram  Leonard,  Yellow  Springs ;  treasurer,  John  G.  Foote,  Burlington ;  directors, 
William  M.  Graham,  Honey  Creek,  Luke  Palmer.  Burlington,  S.  Fullenwider, 
Yellow  Springs,  Abner  Leonard,  Hint  River  and  T.  B.  Crocker,  Burlington, 
secretary.  The  capital  stock  of  the  company  was  fixed  by  the  article  at  $60,000 
in  shares  of  $50  each,  and  it  was  authorized  to  do  business  as  soon  as  $5,000  of 
the  stock  was  taken. 

We  have  before  us  a  few  copies  of  the  Columbus  City  Courier  edited  by  B. 


332  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

G.  Neal,  M.  D.  Number  one  of  Volume  I  is  dated  April  8,  1856.  This  is  said  to 
be  the  first  newspaper  ever  published  in  Columbus  City.  The  writer  is  of  the 
opinion  that  there  was  a  paper  published  in  Columbus  City  in  1855  and  it  may  be 
that  before  this  goes  to  press  this  fact  can  be  definitely  determined.  The  pros- 
pectus of  the  paper  is  dated  April  3,  1856,  and  is  signed  by  J.  L.  Grubb,  W.  M. 
Clark  and  B.  G.  Neal.  styling  themselves  "committee  of  publication."  .Many  in- 
teresting items  in  regard  to  the  Columbus  City  of  that  day  and  its  hopes  and 
prospects  are  to  be  found  in  this  first  issue.  The  first  article  in  the  editorial  part 
of  the  paper  is  entitled  "Salutation,"  and  we  make  the  following  extracts  from  it : 

"In  order  to  keep  pace  with  our  flourishing  village  and  surrounding  country, 
a  company  of  gentlemen  in  this  town  formed  themselves  into  an  organized  body 
for  the  purpose  of  procuring  the  material  necessary  for  publishing  a  respectable 
paper  in  this  place — which  object  being  accomplished,  with  pride  we  lay  before 
you  today  the  first  number.  .  .  .  Railroads  are  approaching  us  from  all  im- 
portant directions,  and  commercially  our  village  will  soon  be  connected  with  the 
great  center  of  circulation — so  that  there  is  no  more  danger  that  Columbus  City 
will  become  isolated  and  fall  into  decay.  The  gassing  for  a  fine  seminary  has 
all  been  completed  and  the  more  substantial  part  put  in  a  fair  way  of  accomplish- 
ing the  work.  Our  prairies  are  fast  filling  up  with  intelligent  and  enterprising 
men  who  think  more  of  good  houses  and  large  fields  than  of  dieir  dogs  and  guns. 
So  the  idea  of  having  a  Newspaper  in  Columbus  City  cannot  be  considered  pre- 
mature, but  at  the  same  time  it  is  hoped  that  all  good  citizens  will  come 
up  promptly  to  the  support  of  their  own  paper.     .     .     ." 

This  e  litorial  is  followed  by  another  which  is  so  full  of  interesting  information 
in  regard  to  the  town  and  its  prospects  at  that  time  that  we  copy  substantially 
the  entire  article.     It  is  as  follows: 

"Columbus  City  is  situated  on  an  elevated  tract  of  land  about  midway  between 
the  Iowa  River  and  Long  Creek.  It  forms  the  center  of  an  area  of  country 
which  for  beauty  of  landscape  scenery,  fertility  of  soil  and  healthfulness  of  situ- 
ation, is  rarely  equaled.  It  is  on  the  main  travelled  road  leading  from  Muscatine 
west  through  the  counties  of  Washington,  Keokuk,  Mahaska,  Marion  and  so  on 
to  Council  Bluffs.  It  is  some  twenty  miles  from  Muscatine  and  about  the  same 
distance  from  Washington.  It  is  also  on  the  main  road  from  Burlington  to  Iowa 
City,  and  nearlv  equi-distant  from  each  of  those  cities.  It  is  convenient  to  large 
bodies  of  timber  and  to  quarries  of  rock.  Beds  of  coal  have  been  found  in  the 
neighborhood.  Dating  the  period  of  its  growth  about  two  years  back,  it  contains 
now  a  population  of  near  500  inhabitants,  and  is  rapidly  growing.  Besides  being 
the  central  point  of  important  roads  from  nearly  every  point  of  the  compass,  we 
possess  the  advantage  of  being  on  the  line  of  the  Keokuk.  Mt.  Pleasant  and  Mus- 
catine railroad — one  of  the  most  important  roads  we  think  in  the  western  coun- 
try. In  [une  of  last  year  a  company  was  organized  at  Mt.  Pleasant  with  a  capital 
stock  of  two  million  dollars  for  the  construction  of  this  road.  With  less  ex- 
penditure of  noise  and  gas  than  any  other  company  we  know  of,  it  has,  we  venture 
to  say,  made  as  much  substantial  progress  as  any  other.  Its  able  and  efficient 
president.  Col.  Dewey,  in  a  communication  to  the  public,  under  date  of  October 
31,  1855.  speaking  of  the  formation  of  the  company  and  the  prospects  of  the 
road  says : 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  333 

"  "This  road  extends  from  the  City  of  Keokuk,  by  way  of  Mt.  Pleasant  and 
Columbus  City,  to  Muscatine,  and  thence  connects  by  means  of  the  Junction, 
and  Davenport  and  Iowa  City  road,  with  the  railroad  bridge  across  the  Missis- 
sippi river,  at  Rock  Island.  'With  these  connections  it  traverses  the  counties  of 
Lee,  Henry,  Louisa,  Muscatine  and  Scott,  five  of  the  most  productive  and  wealthy 
counties  in  the  State  of  Iowa.  It  crosses  and  connects,  directly  and  indirectly, 
with  six  railroads  located  across  the  State  from  East  to  West,  and  is  intended 
to  connect  the  permanently  navigable  waters  of  the  Mississippi  below  the  Des 
Moines  rapids,  with  the  river  above  the  Rock  Island  obstructions.  The  construc- 
tion is  therefore  an  enterprise  of  great  importance  to  the  people  of  the  entire 
State,  and  to  all  others  who  are  interested  in  the  trade,  present  and  prospective 
of  the  upper  Mississippi.  It  is  also  regarded  as  a  link  of  that  chain  of  roads 
which  must  soon  connect  St.  Paul  in  Minnesota,  with  the  Mexican  Gulf.' 

"From  Davenport  to  Muscatine  the  road  is  finished  and  in  operation.  The 
section  of  the  road  from  Muscatine  to  the  Iowa  river  will  be  completed  in  Octo- 
ber next.  This  will  bring  the  road  within  some  three  miles  of  our  town.  But 
it  stops  not  there.  Mr.  Taylor,  of  Wisconsin,  an  enterprising  and  experienced 
railroad  contractor,  is  understood  to  have  the  contract  for  building  the  bridge 
over  the  Iowa  and  for  grading  the  road  on  this  side  of  the  river.  He  is  on  the 
ground  making  preparations  for  a  vigorous  prosecution  of  the  work.  A  pre- 
liminary survey  of  the  road  from  this  point  to  Keokuk  shows  the  distance  to  be 
about  seventy  miles.  The  estimates  of  the  engineer  gives  the  cost  of  clearing, 
grubbing,  grading,  bridging  and  masonry  of  the  entire  line  to  be  $529,363  for  a 
first  class  road.  Of  public  subscription  the  city  of  Keokuk  has  taken  $100,000, 
the  county  of  Henry  and  the  town  of  Mt.  Pleasant  $150,000,  and  the  county  of 
Louisa,  $50,000.  Xot  to  mention  other  subscriptions  along  the  line  of  the  road, 
we  are  informed  that  the  private  subscriptions  in  Keokuk,  Montrose  and  St. 
Louis  amount  to  $100,000.  From  Keokuk  north,  the  work  is  progressing  with 
vigor.  Judge  Nash,  the  secretary  of  the  company,  under  date  of  February  19, 
1856,  writes:  'We  hope  to  have  the  road  ready  for  freight  and  passengers  in 
June,  as  far  as  Montrose.  The  engines,  cars,  spikes,  etc.  have  already  been 
purchased.  The  grading  and  masonry  can  be  completed  in  six  weeks  after  the 
spring  opens.  The  ties  are  being  delivered  and  all  the  means  are  now  secured 
to  complete  this  division  without  encumbering  that  or  any  other  part  of  the  road.' 

"This  county  we  have  said  has  authorized  a  subscription  of  $50,000  to  the 
capital  stock  of  this  road.  This  is  well  as  far  as  it  goes,  and  shows  the  preva- 
lence of  the  right  spirit  among  our  people.  Our  efforts  must  not  cease  here. 
Much  more  is  expected  of  us.  The  company  will  draw  upon  us  for  a  private 
subscription  of  at  least  $25,000." 

This  issue  also  contains  the  following  business  directory : 

COLUMBUS  CITY. 

Hotels 

Cottage  House,  corner  of  Columbus  and  Washington ;  Columbus  House, 
corner  of  Columbus  and  Jefferson. 


334  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

Physicians. 

John  Cleaves.  West  Side  Market  street:  J.  M  &  W.  S.  Robertson,  southwest 
corner  of  town:  Clark  &  Colton.  south  door  Union  building:  B.  G.  Neal,  west 
side  of  Market  street ;  Thomas  Burns,  Iowa  street,  north  side. 

Druggists. 

Clark  &  Colton,  south  door  Union  building. 

Merchants. 

Harrison  &  Barratt.  corner  store  Union  building:  Grubb  &  Allen,  corner  of 
Main  and  Columbus  streets  :  X.  G.  Fitch,  east  side  of  Market  street ;  W.  P.  Miller, 
southeast  corner  of  Main  and  Columbus  street ;  W.  D.  Moore,  north  side  of 
Columbus  street. 

Iro,n>,  Stoves  &  Furniture. 

Garner  &  Reiner,  corner  of  Columbus  and  Spring  streets. 

Groceries  &  Prozrisions. 

H.  Y.  T.  Huls,  west  side  of  Market  street;  Geo.  T.  Burroughs,  east  side 
Market  street;  J.  O.  Buffington  &  Co.,  corner  of  Columbus  opposite  Cottage 
House;  Gamble  &  Wren,  northeast  corner  Columbus  and  Main;  I.  M.  Myler, 
Mechanics'  Row. 

Carpenters  &  House  Joiners. 

Warn  &  Kelley,  corner  of  Columbus  and  Washington ;  John  Gentzler,  west 
side  of  Market  street ;  M.  M.  Carson,  corner  of  Main  and  Burlington  streets ; 
John  Orr.  west  side  Main  street ;  Milton  Richey,  northwest  corner  of  town. 

Tailors. 
P.  Rasley,  Mechanics'  Row;  J.  B.  Freed,  Mechanics'  Row. 

Shoemakers. 
Jacob  Knott,  east  side  Market  street :  Charles  Johnson,  Mechanics'  Row. 

Wagon  Makers. 

Darrow  &  Calhoun,  south  side  Columbus  street. 

Blacksmiths. 

Jacob  Getts,  south  side  Columbus  street ;  Shaum  &  Klotz,  between  Main  and 
Market ;  R.  Stewart,  west  side  Main  street. 

.  luctioneer. 

W.  W.   Paschal.  Mechanics'  Row." 

Joseph  Manners,  whose  name  is  not  in  the  directory,  advertises  that  he  will 
commence  the  boot  and  shoe  business  in  the  south  room  of  Esquire  Denham's 
residence  on  the  15th  of  April. 

In  regard  to  the  improvements  that  were  in   contemplation  at  this  time,  we 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  335 

cannot  do  better  than  to  quote  the  following  article,  also  found  in  the  same  paper : 

"On  every  hand  we  hear  the  busy  notes  of  preparation  for  building,  the 
coming  season.  Col.  W.  W.  Garner  will  lead  the  way,  as  he  has  the  material 
all  on  the  ground  for  the  erection  of  his  new  family  residence.  The  seminary 
trustees  are  also  collecting  the  material  for  the  seminary  building  and  there  is 
no  doubt  but  that  the  work  will  be  put  under  contract  in  a  short  time  and  the 
building  completed  the  present  season.  It  is  also  in  contemplation  to  build  a  new- 
district  schoolhouse,  the  old  one  being  unfit  for  further  use.  We  earnestly  hope 
that  the  citizens  will  vote  a  liberal  tax  for  that  purpose,  that  such  a  house  will 
be  built  as  will  be  an  honor  to  the  town  and  meet  the  wants  of  a  rapidly  increas- 
ing population.  The  Methodist  church  has  also  raised  funds  to  build  a  house 
of  worship,  thirty-five  feet  wide  by  fifty  feet  in  length.  The  house  will  be  put 
under  contract  immediately  and  completed  the  present  summer.  Many  of  our 
citizens  are  making  preparations  to  build  family  residences  and  numerous  con- 
tracts are  already  let,  so  that  we  think  we  speak  within  the  bounds  of  reason  when 
we  say  that  Columbus  City  will  double  its  population  within  the  next  twelve, 
months.  Why  not?  It  is  admitted  on  all  hands  that  the  country  surrounding  it 
is  far  in  advance  of  the  town,  and  a  more  fertile,  beautiful  and  well  cultivated 
country  cannot  be  found  in  Iowa,  and  that  is  as  much  as  need  be  said  of  any 
country.  Add  to  this  its  beautiful  location,  its  unrivalled  healthfulness  and  the 
certainty  that  one  of  the  best  railroads  in  the  state  will  pass  through  it,  and 
another  near  enough  for  all  practical  purposes  and  then  say  if  we  have  over- 
stated the  bounds  of  probability  or  why  Columbus  City  should  not  take  rank 
with  the  best  inland  towns  in  Iowa." 

X umber  2  of  this  paper  was  published  according  to  its  date  on  May  22,  1856. 
Among  the  advertisements  we  notice  nearly  a  cqdumn  given  to  Levi  J.  North's 
National  Circus,  advertised  as  "the  largest  company  in  the  world,"  and  to  exhibit 
at  Columbus  City  on  Friday.  June  6th. 

The  Wapello  ferry,  Charles  Yanloon  proprietor,  also  has  an  advertisement ; 
and  there  is  an  advertisement  of  a  steam  ferry  at  Keithsburg,  S.  H.  Redmond, 
proprietor.  There  is  an  advertisement  of.  D.  A.  Chapman  &  Company  of  the 
Fredonia  ferry,  stating  that  they  have  a  new  boat. 

It  would  seem  from  the  following  advertisement  that  in  those  good  old  days 
the  cook  was  expected  to  work  in  the  kitchen :  "Wanted — A  good  cook.  None 
need  apply  that  is  too  nice  to  work  in  the  kitchen.     I.  Myler." 

We  also  notice  in  t  lis  paper  Jesse  Phillips'  advertisement  as  a  cooper:  E.  M. 
Ashford's  advertisement  as  a  brick  and  stone  mason ;  and  T.  Z.  &  D.  M.  Stark, 
as  carpenters. 

Number  4  of  this  paper  was  published  June  5,  1856.  and  it  contains  the  salu- 
tatory of  Andrew  Gamble,  as  editor.  This  salutatory  is  such  an  able  and  patriotic 
document  and  so  characteristic  of  the  honest  and  fearless  old  pioneers  who  wrote 
it  that  we  copy  it  in  full : 

"Patrons  of  the  Courier :  The  partiality  of  the  Executive  Committee  who 
have  charge  of  your  paper,  have  selected  me  for  its  Editor.  It  is  a  new  and 
untried  field,  in  which  I  never  have  labored  and  I  enter  upon  the  discharge  of 
my  duties  with  the  greatest  reluctance.     I  shall  not,  therefore,  make  many  pledges 


336  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

or  promises  as  to  the  manner  in  which  your  paper  shall  be  conducted;  hut  simply 
say  that  I  will  give  it  the  best  attention  I  can,  consistent  with  my  other  duties. 
The  paper,  as  the  prospectus  indicates,  will  be  "Independent  on  all  subjects — 
Neutral  in  Nothing;'  consequently,  whilst  I  express  my  own  opinions  of  prin- 
ciples of  measures  and  of  men,  the  columns  of  the  paper  will  be  always  open, 
to  a  reasonable  extent,  to  every  person,  who  may  either  feel  aggrieved  or  wish 
to  be  heard  on  any  question  or  subject,  interesting  to  the  readers  of  the  paper. 
The  local  news  of  our  town,  county  and  state,  will  always  be  first  considered  and 
constitute  a  prominent  feature  in  the  Courier.  In  regard  to  politics  I  deem  it 
almost  unnecessary  to  speak.  Old  party  lines  are  lost  and  blotted  out,  and  the 
great  question  now  is,  shall  freedom  or  slavery  be  dominant,  in  the  United 
States.  On  such  an  issue  I  have  no  hesitancy  in  ranking  myself  on  the  side  of 
Freedom.  From  my  earliest  youth  up,  I  have  been,  from  principle,  a  Democrat, 
and  uniformly  voted  the  Democratic  ticket.  ■  Many  of  you  have  been  acquainted 
with  me  for  the  last  nine  years,  and  you  will  know  I  shrunk  from  no  issue,  pre- 
sented by  the  partv  to  which  I  belonged,  but  ever  esteemed  it  no  less  a  duty 
than  a  pleasure,  to  face  the  music,  by  whomsoever  played,  and  advocate  the 
principles  of  my  party,  as  laid  down  by  Jefferson  and  carried  out  in  practice  by 
Madison,  Monroe  and  Jackson.  But  the  great  principles  that  were  the  guiding 
stars  of  those  good  men  have  been  lost  sight  of,  and  ambitious  and  incompetent 
men  are  fast  hurrying  us  on  to  destruction.  Already  the  fires  of  civil  discord 
are  lighted  up,  and  the  children  of  the  Republic  are  imbruing  their  hands  in  each 
others  blood,  a  dark  cloud  has  gathered  and  burst  on  our  western  frontier,  a 
noble  town  has  been  sacked  and  pillaged,  and  defenseless  women  and  children 
are  now  wandering  houseless  and  homeless,  on  the  banks  of  the  Kansas.  The 
government  at  Washington  stretches  forth  no  restraining  hand,  but  her  soldiers 
are  compelled  to  be  silent  spectators,  whilst  the  mob  disarms  the  citizen  and  then 
butchers  him.  Such  are  a  few  of  the  reasons,  dear  reader,  why  I  decline  to  act 
with  what  is  termed  the  Democratic  party  at  this  time.  But  as  I  have  said  before, 
1  have  ever  been  a  democrat  and  I  cling  with  all  the  tenacity  of  life  to  the  old 
landmarks  of  the  bygone  days.  But  names  have  lost  all  their  terrors  for  me, 
and  it  matters  not  what  I  may  be  called,  I  shall  be  ever  ready  to  act  with  that 
party  that  strikes  for  Freedom  and  the  right.  Through  the  columns  of  the 
Courier,  I  expect  to  enunciate  my  principles  to  the  public,  for  which  I  alone  will 
be  responsible,  and  which  I  ask  no  one  to  adopt  unless  they  agree  with  their  own 
convictions  of  right  and  duty." 

We  copy  the  following  item  from  this  same  issue  in  regard  to  the  seminary: 

"What  has  become  of  our  Seminary?  We  hear  no  more  about  it.  Was  it 
all  fuss  and  feathers,  or  are  you  waiting  for  a  'good  ready?'  We  wo'd  like  to 
hear  from  somebody  who  knows,  for  it  is  a  subject  in  which  we  are  all  interested. 
We  understand  that  Messrs.  Springer  and  Burt  have  offered  to  donate  ten  acres 
of  ground  north  of  town,  than  which  no  better  or  more  beautiful  location  can  be 
found  in  our  vicinity.  Friends,  you  cannot  have  too  many  schools,  they  cannot  be 
too  good,  they  will  in  the  end  pay  you  better  than  Congress  lands  or  Corner  lots 
in  town.  Come  up  to  the  work  manfully  then,  you  are  abundantly  able  to  give 
vour  children  a  liberal  education,  and  when  you  are  dead  and  gone  they  will  'Rise 
up  and  call  you  Blessed.'  " 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  337 

Following  are  the  Columbus  City  market  quotations  for  June  5,  1856: 

"Flour  per    100  lbs $3.50  to  $3.75 

Wheat,  spring  per  bushel 60  to  75 

Wheat,    winter    75  to  $1.00 

Corn,  per  bushel    18  to  20 

Oats  per  bushel 18  to  20 

Potatoes  per  bushel 50 

Hams  per  lb 8  to  10 

Sides   per    lb 7  to  9 

Shoulders  per  lb 6  to  8 

Butter  per  lb i^Vi 

Eggs,  per  dozen    634" 

This  issue  contains  the  advertisement  of  J.  L.  Paschal,  attorney  and  counselor 
at  law.  located  at  Columbus  City. 

The  fifth  number  of  this  paper  was  published  June  12th.  One  interesting 
item  in  it  states  that  X.  W.  Burris  had  recently  sold  to  Messrs.  Craig  &  Bentley. 
brokers  of  Mt.  Pleasant,  five  hundred  lots  at  Burris  City  at  an  average  of  $70  per 
lot,  an  aggregate  of  $35,000.  It  is  stated  that  "Messrs.  Craig  and  Bentley  intend 
to  put  up  a  large  business  house  and  otherwise  improve  their  property." 

This  paper  also  has  the  advertisement  of  I.  H.  Griffin,  house  and  sign  painter. 

Number  6,  published  June  19th,  referring  to  "Our  Railroad,"  states  that  the 
piling  across  the  Iowa  river  bottom  was  being  put  in  and  that  the  contractors 
were  getting  out  timber  for  the  trestle  work  and  that  it  was  likely  there  would 
soon  be  a  railroad  on  both  sides  of  the  Iowa  river  whether  there  was  a  bridge  or 
not.  It  was  also  stated  that  if  stone  could  not  be  obtained  with  which  to  build  the 
piers  for  the  bridge,  timber  would  be  substituted  and  the  work  be  carried  forward 
with  energy. 

We  find  in  this  paper  the  advertisement  of  George  Darrow,  advertising  the 
sale  of  about  five  hundred  and  fifty  acres  of  timber  and  prairie  land  with  a  good 
steam  sawmill  and  also  two  houses  and  lots  in  Columbus  City.  The  advertise- 
ment concludes:  "For  further  particulars  inquire  of  William  Darrow  at  the  drug 
store,  or  of  the  undersigned  at  his  sawmill  twelve  miles  north  of  town." 

John  L.  Merrill  advertises  the  finding  of  a  six-shooter  on  the  road  between 
Fredonia  and  Muscatine  and  states  that  the  owner  could  have  it  by  proving  prop- 
erty and  paying  charges. 

The  publication  committee  beginning  with  the  second  issue  was  J.  L.  Grubb,  W. 
M.  Clark  and  G.  D.  Harrison.  We  have  been  unable  to  find  any  copies  of  this 
paper  later  than  Xo.  6  and  it  may  be  that  this  was  the  last  issue  printed.  The 
press  and  material  of  the  Courier  was  afterward  moved  to  Burris  City. 

Columbus  City  was  incorporated  as  a  town  in  1871,  but  steps  were  taken 
looking  to  that  end  as  early  as  June,  1857,  as  will  appear  by  the  following  peti- 
tion found  among  the  files  of  the  county  judge's  office : 

"To  the  County  Court  of  Louisa  County.  Iowa : 

"Your  Petitioners,  Citizens  of  the  village  of  Columbus  City  in  Louisa  County, 
Iowa,  desire  to  become  incorporated  as  a  town,  including  the  limits  of  the  original 
plat  of  said  village  with  such  additions  as  may  hereafter  be  made  to  it  and  respect- 

Vol.  1—22 


338  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

fully  ask  you  to  submit  the  same  to  a  vote  of  the  citizens.  Your  petitioners 
would  also  represent  that  upon  an  enumeration  of  the  citizens  of  said  village  there 
are  six  hundred  permanent  residents. 

"Columbus  City,  Iowa,  June  2,  1857. 

"Petitioners  Names:  W.  A.  Colton,  Joseph  L.  Paschal.  James  S.  Murphy.  W. 
M.  Clark.  Jas.  E.  Xisbet.  Wm.  W.  Paschal.  Wm.  H.  Shaw,  Peter  Merrill.  Jr., 
Henry  Hobin.  A.  Gamble,  Jno.  Gardner,  J.  F.  Titus,  D.  P.  Matthews,  H.  L.  Den- 
ham,  Wesley  W.  Garner,  W.  G.  Allen,  M.  Barratt,  Jno.  C.  Murphy,  T.  Z.  Stark, 
T.  W.  Widdecombe,  G.  D.  Harrison,  W.  S.  Robertson,  John  D.  Dugdale.  John  H. 
Titus,  John  Cleaves,  George  T.  Burroughs,  John  Orr,  Patrick  Dennis,  Enos 
Grovel  John  C.  Bell,  T.  Stronach,  W.  P.  Hartman.  John  B.  Freed.  Jacob  Hilde- 
brand,  G.  A.  Elsworth,  Jesse  Philips.  M  .M.  Carson,  John  Hulick.  E.  W.  Elsworth, 
Isaac  N.  Paschal,  John  R.  Nelson,  John  Walt,  John  Deitrich.  J.  W.  Nicholson, 
J.  H.  Mumper,  H.  Will.  Wm.  Arning,  H.  S.  Denham,  John  C.  Smith.  Thos.  Mat- 
thews. Thos.  Anderson." 

This  petition  was  presented  to  the  county  judge  on  June  15,  1857,  and  it 
was  ordered  that  the  question  of  incorporation  be  submitted  to  the  people  of  the 
village  of  Columbus  City  on  Saturday.  June  27,  1857.  ami  that  Joseph  Paschal, 
Tohn  Orr  and  John  Gardner  be  appointed  judges  and  J.  Fitch  Titus  and  James  E. 
Nesbit,  clerks. 

The  county  court  record  for  Monday.  July  6,  1857,  shows  that  returns  from  this 
election  had  been  received  and  that  a  majority  of  the  votes  cast  were  in  favor  of 
incorporation  and  the  election  was  ordered  to  be  held  on  Saturday.  July  18.  1857, 
to  choose  three  persons  to  prepare  a  charter  for  such  village,  and  John  Gardner, 
W.  G.  Allen  and  Joseph  L.  Paschal  were  made  judges  and  J.  Fitch  Titus  and  Dr. 
W.  M.  Clark,  clerks. 

The  returns  of  the  election  of  July  18th  show  that  Samuel  Reiner,  W.  A.  Col- 
ton and  Andrew  Gamble  were  elected  to  draft  a  charter  for  the  incorporation  of 
Columbus  City.  However,  nothing  further  seems  to  have  been  done  until  1871, 
at  which  time  Andrew  Gamble,  I.  Myler,  Abram  Fulton.  George  D.  Harrison 
and  H.  P.  May  were  appointed  commissioners  to  call  an  election.  The  first  officers 
elected  were:  Mayor,  Abram  Fulton:  recorder.  W.  W.  Garner:  members  of  the 
council,  H.  P.  May,  G.  L.  Thomas.  I.  M.  Smith.  1.  Myler  and  David  Morgan. 
The  present  officers  of  Columbus  City  are  as  follows:  C.  N.  Johnston,  mayor; 
J.  W.  Garner,  clerk;  Frank  Colton,  treasurer;  F.  M.  Molsberry,  S.  J.  Lewis.  J.  C. 
Richie,  F.  L.  Snyder,  W.  T.  Cutkomp,  councilmen. 

One  of  the  noted  organizations  of  Columbus  City  and  one  which  did  much  to 
advertise  the  town  for  a  time  was  the  Union  Guards,  a  military  company  or- 
ganized August  3,  1857.  Colonel  W.  W.  Garner  was  chiefly  instrumental  in  the 
organization  of  this  company  and  was  its  first  captain.  It  was  one  of  the  best 
equipped  and  best  drilled  companies  in  Iowa.  It  gave  exhibition  drills  at  the 
state  fair  at  Muscatine  in  1858,  at  Washington  at  the  celebration  of  the  entry  of 
the  Mississippi  &  Missouri  railroad;  at  Ottumwa  in  1859,  at  the  opening  of  the 
C.  B.  &  Q.  railroad,  and  at  the  state  fair  at  Iowa  City  in  i860,  meeting  other  com- 
panies at  the  different  places. 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  339 

Following  is  a  roster  of  the  officers  and  privates  of  this  company  which  we 
take  from  a  card  said  to  have  been  printed  and  used  in  i860.  There  were  quite 
a  number  of  others  who  were  members  of  the  company  before,  and  a  few  who 
were  members  after  the  time  this  card  was  made,  whose  names  do  not  appear 
upon  it.  It  is  an  interesting  fact  that  thirty  of  the  members  of  this  company 
enlisted  in  the  Union  army  and  two  in  the  Confederate  army  and  that  twenty  of 
them  became  commissioned  officers : 

Captain,  Wesley  W.  Garner ;  first  lieutenant.  Dr.  Wm.  S.  Robertson ;  second 
lieutenant,  Geo.  W.  Limbocker ;  third  lieutenant,  John  L.  Grubb;  first  sergeant, 
John  Walt;  second  sergeant,  Hugh  L.  Denham ;  third  sergeant,  Matthias  Shirks; 
fourth  sergeant,  Philip  Rasely;  first  corporal,  Obed  E.  Denham;  second  corporal, 
J.  M.  Edwards;  third  corporal,  T.  W.  Boice ;  fourth  corporal,  Andr.  E.  Gibbons. 
Privates— Dr.  M.  O.  Kulp,  John  Smith.  John  J.  Wilie,  Abraham  Barringer, 
Wright  Williams,  James  A.  Fares,  James  R.  Wilson.  A.  S.  Limbocker,  Franklin 
C.  Manly,  Jacob  Luckey,  James  Manly,  Leonidas  Mitchel,  Dr.  B.  G.  Neal,  James 
J.  Billick,  Charles  Johnston,  Taylor  Jeffries,  Wm.  E.  Limbocker,  Wm.  B.  Gib- 
bons, John  H.  Acheson,  O.  P.  Wallace,  M.  Y.  Wallace,  John  Winkleman,  Jere- 
miah Limbocker.  John  Albaugh.  Jos.  L.  Paschal,  Geo.  D.  Harrison,  Andrew  O. 
Easton,  J.  S.  Limbocker,  Albert  Calhoun,  J.  Whitfield  Garner,  John  P.  Getts, 
Edwin  S.  Reiner,  Samuel  H.  Manifold,  Charles  S.  Phillips.  Tohn  F.  Reiner,  S. 
B.  Getts. 

Musicians — George  Darrow,  Dan'l  Homer  Darrow,  Walter  F.  Hall,  Wm.  W. 
Paschal,  Adam  Stebling,  Andrew  Stebling,  Milton  Darrow,  Alfred  Compton. 

Hugh  L.  Denham,  secretary;  John  J.  Wilie,  treasurer;  William  O.  Kulp,  presi- 
dent. 

When  the  company  went  to  Ottumwa  at  the  opening  of  the  C.  B.  &  Q.  rail- 
road it  met  three  companies  from  Burlington  and  one  from  Mt.  Pleasant,  and 
all  were  commanded  by  Major  J.  G.  Lauman.  afterward  a  noted  general  and  the 
hero  of  Altoona. 

The  building  of  the  Mississippi  &  Missouri  railroad,  (now  the  Rock  Island), 
from  Davenport  and  Muscatine  to  Washington  was  at  first  of  considerable  advan- 
tage to  Columbus  City,  even  though  the  road  did  not  hit  the  town.  The  nearest 
stations  were  first,  Sand  Bank  (now  Columbus  Junction)  and  then  Clifton,  but 
for  many  years  Columbus  City  was  considered  the  town  of  that  vicinitv.  Indeed, 
the  railroad  maps  of  that  day  show  Columbus  City  as  a  station  on  the  Mississippi 
&  Missouri  railroad. 

Columbus  City  township  at  the  time  of  the  advent  of  the  railroad  and  for 
some  time  after  that  was  in  many  ways  the  leading  township  of  the  county.  The 
census  taken  by  the  state  in  1856  shows  that  Columbus  City  had  more  farmers, 
more  laborers  and  more  brick  layers  and  more  sawyers  than  any  other  township 
in  the  county,  although  Wapello  township  surpassed  it  in  the  number  of  black- 
smiths, carpenters  and  mechanics  in  a  few  other  trades.  In  consequence  of  its 
growing  importance  Columbus  City  people  became  ambitious  that  it  should  be 
the  county  seat  and  on  Monday,  September  1,  1858,  presented  to  the  county  court 
a  petition  signed  by  a  majority  of  the  local  voters  of  the  county  asking  that  the 
question  of  a  relocation  of  the  county  seat  at  Columbus  City  be  submitted  to  the 
local  voters  of  the  county  to  be  voted  upon  at  the  coming  October  election. 


340  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

Joseph  L.  Derbin  was  at  that  time  county  judge  and  he  ordered  an  election 
on  the  county  seat  question  to  be  held  in  accordance  with  the  petition  and  issued 
a  proclamation  to  that  effect  on  September  13,  1858.  At  the  same  time  the 
friends  of  Columbus  City  filed  with  the  county  judge  the  following  bond : 

"Know  all  men  that  we,  James  M.  Robertson  &  Son,  W.  W.  Garner,  Harrison 
&  Barrett,  James  G.  Hall,  Wm.  M.  Clark,  Samuel  Reiner,  John  Gardner,  Jacob 
Wren,  Alfred  Limbocker,  Hamilton  Johnson,  Benj.  Stoddard,  F.  H.  Johnson,  I. 
Myler,  Wm.  A.  Duncan,  C.  Johnson,  M.  Shaum,  Peter  Merrill,  Jacob  Getts, 
Peter  Fullwiler.  J.  S.  Douglas.  W.  G.  Allen,  John  M.  McConnell,  John  F.  Reiner, 
Wyley  &  Farris,  John  Cleves  and  H.  S.  Denham,  are  held  and  firmly  bound  unto 
the  county  of  Louisa  in  the  State  of  Iowa,  in  the  penal  sum  of  Twenty  Thousand 
Dollars,  to  the  payment  of  which  we  bind  ourselves,  our  heirs  and  our  admin- 
istrators firmly  by  these  presents.  Dated  this  eleventh  day  of  September,  A.  D., 
1858. 

"Whereas,  the  undersigned  have  signed  a  petition  addressed  to  the  county 
court  of  said  Louisa  county,  asking  the  question  of  a  relocation  of  the  county  seat 
of  Louisa  county  aforesaid  to  Columbus  City,  be  submitted  to  the  voters  of  said 
county  at  the  October  election  next,  for  their  approval  or  rejection,  and  whereas, 
the  said  county  has  been  to  great  expense  in  building  a  new  court  house  at  Wa- 
pello— the  present  county  seat  of  the  said  county,  and  the  people  of  Columbus 
City  are  willing  to  assume  the  whole  cost  and  burden  of  constructing  a  Court 
House  equal  in  all  respects  to  that  now  built  at  Wapello,  should  the  county  seat 
be  relocated  at  Columbus  City. 

"Now  the  condition  of  this  bond  is  such  that  if  a  Court  House,  equal  in  di- 
mensions, workmanship  and  finish,  and  possessing  all  the  requisite  offices  and 
rooms  for  county  offices,  court  hall,  and  jury  rooms,  shall  be  erected  at  Columbus 
City,  ( in  the  event  of  the  people  voting  a  re-location  of  the  county  seat  at  the 
election  aforesaid,  without  cost,  charge  or  burden  to  the  county  aforesaid,)  and 
until  said  Court  House  is  built,  and  ready  for  occupancy,  will  furnish  the  neces- 
sary county  offices  and  court  room  free  of  all  expense  to  the  county  aforesaid, 
and  have  a  new  Court  House  ready  for  occupancy  or  before  the  first  day  of 
April,  A.  D.  1861,  and  make  a  good  and  sufficient  deed  to  said  county  of  Louisa 
for  the  Court  House  square  and  the  buildings  thereon — then  this  bond  to  be  void, 
otherwise  in  force. 

J.  M.  Robertson  &  Son,  Sam.  Reiner,  H.  S.  Denham,  James  G. 
Hall.  W.  AT.  Clark,  Alfred  Limbocker,  Peter  Merrill,  W. 
A.  Duncan,  Hamiilton  Johnson,  Jacob  Wren,  John  F. 
Reiner,  Cornelius  Johnson,  Italion  Myler,  Peter  Full- 
wiler, Martin  Shaum,  Harbison  &  Barrett,  Wylie  &  Far- 
ris, John  Gardner,  W.  G.  Allen,  J.  S.  Douclass,  John  Cleves, 
Wesley  W.  Garner,  Jacob  Getts,  J.  N.  McConnell,  Benj. 
Stoddard,  F.  H.  Johnston. 

"I  do  hereby  certify  that  the  above  is  a  true  copy  of  a  bond  on  file  in  the 
county  Judge's  office  for  the  purpose  therein  specified.     In  testimony  whereof  I 
have  set  my  name  and  affi'xed  the  seal  of  the  county  court  of  Louisa  county  at 
Wapello,  the  13th  day  of  September,  1858. 
(L.  S.)  ,  Jos.  L.  Derbin, 

County  Judge." 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  841 

The  county  seat  campaign  which  followed  was  a  red  hot  one  in  every  respect 
and  little  was  left  undone  by  either  the  friends  of  Columbus  City  or  Wapello  to 
insure  a  favorable  result.  Objection  was  made  on  the  part  of  those  who  were 
opposed  to  a  removal  of  the  county  seat  that  the  bond  given  on  the  removal  to 
Columbus  City  was  void  and  could  not  be  enforced  by  the  county  in  case  it  be- 
came desirable  to  do  so  and  they  had  the  opinions  of  Governor  James  W.  Grimes, 
Judge  David  Rorer  and  Judge  T.  W.  Newman  to  support  their  objections. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  friends  of  Columbus  City  had  the  favorable  opinion 
of  Judge  J.  C.  Hall,  of  Burlington,  and  of  D.  C.  Cloud,  of  Muscatine,  and  per- 
haps others.  The  vote  resulted  in  favor  of  Wapello  by  105  majority,  and  the 
following  is  the  vote  by  townships : 

For  Wapello  For  Columbus  City 

Columbus  City 3  417 

Concord     3  93 

Eliot    t,2  o 

Elm  Grove  2  91 

Grandview    200  39 

Jefferson   7$  36 

Marshall    67  52 

Morning  Sun 131  36 

Oakland    o  Si 

Port  Louisa   123  1 

Union    o  75 

Wapello     417  25 


1. 05 1  946 

Another  paper  published  at  Columbus  City  was  the  Enterprise  published  by 
James  M.  Edwards.  No.  1,  Vol.  1  is  dated  February  26,  1859.  Mr.  Edwards 
stated  that  he  intended  to  publish  a  republican  paper  but  that  the  politics  of  the 
paper  would  be  a  secondary  matter.  In  asking  for  the  support  of  the  community, 
Mr.  Edwards  says:  "In  conclusion  we  will  say  that  we  intend  to  publish  the 
Enterprise  one  year — if  we  live  that  long — if  we  do  not  add  another  subscriber 
to  our  list ;  unless,  indeed,  we  should  make  a  fortune  at  the  business  in  less  time, 
in  which  case  we  will  donate  the  office  to  the  New  York  Museum  and  become  a 
candidate  for  congress."  However,  we  have  only  been  able  to  find  thirty  num- 
bers of  this  paper  printed,  the  last  number  being  dated  October  8,  1859,  it  being 
stated  in  that  issue  that  owing  to  ill  health  the  publication  would  have  to  be  sus- 
pended. This  was  an  exceptionally  good  newspaper  for  that  day  and  contained 
many  able  editorial  articles  and  occasionally,  considerable  local  news. 

In  Number  2  of  this  paper,  published  March  5th,  is  the  following  item  con- 
cerning Columbus  City:  "For  the  benefit  of  strangers  we  give  an  inventory  of 
Columbus  City.  We  have  two  dry-goods  stores,  two  large  drug  stores,  two  groc- 
eries, one  hardware  and  stove  store,  five  shoemakers,  three  blacksmiths,  two 
wagon  makers,  two  cabinet  makers,  three  tailors,  seven  physicians,  two  lawyers, 
two  hotels,  one  printing  office,  five  church  organizations,  an  excellent  school  and 
800  inhabitants.     (The  official  report  at  that  time  gave  but  622  inhabitants').     It 


342  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

also  contains  more  pretty  women,  saucy  boys  and  handsome  babies  than  any 
other  town  of  its  size  in  the  state." 

The  Columbus  City  market  as  given  for  March  5,  1859,  is  as  follows: 

"Wheat,  old,  80c  to  $1.00;  wheat,  new,  50c  to  75c;  corn,  35c  to  40c;  oats,  45c 
to  50c;  flour,  $2.75  to  $3.00;  meal,  50c;  potatoes,  50c  to  75c;  beans,  60c  to  75c; 
butter,  i2l/2c  to  15c  ;  eggs,  8c  to  10c  ;  tallow,  10c  to  i2l/2c  ;  coffee,  16  2-3C  to  i8^c; 
sugar,  ioc  to  I2r-jc;  N.  O.  molasses,  60c  to  75c;  wood,  per  cord,  $2.50  to  $2.75; 
hay,  per  ton  (Hungarian),  $6.00;  hay,  per  ton  (Timothy).  $5.00;  hay,  per  ton 
(prairie),  $3.00." 

There  was  at  this  time  keen  rivalry  between  Columbus  City  and  Wapello,  and 
many  flings  were  taken  by  the  Enterprise  at  Columbus  City  and  by  the  Wapello 
Intelligencer  at  Wapello.  The  Intelligencer  sneered  at  the  idea  of  Columbus  City 
having  800  inhabitants  and  we  think  that  it  was  justified  in  so  doing  by  the  figures 
of  the  census.  We  quote  from  the  Enterprise  of  March  19th  the  following  bit 
of  sarcasm  concerning  Wapello.  "Wapello  is  bound  to  become  one  of  the  most 
thriving  and  flourishing  cities  in  the  west.  Her  location  on  the  Iowa  river  gives 
her  an  excellent  water  communication  over  New  Orleans  and  all  the  other  small 
towns  on  the  Mississippi,  and  the  great  Air  Line  railroad  will  soon  be  com- 
pleted, which  will  place  her  in  direct  communication  with  New  York  and  the 
cities  of  Europe,  Asia  and  Africa.  A  company  is  also  being  formed  to  build  a 
railroad  to  New  Orleans  by  way  of  Burlington  and  St.  Louis.  We  have  also 
been  informed  by  a  citizen  of  Wapello  that  the  Rothchilds  intend  transferring 
their  business  to  that  place  and  that  they  design  opening  a  hotel  on  the  European 
plan  in  a  new  building  erected  two  years  ago." 

Another  squib  along  the  same  line  is  the  following:  "We  neglected  last  week 
to  thank  the  Wapello  Intelligencer  for  the  handsome  notice  it  gave  our  paper. 
We  do  it  now,  and  would  return  the  compliment  if  we  could  do  so  without  lying." 

In  the  same  paper  is  the  following  local  item :  "A  young  man  living  near 
this  place,  caught  one  day  last  week  a  beautiful  fish,  weighing  something  over 
one  hundred  pounds.  The  manner  in  which  it  was  done  is  given  in  another 
column."  After  searching  the  paper  in  vain  for  a  supposed  fish  story,  we  came 
to  the  conclusion  that  the  following  notice  in  the  marriage  column  was  the  fish 
story  in  question:  "Married  on  the  10th  inst.  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Crellen,  Mr.  J. 
S.  Limbocker  to  Miss  Amanda   Fish,  both  of  this  place." 

The  year  1859  was  noted  for  its  hard  times.  The  Wapello  Intelligencer  at 
that  time  had  some  of  its  issues  nearly  taken  up  with  sheriff  sales  and  trustee 
sales  and  similar  advertisements,  but  it  would  be  news  to  many  to  learn  that  Gov- 
ernor Lowe  of  Iowa  issued  a  proclamation  on  the  subject.  We  found  the  procla- 
mation published  in  the  Enterprise  of  April  2d  as  follows: 

"Whereas  the  past  winter  has  been  one  of  special  trial  and  destitution  to  many 
of  our  people,  on  account  of  which  we  should  humble  ourselves  before  him  who 
directs  us  in  ways  and  to  ends  unseen  by  human  wisdom,  according  to  His  own 
pleasure ;  and  whereas  abstinence  from  food,  accompanied  with  religious  humilia- 
tion and  the  prayer  of  faith,  in  seasons  of  public  distress,  are  recorded  among  the 
•duties  of  all  Christian  communities,  I  therefore,  would  respectfully  recommend 
Friday  the  22d  day  of  April  next,  to  be  observed  by  all  the  people  of  this  State 
as  a  day  of  fasting,  humiliation  and  prayer,  that  thereby  we  may  propitiate  a 
kindlier  Providence  and  be  'fed  once  more  with  the  heritage  of  Jacob.' 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  343 

In  testimony  whereof  I  have  hereunto  set  my  hand,  and  affixed  the  great  seal 
of  the  State  of  Iowa.  Done  at  Desmoines,  the  28th  day  of  March,  A.  D.  1859, 
and  of  the  Independence  of  the  United  States  the  84th.  and  of  this  State  the  13th. 

Ralph  P.  Lowe. 
By  the  Governor.     [L.L.] 
Elijah  Sells, 

Secretary  of  State." 

In  the  Enterprise  of  April  9,  1859,  we  note  that  Rev.  William  Salter  of  Bur- 
lington was  to  preach  at  the  Congregational  church  that  evening,  being  Saturday, 
and  on  the  next  day,  morning  and  evening,  at  the  usual  hours. 

Another  item  gives  an  account  of  a  meeting  of  the  Temperance  League  on 
Thursday  evening,  after  which  Dr.  Salter  delivered  a  lecture. 

We  also  find  in  the  same  paper  an  advertisement  of  the  Congregational  church, 
Rev.  D.  E.  Jones,  pastor. 

The  Enterprise  of  April  15,  1859,  notes  that  J.  W.  Porter  will  commence  his 
school  on  Monday  next,  that  the  new  building  of  Harrison  &  Barratt  was  nearly 
completed,  and  that  it  was  the  largest  business  building  in  the  county.  The 
third  story  was  then  being  fitted  up  for  the  use  of  the  Masons. 

The  following  from  the  Enterprise  of  April  23,  1859,  explains  itself:  "We 
do  not  know  of  a  county  in  this  state  that  is  worse  off  for  postoffices  and  mail 
facilities  than  Louisa  county.  In  some  parts  of  the  county  the  citizens  have  to 
send  ten  or  twelve  miles  for  their  mail  matter.  A  postoffice  should  be  established 
at  Clifton,  one  at  Fredonia,  one  at  some  convenient  point  in  Elm  Grove  township 
and  one  near  Long  creek  on  the  Wapello  road.  These  are  all  necessary  to  the 
convenience  of  the  people  and  we  shall  do  all  in  our  power  to  secure  them.  A 
daily  mail  route  between  this  place  and  Burlington  is  much  needed  and  we  hope 
to  have  it  ere  long." 

This  paper  contains  the  advertisement  of  Charles  Cutkomp,  boot  and  shoe- 
maker;  also  William  Darrow,  physician  and  surgeon,  with  his  office  at  Clark  & 
Colton's  store;  William  A.  Colton,  notary  public  and  conveyancer;  Wesley  W. 
Garner,  notary  public  and  conveyancer.  It  also  contains  the  advertisement  of 
T.  W.  Boies,  proprietor  of  a  lumberyard  at  Clifton,  also  Douglas  &  Berry,  gen- 
eral merchandise. 

The  Enterprise  of  April  30,  1859,  gives  the  names  of  the  Columbus  City  Pike's 
Peak  expedition  as  follows :  "William  G.  Allen,  Jacob  Getts,  John  Reiner,  Will- 
iam Reiner,  James  Paschal,  T.  W.  Brown,  B.  H.  Eaton,  L.  Mitchell,  wife  and 
two  children,  Jonathan  Pierson,  David  Knott,  Peter  Merrill,  Joseph  Neal,  Samuel 
Luckey  and  Ed  Suplee."  The  paper  states  that  this  company  departed  on  Thurs- 
day last  for  Pike's  Peak,  with  excellent  teams  and  an  abundance  of  provisions, 
for  a  six  months'  adventure  and  that  a  company  of  six  or  seven  would  leave 
Columbus  City  the  first  of  the  following  week.  Tt  also  states  that  one  or  two 
companies  would  go  from  Elm  Grove  about  the  10th  of  June  and  that  recently 
a  company  had  left  from  Fredonia  and  also  one  from  Grandview. 

In  the  issue  of  this  paper  for  May  26th  is  recorded  the  organization  of  a 
lodge  of  Good  Templars,  the  officers  being  as  follows:  W.  C.  T.,  J.  M.  Edwards  ; 
W.  V.  T.,  G.  W.  Limbocker;  W.  R.  S.,  W.  S.  Robertson:  W.  T.,  W.  O.  Kulp; 


344  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

W.  I.  G..  J.  J.  Wylie;  W.  O.  G.,  James  Manly;  W.  C,  Dr.  J.  Cleaves;  \V.  F.  S., 
William  B.  Berry;  W.  M.,  Dr.  William  Darrow. 

The  Enterprise  of  June  g.  1859,  records  the  return  home  of  the  Columbus 
City  company  of  Pike  Peakers.  The  Union  Guards  were  called  out,  and  accom- 
panied by  the  band  and  a  large  number  of  citizens,  met  them  about  a  mile  and 
a  half  west  of  town  on  the  Washington  road  and  saluted  them  with  a  volley  of 
rifles  of  the  Union  Guards.  After  this  Andrew  Gamble  on  behalf  of  the  citizens 
of  Columbus  City  welcomed  them  back  to  their  homes  in  a  "neat  and  appropriate 
style."  This  speech  was  responded  to  "in  a  capital  manner"  by  Lieutenant  J.  L. 
Grubb  on  behalf  of  the  gold  seekers.  After  this  a  song  was  sung  by  those  who 
had  been  to  see  the  "elephant,"'  the  song  being  entitled  "Pike's  Peak  Humbug." 
It  consists  of  sixteen  verses,  the  last  of  which  was  as  follows: 

"The  Columbus  City  boys  are  good  grit, 
As  sure  as  you  are  born  : 
But  they've  been  sold,  without  any  gold. 
And  now  acknowledge  the  corn." 

Two  outfits  of  teams  of  those  who  started  for  Pike's  Peak  did  not  return  but 
went  on  to  the  gold  fields — all  of  them  returning  later  with  the  exception  of  B.  H. 
Eaton,  who  remained  in  Colorado  and  gained  prominence  and  wealth — was  at  one 
time  Governor  of  Colorado. 

The  same  issue  also  chronicles  the  fact  that  Harrison  &  Barratt  had  moved 
into  their  new  store  room,  where  they  had  just  opened  the  largest  stock  of  goods 
ever  brought  to  the  county. 

As  an  indication  of  the  business  being  done  at  Clifton,  the  new  railroad  station 
north  of  Columbus  City,  we  note  an  advertisement  in  this  same  issue  of  a  new 
lumberyard  owned  by  J.  M.  Campbell,  managed  by  J.  L.  Collins,  agent,  with  office 
in  his  grocery  store. 

The  Enterprise  of  June  23d  notes  that  William  Darrow  had  opened  a  new 
grocery  and  provision  store  two  doors  south  of  Clark  &  Colton's  drug  store. 

The  Enterprise  of  July  7,  1859,  gives  an  account  of  the  4th  of  July  celebra- 
tion held  on  Long  creek.  The  Union  Guards  were  present  in  full  uniform,  pro- 
vided with  thirty-three  rounds  of  blank  cartridges,  and  left  Columbus  City  at 
half  past  six  o'clock  in  the  morning.  The  order  of  their  assembling  and  march 
said  that  they  would  march  to  the  German  camp  grounds  on  Long  creek.  It  is 
•^aid  that  many  people  went  from  Columbus  City  and  that  Marshall,  Elm  Grove, 
Morning  Sun,  Concord  and  Wapello  townships  were  well  represented  and  that 
the  number  in  attendance  was  two  to  three  thousand.  An  oration  was  delivered 
by  Mr.  Stoughton,  and  an  address  by  B.  F.  Wright. 

It  is  said  that  the  first  school  in  Columbus  City  was  held  in  the  winter  of 
1843-4  and  was  taught  by  Dr.  John  Cleaves  in  a  brick  building,  owned  at  the 
time  by  Colonel  Garner.  The  school  was  taught  the  following  winter  by  Colonel 
Garner  himself.  In  the  fall  of  1846  the  voters  of  school  District  Xo.  3,  which 
included  Columbus  City  and  considerable  territory  outside  of  the  town,  met  at 
the  store  room  of  H.  S.  Denham  to  permanently  organize  the  district  and  to  pass 
upon  the  question  of  erecting  a  school  building.  At  this  meeting  a  tax  was 
voted  and  the  directors  were  authorized  to  contract  for  the  erection  of  a  brick 


KEY.  DAVID  KNOWLES 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  345 

building,  20x30  feet.  There  were  twenty-six  votes  cast,  all  but  one  of  which 
were  in  the  affirmative.  In  February,  1847,  tne  directors  let  the  contract  for  the 
erection  of  a  building  on  lot  3,  block  5,  for  the  sum  of  $300  and  this  building 
was  completed  ready  for  use  by  October  of  the  same  year,  and  that  winter  school 
was  taught  in  this  building  by  William  J.  R.  Flack.  The  next  year  Allen  W. 
Pease  taught  school  during  the  winter  term  and  was  succeeded  in  turn  during 
four  winters  by  J.  Highfield,  Mr.  Bigsby,  I.  N.  Chandler,  and  Thomas  L.  Baird. 
Miss  Sarah  Twiggs  taught  school  there  in  the  summer  of  1853,  and  James  K. 
Atchison  in  the  summer  of  1854.  In  the  summer  of  1855  Miss  Mary  Wylie 
taught  a  term  of  school  in  the  Christian  church  building  and  the  next  summer 
Miss  Mary  Wear  of  Mt.  Pleasant  taught  school  in  the  church  building.  In  the 
winter  of  1855-6  school  was  taught  in  the  school  building  by  Mr.  Fulton.  In  the 
fall  of  1856  the  directors  found  that  the  school  building  was  not  suitable  for 
the  purpose  and  condemned  it  and  rented  the  Christian  church  and  also  a  part 
of  H.  S.  Denham's  store  building.  A  new  school  building  was  erected  by  the 
school  district  in  the  fall  of  1856  and  the  spring  of  1857.  A  meeting  had  been 
held  for  this  purpose  in  March,  1856,  and  a  tax  levied  therefor.  The  contract 
was  let  to  George  D.  Harrison,  of  Columbus  City,  and  a  man  by  the  name  of 
McCarter,  of  Springfield,  Ohio,  for  the  price  of  $2,985.  The  building  was  of 
brick,  30x50  feet  and  two  stories  high  and  erected  directly  north  of  the  old 
building.  This  building  was  used  until  the  summer  of  1878,  when  an  addition 
was  built  on  the  north  side  of  it,  30x60  feet,  two  stories  high,  at  a  cost  of  $2,330. 

The  people  of  Columbus  City  have  always  been  liberal  in  support  of  schools 
and  have  usually  succeeded  in  having  good  schools. 

Columbus  City  has  always  been  noted  as  being  well  supplied  with  churches. 
One  of  the  earliest  church  organizations  perfected  there  was  that  of  the  Church 
of  Christ,  or  Christian  church,  sometimes  called  Campbellites.  It  is  said  that  the 
first  meeting  to  organize  this  church  was  held  at  the  house  of  Barstow  Williams, 
about  two  miles  from  Columbus  City,  and  that  for  a  number  of  years  the  meet- 
ings were  held  at  the  houses  of  the  various  members.  A  house  of  worship  was 
erected  about  1852,  said  to  have  cost  $500  and  was  used  until  1868,  when  a 
$3,000  structure  was  erected.  Among  those  who  served  as  pastors  in  the  church 
at  Columbus  City  were :  Arthur  Miller,  Smiley  Bonham,  Moses  Warren,  Joshua 
Swallow,  Jonas  Hartzel,  Samuel  Lowe,  Joseph  Lowe,  Freeman  Walden,  J.  K. 
Cornell,  John  Errett,  Simpson  Ely,  J.  H.  Painter,  L,  B.  Ames,  J.  Madison  Will- 
iams, E.  W.  Miller  and  L.  C.  Wilson. 

The  Methodist  Episcopal  church  of  Columbus  City  dates  its  organization  back 
to  territorial  days  in  1840,  and  it  is  to  be  presumed  that  somewhere  there  is  a 
record  of  the  doings  of  this  congregation  and  of  the  various  ministers  who  served 
it  and  the  dates  of  their  service,  but  we  have  not  happened  to  hit  upon  any  one 
who  could  enlighten  us  on  this  matter.  The  Methodists  erected  a  fine  church 
building  in  1866  and  the  church  is  still  in  a  fairly  flourishing  condition. 

Another  Columbus  City  religious  organization  is  that  of  the  United  Brethren 
in  Christ,  which  was  organized  early  in  the  '40s.  The  first  annual  conference  of 
this  church  held  west  of  the  Mississippi  river  was  held  at  the  house  of  H.  S. 
Denham  in  Columbus  City,  in  May,  1844.  This  is  the  same  building  that  was 
afterwards  occupied  by  Italian  Myler  as  a  residence. 


346  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

One  of  the  strong  organizations  of  Columbus  City  and  vicinity  is  the  United 
Presbyterian  church,  which  was  organized  in  the  fall  of  1844,  the  Rev.  William 
Smith  being  the  pastor.  The  first  regular  pastor  was  said  to  be  Rev.  George 
Vincent,  who  afterward  became  quite  prominent  in  church  work.  Rev.  Alexan- 
der Storey  acted  as  pastor  of  this  church  for  more  than  twenty  years  and  the 
church  was  called,  by  many  outsiders,  "Storey's  church." 

The  Baptist  church  of  Columbus  City  was  organized  in  November,  1850.  In 
1862  a  brick  building  was  erected.  In  1871  the  congregation  divided,  some 
of  its  membership  organizing  a  separate  congregation  at  Louisa  Center. 

The  Congregational  church  of  Columbus  City  was  organized  October  25,  1846. 
The  first  pastor  was  Rev.  Aaron  L.  Leonard,  born  in  Pennsylvania,  in  1812.  He 
served  at  Columbus  City  from  1847  until  1849,  ancl  'ater  was  pastor  at  Danville 
for  six  or  seven  years.     He  died  in  New  York  state  in  the  year  1900. 

Rev.  David  Knowles  was  pastor  at  Columbus  City  from  1849  t0  J852.  The 
next  pastor  there  of  whom  we  have  any  record,  was  E.  O.  Bennett,  who  served 
from  1856  to  1858.  From  1858  to  i860  the  pastor  was  Darius  E.  Jones.  Mr. 
Junes  was  a  versatile  man  and  became  much  noted  in  the  church  world  and  in 
musical  circles.  He  was  at  one  time  a  manufacturer  of  carriages  and  hardware. 
He  was  also  chorister  in  several  noted  churches.  Among  them  being 
Plymouth  church  in  Brooklyn.  For  a  time  he  was  assistant  secretary 
of  the  American  Home  Missionary  Society.  He  was  also  for  a  while  editor 
of  the  Congregational  Herald  and  of  the  Western  Weekly  at  Davenport.  He 
was  the  Iowa  agent  of  the  Bible  Society,  and  colonization  agent  of  the  Burlington 
&  Missouri  River  Railroad  Company.  He  was  also  pastor  at  a  number  of  other 
places  besides  Columbus  City,  among  them  being  Newton  and  Wilton.  He  is 
probably  best  remembered  as  the  author  of  "Temple  Melodies"  and  "Songs  of 
New  Life"  and  as  the  composer  of  "Stockwell"  and  "Martina."  For  many  years 
during  his  active  connection  with  the  church  and  its  work  he  was  by  common  con- 
sent looked  upon  as  the  leader  of  song  service  at  its  association  meetings,  and  it  is 
said  that  "the  presence  of  Darius  E.  Jones  was  always  and  everywhere  the  sig- 
nal  for  a  sing."     He  died  at  Davenport.  August   10,   1881. 

Next  after  Mr.  Jones  came  Robert  Hunter,  who  served  as  pastor  from  i860 
to  1867.  We  have  but  little  account  of  Mr.  Hunter  other  than  that  he  was  pastor 
at  Clay  and  Nevinville  in  Iowa  and  that  his  entire  service  in  the  state  covered  the 
years  from  1855  to  1872.  at  which  latter  date  he  died  at  Nevinville.  Frederick 
Crang  was  the  next  pastor.  He  was  an  Englishman,  educated  in  the  Church  of 
England,  had  been  a  surgeon  in  the  British  navy  and  had  practiced  medicine  in 
New  York  and  Illinois.  His  service  at  Columbus  City  extended  over  the  years 
from  1867  to  1.869.  The  next  and  last  pastor  of  this  church  was  Rev.  J.  E. 
Elliott,  who  served  in  1869  and   1870. 

The  Associate  Presbyterian  church  built  a  house  of  worship  in  Columbus  City 
in   1 85 1   and  afterwards  erected  another  building  in   1886. 

For  many  years  the  Masons  had  a  lodge  in  Columbus  City,  which  was  or- 
ganized there  on  February  24,  1857,  as  Columbus  City  Lodge,  No.  107.  Sub- 
sequently this  lodge  was  removed  to  Columbus  Junction  and  its  history  will  be 
given  in  connection  with  that  place. 

The  Odd  Fellows  still  maintain  a  lodge  in  Columbus  City,  it  having  been  in- 
stituted there  on  August  23.   1872,  under  the  charter  name  of  Columbus   City 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  347 

Lodge,  Xo.  246,  I.  O.  O.  F.  Its  charter  members  were  David  McMichael,  L. 
G.  Baldwin,  G.  W.  Breneman,  John  Jacobs,  T.  R.  Jones,  David  H.  Griffith,  Joseph 
M.  Dotson,  Edward  McSweeney  and  W.  F.  Hall.  Its  first  officers  were:  David 
McMichael,  N.  G. ;  G.  W.  Breneman,  V.  G;  W.  F.  Hall,  Sec;  L.  G  Baldwin, 
Treas.  The  total  membership  of  this  lodge  up  to  the  present  time  has  been  fifty- 
three.  The  names  of  the  deceased  members  are:  James  W.  Carr,  David  A. 
Robbins,  Dr.  I.  M.  Smith,  Sherman  Shaum,  Henry  Adv.  George  W.  Speath,  Otto 
Schabilion  and  George  Schmidt. 

The  corporation  of  Columbus  City  joins  Columbus  Junction  at  the  Gamble 
corner,  and  the  two  are  connected  by  a  good  cement  sidewalk. 

In  later  years  Columbus  City  had  two  other  newspapers;  one  was  the  Non- 
pareil, published  by  Allan  D.  Hickok,  and  the  other  was  the  Safeguard,  started 
at  Columbus  City  by  Robert  H.  Moore,  but  later  removed  by  him  to  Columbus 
Junction. 

The  population  of  Columbus  City  has  been  as  follows:  1854 — 149;  185c; — 
622;  1870—850;  1880—605;  1885—519;  1890—459;  1895—485;  1900—388; 
J905— 423- 

WAPELLO. 

Wapello  is  named  after  the  noted  Indian  chief,  and  it  appears  that  there  was 
considerable  controversy  in  the  beginning  as  to  where  the  main  town  would  be 
located,  as  we  find  reference  in  the  early  records  to  Upper  Wapello,  Center 
Wapello  and  Lower  Wapello.  Upper  Wapello  undoubtedly  corresponds  very 
closely  to  what  is  now  England's  Addition.  Central  Wapello  was  the  same  as 
the  original  town,  and  Lower  Wapello  was  undoubtedly  the  first  laid  out  town, 
and  was  laid  out  by  Jeremiah  Smith,  Jr.  of  Des  Moines  county,  and  some  others 
whose  names  we  have  not  been  able  to  get.  We  have  already  seen  that  in  negotiat- 
ing the  surrender  by  the  Indians  of  the  Keokuk  reserve,  the  white  men  had  been 
locating  claims  upon  the  reserve,  and  buying  Indian  claims  before  the  treaty  was 
made,  and  it  was  said  that  one  white  man  had  paid  another  one  $2,000  for  a  claim 
on  which  to  build  a  "great  town."  This  was  undoubtedly  Wapello  and  must  have 
been  Lower  Wapello. 

The  following  instrument  made  by  Jeremiah  Smith,  Jr.,  to  James  McDaniel 
throws  some  light  on  the  matter.  We  quote  a  part  of  it :  "Know  all  men  by  these 
presents  that  I,  Jeremiah  Smith,  Jr.,  of  Des  Moines  county,  I.  T.,  for  and  in 
consideration  of  the  sum  of  $300,  to  me  paid  by  James  McDaniel,  of  Louisa 
county,  I.  T.  .  .  .  have  sold  unto  the  said  James  McDaniel  all  of  my  inter- 
est included  in  the  original  town  plat  of  Lower  Wapello,  Louisa  county,  Iowa 
Territory,  situated  on  lots  1  and  2  of  the  southwest  quarter  of  the  northwest 
quarter  of  section  35,  township  74  north,  range  3  west,  as  laid  off  by  me  and 
others  in  the  year  1836  and  7,  and  as  by  reference  to  such  plat  at  the  land  office 
will  appear."     This  instrument  was  dated  August  27,  1844. 

It  appears  from  the  records  that  Jeremiah  Smith  was  the  original  purchaser 
from  the  government  of  lots  1  and  2,  referred  to  in  the  deed,  having  entered  them 
February  11,  1843,  ar>d  secured  a  patent  for  them  in  1846.  One  of  the  "others" 
referred  to  in  the  deed  as  having  laid  out  Lower  Wapello  was  probably  David 
R.  Chance,  one  of  the  representatives  from  Demoine  county,  in  the  first  territorial 
legislature  of  Wisconsin.    Our  authority  for  this  statement  is  found  in  Dr.  Salter's 


848  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

"Iowa,'"  page  214.  where  he  gives  some  remarks  made  by  Mr.  Chance  upon  the 
question  of  locating  the  seat  of  government  of  the  new  territory  of  Wisconsin. 

Charges  of  bargaining  and  corruption  had  been  made  against  the  delegation 
from  Demoine  county  and  among  other  things,  Mr.  Chance  said:  "Mr.  Chairman, 
we  are  honest  men  from  Demoine ;  we  are  not  here  to  be  bought  or  sold.  When 
I  left  home  my  intention  was  to  locate  the  seat  of  government  in  the  east  of  the 
Mississippi,  dividing  the  territory  with  the  river.  If  they  did  not  wish  to  divide,  I 
meant  to  sustain  the  place  selected  by  the  executive,  Belmont.  We  said  to  the 
delegation  on  the  east,  fix  your  place  and  we  go  for  it.  I  have  no  town  property  in 
the  territory  of  Wisconsin,  only  some  marked  out  in  the  town  of  Wapello."  We 
have  not  the  date  when  this  speech  was  made  but  we  know  that  this  legislative 
assembly  began  its  sessions  October  25,  1836,  and  ended  them  on  December  9th. 
The  location  of  Lower  Wapello  is  thus  settled  to  have  been  upon  what  has  long 
been  known  as  the  J.  R.  McDaniel  farm,  immediately  east  of  the  W.  C.  Herrick 
farm.    The  land  is  now  owned  by  Clarence  Askren. 

When  the  commissioners  authorized  by  the  first  legislative  assembly  of  Wis- 
consin to  establish  a  territorial  road  west  of  the  Mississippi  performed  that  work, 
they  located  the  road  through  Wapello  as  the  law  required.  Their  original  plat 
and  field  notes  of  that  part  of  the  road  through  Louisa  county  has  been  preserved, 
and  one  point  on  the  line  is  the  center  of  the  public  square  of  Lower  Wapello. 
According  to  the  field  notes  of  this  survey  this  point  must  have  been  situated  upon 
the  land  referred  to  in  the  deed  from  Jeremiah  Smith,  Jr.,  to  James  .McDaniel. 

As  stated  elsewhere,  a  plat  of  "Wappelow"  was  recorded  in  this  county  on 
January  17.  1837,  this  being  probably  the  first  official  act  transacted  here.  We 
have  no  means  of  knowing  whether  this  is  the  same  plat  referred  to  in  Jeremiah 
Smith's  deed,  but  we  know  it  does  not  correspond  to  the  plat  of  the  original  town 
of  Wapello  as  afterward  laid  out.  This  plat  does  not  give  the  location  of  the 
town  nor  the  names  of  the  proprietors,  and  hence  it  is  only  a  matter  of  guess  work 
as  to  whether  or  not  it  was  the  plat  intended  for  Lower  Wapello. 

It  seems  that  in  the  course  of  a  couple  of  years  Center  Wapello  became  the  town. 
The  seat  of  justice  was  located  at  Wapello  by  a  vote  of  the  people,  and  the  county 
commissioners,  William  Milligan,  Israel  L.  Clark  and  Wright  Williams,  purchased 
of  the  government  the  greater  part  of  the  southeast  quarter  of  section  27,  town- 
ship 74  north,  range  3  west,  for  a  seat  of  justice  of  Louisa  county,  under  the  pro- 
visions of  the  act  of  congress,  approved  May  26,  1824.  It  has  been  the  general 
impression  that  this  land  was  given  to  the  county  for  the  purpose  of  locating  a 
county  seat  upon  it,  but  that  is  not  correct,  it  cost  the  county  one  dollar  and 
twenty-five  cents  per  acre. 

The  town  was  laid  out  by  John  Gilliland,  county  surveyor,  and  the  plat  is  cer- 
tified by  him  May  6,  183c).  This  is  now  called  the  original  town  of  Wapello.  The 
lots  were  74 )/\  feet  in  width  by  148;/?  feet  long,  and  as  the  town  was  located  on 
the  west  bank  of  the  river,  the  streets  were  made  to  run  parallel  with  the  course  of 
the  river  as  it  ran  then,  and  hence  they  are  not  north  and  south. 

Some  of  the  original  town  of  Wapello  and  of  England's  Addition  immediately 
to  the  north,  has  been  taken  away  by  the  river. 

The  next  part  of  the  present  town  to  be  laid  out  was  England's  Addition.  It 
appears  from  the  record  that  this  was  formerly  known  as  Upper  Wapello  and  that 
it  was  re-surveyed  by  John  Gilliland,  April  13,  1840,  and  it  is  said  to  be  located  on 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  :!49 

the  south  end  of  the  southeast  fractional  quarter  of  section  27,  but  this  is  a  mis- 
take, as  the  addition  is  located  in  the  northeast  fractional  quarter  of  2j.  It  was 
laid  out  by  Thomas  England,  one  of  the  early  settlers  of  Wapello,  who  came  here 
in  1835.  Another  of  the  early  settlers  in  Wapello,  in  fact,  probably  the  first  man 
to  build  a  dwelling  house  in  the  town,  was  William  Milligan,  and  the  next  addi- 
tion we  find  to  the  town  is  called  Bird's  Addition,  laid  out  by  John  Bird,  as 
administrator  of  the  estate  of  William  Milligan.     This  was  laid  out  in  August, 

1851. 

Next  we  have  Townsend's  Addition,  laid  out  by  Samuel  Townsend  in  January, 
1856.  The  next  is  Charles'  Addition,  laid  out  by  R.  F.  Charles,  April  1,  1856; 
Keach  Addition,  laid  out  by  Elias  Keach  and  Edward  B.  Isett,  March  19,  1856; 
Herrick's  Adidtion,  laid  out  by  John  M.  Herrick  in  June,  1856,  but  which  has  since 
been  vacated ;  and  Bells'  Addition,  laid  out  by  John  Bell,  August  25,  1856.  The 
next  is  Howey's  Addition,  laid  out  by  Harris  Howey  and  Elias  Keach,  in 
April,  1857;  Miller  &  Erbes  Addition,  laid  out  by  Jonas  Miller  and  George  Erbes, 
June  3,  1890;  Miller's  Addition,  laid  out  by  Jonas  Miller,  September  13,  1892,  Gar- 
den Park  Addition,  laid  out  by  Jonas  Miller,  William  G.  Allen.  F.  M.  Ong  and 
George  R.  Keller,  May  22,  1894;  Bird's  Park  Addition,  laid  out  by  Rebecca  Bird, 
widow  of  John  Bird,  and  Lillian  E.  Richards,  Talma  L.  McCosh  and  Curtis  D. 
Bird,  April  1,  1898;  and  last  we  have  the  second  Bird's  Park  Addition,  laid  out 
by  the  same  parties  in  February,  1901. 

We  find  frequent  reference  in  the  records  to  sales  of  town  lots  in  Wapello 
soon  after  the  original  town  was  laid  out,  but  we  have  not  been  able  to  find  the 
report  of  the  first  town  lot  sale,  showing  the  names  of  the  purchasers  and  the 
prices  paid.  James  M.  Clark  was  for  some  time  the  commissioner  for  the  sale 
of  these  lots,  and  appears  to  have  made  frequent  reports  of  his  doings,  but  unfor- 
tunately, these  reports  were  not  copied  on  the  records  of  the  commissioners' 
court. 

August  20,  1839,  Mr.  Clark  submitted  a  report  in  regard  to  the  sale  of  town 
lots  in  Wapello,  the  substance  of  which  is  given  in  the  record  as  follows :  "Amount 
of  property  bid  off  at  the  sale.  $9,0x37.50,  and  of  this  amount  $5,856.25  had  been 
taken  by  the  sheriff  and  one-eighth  of  this  latter  amount  paid  in  hand.  To  this 
add  $60.25,  amount  of  lot  purchased  by  H.  Warnstaff,  who  has  been  exonerated 
from  the  payment  of  one-eighth  by  giving  his  note  for  the  whole  amount ;  he  had 
paid  $4,  which  is  credited  on  his  note.  Also  add  $136,  amount  of  two  lots  sold 
said  commissioner  which  sums  added  together  make  $6,052.52,  being  the  total 
amount  taken. 

"The  cash  account  appears  to  be  one-eighth  of  $5,856.25,  being  $732.25  less 
$200  already  paid  to  Esq.  Milligan  to  purchase  the  county  quarter  section,  and  $15 
paid  to  Thomas  for  crying  the  sale,  and  $1.50  for  paper,  leaving  $515.75,  and 
some  other  small  cash  items  or  receipts  make  the  balance  $524.25.  But  it  appears 
of  the  $732.25  paid  in  advance,  $389.68  was  paid  in  county  orders,  $342.57  was 
paid  in  cash,  and  that  there  was  only  left  in  the  hands  of  the  treasurer  in  cash, 
$126.07.     ^r-  Clark  received  for  his  services  $45." 

Among  the  old  papers  there  is  a  list  of  notes  given  for  county  property  sold  on 
the  17th  and  18th  of  June,  1839.  in  the  handwriting  of  James  M.  Clark.  These 
notes  were  due  in  December,  1839,  and  it  is  possible  that  it  is  a  complete  list  of 
the  purchasers  at  the  first  lot  sale,  although  the  paper  does  not  so  state.     From 


350  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

this  list  we  take  the  names  of  the  following  purchasers:  J.  Bevins  bought  six  lots, 
prices  running  from  $10  to  $59.79.  his  total  bill  being  $188.70.  Daniel  Brewer 
bought  five  lots,  the  highest  priced  being  $26.54.  The  note  of  Fullenwider  & 
Wood  was  for  $518.25,  but  the  number  of  lots  is  not  stated.  Other  purchasers 
were  W.  M.  Clark.  J.  H.  Clark,  M.  Harless,  William  Harrison,  J.  Lewis,  C.  Mor- 
gan, Mintun  &  Thomas.  R.  B.  Packard.  Levi  Steven,  Hiram  Smith,  W.  H. 
Thomas,  doubtless  intended  for  William  H.  R.  Thomas,  Z.  Williams,  Nelson  Allo- 
way.  John  Bragg  and  V.  P.  Bunnell. 

Many  of  the  notes  taken  by  Mr.  Clark  were  afterwards  collected  and  other 
lots  were  sold  later,  and  it  is  evident  that  the  sale  of  these  lots  furnished  the 
young  county  with  considerable  revenue. 

Of  course  there  has  been  a  great  diversity  of  opinion  as  to  who  were  the  first 
tavern  keepers  and  store  keepers  in  Wapello.  The  best  we  can  do  in  a  matter 
of  this  kind  at  this  late  date,  is  to  set  forth  what  the  records  show,  because  in 
those  days  store  keepers,  tavern  keepers,  etc.  had  permits  and  paid  license  fees. 

It  is  said  by  some  who  ought  to  know,  that  Milligan  did  not  keep  a  regular 
Tavern,  but  simply  entertained  folks  occasionally.  We  do  not  know  at  this  late 
date  what  the  fact  is,  but  the  records  show  that  he  procured  a  license  for  one 
year  commencing  April  1st,  1837. 

In  August,  1837  S.  S.  Gourley  was  granted  a  tavern  license  for  the  term  of 
six  months,  and  his  place  is  supposed  by  many  to  have  been  the  first  regular 
tavern  in  Wapello.     It  was  about  where  Mrs.  Weston  now  lives. 

Mr.  Gourley  was  elected  county  assessor  in  1838,  but  died  in  the  winter  fol- 
lowing. 

In  1838  John  Drake  built  the  Drake  House  on  the  property  so  long  occupied 
by  the  late  Mrs.  Hicklin.  The  earliest  mention  we  find  of  Mr.  Drake's  tavern  is 
in  1839.  Three  or  four  years  later  he  moved  into  a  more  pretentious  hotel  on 
Front  street;  this  faced  the  river  and  was  almost  directly  back  of  the  W.  C.  Wil- 
liamson present  home. 

In  those  days  the  official  name  for  the  saloon  was  the  "grocery,"  and  the  first 
license  of  the  kind  in  Wapello  was  issued  to  Nelson  Derthick  in  August,  1837. 
At  that  time  Derthick  or  Dethrick  as  he  was  sometimes  called,  had  a  ferry  license 
for  Central  Wapello,  and  his  grocery  was  likely  in  the  same  part  of  town. 

In  November,  1837,  C.  M.  McDaniel  procured  a  grocery  license,  which  was 
also  for  Central  Wapello.  Shortly  after  that,  James  McDaniel  had  a  grocer's 
license,  and  in  1840  we  find  that  a  similar  license  was  issued  to  John  Drake.  A 
little  later  George  Helbig  had  a  grocer's  license  in  Wapello. 

These  grocer's  licenses  were  issued  of  course,  long  before  the  days  of  prohi- 
bition and  at  a  time  when  the  sale  of  liquor  was  not  merely  lawful  but  when  the 
habit  of  drinking  was  quite  general  in  the  community ;  with  the  advent  of  prohi- 
bition, this  is  all  supposed  to  have  changed,  but  it  is  probable  that  from  the  day 
when  Nelson  Derthick  first  got  his  grocer's  license,  down  to  the  present,  there 
has  never  been  a  time  when  "Central  Wapello"  did  not  afford  at  least  one  place 
where  "wet  groceries"  could  be  obtained  by  all  who  knew  the  ropes  and  had  the 
price.  In  April  1838,  John  Bevins  was  granted  a  license  to  vend  merchandise  at 
Upper  Wapello,  and  in  May  following,  S.  M.  Kirkpatrick  was  granted  a  similar 
license,  as  were  also  "James  M.  Clark  and  Sanders,"  so  it  is  reasonable  to  assume 
that  these  were  the  first  store  keepers  in  Wapello.     Almon  Moore  sold  goods 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  351 

here  as  early  as  1839,  and  George  W.  McCleary  was  also  an  early  merchant  and 
"grocer." 

On  January  18th,  1838,  the  Wisconsin  legislature  established  the  county  seat 
at  Lower  Wapello,  and  in  January,  1839,  the  territorial  legislature  of  Iowa  di- 
rected that  an  election  be  held  to  name  a  county  seat.  This  matter  of  county 
seat  was  the  cause  of  much  contention  between  the  different  parts  of  Wapello,  or 
the  different  towns,  as  they  were  then  called.  On  this  subject,  William  L.  Toole, 
speaking  of  Wapello,  says :  "It  had  its  troubles,  trials  and  difficulties  in  its  early 
days,  having  then  three  divisions  claiming  the  ascendency,  viz :  Upper,  Lower  and 
Middle  Wapello,  the  proprietors  of  each  division  striving  for  the  county  build- 
ings :  Mr.  Rinearson,  Mr.  Gilliland,  Mr.  Isett,  Mr.  Mintun  and  Mr.  Ives  among 
the  contending  parties. 

"Middle  Wapello  was  finally  successful,  and  the  county  commissioners  de- 
cided upon  having  the  court  house  there.  The  three  towns  finally  united  into  one. 
It  had  its  troubles  also  regarding  the  ferry,  which  was  first  at  Lower,  and  then 
at  Upper,  but  finally  permanently  established  at  Middle  Wapello." 

The  county  commissioners  ordered  an  election  on  the  county  seat  question  for 
the  first  Monday  in  March,  1839.  Under  the  law  these  returns  were  to  be  can- 
vassed by  the  sheriff.  The  opposing  candidates  were  Wapello,  Harrison  and  Fre- 
donia,  but  Wapello  seems  to  have  received  a  majority  of  all  the  votes  as  shown 
by  the  canvass  of  election  made  by  Sheriff  McDaniel,  which  is  copied  in  the  com- 
missioners' court  record  as  follows :  "In  pursuance  of  an  act  of  the  legislative 
assembly  of  trie  territory  of  Iowa,  providing  for  electing  a  seat  of  justice  for  the 
above  named  county  on  the  4th  of  March,  1839.  The  complete  returns  of  said 
election  having  been  made  to  the  undersigned,  the  acting  sheriff  of  the  aforesaid 
county  as  provided  by  law,  I  did  on  the  14th  day  of  March,  in  the  presence  of 
William  Milligan  and  Hiram  Smith,  two  acting  justices  of  the  peace  in  and  for 
said  county,  open  and  canvass  the  aforesaid  returns  and  it  appearing  that  Wa- 
pello had  a  majority  over  all  the  other  candidates  (viz.  Harrison  and  Fredonia) 
of  fifty-six  votes  therefore  I,  C.  M.  McDaniel,  Sheriff  as  aforesaid,  do  certify 
that  Wapello  was  duly  elected  county  seat  for  said  county,  etc." 

As  stated  elsewhere,  the  first  court  house  was  built  of  cottonwood  logs  or 
poles.  This  was  situated  in  Lower  Wapello,  but  was  doubtless  owned  by  private 
individuals,  as  we  find  no  record  tending  to  show  that  the  county  owned  it,  or 
owned  the  lots  upon  which  it  was  situated.  A  little  incident  recorded  in  the  com- 
missioners' court  records  will  give  some  idea  of  the  bitter  feeling  that  existed  at 
that  time  in  regard  to  the  location  of  the  county  seat.  On  the  4th  of  April,  after 
the  returns  of  the  election  for  the  county  seat  had  been  made  by  the  sheriff,  the 
board  of  commissioners  decided  to  take  steps  to  procure  from  the  government 
the  southeast  fractional  quarter  of  section  27,  which,  as  we  have  already  seen, 
was  Middle  or  Center  Wapello,  and  they  declared  that  that  particular  piece  of 
land  was  selected  by  them  for  a  seat  of  justice.  When  on  April  24,  1839,  the 
board  of  commissioners  desired  to  hold  an  extra  session,  it  appears  that  they  met 
at  the  court  house  at  Lower  Wapello,  "and  no  access  being  had  to  either  room,  it 
adjourned  to  the  house  of  the  clerk  of  the  board." 

In  1839  Samuel  M.  Kirkpatrick  &  Company  were  granted  license  to  sell  goods 
in  Wapello  for  twelve  months,  for  $14.  James  Wilson  Isett  was  granted  license 
to  sell  goods  at  his  residence  for  the  same  period  for  $15.    At  the  same  time  the 


352  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

board  had  fixed  the  first  Monday  in  May  to  receive  proposals  for  building  a  court 
house  and  jail.  The  proposals  were  to  be  in  writing  and  under  seal  and  the  con- 
tractors were  required  to  give  a  bond.  The  court  house  was  to  be  of  brick,  40x22 
feet,  and  one  story  high.  The  plans  of  the  court  house  did  not  provide  for  a 
chimney,  but  the  commissioners  rectified  this  when  their  attention  was  called  to 
it  by  a  petition  of  the  lawyers  and  county  officers. 

The  jail  was  to  be  eighteen  feet  square  on  the  outside,  with  double  walls  of 
hewn  timber  a  foot  square.  The  lower  floor  also  to  be  double  and  the  timber 
the  same  length  as  the  walls  of  the  building.  "The  outside  of  the  inner  tier  of  the 
wall  logs  to  be  drove  full  of  iron  spikes,  not  more  than  two  inches  apart,  and  the 
under  side  of  the  upper  tier  of  floor  logs  to  be  spiked  in  like  manner.  The  floor 
logs  to  be  laid  on  two  large  sills,  and  the  ends  of  the  floor  legs  to  be  notched  so 
as  to  prevent  them  sliding.  The  criminals'  room  to  have  one  grate  window,  with 
strong  iron  bars." 

On  May  20th  the  commissioners  met  at  the  house  of  John  Gilliland  and  ac- 
cepted the  bid  of  S.  M.  Kirkpatrick  &  Company,  and  on  the  next  day  contracts 
were  executed,  from  which  it  appears  that  the  court  house  was  to  be  built  for 
$1,300  and  the  jail  for  $1,000. 

The  June  term  of  court  that  year  was  held  in  John  Bevins'  house,  probably 
because  the  old  court  house  in  Lower  Wapello  could  not  be  procured.  During 
this  same  year  grocer's  license  was  granted  Charles  C.  Morgan  and  William  Mur- 
ray, and  a  merchant's  license  to  Cicero  M.  Ives. 

Kirkpatrick  &  Company,  the  company  being  Nathaniel  J.  and  Cicero  M.  Ives, 
completed  the  building  of  the  brick  courthouse,  June  1,  1840,  at  which  time  it 
was  accepted  by  the  commissioners  and  the  contractors  were  released  from  all  ob- 
ligations in  regard  to  its  construction.  It  seems  that  the  county  did  not  have  the 
money  to  pay  for  the  building,  and  gave  an  obligation  to  N.  J.  and  C.  M.  Ives  to 
pay  twenty  per  cent  interest  on  the  amount  due  for  erecting  the  court  house,  be- 
ing $1,300. 

At  the  same  time,  and  probably  for  lack  of  funds,  the  county  and  the  con- 
tractors agreed  to  cancel  their  contract  in  regard  to  building  a  jail.  The  ol  1  court- 
house building,  a  picture  of  which  we  present  herewith,  is  now  owned  by  Mrs. 
Blanchard,  widow  of  James  Blanchard,  one  of  the  early  settlers  of  the  county. 

It  may  also  be  of  interest  to  know  that  the  plans  for  this  building  were  made 
by  another  early  settler,  John  Rinearson,  and  cost  the  county  the  sum  of  $5. 

According  to  Mr.  Toole,  Wapello  also  had  its  troubles  regarding  the  location 
of  the  ferry.  He  says:  "It  was  first  located  at  Lower  Wapello,  then  at  Upper 
Wapello,  but  finally  permanently  established  at  Middle  Wapello."  Quite  a  num- 
ber of  ferry  licenses  were  granted  by  the  district  court  at  its  first  term  of  court 
in  Wapello,  in  April,  1837.  The  authority  for  the  district  court  to  grant  these 
ferry  licenses  was  based  upon  the  act  of  the  territorial  legislature  of  Wisconsin, 
approved  December  8,  1836.  providing  that  the  existing  laws  of  Michigan,  which 
were  declared  in  force  by  the  organic  act  of  Wisconsin,  shall  be  construed  lib- 
erally for  the  purpose  of  giving  such  laws  full  force  and  effect,  and  that  when- 
ever powers  are  conferred  upon  the  supreme  court  or  its  judges,  or  upon  county 
courts  or  their  judges,  the  same  shall  be  executed  and  performed  by  the  district 
courts  and  the  judges  thereof. 


PUBLIC  SCHOOL  GROUNDS.  WAPELLO 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  353 

Under  an  act  by  the  governor  and  judges  of  Michigan  Territory,  passed  Sep- 
tember 10,  1819,  it  was  provided  that  the  county  court  should  grant  licenses  for 
keeping  ferries,  and  that  these  licenses  should  continue  in  force  for  one  year. 
The  first  ferry  license  granted  for  Wapello  by  the  district  court  was  to  William 
Milligan,  and  this  was  undoubtedly-  at  Upper  Wapello.     This  was  on  April  20, 

1837- 

On  the  next  day  Nelson  Derthick  procured  a  license  from  the  court  to  keep 
a  ferry  across  the  Iowa  river  "at  the  Central  Wapello  town." 

The  next  ferry  license  of  which  we  have  any  record  is  the  one  granted  to 
"William  Milligan  by  the  county  commissioners  on  April  3,  1838.  On  April  16th 
this  license  was  withdrawn  and  a  license  was  granted  to  Daniel  Brewer  and  Wil- 
liam Milligan  together,  and  on  the  same  day  license  was  granted  to  Nelson  Der- 
thick for  a  ferry  at  Center  Wapello. 

In  a  biographical  and  historical  work  published  by  the  Acme  Publishing  Com- 
pany in  1889,  we  find  the  following:  "The  postoffice  at  Wapello  was  established 
in  the  winter  of  1838-9.  John  Bevins,  the  first  hotel  keeper  in  the  town,  was 
postmaster.  Bevins'  'tavern'  was  situated  on  the  north  side  of  Mechanic  street 
near  the  river.  He  sold  his  place  to  Jacob  Mintun  a  year  later,  and  Mr.  Mintun 
succeeded  to  the  postoffice.  In  the  fall  of  1844  George  W.  McCleary,  a  pioneer 
merchant,  who  was  afterward  secretary  of  state  and  member  of  congress,  suc- 
ceeded to  the  office.  Following  him  was  L.  P.  Wells,  who  was  then  publishing 
the  Wapello  Intelligencer;  William  Keach,  the  first  republican  postmaster,  suc- 
ceeded Mr.  Wells  in  1861,  but  on  his  enlistment  in  the  late  war,  he  left  the  office 
in  care  of  his  deputy,  Mr.  Wells." 

It  would  be  difficult,  indeed,  to  get  more  misinformation  in  the  same  space 
than  is  contained  in  the  foregoing  paragraph.  In  the  first  place,  the  Wapello 
postoffice  was  established  August  15,  1837.  John  Bevins  was  not  only  not  the 
first  postmaster,  but  he  was  never  postmaster  at  all.  We  have  already  seen  that 
William  Milligan  got  the  first  tavern  license  in  1837  and  that  the  first  license  is- 
sued to  John  Bevins  was  in  April,  1838,  to  sell  merchandise.  A  little  later  in  the 
history  of  Wapello,  Jackson  Bevins  kept  a  tavern  and  at  that  time  we  think  no 
license  was  required  and  it  may  be  that  he  sold  his  place  to  Jacob  Mintun.  We 
have  procured  from  the  postmaster  general's  office  a  list  of  the  postmasters  of 
Wapello  with  the  dates  of  their  appointment  up  to  and  including  the  time  of  the 
appointment  of  George  F.  Thomas,  and  this  is  as  follows :  Christopher  A.  Bal- 
lard, appointed  August  15,  i837;Tadoka  (Zadok)  C.  Inghram.  October  26,  1838; 
George  W.  McCleary,  December  29,  1840;  John  C.  McCleary,  November  29,  1843; 
George  W.  McCleary,  January  20,  1845;  Jonn  Bird,  May  16,  1845;  Jacob  Min- 
tun, February  10,  1846;  John  A.  Pilger,  February  7,  1848;  Samuel  M.  Kirk- 
patrick,  April  9,  1849;  Samuel  Townsend,  April  10,  1850;  Mark  Davison,  Feb- 
ruary 4,  1852;  James  Noffinger  (Noffsinger),  January  7,  1853;  Lauren  Wells, 
August  27,  1855 ;  William  Keach,  April  3,  1861 ;  George  F.  Thomas,  July  16, 
1863.  The  postmasters  since  that  time  in  order  of  their  service  have  been  M.  L. 
Jamison,  John  M.  Herrick,  James  S.  Hurley,  Mattie  G.  Hurley,  Rodney  G.  Haw- 
kins. Ed.  Hicklin  and  J.  D.  Hicklin. 

It  is  said  that  the  early  history  of  the  schools  in  Wapello  begins  in  the  sum- 
mer of  1840  and  that  John  Gilliland,  then  county  surveyor,  held  a  private  school 
in  his  log  house  on  Main  street,  in  the  north  part  of  town. 

Vol.  1—23 


354  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

In  the  commissioners'  court  record  for  June  22,  1840,  is  an  order  authorizing 
Sheriff  McDaniel  to  rent  the  court  house  to  the  citizens  of  Wapello  and  vicinity 
to  be  used  as  a  schoolhouse  for  a  term  of  three  months  for  the  sum  of  $10  for 
said  term,  to  be  paid  by  the  subscribers  to  the  school,  the  board  reserving  the  use 
of  the  house  when  necessary  for  county  purposes.  We  find  nothing  to  show 
certainly  whether  the  court  house  was  used  for  school  purposes  during  1840,  but 
it  was  so  used  a  few  years  afterward  by  Lewis  Kinsey.  The  first  schoolhouse 
in  Wapello  was  built  about  1844  and  was  used  for  school  until  about  1853.  In 
1853  a  brick  building  was  constructed  and  this  building  is  now  a  part  of  the  Com- 
mercial Hotel.  In  1878  the  present  school  building  was  erected,  but  it  is  doubt- 
ful if  any  one  knows  how  much  it  cost.  The  school  board  had  more  confidence 
in  the  contractor  than  he  deserved,  and  it  is  understood  that  he  got  considerable 
money  to  which  he  was  not  entitled,  and  that  the  board  had  to  pay  out  a  few  thou- 
sand dollars  to  get  work  done,  for  which  they  had  already  paid  the  contractor. 
At  this  writing  a  new  school  building  is  planned,  which  will  cost  when  completed 
and  equipped,  about  $19,000.  This  building  is  to  be  erected  on  the  property  pur- 
chased a  few  years  ago  from  Hon.  D.  N.  Sprague.  Provision  has  also  been  made 
for  the  building  of  an  outside  heating  plant  that  will  heat  both  the  old  building 
and  the  new  one,  and  when  these  improvements  are  completed  Wapello  will  have 
excellent  school  facilities. 

In  the  summer  of  1853  and  in  the  winter  of  1853  and  1854,  Wapello  had  two 
excellent  school  teachers  in  Rev.  Wilson  R.  Woodruff  and  Professor  A.  M.  East- 
man. Professor  Eastman  conducted  what  was  called  the  Wapello  Academy,  and 
Rev.  Woodruff  was  in  charge  of  the  District  school.  The  Wapello  Intelligencer 
of  Feb.  13,  1854,  commends  these  as  being  two  of  as  good  schools  as  could  be 
found.  Sometime  before  this,  T.  P.  Brown,  we  think  of  Morning  Sun,  had 
charge  of  the  Wapello  academy.     This  was  probably  as  early  as  1851. 

J.  B.  Brigham,  who  was  also  a  lawyer  and  newspaper  man.  had  charge  of  the 
Wapello  schools  in  1859.  The  same  year  Mrs.  P.  P.  Wells  had  a  private  school 
at  home. 

Shortly  before  he  became  County  Superintendent,  Hon.  L.  A.  Reiley  taught 
school  in  Wapello. 

In  1871,  Charles  Horace  Greeley  Frye  was  principal  of  the  Wapello  schools. 
Mr.  Frye  was  afterwards  County  Superintendent,  and  afterwards  obtained  con- 
siderable notoriety  in  one  of  the  Dakota-.  Miss  Addie  Pell,  afterward  married 
to  John  Jenkins,  taught  in  the  Wapello  schools  for  many  years,  and  was  both 
popular  and  competent. 

About  1846  many  of  the  citizens  of  the  county  were  of  the  opinion  that  it 
needed  a  better  court  house,  and  also  a  jail.  Accordingly,  petitions  were  cir- 
culated and  numerously  signed,  asking  the  commissioners  to  take  measures  to 
sell  the  large  number  of  town  lots  in  Wapello  still  belonging  to  the  county,  and 
use  the  proceeds  for  the  erection  of  a  good  court  house.  Soon  after  this  petition 
began  to  be  circulated  a  remonstrance  was  gotten  up  and  numerously  signed, 
informing  the  county  commissioners  that  an  expenditure  for  a  court  house  would 
receive  the  "decided  disapprobation"  of  the  majority  of  the  citizen-  of  the  county. 
This  remonstrance  seems  to  have  had  some  effect,  for  it  was  not  until  January, 
1850.  that  the  commissioners  ordered  the  question  of  court  house  or  no  court 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  355 

house,  to  be  submitted  to  the  people  at  the  April  election  of  that  year ;  by  that 
time  the  disapprobationists  were  in  the  minority. 

On  May  12,  1851,  a  number  of  bids  were  filed  for  building  the  new  court 
house  according  to  the  specifications  which  had  been  prepared  by  B.  H.  Druse 
and  John  Mann.  George  Jennison,  and  D.  W.  Herrick  made  a  bid  on  the  stone 
work;  their  bid  was  $700.  B.  H.  Druse  put  in  a  bid  of  $6,000  "for  material, 
carpenter  and  joiner  work,  painting  and  finishing  in  accordance  with  draft  and 
specifications."  P.  G.  Woodworth  put  in  a  bid  for  the  entire  brick  work  and 
plastering  for  $2,900,  which  he  agreed  to  "complete  in  good  workmanlike  style." 

The  bid  of  E.  B.  I  sett  does  not  seem  to  be  among  the  papers  but  he  got  the 
contract  at  $8,000.  The  building  was  to  be  enclosed  and  covered  by  December 
1,  1851,  and  completed  suitable  to  hold  court  in  by  September,  1852. 

It  was  also  agreed  that  the  court  house  should  be  erected  on  the  public  square 
"so  that  a  line  running  to  the  north  and  south  through  the  center  of  said  square 
shall  pass  through  the  center  of  said  court  house,  which  shall  front  on  the  south, 
and  the  rear  of  which  court  house  shall  be  bounded  by  a  line  running  east  and 
west  through  the  center  of  the  public  square." 

On  July  6,  1852,  after  Wright  Williams  became  county  judge,  a  petition  was 
presented  to  him,  praying  that  the  court  house  should  front  on  Main  street  in- 
stead of  Washington  street,  and  he  agreed  to  have  it  so  done  provided  the  con- 
tractor would  not  demand  extra  pay  for  it.  There  was  considerable  delay  on 
the  part  of  Mr.  Isett  in  finishing  the  building  but  it  was  completed  about  1854. 
Mr.  Isett  made  claims  for  extra  work  done,  not  included  in  the  contract  and 
for  interest  paid  by  him  on  sums  which  he  should  have  received  from  the  county. 
His  bill  for  these  extras  was  not  presented  until  after  Francis  Springer  became 
county  judge.  It  seems  that  the  county  judge  objected  to  some  things  about  the 
work  and  insisted  on  certain  reductions  on  those  parts  not  completed  according 
to  contract,  and  the  matter  was  submitted  by  agreement  to  Samuel  Townsend 
and  B.  F.  Druse  and  they  made  reductions  on  some  twelve  different  items, 
amounting  to  $733.17.  Mr.  Isett's  bill  before  these  reductions  were  made,  was 
$10,025.84.  The  matter  was  finally  settled  after  allowing  Mr.  Isett  $210  for 
interest,  and  providing  for  the  completion  of  several  parts  of  the  work  which  had 
been  left  unfinished,  and  the  total  cost  to  the  county  of  the  court  house  as  finished, 
was  $9,577.69. 

The  first  effort  to  incorporate  Wapello  as  a  city  was  in  March,  1852,  when 
B.  F.  Wright  presented  a  petition  to  the  county  judge,  stating  that  it  had  become 
apparent  to  the  signers  who  were  citizens  of  Wapello  that  it  would  be  expedient 
to  have  such  town  incorporated,  and  praying  that  a  vote  be  taken  upon  that  ques- 
tion. The  petition  was  signed  by  E.  B.  Tripp  and  forty  others  and  the  record 
states  that  the  county  judge,  being  satisfied  that  the  petition  was  signed  by  at 
least  one-fourth  of  the  legal  voters  of  the  village,  and  that  the  town  or  village 
had  at  least  three  hundred  inhabitants,  an  election  was  ordered  to  be  held  on  the 
first  Monday  in  April,  1852.  The  result  of  this  election  is  indicated  by  the  fol- 
lowing memorandum  on  the  county  judge's  record :  "Wright  Williams  do 
hereby  certify  that  an  election  held  in  the  town  of  Wapello  on  the  fifth  day  of 
April,  1852,  the  majority  of  the  votes  cast  for  and  against  incorporation  were 
against  incorporation.     Therefore  no  further  proceedings  will  be  had  thereon." 


356  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

On  July  ii,  1854,  B.  F.  AY  right  again  presented  a  petition,  this  time  with 
forty-eight  signers,  asking  for  an  election  upon  the  question  of  incorporation, 
and  it  was  ordered  that  the  question  be  submitted  at  the  time  of  the  general 
election  on  the  first  Monday  in  August. 

Under  date  of  August  18,  1854,  the  county  judge  made  a  record  entry,  show- 
ing that  the  election  returns  on  said  incorporation  in  the  village  of  Wapello 
show  that  a  majority  of  the  votes  cast  at  the  election  were  in  favor  of  incorpora- 
tion, and  it  was  ordered  that  an  election  be  held  in  the  court  house  in  Wapello 
on  Monday,  September  18,  1854.  to  give  the  legal  voters  an  opportunity  of  choos- 
ing five  persons  to  prepare  articles  of  incorporation  for  said  town.  Myron  P. 
Vanloon,  J.  K.  Milligan  and  John  R.  Sisson  were  appointed  judges,  and  Thomas 
G.  Taylor  and  James  S.  Hurley  were  appointed  clerks. 

Xo  further  proceedings  seem  to  have  been  taken  under  this  order;  at  least 
we  find  no  record  of  it. 

The  next  movement  toward  incorporation  was  on  January  7,  185b,  when 
L.  P.  Wells  presented  a  petition  of  one-fourth  the  legal  voters  of  the  village  of 
Wapello  and  England's  Addition  thereto,  praying  that  an  election  be  held  for 
the  purpose  of  incorporating  said  village,  and  it  was  ordered  that  an  election  be 
held  on  Saturday,  January  19th,  and  that  Levi  Fisher.  Leonard  Robinson  and 
John  Corson  be  the  judges,  and  Harrison  Robinson  and  James  S.  Hurley  be  the 
clerks.  Accordingly,  the  election  was  held  on  January  19th,  the  result  being 
forty-six  votes  for  incorporation  and  one  against.  Of  the  forty-seven  voters  at 
that  election  we  believe  there  are  but  two  still  living  and  they  are  still  residents 
of  Wapello — John  L.  Sweeney  and  F.  M.  Ong.  Among  those  who  voted,  we  note 
the  following  well  known  to  all  who  are  familiar  with  the  Wapello  of  that  day : 
A.  M.  Taylor,  Lewis  Kinsey,  James  Semple,  Charles  Vanloon,  C.  F.  Morris, 
R.  E.  Archibald,  D.  N.  Sprague,  Dr.  T.  G.  Taylor,  Dr.  H.  T.  Cleaver,  J.  S. 
Hurley,  I'..  H.  Druse  and  James  H.  Hicklin. 

It  seems  that  the  next  step  toward  incorporation  was  to  elect  a  committee  of 
five  to  draft  articles  of  incorporation  and  an  election  was  held  for  this  purpose 
on  February  4.  1856,  at  which  Lewis  Kinsey,  Thomas  Stoddard.  D.  N.  Sprague, 
II.  T.  Cleaver  and  John  Corson  were  elected  for  that  purpose. 

Then  there  had  to  be  another  election  to  decide  upon  the  adoption  of  the 
articles  drafted  by  the  committee,  or  commissioners,  as  thev  are  called  in  some 
of  the  proceedings.  The  result  was  favorable  to  their  adoption,  twenty-eight 
votes  being  cast  for  and  none  against. 

The  first  election  of  officers  of  the  incorporated  town  of  Wapello  was  held 
on  the  8th  day  of  March,  1856.  One  hundred  and  thirteen  persons  voted  at  this 
election.  The  vote  on  mayor  was :  John  Corson,  75  ;  Joel  C.  Parsons,  37 ;  for 
recorder,  Lewis  Kinsey,  74,  Philander  Jenkins,  38;  for  marshal.  James  Semple. 
70,  J.  W.  Duggan,  40.  The  successful  candidates  for  members  of  the  council 
were  H.  T.  Cleaver,  D.  C.  Jackson,  Leonard  Robinson,  Thomas  Stoddard  and 
L.  P.  Wells.  Their  opponents  were  Thomas  Stewart.  J.  C.  Stoughton,  Obadiah 
Garrison,  William  Keach  and  Levi  Fisher. 

The  people  of  Wapello  intended  to  have  a  city  and  not  merely  an  incorporated 
town,  and  therefore  they  applied  to  the  legislature  for  a  special  act  of  incorpora- 
tion and  this  was  granted,  and  the  act  approved  on  July  15,  1856.  Wapello  still 
retains  her  special  charter  there  being  but  four  other  cities  in  the  state  now  acting 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  357 

under  special  charters.  This  charter  fixed  the  limits  of  the  city  and  divided  it 
into  three  wards  and  provided  for  the  election  of  a  mayor,  six  councilmcn,  a 
recorder,  an  assessor,  a  treasurer  and  a  marshal,  and  the  first  election  under 
the  new  charter  was  to  be  held  on  the  first  Monday  of  September,  1856,  and 
annually  thereafter.  This  charter  was  amended  by  the  act  of  January  21,  1857. 
For  a  number  of  years  the  elections  for  officers  have  been  held  biennially,  this 
change  having  been  made  necessary  by  a  general  provision  of  law  applying  to 
all  the  cities  of  the  state. 

The  first  newspaper  printed  in  Louisa  county  was  the  Louisa  County  Times, 
published  at  Wapello,  beginning  November  27,  1850,  by  D.  Sheward  and  J.  Noff- 
singer.  Air.  Sheward  did  not  remain  connected  with  the  paper  very  long  but  Mr. 
Noffsinger  continued  to  publish  the  Times  for  about  three  years,  when  he  changed 
the  name  of  the  paper  to  the  Wapello  Intelligencer.  The  Intelligencer  had  so 
many  editors  and  proprietors  that  it  would  be  a  difficult  matter  to  keep  track  of 
them,  even  if  we  had  complete  files  of  the  paper.  Mr.  Noffsinger  seems  to  have 
sold  out  to  A.  Hodge,  September  2~,  1853,  but  on  January  24,  1854,  Mr.  Noff- 
singer again  resumed  control.  In  the  fall  of  the  same  year  he  sold  it  to  J.  S. 
and  W.  H.  Milligan,  who  ran  it  until  January,  1855,  when  W.  H.  and  H.  N. 
Milligan  became  proprietors  but  in  March  of  that  year  another  change  was  made, 
when  J.  E.  Harroun  and  L.  P.  Wells  assumed  control,  and  the  latter  was  editor 
for  the  greater  part  of  1856.  Wells,  Miller  &  Company  were  the  proprietors  in 
February,  1857,  and  Hodge  &  Barr  in  April,  1857.  Up  to  this  time  the  paper  had 
been  non-partisan,  but  on  October  18,  1857,  Mr.  Hodge  took  charge  and  an- 
nounced that  thereafter  it  would  be  a  strictly  democratic  paper. 

In  1858-9  at  different  times  it  was  edited  or  owned  by  J.  B.  Brigham;  Thomas 
S.  Bell :  William  Reach ;  Kelly,  Ives  &  Mintun ;  John  Jenkins  &  Company ;  Jen- 
kins &  Barr  and  perhaps  others. 

The  Wapello  Republican  was  established  by  J.  M.  Edwards  in  1859,  and  soon 
after  this  the  Intelligencer  went  out  of  business,  leaving  the  field  to  the  Republi- 
can. The  Republican  had  a  variety  of  owners  and  editors  prior  to  1867,  among 
whom  were  James  D.  Barr  and  S.  E.  Jones. 

In  1867  it  was  purchased  by  L.  W.  Myers,  who  continued  to  publish  it  for  a 
great  many  years.  He  sold  to  J.  B.  Wilson,  who  sold  to  Geo.  E.  E.  Townsend ; 
then  C.  M.  Wright  owned  it  awhile,  and  sold  to  R.  G.  Hawkins,  the  present 
owner.  In  1870  James  D.  Barr  established  the  Louisa  County  Record  and  con- 
tinued to  run  it  for  several  years.  Julius  Taylor,  also  edited  the  "Union  Demo- 
crat" for  a  short  period.  L.  P.  Wells  and  Beard  Brothers  published  the  Louisa 
County  Times,  and  later  Hon.  Clint.  L.  Price  published  the  "Democrat."  The 
Wapello  Tribune,  now  owned  by  J.  A.  Bigger,  was  established  by  J.  B.  Wilson, 
he  sold  to  R.  L.  Reiley,  who  sold  to  Mr.  Bigger. 

We  have  compiled  a  number  of  items  of  interest  from  the  files  of  the  early 
papers  published  in  Wapello.  This  was  a  difficult  compilation  to  make.  It  was 
hard  to  tell  what  to  put  in,  and  what  to  leave  out.  When  the  Times  was  first 
published,  its  office  was  on  Front  street,  hvo  doors  south  of  E.  B.  Isett's  store. 
Local  advertisers  in  the  first  issue  were  E.  B.  Tripp,  proprietor  of  the  Wapello 
drug  store ;  E.  G.  Jones  and  Jacob  Pilger.  general  merchandise.  Mr.  Pilger  ad- 
vertised to  sell  his  goods  for  "cash,  wheat  or  pork."  From  Mr.  Jones'  ad.  it 
seems  that  he  was  also  conducting  a  store  at  Columbus  City  at  that  time.     The 


358  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

lawyers  having  cars  in  this  paper  were  J.  Xoffsinger,  John  Bird  and  E.  H. 
Thomas.     The  doctors  were  H.  T.  Cleaver  and  J.  Bell,  Jr. 

During  December,  1850.  we  note  the  following  advertisements:  C.  F.  Morris, 
tailor;  F.  Mohns,  saddler;  John  Carpenter,  proprietor  of  the  Ohio  House,  corner 
Jackson   and    Water    streets ;    George    Helbig,    proprietor    of    the    lone    House. 

The  Times  of  December  31,  1850,  says:  "New  and  most  favorable  indications 
of  coal  were  discovered  within  six  miles  of  Wapello  about  a  week  ago." 

In  February,  1852,  E.  &  W.  Keach  advertised  the  Union  Hotel,  being  the 
building  formerly  occupied  by  Jacob  Mintun.  A.  M.  Taylor  advertises  to  do 
wool  carding  in  Wapello. 

In  May  of  this  year  appears  the  card  of  B.  F.  Wright,  attorney  at  law.  in  which 
he  states  that  he  had  recently  come  from  Indianapolis.  M.  &  J.  Davison  adver- 
tise their  store  this  year. 

On  December  2-,  1852,  the  Times  shouts  "victory"  over  the  fact  that  Semple 
&  Company's  flour  mill  had  begun  to  grind.  It  considers  this  the  beginning  of 
great  prosperity  for  Wapello. 

In  the  Times  of  February  24.  1852.  is  the  entire  directory  of  Wapello's  busi- 
ness men  advertising  in  its  columns: 

.Merchants — E.  B.  Isett,  E.  Keach,  M.  Davison,  J.  I'ilger. 

Druggists— E.  B.  Tripp.  E.  B.  Isett. 

Tailors— Merkle  &  Mitchman,  C.  F.  Morris. 

Mechanics — M.  Yanloon,  carpenter;  H.  Hunt,  J.  Allison,  wagon  makers; 
Winter  &  Welker,  H.  Christy,  cabinet  makers ;  F.  Mohns,  D.  P.  Thompson,  sad- 
dlers;  Levi  Fisher,  tinner;  George  Graham,  James  Harris,  J.  Borchers,  F. 
Weaver,  blacksmiths;  Tripp  &  Seely.  A.  Kent,  shoemakers;  P.  G.  Woodworth, 
Sala,  plasterers ;  Joel  Parsons,  cooper. 

Lawyers — J.  Bird,  B.  F.  Wright,  J.  Xoffsinger. 

Physicians — J.  Bell.  Jr..  H.  T.  Cleaver,  T.  G.  Taylor. 

Hotels — Ohio  House,  lone  House. 

Bakers— A.  M.  Mathews. 

This  same  issue  has  an  article  stating  that  during  the  past  week  a  paper  had 
been  circulated  for  a  subscription  to  build  a  Methodist  church  and  that  it  was 
being  liberallv  met.  The  Times  states:  "Perhaps  no  other  town  in  the  state  with 
the  same  extent  of  population  and  amount  of  means,  is  more  needy  than  this  in 
point  of  good  houses  for  public  worship." 

About  this  same  time  the  name  of  Rev.  Obed  Sperry  appears  in  the  paper  as 
a  resident  Baptist  clergyman. 

May  6,  1852.  F.  L.  (  Yankee  1  Robinson  and  his  troupe  gave  a  performance  in 
a  water  proof  pavilion,  said  to  hold  a  thousand  people  and  the  show  was  pro- 
nounced a  success. 

The  Intelligencer  of  May  24,  1853,  has  a  personal  item  about  B.  F.  Wright, 
Esq..  who  had  just  returned  from  an  extended  visit  to  his  parents.  The  closing 
paragraph  i-  as  follows:  "Speaking  of  his  profession,  reminds  us  that  there  is 
now  pending  an  'action  in  court,*  in  which  he  is  'chief  advocate,'  and  we  sincerely 
hope  that  he  will  prosecute  it  to  a  judgment  ere  many  more  'courts.'  It  is  a  state 
case  entitled  'The  State  of  Matrimony  vs.  B.  F.  Wright' :  the  penalty,  his  heart 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  359 

and  its  affections ;  evidence  on  part  of  the  state,  the  ladies  generally ;  no  doubt  is 
entertained  of  His  conviction.  Sentence,  for  life.  Don't  know  where  the  pen- 
itentiary of  that  state  is  located." 

The  Intelligencer  of  June  21,  1853,  notes  that  the  town  is  beginning  to  look 
up  and  prospects  brightening ;  improvements  about  town  going  forward  very  rap- 
idly. It  is  expected  that  the  court  house  will  be  completed  by  fall.  It  is  noted 
that  the  school  district  had  recently  voted  $2,000  for  the  erection  of  a  suitable 
schoolhouse,  and  Rev.  Eastman  had  announced  the  opening  of  an  academy  on 
July  1  ith  and  had  purchased  the  present  (that  is,  the  old  court  house)  for  a 
schoolroom  and  intended  to  add  another  story  to  it. 

E.  M.  Dean  advertises  in  1853  as  a  stone  cutter,  and  a  local  item  praises  the 
work  he  did  for  the  courthouse,  and  states  that  the  stone  was  taken  from  quar- 
ries at  the  bluff  southwest  of  Wapello. 

Dr.  Andrew  P.  Ringer  died  in  the  summer  of  1853. 

In  July,  1853,  the  Times  published  the  business  directory  and  in  addition  to 
the  names  given  in  the  directory  of  1852  we  note  the  following: 

Merchants — G.  A.  Jones. 
Druggists — H.  Howey. 

Mechanics — Samuel  Warn,  carpenter;  E.  M.  Dean,  stone  cutter;  D.  Morgan 
&  Company,  saddlers;  H.  Weber,  blacksmith ;  Ira  Tompkins,  shoemaker. 
Lawyers — John  T.  Burris. 
Hotel — Louisa  House. 

The  Intelligencer  of  January  31,  1854,  has  the  following  item:  "The  large 
pens  of  corn  on  the  premises  of  Messrs.  Mark  Davison  and  E.  B.  Isett,  bespeak 
a  brisk  trade  in  that  line,  and  are  a  passing  comment  on  the  productiveness  of 
Louisa  county  farms.  Whole  trains  of  wagons  loaded  with  corn  are  seen  rolling 
into  town  nearly  every  day." 

"The  stacks  of  pork,  too,  in  the  establishment  of  the  aforesaid  dealers  is  un- 
mistakable evidence  that  prices  have  ranged  favorably,  etc." 

In  July,  1854,  the  Intelligencer  notes  that  the  Congregational  church,  the 
Methodist  church,  the  new  schoolhouse  and  numerous  private  buildings  are  being 
erected.  During  part  of  this  year  there  was  a  literary  society,  which  held  meet- 
ings every  Friday  evening  at  the  rooms  of  the  Wapello  Academy,  conducted  by 
Rev.  Eastman,  and  in  February  the  following  gentlemen  were  invited  to  deliver 
addresses  before  the  society  during  the  fore  part  of  the  year ;  Revs.  Woods  and 
Lathrop,  Dr.  J.  Bell,  Jr.,  Rev.  Woodruff,  B.  F.  Wright,  Rev.  Eastman,  James 
Noffsinger,  Rev.  J.  C.  Tucker.  E.  Reach  and  Lewis  Kinsey. 

This  year  the  law  card  of  J.  S.  Hurley  first  appears  in  the  paper. 

There  was  quite  a  celebration  on  the  Fourth  in  Wapello  in  1855.  We  note 
that  prayer  was  offered  by  G.  W.  Teas  and  that  the  Declaration  of  Independence 
was  read  by  D.  H.  Reynolds,  afterward  a  general  in  the  Confederate  army.  The 
oration  was  delivered  by  L.  P.  Wells.  J.  H.  Isett  sang  "The  Star  Spangled  Ban- 
ner." "This  piece  was  performed  in  a  manner  that  brought  down  the  enthusias- 
tic cheers  of  the  audience  upon  the  performer."  A  dozen  or  more  toasts  were 
given  and  it  appears  that  the  man  who  proposed  a  toast  was  usually  invited  to 
respond  to  it.    These  were  Air  Line  railroad  times  and  we  give  the  toast  proposed 


360  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

by  Dr.  John  Bell,  Jr.,  and  the  editorial  comment  in  regard  to  it :  "The  Pacific 
Railroad. — The  wedding  of  the  Pacific  and  the  Atlantic  oceans.  Nations  stand 
ready  to  greet  the  bridal  m«  >rn  and  serve  the  bridal  feast ;  and  when  the  last  link 
is  laid,  and  the  first  fire  breathing  offspring  has  tried  his  metal  lungs  at  a  squall, 
and  started  on  his  triumphal  Air  Line  march  to  greet  his  Pacific  Father,  at  the 
setting  sun,  his  track  right  across  Aunt  Louisa's  bosom,  may  her  oldest  son, 
young  Wapello,  be  out,  with  bis  mother's  consent,  on  Stilts  as  one  of  the  Land- 
marks." 

Dr.  Bell,  being  called  upon,  said  it  was  too  late  to  talk  about  the  Air  Line. 
It  bad  been  necessary  to  do  a  good  deal  of  talking  and  it  had  been  done,  "and  the 
railroad  was  no  longer  a  creature  of  air,  but  a  living,  acting  reality,  a  fixed  fact," 
the  Doctor  sat  down  "amid  thunders  of  enthusiastic  applause." 

This  year  the  Wapello  mill  was  grinding  between  four  and  five  hundred 
bushels  of  wheat  daily. 

The  card  of  D.  N.  Sprague,  attorney  at  law,  first  appears  in  April  of  this 
year. 

In  December,  1856,  we  note  that  W.  II.  Milligan  was  conducting  the  Intelli- 
gencer ;  also  that  during  that  month  Lewis  Kinsey  was  appointed  by  Governor 
( Irimes  as  clerk  of  the  supreme  court  to  fill  the  vacancy  occasioned  by  the  declin- 
ation of  the  "late  incumbent." 

During  this  year  there  were  many  items  concerning  the  Air  Line  railroad,  but 
we  have  treated  that  matter  pretty  fully  in  its  proper  place. 

In  1857  we  find  advertisements  of  Taylor  &  Muldoon,  druggists  and  of  J.  B. 
Brigham,  attorney  and  counselor  at  law. 

September  7,  1857,  the  following  officers  were  elected  in  Wapello:  Mayor, 
John  Bird ;  recorder,  Henry  Hintzen  ;  marshal.  E.  W.  Brady ;  assessor,  Thomas 
Stoddard;  treasurer.  John  Hayes;  councilrhen,  first  ward,  J.  H.  Rollins  and  David 
McMichael;  second  ward,  William  Keach  and  M.  P.  Vanloon;  third  ward,  J. 
M.  Derrick,  John  Brogan. 

In  April,  1857,  appears  the  card  of  the  first  bankers  in  Wapello,  namely.  Bird, 
Brown  &  Company,  the  firm  consisting  of  John  Bird,  T.  Horace  Brown  and  Elias 
Keach.  The  firm  was  soon  changed  to  Brown  &  Company.  Mr.  Bird  retiring. 
During  the  close  of  the  year  Elias  and  James  Keach  advertised  the  exchange  and 
banking  house  under  the  name  of  E.  Keach  &  Company. 

This  year  Sheriff  Taylor  advertises  the  sale  of  the  Globe  House  on  a  judg- 
ment in  favor  of  John  L.  Poor  and  against  William  Rankin.  This  house  was 
situated  on  lot  1,  block  10.  in  the  original  town. 

We  publish  in  full  the  business  directory  appearing  in  the  Intelligencer  early 
in  January,   1859: 

WAPELLO    BUSINESS   DIRECTORY.    185Q. 

"Intelligencer"  Office.  Empire  Block,  No.  3,  Up  Stairs. 

Merchants 

C.  Jackson  &  Co.,  E.  L.  Crain.  J.  I'.  Bull,  (I.  A.  [ones.  Gus.  Jones,  A.  Runge. 
I..   P.  Wells.  R.  Fuhrmann,   Mark  Davison,    Henry  Helverson.  John  Carpenter. 

Druggists 

M.  P.  Vanloon,  Harris  Howey. 


SCENE   OX   THE   IOWA   RIVER    AT   WAPELLO 


W    YOP 

■    PUBLIC   I 


r.RNOI    ASD 
B  L 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  :;C1 

Hardware 

T.  W.  Bailey. 

Shoemakers 

George  Plitt,  J.  Rock,  A.  Cook. 

Books  &  Stationery 
John  Keller. 

Tailors 
C.  F.  Morris,  G.  Grieble. 

Daguerrean  Artist 
S.  T.  Trimble. 

Coopers 
J.  C.   Parsons,  Isaac  Thorndike. 

Blacksmiths 

A.  Garret,  T.  Murtha,  P.  Drischal,  J.  Sprinkle. 

Masons 
P.  Gilda. 

Tin  Shops 

Levi  Fisher,  Second  street,  one  door  north  postoffice ;  D.  S.  Stuart,  over  T.  W. 
Bailey's. 

Cabinet  Makers 

Christie  &  Stein,  Henry  Christy,  John  Stein. 

Carpenters  &  Joiners 
Archibald  &  Lincoln,  J.  C.  Chase.  John  Sweeney,  John  Brogan,  J.  Stone. 

Mill  Wright 

B.  H.  Druse. 

Harness  Makers 

X.  D.  Morgan  &  Brother.  Henry  Botha. 

Wagon  Makers   • 
John  Allison  Gray. 

Millers 

Wapello  Mill   Company,  S.  Townsend,  James  Semple,  R.   F.  Charles,  John 
Mann  and  Neal,  millers. 

Planing  Mills  and  Sash   factories 

Archibald  &  Lincoln,  J.  C.  Chase. 

Lawyers 

Hurley  &  Brigham,  J.  S.  Hurley,  J.  B.  Brigham,  Bird  &  Sprague,  J.  Bird. 
D.  N.  Sprague,  Richman  Bro.  &  Perkins,  H.  W.  Perkins,  resident;  B.  F.  Wright. 

Physicians  &  Surgeons 

H.  T.  Cleaver;  Taylor  &  Muldoon,  T.  G.  Taylor.  J.  Muldoon;  John  Hurley. 


362  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

Ministers  of  the  Gospel 

O.  H.  Miller,  Presb. :  J.  H.  Coggshall,  Bapt. ;  J.  McClasky,  Meth. 

During  this  year  Chase  &  Bull  started  the  steam  flour  mill,  and  Thomas  Owens 
began  to  advertise  the  Iowa  House. 

From  the  Wapello  Republican  of  January  12,  i860,  published  by  J.  M.  Edwards 
and  Henry  Mintun  we  copy  the  following  program  of  the  Calliopean  Institute: 
The  Calliopean  Institute  Will  Meet  at  the  Court  House  on  Friday  Eve, 

January  13,  i860. 
Programme 

1  Music Strauss  Band 

2.  Reading  Minutes 

3.  Miscellaneous  Business 

4.  Critique    H.   W.   Perkins 

5.  Impromptu   B.  F.  Wright 

6.  Select  Reading Miss  Abbie  Baker 

7.  Music    Strauss    Band 

8.  Written  Discussion   D.  C.  Hurley— G.  F.  Danson 

9.  Poem T.  S.  Bell 

10.  Essay  J-  L-  KmS 

11.  Declamation P-  P-  Kinsey 

12.  Essay   Miss  Cal  Ringer 

1  t,.  Music Strauss  Band 

14.  Impromptu    Levi   Chase 

15.  Machine   Poetry    John   Hale 

16.  Declamation Smith  Galey 

17.  Essay J-  E.  Vale 

18.  Select  Reading Miss  Mary  Thomas 

19.  Song A.  W.  Kelly 

20.  Reading  "Wreath" Miss  Rose  Davison 

21 .  Essay   G.  B.  Williams 

22.  Declamation    Jacob   Hunsicker 

23.  Select  Reading Miss  Ella  Wilson 

24.  Reading  "Banner"    H.N.  Milligan 

25.  Music    Strauss    Band 

Adjournment. 

John  Herrick, 

President. 

J.  N.  Beatty, 

Secretary. 

In  January,  i860,  fall  wheat  was  worth  80  to  85  cents;  spring  wheat,  75  to  80 
cents  ;  corn  25  cents  ;  potatoes,  30  to  40  cents  ;  flour  $2.50  per  cwt. ;  hogs,  $5.50  per 
cwt ;  coffee,  16  2/3  cents  lb. ;  sugar,  9  to  11  cents  lb. 

The  Republican  changed  hands  several  times  during  i860.  January  12,  Min- 
tun &  Edwards  were  publishers ;  May  31,  J.  &  H.  Mintun  were  the  publishers,  and 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  363 

Henry  Fulton,  editor.  August  y  the  firm  was  Fulton  &  Mintun  and  on  the  ifrth  it 
was  H.  Fulton  &  Company. 

The  issue  of  the  Republican  for  January  3,  1861,  indicates  hard  times.  Nearly 
one-half  the  paper  was  taken  up  with  the  tax  sale  list  of  Columbus  City  and 
Wapello  townships  alone.  The  list  was  so  large  that  it  could  not  all  be  printed 
in  one  issue. 

Sheriff  Taylor  also  had  eight  sheriff  sale  notices  in  this  issue. 

We  have  few  items  of  interest  concerning  Wapello  history  during  the  war 
period,  except  such  as  relate  to  the  war.  Many  of  her  citizens  responded  to  the 
call  for  soldiers,  and  their  names  will  be  found  in  the  chapter  devoted  to  that 
subject. 

In  June,  1865.  James  D.  Barr  was  publishing  the  Republican.  Among  the 
advertisers  we  note  R.  Prentiss  as  an  attorney.  Shortly  before  this  Mr.  Prentiss 
had  advertised  at  Port  Louisa.    Also  E.  B.  Downs,  M.  D.,  of  Wapello. 

Howe's  Circus  visited  Wapello  in  June. 

About  this  time  L.  P.  Wells  was  doing  some  poetical  advertising.  We  quote 
from  one  of  them  to  show  their  style : 

"Hark  on  the  air  the  music  swells 
Ami  list  unto  the  tale  it  tells 
As  o'er  the  plains  and  through  the  dells 
With  sound  as  sweet  as  Switzer  bells 
The  fall  of  prices  it  foretells — 
Now  list  the  sound  ye  city  bells 
And  each  that  in  the  country  dwells 
Go  buy  your  'rig'  of  him  who  sells 
At  cheapest  price — that's  L.  P.  Wells." 

Monday,  September  4,  1865,  the  following  named  persons  were  elected  to  office 
in  the  city  of  Wapello  ;  Mayor,  J.  H.  Rollins ;  recorder,  I.  S.  Drummond  ;  assessor, 
H.  Lincoln ;  marshal,  R.  Archibald :  councilmen,  first  ward,  J.  H.  Keller  and 
Joseph  Jackson;  second  ward.  J.  D.  Barr  and  O.  A.  Taylor;  third  ward,  Charles 
Vanloon  and  Vinton  Massie. 

Tanuary  9,  1866,  the  Republican  seems  to  have  been  published  by  E.  H.  Thomas 
and  edited  by  S.  E.  Jones,  who  was  also  a  physician  and  county  judge.  In  this 
paper  G.  T.  Whisler  advertises  as  a  lawyer  in  Grandview.  H.  D.  Keller  advertises 
a  new  photograph  gallery.  It  also  has  the  business  cards  of  J.  F.  Grimes,  M.  D., 
and  E.  H.  Burris,  electric  physician  and  surgeon. 

Editorial  reference  is  made  to  a  recent  meeting  of  the  Louisa  County  Medical 
Society,  in  which  it  is  stated  that  this  is  the  oldest  medical  society  in  the  state, 
having  been  organized  nearly  fourteen  years  ago. 

In  1866  we  find  E.  D.  Ferguson  as  a  doctor  in  Wapello,  and  Walter  Fritzche, 
claim  agent. 

Among  the  business  cards  in  the  Republican  in  1866  we  note  P.  P.  Kinsey,  L. 
P.  Wells,  A.  Runge,  M.  Davison,  Jacob  Mintun,  A.  Garrett,  G.  Jones,  John  Keck, 
S.  Griebel,  Hicklin  &  McKay  and  M.  P.  Vanloon. 

This  year  the  Wapello  woolen  mill  building  was  commenced  in  the  fall,  by 
Henry  Botha,  James  Semple  and  others. 


364  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

Another  institution  that  should  be  mentioned  in  connection  with  Wapello's 
history  is  the  Louisa  County  Agricultural  Society,  which  is  believed  to  have  been 
the  first  county  society  of  this  kind  to  hold  a  county  fair.  The  most  of  its  ex- 
hibitions were  given  at  Wapello,  although  at  one  time  it  was  "on  wheels"  for  a 
few  years,  giving  exhibitions  at  Morning  Sun  and  at  Columbus  City.  The  Agri- 
cultural Society  has  had  many  ups  and  downs,  possibly  more  of  the  latter  than 
the  former.  A  few  years  ago  it  was  succeeded  by  the  Wapello  District  Fair 
Association,  and  considerable  money  was  spent  in  paying  up  old  debts,  erecting 
new  buildings,  fences,  etc.,  but  owing  to  unfavorable  weather  conditions  for  sev- 
eral years  another  heavy  debt  was  contracted  and  the  association  practically  re- 
tired from  the  fair  business. 

We  do  not  have  the  date  of  the  first  fair,  but  our  authority  for  the  statement 
that  Louisa  county  had  the  first  fair,  is  an  article  from  the  Iowa  Farmer,  quoted 
in  the  Wapello  Intelligencer  of  August  23rd,  1853,  which  states:  "The  first  agri- 
cultural fair  ever  held  in  the  state  was  held  in  Louisa  county.  It  was  projected 
and  carried  forward  from  year  to  year  by  the  farmers  of  the  county  voluntarily 
and  without  that  stimulus  from  the  state  government  which  perhaps  induces  the 
organization  of  some  of  the  societies  now  days." 

The  original  society  held  a  fair  at  Wapello  in  October,  1853,  and  awarded  to 
George  Key  the  first  premium  for  the  "best  acre  of  corn, — 120  bushels  to  the 
acre."  Soloman  Fishthorn  was  given  the  second  premium  because  he  only  raised 
in  bushels  to  the  acre.  They  either  had  some  very  tall  corn  or  some  very  ac- 
commodating judges  in  those  days. 

We  must  not  forget  to  mention  the  fact  that  Wapello  once  issued  money.  At 
that  time  it  was  called  scrip,  and  bills  of  denomination  of  one,  two,  three  and 
five  dollars  were  issued  in  large  numbers  in  1857.  Samuel  Townsend  was  mayor 
and  Levi  Fisher  was  Recorder.  It  is  said  that  they  were  largely  circulated 
through  the  medium  of  the  bank  of  Bird,  Brown  &  Keach,  or  their  successors, 
we  are  not  sure  which,  as  Colonel  Bird  was  not  connected  with  the  bank  very 
long.  It  is  also  said  that  Wapello  never  received  any  financial  benefit  from  the 
issuance  of  this  scrip,  but  never  lost  anything  by  it,  as  none  of  it  was  ever  re- 
deemed. A  facsimile  of  the  various  denominations  of  this  scrip  is  given  herewith. 
During  the  war  the  Wapello  soldiers  distributed  considerable  of  this  scrip  among 
the  unsophisticated  southerners,  and  for  years  afterward  it  was  not  an  uncommon 
thing  for  the  Wapello  banks  or  the  city  officials  to  receive  some  of  it  for  collec- 
tion. \\'e  have  it  on  the  authority  of  men  who  were  living  in  Wapello  at  that 
time,  that  many  of  our  neighboring  cities  issued  similar  scrip  and  that  none  of 
it  was  ever  redeemed. 

Wapello  Lodge  Xo.  5,  A.  F.  &  A.  M.,  was  constituted  on  January  2,  1843. 
by  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Iowa  at  Iowa  City.  A  dispensation  was  granted  to  George 
W.  McCleary,  Robert  F.  Burchell,  Lewis  Kinsey,  and  others  to  form  a  lodge  at 
Wapello ;  and  this  was  done  and  the  lodge  was  represented  at  the  second  meeting 
of  the  Grand  Lodge  in  January.  1844,  by  G.  W.  McCleary,  Z.  C.  Inghram,  and 
Lewis  Kinsey.  At  this  meeting  a  charter  was  ordered  to  be  issued  to  the  lodge 
as  Wapello  Lodge  Xo.  5,  this  being  the  first  original  charter  issued  by  the  grand 
lodge  of  Iowa;  and  the  original  charter  is  still  in  use  in  the  lodge  room.  It  is  in- 
teresting to  know  that  there  was  some  good-natured  rivalry  for  the  honor  of  se- 
curing the  first  charter  from  the  new  Grand  Lodge  of  Iowa.     Brother  William 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  :;r,;, 

Abbe,  a  prominent  Mason  residing  at  Marion  in  Linn  County,  concluded  tbat  he 
would  like  to  have  the  first  dispensation  issued  by  the  new  Grand  Lodge,  and  so 
stated  while  at  Iowa  City  a  short  time  before  this.  George  W.  McCleary  was 
in  the  legislature,  and  concluded  that  he  would  outwit  Brother  Abbe  and  sent  a 
special  messenger  to  Wapello  to  secure  the  requisite  signatures  for  the  organiza- 
tion of  a  lodge.  The  petition  of  the  Wapello  brethren  was  promptly  presented 
and  the  dispensation  issued,  with  George  W.  McCleary  as  the  first  Master.  At 
its  organization,  the  lodge  was  composed  of  15  members,  and  the  officers  not  al- 
ready mentioned  were  A.  G.  Siverly,  treasurer,  J.  C.  McCleary,  secretary,  David 
Hurley,  S.  D.,  J.  A.  Millard,  J.  D.,  and  J.  W.  Watson,  tyler.  It  is  said  that  the 
dispensation  was  procured  by  J.  W.  Watson,  who  made  the  trip  to  Iowa  City 
and  back  for  that  purpose,  on  foot.  The  Masters  of  the  lodge  in  the  order  of 
their  service  are  as  follows :  Geo.  W.  McCleary,  Lewis  Kinsey,  J.  W.  Isett,  John 
Bird,  Dr.  John  Bell,  Jr.,  J.  Winter,  C.  F.  Morris,  Elias  Keach,  M.  P.  Vanloon, 
John  Hale,  Dr.  T.  G.  Taylor,  L.  P.  Wells,  J.  M.  Edwards,  Dr.  J.  F.  Grimes,  J. 
S.  Hurley.  John  Jenkins,  T.  L.  Garrett,  L.  C.  Wonnell,  L.  A.  Reiley,  Dr.  W.  S. 
Grimes,  D.  Kirkpatrick,  Clint.  L.  Price,  H.  O.  Pease,  Arthur  H.  Dewein,  Oscar 
Hale,  James  S.  McChesney,  J.  A.  Bigger,  J.  H.  Dickson,  Frank  Smith. 

The  lodge  was  organized  in  a  room  in  Drake's  Hotel,  the  building  which  was 
afterwards  called  the  Iowa  House.  After  that,  its  sessions  were  held  for  a  while 
in  a  room  over  Pilger's  store,  which  was  situated  on  the  opposite  side  of  the 
street  from  the  Iowa  House,  and  was  burned  long  ago.  It  next  occupied  a  room 
in  the  house  of  John  Allison,  adjoining  the  lot  on  which  its  present  building  now 
stands.  Then  it  was  removed  in  1846  to  a  room  prepared  for  that  purpose  in 
the  house  of  J.  W.  Watson,  situated  where  the  Wapello  State  Savings  Bank  is 
located.  In  1849,  a  movement  was  started  to  build  a  hall  in  conjunction  with 
the  Odd  Fellows.  This  resulted  in  the  erection  of  the  present  G.  A.  R.  building, 
the  lower  story  of  which  belonged  to  Elias  Keach,  and  the  upper  story  was  owned 
jointly  by  the  Masons  and  Odd  Fellows,  and  was  occupied  in  185 1.  In  1882  the 
lodge  moved  to  the  Odd  Fellows'  Hall,  where  it  remained  until  the  erection  of 
its  present  building,  which  was  completed  about  December  24,  1887.  The  pres- 
ent membership  is  92. 

Wapello  Chapter  No.  257,  Order  of  Eastern  Star  was  instituted  in  Wapello, 
Iowa,  May  3,  1899,  witn  twenty-three  charter  members,  viz:  Mr.  and  Mrs.  John 
Hale,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  H.  B.  Davison,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  L.  A.  Reiley,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  John 
G.  Keck,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Fred  Keck,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Clint.  L.  Price,  Dr.  and  Mrs.  W. 
S.  Grimes,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  A.  O.  Thompson,  Mrs.  George  Hayden,  Mrs.  W.  H. 
Cody,  Mrs.  Dr.  Tustison,  Miss  Mary  McChesney,  Miss  Una  Lacey,  Miss  Flor- 
ence Hurley,  Mr.  E.  K.  Hurley. 

The  first  officers  were:  Mrs.  Mary  A.  Davison,  Worthy  Matron;  Clint.  L. 
Price,  Worthy  Patron;  Mrs.  Clara  Hale,  Asso.  Matron;  Miss  Florence  Hurley, 
Secretary ;  Mrs.  Ida  Price,  Treasurer ;  Mrs.  Laura  E.  Grimes,  Conductress ;  Miss 
Una  Lacey,  Asso.  Conductress ;  John  Hale,  Chaplain ;  Mrs.  Sophia  Tustison, 
Adah;  Mrs.  Jessie  Thompson,  Ruth;  Mrs.  Lydia  Keck,  Ester;  Mrs.  Vira  Keck, 
Martha;  Mrs.  Sarah  Hayden,  Electa;  Mrs.  Louisa  Cody,  Warder;  H.  B.  Davi- 
son, Sentinel.  The  Eastern  Star  now  numbers  112  members.  Its  present  elec- 
tive officers  are :    Mrs.  Ida  C.  Frost,  W.  M. ;  L.  C.  Wonnell,  W.  P. ;  Mrs.  Laura 


3136  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

E.  Grimes,  Secretary;  Miss  Alice  L.  Hurley,  Treasurer;  Mrs.   Sylvia  Herrick, 
Cond. ;  Miss  Kate  Kremer,  Asso.  Matron;  Mrs.  Lola  G.  Edwards,  Asso.  Cond. 

Louisa  Lodge,  No.  19,  I.  O.  O.  F.,  of  Wapello,  was  instituted  December  18, 
1848,  and  is  now  in  its  sixty-third  year.  On  the  18th  of  November,  1848,  the  late 
George  Grasham  made  a  trip  to  Bloomington,  now  Muscatine,  and  paid  the  charter 
fee  of  $30,  the  receipt  for  which  is  now  in  possession  of  the  lodge.  The  lodge  re- 
ceived its  charter  January  19,  1849.  George  W.  McCleary  was  the  first  noble 
grand  and  Henry  Christie  the  first  representative  to  the  grand  lodge. 

Meetings  were  first  held  in  a  building  owned  by  Pilger  Brothers,  located  on 
Water  street  at  the  corner  of  Merchant.  In  1851  the  lodge  moved  to  a  building 
on  Second  street,  which  stood  on  the  site  of  the  building  now  used  by  the  Knights 
of  Pythias.  A  few  years  later  they  moved  to  their  present  home,  which  they  sub- 
sequently purchased.  The  building  together  with  the  contents  was  destroyed  by 
lire,  August  13,  1873,  and  a  new  building  was  erected  on  the  same  site  at  a  cost 
of  83,500.  At  the  time  of  the  fire  the  lodge  had  only  $900  insurance,  and  when 
the  new  building  was  completed  it  left  them  in  debt  to  the  extent  of  $1,800.  The 
debt  was  eventually  cancelled  and  the  new  hall  used  until  January  8,  1892,  when 
another  fire  occurred.  The  lodge  immediately  rebuilt,  purchasing  more  ground. 
The  building  was  made  larger,  and  the  lodge  again  incurred  an  indebtedness  of 
$2,000  but  this  was  paid  off  in  a  few  years.  The  building  eventually  became  too 
small,  owing  to  the  steady  growth  of  the  lodge  and  in  1908  a  two-story  addition 
was  built.  The  hall  is  now  a  two-story  brick  structure  24x100  feet.  The  lower 
story  is  leased  for  a  store  room,  while  the  entire  upper  floor  is  used  for  lodge 
purposes.  It  is  neatly  and  comfortably  furnished  and  serves  as  a  home  for  the 
Rebekah  encampment  as  well  a^  for  the  subordinate  lodge. 

The  charter  members  were:  George  W.  McCleary,  Henry  Christie,  Lewis  Kin- 
sey,  Joseph  L.  Derbin,  Thomas  J.  Fleming  and  Micajah  Reeder.  The  lodge  now 
has  a  membership  of  140  and  is  in  a  prosperous  and  flourishing  condition.  The 
present  officers  are :  N.  G.  E.  B.  Cook :  V.  G,  Fosdick  Fitzgerald  ;  Rec.  Sec, 
Aner  Nearhood ;  Fin.  Sec.  Fred  Gall;  Treas.,  C.  M.  Donaldson. 

Derexa  Rebekah  Lodge,  No.  129,  was  chartered  on  December  3rd,  1898.  It 
is  named  after  Mrs.  James  Semple,  who  was  a  member  of  a  Rebekah  Lodge  which 
existed  here  many  years  ago.  but   which  had   been   abandoned.  . 

The  charter  members  of  Derexa  No.  129  were:  H.  A.  Plitt,  Minnie  Plitt,  I. 
S.  McChesney.  E.  C.  McChesney.  W.  S.  Otto,  Ella  Otto.  Herman  Otto,  Elizabeth 
Otto,  Marie  E.  Otto,  Horace  Beane,  Louie  Beane,  John  Tmher,  Minnie  M.  Imber, 
America  Beane,  D.  Kirkpatrick.  Sarah  A.  Kirkpatrick,  Margaret  Graham,  lames 
Semple,  Clara  Keller.  Lillie  Shipman,  L.  C.  Winter.  Lena  Winter.  S.  G.  Stone, 
Geo.  R.  Keller,  Margaret  Keller.  The  present  officers  are:  Mollie  Schneider, 
Noble  Grand;  Angie  Bates,  Vice-Grand;  Maud  Lesnet.  Secretary ;  Carrie  Hoag. 
Treasurer. 

This  lodge  now  has  a  membership  of  85.  and  is  recognized  as  among  the  active 
lodges  of  the  state.  One  of  its  members,  Mrs.  Marie  E.  Dewein.  has  been  stenog- 
rapher for  the  state  assembly  for  several  years,  and  is  now  a  candidate  for  treas- 
urer of  the  state  organization. 

One  of  the  live  and  thriving  social  organizations  is  Black  Hawk  Lodge  No. 
281,  Knights  of  Pythias  which  was  organized  February  5.  1891.  P.  P.  NNYIT. 
The  charter  members  were  A.  M.  M.  Dornan.S.  P.  Newell.  W.  C.  Morgan.  T.  C. 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  367 

Byram,  W.  E.  Fielman,  J.  C.  Goodrich,  R.  G.  Hawkins,  R.  D.  Jamison,  A.  R. 
Copeland,  Fred  Keck,  R.  M.  Garrett,  J.  E.  Garrett,  E.  R.  Tillman,  H.  T.  Fish,  W. 
A.  Lester,  E.  K.  Hurley,  J.  W.  Illingsworth,  W.  A.  Colip,  David  Kirkpatrick, 
H.  M.  Holler,  J.  E.  Ware,  W.  S.  Grimes,  E.  M.  Edwards,  Isaac  Black,  Ed.  Hick- 
lin,  J.  S.  Kelly,  A.  W.  Loper,  G.  A.  Freeland. 

The  lodge  was  instituted  by  Liberty  Lodge  No.  22  of  Columbus  Junction.  It 
now  has  about  125  active  members,  and  its  present  officers  are :  Rex  Nyemaster, 
C.  C. ;  E.  V.  Johnson,  V.  C. ;  Fred  Davis,  P. ;  R.  W.  Adye,  M.  W. ;  H.  B.  Kelly, 
K.  R.  of  S. ;  Walter  Schwob,  M.  F. ;  R.  L.  Davison,  M.  E. ;  J.  O.  Isett,  M.  A. ; 
Warren  Stroup,  I.  G. ;  John  Mayne,  O.  G. 

The  Pythian  sisters  were  organized  as  Wapello  Chapter  No.  168,  August  13, 
1903.  The  charter  officers  were:  Mrs.  Lola  Druse,  M.  E.  C. ;  Mrs.  Eleanor  Gar- 
rett, E.  S. ;  Mrs.  Mattie  McCray,  E.  J.;  Mrs.  Emma  Foor,  M.  T. ;  Mrs.  Irene 
Archibald,  M.  R.  C. ;  Mrs.  Millicent  Hicklin,  M.  F. ;  Mrs.  Louisa  A.  Crutchfield, 
P.  T. ;  Mrs.  Jessie  Tustison,  G.  T. ;  Miss  Elizabeth  Hurley,  P.  C. 

The  present  officers  are  as  follows:  Mrs.  Nelia  C.  Springer,  M.  E.  C. ;  Miss 
Anna  Warren,  E.  S. ;  Mrs.  Mary  Bumgardner,  E.  J. ;  Mrs.  Mayme  Davison,  M.  T. ; 
Mrs.  Mae  Kelly,  M.  R.  C. ;  Miss  America  Beane,  M.  F. ;  Mrs.  Rachel  Kelly. 
P.  T. ;  Mrs.  Emma  Isett,  G.  T. ;  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Owens,  P.  C. 

Wapello  Camp  No.  3005,  Modern  Woodmen  of  America  was  chartered  May 
27,  1895.  The  charter  members  were:  W.  H.  Bothe,  John  E.  Davis,  R.  M.  Gar- 
rett, J.  D.  Hicklin,  Fred  Keck,  John  G.  Keck,  J.  I.  Lesnet,  J.  E.  McCray,  J.  L. 
Nyemaster,  S.  H.  Schafer,  D.  C.  Thomas,  and  C.  W.  Warren.  Its' officers  in  191 1 
were  W.  A.  Stroup,  V.  C,  Fred  Davis,  W.  A.,  Will  Mottet,  E.  B.,  R.  W.  Adye, 
P.  C,  C.  M.  Wright,  F.  E.  Beane  and  C.  A.  Lofgren,  trustees.  Present  member- 
ship, 150. 

The  Royal  Neighbors  were  chartered  March  24,  1902,  the  charter  members 
being :  Myrtle  Townsend,  Lulu  Linehan,  Kittie  Wright,  C.  M.  Wright,  Ella  Hick- 
lin, Alice  A.  Peters,  Angie  Zerber,  Linnie  Neal,  Orran  Zerber,  T.  J.  O'Donnell, 
Anna  May  O'Donnell,  Mrs.  J.  Grimm,  Minnie  Marshall.  Ada  Smith,  J.  A.  Walla- 
han,  Carrie  L.  Shipman,  Ella  B.  Wallahan,  Emma  Foor,  Jennie  Joy,  John  Dunn. 

The  principal  officers  at  this  time  are :  Mrs.  Blanche  Bigger,  oracle ;  Mrs. 
Maud  V.  Schafer,  receiver;  Mrs.  Clara  Hook,  recorder. 

Wapello  has  a  strong  Post  of  the  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic.  It  is  called 
A.  M.  Taylor  post,  and  was  organized  February  23,  1884.  There  had  been  a 
post  in  existence  in  Wapello  before,  organized  about  1866.  The  membership  of 
the  A.  M.  Taylor  post  at  the  present  time  is  53.  They  own  the  present  postoffice 
building  and  have  their  meeting  hall  in  the  second  story.  The  present  officers 
are:  W.  C.  Saunders,  commander:  N.  W.  McKay,  adjutant:  J.  F.  McLaughlin, 
senior  vice  commander;  Phillip  Richley,  junior  vice  commander;  J.  F.  Heins, 
chaplain  ;  C.  E.  Frost,  quartermaster ;  Dan  Graham,  officer  of  the  day ;  Tarlton 
Wilson,  officer  of  the  guard. 

There  were  28  charter  members  of  this  post,  of  whom  only  six  are  now  living, 
viz:  N.  W.  McKay,  S.  F.  Small,  F.  M.  Ong,  W.  R.  Colip,  Silas  Tompkins,  W.  C. 
Saunders. 

Auxiliary  to  this  there  is  an  excellent  organization  of  the  Women's  Relief 
Corps,  of  which  Marietta  Foor  is  president,  and  Emily  Mincher,  secretary. 


368  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

One  almost  forgotten  enterprise  was  the  Wapello  Distillery,  which  was 
operated  here   for  quite  awhile,  along  about  1867. 

It  did  an  extensive  business  and  furnished  a  good  market  for  Louisa  county 
corn. 

Mention  should  be  made  of  a  number  of  our  "old  timers"  who  now  live  in 
Wapello  but  have  retired  from  active  business.  J.  L.  Sweeney  was  at  one  time- 
a  contractor  and  builder:  F.  M.  Ong  was  first  a  merchant  tailor,  and  later  he  and 
George  R.  Keller  conducted  a  drug  store  for  a  great  many  years.  J.  B.  McCullough 
was  an  extensive  dealer  in  lumber,  and  J.  C.  Farver  was  a  merchant. 

Two  of  the  men,  who,  for  a  great  many  years,  did  much  to  keep  up  the  business 
reputation  of  Wapello  as  a  trading  point,  were  Abel  Garrett,  who  died  several 
years  ago,  and  D.  C.  Thomas  who  died  in  1907.  In  addition  to  his  qualities  as  a 
merchant.  Mr.  Thomas  had,  and  deserved,  the  reputation  of  being  one  of  the  most 
public-spirited  men  in  the  county.  Ft.  A.  Plitt  who  recently  moved  to  Wisconsin, 
will  long  lie  remembered  as  having  been  a  popular  and  enterprising  merchant 
of  this  place,  who  always  did  his  share  to  promote  the  general  welfare.  Special 
mention  must  also  be  made  of  Henry  D.  Keller,  for  years  the  leading  photographer 
of  the  county,  a  good  soldier  and  a  splendid  man. 

The  population  of  Wapello,  at  various  census  enumerations,  has  been  as  fol- 
lows:  1850—336:  1854—544:  1850— 1.027:  1860—821:  1863—876;  1865—880; 
1870 — 870;  1875 — 933;  1880 — 928;  1890 — 1,009;  1895—1,290;  1900—1,298;  1905 
— 1,293:   1910 — 1.326. 

One  of  the  most  important  industrial  institutions  in  the  county  is  the  sweet 
corn  canning  factory,  owned  by  Baxter  Brothers  and  located  in  Wapello.  It  is 
among  the  largest  and  best  in  the  state,  canning  about  three  million  cans  of 
corn  in  the  summer  of  191 1.  During  the  canning  period  which  generally  lasts 
five  or  six  weeks,  Baxter  Brothers  often  have  three  hundred  people  employed. 

Another  important  concern  is  the  button  factory,  which  occupies  the  new 
brick  building  recently  built  for  it  by  the  citizens  of  Wapello.  The  factory  is 
owned  by  The  Vienna  Pearl  Button  Company  and  employs  about  forty  hands. 

Wapello  has  a  complete  and  well  managed  Electric  Light  plant,  owned  by 
Mr.  Ora  Vaught,  who  also  furnishes  power  for  various  labor  saving  appliances, 
such  as  washing  machines,  vacuum  cleaners,  fans,  irons,  etc. 

Tt  also  has  a  good  system  of  waterworks,  giving  fire  protection  to  every 
part  of  the  city:  a  considerable  part  of  the  city  has  sewers,  and  the  rest  will 
doubtless  be  served  in  the  near  future. 

Wapello  has  a  very  efficient  set  of  officers,  as  follows :  L.  C.  Wonnell. 
mayor ;  John  G.  Keck,  recorder ;  R.  D.  McCullough,  treasurer ;  Ward  Williams, 
marshal.  Councilmen :  First  ward,  Aner  Nearhood,  M.  Hunter;  Second  ward, 
A.  G.  Lischer,  G.  R.  Deihl :  Third  ward.  H.  R.  Christie.  H.  O.  Pease. 

One  enterprise  which  we  almost  omitted,  was  the  Woolen  Mills,  established 
in  the  late  '6os  by  Henry  Botha,  Julius  Johann,  and  Ernest  Winter.  We  note 
that  in  1868  they  advertised  that  they  were  fully  prepared  to  make  fine  qualities 
of  cloths,  flannels,  satinetts,  etc.,  and  to  do  carding  and  spinning. 

The  Methodist  Episcopal  church  of  Wapello  is  said  to  have  been  organized 
in  1830.  by  Rev.  Joseph  Kirkpatrick,  a  missionary  sent  from  the  Illinois  con- 
ference. The  Iowa  conference  was  not  organized  until  1844.  Thomas  M. 
Kirkpatrick  is  also  said  to  have  been  one  of  the  early  preachers  at  this  place, 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  369 

and  following  him  was  John  Hayden.  The  first  mention  we  find  of  Wapello  in 
the  Methodist  conference  reports  is  for  the  year  1845.  At  this  time  the  mem- 
bership is  given  at  112,  and  Robert  Rice  was  the  local  preacher.  In  the  year 
1840,  this  territory  belonged  to  the  Rock  River  conference,  and  we  find  that 
Joseph  L.  Kirkpatrick  was  located  at  Crawfordsville,  and  Thomas  M.  Kirk- 
patrick  at  Mt.  Pleasant;  and  it  is  probable  that  one  or  both  of  them  supplied 
this  pulpit.  The  next  year  John  Hayden  was  located  at  Crawfordsville ;  in 
1842,  Joseph  L.  Kirkpatrick  was  located  at  Grandview.  and  John  Hayden  at 
Crawfordsville.  In  1843.  Luther  McVay  was  located  at  Grandview.  Micajah 
Reeder  at  Crawfordsville,  and  Joseph  L.  Kirkpatrick  at  Yellow  Springs.  In 
1844.  Laban  Case  was  located  at  Grandview.  Micajah  Reeder  at  Crawfordsville, 
and  Joseph  L.  Kirkpatrick  at  Yellow  Springs.  The  conference  records  for  the 
year  1846  show  the  Wapello  membership  to  have  been  209,  but  no  preacher  is 
named  at  this  point,  though  we  find  the  name  of  Robert  Rice  as  located  at 
Crawfordsville,  and  John  II.  Dennis  at  Grandview.  We  find  no  further  men- 
tion of  Wapello  in  the  Iowa  conference  reports  until  1854,  when  we  find  the 
name  of  G.  W.  Teas,  and  Henry  Clay  Dean  is  given  as  the  local  preacher  at 
Wapello  in  1855.  Other  ministers  from  that  time  to  the  present  were:  Toseph 
Paschal,  I..  A.  Smith,  J.  G.  Thompson,  I.  M.  McClosky.  A.  S.  Prather,  Dennis 
Murphy,  Jesse  Craig,  J.  A.  Wilson,  F.  H.  Burris,  N.  H.  Mitchell,  B.  A.  Wright, 
J.  D.  DeTar,  C.  L.  Stafford,  S.  S.  Murphy,  W.  M.  Brown.  G.  W.  Byrkit,  A. 
Kershaw,  C.  F.  Williams,  F.  R.  Ilolcomb,  J.  C.  Kendrick,  O.  P.  Light,  W.  I'. 
Elliott,  A.  B.  Shipman,  F.  Ashpole,  F.  M.  Mahurin.  J.  C.  Goodrich,  J.  C.  WiHits, 
G.  W.  Younkin,  T.  S.  Pool,  R.  L.  Patterson.  W.  C.  Chew,  M.  E.  Reusch,  J.  E. 
Newsom,  E.  C.  Brooks. 

It  is  said  that  the  first  services  held  by  the  Methodists  in  Wapello  were  held 
in  the  dining  room  of  the  Drake  Hotel.  Some  time  later  they  were  held  in 
the  old  brick  courthouse,  and  still  later  in  a  small  frame  building  which  stood 
about  wdiere  the  present  German  church  stands.  In  1852,  the  Methodists  com- 
menced the  erection  of  a  brick  building  which  was  completed  in  about  a  year. 
at  a  cost  of  nearly  $2,000.00.  In  1876  a  frame  building  took  the  place  of  the 
old  brick  church  and  cost  about  $3,500.00.  In  February  of  1902,  the  remodelling 
of  the  frame  church  was  completed  at  a  cost  of  about  $3,600.00.  The  church 
membership  at  the  present  time  is  about  125. 

From  quite  an  early  day  there  have  been  a  great  manv  German  families 
in  and  around  Wrapello,  and  they  have  a  strong  church  organization  here. 

It  is  said  that  the  first  church  built  by  the  Germans  in  Wapello,  was  a  small 
frame  on  the  lot  now  occupied  by  their  church.  Soon  after  that  a  German 
church  congregation  was  organized  on  Long  creek,  and  it  and  the  Wapello 
church  were  supplied  by  the  same  ministers.  The  ministers  who  have  officiated 
in  the  two  congregations  are  as  follows:  Th.  Schulze,  1846-1847:  F.  Blank, 
'47-48 ;  I.  I.  Young.  '48-49 ;  Ph.  Funck,  49-'5o:  H.  Fiegenbaum,  '5o-'52 :  A. 
Salzer  and  F.  Merton,  '52-'53 ;  Rev.  J.  Haas  and  C.  Shuler,  "53-'54 ;  Rev.  Senn. 
'54-'56:  C.  Bernreuter,  '56-'57 :  F.  W.  Conrath,  '57-'s8 ;  Rev.  J.  Rinder,  '58-T10 : 
1.  W.  Roecker,  '59-'6o ;  Theodore  Miller,  '6o-'6i  ;  J.  Schnackenberg,  '6i-'62: 
W.  Winter,  '62-'63 ;  F.  Heinz.  '63-'66;  F.  Fiegenbaum,  '66-'68 ;  J.  P.  Faust, 
'68-'6g :  W.  Zuppan.  '6g--72 :  J.  Feisel,  '72-75  ;  F.  Arnsberger,  '75-77 ;  George 
I'litt,  '77-78:  R.  J.  Tillman.  78-'8t  ;  S.  Segesser,  '8i-'82;  H.  Ross,  '82-'85  :  F. 


370  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

L.  Litzrodt,  '8s-'87;  J.  P.  Wilhelmi,  '87-90;  J.  H.  Knehans,  '90-95;  H.  Zim- 
merman, '95-'98;  E.  W.  Simon,  '98-99;  J.  B.  Schweitert,  '99-01 ;  W.  C.  Schultze, 
'oi-'04;  J.  P.  Hehner,  '04-07;  F.  J.  Sternberg,  '07-' 10;  David  Froeschle,  '10 — . 

In  place  of  the  old  Long  Creek  or  Sand  Prairie  church  the  Germans  have 
now  a  neat  church  edifice  about  a  mile  and  a  half  south  of  the  old  church  site. 

The  present  church  building  of  the  German  M.  E.  church  in  Wapello  was 
originally  built  in  1871,  when  Rev.  Zuppan  was  pastor.  William  Archibald 
was  the  builder.  In  1902,  when  Rev.  W.  C.  Schultze  was  pastor,  the  building 
was  entirely  remodeled  at  an  expense  of  about  $4,400.  W.  S.  Isett  was  the 
builder.  The  building  was  rededicated,  with  impressive  ceremonies,  on  Sunday, 
November   30,    1902. 

THE   CHURCH    OF    CHRIST 

The  history  of  the  Church  of  Christ,  or  Christian  church,  in  Louisa  county, 
dates  back  to  pioneer  days.  The  first  preachers  of  what  was  called  the  "Refor- 
mation," sometimes  called  the  "Restoration  Movement  of  the  Nineteenth  Cen- 
tury," was  John  Rigdon,  perhaps ;  a  little  later  came  Aaron  Chatterton,  who 
was  an  itinerating  evangelist  all  over  southeastern  Iowa.  A  church  was  estab- 
lished in  Columbus  City  sometime  in  the  early  forties.  It  was  first  organized 
in  the  log  cabin  of  "Uncle  Barstow"  Williams,  who  lived  some  three  or  four 
miles  south  of  Columbus  City.  This  church  was  at  one  time  one  of  the  strongest 
organizations  in  the  state.  Such  men  as  John  Errett,  Jonas  Hartzel,  J.  K. 
Cornell,  F.  Walden,  L.  C.  Wilson,  J.  Madison  Williams,  Simpson  Ely,  J.  H. 
Painter  and  other  prominent  preachers  and  evangelists  labored  in  this  church. 

Along  in  the  sixties  an  organization  was  formed  at  what  was  known  as 
Concord,  about  two  and  a  half  miles  northwest  of  Morning  Sun.  Here  a  union 
house  was  built,  owned  jointly  by  the  Methodists,  Church  of  God  and  the 
Christians.  For  many  years  the  work  was  fairly  prosperous,  but  the  shifting 
of  country  population  and  the  building  up  of  churches  in  the  towns  left  the 
work  to  languish  and  die.  For  a  number  of  years  the  old  Concord  stone  church 
stood  practically  unused.  In  1895  Dr.  Win.  M.  Semones.  then  a  medical  student 
in  the  State  University,  at  Iowa  City,  who  was  also  a  good  minister  of  the 
Gospel,  visited  the  church,  where  a  Sunday  School  had  been  organized,  and 
for  some  months  preached  in  the  community,  at  Concord  and  at  a  schoolhouse 
about  four  miles  southwest  of  Wapello.  It  was  out  of  this  Sunday  School 
and  a  short  meeting  held  by  Dr.  Semones  at  the  schoolhouse,  that  the  church 
in   Wapello  grew. 

THE   CHURCH    OF   CHRIST   IN   WAPELLO 

The  Church  of  Christ  in  Wapello  was  organized  by  Evangelist  Simpson  Ely, 
then  of  Kirksville.  Mo.,  following  a  meeting  which  was  held  in  the  courthouse 
park.  The  charter  members  numbered  57  and  the  date  of  organization  was 
September  29,  1895.  The  following  May.  Evangelist  Ely  held  another  meeting, 
adding  some  to  the  membership  and  closing  with  a  subscription  of  $1,500  for 
the  erection  of  a  church  building.  This  building  was  begun  the  following  year 
and  completed  in  1897.  giving  them  a  property  valued  at  $8,000,  now  free  of 
debt,  owing  largely  to  the  liberality  of  James  E.  Blanchard,  one  of  the  charter 
members,  and  father  of  Charles  Blanchard,  the  latter  being  the  active  elder  of 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  371 

the  congregation  from  its  organization  until  the  removal  of  the  family  to  Des 
Moines  in  the  fall  of  1910. 

The  membership  of  the  church  has  shifted  with  removals  and  the  unfaith- 
fulness of  some,  but  has  always  been  fairly  active  in  the  work,  in  the  Bible 
school,  Christian  Endeavor  (the  latter  having  been  one  of  the  largest  and  best 
C.  E.  societies  in  the  county  for  many  years)  and  in  the  benevolent  and  mis- 
sionary and  civic  activities  of  the  community. 

Among  those  who  have  supplied  the  pulpit,  or  occupied  it  as  regular  pastors, 
are  the  following:  Wm.  M.  Semones,  A.  B.  Clark,  I.  H.  Fuller,  D.  L.  Dunkle- 
berger,  J.  K.  Ballon,  G.  L.  Brokaw,  S.  B.  Ross,  A.  L.  Hill  and  Wm.  A.  Hunt. 
The  following  evangelists  have  held  meetings :  Simpson  Ely,  R.  A.  Omer, 
J.  G.  H.  Bennett.  J.  H.  Bryan,  Mrs.  Clara  Hazelrigg,  Charles  G.  Stout,  Arthur 
Long  and  "Thompson,  the  Egyptian."    The  present  pastor  is  Rev.  O.  I.  Bennett. 

HISTORY    OF    THE    FIRST    PRESBYTERIAN    CHURCH    OF    WAPELLO,    IOWA 

(Contributed) 

It  was  early  in  the  fifties  that  the  movement  was  inaugurated  which  has 
resulted  in  the  Presbyterian  organization  of  Wapello  of  today. 

It  was  a  company  of  women  who  first  discovered  that  our  Lord  had  arisen 
from  the  dead.  Some  may  be  unwilling  to  concede  that  women  lead  in  church 
work,  but  however  that  may  be,  it  is  certain  that  it  was  the  efforts  of  a  woman 
which  resulted  in  the  organization  of  the  Sabbath  School  which  was  the  fore- 
runner of  the  work  since  accomplished  by  the  Presbyterian  church. 

This  Sabbath  School  was  founded  by  Mrs.  Dr.  T.  G.  Taylor.  To  the  results 
of  this  school's  influence  we  are  indebted  for  the  organization  of  the  Congrega- 
tional church,  which  afterwards  became  the  First  Presbyterian  church  of  Wapello. 
The  first  services  of  the  Congregational  society  were  held  in  what  was  at  that 
time  the  courthouse  of  Louisa  county,  a  building  which  still  remains  standing 
in  comparatively  good  condition.  Rev.  Mr.  Wood  was  the  first  pastor  of  the 
newly  formed  Congregational  society  and  preached  for  some  time  in  the  old 
courthouse.  During  his  pastorate  the  old  brick  church  on  Second  street  was 
erected  about  the  years  1853-4.  Dr.  Salter  of  Burlington,  was  present  at  the 
dedication  services,  participating  in  the  same.  The  pastor,  Mr.  Wood,  was  ill 
at  the  time  of  these  services  and  unable  to  be  present,  but  at  his  request  the 
church  was  dedicated  in  accordance  with  previous  arrangements.  Very  soon 
it  was  found  to  the  great  sorrow  of  the  congregation  that  the  sickness  was  unto 
death.  Mr.  Woods  died  shortly  after  this  house  of  worship  was  dedicated,  and 
was  buried  in  the  cemetery  near  Wapello  where  he  now  rests  in  peace.  On  his 
monument  is  the  significant  inscription,  "Bury  me  where  I  fall." 

After  his  death  the  church  became  very  seriously  involved  financially,  the 
debt  that  had  been  incurred  in  the  erection  of  the  church  remained  an  ever 
increasing  burden.  This  burden  was  the  means  of  the  abandonment  of  the 
work  in  Wapello  by  the  Congregational  society.  The  church  building  was  sold 
and  was  purchased  by  Mrs.  Jane  B.  Underwood,  from  whom  it  was  in  turn 
bought  by  the  Presbyterian  congregation. 

In  the  minutes  of  the  meeting  of  the  Presbytery  at  Keokuk.  Iowa,  held 
April  7,  1857,  it  is  stated  that  a  petition  was  presented  from  several  persons  in 


372  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

Wapello,  Iowa,  asking  to  be  organized  into  a  church  and  that  the  request  was 
granted.  The  committee  appointed  to  complete  such  work  was  Revs.  F.  B. 
Dinsmore,  B.  Wall  and  T.  Stearns,  together  with  Elder  Hamilton  Brown,  and 
in  the  minutes  of  the  Presbytery  held  at  Fairfield  in  October,  1857,  'l  's  recorded 
that  the  church  organized  and  ordered  that  it  be  enrolled. 

The  sessional  records  record  that  the  church  was  organized  with  thirteen 
members  and  two  elders  and  it  was  ordered  that  the  church  be  styled  and 
known  as  the  First  Presbyterian  church  of  Wapello.  Of  the  original  thirteen 
members,  two  are  connected  with  the  church  at  the  present  time  ;  these  persons. 
Mr.  I.  L.  Sweenev  and  wife,  Sarah  A.  Sweeney,  have  held  continuous  member- 
ship here  for  fifty-five  years. 

In  1858  permission  was  granted  the  churches  of  Wapello  and  Oakland  to 
employ  Rev.  O.  H.  Miller,  who  was  the  first  Presbyterian  minister  in  charge  of 
this  church.  He  served  as  stated  supply  during  the  latter  part  of  the  year  1S58 
and  during  the  years  1859  and  i860.  In  1861  Mr.  Miller  was  dismissed  to  the 
Presbytery  of  Blairsville  and  the  church  was  reported  vacant. 

The  important  part  which  the  Sabbath  School  played  in  the  history  of  this 
church  is  worthy  of  mention.  So  far  as  can  be  learned  the  school  has  never 
been  abandoned  for  any  length  of  time  and  has  been  the  means  under  God  of 
holding  the  church  together  when  there  was  no  other  bond.  It  was  largely  due 
to  J.  L.  Sweeney,  the  only  male  member  of  the  original  thirteen  now  in  the 
church,  that  the  school  was  sustained  for  years,  in  the  time  when  teachers  were 
hard  to  find  and  when  the  superintendent  was  at  the  same  time  chorister,  teacher, 
librarian  and  janitor. 

The  church  being  vacant  during  the  years  1861-1865,  Rev.  D.  T.  Campbell 
was  the  stated  supply.  In  1865  Rev.  Hill  served  as  a  supply  for  a  short  time. 
In  1866  the  church  issued  a  call  to  Rev.  J.  Baay  which  was  accepted  and  Rev. 
Baav  served  the  church  as  pastor  for  three  years.  1867-1870.  After  Mr.  Baay's 
departure  the  church  was  without  a  minister  and  regular  services  for  four  years 
from  1870  to  1874.  The  second  pastor  of  the  Wapello  church  was  Rev.  A. 
Heizer,  who  served  the  church  from  1874  to  1879.  During  his  pastorate  the 
churches  of  Toolesboro,  Wapello  and  Oakland  were  united  into  one  charge. 
After  Mr.  Heizer"s  pastorate  the  church  was  without  a  pastor  until  the  fall  of 
1889  a  period  of  ten  years  when  Rev.  A.  W.  Cooper  was  installed.  During  these 
years  the  church  was  supplied  by  Rev.  D.  T.  Campbell  and  Messrs.  J.  W.  Foxe 
and  E.  M.  Sharp,  students.  In  1889  Rev.  A.  W.  Cooper  became  the  third  pastor. 
In  1890  he  was  dismissed  to  the  Presbytery  of  Siam.  where  he  is  at  present  en- 
gaged in  the  foreign  work.  In  1891  Rev.  J.  H.  Condit  became  the  fourth  pastor 
in  the  order  of  succession.  He  served  the  church  until  April,  1896,  when  he  was 
dismissed  to  enter  the  mission  work  at  Juneau,  Alaska,  thus  making  the  third 
missionary  sent  out  from  this  church.  Prof.  V.  C.  Gambell  and  wife  having  al- 
ready entered  the  field  a  few  years  previous.  It  was  during  his  pastorate  that 
the  present  building  was  erected,  the  dedication  service  taking  place  December  11, 
[892.  Following  the  pastorate  of  Rev.  Condit  was  that  of  Rev.  T.  X.  Buchanan 
during  the  years  1896  to  1899.  Rev.  R.  J.  L.  Matthews  acted  as  stated  supply 
from  1899  to  1903.  The  sixth  pastor  was  the  Rev.  W.  H.  Cooper,  1903-1906. 
Following  Rev.  Cooper  was  Rev.  M.  E.  Todd,  pastor  1906-1907.  Then  came  an- 
other supply  in  the  person  of  Rev.  Theo.  Koopman,  1907-1908.     The  eighth  pas- 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  :;73 

tor  was  Rev.  W.  J.  Gerlach,  who  served  from  iyo8  to  1910.  The  present  minister, 
Rev.  Carl  Montanus,  began  serving  the  church  in  September,  1911. 

Thus  we  have  the  history  of  the  Presbyterian  church  for  a  little  more  than 
half  a  century.  Since  there  is  no  such  thing  as  stationary  Christianity,  either  with 
individuals  or  with  organizations,  we  can  but  say  the  church  of  God  must  "go 
forward,"  and  with  God  for  a  leader,  greater  and  better  things  are  predicted  for 
the  future. 

We  find  a  number  of  interesting  items  about  Wapello  and  about  early  times 
in  Louisa  county  in  a  series  of  articles  written  by  Robert  E.  Uarr  for  the  Wapello 
Tribune,  beginning  in  June,  1905,  and  ending  some  time  in  September.  Many 
of  the  matters  referred  to  by  his  articles  have  already  been  given  in  this  history 
and  hence  we  make  selections,  instead  of  publishing  them  in  full : 

"About  old  Wapello.  I  remember  once  reading  'that  in  all  the  wide  realm  of 
fiction  and  reality  there  is  no  more  strange  and  interesting  story  than  a  plain  re- 
cital of  the  growth  and  development  of  one's  home  town.'  It  used  to  be  lively 
here,  but  that  was  in  antebellum  times,  or  as  the  southern  gentleman  would  express 
it,  'befoh  the  wah.'  To  be  sure,  things  here  then  were  not  polished  up  with  the 
touch  of  metropolitan  ideas,  and  conveniences  and  comforts  must  have  been  mea- 
ger, if  experienced  at  all,  as  I  remember  my  father  telling  about  the  early  school- 
room here  with  its  long  rows  of  wooden,  backless  benches  made  from  puncheon 
slabs  with  wooden  pins  for  legs,  and  about  the  backache  it  gave  one  to  sit  there 
all  day.  But  while  those  old  schoolhouses  with  their  antiquated  seats  were  not 
elaborate  affairs,  yet  in  them  could  always  be  found  a  sensible  "schoolmaster' 
who  was  fully  capable  of  imparting  to  the  youth  and  maiden  sufficient  education 
to  place  them  on  the  highway  that  leads  to  success. 

"In  those  days  the  illuminating  power  consisted  of  the  old  tallow  candle,  and 
the  writer  can  even  remember  a  more  homely  affair  used  for  lighting  purposes — 
the  old  tallow  dip — constructed  by  placing  a  piece  of  cloth  in  a  small  pan,  filling 
the  pan  with  grease  and  lighting  the  same.  I  can  smell  the  fumes  and  disagree- 
able odors  yet  of  those  old  'grease  lamps,'  as  they  were  called,  and  the  stores,  if 
you  can  imagine,  how  they  must  have  looked  at  night  with  from  two  to  four  tall 
tallow  candles  giving  light  for  the  convenience  of  customers  who  came  to  trade. 
And  in  my  own  personal  recollection,  I  can  distinctly  remember  the  new  era 
regarding  lights  which  was  soon  universally  adopted  in  Wapello.  This  was  the 
introduction  here  of  the  coal  oil  glass  lamp.  My  father  purchased  and  used  the 
first  coal  oil  lamp  ever  brought  to  town.  It  came  from  Muscatine,  cost  a  good 
round  price  and  he  paid  $1.25  for  a  jug  of  coal  oil.  It  was  quite  a  sight  to  see  a 
lamp  burning  in  those  days,  and  the  brilliant  flame  beside  that  of  the  old  flickering 
candle  was  something  grand.  Soon  more  of  them  were  brought  to  town  and  ere 
long  the  old  brass  candle  stick  and  its  monument  of  grease  were  soon  relegated 
to  the  rear. 

"As  to  social  functions  in  those  days,  I  am  led  to  believe  by  what  I  have  heard 
that  people  enjoyed  themselves  more  then  than  now.  To  be  sure,  the  violin  was 
the  principal  instrument  and  from  legends  handed  down,  it  seemed  to  attract  the 
young  folks  from  far  and  near  to  participate  in  a  social  dance  to  which  there 
was  an  oyster  supper  always  attached.  Everybody  knew  everybody  else  and  'our 
set,'  the  'dude,'  and  the  'smart'  young  lady  were  things  of  the  future  and  the  men 
smoked  'Cuba  Sixes'  instead  of  cigarettes,  and  nature's  rose  bloom  on  the  fair 


374  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

cheeks  of  the  early  Wapello  girl  supplied  the  place  of  powder,  paint  and  other 
cosmetics  of  the  present  time.  But  they  'got  there  just  the  same.'  Amusements 
consisted  of  cards,  checkers,  playing  games  and  selling  pawns.  Nothing  was 
known  about  the  two-step,  waltz,  and  parents  were  not  so  much  'on  nettles'  as 
nowadays  lest  their  boys  should  come  home  drunk  or  get  mixed  up  in  all  sorts 
of  trouble,  as  is  the  case  now.  Operatic  singing  was  unheard  of  in  the  good  old 
times.  In  fact,  there  was  but  one  really  good  singer  in  town  and  that  was  John 
Isett.  He  could  sing,  though,  and  when  John  sa.ng  his  favorite  song,  'The  Star 
Spangled  Banner,'  you  could  hear  a  pin  drop.  It  might  have  been  that  the  air 
and  words  seemed  more  expressive  than  now ;  anyway,  John  Isett  could  sing  it  to 
perfection.  And  later  on,  I  recall  to  mind  a  song  rendered  in  public,  at  the  court- 
house, by  Miss  Lou  and  Albert  Townsend.  It  was  that  sweet  old  melody  of  'Annie 
Laurie.'  She  sang  the  words  and  Albert  played  the  flute.  If  I  remember  cor- 
rectly, they  were  paid  $25  for  their  part  in  the  program.  It  was  good,  though. 
In  those  early  times  a  good  entertainment  and  literary  could  be  arranged  en  very 
short  notice,  because  home  talent  was  plenty  and  very  good.  Thomas  Ives  was 
always  put  on  the  program  as  critic  and  he  was  a  good  one.  Tom,  as  he  was 
called  by  everybody,  was  naturally  very  bright  and  witty,  and  when  he  would 
make  his  appearance  he  would  'bow  and  scrape'  with  all  the  dignity  of  a  field 
marshal  of  France.  The  entertainments  were  good  in  those  days,  and  if  the  little 
old  2x4  town  hall,  which  used  to  be  upstairs  over  the  building  just  south  of  Mr. 
Levy's  tin  shop,  could  re-echo  its  experience,  an  interesting  mingling  of  laughter 
and  tears — results  from  the  sublime  and  the  ridiculous — would  be  the  result. 
These  entertainments  were  always  good  because  such  men  as  Tom  Ives,  Judge 
Springer,  'Lawyer  Tom'  (Edward  Thomas),  B.  F.  Wright,  J.  S.  Hurley,  John 
Hale,  Dr.  Bell,  D.  N.  Sprague.  all  of  whom  'knew  a  thing  or  two,'  and  an  auxiliary 
of  lesser  lights  contributed  to  the  amusement  of  the  public.  Judge  Springer  and 
Edward  Thomas  were  the  first  lawyers  to  locate  here,  occupying  the  building 
used  as  a  residence  by  the  late  George  Plitt.  These  gentlemen  came  from  Maine. 
Later  on  Samuel  Townsend  conducted  the  office  of  county  treasurer  in  the  same 
building.     .     . 

"Few  people  are  aware  of  the  fact  that  on  the  present  site  where  the  high 
school  now  stands,  a  building  almost  as  large  was  erected  for  a  hotel.  It  was  a 
fine  brick  structure.  This  was  during  the  '50s,  when  Wapello  was  flush  with  the 
prospect  of  a  railroad — the  old  Air  Line  which  was  surveyed  through  to  Omaha. 
The  building  now  used  as  a  jail  was  originally  erected  for  a  bank,  as  it  was  the 
intention  to  build  business  houses  on  all  four  sides  facing  the  public  square  or 
court  house.  The  hotel  gradually  crumbled  away  and  all  of  the  cut  stone  used  in 
the  erection  of  Myron  Hall  was  once  a  part  of  the  big  house  which  was  to  have 
been  the  pride  of  the  town.     .     .     . 

"I  saw  some  time  since  an  article  in  the  Republican  stating  that  the  first  paper 
ever  published  in  Wapello  was  conducted  by  James  Noffsinger.  Mr.  Noffsinger 
was  an  uncle  of  my  mother,  and  on  the  lot  where  now  stands  the  residence  of 
E.  R.  Tillman  was  where  Wapello's  first  paper  was  established.  Afterward  the 
paper  was  published  in  a  story  and  a  half  building  on  the  lot  now  occupied  by 
Aner  Nearhood.  John  Jenkins,  J.  D.  Barr  and  Aaron  Melick,  all  nephews  of 
Mr.  Noffsinger,  were  the  help  employed,  and  that  man  Melick  was  given  up  to 
be  the  most  homely  young  man  who  ever  came  to  the  town.    But  he  was  as  sharp 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  375 

as  tacks  and  a  great  favorite  here  during  the  pioneer  days  of  Wapello's  early  his- 
tory.    .     .     . 

"It  is  seldom  in  a  town  as  old  as  Wapello,  which  was  laid  out  in  1839,  and  is 
therefore  sixty-six  years  old,  that  a  citizen  is  still  living  who  was  here  before 
that  event  occurred,  yet  such  is  the  case,  and  in  our  esteemed  friend,  Mrs.  Jane 
C.  Yanloon,  we  have  a  living  witness  to  that  memorable  event.  She  was  then  a 
little  girl,  and  was  on  the  ground ;  in  fact,  child  like,  she  followed  the  surveyor 
and  watched  him  set  his  chains  which  marked  off  and  platted  a  little  piece  of 
ground  a  trifle  over  a  half  mile  in  width,  north  and  south,  extending  from  Airs. 
Wonnell's  store  down  to  W.  C.  Herrick's  residence.  The  first  rock  planted  for 
the  commencement  of  the  survey  was  at  the  northeast  corner  of  the  old  Barr 
homestead  in  South  Wapello.  Mrs.  Vanloon  has  been  a  constant  resident  of 
Wapello  ever  since  her  childhood  days,  when  she  witnessed  the  event  of  the  lay- 
ing out  of  the  town  from  the  virgin  prairie  soil,  which  formed  a  nucleus  around 
which  development  and  expansion  has  blossomed  into  a  city  of  beautiful  homes, 
fine  churches  and  business  enterprises.  She  has  witnessed,  no  doubt  with  interest, 
the  superseding  of  the  log  hut  by  the  cozy,  comfortable,  modern  home — the  old 
straw  shed  give  way  to  the  warm,  commodious  barn — the  vast  prairie  converted 
into  the  cultivated  field — steel  structures  span  the  water  ways,  and  last,  thougn 
not  least,  the  iron  bound  pathway  of  the  railway,  monopolize  the  business  of  the 
old  stage  coach.  The  change  from  the  primitive  to  the  developed  state,  which 
Mrs.  Vanloon  has  witnesed  in  the  past  sixty-six  years,  no  doubt  contains  memo- 
ries over  which  she  loves  to  linger,  and  which,  if  itemized  as  they  occurred,  would 
make  a  volume  of  interesting  events.     .     .     . 

"In  looking  about  town  for  old  landmarks  I  find  that  very  few  of  the  old 
frame  buildings  of  early  times  now  remain.  The  oldest  frame  building  perhaps 
in  town  yet  in  its  original  state  is  the  dwelling  house  owned  by  Frank  Gore  and 
situated  immediately  south  of  the  Presbyterian  church.  This  building  was  erected 
by  Fletcher  Barr  early  in  the  '40s,  the  lumber  in  it  being  cut  from  the  heavy  tim- 
ber north  of  town,  and  when  he  died,  in  1850,  the  place  was  purchased  by  Sheriff 
A.  M.  Taylor.  It  is  surely  an  old  landmark  and  was  erected  fully  sixty  years 
ago.  The  old  Wells  property,  now  owned  and  occupied  by  Henry  Westeman,  is 
another  old-timer,  having  been  built  by  Levi  Chase  in  the  early  '50s  during  the 
time  when  the  old  Air  Line  railroad  was  being  graded  through  and  beyond  this 
place.  The  lumber  from  which  it  was  built  was  cut  and  sawed  at  Herman,  Mis- 
souri, and  shipped  to  Wapello  by  water.  There  are  many  other  very  old  build- 
ings here,  but  most  of  them  have  been  remodeled  and  therefore  lost  their  origi- 
nality as  well  as  interest.  The  oldest  brick  building  in  town  is  the  one  occupied 
by  T.  C.  Murphy  as  a  stable.  This  building  was  erected  by  N.  J.  and  C.  M.  Ives 
in  1840  and  was  used  originally  as  the  court  house  of  Louisa  county.  After  the 
present  court  house  was  erected  the  old  brick  was  used  as  a  public  school  build- 
ing. Besides  having  the  distinction  of  having  been  the  seat  of  justice,  the  seat  of 
education  and  the  seat  of  early  religious  gatherings,  this  old  historic  landmark, 
yet  in  an  excellent  state  of  preservation,  is  without  doubt  the  oldest  building  in 
Louisa  county  and  perhaps  in  the  state  of  Iowa.  There  were  lively  times  through- 
out the  county  in  1839,  for  the  reason  that  a  county  seat  contest  between  Wapello 
and  Fredonia  was  in  progress,  resulting  in  favor  of  Wapello.    The  present  court 


376  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

house  was  first  occupied  as  a  seat  of  justice  in  1854  and  on  the  ground  upon  which 
it  now  stands  prior  to  1851,  an  old  sawmill  was  operated.     .     .     . 

"Not  long  since  1  heard  an  argument  in  regard  to  how  far  west  the  old  Air 
Line  railroad  was  surveyed,  and  as  my  father  was  a  member  of  the  surveying 
corps,  I  am  in  a  poistion  to  state  positively  that  while  the  destination  was  Fre- 
mont. Nebraska,  the  line  was  only  surveyed  to  the  west  bank  of  the  Missouri 
and  stones  were  planted  in  Nebraska,  somewhere  near  where  Omaha  now  stands. 
It  so  happened  that  the  survey  run  through  an  Indian  burying  ground,  and  a 
half-breed  trader  by  the  name  of  Sarpee,  on  the  Nebraska  side,  incited  the  Indians 
to  such  an  extent  that  General  Curtis,  who  did  the  surveying,  thought  it  advis- 
able for  the  safety  of  the  party,  to  return  to  Iowa  as  soon  as  possible  and  this 
course  was  followed  as  soon  as  darkness  came.  At  that  time  Omaha  and  Council 
Bluffs  were  not  in  existence.  .  .  .  My  father  and  Sam  Curtis,  a  son  of  the 
General,  acted  as  chainmen,  and  tramped  clear  across  the  state  of  Iowa,  fording 
rivers,  wading  creeks,  in  the  burning  hot  sun  and  through  the  woods,  occasionally 
striking  a  settler  on  the  route,  but  more  often  going  for  days  and  weeks  over 
ground  where  perhaps  human  foot  had  trod  before,  but  where  the  hardy  settler 
had  not,  as  yet,  cast  his  lot.  The  trip  was  full  of  interesting  events  from  start  to 
finish,  some  of  which  I  may  perhaps  at  another  time  relate.  Time  has  worked  a 
wondrous  change  here  in  Wapello,  especially  in  the  topographical  features.  I  am 
now  writing  in  a  house — my  home — sitting  high  and  dry,  where  less  than  twenty- 
five  years  ago,  when  a  boy,  1  skated  over  acres  of  water  standing  the  year  around 
and  known  as  the  old  Goose  Pond.  The  old  pond  was  here  when  the  first  in- 
habitant came  and  what  caused  it  to  disappear  so  suddenly  and  permanently  is 
one  of  the  freaks  of  nature.  Drainage,  no  doubt,  has  been  a  potent  factor  in  the 
disappearance  of  many  of  the  ague  holes  which  in  times  gone  by  were-numerous 
here,  but  many  of  them  have  apparently  'dried  up,'  as  the  saying  goes,  without 
the  assistance  of  drainage,  as  is  the  case  in  the  large  pond  which  used  to  stretch 
along  the  edge  of  the  bluff  at  the  foot  of  Harrison  hill.  All  rivers,  it  is  claimed,  in 
this  country,  are  gradually  moving  west.  Time  has  fully  demonstrated  this  fact 
in  our  own  Iowa  river,  which  in  the  past  fifty  years  has  moved  west  at  least  100 
feet,  some  claim  a  great  deal  more.     .     .     . 

"I  have  before  me  a  copy  of  the  Wapello  Intelligencer  and  in  comparison  with 
the  up-to-date,  neat  and  newsy  paper  of  today,  it  presents  rather  an  antiquated 
appearance.  Looking  backward  and  summing  the  matter  up.  1  find  that  the  career 
1  if  newspapers  in  Wapello  has  been  varied  and  eventful.  Beginning  with  1850, 
when  the  publication  of  the  Louisa  County  Times  was  begun  by  James  Noff- 
singer,  down  to  the  present  time.  Wapello  has,  at  various  times,  possessed  nine 
different  newspapers.  The  town  has  had  on  three  occasions,  three  newspapers  pub- 
lished at  one  time.  Such  was  the  case  when  A.  E.  Caffey,  of  Alabama,  published 
the  Wapello  Times,  which  was  afterward  taken  to  Columbus  Junction  and  is  now 
the  Columbus  Gazette.  Again,  when  Julius  Taylor,  for  a  period  of  three  months, 
conducted  the  Union  Democrat,  and  on  the  last  occasion  when  Clint.  L.  Price  pub- 
lished the  Louisa  County  Democrat,  the  Record  and  Republican  were  also  pub- 
lished here  at  the  same  time.  The  Republican  was  formerly  the  Burris  City 
Commercial,  published  on  the  west  bank  of  the  Mississippi  river,  a  short  distance 
northeast  of  Toolesboro.  It  was  moved  to  Wapello  in  1857  by  Jacob  Mintun  and 
sold  to  J.  D.  Barr  soon  after.     There  was  also,  at  various  times,  a  spicy  little 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  ;;77 

paper,  The  Rustler,  published  by  the  late  Jay  Hale.  It  was  diminutive  in  size, 
but  the  potency  of  its  locals  and  general  reading  matter  made  it,  while  it  was  in 
existence,  a  well  patronized  and  general  favorite.  With  the  exception  of  the 
Tribune,  J.  D.  Barr  was  connected  with  every  republican  paper,  either  as  sole 
or  part  owner,  which  has  been  published  in  Wapello,  covering  a  period  of  forty- 
six  years — from  1850  to  1896.     .     .     . 

"In  early  times  here  the  business  part  of  town  used  to  be  on  Water  street  or 
the  river  bank.  It  begun  a  short  distance  south  of  the  bridge  where  Uncle  Jakie 
Houtz  used  to  conduct  a  shoe  shop,  and  extended  to  the  north  part  of  town  where 
John  Drake  kept  a  hotel.  The  present  residence  of  J.  15.  McCullough  used  to 
stand  over  on  the  river  bank,  and  years  ago  it  was  occupied  by  old  man  Helbig  as 
a  grocery  and  saloon.  The  late  residence  of  Dr.  T.  S.  Bell  was  in  early  times 
used  by  Fletcher  and  J.  D.  Barr  as  a  grocery.  During  the  early  '50s  when  work 
was  being  done  on  the  old  Air  Line,  this  little  store  was  a  busy  place,  as  Mr.  Barr 
supplied  most  of  the  groceries  for  the  graders,  all  of  which  were  purchased  from 
John  H.  Gear's  wholesale  house  and  hauled  overland  from  Burlington  by  team. 
Those  were  the  days  of  'wildcat'  money  and  he  who  was  wise  would  convert  his 
cash  into  other  property  as  soon  as  possible,  but  occasionally,  in  fact,  quite  often, 
great  'Wads'  of  it  would  in  a  day  become  perfectly  worthless.  I  recollect  hearing 
my  father  say  that  one  day  the  Air  Liners  paid  their  bills  at  his  store,  amounting 
to  about  $500.  and  the  next  day  when  the  stage  coach  came  in  it  brought  word 
that  the  Bridgeport  (  Connecticut )  bank  had  busted.  In  fact,  it  was  broke  days 
before  he  received  the  money  from  the  railroaders,  but  there  was  no  way  then 
of  obtaining  information  only  at  intervals,  except  through  the  medium  of  the 
Star  Route  Stage  Line,  and  this  was  not  a  daily  occurrence  by  any  means.  In 
those  days  the  money  question  was  a  great  bother.  Defunct  banks  and  their 
paper  money  became  so  annoying  that  finally  Myron  Yanloon  secured  a  'tester' 
and  it  was  his  custom,  as  well  a/  of  others,  to  examine  paper  money  before  ac- 
cepting same  in  payment  of  bills.  But  nowadays  how  nice  and  secure  our  money 
system  is.  We  never  question  the  validity  of  what  we  receive,  knowing  that 
Uncle  Sam's  gold  basis  scheme  is  a  perfect  safeguard  against  loss  or  fraud.    .    .    . 

''I  have  often  heard  the  younger  people  of  the  town,  most  of  whom  were  born 
since  the  Wapello  bridge  was  built,  inquire  where  the  old  ferry  was  located.  It 
was  at  the  end  of  Yan  Buren  street  just  north  of  Porter  Peters'  livery  barn.  The 
old  ferry  became  a  thing  of  the  past  on  the  6th  day  of  May,  1874,  when  the  event 
of  accepting  the  bridge  was  celebrated  in  Wapello.  In  the  morning  the  bridge  was 
tested  by  hauling  over  it  several  loads  of  sand  and  at  two  o'clock  in  the  after- 
noon the  celebration  was  held  at  the  west  end  of  the  bridge.  The  Wapello  Silver 
Cornet  Band  enlivened  the  occasion  with  excellent  music,  and  speeches  and  songs 
composed  the  program.  B.  F.  Wright  was  the  principal  speaker  of  the  day  and 
remarks  were  also  made  by  L.  W.  Myers  and  other  prominent  citizens.  At  the 
close  of  the  ceremonies  a  grand  bridge  promenade  took  place,  after  which  the 
public  avenue  of  the  bridge  was  declared  open  for  all  public  uses.  This  occasion 
was  the  death  knell  of  the  old  ferry  which  had  been  in  operation  here  since  1857, 
a  period  of  thirty-six  years.  On  special  occasions,  such  as  the  county  fair  and 
the  Fourth  of  July,  the  old  ferry  did  a  'land  office'  business.  I  have  seen  a  string 
of  teams,  as  close  as  they  could  stand,  awaiting  their  turn  to  cross  the  river, 
reaching  from  the  river  bank  to  Second  street.     It  was  slow  business  and  hard 


378  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

work  to  conduct  a  ferry,  as  the  propelling  over  and  back  was  done  with  long 
poles.  Every  trace  of  the  old  landing  is  now  obliterated  and  the  ferry  and  its 
career,  around  which  cling  many  pleasant  memories,  has  been  for  thirty-three 
years  a  thing  of  the  past.  William  Milligan  conducted  the  first  ferry,  beginning 
in  1837,  and  Tohn  Carpenter,  father  of  Mrs.  Vick  Nyemaster,  operated  the  last 
boat.     .     .     . 

"Two  other  methods  of  money  making,  both  relics  of  the  past  days  here, 
were  making  shingles  and  coopering.  Uncle  Billy  Perkins,  at  his  location  on 
Water  street,  in  South  Wapello,  made  thousands  of  split  shingles,  some  of  which 
today  are  still  in  evidence  as  the  virgin  roof  of  a  few  of  the  old-time  buildings. 
And  the  art  of  making  a  barrel  or  keg  was  engaged  in  here  for  years  by  Herbert 
Thorndyke,  for  in  those  days  when  Uncle  Jim  Pemble  and  Amazi  White  were 
making  so  much  good  molasses,  people  required  numerous  kegs  and  barrels  to 
store  it  in.  That  good,  old-time  thick  molasses!  But,  then,  that  was  long  ago, 
before  the  art  of  adulterating  with  glucose  and  corn  syrup  was  invented. 

"The  history  of  the  Wapello  schools,  covering  a  period  of  sixty-five  years, 
from  1840  to  1905,  has  been  tranquil  and  uneventful.  The  first  school  was  opened 
here,  as  stated  above,  in  1840  by  John  Gilliland,  a  surveyor.  It  was  not  a  public 
school.  Pupils  were  required  to  pay  tuition  and  it  was  well  patronized.  Mr. 
<  .illiland  opened  his  school  in  a  log  cabin,  his  home,  situated  on  the  lot  just  north 
of  Frank  Pemble's  residence  and  it  was  there  where  many  of  the  late  old  settlers, 
and  some  few  who  are  yet  living,  were  taught  their  first  lessons.  Later  on  school 
was  conducted  in  a  building  located  on  the  lot  where  Ed  Joy  now  has  his  tin  shop. 
The  old  brick  court  house  was  also  used  for  school  purposes  and  in  1854  the 
brick  building  now  owned  and  occupied  by  Gus  Tiemeyer  as  a  residence,  was 
completed  and  opened  for  educational  purposes.     .     .     . 

"From  the  perusal  of  an  old  paper  published  back  in  the  '70s,  I  am  of  the 
opinion  that  some  'booze'  was  consumed  here  in  old  Wapello  about  that  time.  I 
hail  no  idea  that  the  people  hereabouts  were  so  sacramental  or  sickly,  culinary 
and  mechanical,  until  I  read  the  auditor's  report  that  during  one  year  1,510  gal- 
lons of  intoxicating  liquors  were  sold  by  the  Wapello  drug  stores.  There  were 
also  running  at  that  time  five  saloons,  to  say  nothing  about  the  sale  of  Hostetter's 
Hitters.  That  was  about  the  time  when  'Smoky  Row'  was  enjoying  its  palmy 
days,  and  Wapello  had  a  reputation  of  anything  else  but  sobriety.  'Smoky 
Row'  at  that  time  had  four  saloons,  the  other  one  being  on  Second  street.  There 
is  now  but  one  building  standing  on  the  old  'Row'  and  this  is  owned  by  Frank 
Mottet.  The  rest  were  destroyed  by  fire.  On  the  old  'Row'  I  witnessed  one  day, 
in  broad  daylight,  a  negro  break  in  and  rob  William  Henry  Dunn's  butcher  shop, 
and  on  the  same  corner  a  little  later  witnessed  the  shooting  of  Gus  Myers.  Then 
a  temperance  crusade  'struck'  the  town  and  things  quieted  down.  To  observe 
the  serene  aspect  of  the  old  street  today  would  lead  one.  not  acquainted  with  its 
previous  record,  to  doubt  its  former  breezy,  brawly  career.     .     .     . 

"In  reading  an  old  paper  recently,  we  noticed  an  advertisement  of  the  Grand- 
view  Academy.  This  place  of  learning,  now  used  as  a  public-school  building 
in  that  town,  used  to  be  quite  a  center  of  education.  Years  ago  students  from 
all  parts  of  the  county  attended  this  popular  institution  of  learning  and  its  fame 
at  one  time  promised  to  reach  the  proportions  of  a  national  reputation.  But 
the  management  of  the  institution  became  faulty  and  the  academy,  as  far  as  out- 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  379 

side  attendance  was  concerned,  dropped,  and  finally  went  where  the  woodbine 
twineth.  In  the  same  paper  we  read  an  item  relative  to  Christopher  Shuck 
and  Major  Jacob  Rinearson.  Mr.  Rinearson  was  one  of  the  pioneer  settlers 
here,  while  Christopher  Shuck  and  wife  bore  the  honorable  distinction 
of  being  the  first  permanent  white  settlers  of  Louisa  county,  casting  their 
lot  over  in  Jefferson  township,  near  Toolesboro,  perhaps  as  early  as  1830, 
if  not  before.  Things  became  'too  tame'  here  for  Mr.  Shuck  and  he  emigrated 
to  Oregon  in  185 1.  Mr.  Rinearson  also  went  to  Oregon.  Another  interesting 
item  in  the  old  paper  was  to  the  effect  that  B.  H.  Druse  had  begun  to  make  oat- 
meal at  the  old  water  wheel  mill  in  the  north  part  of  town.     .     .     . 

"I  remember  the  night  well  when  the  first  passenger  train  passed  through 
Wapello  over  the  then  'brand  new'  B.  C.  R.  &  M.  railway.  I  remember  that 
John  Bird's  big  brick  house,  which  used  to  stand  on  the  ground  west  of  P.  Rich- 
ard's dwelling,  was  illuminated  from  cellar  to  garret  in  honor  of  the  event.  I, 
myself,  was  looking  out  of  the  haymow  window  of  our  barn,  now  used  by  Frank 
Gore  as  a  carpenter  shop,  for  the  reason  that  the  grass  between  town  and  the 
track  was  too  tall  for  one  to  get  a  good  view  of  the  train  while  standing  on  the 
ground,  and  especially  me,  for  I  was  scarcely  nine  years  old.  In  those  days  the 
road  was  called  the  Burlington,  Cedar  Rapids  &  Minnesota,  substituting  after- 
ward the  word  Northern  for  Alinnesota.  And  the  fact  of  that  simple  change  in 
names  made  void  and  uncollectible,  quite  a  lot  of  railroad  bonds  held  by  Wapello 
people,  who  did  not  protest  at  the  time  or  present  their  bonds  for  payment. 
When  it  first  begun  operations  through  here,  two  of  the  passenger  engines  were 
named  after  John  Bird  and  J.  S.  Hurley.  Their  names  were  stamped  in  bronzed 
letters  on  the  name  plate  just  below  the  cab  windows.  In  those  days  and  for 
years  after,  all  engines  in  the  west  burned  wood  instead  of  coal.  All  stations 
along  the  line  had  a  woodyard  and  the  tenders  were  filled  as  the  trains  went 
through.  Windmill  watering  tanks  were  not  in  use  then  and  water  was  pumped 
by  hand.  A  box  car  did  service  as  a  depot  for  quite  a  while.  In  fact,  it  was1 
some  time  before  everything  was  properly  adjusted  and  the  road  running 
smoothly. 

"It  may  be  of  interest  to  people  here  to  know  that  the  first  frame  house  ever 
built  in  Wapello,  1835,  was  erected  by  Uncle  Billy  Milligan,  as  he  was  called, 
on  the  lot  now  owned  by  Mrs.  Ben  Weston.  The  old  house  was  remodeled  some 
years  ago  into  a  more  modern  design  of  architecture.  This  important  fact  is  well 
worth  remembering,  also  the  fact  that  the  first  religious  meeting  ever  held  in 
Wapello  was  conducted  in  John  Drake's  barn.  It  was  held  by  the  Baptists  in 
1839.     . 

"Wapello  is  virtually  the  home  and  starting  point  of  two  important  pieces 
of  farm  machinery — the  stalk  cutter  and  corn  planter.  Years  ago  J.  B.  Ryder 
invented  the  corn  planter  here  in  town,  and  when  J.  S.  Andrews  came  here,  being 
interested  in  the  McCormick  mower,  he  tried  to  persuade  Ryder  to  go  with  him 
to  Chicago,  where  he  would  insure  him  at  least  $6,000  for  his  planter,  also  a 
royalty.  But  Ryder  instead  went  prowling  around  Brown's  implement  works  at 
Galesburg,  Illinois,  with  his  planter  ideas,  and  not  long  after,  the  Brown  corn 
planter  appeared  on  the  market.  Ryder  'lost  out'  completely,  as  his  planter  was 
not  patented  and  another  took  advantage  of  what  Ryder  had  shown  him.  As 
to  the  cutter.  Ryder  bought  the  right  from  a  traveler  who  chanced  through  here 


380  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

and  was  stopping  at  the  old  Ives  Hotel.  He  induced  L.  P.  Wells  and  J.  D.  Barr 
to  join  him  in  the  enterprise,  but  being  naturally  of  a  stubborn  nature  and  ad- 
dicted to  some  bad  habits,  a  general  fuss  soon  ensued  between  the  three  partners 
and  the  cutter,  like  the  planter,  remained  in  obscurity. 

"Looking  back  in  times  past  it  must  be  acknowledged  that  Wapello  has  been 
the  home  of  several  fine  industries.  There  was  the  pork-packing  establishments 
of  Isett  Brothers  and  Mark  Davison,  the  big  distillery,  the  iron  foundry  and  the 
four-story  woolen  mill  factory  of  Johan  &  Winter.  There  undoubtedly  is  a 
greater  volume  of  business  done  here  now  than  in  past  years,  but  it  is  limited 
to  a  few  concerns.  The  variety  and  the  business  of  former  times  was  not  so 
limited,  and  being  of  a  different  nature,  was  naturally  better  fur  the  town  and 
those  who  depend  on  manual  labor  as  a  means  of  support.     .     .     . 

"The  making  of  illicit  whiskey,  commonly  known  as  'moonshining'  is  ex- 
tensively carried  on  in  Kentucky,  North  Carolina,  West  Virginia  and  other 
southern  states,  but  that  'moonshine'  whiskey  was  ever  produced  in  Wapello 
would  hardly  seem  probable,  yet  it  has  been  and  when  Rollins  was  here  in  the 
distillery  business,  he  once  shipped  a  boat  load  of  barrels  filled  with  something 
marked  'vinegar,'  consigned  to  parties  in  Chicago.  The  boat  was  loaded  here  in 
Wapello  and  started  for  Burlington.  About  this  time  William  Henry  Dunn 
happened  to  have  a  fine  horse  for  sale  and  rode  down  to  Burlington  the  same 
day  the  boat  left  the  Wapello  levee.  He  was  about  the  streets  of  Burlington  of- 
fering his  horse  for  sale.  Rollins  saw  him  and  suspecting  That  Dunn  might  be 
'putting  up  a  job'  on  his  'vinegar'  kept  an  eye  on  him.  Anyway,  it  so  happened 
that  just  before  the  boat  arrived,  a  dispatch  was  received  by  the  chief  of  police 
describing  a  man  who  it  was  said  had  stolen  a  horse.  Dunn's  appearance,  dress 
and  horse  perfectly  answered  the  description  and  he  was  locked  up  in  the  Bur- 
lington jail  over  night.  By  that  time  Rollins'  'vinegar'  was  no  longer  in  Bur- 
lington and  it  was  ascertained  that  an  innocent  man  had  been  'jugged'  and 
Dunn  was  turned  loose.  Later  on  Tom  Pickering  also  shipped  a  load  of  'vinegar' 
from  Wapello  and  it  happened  to  get  caught  in  a  railroad  wreck  in  Illinois  and 
was  destroyed.  Tom  of  course  received  pay  for  his  'vinegar'  but  his  'moon- 
shine' deal  busted  the  Wapello  distillery.  There  were  some  pretty  smooth  'ducks' 
connected  with  the  old  distillery  here  but  their  own  sharp  practice  finally  sent 
them  to  the  wall.  While  it  was  in  operation,  the  old  distillery  furnished  a 
splendid  corn  market  for  the  town  and  did  a  good  paying  business. 

"In  speaking  of  negroes  reminds  me  that  Henry  Polite  was  the  first  perma- 
nent negro  resident  of  Wapello.  He  was  captured  by  the  Second  Iowa  Cavalry 
in  Mississippi,  and  after  the  war  located  in  this  county  and  finally  opened  a 
barber  shop  in  Wapello.  Henry  made  a  trip  to  his  old  southern  home  a  few 
years  later,  and  one  night  while  down  there  was  visited  by  the  'Ku-Klux.'  When 
he  went  si  mth  he  was  attired  like  a  gentleman — Prince  Albeit  coat,  white  vest, 
gray  trousers  and  silk  hat.  The  next  seen  of  him,  he  was  footing  it  up  from 
Burlington  and  was  a  sorry  sight  to  see.  He  had  parted  with  his  gentlemanly 
wearing  apparel  during  the  'Ku-Klux  mix-up'  and  came  back  here  wearing  an 
old  blue  army  overcoat,  an  old  white  hat,  no  vest  and  one  boot  and  one  shoe. 
They  got  his  money  down  there  and  he  told  me  that  they  got  three  other  'nig- 
gers' that  night.  .  .  .  He  escaped,  he  said,  by  going  through  a  window  which 
he  did  not  stop  to  raise. 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  381 

"I  have  been  thinking  of  some  of  the  old-timers,  among  whom  was  Mack 
"Watson.  Uncle  Mack  was  a  tailor  by  trade,  an  Irishman  by  birth,  and  a  very 
nervy,  practical  joker.  Once  there  was  a  steamboat  landed  here  which  had  con- 
siderable trouble  coming  up  the  Iowa  and  the  captain  concluded  to  engage  the 
services  of  a  pilot  for  the  return  trip,  so  .Mack  offered  his  services  to  show  the 
skipper  all  the  sand  bars  between  here  and  the  Mississippi  river.  Down  the 
river  a  short  distance  the  boat  struck  a  bar  and  Mack  sung  out  that  this  was 
such  and  such  a  bar.  The  process  was  repeated  several  times,  each  time  Mack 
calling  the  name  of  the  bar  until  finally  the  skipper  told  Watson  he  did  not  pay 
him  $25  in  advance  to  run  them  on  every  sand  bar  in  the  river,  but  wanted  a 
man  to  keep  them  off  the  bars.  Mack  allowed  that  he  had  agreed  to  show  them 
all  the  bars  in  the  river  and  he  guessed  that  he  had  fulfilled  his  contract.  The 
captain  thought  so  too,  lowered  a  boat,  put  Mack  ashore  and  he  walked  back 
to  town.  On  another  occasion  when  they  'got  at  cross  questions'  a  bully  proposed 
to  fight  Watson,  and  noting  the  difference  in  size  between  himself  and  his  an- 
tagonist, he  excused  himself,  saying  he  would  be  back  shortly,  and  disappeared. 
When  he  came  back  he  had  removed  his  upper  garments  and  was  covered  with  a 
thick  coat  of  grease  and  soft  soap,  even  to  his  hair,  but  the  fellow  backed  down 
when  he  beheld  Mack,  saying  that  he  had  not  agreed  to  fight  a  hog.     .     .     . 

"Mrs.  Jane  C.  Yanloon  is  the  oldest  citizen  in  Wapello,  that  is,  she  has  re- 
sided here  longer  than  any  one  else.  She  was  a  very  little  girl  when  her  father 
crossed  the  Mississippi  river  and  settled  here  sixty-nine  years  ago.  Her  father 
came  here  as  an  Indian  trader,  swopping  blankets,  ammunition  and  other  neces- 
sary articles  and  trinkets  to  Chief  Wapello's  band,  and  in  the  course  of  time  he 
accumulated  considerable  property  in  this  vicinity.  The  country  hereabouts 
was  indeed  wild  when  she  first  visited  the  land  on  which  the  old  town  was  after- 
ward laid  out.  Three  log  cabins  were  then  scattered  at  different  places  on  the 
present  town  site,  and  greasy,  Indian  wigwams  were  numerous  and  became  a 
common  sight.  Wild  grass,  ram-rod  hay,  rushes,  swamp  and  water  lilies  cov- 
ered the  ground  and  narrow  Indian  trails  wound  their  way  in  and  out  through 
the  vast  prairies  and  heavy  timber.  Indian  canoes  played  up  and  down  the  river 
as  they  came  and  went  on  their  hunting  and  fishing  expeditions.  No  wells  were 
in  use  then  and  water  was  carried  from  the  springs  at  the  north  part  of 
town.     .     .     ." 

THE    FIRST    LOUISA    COUNTY    HOMICIDE 

( Contributed  ) 

The  first  homicide  in  Louisa  county  was  the  killing  of  George  Stump,  better 
known  as   Nevill,  this  being  the  name  of  his  stepfather. 

This  tragedy  occurred  in  the  spring  of  1850.  The  Nevill  family,  which  in- 
cluded several  sons,  half  brothers  of  George,  who  were  grown  to  manhood,  and 
Wm.  Franklin,  his  slayer  lived  in  the  town  of  Toolesboro.  There  was  enmity 
between  the  two  families.  How  it  originated  was  never  clearly  shown.  One 
clay  in  the  spring  of  1850,  Stump  and  Franklin  came  together  on  the  street  and 
Stump,  who  was  a  big.  strong  man,  attacked  Franklin,  who  was  much  inferior 
to  him  both  in  size  and  strength,  and  gave  him  a  cruel  beating,  kicking  and 
battering  him  in  a  shameful  manner.  Stump  and  his  brother,  Mike  Nevill,  at 
once  decamped  across  the  river  into  Illinois. 


382  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

Several  weeks  elapsed,  during  which  time  Franklin  was  nursing  his  wounds 
and  his  wrath.  After  a  short  ahsence  the  Nevills  returned,  calling  at  the  house  of 
a  man  by  the  name  of  Philips,  said  to  be  a  relative  of  the  Nevills.  The  house 
occupied  by  Philips  stood  where  Mrs.  G.  H.  Mosier  now  lives.  Most  of  the 
people  then  living  on  the  hill  in  Toolesboro  obtained  their  water  from  a  well 
located  at  the  rear  of  a  brick  building  belonging  to  Wm.  L.  Toole.  The  lower 
story  was  at  this  time  used  as  a  store  room  in  which  John  Bradley  was  clerking, 
the  upper  rooms  being  occupied  by  Hooker  Trask  and  family.  On  coming  into 
the  house  of  Philips,  Stump  complained  of  hunger  and  Mrs.  Philips  told  him  to 
bring  some  water  and  she  would  prepare  him  some  dinner.  Taking  the  bucket 
he  went  to  the  well  before  mentioned  and  was  in  the  act  of  drawing  the  water 
from  the  well  with  a  windlass  when  Franklin,  who  had  warning  of  his  coming 
and  was  concealed  behind  an  out  building  near  the  well,  with  an  Allen  revolver, 
came  around  the  corner  of  the  house  and  opened  fire  on  him  from  a  distance  of 
about  ten  feet,  the  first  shot  taking  effect  in  Stump's  face.  Franklin  advanced, 
firing  one  shot  after  another  as  fast  as  his  weapon  would  revolve.  Stump  dropped 
his  bucket  and  fled  in  terror,  first  running  towards  Susan  Trask,  who  was  hanging 
out  clothes  in  the  yard.  Terrified,  she  fled  to  the  house  and  Stump  then  made  for 
the  board  fence  that  surrounded  the  grounds.  Against  this  he  fell,  knocking 
off  the  top  board,  followed  by  the  enraged  Franklin,  who,  having  emptied  his 
revolver,  grasped  him  by  the  hair  and  began  pounding  him  on  the  head  with  the 
empty  weapon.  Tearing  himself  loose,  Stump  staggered  bleeding  up  the  street, 
and  was  met  by  his  brother  Mike,  who  assisted  him  to  the  Nevill  home,  where 
after  lingering  a  couple  of  weeks  he  died. 

The  writer  of  this  sketch,  at  that  time  a  boy  of  ten  years,  was  a  witness  both 
of  the  attack  on  Franklin  and  the  killing  of  Stump. 

Immediately  after  the  shooting  and  prior  to  the  death  of  Stump,  a  warrant 
was  issued  by  Isaac  Parsons,  justice  of  the  peace,  on  an  affidavit  of  James  Keever, 
charging  Franklin  with  "assault  with  intent  to  kill."  This  warrant  was  placed 
in  the  hands  of  Justice  Warn  of  Wapello  on  whose  docket  is  found  the  follow- 
ing entry :  "April  2nd,  1850.  A  warrant  being  brot  to  me,  Samuel  Warn,  a  justice 
of  the  peace  of  the  township  of  Wapello,  in  Louisa  county,  by  John  H.  Haskinson, 
constable  of  said  township,  which  warrant  was  issued  by  Isaac  Parsons,  of  Jef- 
ferson township,  in  said  Louisa  county,  which  warrant  was  issed  on  the  affidavit 
of  James  Keever  as  follows :"  Here  follows  the  wording  of  the  warrant.  The 
judgment  of  Justice  Warn  reads  as  follows:  "April  2nd,  1850.  Said  Franklin 
was  brot  before  me  by  the  Officer  Haskinson,  constable  of  Wapello  township, 
in  said  county,  for  examination,  and  Springer  and  Bird  Attys  for  defendant, 
moved  to  quash  the  warrant  for  these  defects  1  for  the  reason  of  their  being 
no  such  class  of  acts  in  the  state  of  Iowa,  and  2  other  defects.  It  is  therefore 
considired  that  the  prisoner  be  discharged  and  the  county  pay  the  costs  of  the 
suit  taxed  at  $4.33  cts." 

Being  acquitted  on  a  technicality  it  seems  Franklin  now  demanded  a  trial 
on  the  charge  of  assault,  so  on  the  following  page  of  the  docket  we  find  the 
following  entry:  "Now  on  this  2nd  day  of  April,  A.  D.  1850,  came  the  Deft 
and  gave  himself  up  to  the  custody  of  the  law  for  an  assault  on  George  Stump, 
and  asked  that  the  cause  might  be  investigated.  Francis  Springer  and  John 
Bird  recognized  themselves  for  his   appearance  on   Saturday,  the  6th   inst." 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  383 

The  result  of  this  trial  is  given  in  the  judgment  of  the  court  as  follows: 
"April  6th,  1850,  the  day  and  hour  for  the  above  examination  having  arrived 
and  one  hour  having  relapsed  after  the  return  hour  the  parties  being  called,  the 
criminal  appeared  by  his  Attys,  Bird  and  Springer,  and  went  into  the  examination, 
and  after  hearing  the  testimony  in  behalf  of  the  State  of  Iowa,  said  witnesses 
being  24  in  number,  and  it  not  appearing  to  be  testimony  enough  to  bind  said 
William  Franklin  over  to  court,  It  is  therefore  considered  that  the  said  Franklin 
be  discharged  and  that  the  county  of  Louisa  pay  the  costs  of  this  investigation 
taxed  at  $35.02%.    This  April  6th,  1850. 

"Samuel  Warn, 
"Justice  of  the  Peace." 

So  ended  this  celebrated  case,  the  list  of  witnesses  was  nearly  a  poll  of  the 
male  population  of  Jefferson  township  with  quite  a  number  from  Wapello. 
Stump's  reputation  as  an  outlaw  and  bully  largely  influenced  the  result,  the  gen- 
eral opinion  being  that  he  got  only  what  was  coming  to  him.  This  proves  that 
in  those  early  days  as  today,  the  mills  of  justice  grind  coarse  or  fine  according 
as  the  gauge  is  set  by  public  opinion. 

One  impressive  fact  in  this  connection  is  the  cheapness  of  judicial  pro- 
cedure in  those  days.  Fifty  years  later  a  man  was  stabbed  to  death  on  the 
streets  of  Wapello  in  the  presence  of  half  a  dozen  witnesses,  dying  almost  im- 
mediately. The  murderer  did  not  deny,  but  boasted  of  the  deed,  and  expressed 
regret  that  he  was  unable  to  add  others  to  the  list.  And  yet  a  coroner's  jury  was 
empaneled  to  ascertain  how  and  why  the  man  died,  a  lawyer  was  appointed  to 
defend  him,  and  all  to  prove  a  fact  that  everybody  knew  and  nobody  denied. 
This  travesty  on  justice  cost  the  county  some  six  or  eight  hundred  dollars  to 
convict  (?)  a  man  who  denied  nothing  and  plead  guilty  to  every  charge. 

EARLY   DAYS    IN    IOWA 

In  the  winter  of  1847,  the  writer,  then  a  boy  of  seven,  first  made  his  advent 
to  Louisa  county.  My  father  and  mother  and  six  children  immigrating  from 
Kentucky  by  steam  boat,  landed  at  Burlington,  Iowa.  In  a  log  cabin  about  three 
miles  north  of  this  city,  belonging  to  a  relative  of  ours,  we  prepared  to  spend 
our  first  winter  in  Iowa.  Early  in  December  the  snow  had  reached  the  depth 
of  two  feet,  and  being  on  the  public  road  leading  north  from  Burlington,  which 
was  the  principal  source  of  supplies  for  all  of  the  country  within  a  radius  of 
75  to  100  miles,  we  were  frequently  called  upon  to  shelter  belated  settlers  on 
their  way  to  and  from  market.  To  have  refused  an  application  for  shelter  would, 
according  to  the  laws  of  hospitality  in  our  native  state,  and  even  here  in  those 
pioneer  days,  have  been  considered  an  unpardonable  sin.  On  one  of  these  occa- 
sions we  entertained  some  settlers  from  Louisa  county,  among  whom  was  Ezra 
Denison,  who,  upon  learning  that  my  father  was  a  house  carpenter,  at  once 
began  negotiating  with  him  to  come  to  this  county  and  finish  a  brick  house  which 
he  had  erected  across  the  river  from  Black  Hawk,  as  it  was  then  called,  in  Eliot 
township,  on  what  was  then  known  as  Tater  Island.  The  result  was  that  Denison 
sent  down  sleds,  and  our  worldly  effects  were  transferred  to  a  log  cabin  on  the 
bank  of  the  Iowa  river,  where  we  spent  the  balance  of  that  winter  and  the  next 


384  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

eventful  summer.  The  melting  snows  of  spring  brought  the  annual  freshet 
and  the  river  soon  overflowed  its  banks,  and  spread  over  the  prairies.  Higher 
and  higher  came  the  water,  until  not  to  exceed  one  acre  of  ground  where  our 
cabin  stood,  was  uncovered,  occasionally  a  settler  came  over  in  a  skiff  to  see 
how  we  fared  and  to  assure  us  that  this  particular  spot  of  ground  had  never  been 
under  water;  several  years  later  we  saw  this  tradition  shattered,  but  at  this 
time  we  were  not  inundated.  No  one  but  a  pioneer  in  a  rude  cabin,  open  to 
every  breeze  of  heaven,  warmed  only  by  an  open  fire  place,  and  a  roof  of  clap- 
boards that  let  in  the  drifting  snow,  a  family  of  eight  persons  in  one  such  room, 
can  imagine  the  intense  relief  of  coming  spring.  And  such  a  spring  in  beautiful 
virgin  Iowa!  Prairie  chickens  strutted  and  bellowed  on  the  emerald  prairies, 
water  fowl  in  countless  myriads  covered  the  lakes,  darkened  the  air  with  their 
wings,  and  day  and  night  the  clamor  of  their  voices  could  be  heard  as  they 
rested  on  the  water  or  winged  their  way  to  their  nesting  places  further  north. 
This  spring,  the  writer,  a  lad  of  eight  years,  did  his  first  farming,  by  dropping 
corn  after  an  ox  team,  to  illustrate  the  primitive  methods  of  those  early  days. 
The  ground  was  broken  or  stirred  with  an  ox  team  and  every  third  furrow  the 
corn  was  dropped,  two  or  three  grains  about  three  feet  apart,  the  next  furrow- 
was  turned  on  the  corn.  This  was  all.  except  one  straggling  cultivation  with  a 
shovel  plow.  But  such  was  the  fertility  of  this  soil  that  50  or  60  bushels  of  ex- 
cellent corn  per  acre  was  produced  by  these  rude  methods. 

The  advent  of  summer  brought  with  it  the  twin  curses  of  the  Iowa  pioneer, 
viz :  mosquitoes  and  the  ague,  but  this  is  a  subject  too  unpleasant  to  contemplate. 
We  fought  mosquitoes  and  shook  with  the  ague.  Fortunately  the  chills  generally 
came  on  alternate  days,  so  that  part  of  the  family  could  assist  the  others  while 
their  teeth  were  chattering  with  the  chill,  or  burning  with  the  fever  that  fol- 
lowed. Blessings  on  the  man  who  invented  wire  screens;  he  deserves  a  memor- 
ial as  enduring  as  Bunker  Hill  monument!  The  following  fall  we  moved  across 
the  river  in  a  skiff,  to  Black  Hawk.  Here  on  higher  ground  and  with  the  coming 
of  cooler  weather  our  health  improved.  My  father  and  mother  were  members 
of  the  Cumberland  Presbyterian  church,  my  father  being  a  licensed  preacher. 
There  being  no  organization  of  that  body  within  reach  my  parents  united  with 
the  .Methodists.  My  father  being  the  only  resident  minister  in  the  neighborhood, 
he  was  called  upon  to  officiate  at  almost  all  the  funerals  ami  weddings  that 
occurred  in  that  vicinity.  I  recall  one  irate  father  who  called  upon  my  father 
several  years  after  he  had  married  his  daughter — who  was  then  the  mother  of 
several  children — and  upbraided  him  for  his  dereliction  in  not  having  his  license 
renewed  in  Iowa.  "You  were  not  a  licensed  preacher,"  said  he,  "and  my 
daughter  is  not  married,  and  her  children  are  -  — ,"  but  I  will  not  mention  the 
word  he  used.  Put  the  matter  blew  over  and  the  children  grew  up  honored 
members  of  society  without  a  thought  as  to  their  narrow  escape  from  disgrace. 

The  recreations  of  those  days  consisted  of  horse  races,  shooting  matches, 
dancing  and  going  to  "meetin'  ."  Most  every  one  went  to  "meetin'  "  and  nearly 
every  one  danced,  and  shot,  and  attended  horse  races.  Every  winter  we  had  a 
protracted  "meetin"  "  and  the  young  folks  divided  their  time  between  this  and 
the  dance,  often  going  from  church  to  some  nearby  house  to  finish  the  night  with 
a  dance.  On  one  occasion  Bro.  Wilbur  was  holding  a  protracted  meeting  and  was 
making  considerable  inroad  on  the  dancing   fraternity  by  converting  them.     A 


LOUISA  COUNTY  POOR  FARM 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  385 

reckless  fellow  by  the  name  of  Neal  Ruffner  started  a  counter  attraction  which 
he  called  a  "protracted  dance."  This  was  kept  up  for  some  considerable  time 
to  the  intense  disgust  of  the  religious  element,  Bro.  Wilbur  declaring  that  it  "was 
instigated  by  the  Devil  for  the  purpose  of  holding  his  own."  Our  house  was 
always  open  to  the  preacher,  no  matter  what  his  creed.  Most  of  them  were  good 
fellows,  and  their  salaries  were  not  large  enough  to  make  them  proud  or  stuck-up. 

Bro.  Wilbur  was  a  good  friend  to  the  boys.  His  form  was  rotund  and  his 
appetite  for  fried  chicken  was  slightly  discouraging  to  a  half  dozen  hungry  children 
waiting  for  the  second  table.  Another  Methodist  minister  of  whom  we  have  a 
vivid  recollection  was  Bro.  Woodford.  He  was  a  Connecticut  Yankee,  a  splendid 
shot  with  the  rifle,  and  an  enthusiastic  fisherman.  He  taught  us  how  to  troll  for 
pickerel,  and  his  method  of  hunting  deer  was  both  new  and  successful.  After 
the  corn  began  to  ripen  in  the  fall,  the  deer  soon  began  to  visit  the  fields,  always 
at  night  or  early  in  the  evening.  It  was  their  habit  to  enter  the  field  at  one 
particular  place,  generally  where  the  rail  fence  was  low,  and  where  it  was  not 
obstructed  by  weeds  or  vines.  Bro.  Woodford  would  find  this  place  of  ingress, 
and  climbing  into  a  low  tree  would  sit  for  hours  quietly  braiding  whip  lashes — 
being  an  expert  at  this,  as  he  also  was  in  tanning  the  skins  from  which  they  were 
made — until  it  became  too  dark  to  see  the  outline  of  the  deer;  or  if  it  was  moon- 
light well  into  the  night  he  waited,  and  many  a  fine  buck  fell  before  his  unerring 
rifle. 

Returning  from  one  of  his  appointments  where  he  had  preached  one  Sab- 
bath evening,  Bro.  Woodford  and  my  father,  on  reaching  our  barn  yard  found 
the  sheep  in  great  excitement,  lambs  bleating,  and  all  the  flock  in  a  panic.  Think- 
ing some  "varmint"  was  attacking  the  sheep,  my  father  called  the  dog.  a  faith- 
ful old  hound,  while  Bro.  Woodford  ran  to  the  house  and  secured  his  rifle.  The 
hound  took  the  track  which  led  into  a  woodland  nearby,  and  soon  his  baying 
showed  the  marauder  was  treed.  Reaching  the  tree  they  peered  into  the  branches 
and  there  was  the  dark  object.  One  shot  from  the  rifle  brought  him  to  the 
ground,  and  being  unable  to  tell  in  the  darkness  the  kind  of  animal  they  had 
bagged,  they  lugged  him  to  the  house  and  the  rays  of  the  tallow  dip  revealed — 
a  large,  black  cat,  belonging  to  a  neighbor !  Suddenly  a  thought  occurred  to  Bro. 
Woodford.  "Why  Bro.  Smith,"  said  he,  "do  you  know  that  this  is  Sunday  night?" 
"Well,"  said  he,  philosophically,  "we  better  say  nothing  about  this."  Now, 
after  half  century,  both  of  these  good  men  have  gone  to  their  reward,  their 
harmless  escapade  serves  only  to  awaken  the  kindly  tie  that  makes  the  "whole 
world  akin." 

In  the  early  days  pretty  much  all  the  heavy  teaming,  such  as  logging,  break- 
ing prairie  sod,  etc.,  was  done  by  ox  teams,  the  horses  being  of  a  small  breed, 
seldom  exceeding  1,200  lbs.  in  weight.  In  the  spring  of  '49  was  the  great 
hegira  across  the  plains  to  California.  Several  teams  were  fitted  out  in  the  vil- 
lage of  Toolesboro ;  in  one  of  these  outfits  was  a  yoke  of  oxen  purchased  from 
Freeman  Shaw  ;  they  were  driven  across  the  state  to  Council  Bluffs,  which  was 
then  considered  the  western  boundary  of  civilization;  there  the  immigrants 
formed  their  trains  for  mutual  help  and  defense  against  the  Indians.  From 
the  Missouri  river  to  the  Rocky  mountains — according  to  the  accepted  tradition 
of  those  days — lay  the  Great  American  Desert.  While  camping  at  Council 
Bluffs  the  yoke  of  cattle  bought  of  Shaw,  escaped  from  their  owner,  who,  after 


386  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

spending  several  days  searching  for  them  in  that  vicinity,  proceeded  on  his 
way  without  them  ;  the  following  fall,  these  steers  quietly  marched  up  to  the 
feed  rack  on  the  Shaw  farm,  having  during  the  summer  traveled  entirely 
across  the  state  of  Iowa,  guided  by  their  wonderful  instinct  and  love   fur  home. 

The  fencing  of  a  farm  in  the  early  days  of  Iowa  was  a  serious  problem,  the 
idea  of  fencing  stock  in  instead  of  fencing  them  out.  had  never  occurred  to  the 
settler,  therefore  the  first  farms  were  opened  in  the  vicinity  of  streams,  where 
wood  land  for  cabins,  fuel,  and  fencing  was  found.  How  main-  carpenters 
would  today  be  equal  to  the  task  of  building  a  house  with  an  axe.  an  auger  and 
a  froe.  (The  pioneer  will  recognize  the  froe  as  the  tool  with  which  he  split 
clapboards  to  cover  his  cabin.)  All  stock  ran  at  large  in  those  days,  some 
animals  strayed  away  ami  were  never  reclaimed  by  their  rightful  owner,  but 
he  generally  aimed  to  get  his  "per  capita,"  and  was  satisfied,  as  values  were 
quite  uniform. 

Swine  were  the  favorite  domestic  animals  of  those  pioneer  days,  and  where 
access  could  be  had  to  timbered  land  or  river  bottoms,  thev  throve  with  but 
little  attention  from  their  owners,  except  to  throw  them  a  little  corn  through 
the  winter  season.  As  soon  as  spring  opened  the  brood  sows  and  shoats  were 
left  to  shift  for  themselves,  and  would  frequently  disappear  for  months  at  a 
time:  but  when  the  corn  began  to  harden  in  the  fall,  the  farmer  with  a  bag  of 
corn  on  the  front  of  his  saddle  would  ride  to  their  haunts,  and  after  repeated 
trials  would  induce  some  old  sow  to  taste  of  this  almost  forgotten  luxury;  the 
effect  was  that  the  old  mammy  swine  would  often  beat  him  home,  bringing  with 
her  a  family  of  eight  or  ten  thrifty  shoats.  which  she  had  nurtured  during  her 
summer  vacation. 

A  neighbor  of  ours,  who  was  accused  of  not  being  able  to  distinguish  at  all 
times  between  "mine  and  thine,"  at  one  time,  in  early  spring,  turned  out  a 
rickety  old  barrow,  which  had  failed  to  accumulate  sufficient  fat  to  doom  him 
to  the  pork  barrel:  in  the  fall  the  barrow  reappeared  and  with  him  some  half 
dozen  thrifty  shoats.  all  of  which  were  promptly  impounded  for  winter  use. 
A  neighbor  who  knew  that  his  spring  "plant"  had  consisted  of  this  one  emanci- 
ated  barrow,  one  day  intimated  to  him  that  his  title  to  the  shoats  was  not  good. 
"Why,"  said  he.  innocently,  "what  do  you  think  that  old  barrow  was  doing  all 
summer?" 

One  of  the  most  extensive  hog  raisers  in  the  neighborhood  was  Tames  Guest, 
an  honest  man,  long  since  gone  to  his  reward,  lie  lived  on  the  farm  now  owned 
by  a  Mr.  Pemble,  and  his  swine  ranged  all  over  the  bottoms  and  across  the 
Muscatine  slough,  and  their  numbers  were  almost  unlimited.  In  autumn  with 
a  bag  of  corn,  he  would  go  to  the  bluff  overlooking  the  bottoms,  and  with  a 
voice  as  far  reaching  as  a  bugle  would  call — Pee-goo-ee — accented  on  the  "goo." 
The  effect  was  magical ;  as  the  vermin  and  the  children  followed  the  Pied  Piper, 
so  did  these  swine,  big  and  little,  old  and  young,  follow  Uncle  Jimmy  to  his 
barn  lot.  I  have  often  tried  to  imitate  that  call,  but  without  success.  As  a 
western  teamster  said  to  a  passenger  who  asked  him  where  he  learned  to 
swear,  "I  never  learned  it;  you  can't  learn  it,  it's  a  gift." 

To  some,  perhaps,  these  incidents  may  seem  frivolous,  but  to  the  aged  these 
memories  are  sweet  and  precious:  and   after  all.  the  life  of  the  average   man 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  387 

and  woman  is  a  succession  of  little  events;  day  after  day  we  meet  them,  con- 
quer them,  or  are  overcome  by  them. 

The  first  great  political  awakening  in  this  county  was  in  the  Fremont  and 
Buchanan  campaign  in  the  fall  of  1855.  A  Fremont  club  was  formed  at  Tooles- 
boro,  and  my  father  was  made  president  of  the  same.  The  republicans  had  a 
rally  and  a  pole  raising,  and  Judge  Springer  made  an  address.  We  had  a  brass 
band  from  Wapello,  and  our  twenty- foot  flag  was  emblazoned  with  the  alliterate 
legend,  "Free   Speech,  Free  Press,  Free  Soil,  Fremont  and   Dayton." 

Not  the  least  hero  of  the  day,  to  my  boyish  eyes  was  Asher  Sillick,  who 
scaled  a  rope  fifty  feet  to  remove  the  tackle  from  the  hickory  pole  which  we 
had  erected.  Not  to  be  outdone,  the  democrats  shortly  afterward  erected  a 
pole  a  little  taller  than  ours,  and  only  about  one  hundred  feet  away. 

Did  space  permit,  what  pleasure  it  would  be  to  speak  of  the  noble  men  of 
that  one  locality  who  did  so  much  to  make  the  history  of  this  county :  fonathan 
Parsons  and  his  sons.  Hannibal  and  Joseph  J. ;  Isaac  Parsons  and  Thompson, 
his  son;  the  Mallorys,  Hooks,  Trasks,  and  Tooles ;  and  coming  later,  patriots 
like  G.  H.  Mosier,  who  laid  his  little  fortune  on  the  altar  of  his  country  by 
feeding  soldiers'  families  while  the  Government  wrestled  with  its  great  financial 
effort  to  feed  and  equip  an  army  without  a  dollar  in  its  treasury. 

Most  of  the  pioneer  men  and  women  have  gone  to  their  reward.  They  live 
only  in  the  memory  of  their  children  and  neighbor's  children,  and  in  the  love 
and   esteem  of   those   who  knew   them   and   honor   them.     They   are   not   dead. 

"To  live  in  the  hearts  of  those  we  loved  is  not  to  die." 

[The  foregoing  article,  and  the  article  entitled  "The  First  Louisa  County 
Homicide"  were  written  especially  for  this  work,  by  James  R.  Smith,  Esq.,  of 
Columbus  Junction,  who  has  so  often  entertained  old  settlers'  meetings  and 
soldiers'    "campfires."] 

THE   COUNTY    FARM 

It  is  well  known  that  there  has  been  more  or  less  controversy  between  the 
doctors  of  the  county  and  the  Board  of  Supervisors  in  regard  to  the  payment 
of  bills  for  medical  services  rendered  to  persons  unable  to  pay.  It  appears  that 
at  one  time  it  was  the  practice  to  advertise  in  the  newspapers  for  sealed  pro- 
posals for  keeping  the  paupers  of  the  county,  and  for  medical  attendance  on 
them.  In  February,  1853,  at  the  time  Wright  Williams  was  county  judge,  it  is 
recorded  that  in  pursuance  of  a  notice  published  in  a  newspaper  called  the 
Louisa  County  Times,  asking  for  sealed  proposals  for  keeping  the  paupers  of 
the  county  in  board  and  clothing,  the  following  bids  were  received  and  opened 
on  February  7,  1853 : 

Thomas  G.  Forbes $2.00  per  week 

E.  W.  Ellsworth   1 .70  per  week 

O.   Spafford    2.90  per  week 

Dennis  Williams    1.7c  per  week 

The  record  goes  on  to  show  that  after  examining  the  above  proposals,  the 
physicians  of  Columbus  City  and  Wapello  were  requested  to  put  in  sealed  pro- 
posals  stating  the   amount    for   which   they   would   give   medical   attendance   to 


388  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

the  paupers  of  the  county  for  one  year,  from  and  after  said  paupers  shall  have 
been  taken  charge  of  by  one  of  the  aforesaid  bidders,  and  on  February  12, 
1853,  tne  following  bids  were  opened  : 

Thomas  G.  Taylor  offers  to  give  medical  attendance  for  one  year  for $200 

John  Cleaves   for   24 

L.  R.  Burns  for   100 

John  Bell.  Jr.,  for 150 

J.  M .  Robertson  for 25 

"H,  T.  Cleaver  offers  to  give  medical  attendance  to  the  said  paupers  for 
one  year,  and  will  pay  $8.00  for  the  privilege  of  the  same.  It  is  therefore  con- 
sidered by  the  County  Judge  that  in  consequence  of  the  bid  of  Dr.  Cleaver, 
together  with  the  bid  of  Dennis  Williams,  are  the  lowest  and  best  bids.  It  is 
therefore  considered  that  Dennis  Williams  be  appointed  to  take  charge  of  the 
paupers  and  H.  T.  Cleaver  is  hereby  appointed  physician." 

We  may  note  in  connection  with  the  account  of  Dennis  Williams,  filed  in 
December,  1853,  a  circumstance  which  occurred  quite  often  in  the  early  history 
of  the  county,  and  indicates,  both,  that  the  county  was  short  of  funds,  and  that 
the  county  orders  were  used  as  currency.  Mr.  Williams  filed  his  bill  for  keep- 
ing paupers,  amounting  to  $128,  and  this  was  paid  by  eight  warrants,  seven  of 
them  being  for  $20  each  and  the  cither  for  $18.  These  warrants  would,  of 
course,  pass  current  with  all  who  had  taxes  to  pay. 

Francis  Springer  became  county  judge  on  November  2T,,  1854,  and  the  first 
hill  presented  to  and  allowed  by  him  was  one  of  Dr.  H.  T.  Cleaver  for  $49.50, 
for  medical  attendance  on  paupers,  and  for  quite  awhile  thereafter,  bills  for 
keeping  paupers  and  for  medical  attendance  upon  them,  came  in,  ranging  from 
$5  up  to  $75.  It  seems  they  got  too  strong  for  the  county  judge,  because  we 
find  that  on  February  21,  1855.  he  issued  a  proclamation,  stating  that  in  view 
of  the  heavy  pauper  expenses  borne  by  the  people  of  the  county,  and  with  a 
view  of  relieving  them  to  some  extent,  as  well  as  providing  a  home  for  the 
poor  where  the  sick  may  be  cared  for  and  the  well  made  to  work,  he  submitted 
to  the  people  at  the  election  on  the  first  Monday  in  April  the  question  of  pur- 
chasing a  suitable  farm,  and  estimated  the  cost  at  $4,000.  The  proposition 
carried  and  on  December  29,  1856,  the  county  court  purchased  of  John  Smith, 
of  Mahoning  county,  Ohio,  for  this  purpose,  two  hundred  acres  in  sections  2 
and  11,  and  forty  acres  in  section  5,  township  74  north,  range  3  west,  at  a 
cost  of  $4,000,  and  soon  afterward  a  contract  for  erecting  a  county  building 
was  let  to  B.  H.  Druse  of  Wapello,  for  $2,500,  and  the  building  was  erected 
by  him. 

In  Tune.  1895,  the  Board  of  Supervisors  submitted  to  the  people,  to  be 
voted  on  at  the  general  election  on  November  5th,  1895,  the  question  of  issuing 
bonds  of  the  county  for  the  sum  of  $16,000,  the  money  to  be  used  to  erect  suit- 
able buildings  for  the  use  of  the  poor,  and  a  hospital  for  the  incurable  insane. 

The  vote  on  the  proposition  is:     For — 548;  against — 1,167. 

At  the  November  election,  1899,  the  Board  of  Supervisors  composed  of 
Isaiah  Downs,  J.  Cal.  Duncan  and  Jacob  Lieberknecht.  submitted  to  the  people 
a  proposition  authorizing  the  Board  to  levy  a  tax  "which  may  produce  a  sum 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  389 

not  exceeding  $10,000  to  be  expended  in  the  erection  and  construction  of  a 
suitable  fireproof  building  and  improvements  on  the  County  Farm,  for  the  proper 
care  of  the  poor  of  the  county  and  the  incurable  insane."  This  proposition 
was  carried  by  the  close  vote  of  664  for  to  640  against,  a  great  many  people  not 
taking  the  pains  to  vote  on  the  proposition.  The  books  in  the  county  auditor's 
office  show  that  the  County  Improvement  Fund  tax  collected  in  the  years  from 
1901  to  1904  inclusive,  amounted  to  $18,637.05.  However,  it  seems  that  about 
$1,000  or  a  little  over  of  this  amount  came  originally  from  the  Poor  Fund  and 
the  County  Insane  Fund. 

The  County  Farm  of  Louisa  county,  together  with  the  building  and  other 
improvements  is  said  to  be  one  of  the  best  equipped  institutions  of  the  kind  10 
be  found  anywhere  in  the  state. 

RIVER    BRIDGES 

This  county  has  seven  wagon  bridges  over  the   Iowa  river. 

The  first  one  was  built  at  Wapello,  in  1873  and  1874;  it  was  authorized  by 
supervisors  Andrew  Gamble,  N.  M.  Letts  and  P.  D.  Bailey.  It  must  be  noted, 
to  the  credit  of  Gamble  and  Letts,  that  this  was  at  a  time  when  the  county  seat 
excitement  was  very  great,  and  that  both  these  men  were  strong  advocates  of 
Columbus  Junction. 

This  bridge  was  built  by  D.  H.  and  C.  C.  Morrison,  and  its  first  cost  was 
$13,453.50.  Win.  G.  Allen  was  the  commissioner  in  charge  of  its  construction. 
The  bridge  has  been  added  to  since  then. 

The  next  bridge  was  the  one  over  the  Iowa  river  at  Fredonia,  which  was 
finished  in  1878.  It  cost  about  $20,000,  and  was,  at  the  time  it  was  built,  said 
to  be  the  longest  wagon  bridge  in  the  state.  The  town  of  Columbus  Junction 
contributed  about  $5,000  to  it.     Cyril  Carpenter  was  the  commissioner. 

The  next  bridge  was  the  one  at  Toddtown,  north  of  Columbus  Junction.  It 
was  finished  July  4,  1879,  and  cost  something  less  than  $15,000.  Cyril  Carpenter 
was  commissioner. 

The  next  bridge  was  at  Yellow  Banks,  near  Oakville,  and  the  contract  for 
it  was  let  on  February  21,  1895.     It  cost  $14,860.40. 

The  next  was  the  Hogback  bridge,  north  of  Wapello,  the  contract  for  which 
was  awarded  May  3,  1898,  at  $14,150. 

This  bridge  had  been  talked  of  for  a  great  many  years,  but  had  been  bitterly 
opposed  by  some  of  the  leading  taxpayers  of  Grandview  township,  as  well  as 
by  many  others  in  the  north  part  of  the  county.  Jacob  Lieberknecht,  J.  Cal. 
Duncan  and  Isaiah  Downs  were  the  supervisors  who  authorized  it,  and  they 
did  so  on  the  condition  that  the  petitioners  would  carry,  without  interest,  $6,000 
of  bridge  warrants  from  March  1,  1899  to  March  1,  1900,  and  secure  the  right 
of  way  to  and  from  the  bridge.  On  January  8,  1898,  D.  C.  Thomas,  on  behalf 
of  the  petitioners,  filed  a  bond  agreeing  to  comply  with  the  conditions  made  by 
the  board. 

The  next  bridge  was  the  Hoben  bridge.  This  was  ordered  on  April  3,  1889, 
the  supervisors  being  Barton  Garrett,  H.  M.  Letts  and  S.  F.  Small.  There  was 
considerable  controversy  among  the  people  in  Union  and  Oakland  townships 
as  to  where  it  should  be  located.     Robert  Carson,  who  had  been  verv  active  in 


390  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

securing  the  bridge,  wanted  it  located  in  section  16-76-5 ;  and  on  May  9,  1889, 
H.  M.  Letts  was  appointed  commissioner  to  "contract  for  an  iron  bridge  on  the 
Iowa  river  between  Union  and  Oakland  townships  in  the  south  half  of  the  north- 
west quarter  of  section   16-76-5." 

Before  Mr.  Letts  was  ready  to  contract,  there  was  a  change  in  the  mem- 
bership of  the  board,  Thomas  Newell  succeeding  Mr.  Garrett,  and  on  January 
8,  1890,  the  engineer  was  ordered  to  locate  the  bridge  as  near  as  practicable  to 
McKean's  old  ferry  landing,  in  section  21-76-5  ;  and  the  bridge  was  built  there 
that   year. 

The  seventh  bridge  is  in  the  extreme  north  end  of  the  county,  on  the  line 
between  Louisa  and  Johnson  counties,  and  was  completed  in  191 1,  at  a  cost  of 
$9,000,  one-third  being  paid  by  this  county  and  the  remainder  by  Johnson  county. 

SUPERVISOR   DISTRICTS 

We  omitted  to  give  the  Supervisor  Districts  in  their  proper  place,  and  insert 
them  here.  On  June  3,  1874.  the  county  was  districted,  for  the  purpose  of 
electing  three  supervisors,  according  to  Chapter  39  of  the  Acts  of  the  15th 
General  Assembly. 

The  First  District  was  composed  of  the  townships  of  Oakland.  Union,  Colum- 
bus City  and  Elm  Grove. 

The  Second  District  was  composed  of  the  townships  of  Eliot,  Wapello,  Morn- 
ing   Sun   and    Marshall. 

The  Third  District  was  composed  of  the  townships  of  Jefferson.  Port  Louisa, 
Grandview  and  Concord. 

On  June  8,  1876,  the  county  was  redistricted,  the  avowed  reason  being  to 
make  the  districts  more  nearly  even  in  population. 

The  First  District  was  composed  of  the  townships  of  Columbus  City,  Elm 
Grove  and  Marshall. 

The  Second  District  was  composed  of  the  townships  of  Union,  Oakland, 
Concord.  Grandview  and  Port  Louisa. 

The  Third  District  was  composed  of  the  townships  of  Eliot,  Jefferson.  Wapello 
and  Morning  Sun. 

At  that  time  the  first  district  had  a  population  of  4.013,  the  second,  3,999, 
and  the  third,  4,487.     The  districts  have  not  been  changed  since. 

FIRST    THINGS 

First  white  men  to  land  on  Iowa  soil,  were  Marquette  and  Juliet,  in  Louisa 
county. 

First  white  child  born  in  Louisa  county  was  probably  Carvalho  Killough, 
son  of  Thomas  D.  Killough,  born  in  Port  Louisa  township  in  August,  1836. 
This  honor  has  been  claimed  for  several :  first,  we  believe,  for  Mrs.  John  P. 
Walker,  who  was  born  in  December,  1836;  next  it  was  claimed  for  "Jack"  Mc- 
Cleary.  who  was  born  in  October,  1836;  then  came  James  Higbee,  at  one  time 
president  of  the  Old  Settlers'  Society,  who  was  born  in  Marshall  township  in 
September,  1836.  But  now.  on  the  authority  of  Mrs.  McDill,  it  seems  quite 
probable  that  Carvallm  Killough  is  the  very  first.     It  has  been  claimed  that  one 


BRIDGES    OVER    IOWA   RIVER    AT    IIOURACK    NEAR    WArEI.I.O 


R  U 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  391 

of  William  Milligan's  boys  was  born  in  Eliot  township  on  January  7,  1836.  We 
have  not  been  able  to  get  satisfying  information  as  to  this. 

The  first  permanent  settler  in  the  county  was  probably  Christopher  Shuck, 
earlj-  in  1835. 

First  land  plowed  in  the  county  was  by  David  Morgan,  for  Christopher 
Shuck,  in   1835  in  Jefferson  township. 

First  Banking  House — kept  by  Bird,  Brown  &  Reach,  in  the  building  now 
used   for   a   jail. 

First  Whig  convention  in  Iowa  was  held  at  Wapello  in   1840. 

First  Agricultural  Society  was  held  in  Louisa  county. 

First  County  Medical  Society  was  in  Louisa  county. 

First  Welsh  sermon  preached  in  Iowa  was  by  Rev.  David  Knowles,  on  Long 
creek,  west  of  Columbus  City. 

First  mill  in  Louisa  county  was  probably  put  up  by  Win.  Kennedy  in  Port 
Louisa  township,  although  the  mill  of  Thomas  L.  Rose,  in  section  14,  73,  3,  on 
Honey  creek  was  one  of  the  earliest. 

First  clerk,  Z.  C.  Inghram. 

First  sheriff,  Samuel  Smith. 

First  court,  held  by  David  Irvin,  April  22,  1837. 

First  treasurer,  Z.  C.   Inghram. 

First  recorder,  Z.  C.   Inghram. 

First  member  Iowa  Territorial  Council,  James  M.  Clark. 

First  member  Iowa  Territorial  House,  Levi  Thornton,  Wm.  L.  Toole. 

First  postoffice,  Black  Hawk,  May  27,  1837. 

First  postmaster,  Wm.  L.  Toole. 

First  county  seat.  Lower  Wapello. 

First  school  taught,  in  Toolesboro,   1839. 

First  schoolhouse,  built  in  Toolesboro,  1839  or  1840. 

First  school  teacher.  J.  W.   Ferguson. 

First  wedding,  was  of  Henry  Long  and  Nancy  Layton.  Their  license  was 
the  first  issued  in  the  count}",  and  was  issued  on  June  2,  1837.  The  marriage 
is  claimed  for  both  Jefferson  and  Grandview  townships ;  the  return  on  the 
license  shows  that  it  was  solemnized  by  Wm.  Milligan.  J.  P.,  but  does  not  say- 
where.  The  best  opinion  is  that  the  marriage  was  celebrated  in  Grandview 
township. 

James  Erwin,  a  native  of  Ireland,  was  the  first  person  to  be  naturalized  in 
Louisa  county.  This  was  at  the  June.  1839,  term  of  the  district  court, — fudge 
Joseph  Williams  being  the  judge. 

First  resident  lawyers, — Francis  Springer  and  E.  H.  Thomas,  settled  in 
Wapello,  December  28,  1838. 

It  is  probable  that  J.  W.  Brookbank  was  the  first  doctor ;  he  was  certainly 
the  first  doctor  in  Wapello. 

The  following  article  taken  from  the  Columbus  Gazette  is  worthy  of  preser- 
vation, especially  because  it  relates  to  a  part  of  the  county  that  was  first  settled. 
It  is  written  by  Mr.  O.  I.  Jamison,  and  is  but  one  of  the  many  good  things 
which  he  wrote  in  his  effort  to  get  up  a  county  history: 


392  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

A    HISTORIC    R(  i  \l> 

"Ever  drive  from  Wapello  over  to  Toolesboro?  It's  not  the  nicest  drive  in 
the  world,  especially  about  this  time  of  the  year,  but  it's  historic.  You  strike 
historic  ground  the  minute  almost  you  get  on  the  river,  if  it  is  right  to  call  the 
river  ground.  The  foundation  of  the  second  pier  of  the  bridge  was  put  in  for 
the  old  Philadelphia,  Fort  Wayne  &  Air  Line  railroad.  This  was  probably 
as  early  as  1855.  Nearly  twenty  years  after,  the  foundation  was  utilized  in 
building  the  first  bridge  across  the  Iowa  in  Louisa  county.  This  was  in  1872, 
and  the  bridge  was  a  combination  affair,  since  replaced  by  steel  with  one  or 
two  additional  spans  on  the  east  side.  Going  on  east  less  than  a  mile  you  come 
in  view  of  a  part  of  the  old  grade  of  that  old  road,  close  to  where  'Old  Cooper' 
lived,  and  Carpenter,  who  was  connected  with  the  Estep-Koontz  crowd.  Near 
this  point,  south  of  the  road  is  where  young  Davis  was  killed  twenty-five  years 
ago  by  a  tree  falling  on  him ;  while  in  east  of  that,  where  the  road  turns  to  the 
south,  John  Keever  cut  Silas  Ruby  to  pieces  with  his  jack  knife,  one  night. 
Then  through  the  brush  a  mile  and  you  will  crime  to  the  E>rendle  homestead. 
It,  at  one  time,  belonged  to  the  Guest  estate  but  was  first  occupied  by  Henry 
Warnstaff.  Henry,  we  think  it  was.  Here  it  was  that  Sam  Chaney  got  his 
wife,  who  was  a  daughter  of  Warnstaff.  This  was  in  territorial  times.  Ik- 
came  sauntering  along  one  fine  Sunday  morning,  with  his  rifle  on  his  shoulder, 
as  was  his  habit.  She  went  with  him  for  a  walk.  Thev  went  down  to  the 
river,  got  in  his  boat  and  floated  and  paddled  down  the  Iowa  to  its  mouth  : 
down  the  Mississippi  to  the  Missouri  line,  where  they  were  married.  They 
rowed  themselves  back,  his  rifle  furnishing  them  the  most  of  their  food  during 
the  entire  trip.  This  was  one  of  the  romantic  weddings  of  the  time.  Just  east 
of  the  old  Warnstaff  place  was  at  one  time,  the  Widow  Morris'  homestead. 
Mrs.  Morris  and  all  her  folks  were  thrifty  and  a  good  class  of  citizens.  She 
had  several  daughters,  among  them  twins.  Henrietta  and  Marietta.  But  these 
folks  all  had  the  nerve.  We  think  it  was  when  Perry  Keever  married  one  of 
the  Morris  girls  that  a  party  from  Wapello  went  out  to  charivari  them.  They 
were  invited  in  to  take  supper,  but  this  did  not  suit  their  fastidious  tastes.  They 
preferred  money  to  buy  a  keg  or  two  of  beer,  or  they  would  roast  chickens  1  >n 
the  premises.  Mrs.  Morris  could  hear  her  chickens  squall  and  so  could  the 
girls.  One  of  the  twins  went  to  the  door  and  told  the  fellows  that  when  the 
chickens  began  to  squall  again  she  proposed  to  begin  to  shoot.  Of  course  they 
didn't  believe  she  meant  it.  but  when  the  next  batch  of  chickens  raised  a  racket, 
she  was  as  good  as  her  word  and  the  shotgun  was  brought  into  play.  That 
ended  the  banquet  for  the  boys.  Her  aim  had  been  good,  and  several  carried 
away  in  their  legs  and  bodies  souvenirs  of  the  occasion.  One  of  them,  we  think 
it  was  Johnny  Owens,  had  the  doctors  picking  bird  shot  out  of  him  for  a  day 
or  two.  Very  fortunately  no  one  was  seriously  injured.  Some  of  the  boys 
caught  a  brother  of  the  girl  who  did  the  shooting  in  Wapello  once,  and  pounded 
him   up  pretty  thoroughly.     .     .     . 

"Just  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  east  of  the  Morris  home,  under  the  hill, 
stood  a  shanty,  years  ago,  beside  a  spring,  now  and  for  many  years  known  as 
the  'Snake'  spring.  A  lady  reader  of  the  Gazette  writes  of  this  spring  as 
follows : 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  893 

*'  'The  Snake  spring,  situated  on  the  farm  now  owned  by  Mrs.  Korn,  is  still 
called  by  that  name.  The  woman  who  killed  the  snakes  was  Mrs.  Dan  Cooper. 
She  and  her  brother,  Will  Kominsky,  killed  seven  hundred  and  eighty-three  in 
one  day,  so  says  Mrs.  John  Wehmeyer,  who  lives  about  one  mile  west  of  the 
spring.  L.  K.  Potter  says  he  went  to  the  place  one  warm  day  and  the  snakes 
began  to  come  out  by  the  hundreds,  so  it  seemed  to  him.  They  were  all  blue 
racers.'     .     .     . 

"Farther  down  this  road  about  half  a  mile  still  stand  the  remains  of  a  little 
building,  long  occupied  by  'Daniels,'  or  McPherson.  McPherson  was  a  very 
peculiar  man  but  his  neighbors  all  liked  him  for  his  honesty  and  accommodating 
ways.  But  a  man  must  deal  fair  with  him.  It  is  his  son  who  is  now  serving  a 
life  sentence  at  Fort  Madison  for  killing  the  Morning  Sun  marshal.     .     .     . 

"At  this  place  you  go  up  the  bluff  and  the  first  house  you  come  to  was,  for 
a  number  of  years,  the  home  of  James  Erwin,  still  frequently  referred  to  as  the 
Widow  Lowrey  place.  She  was  a  daughter  and  partly  inherited  the  place  from 
her  father.  .  .  .  Next  to  this  and  only  a  few  hundred  yards  south  is  the  nil 
Billy  Clark  place.  This  family  is  well  worthy  of  mention,  as  Mr.  Clark  and  his 
wife  came  here  in  a  very  early  day,  in  1835;  his  family  a  year  later.  They  came 
from  Lafayette,  Indiana,  and  first  settled  in  Wapello  at  the  place  now  occupied 
by  M.  Carrigan  and  wife.  There  were  seven  children  by  the  first  wife.  Of 
these,  Mrs.  Jane  C.  Vanloon  was  the  oldest  and  only  daughter.  She  lives  in 
Wapello.  James  B.  Clark  is  dead,  as  is  also  Samuel.  John,  William,  R.  B.  and 
Daniel  are  still  living,  or  were  recently.  James  and  Samuel  both  served  in  the 
Mexican  war ;  William  and  Daniel  in  the  War  of  the  Rebellion.  John  and  William 
live  in  Oklahoma,  R.  B.  lives  in  Wisconsin,  but  for  a  number  of  years  lived  in 
Minnesota.  There  was  a  preacher,  Clark,  an  uncle  of  William  M.,  who  came  here 
in  a  very  early  day  and  helped  lay  out  the  original  town  of  Wapello.  William 
Clark  entered  the  old  Clark  place  in  Jefferson  township  when  that  country  was 
very  new.  They  were  great  hog  raisers,  the  bottoms  in  those  days  being  well 
calculated  for  that  business,  but  it  took  a  stake  and  ridered  fence,  and  a  good 
one,  to  save  the  crops  from  their  depredations.  We  hear  it  hinted  that  clogs, 
rifles  and  shotguns  were  often  pressed  into  service  as  supplemental  fences.  Will- 
iam Clark  was  the  last  of  the  boys  to  occupy  the  farm.  He  sold  it  out  and  went 
southwest  near  twenty  years  ago.  Frank,  a  half  brother,  still  lives  in  Jefferson, 
the  only  one  of  the  family  of  that  name  in  the  county. 

Next  to  the  Clark  place  is  the  old  Willard  Mallory  home,  which  is  now  owned 
by  Mrs.  D.  D.  Parsons ;  then  the  old  Judge  Coe  and  Harmon  Mallory  places,  all 
settled  about  seventy  years  ago.  George  Hook's  son  George,  and  young  Erwin. 
son  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Sam  T.  Erwin,  occupy  these  places.  They  are  two  of  the 
very  few  in  Jefferson  township  who  bear  the  old  pioneer  names.  As  you  go  on, 
about  the  first  house  in  the  village  of  Toolesboro  was  the  one  built  and  long  occu- 
pied by  William  L.  Toole,  a  prominent  character  in  that  community  long  before 
Iowa  became  a  state.  In  the  yard  surrounding  this  building,  in  an  early  day, 
occurred  the  first  murder,  probably,  committed  in  the  county  after  its  settlement 
bv  the  whites.  .  .  .  This  puts  you  on  the  main  business  street  of  Toolesboro, 
the  only  village  in  the  township,  though  there  was  an  'Iowa  Town'  up  the  river 
above  Yellow  Banks,  platted  at  one  time.  But  it  was  only  a  paper  town.  This 
historic  road,  however,  did  not  always  stop  at  Toolesboro.     It  was  the  main,  in 


394  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

fact,  the  only  thoroughfare  leading  to  the  historic  Burris  City,  which  flourished 
about  1855,  ^56  and  1857.  We  are  told  that  hundreds  and  hundreds  of  dollars 
were  expended  on  this  road  between  Toolesboro  and  Burris  City.  This  must 
have  been  a  great  convenience  when  it  came  to  moving  the  empty  houses  away 
from  the  town  site  after  the  boom  burst  and  the  town  became  tenantless.  All  the 
houses  were  eventually  torn  down  and  taken  to  other  places  to  be  rebuilt.  There 
is  not  a  stone  nor  timber  left  of  the  town,  though  the  old  historic  road  continues 
in  good  repair  in  most  places." 

SOME  EARLY   PREACHERS  AND  LATE  CHURCH   STATISTICS. 

Jt  is  almost  impossible  to  get  anything  accurate  concerning  the  early  ministers 
of  the  county.  The  main  reason,  perhaps,  is  that  there  were  scarcely  any  of  them 
located  here  in  the  early  days.  Those  who  came,  preached  a  sermon  or  two  and 
left ;  they  left  little  or  no  record  behind  them.  Besides,  it  seems  they  were  quite 
scarce  among  the  pioneers.  Reverend  Reuben  Gaylord,  who  was  one  of  the  early 
Congregational  preachers  in  this  territory,  said  in  184 1  :  "The  farmer,  the  me- 
amongst  the  army  of  pioneers. 

One  of  the  very  earliest  ministers  in  Louisa  county  was  James  R.  Ross,  who 
married  Benjamin  Stoddard  and  Sarah  Bevins  on  June  15,  1838.  but  we  do  not 
know  whether  or  not  Mr.  Ross  was  located  here  for  any  length  of  time.  He  was 
an  elder  in  the  Church  of  God  and  came  here  from  Kentucky,  as  will  be  seen 
by  the  paper  recorded  in  the  first  record  book  of  the  county,  which  is  given  in 
chapter  seven.  The  histories  of  Columbus  City  and  Wapello  and  Grandview 
contain  references  to  most  of  the  pioneer  preachers  of  whom  we  have  any  record. 
From  the  conference  records  of  the  Methodist  church  we  get  the  names  of  the 
ministers  of  that  denomination  who  were  stationed  at  nearby  points  in  early  years, 
and  it  is  probable  that  some  or  all  of  them  at  different  times  preached  in  this 
county.  In  1840  these  records  show  that  Isaac  S.  Stewart  was  at  Burlington, 
Thomas  L.  Kirkpatrick  at  Alt.  Pleasant,  Joseph  L.  Kirkpatrick  at  Crawfordsville, 
and  Xathan  Jewett  at  Bloomington  (Muscatine)  ;  and  that  in  1841  Rev.  Stewart 
was  at  Burlington.  Daniel  C.  Cartwright  and  Moses  F.  Shinn  were  at  Mt.  Pleas- 
ant, John  llayden  at  Crawfordsville,  and  Joseph  L.  Kirkpatrick  at  Bloomington. 
Jn  1842  Joseph  L.  Kirkpatrick  was  at  Grandview  and  John  Hayden  at  Craw- 
fordsville. In  1843  Micajah  Reeder  was  at  Crawfordsville,  Joseph  L.  Kirkpatrick 
at  Yellow  Springs,  and  Luther  McVay  at  Grandview.  In  1844  Reeder  and  Kirk- 
patrick had  the  same  stations  as  in  1843,  and  Laban  Case  was  at  Grandview.  In 
[845  Robert  Rice  was  at  Wapello,  Michael  See  at  Yellow  Springs,  and  Sidney 
Wood  at  Grandview.  In  1846  Robert  Rice  was  at  Crawfordsville,  and  John  H. 
Dennis  at  Grandview.  The  others,  so  far  as  we  have  any  record  of  them,  will 
lie  found  in  the  history  of  the  different  localities.  Another  early  preacher  was 
George  M.  Hinkle.  who  had  a  ferry  on  the  Iowa  river  a  few  miles  north  of  Wa- 
pello. Another  was  Hezekiah  Johnson,  who  performed  a  number  of  marriage 
ceremonies  in  the  early  days  here.  Others,  some  of  whose  names  appear  else- 
where in  this  work,  were  Rev.  Fisk,  a  Presbyterian  minister  and  school  teacher; 
Solomon  Cowles,  Hiram  Smith.  George  C.  Vincent,  Charles  Burnham.  Jackson 
Duff,  Dan  W.  Ellidge,  L.  B.  Dennis,  F.  R.  S.  Byrd,  Josiah  Yertrees,  John  Holmes, 
Alexander  Blaikie.  Elijah  Lathrop.     Then  there  was  Jeremiah  Smith,  father  of 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  395 

James  R.  Smith.  Another  was  E.  B.  Tripp,  better  known  as  Benjamin  Tripp,  who 
afterwards  went  west  and  became  a  Mormon  elder,  attaining  very  high  rank  in 
the  church. 

At  a  somewhat  later  period  Rev.  G.  X.  Power,  brother  of  Judge  J.  C.  Power 
of  Burlington,  was  stationed  at  Toolesboro  for  a  while. 

In  this  connection  it  may  be  of  interest  to  give  the  statistics  of  the  census  of 
Louisa  county  taken  in  1905,  in  regard  to  the  religious  belief  of  those  over  ten 
years  of  age:  Advent,  14;  Baptists,  151;  Catholic,  233;  Christadelphians,  2; 
Christians,  278;  Christian  Science,  2:  Church  of  God,  159;  Congregational,  185; 
Disciples  of  Christ,  16;  Dunkard,  11  ;  Episcopal,  21  ;  Evangelical,  136;  Friend,  5; 
Holiness,  15;  Jewish,  1;  Latter  Day  Saints,  1;  Liberal,  2:  Lutheran,  71; 
Menonites,  3;  Methodists,  1,761;  Orthodox,  1;  Plymouth  Brethren,  2;  Presby- 
terians, 1,272;  Protestant,  54;  Reformed,  137;  Salvation  Army,  4;  Spiritualist, 
1 1  ;  Unitarian,  1  ;  United  Brethren,  282 :  Universalist,  10.  There  were  7,793  for 
whom  no  returns  were  made. 

The  following  church  statistics  for  Louisa  county  are  taken  from  the  census 
of   1905  : 

NUMBER  OF  CONGREGATIONS 

Catholic,  1 ;  Christian,  2 ;  Congregational,  2 ;  Free  Methodist,  1  ;  Methodist 
(Episcopal),  11;  Presbyterian.  5:  United  Brethren,  2;  United  Presbyterian,  2. 
Total,  26. 

NUMBER  OF    CHURCHES 

Catholic.  1  ;  Christian,  2 ;  Congregational,  2 ;  Free  Methodist,  1 ;  Methodist 
(Episcopal),  11:  Presbyterian,  5;  United  Brethren,  2:  United  Presbyterian,  2. 
Total,  26. 

VALUE 

Catholic,  $1,000;  Christian,  $11,000;  Congregational,  $3,000;  Free  Methodist, 
$800;  Methodist  (Episcopal).  $33,000:  Presbyterian,  $28,700;  United  Brethren, 
$6,300;  United  Presbyterian,  $15,000.    Total,  $98,800. 

SEATING   CAPACITY 

Catholic  150;  Christian,  850;  Congregational,  360;  Free  Methodist,  250;  Meth- 
odist (Episcopal),  3.600;  Presbyterian,  1,590:  United  Brethren,  800:  United 
Presbyterian.  760.     Total.  8.360. 

NUMBER  OF  MEMBERS 

Catholic,  60;  Christian.  175;  Congregational,  145:  Free  Methodist.  29:  Meth- 
odist (Episcopal),  1.070;  Presbyterian,  550;  United  Brethren.  213;  United  Pres- 
byterian,  t,^.     Total,  2,575.     ■ 

NUMBER  OF  SUNDAY  SCHOOL  SCHOLARS 

Catholic,  10;  Christian,  70;  Congregational,  155;  Free  Methodist,  30;  Meth- 
odist (Episcopal),  850;  Presbyterian,  440;  United  Brethren,  184;  United  Presby- 
terian,  195.     Total.   1,934- 


396  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 


NUMBER    OF    PARSONAGE. 


Congregational.  2;  Free  .Methodist,  1  ;  Methodist  (  Episcopal),  5;  Presbyterian, 
2;  United  Brethren,  2;  United  Presbyterian.  2.     Total,  14. 


VALUE    OF    PARSONAGES. 


Congregational,  $2,200;  Free  Methodist,  $600;  Methodist  (Episcopal), 
$7,900;  Presbyterian,  $3,300;  United  Brethren,  $2,600;  United  Presbyterian, 
$3,800.     Total,  $20,400. 


VALUE    OF    CHURCH    AND    PARSONAGE. 


Catholic,  $1,000;  Christian.  $11,000;  Congregational,  $5,200;  Free  Methodist, 
$1,400;  Methodist  (Episcopal),  $40,900;  Presbyterian,  $32,000;  United  Brethren, 
$8,900;  United  Presbyterian,  $18,800.     Total,  $119,200. 


SCHOOLS. 


Next  to  rinding  out  something  definite  about  the  early  ministers  and  their 
meetings,  the  most  difficult  problem  we  have  met  is  to  get  satisfactory  informa- 
tion concerning  the  early  schools  and  school  teachers.  It  is  probable  that  John 
VV.  Ferguson  taught  the  first  school  in  the  county,  in  Toolesboro,  and  there  also 
was  probably  erected  the  first  schoolhouse  in  the  count)'.  Professor  Macy  in 
discussing  "Institutional  beginnings,"  expresses  the  opinion  that  the  public 
school  system  in  this  state  was  not  really  in  operation  until  about  1855.  This 
is  a  very  interesting  subject  and  one  that  ought  to  be  near  to  the  hearts  of  all 
who  are  interested  in  the  general  welfare,  ami  we  have  therefore  thought  11 
best  to  give  considerable  attention  to  it. 

The  first  superintendent  of  public  instruction  was  in  the  territorial  days,  the 
office  being  filled  by  William  Reynolds,  and  his  first  report  is  found  in  the  appen- 
dix to  the  journal  of  the  council  of  the  fourth  legislative  assembly.  According 
to  that  report,  Des  Moines  county  then  had  eight  of  its  nine  townships  organized 
for  school  purposes,  and  seven  of  them  had  elected  school  inspectors,  but  none 
had  made  a  report  to  the  superintendent.  It  is  stated,  however,  that  there  were 
several  good  schools  in  Des  Moines  county,  which  were  liberally  supported. 
Burlington  alone  had  seven  schools,  one  in  which  the  higher  branches  of  English 
education  were  taught  and  another  devoted  to  the  education  of  young  ladies. 

Of  the  thirteen  townships  in  Lee  county,  four  had  reported.  These  four  had 
been  divided  into  school  districts,  most  of  which  appeared  to  have  been  organized 
and  were  acting  under  the  law.  Denmark  township  had  five  districts,  and  it  is  of 
interest  to  know  that  district  Nb.  i  had  forty-five  persons  of  school  age  and  had 
voted  to  have  four  months  of  school  in  the  winter  and  three  in  the  summer,  and 
had  levied  a  tax  of  $103.21,  $90  of  which  was  for  the  support  of  a  school  and  the 
balance  for  a  library.  We  quote  what  the  report  says  about  Louisa  county:  "In 
Louisa  county  the  townships  have  organized  and  there  are  several  organized  dis- 
tricts;  some  acting  under  the  law,  I  am  informed,  reported  to  the  clerk  of  the 
court  who,  not  having  reported  to  this  office,  I  can  only  speak  from  personal  ob- 
servation of  the  schools.  There  have  been  several  taught  in  the  county  during 
the  past  summer—  some  very  good— and  there  are  several  in  operation  this  win- 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  397 

ter.     There  appears  no  want  of  zeal.     Want  of  schoolhouses  and  teachers,  and 
the  scattered  situation  of  the  inhabitants,  pleads  excuse." 

We  have  made  diligent  search  for  the  reports  referred  to  by  Superintendent 
Reynolds,  both  among  the  county  archives  and  the  state  archives,  but  can  find  none 
of  them.  The  earliest  paper  we  have  found  is  dated  October  18,  1844,  signed  by 
John  Gilliland,  chairman  of  the  board  of  inspectors  for  Wapello  township,  and  is 
directed  to  the  clerk  of  the  district  court,  and  states  that  the  township  has  been 
divided  into  four  school  districts  and  that  the  board  of  directors  of  District  No.  1 
had  reported  as  follows:  "That  the  whole  number  of  persons  between  the  ages  of 
five  and  twenty-one  years  in  said  district  is  114.  There  has  been  no  school  taught 
during  the  time  the  district  has  been  organized,  under  the  cognizance  of  such 
directors,  consequently  no  report  of  any  teacher."  The  directors  of  District  No. 
1  also  report  that  they  had  received  no  money  for  any  purpose  or  from  any 
source.  Mr.  Gilliland  states  that  no  report  had  been  filed  with  the  township  clerk 
from  any  of  the  other  districts  in  Wapello  township. 

We  find  another  paper  of  the  date  October  19,  1845,  signed  by  Mr.  Gilliland. 
being  a  report  similar  to  the  last,  in  which  he  states  the  number  of  school  dis- 
tricts in  the  township  to  be  four  and  that  only  one  had  been  organized,  being 
District  No.  1,  and  that  the  whole  number  of  scholars  between  five  and  twenty- 
one  were  eighty-six,  number  attending  school  seventy-four,  time  school  had  been 
taught  nine  months,  and  that  $100  had  been  raised  in  the  district  for  the  purpose 
of  building  a  schoolhouse.  The  books  used  in  the  school  were  McGuffey's  first. 
second,  third  and  fourth  readers.  Smith  &  Kirkham's  grammar  and  "clivers 
other  books." 

Under  date  of  February  27,  1847,  James  Helverson,  township  clerk,  reports 
for  Florence  township  that  the  whole  township  had  been  organized  into  Districts 
Nos.  1.  3.  5,  6,  7  and  9.    This  report  gives  the  names  of  the  officers  as  follows : 

Xo.  1 — David  Donaldson,  moderator;  William  H.  Creighton,  director;  Frank 
S.  Burt,  assessor. 

Xo.  3 — David  Craig,  moderator;  Samuel  Smith,  director;  William  McClure, 
assessor. 

Xo.  5 — Garrett  B.  Garrison,  moderator;  Merit  Jamison,  director;  Joseph  Ogle, 
assessor. 

Xo.  6 — John  Davenport,  director ;  other  officers  not  reported. 

No.  7 — Charles  Hunt,  moderator;  Samuel  Grubb,  director;  John  R.  Mickev, 
assessor. 

No.  9 — John  Wilson,  moderator;  James  Helverson,  director;  David  Lee,  as- 
sessor. 

Florence  township  had  also  elected  school  inspectors,  they  being  John  Wil- 
son. Cicero  Hamilton  and  James  Helverson. 

We  find  a  report  made  by  James  Helverson  to  Oliver  Benton,  school  fund 
commissioner  of  the  county,  which  seems  to  have  been  made  in  January.  1848, 
and  gives  in  detail  the  number  of  persons  of  school  age  in  the  districts  of  Flor- 
ence township,  Nos.  1,  3,  5,  7  and  9  aggregating  255.  He  reports  that  he  had  re- 
ceived $110.34  for  school  purposes  and  had  paid  to  W.  R.  Scott,  a  qualified  teacher 
who  taught  in  District  Xb.  9  in  the  fall  and  winter  of  1846-7,  $20.80.  The  num- 
ber of  persons  of  school  age  in  District  Xo.  9  was  given  at  59. 


398  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

It  appears  from  a  report  made  by  Lewis  Kinsey,  township  clerk,  in  October, 
1846.  that  District  No.  1  in  Wapello  township  had  been  organized  and  tbat  $304 
had  been  raised  in  the  district  for  the  purpose  of  purchasing  lots,  erecting  a 
schoolhouse,  furnishing  the  same,  etc. 

We  find  the  following  report  from  the  school  inspector  of  Wapello  township 
for  1847:  "Number  of  persons  between  the  ages  of  five  and  twenty-one  as  shown 
by  the  reports  of  school  directors:  District  Xo.  1,  no;  District  Xo.  2,  57;  Dis- 
trict Xo.  3,  40;  District  Xo.  4,  31.     Total,  238. 

"District  No.  5  has  been  attached,  a  part  of  it,  to  School  District  Xo.  6,  and 
the  remainder  to  District  Xo.  7  in  Florence  township. 

"District  Xo.  1  has  sustained  a  school  by  subscription  for  the  last  six  months. 
Average  number  in  attendance  say  thirty-five ;  perhaps  forty. 

"From  the  other  districts  I  have  no  information  touching  their  statistics. 
There  is  no  school  money  in  my  hands. 

"Francis  Springer, 
"School   Inspector   Wapello   Township. 

"To  Oliver  Benton,   Esq.,   Fund   Commissioner  Louisa   County,   Iowa." 

Another  interesting  paper  is  one  entitled.  "Account  of  Election  Held  in 
School  District  Xo.  5,  Wapello  Township,  Louisa  County,  Iowa,"  signed  by 
Jesse  Yanhorn,  clerk.  It  appears  from  this  paper  that  Jesse  Yanhorn,  John  X. 
Baldridge  and  John  II.  Xichols  requested  O.  Benton,  moderator  of  the  board  of 
directors,  to  call  a  meeting  of  the  voters  in  District  Xo.  5,  to  take  a  vote  whether 
or  not  a  tax  should  be  levied  for  the  purpose  of  building  a  schoolhouse  in  said 
district,  and  that  in  accordance  with  that  request  the  moderator  caused  advertise- 
ments to  be  put  up,  one  on  the  schoolhouse,  one  at  Robert  Xichols,  and  one  on 
the  Washington  road,  stating  that  such  vote  should  be  taken  at  the  house  of 
Robert   Xichols  on  February   12,  at  five  o'clock  p.  m. 

It  also  appears  that  0:1  that  date  in  accordance  with  a  notice  a  meeting  was 
held,  attended  by  Robert  Xichols,  John  H.  Xichols,  John  X.  Baldridge,  Jesse 
Yanhorn,  Robert  Coulter.  James  Colter,  James  Davison,  Joseph  S.  Benton  and 
Oliver  Benton,  and  that  it  was  unanimouslv  voted  to  lew  a  schoolhouse  tax  of 
$250. 

On  October  1st,  1848,  George  W.  McCleary,  school  inspector  of  Wapello 
township,  reported  to  the  fund  commissioner.  His  report  shows  that  school 
had  been  taught  in  each  of  the  five  districts.  Figures  for  Xo.  1  are  as  follows : 
Persons  of  school  age,  125;  time  school  has  been  taught,  fifteen  months;  num- 
ber of  pupils,  177:  aggregate  cost.  $429.  all  paid  by  voluntary  subscription. 

The  figures  for  No.  5  are  as  follows:  Persons  of  school  age,  30;  time  school 
had  been  taught,  one  and  a  half  months;  number  of  pupils,  28;  aggregate  cost, 
$9,  all  of  which  had  been  raised  by  voluntary  subscription. 

The  figures  for  Xos.  2.  3  and  4  do  not  vary  a  great  deal  from  those  of  Xo. 
5,  except  that  in  each  of  those  three  districts  the  amount  paid  was  greater  and 
there  seem  to  have  been  more  schools. 

We  find  a  report  from  Columbus  City  township  made  by  John  Cleaves,  school 
inspector,  marked  1847.  in  which  he  gives  the  number  of  school  children  in  the 
township  at  443;  those  who  have  attended  school  at  191 ;  and  states  that  $101.30 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  399 

of  the  public  funds  had  been  expended  and  that  $116.37  had  been  raised  by  vol- 
untary subscription. 

In  a  small  book  kept  by  Oliver  Benton,  school  fund  commissioner,  we  find 
a  copy  of  a  report  made  by  Samuel  Townsend,  collector  and  treasurer  of  the 
county,  dated  February  15,  1S48,  made  to  Mr.  Benton,  showing  the  amount  of 
money  collected  "up  to  February  15,  1848,  for  school  purposes,"  as  follows:  On 
taxes,  1846.  $23.67;  on  taxes,  1847,  $168.85;  proceeds  of  estrays,  $18;  proceeds 
fines  from  justices  of  the  peace,  $20;  total,  $230.52,  less  commission  one  per 
cent,  $2.30;  balance,  $228.22. 

Xext  we  find  recorded  the  disposition  of  this  money  as  made  by  the  school 
fund  commissioner.  His  book  shows  that  there  were  in  the  six  districts  of 
Columbus  City  township,  443  persons  over  five  and  under  twenty-one ;  in  Flor- 
ence township,  285 ;  in  Wapello  township  in  four  districts,  238 ;  in  Jefferson  town- 
ship, 192,  in  four  districts;  in  Grandview  township,  169  in  three  districts;  in 
Fredonia  township,  80  in  two  districts,  making  a  total  of  1,407  scholars.  Be- 
fore distributing  this  money,  the  fund  commissioner  deducted  his  two  per  cent, 
leaving  $223.66  to  distribute.  This  amounted  to  a  trifle  less  than  sixteen  cents 
for  each  scholar  and  was  apportioned  among  the  different  townships  accordingly, 
Columbus  City  township  getting  $70.43,  Fredonia  township,  $12.72,  and  the 
others  in  proportion. 

It  appears  that  this  distribution  was  examined  into  and  approved  by  E.  Jones, 
inspector  of  Grandview  township,  G.  L.  Coe,  inspector  of  Jefferson  township, 
and  J.  Helverson,  inspector  of  Florence  township. 

On  February  21,  1849,  Treasurer  Samuel  Townsend  reports  to  School  Fund 
Commissioner  Benton  the  following  school  money  collected :  On  tax  lists,  $2~y.^o ; 
fines,  $7.50,  a  total  of  $285,  and  deducting  one  per  cent  leaves  a  balance  of 
$282.15. 

The  school  fund  commissioner's  book  shows  that  at  the  time  of  his  appor- 
tionment in  1849  the  reports  of  the  inspectors  of  the  several  townships,  made  the 
total  number  of  persons  of  school  age  in  the  county  1,588,  and  here  are  the  items 
showing  the  money  which  he  apportioned.  From  interest  on  permanent  fund 
apportioned  to  Louisa  county,  $238.20 ;  from  Louisa  county,  being  amount  im- 
properly paid  into  county  funds  and  belonging  to  the  school  fund,  $148.53 ;  re- 
ceived from  the  county  treasurer,  $282.15;  total,  $668.88.  and  this  was  divided 
among  the  various  townships  as  follows : 

Columbus   City,   455   persons    $191.62 

Florence,   281    persons    1 18.32 

Wapello,  258  persons 108.66 

Grandview,  236  persons  <)9-40 

Jefferson,  217  persons    91.40 

Fredonia,   141    persons    5948 

The  apportionment  for  March,  1850,  was  made  on  the  reports  from  various 
townships,  showing  1,735  persons  of  school  age  and  the  amount  to  be  appor- 
tioned was  $891.58,  $589.90  of  which  was  from  the  interest  on  the  permanent 
school  fund.  The  remainder  was  mostly,  from  taxes.  At  the  time  of  the  appor- 
tionment in  1848  there  were  twenty-four  organized  districts  in  the  countv ;  when 


400  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

the  apportionment  was  made  in  1849  there  were  thirty-four  such  districts,  and  in 
1850  there  were  forty-four. 

In  the  same  book  from  which  the  foregoing  items  have  been  taken  is  recorded 
the  report  of  Dennis  Williams,  county  treasurer,  of  school  moneys  collected 
during  the  year  ending  February  15,  1851.  showing  $485.46,  about  $65  of  which 
seems  to  have  come  from  estrays  and  tines,  and  the  balance  from  taxes  levied 
in  [846,  1847,  r849,  1850,  much  the  greater  part  of  it  coming  from  the  taxes  of 
the  year  1850.  It  appears  from  this  book  that  before  the  time  for  making  the 
apportionment  for  185 1  other  fines  had  been  collected,  some  by  the  prosecuting 
attorney  and  some  by  the  treasurer,  and  that  the  total  amount  to  be  opportioned 
was  $1,405.16,  and  that  there  were  forty-six  school  districts  organized,  having 
[,932  persons  of  school  age. 

In  March,  1852,  there  were  forty-seven  organized  districts  in  the  county, 
having  2,310  persons  of  school  age,  and  the  amount  to  be  distributed  was  $1,251.67. 
The  amount  received  from  taxes  this  year  was  S575.75.  being  the  largest  amount 
thus  far  received  from  taxes  in  any  one  year,  but  the  fines  collected  for  this  year 
fell  much  short  of  those  for  the  previous  year. 

At  the  time  of  the  apportionment  in  1853.  the  report  showed  forty-eight  or- 
ganized districts,  with  2,379  persons  of  school  age,  and  $1,786  to  be  apportioned 
among  them.  The  amount  received  from  the  county  treasurer  for  taxes  collected 
this  year  was  $681.75.  ^n  examination  of  the  reports  made  by  the  secretaries 
of  the  various  school  districts  for  the  year  1852  shows  that  there  were  forty-nine 
school  districts  organized  and  that  there  had  been  thirty-six  school  houses  built. 
[11  forty-three  districts  school  had  been  taught.  In  districts  where  there  was  no 
schoolhouse  it  was  the  custom  for  the  teacher  to  contract  to  do  the  teaching  and 
furnish  room  and  fuel  for  a  certain  specified  amount.  In  one  or  two  cases  this 
fact  is  reported  by  the  secretarv.  but  it  has  been  learned  from  other  sources  that 
this  was  the  case  in  several  organized  districts  which  had  no  schoolhouse. 

It  may  be  interesting  to  know  how  the  amounts  raised  by  voluntary  subscrip- 
tion compared  in  the  year  1852  with  the  amount  received  under  the  apportion- 
ment. The  items  we  give  are  from  the  reports  for  1852.  In  District  Xo.  I. 
Wapello  township,  two  schools  were  taught,  one  by  a  male  teacher  and  the 
1  ither  by  a  female  teacher,  whose  names  are  not  given.  The  male  teacher  re- 
ceived $30  per  month  and  taught  one  hundred  and  seventy  days.  The  female 
teacher  received  $15  per  month  and  taught  one  hundred  days.  The  amount  paid 
out  of  the  teachers'  fund  was  $40,  and  from  voluntary  subscription,  $305.  In 
this  district  there  was  a  frame  schoolhouse  that  cost  $400.  In  District  No.  2.  in 
Wapello  township,  Harrison  Robinson  taught  sixty-five  days  at  $16  per  month, 
and  Adela  Williams  taught  fifty-seven  days  at  $13.75  Per  nionth.  The  amount 
paid  from  the  teacher's  fund  was  $53,331  3  and  from  voluntary  subscription. 
$36,662/3.  In  the  six  organized  districts  of  Wapello  township  there  were  six 
male  and  six  female  teachers,  each  teaching  on  an  average  of  about  sixty  days. 
There  were  506  persons  of  school  age,  and  the  average  attendance  is  given  at  192. 
The  amount  paid  from  teachers'  fund  was  $241.95  and  from  voluntary  subscrip- 
tion,  $538.71;  average  wages  of  male  teachers  $20.22  per  month,  of  the  female 
teachers,  $8.84  per  month. 

In  eleven  organized  districts  of  Columbus  City  township  this  same  year  the 
reports  show  602  persons  of  school  age,  the  average  attendance,  255.  the  amount 
paid   from  teachers'  fund.  $397.26  and  from  voluntary  subscription,  $368.81. 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  401 

Most  of  the  reports  show  the  kind  and  cost  of  the  schoolhouses  and  the  ma- 
jority reported  this  vear  were  either  log  or  frame,  but  Jefferson  No.  I  reports  a 
brick  schoolhouse,  costing  $572,  and  Florence  No.  4  reports  a  brick  schoolhouse, 
costing  $275.  Very  few  of  the  reports  show  any  contingent  expenses.  Colonel 
\Y.  W.  Garner,  secretary  of  District  No.  3,  in  Columbus  City  township,  under 
the  head  of  contingent  expenses  reports  that  the  officers  worked  free  and  paid  all 
expenses.  In  his  report  of  1854  Colonel  Garner  says  on  the  subject  of  con- 
tingent expenses  "officers  worked  free  of  charge  and  paid  contingent  expenses, 
in  the  bargain,  for  the  honor  of  the  office." 

In  the  report  of  State  Superintendent  Thomas  H.  Benton  for  the  year  1850, 
we  find  the  following  list  giving  the  names  of  the  school  teachers  reported  in 
Louisa  county  for  that  year,  with  the  ages  of  those  who  seem  to  have  been  willing 
to  give  that  information:  J.  N.  Sellers,  age  21 ;  J.  T.  Hall,  38;  W.  N.  Toundrow, 
30;  Riley  Case,  33;  John  Cleaves,  35;  William  Taylor,  25;  E.  W.  Ellsworth,  47; 
M.  E.  Blue;  J.  Wilson,  65;  S.  P.  Devenport,  23;  D.  P.  Curran,  22;  C.  Herrick. 
42;  T.  B.  Brown,  27;  S.  Moseby,  18;  J.  B.  Grubb,  33;  M.  Reed,  18;  J.  Paschal, 
20;  E.  Jacobs;  J.  F.  AlcClellan ;  J.  Sprague,  31  ;  J.  Keeler,  26;  E.  Doder,  18;  V. 
Willoughby;  S.  A.  Demott ;  S.  Creighton ;  6.  B.  Donaldson;  S.  McBride,  26; 
M.  Gibson,   18. 

According  to  this  same  report  there  was  paid  to  teachers  in  the  state  during  the 
year  ending  October  1st,  1850,  from  the  teachers'  fund.  $20,009.16,  and  from  vol- 
untary subscription,  $10,805.02.  making  a  total  in  the  state  of  $36,814.18.  In 
Louisa  county"  the  amount  paid  from  teachers'  fund  was  $637.53,  an<l  from 
voluntary  subscription,  $546.68.  making  a  total  of  $1,184.21.  It  appears  also  that 
there  was  raised  in  the  state  during  this  year  by  taxation  about  $34,000  for 
school  purposes,  chiefly  for  the  building  of  schoolhouses,  and  that  the  amount 
raised  in  Louisa  county  was  $1,090. 

It  may  be  interesting  to  know  that  the  library  in  the  office  of  the  state  superin- 
tendent of  public  instruction  had  its  beginning  in  1848,  with  three  books  con- 
tributed by  three  different  individuals,  and  that  Colonel  W.  W.  Garner  of  this 
county  was  one  of  the  number,  and  contributed  "The  Revised  School  Laws  of 
Ohio." 

It  is  perhaps  not  generally  known  that  we  once  had  a  contested  election  case  in 
reference  to  the  office  of  county  superintendent.  At  the  election  in  April,  T858, 
I.  11.  Brigham  and  Rev.  W.  R.  Woodruff  were  the  opposing  candidates  for  this 
office  but  for  some  reason,  which  does  not  appear  in  the  returns,  the  vote  of 
Columbus  City  township  was  thrown  out. 

Mr.  Woodruff  had  carried  Columbus  City  township  by  good  majority  but  by 
throwing  this  out  Brigham  had  five  majority  in  the  county.  Mr.  Woodruff  con- 
tested the  election,  the  judges  being  Joseph  L.  Derbin,  county  judge,  Dr.  Wil- 
liam S.  Robertson,  chosen  by  Mr.  Woodruff,  and  Dr.  H.  T.  Cleaver  chosen 
by  Mr.  Brigham.  We  find  among  the  old  papers  the  decision  of  the  judges,  which 
is  as  follows : 

"We,  the  undersigned  judges  in  the  case  of  W.  R.  Woodruff  vs.  J.  B.  Brigham 
contesting  the  election  for  county  superintendent  of  schools  at  the  April  election, 
1858,  do  find  from  the  evidence  that  the  returns  of  said  election  were  not  only 
irregular  and  defective  in   form  but  that  the  county  board  erred  in  returning 


402  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

those  poll  books  for  correction, — as  we  conceive  without  authority  of  law  and 
therefore  give  it  as  our  judgment  that  the  election  for  county  superintendent 
of  public  instruction  should  be  set  aside. 

"Joseph  L.  Derbin, 
"William  S.  Robertson, 
"H.  T.  Cleaver, 

"Judges  of  the  contest. 
"Wapello,  Louisa  county,  Iowa,  May  17,  1858." 

As  the  result  of  this  decision  a  new  election  was  had  and  Mr.  Woodruff  was 
elected  by  a  vote  of  735  to  482. 

One  of  the  very  early  teachers  in  the  county  was  Richard  Wigginton,  who 
taught  school  in  the  winter  of  1839-40,  at  Toolesboro.  This  Richard  Wiggin- 
ton, it  is  said,  was  a  son-in-law  of  Christopher  Shuck.  The  school  he  taught 
was  probably  the  second  taught  in  the  county.  It  is  certain  that  one  of  Chris- 
topher Shuck's  daughters  married  a  Wigginton,  but  this  Richard  Wigginton 
who  taught  the  school  might  have  been  the  father  of  the  one  we  have  in  mind. 
He  was  probably  pretty  well  advanced  in  years  at  this  time,  for  the  school  boys 
in  those  days  called  him  "Old  Moses." 

Another  early  teacher  in  the  county  was  A.  G.  Siverly,  who  was  the  father 
of  E.  W.  Siverly.  A.  ( \.  Siverly  taught  school  in  Honey  Creek  in  what  is  now 
Morning  Sun  township,  in  1840,  and  this  was  undoubtedly  the  first  school  taught 
in  that  neighborhood.  The  schoolhouse  was  a  log  cabin  which  had  been  used 
for  a  blacksmith  shop  and  it  was  situated  on  the  bank  of  Honey  creek  nearly  a 
mile  below  the  present  school  building  in  Honey  Creek  district. 

John  Wilson,  an  early  settler  there,  also  taught  school  in  the  same  building, 
probablv  in  1841.  The  first  school  taught  in  what  is  now  Columbus  City  township 
was  in  a  log  schoolhouse  not  far  from  the  present  residence  of  M.  D.  Hanft, 
and  very  near  where  the  schoolhouse  in  that  district  now  stands. 

James  Helverson  was  one  of  the  early  school  teachers  there,  possibly  the 
first.  The  first  school  in  the  town  of  Columbus  City  was  probably  taught  by 
John  Cleaves  about  1843.  Colonel  W.  W.  Garner  also  taught  a  term  or  two 
of  school  there  shortly  after  that.  The  first  school  in  Union  township,  that  is, 
what  is  now  Union  township,  was  taught  by  Dr.  W.  A.  Colton,  and  the  school 
was  held  in  Quince  Thompson's  house. 

Over  in  the  neighborhood  of  Harrison  and  Port  Louisa  one  of  the  early- 
teachers  was  Rev.  Holmes,  who  taught  a  school  in  Possum  Hollow,  down  near 
Port  Louisa.  This  was  in  the  early  '40s  probably,  although  our  informant  is 
unable  to  give  the  precise  date. 

Another  earlv  teacher  in  that  neighborhood  was  the  Rev.  Jackson  Duff,  an 
associate  Reform  Presbyterian  minister,  who  divided  his  time  as  to  preaching 
between  Harrison  and  the  Honey  creek  neighborhood. 

The  late  John  Hale  was  one  of  Mr.  Duff's  pupils,  and  we  know  of  two  of 
his  pupils  who  are  still  living, — Mrs.  McDill,  daughter  of  John  Ronalds,  and 
Mrs.  Carpenter,  daughter  of  Albert  Stickney,  and  mother  of  Hon.  C.  A.  Car- 
penter. 

Another  earlv  school  teacher  in  what  is  now  Morning  Sun  township  was 
David  Curran,  who  taught  in  old  Concord  about  1845. 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  403 

John  Gilliland  was  probably  the  first  school  teacher  in  Wapello  and  he 
taught  a  private  school  on  Main  street.  Some  other  information  about  the 
Wapello  schools  will  be  found  in  the  chapter  about  Wapello. 

It  is  said  that  the  first  school  teacher  in  Marshall  township  was  Elijah  Lath- 
rop. 

The  first  school  taught  in  the  Dan  Westbrook  neighborhood  was,  as  we  learn 
from  James  Thornton,  in  a  little  log  house  put  up  by  the  neighbors  in  the  early 
'40s,  and  Emily  Bras  was  the  teacher.  Fourteen  or  fifteen  pupils  attended 
this  school  and  this  was  before  the  organization  of  any  district  there,  and  the  par- 
ents paid  so  much  for  each  child  who  attended.  Mr.  Thornton  says  the  next 
school  that  was  started  in  that  district  was  at  Grandview  some  years  later  and 
was  taught  for  three  or  four  years  by  Lewis  Kinsey,  who  was  afterwards 
county  clerk  and  clerk  of  the  supreme  court. 

As  we  have  already  stated,  some  of  these  early  schools  were  taught  in 
houses  which  were  not  built  for  that  purpose.  The  school  building  in  which 
the  Rev.  Duff  taught  at  Harrison  was  a  "lean  to"  built  up  against  a  two-story 
frame  that  stood  just  on  top  of  Harrison  hill,  on  the  north  side  of  the  road 
and  almost  directly  opposite  the  present  fine  residence  of  Mr.  Fath.  It  had 
a  puncheon  floor,  with  seats  of  the  same  kind,  and  as  John  Hale  said  in  describ- 
ing it,  "each  pupil  furnished  his  own  back." 

The  following  article  copied  from  the  Columbus  Gazette,  of  October  3,  1907, 
will  serve  to  gi"e  us  a  good  idea  of  the  early  schools.  It  was  written  concern- 
ing Honey  Creek  school  of  pioneer  days : 

"It  would  take  too  long  to  describe  all  the  old  time  methods  of  teaching, 
but  we  will  briefly  try  to  describe  the  old  time  way  of  teaching  penmanship.  No 
pupil  was  permitted  to  try  to  learn  to  write  until  he  was  sufficiently  taught  in 
spelling  and  capable  to  commence  reading  in  the  third  reader.  Then,  and  not 
before,  he  might  apply  to  the  teacher  for  permission  to  learn  to  write.  With 
this  permit,  the  pupil  set  out  to  procure  the  materials  for  commencement.  At 
this  date  there  were  no  steel  pens  in  all  the  world.  The  pupils  furnished  goose 
quills,  from  which  the  teacher  was  required  to  make  their  pens.  Good  paper 
was  dear  and  money  very  scarce.  There  was  a  kind  of  cheap,  unruled  paper 
used  by  new  beginners.  Lead  pencils  had  not  yet  come  into  use.  The  pupil 
would  draw  out  a  small  piece  of  lead  or  bullet,  about  three  inches  long  for  a 
pencil  to  rule  his  copy  book  with  ;  then  he  would  get  about  a  half  pot  full  of 
oak  bark  and  boil  it  down  to  a  strong  ooze  and  put  a  little  copperas  in  it  for  his 
ink.  Then  the  pupil  would  appear  before  the  teacher  with  his  new  unruled 
copy  book  with  his  piece  of  lead  tied  to  it  with  a  string  about  two  feet  long 
and  a  home-made  rule  and  a  medicine  bottle  full  of  ink  corked  with  a  small 
piece  of  corn  cob  and  a  goose  quill  behind  his  ear.  Then  if  the  teacher  was  in 
good  enough  humor  to  notice  him  he  would  make  him  a  pen  out  of  his  goose 
quill  and  set  him  a  copy  of  straight  marks.  After  a  long  time  he  would  get  a 
copy  of  what  he  called  pot  hooks.  Then  after  long  and  tedious  practice  he 
would  be  introduced  to  what  was  called  large  hand  letters,  three  or  four  times 
as  large  as  common  fine  hand. 

"Finally,  if  he  went  to  school  long  enough,  he  would  be  promoted  to  try  to 
write  common  small  hand,  and  woe  be  unto  the  pupil  writing  or  drawing  any- 


404  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

thing  in  his  copy  book  but  the  copy.  Any  pupil  caught  trying  to  draw  any  kind 
of  picture  was  liable  to  the  severest  punishment.  Penmanship  was  so  poorly 
taught  that  the  fewest  number  of  pupils  ever  learned  to  practice  it  efficiently. 
The  little  lady  pupils  who  attended  the  old  log  schoolhouse  are  worthy  of  more 
than  a  passing  notice.  My,  but  they  were  nice!  We  know  there  are  a  great 
many  lady  pupils  attending  school  now  and  a  great  many  have  attended  since, 
but  in  our  estimation  none  of  them  are  to  be  compared  with  the  little  lady  pupils 
that  attended  the  old  log  school.  <  hie  of  them  in  particular  seemed  to  me  to  be 
the  very  essence  of  perfection.  One  day  at  school,  at  the  noon  hour,  in  conver- 
sation with  her.  I  cautiously  stated  that  it  would  be  a  great  pleasure  for  me 
to  escort  her  home  that  night  after  spelling  school.  She  very  readily  gave  me 
to  understand  that  such  an  arrangement  would  be  agreeable  to  her.  1  felt  en- 
couraged, but  alas!  when  going  home  time  came  after  spelling  school  my  courage 
failed.  I  had  not  the  nerve  to  carry  out  my  part  of  the  contract,  and  my  little 
charmer  had  to  go  home  without  a  beau.  That  night  after  retiring,  the  events 
of  the  past  day  made  such  an  impression  on  my  mind  that  it  was  perhaps  half 
an  hour  before  I  could  go  to  sleep.  Next  morning  I  was  trying  to  solve  one 
of  the  deep  mysterious  problems  of  long  division  when  my  dear  came  into  the 
schoolroom;  as  she  pa-sed  me  I  looked  up  at  her  over  my  slate;  she  made  an 
ugly  face  at  me  and  was  so  mad  she  would  not  speak  to  me  for  several  days. 
And  that  ended  my  first  extremely  pathetic  love  experience. 

"Poor  old  log  schoolhouse,  long  since  become  scattered  ashes,  goodbye.  Poor 
little  pioneer  pupils.  Poor  little  tired  backs  with  nothing  to  lean  against.  Poor 
little  bare  feet  that  could  never  reach  the  floor.  Poor  little  droopy  headed  fig- 
ures, so  sleepy  in  the  long  summer  days.  Long  since  many  of  these  pioneer 
pupils  of  the  past,  their  feet  wherever  wandering,  have  found  a  resting  place 
in  the  soft  earth  and  their  drooping  heads  have  gone  to  sleep  on  a  dreamless 
pillow  and  there  they  are  at  rest." 

There  is  a  little  history  connected  with  one  of  the  schools  in  Marshall  town- 
ship that  probably  ought  to  be  preserved.  There  was  one  teacher  who  did  not 
seem  to  get  on  the  right  side  of  the  large  boys.  They  decided  that  they  wanted 
to  make  him  treat  the  school  to  peanuts  and  candy.  They  finally  went  to  the 
sub-director  and  told  him  what  they  wanted  and  the  plan  they  had  made,  and 
he  told  them  to  go  ahead,  that  there  would  be  no  interference  from  him.  Ac- 
cordingly, a  number  of  the  big  boys  went  to  school  bright  and  early  on  a  cold 
Monday  morning  when  the  ground  was  covered  with  snow,  got  in  plenty  of  wood, 
made  a  big  fire  and  fastened  the  door  on  the  inside.  When  the  teacher  came 
he  could  not  get  in,  and  they  refused  to  let  him  in.  Finally  he  got  a  big  log 
and  broke  the  door  in.  but  he  hadn't  more  than  entered  the  room  until  four  or 
five  of  the  boys  pounced  upon  him,  and  after  quite  a  struggle  succeeded  in  put- 
ting him  out  again.  He  then  went  to  the  aforesaid  sub-director,  who  gave  him 
no  aid  or  comfort,  but  told  him  that  he,  the  teacher,  was  hired  to  run  that  school 
and  if  he  couldn't  run  it.  he  had  better  depart.  Things  went  on  for  a  few 
days,  the  boys  still  holding  the  fort,  some  of  them  remaining  in  the  school- 
house  over  night  to  be  on  hand  early  in  the  morning.  The  teacher  besieged  the 
schoolhouse  off  and  on,  but  was  unable  to  gain  an  entrance,  and  after  this  had 
lasted  for  nearly  two  weeks  he  capitulated  by  agreeing  to  treat  the  school.     This 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  405 

he  would  do  on  the  last  day.  Things  went  all  right  again  for  a  few  days  until 
the  teacher  whipped  one  of  the  smaller  scholars,  unjustly,  as  the  other  boys 
thought ;  that  night  a  couple  of  the  big  boys  waylaid  him  and  gave  him  a  whip- 
ping. This  ended  his  teaching,  but  it  is  said  that  when  the  director  came  to  pay 
him,  he  kept  out  $2.50  to  treat  the  school  with. 

Shortly  after  this  the  directors  hired  another  teacher.  They  raised  the 
pay  from  $25  a  month  to  $45,  the  agreement  with  the  new  teacher  being  that  he 
was  to  get  this  pay  for  running  the  school,  but  if  he  couldn't  run  it,  he  got 
nothing.  The  parents  were  notified  of  the  time  when  school  would  begin,  and 
the  big  boys  had  a  few  meetings  and  laid  their  plans  as  to  how  they  would 
"show"  the  new  teacher.  Monday  morning  came,  the  new  teacher  and  all  but 
one  of  the  scholars  were  in  their  seats  ready  for  business,  when  the  chosen 
ringleader,  according  to  agreement,  came  in  late  and  without  taking  off  his  hat 
went  up  to  the  stove  and  began  marching  around  it,  clapping  his  hands,  going 
through  the  motion  of  getting' warm.  For  a  while  the  teacher  appeared  not  to 
notice  this  new  arrival,  but  at  length  he  turned  and  told  him  that  if  he  was  a 
visitor  he  hoped  he  would  be  genteel  enough  to  remove  his  hat  and  take  a  seat. 
The  smile  that  went  around  the  schoolroom  told  the  teacher  that  this  was  no 
visitor,  but  a  pupil,  and  he  added,  "but  if  you  are  a  pupil,  I  will  find  you  a  place." 
With  this  he  stepped  toward  the  pupil  and  reached  out  his  hand  as  if  to  take 
him  by  the  coat  collar ;  but  seeing  that  there  was  to  be  trouble,  instead  of  taking 
him  by  the  coat  collar,  knocked  him  down.  A  few  of  the  other  boys  came  up  to 
engage  in  the  fray  but  received  the  same  punishment  as  fast  as  they  came,  and 
it  was  not  long  until  the  new  teacher  was  master  of  the  situation ;  and  it  is  said 
that  his  school  that  winter  was  the  best  school  that  had  been  taught  in  that 
district  up  to  that  time,  and  that  within  two  weeks  after  this  occurrence  every 
boy  in  the  house  was  willing'  to  fight  for  him  if  necessary. 

As  stated  in  the  beginning  of  this  article,  we  have  found  it  very  difficult  to 
get  definite  information  in  regard  to  the  early  school  teachers  of  the  county, 
where  they  taught  and  when. 

It  may  be  fairly  claimed  that  the  public  school  system  was  in  operation  in  this 
county,  in  a  way,  as  early  as  1850  or  1851.  The  United  States  Census  for  1850 
gives  the  attendance  at  the  public  schools  in  1859  at  674,  and  the  number  of 
different  pupils  for  that  year  at  1,200;  the  total  population  of  the  county  then  was 
4,939.  We  need  not  speak  of  the  schools  of  the  county  as  they  are  now ;  they 
are  as  good  as,  and  quite  similar  to,  the  average  Iowa  schools. 

GOLD    SEEKERS 

Louisa  county  furnished  her  full  share  of  gold  seekers  in  1849  and  1850. 
To  those  of  us  who  are  living  now  it  is  hard  to  realize  what  these  men  must 
have  put  up  with  and  suffered  in  making  the  trip  across  the  country  over  the 
alkali  desert  with  ox  teams  and  on  foot.  People  who  travel  a  great  deal  now  on 
the  finest  trains  that  cross  the  continent,  find  it  a  tiresome  and  disagreeable 
journey  over  that  desolate  country  between  Denver  and  Salt  Lake,  and  in  those 
days  there  were  no  conveniences  of  travel,  and  to  be  ever  on  the  alert  for  the 
hostile  Indians, — it  certainly  required  courage  to  undertake  such  a  trip.  Quite 
a  number  went  from  Wapello,  Columbus  City  and  Morning  Sun  and  other  parts 


406  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

of  the  county  and  quite  a  few  of  these  died  on  the  road.  Some  of  our  county 
officers  resigned  their  positions  to  go  in  search  of  the  yellow  metal.  Among 
them  we  note  Aaron  Hurley,  county  surveyor,  and  James  McKay,  county  clerk. 
Mr.  McKay  was  taken  sick  with  the  cholera  and  died  on  the  way  there. 

A.  J.  Kirkpatrick  in  a  letter  to  one  of  the  newspapers  described  the  dust 
and  drouth  that  he  encountered  on  the  way  out  there  and  says:  "That  not  less 
than  4,000  people  died  of  cholera  on  the   Platte  river  alone." 

Joseph  L.  Derbiu,  afterwards  County  Judge,  wrote  to  Mr.  Isett  in  Septem- 
ber, 1850,  and  the  letter  was  published  in  the  Wapello  Times.  We  make  some 
extracts  from  his  letter: 

"The  Louisa  county  boys  are  so  scattered  that  I  cannot  give  much  account 
of  them  ;  those  that  I  have  any  knowledge  of  are  W.  H.  R.  Thomas  and  his  boys 
are  at  Cold  Springs;  C.  M.  McDaniel  and  boys,  Cold  Springs;  Dr.  Howey 
and  boys.  Cold  Springs :  Johnson  and  boys  at  the  Rough  and  Ready  diggins 
sixty  miles  north  of  here.  S.  Pitt,  Webberville,  fifty  miles  from  here ;  Louis 
Kinsey  sits  at  my  right  hand.  Charles  Vandervort  and  William  Crow,  with 
Pelton  are  at  Cold  Springs.  Black  Wess  is  at  Hangtown;  Wygant  and  boys, 
Kuntz  and  boys  and  Hamilton  boys  are  at  Cold  Springs.  Messrs.  Drake  and  Hur- 
ley and  boys  with  Trask  have  gone  to  Feather  river  about  seventy  miles  north 
from  here.  T.  Hayes  &  Co.,  T.  Thompson,  David  Gregory,  and  John  Bevins 
and  boys  are  on  American  river.  Wheelock,  is  near  Webberville,  sick  with 
typhoid  fever,  but  at  last  accounts  was  in  a  fair  way  to  recover.  James  Warnstaff, 
Lucket  and  Fitch  are  here  in  the  city.  George  Keever  died  a  few  days  ago  at 
Hangtown.  John  Studdard  and  L.  Robinson  are  teaming  to  the  mines.  M.  B. 
Robinson.  Henry  May,  Mintun's  boys,  Shuck's  boys  and  A.  Thompson  are  at 
Cold  Springs.  Tite  is  in  the  city.  Stevens  and  boys  are  at  Hangtown.  John 
Donahoo,  is  in  my  camp  sick  in  charge  of  A.  Paschall  and  is  getting  better.  G. 
Jones  and  brothers  have  gone  to  Carson  Valley  to  buy  stock.  Zebina  and 
Francis  Williams  past  through  here  a  short  time  ago,  they  sold  out  to  Kirk- 
patrick and  have  gone  to  Oregon,  but  think  they  will  be  back  in  the  Fall." 

The  above  letter  is  dated  at  Sacramento. 

THE    WELSH     SETTLEMENT 

Louisa  county  is  indebted  to  Wales  for  some  of  its  very  best  citizens.  In 
the  west  and  southwest  part  of  Columbus  City  township,  and  in  the  north  part 
of  Elm  Grove  township  is  what  is  often  called  the  Welsh  settlement,  and  it  is 
composed  of  a  class  of  people  who  come  nearer  being  all  "above  par"  than  any 
community  that  we  know  of;  with  scarcely  an  exception  they  are  honest,  intel- 
ligent, industrious  and  law-abiding,  always  attending  to  their  own  affairs,  but 
always  willing  to  assist  in  any  enterprise  that  will  promote  the  progress  or  pros- 
perity of  the  county. 

The  earliest  settler  among  them  was  John  Griffith,  who  came  in  1840.  For 
many  years  he  was  the  leader  in  the  settlement,  as  he  spoke  English  better  than 
many  of  the  other  early  comers  and  understood  our  ways  better  on  that  account. 

Soon  after  him  came  Evan  Anwyl.  He  had  two  sons,  William,  now  dead, 
and  Thomas  who  lives  in  the  edge  of  Washington  county ;  one  daughter  Mary, 
married  Evan  Morgan,  and  his  other  daughter,  Margaret,  is  the  wife  of  David  N. 
Jones,  who  was  one  of  the  most  highly  respected  men  in  the  community. 


JOHN*  GRIFFITH 


LIONOX    '  -!• 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  407 

There  also  came  such  splendid  men  as  John  Morgan,  John  A.  Rees,  and  the 
Davis',  Evans',  Williams',  Owens',  Jenkins',  Jones',  Roberts',  Hughes',  and  others 
whose  names  do  not  occur  to  us  at  this  writing.  Also  Wm.  Arthur,  Arthur 
Griffith  and  David  Tudor. 

The  Welsh  are  a  very  religious  people,  some  of  them  being  Congregationalists, 
and  some  belonging  to  what  is  called  the  Welsh  Calvanistic  church. 

The  pioneer  preacher  in  the  Welsh  settlement  was  the  Reverend  David 
Knowles,  who  preached  the  first  Welsh  sermon  ever  preached  in  Iowa,  at  Long 
Creek,  on  the  second  Sunday  in  September,  1845.  Mr.  Knowles  organized  the 
Congregational  church  at  Long  Creek  January  14,  1846,  and  was  pastor  there 
until  1854,  and  again  from  1861  to  1866.  He  was  a  man  of  great  versatility, 
had  a  fine  education  and  was  a  splendid  penman,  and  had  few  equals  in  engrav- 
ing. He  was  born  in  Manchester,  England,  in  January,  181 1,  and  resided  for 
some  time  at  Hawarden,  Wales,  the  home  of  Mr.  Gladstone.  He  preached  at 
one  time  at  Flint  Creek,  and  Old  Man's  creek,  which  were  Welsh  churches,  but 
also  preached  in  English  churches  at  Columbus  City,  Crawfordsville,  Moscow, 
Wilton  and  Grand  River  in  this  state.  Later  he  went  to  Nebraska  and  continued 
his  pastoral  work  there,  until  shortly  before  his  death  which  occurred  February 
12,  1899. 

Another  and  the  second  pastor  of  this  Welsh  Congregational  church  on  Long 
Creek  was  the  Reverend  Thomas  W.  Evans,  who  served  there  from  1856  to 
1861.  Mr.  Evans  was  born  at  Cardigan  in  Wales,  December  21,  1816,  and  came 
to  Louisa  county  in  1856.  He  occasionally  served  other  Welsh  congregations 
besides  the  one  on  Long  Creek.  He  died  in  this  county  only  a  few  years  ago 
at  the  age  of  86. 

The  other  pastors  of  this  Long  Creek  church  in  the  order  of  their  service 
were  as  follows :  Owen  Owens,  from  1868  to  1871 ;  Samuel  Jones,  from  1872  to 
1875;  I.  C.  Jones,  from  1875  to  1877;  M.  E.  Davies,  from  1878  to  1881 ;  J.  E. 
Jones  from  1882  to  1889;  W.  H.  Jones,  from  1889  to  1890;  Lloyd  Williams 
from  1892  to  1900 ;  James  Jenkins,  from  1900  to  1903 ;  R.  P.  Roberts,  from 
1903  to   1907.     Thomas  P.  Jenkins,  who  is  the  pastor  at  the  present  time. 

For  the  information  concerning  the  Welsh  Congregational  church,  we  are 
indebted  to  Reverend  T.  O.  Douglas  of  Grinnell,  and  we  regret  that  we  have  not 
similar  data  at  hand  for  the  other  churches. 

The  Welsh  settlement  has  not  furnished  very  many  county  officials,  but  this  is 
because  so  few  of  the  people  there  seek  office.  Robert  T.  Jones  was  one  of  the 
county  supervisors,  and  made  an  excellent  record. 

Miss  Lizzie  Hughes  was  county  superintendent  of  schools,  and  has  been  for 
many  years  one  of  the  faculty  of  the  State  Normal  School  at  Cedar  Falls.  She 
is  recognized  as  one  of  the  leading  educators  of  the  state. 

A  FEW  STATISTICS 

In  1850    Louisa    county    had    12. 1    persons    to    the    square    mile.     In    1856. 

23.5.  In  1870,  31.6.  In  1880,  32.2,  and  it  has  been  practically  the  same  ever 
since. 

In  1850  Louisa  county  had  850  families  and  842  dwellings. 

In  1856  there  were  1,677  families  and  1,571  dwellings. 

In  1880  there  were  2,607  families  and  2,545  dwellings. 


408 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 


POPULATION    OF   LOUISA   COUNTY 


1838  I,l80 

1 84O  1 ,927 

1844  3^38 

184''  3.644 

1 847  3,648 

1849  4.155 

1850  4,939 

1852  5.476 

[854  7,34i 

1856  9.568 

1859  10,805 

i860  10,370 

[863  10,639 


1865  10,948 

1867  11,885 

1869  12,219 

1870  12,877 

lS73    12,377 

1875  I2499 

1880  13,142 

1 885  11 ,926 

1890  11,873 

1895  12,786 

!9oo  13,516 

!y°5  12,893 

:9io  12,355 


(  ENSUS   OF    185O   SHOWN    POPULATION    OF   LOUISA    COUNTY    9,599 


Farmers   L391 

Blacksmiths   45 

Carpenters   127 

Wagon  makers   20 


16 

10 
8 

4 
16 


Brick  layers 

Plasterers    

Stone  cutters 

Machinists    

Millers    

Kngineers 13 

Painters    8 

Cabinet  makers 7 

Milliners    13 

Tailors    1  ? 


Shoemakers    18 

Harness  makers   7 

Merchants    54 

Speculators 

Druggists    

Physicians    

Lawyers    

I  trick   makers    

Coopers    18 

Clerks    22 

Ministers    10 

Teachers    _>0 

Teamsters    ^1 

Bankers    1 


census  of  1856 


Nativity 

Iowa    2,243 

Ohio    2,214 

Pennsylvania    1,062 

Illinois    271 


Nativity. 

Indiana    802 

New  York 381 

New  England   232 


Southern   States,   1,066,  chiefly  Virginia,  Tennessee.   Kentucky,    North   Caro- 
lina, Maryland  and  Missouri. 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 


409 


COUNTY   AND  TOWNSHIP  POPULATION 


l850 

Columbus    City    1,183 

Fredonia    369 

Grandview    1,028 

Jefferson    646 

Florence    776 

Wapello   937 

4,939 


i860 

Columbus   City    J, 81 5 

Concord    577 

Eliot    263 

Elm  Grove   573 

Grandview    1 ,360 

Jefferson    635 

Marshall    728 

Morning    Sun    . 1 ,075 

Oakland    432 

Port  Louisa   667 

Union    432 

Wapello   1,813 


1870 

1880 

2,344 

2,868 

892 

747 

370 

414 

701 

651 

1.635 

i,544 

846 

678 

967 

769 

1,258 

1.734 

604 

508 

774 

693 

616 

608 

1,870 

1.928 

10,370  12,877  13,142 

Assessed  State  School  Total 

Year.                    Population.      Value.  Taxes.  Taxes.  Taxes. 

l873 12,377     $7,039-05  $34,900.6o  $84,129.36 

1875 12,449     7.287.64     81,314.40 

1895 12,786     40,009.13  96,158.74 

1900 n.873     $14,619,068.00  9,502.29     119,389.18 

!903 16,841,068.00     53,365-56  144,474-43 

1905 19,241,996.00     60,873.75  148,296.02 

x907 17,985,144.00     55.352.13  146,162.04 

1909 18,307,224.00     60,071.81  168,873.26 

1910 16,064.37  78,102.19  208,000.00 

There  has  always  been  a  strong  temperance  sentiment  in  Louisa  county,  and 
on  every  occasion  when  the  people  of  the  county  have  been  permitted  to  vote 
upon  the  question,  the  temperance  or  prohibition  side  has  had  a  majority.  The 
rirst  election  was  on  the  subject  of  license  or  no  license,  held  April  5,  1847,  at 
which  "No  license"  received  271  votes,  while  198  votes  were  cast  "For  license.*' 
Jefferson  township  and  Fredonia  township  gave  a  majority  for  license,  while 
Wapello,  Columbus  City,  Grandview  and  Florence  were  against  it.  Some  ac- 
count of  the  meetings  held  during  the  liquor  campaign  in  1854  was  given  in  the 
newspapers,  and  they  will  serve  to  remind  us  of  some  of  our  early  temperance 
advocates. 

The  last  prohibition  election  held  in  Iowa  was  on  the  question  of  the  pro- 
hibition amendment  to  the  Constitution  in  1883.  At  that  time  Louisa  county  cast 
a  large  majority  in  favor  of  prohibition,  and  has  been  numbered  among  the 
"Dry"  counties  ever  since. 

THE   WORK   OF  THE    WAPELLO   VIGILANCE   COMMITTEE 

Early  in  1859  tne  Pe°ple  of  Louisa  county,  and  especially  those  in  the  vicinity 
of  Wapello,  became  considerably  worked  up  over  repeated  thefts  of  horses  and 
cattle.     It  is  noted  in  the  Wapello  Intelligencer  that  about  Mav  1st,  A.  D.  Hur- 


410  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

ley  had  a  horse  stolen  from  him.  and  that  J.  L.  King  had  a  horse  stolen  from  the 
stable  of  Levi  Chase.  As  a  result  of  these  and  many  former  thefts  the  Intelli- 
gencer of  May  14th  called  for  the  organization  of  a  vigilance  committee  and  such 
a  committee  was  organized  some  time  during  the  month  of  May.  One  of  the 
most  active  men  concerned  in  the  organization  of  this  committee  was  A.  D. 
Hurley,  who,  for  a  time  at  least,  was  secretary  of  the  committee,  for  we  find  in 
the  Wapello  Republican  of  July  4.  1861.  the  following  notice: 

"There  will  be  a  meeting  of  the  Louisa  county  thief  detective  vigilance  com- 
mittee, July  6,  1 861,  at  the  court  house  in  Wapello,  at  7:30  o'clock  p.  m.,  for 
the  election  of  officers  and  the  transaction  of  important  business.  It  is  the  duty 
of  every  member  to  attend  all  regular  meetings  when  notified,  and  hold  himself 
in  readiness  when  called  upon,  to  discharge  any  duty  resting  upon  him  as  a 
member,  and  to  communicate  to  the  president  all  information  that  may  be  of 
advantage  in  bringing  offenders  to  justice. 

"A.  D.  Hurley,  Sec." 

Other  active  members  of  this  committee  were:  Dr.  H.  T.  Cleaver,  Sheriff 
A.  M,  Taylor.  Vinton  Massie,  John  M.  Herrick  and  D.  W.  Herrick,  John  F. 
Saunders,  James  Semple,  S.  B.  Cleaver,  and  others  whose  names  we  cannot 
give.  We  take  the  following  extract  from  a  biographical  sketch  of  John  F.  Saun- 
ders, which  was  published  in  the  Wapello  Tribune  of  March  24,  1905,  and  relates 
to  this  larceny  matter : 

"It  was  in  the  year  1859,  and  at  a  time  when  Louisa  county  was  practically 
in  her  virgin  state,  scores  of  square  miles  of  her  territory  was  prairie  land  and 
vast  herds  of  cattle  roamed  at  will.  The  cattle  were  branded  in  the  spring  and 
turned  loose  and  allowed  to  roam  and  feed  upon  the  grass  until  autumn,  when 
they  were  identified  by  the  owners,  taken  up  and  sold.  These  herds  of  cattle 
were  great  temptations  to  lawless  bands  of  thieves,  who,  many  times  singling 
out  the  best  of  the  herd,  drove  them  to  Burlington  or  to  the  nearest  marketing 
place  and  sold  them.  Sheriff  Taylor  was  in  office  at  the  time  of  which  we  write, 
and  under  him  our  sketch  was  acting  in  the  capacity  of  deputy.  Sheriff  Taylor 
conceived  the  plan  of  catching  the  outlaws.  A  man  by  the  name  of  Rhodes  was 
then  in  the  penitentiary  at  Fort  Madison  serving  out  a  sentence  of  several  years, 
and  Taylor,  who  had  some  acquaintance  with  the  man,  visited  the  prison  and 
laid  his  plans  before  him.  It  was  to  the  effect  that  he  should  obtain  the  pardon 
of  Rhodes,  who  was  to  get  in  touch  of  the  outlaws,  if  possible,  gain  their  confi- 
dence, acquaint  himself  with  their  plans,  reveal  the  same  to  Taylor  and  help  in 
their  capture.  This  Rhodes  consented  to  undertake,  and  after  regaining  his  lib- 
erty, carried  out  his  plan  to  its  ultimate  success.  He  learned  that  on  a  certain 
evening  a  band  were  to  deliver  to  a  shipper  at  a  point  near  where  Elrick  Junc- 
tion now  stands  a  herd  of  ten  well  fatted  cattle,  who  was  to  pay  for  the  same  and 
say  nothing.  Taylor  decided  to  intercept  this  plan  if  possible  and  capture  the 
thieves.  So  taking  with  him  his  trusted  deputies.  Mr.  Saunders.  Gustavus  Jones, 
David  and  Henry  Herrick  and  Vinton  Massie,  they  laid  in  wait  for  the  thieves 
at  what  was  then  called  Horseshoe  Bend,  a  point  about  one  hundred  yards  below 
the  residence  of  Israel  Peters,  on  the  Burlington  road  south  of  Wapello,  and 
where  Rhodes  had  learned  the  thieves  would  pass  with  their  stolen  property. 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  411 

About  midnight  the  thieves  were  sighted  and  the  sheriff  and  his  men,  waiting 
until  they  were  close  by,  arose  from  both  sides  of  the  road  and  demanded  their 
immediate  surrender.  The  thieves  replied  by  opening  tire  and  a  number  of  shots 
were  exchanged,  two  of  the  horses  belonging  to  the  thieves  were  killed,  and  they, 
fearing  death  stared  them  in  the  face,  gave  themselves  up,  after  J.  G.,  one  of  their 
number,  had  received  a  severe  wound  in  his  right  thigh." 

The  foregoing  article  was  written  at  the  time  Mr.  Saunders  was  about  eighty 
years  old,  and  for  some  reason,  due  either  to  the  failure  of  his  memory,  or  the 
failure  of  the  reporter  to  correctly  understand  him,  no  mention  is  made  of  the 
connection  of  A.  D.  Hurley  with  this  case.  The  fact  is,  however,  as  we  under- 
stand it,  that  Mr.  Hurley  went  to  Fort  Madison  to  interview  the  man  Rhodes 
and  afterward  went  to  the  governor  in  person  and  secured  the  necessary  pardon. 
It  is  doubtless  true  that  Sheriff  Taylor  went  to  Fort  Madison  to  interview 
Rhodes,  and  perhaps  also  to  take  the  pardon  down  to  him.  Great  credit  is  of 
course  due  Sheriff  Taylor  and  his  deputy,  Mr.  Saunders,  and  doubtless  to  others 
whose  names  have  not  been  mentioned,  but  it  is  proper  that  due  credit  should 
be  given  Mr.  Hurley  for  the  active  interest  he  took  in  this  affair  from  its  begin- 
ning to  its  close. 

We  take  the  account  of  the  capture  of  the  men  from  the  Wapello  Intelli- 
gencer of  October  ist,  1859: 

"It  has  been  no  less  a  notorious  fact,  than  a  continued  source  of  annoyance 
and  loss  to  the  citizens  of  Louisa  county  for  some  time  past,  that  we  have  had 
among  us  a  gang  of  men  who  have  been  drawing  upon  us  at  sundry  times,  and 
in  divers  ways  for  different  kinds  of  goods  and  chattels,  in  that  unwarrantable 
way  familiarly  known  as  stealing ;  and  to  such  an  extent  had  their  different  depre- 
dations been  practiced  upon  our  citizens  that  it  became  necessary  for  the  preserva- 
tion of  horses,  cattle,  etc.,  that  a  vigilance  committee  be  formed,  which  was  or- 
ganized some  time  last  spring,  and  of  which  until  lately,  there  has  been  but  little 
known.  It  would  seem,  however,  that  they  have  been  at  work,  and  to  what  effect 
will  be  seen  to  some  extent  in  the  result  of  their  labor  of  last  Tuesday  evening. 

"It  seems  that  by  some  means  unknown  to  the  'uninitiated'  that  a  part  of 
the  committee  received  information  that  cattle  were  being  driven  from  the  differ- 
ent neighborhoods  throughout  the  county,  at  different  times,  and  herded  in  a 
clandestine  manner  until  proper  opportunities  offered  for  driving  them  entirely 
out  of  the  reach  of  their  owners,  on  which  information  the  committee  put  them- 
selves upon  the  alert  to  detect  them  in  the  act,  in  which  they  succeeded  last 
Tuesday  evening  in  arresting  the  following  persons,  citizens  of  this  place:  Mr. 
E.,  Mr.  C.,  and  Mr.  G. ;  not,  however,  without  some  little  skirmishing,  in  which 
two  horses  belonging  to  Mr.  E.  (one  ridden  by  himself,  the  other  by  G.)  were 
shot  down,  one  of  which  has  since  died.  Mr.  G.  was  also  wounded  in  the  fleshy 
part  of  the  thigh,  but  not  considered  dangerous.  The  parties  were  then  brought 
to  town,  placed  under  guard,  and  the  cattle  (eight  head)  were  driven  to  a  lot  and 
secured  and  were  afterward  recognized  as  belonging  to  Josiah  Nicol,  living  some 
seven  miles  southwest  of  town.  The  parties  were  placed  on  trial  yesterday  before 
Justice  Jacob  Mintun,  from  before  whom  a  change  was  taken  to  Justice  Fisher, 
which,  with  other  preliminaries,  has  occupied  the  time  up  to  the  present. 


412  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

"The  examinations  have  just  closed  by  which  E.  is  held  in  bonds  of  $1,500; 
C.  and  G.  in  $1,000  each ;  and  all  are  still  in  custody  for  want  of  compliance  with 
the  requirements  of  the  court.  Further  developments  are  being  made  by  legal 
search  about  their  respective  habitations,  the  particulars  of  which  will  be  given 
next  week  as  our  hurry  to  go  to  press  prevents  anything  further  in  this  issue." 

Neither  the  account  given  by  Mr.  Saunders  nor  the  account  in  the  Intelli- 
gencer gives  the  date  of  the  capture  of  these  men,  but  this  can  be  determined 
quite  accurately  from  a  little  bill  tiled  by  Airs.  G.  against  the  county.  The  bill 
was  filed  March  27,  18G0,  and  is  as  follows:  "To  boarding  bailiff  twenty-three 
days,  from  the  27th  of  September,  1859,  to  October  term  of  district  court,  in 
guarding  G.,  a  prisoner,  keeping  up  fires,  lights,  etc..  during  that  time,  $23." 

This  would  make  the  date  September  27,  or  within  a  day  or  two  of  that,  and 
would  indicate  that  G.  was  kept  there  until  court  was  held.  The  district  court 
records  show  that  J.  G.  plead  guilty  on  October  27,  1859,  to  an  indictment  for 
larceny  and  was  sentenced  to  the  penitentiary  for  three  years.  The  cases  against 
E.  and  C.  were  transferred  to  Henry  county  and  tried  there.  Joshua  Tracy, 
the  district  attorney,  represented  the  state,  and  Henry  O'Connor,  D.  N.  Sprague 
and  B.  F.  Wright  represented  the  defendants.  The  witnesses  in  these  cases  so 
far  as  we  have  found  their  names  were:  Josiah  Xicol,  A.  D.  Hurley,  A.  C 
Scull,  Bentley  Cleaver,  James  Semple,  John  Saunders,  James  Humphrey,  Edward 
Pile,  Milley  Gregory,  William  R.  Williams,  D.  W.  Herrick,  Vinton  Massie,  H. 
T.  Cleaver,  E.  B.  Ogg.  Isaac  Mickey,  F.  L.  Crain,  G.  A.  Craiger,  Thomas  Stod- 
dard, Gust  Jones,  William  Teets,  J.  C.  Case,  William  Russell  and  W.  W.  Stutts. 
The  trials  at  Mount  Pleasant  resulted  in  the  conviction  of  both. 

We  find  on  the  files  in  the  auditor's  office  the  following  bill  presented  against 
the  county  by  J.  Stone.  It  is  evident  from  the  spelling  indulged  in  by  Mr.  Stone, 
which  we  give  literally  from  his  bill,  that  if  he  was  not  one  of  the  originators 
of  the  plan  of  simplified  spelling,  he  at  least  had  original  ideas  on  the  subject: 

"A  Cont  with  Louisa  County  Or.  t"  worke  Dr.  one  nite  and  part  of  day 

with    houts    $i-5° 

to  one  nites  Loging  for  prisner 65 

and  garding   the    Same   one   nitte 1  00 

2  nits  and  days  with  E 4-00 

Dr.  one   nite   a   lone   with    E 1 .00 

Comenced  garding  Carpenter  Oct  21 

a  mount  of  nites  and  gard  9  nits  and  8  da}  s 

3  days   I lalef  for   1  J-00 

(  irand   jourey    3-00 

1  )r.  to  1  day  with  John  Salys   1 .00" 

At  the  bottom  of  this  bill  is  the  following  certificate  in  the  handwriting  of  A. 
M.  Taylor: 

"I  hereby  certify  that  the  above  services  were  performed  to  the  best  of  my 
belief  and  knowledge. 

"A.  M.  Taylor, 

Stiff.  L.  C.  lozva." 

The  valuable  service  performed  by  the  Wapello  vigilance  committee  was  recog- 
nized by  the  county  court,  by  the  payment  on  June  5.  1860.  to  John  M.  Herrick, 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  413 

treasurer  of  the  Wapello  vigilance  committee,  of  $200,  to  repay  money  expended 
by  the  committee  in  the  detection  of  criminals. 

SAFE  ROBBERY 

On  the  night  of  Monday.  February  17.  1868,  Louisa  county  treasury  suffered 
a  severe  loss  by  burglary,  but  before  giving  an  account  of  that,  it  is  proper  to 
say  that  an  attempt  was  made  to  burglarize  the  safe  in  1865.  Under  the  head- 
ing "Attempted  Robbery,"  the  Wapello  Republican  of  Thursday,  April  4,  1865, 
savs :  "On  Thursday  night  last,  the  office  of  the  county  treasurer  was  entered 
bv  unlocking  the  outer  door  and  forcing  the  inner  one."  The  article  states 
that  gunpowder  and  chisels  and  iron  bars  were  used,  but  that  the  burglars  were 
interrupted  in  their  work  by  Janitor  Grey  at  about  half  past  4  a.  m..  when  they 
were  nearly  through  their  work.  It  seems  they  had  taken  the  tools  from  the 
shop  of  Rose  &  Cody  and  a  lamp  from  the  Methodist  church.  The  following 
is  the  account  of  the  safe  robbery  as  taken  from  the  Wapello  Republican,  pub- 
lished at  the  time : 

"The  Louisa  county  treasurer's  office  was  entered  by  burglars  Monday  night. 
February  17,  1868,  the  safe  broken  open  and  $17,000  in  greenbacks  taken  there- 
from. There  were  $3,200  in  the  lower  compartment  of  the  burglar  proof  part 
of  the  safe  which  the  thieves  were  unable  to  reach.  Of  this  some  four  or  five 
hundred  dollars  belongs  to  private  parties.  We  believe  the  whole  amount  taken 
belonged  to  the  county.  A  considerable  portion  of  it  was  school  money  that 
would  have  been  paid  out  in  a  short  time  to  teachers,  and  the  loss  will  seriously 
affect  that  class  of  laborers. 

"W.  S.  Kremer,  the  treasurer,  worked  in  his  office  until  about  eleven  o'clock 
that  night,  and  three-quarters  of  an  hour  later  Mr.  Hale,  the  clerk  of  the 
district  court,  passed  through  the  courthouse  yard  on  his  way  home  from  the 
Odd  Fellows  lodge,  so  that  the  burglarious  work  was  probably  not  entered 
upon  until  after  midnight.  Mr.  Kremer  was  the  first  to  reach  the  office  Tuesday 
morning,  at  about  sunrise.  He  found  the  door  locked  and  all  the  window  blinds 
except  one,  closed  as  usual.  These  blinds  seem  well  adapted  to  the  use  of 
burglars.  They  are  made  of  boiler  iron,  and  have  not  been,  and  perhaps  could 
not  be  so  fastened  but  that  they  could  be  easily  pried  off,  or  opened.  Once 
inside,  the  burglars  could  close  them  when  they  would  completely  conceal  the 
light,  and  they  would  also  greatly  deaden  the  sounds  of  their  operations.  No 
one  sleeps  in  the  courthouse  and  it  is  perhaps  seventy-five  yards  to  the  nearest 
house.  Some  of  the  persons  living  in  the  vicinity  say  they  heard  noises,  as  of 
pounding,  but  supposed  it  was  horses  pawing  in  an  adjoining  stable. 

"The  burglars  had  prepared  themselves  with  some  half  dozen  steel  wedges 
of  from  two  to  five  inches  in  length  and  about  one  inch  in  width,  and  they 
broke  into  the  blacksmith  shop  of  Rose  &  Company  and  secured  a  cold  chisel 
and  a  sledge,  which  they  left  near  the  broken  and  battered  safe.  In  the  attempt- 
to  rob  the  safe  in  the  same  office,  three  or  four  years  ago,  the  same  shop  was 
broken  into  and  the  same  tools  taken  out,  and  it  can  hardly  be  doubted  that 
the  same  parties  were  in  both  transactions. 


414  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

"Effecting  their  entrance  through  the  window,  the  burglars  went  to  work 
with  their  wedges  and  sledge,  and  by  prying  and  pounding  and  breaking,  such 
as  only  experienced  villains  know  how  to  do,  they  opened  the  outside  doors. 
The  inside,  or  burglar  proof  doors  were  not  opened,  but  the  lock  was  broken 
and  deranged,  and  the  iron  shelf,  or  partition,  running  horizontally  over  it, 
and  forming  its  roof,  was  pried  up  until  an  aperture  was  formed  wide  enough 
to  admit  of  the  insertion  of  small  tongs  or  nippers,  or  something  of  that  kind, 
with  which  the  coveted  packages  were  fished  up  and  drawn  out.  The  opening  was 
large  enough  to  admit  even  a  small  hand.  The  money  once  secured,  of  course 
there  was  not  much  time  lost  in  making  tracks. 

"Whoever  the  villains  are.  they  understand  their  business  thoroughly.  There 
was  no  bungling  about  it.  Of  course  the  transaction  was  carefullv  planned, 
and  has,  no  doubt,  been  in  contemplation  for  months  and  perhaps  years,  a  simi- 
lar attempt  having  been  made  three  or  four  years  ago.  Xo  doubt  every  circum- 
stance was  carefully  calculated,  and  it  is  believed  by  many  that  local  assistance 
was  rendered,  though  the  principal  actors,  it  is  thought,  came  from  a  distance. 
Indeed,  it  is  almost  certain  that  a  trace  of  them  has  been  discovered,  and  every 
effort  is  being  made  to  capture  them. 

"Two  middle  sized,  dark  complexioned  men  hired  a  span  of  horses  and 
buggy  at  Unterkercher's  stable  in  Burlington  last  Saturday,  to  come  up  to  the 
neighborhood  of  Bethel  church,  as  they  said,  but  really  they  came  right  through 
to  Wapello.  They  put  up  at  the  Burlington  House  and  told  the  landlord  that 
they  would  want  their  team  at  eleven  o'clock  that  night.  The  stage  driver  from 
Burlington  who  puts  up  at  Unterkercher's,  came  in  the  same  evening  and 
knew  the  team  they  were  driving  and  that  they  had  hired  it  to  drive  only  a 
few  miles.  When  he  learned  that  they  wanted  to  return  that  night,  he  objected, 
as  it  would  be  too  hard  a  drive.  Our  gentlemen  parleyed  about  the  matter 
through  the  evening,  and  one  of  them  went  out  and  was  gone  an  hour  or  two. 
and  when  he  returned  they  at  last  decided,  at  about  ten  o'clock,  to  remain  over 
night  but  to  return  early  Sunday  morning,  which  they  did.  The  "job"  was  no 
doubt  planned  for  Saturday  night,  but  for  obvious  reasons  it  was  postponed. 
Monday  afternoon  the  same  parties  hired  the  same  team  for  another  little  ride 
up  the  country  but  so  far  as  we  can  learn,  at  the  present  writing,  they  stopped 
nowhere  on  the  road.  Tuesday  morning,  at  about  eight  o'clock,  they  drove  up 
to  the  stable  in  Burlington,  their  horses  foaming  with  sweat,  and  hurriedly 
paying  their  bill,  they  were  soon  out  of  sight.  The  stage  driver,  who  was  there 
at  the  time,  says  they  carefully  avoided  him.  Add  to  this  the  fact  that  Olley  T, 
Stewart,  a  boy  some  twelve  years  of  age,  found  $900  of  the  money  in  the  road 
between  the  residence  of  S.  Jamison  and  the  stone  schoolhouse  on  the  Burling- 
ton road  as  he  was  going  to  school  Tuesday  morning  in  company  with  little 
Katy  Herrick,  and  it  is  almost  certain  what  direction  the  monev  took  and  who 
got,  at  least,  the  bulk  of  it.  Mr.  Kremer  issued  posters  Tuesdav  morning 
offering  a  reward  of  $2,000  for  the  arrest  of  the  burglars  and  the  recoverv  of 
any  considerable  portion  of  the  money,  and  Tuesday  evening,  on  learning  the 
facts  above  given  from  the  stage  driver,  he  started  for  Burlington.  Riders  were 
also  sent  in  other  directions,  and  every  effort  is  being  made  to  bring  the  guilty 
parties  to  justice." 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  415 

It  was  not  long  before  a  number  of  persons  were  arrested  as  suspects, 
among  them  being  Benjamin  F.  Langell,  Allen  Jackson  and  George  A.  McKay. 
Langell,  after  being  in  jail  about  six  months,  not  liking  the  confinement,  broke 
out  on  January  20,  1869,  by  sawing  off  an  iron  bar  of  one  of  the  window  casings. 
The  jail  had  been  considered  unsafe  for  some  time  and  a  guard  had  been  em- 
ployed by  Sheriff  Lacey ;  but  in  the  opinion  of  the  supervisors,  this  guard  was 
considered  too  expensive  and  had  just  been  discharged  prior  to  the  time  Langell 
made  his  escape.  A  Mrs.  Lottie  Anthony  from  Muscatine,  had  come  down  to 
visit  Langell  the  day  before  he  made  his  escape,  and  she  was  immediately 
arrested  on  a  charge  of  having  assisted  him  to  escape,  and  was  bound  over  to 
the  district  court ;  but  nothing  further  seems  to  have  been  done  against  her. 
Alexander  Jackson  was  arrested  by  Sheriff  E.  B.  Lacey  somewhere  in  Ohio, 
and  Jackson's  friends  immediately  got  out  a  writ  of  habeus  corpus  but  failed 
to  secure  his  release.  Jackson  then  had  Lacey  arrested  on  a  charge  of  perjury, 
alleged  to  have  been  committed  at  the  habeus  corpus  trial.  Sheriff  Lacey  was 
released  from  this  perjury  charge  and  then  another  Ohio  court  issued  a  writ 
of  habeus  corpus  for  Jackson,  but  Sheriff  Lacey  also  defeated  this  proceeding 
and  brought  his  prisoner  back  with  him.  Jackson  was  tried  but  there  was  not 
enough  evidence  against  him  to  warrant  a  conviction.  George  A.  McKay  was 
tried  at  Burlington  in  May,  1871,  and  the  jury  disagreed,  standing  nine  for 
conviction  and  three  for  acquittal.  We  believe  he  was  tried  a  second  time  and 
acquitted.  McKay  was  supposed  to  have  some  land  in  Warren  county,  this 
state,  and  on  January  6,  1870,  the  matter  of  Louisa  county  bringing  suit  against 
him  and  attaching  this  land  on  behalf  of  the  county,  was  considered  by  the 
board  of  supervisors  but  it  was  decided  by  a  vote  of  sixty-five  not  to  do  so. 
At  the  same  meeting,  however,  the  board  adopted  the  following  preamble  and 
resolution : 


"Whereas,  It  has  been  reported  to  this  board  that  one  George  A.  McKay, 
who  is  charged  as  being  one  of  the  burglars  who  robbed  the  county  safe  some 
two  years  since, 

"Whereas,  It  is  reported  that  said  McKay  is  the  owner  of  one  hundred  and 
sixty  acres  of  land  in  Warren  county,  this  state  (it  being  the  same  land  on  which 
E.  B.  Lacey  has  now  an  attachment),  on  which  we  might  levy  an  attachment 
to  escure  a  part  of  our  loss  incurred  by  said  burglary,  and, 

"Whereas,  ex-sheriff  E.  B.  Lacey  has  lost  considerable  time  in  the  pursuit 
of   said   burglars,   therefore, 

"Resolved  that  as  compensation  for  such  loss  of  time,  the  county  hereby 
assigns  to  said  E.  B.  Lacey  all  her  rights  and  interests  in  such  land  and  he  is 
authorized  at  his  own  expense  and  for  his  own  use  to  prosecute  such  suit  to 
judgment." 


Among  the  records  of  the  board  of  supervisors  we  find  a  claim  filed  against 
the  county  by  Sheriff  E.  B.  Lacey.  May  31.  1871,  as  follows: 


416  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

To  reward   for  the  capture  and   return  of  George  A.   McKay  as   per 

agreement  of  board  of  supervisors  of  Louisa  county $1,250.00 

To  10  per  cent  interest  on  $1,000  from  September  1,  1870,  to  June  6, 

1871     83.34 

Total    $1,333-34 

This  claim  is  marked  on  the  back  "filed  August  29,  1871 ,"  and  below  that 
is  the  word  "disallowed.'' 

We  also  find  among  the  files  a  claim  of  E.  B.  Lacey  for  services  and  ex- 
penses in  pursuit  of  burglars,  filed  December  29,  1871,  amounting  to  $1,184.19, 
exclusive  of  interest.  The  claim  is  made  of  items  of  expense  in  traveling  to  and 
from  various  places  in  the  months  of  August  and  September,  1870.  In  addi- 
tion to  these  items  of  expense  for  travel  there  are  the  following  items : 

To  amount  paid  sheriff  of  Champaign  county,  prison  expenses  of  Mc- 
Kay     $    35.00 

Paid  J.  D.  Brown,  ex-sheriff,  for  assistance  in  extraditing  McKay....  25.00 

Services  of  Sheriff  Lacey  for  sixteen  days  at  $6  per  day 96.00 

Cash  and  note  given   for  apprehension  of  McKay,   with  ten  per  cent 

interest    from    date    1,000.00 

There  was  a  number  of  items  of  actual  expense  aggregating  $1,442.40,  on 
which  there  is  a  credit  of  $258.21,  received  of  the  auditor  of  state  on  expen- 
ditures and  services  in  apprehending  and  extraditing  McKay.  This  claim  is  also 
marked  "disallowed." 

Soon  after  this  burglary  the  board  of  supervisors  took  steps  to  have  the 
amount  of  said  funds  in  the  treasurer's  safe  credited  to  the  county,  so  that  they 
would  not  have  to  be  paid  to  the  state.  In  March,  1868.  the  board  addressed 
the  following  memorial  to  the  legislature : 

"To  the  Hon.  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of  the  State  of  Iowa: 
"The  undersigned,  the  Board  of  Supervisors  of  the  County  of  Louisa  in 
the  State  of  Iowa,  would  respectfully  represent  that  on  the  morning  of  the 
18th  of  February,  A.  D.,  1868,  the  office  of  the  treasurer  of  said  county  was 
entered  by  burglars,  the  safe,  supposed  to  be  a  good,  burglar  proof  safe,  broken 
open,  and  funds  to  the  amount  of  seventeen  thousand,  one  hundred  and  five  dol- 
lars and  forty  cents  stolen,  of  which  eight  hundred  dollars  have  been  recovered. 
We  would  further  respectfully  represent  that  at  that  time  there  was  on  hand, 
and  in  said  safe,  moneys  collected  on  state  tax  amounting  to  the  sum  of  four 
thousand  five  hundred  and  ninety-three  dollars  and  twenty-eight  cents,  and 
that  there  was  due  to  the  state  at  that  date  on  Insane  Hospital  account  the  sum 
of  fifteen  hundred  and  seventeen  dollars  and  fourteen  cents,  there  being  at  that 
time  collected  and  on  hand  Insane  Hospital  tax  to  more  than  that  amount. 

"The  whole  making  the  amounts  in  said  treasury  properly  belonging  or  due 
to  the  state  of  Iowa,  six  thousand  one  hundred  and  ten  dollars  and  forty-two 
cents." 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  417 

Subsequently  the  legislature  passed  a  joint  resolution  in  regard  to  this  and 
several  other  similar  robberies  of  county  safes  that  had  occurred  not  long  be- 
fore that,  in  which  the  state  auditor  was  authorized  to  make  proper  credits  to 
the  various  counties  named  in  the  resolution.  Louisa  county  eventually  got 
credit   under  this   resolution   for  $4,592.28. 

WOLF    HUNT 

The  following  is  taken  from  the  Wapello  Times  of  January,   1851  : 

"Pursuant  to  adjournment  the  citizens  of  Louisa  county  met  on  Friday, 
January  10,  185 1,  whereupon  T.  Brogan,  Esq.,  was  called  to  the  chair,  and  T.  S. 
Bell  was  appointed  secretary. 

"On  motion,  J.  T.  Cleaver,  James  Noffsinger  and  T.  S.  Bell  were  appointed 
a  committee  to  select  marshals  and  describe  the  boundaries  for  the  Circle  Wolf 
Hunt,  to  take  place  on  Saturday,  the  18th  day  of  January,  1851,  commencing 
at  8  o'clock,  a.  m.  After  an  absence  of  a  few  minutes  they  reported  as  fol- 
lows, to  wit: 

''Boundaries — Commencing  at  Florence,  thence  to  Scull's,  thence  to  Esq. 
Wilson's,  thence  to  Samuel  McElhanie's,  thence  to  James  Jarvis',  thence  to 
Joshua  Marshall's,  thence  to  John  Marshall's,  thence  to  the  ford  on  Long  creek 
(on  the  Burlington  and  Columbus  City  road),  thence  down  Long  creek  to  its 
mouth,  thence  down  the  Iowa  river  to  the  town  of  Wapello,  thence  to  Florence. 

"Marshals — Florence  line,  John  Deihl ;  Scull's,  John  Wiser ;  Wilson's,  T. 
Brogan :  McElhanie's,  F.  Lee ;  Squire  Brown's,  H.  C.  Blake ;  Jarvis',  Z.  Jarvis ; 
Virginia  Grove,  Joseph  Marshall ;  Hope  Farm,  J.  Tinstal  and  John  Marshall ; 
the  ford,  Joseph  B.  Nichols ;  Hill's  Mills,  Robert  Benton ;  Robinson's,  T.  Stod- 
dard :  mouth  of  creek,  Wiley  Gregory,  James  Blanchard  and  H.  Gregory ;  Harri- 
son, R.  B.  Packard;  Wapello,  J.  Bell,  Jr.,  and  J.  M.  Herrick;  Squash  Bend,  S. 
S.  Blackburn  and  James  Wilson ;  mouth  of  Otter  creek,  Samuel  Chaney. 

"They  also  reported  the  following  regulations  to  be  observed  by  all  persons 
engaging  in  said  hunt : 

"The  west  line  on  its  arrival  at  the  bluffs  will  call  a  halt  and  report  by 
signals  to  the  captain ;  the  north  and  south  lines,  on  arriving  at  the  open  prairie, 
will  halt  and  report  by  signals,  also ;  the  captain  will  then  sound  the  advance, 
when  the  lines  will  commence  moving  steadily  forward  with  as  little  noise  as 
possible,  carefully  beating  up  every  inch  of  the  ground,  and  driving  the  game 
to  the  center.  On  arriving  at  the  enclosure  the  captains  on  each  line  will  select 
men  to  enter  the  circle  and  drive  up  the  game ;  those  forming  the  circle  to 
stand  in  their  places,  killing  all  that  may  attempt  to  escape  in  the  shape  of 
wolf,  deer,  or  other  wild  animal. 

"No  firearms  to  be  carried,  no  clogs  shall  be  permitted  to  run  loose  until 
the  lines  are  closed,  then  let  loose  by  order  of  the  captain.  All  the  wolf  scalps 
taken  are  to  be  given  to  the  Louisa  County  Times  for  publishing  notices. 

"Each  marshal  shall  be  provided  with  a  horn  and  a  flag. 

"The  captain  to  sound  the  time  of  starting  at  Wapello,  sound  to  pass  round 
the  lines  twice,  from  Wapello  down  the  river,  thence  round  to  the  place  of 
starting.     The  center  to  be  designated  by  a  flag. 


418  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

"Every  person  to  be  provided  with  a  good  hickory  club,  three  feet  long,  and 

a  knife. 

"Closing  ground  one  mile  east  and  one-half  mile  south  of  Elm  Grove. 
"Resolved,  That   all   persons   engaging   in    said   hunt   be   earnestly   requested 
to   observe  the  above   regulations. 

"Resolved.  That  no  spirituous  liquors  be  allowed  on  the  ground. 
"Resolved.  That  everybody  be  requested  to  attend. 
"On  motion,   adjourned." 

APPENDIX 

CHARTERS,    GRANTS,   TREATIES   AND   LAWS   AFFECTING   LOUISA   COUNTY 

It  may  not  be  long  until  the  land  owner  who  wants  to  sell  will  find  it  neces- 
sary to  furnish  an  abstract  of  title  reaching  back  to  "the  beginning  of  things" 
on  this  continent.  Desiring  that  the  subscribers  to  this  work  shall  be  fully 
prepared  for  such  an  emergency,  we  have  been  at  some  pains  to  prepare  a  list 
of  the  various  charters,  grants,  treaties,  and  organic  acts,  which  have,  from 
time  to  time,  been  granted  or  enacted  relating  to  or  affecting  the  territory  com- 
•  prising  Louisa  county,  with  a  list  and  brief  mention  of  laws  wihch  have  special 
or  local  application. 

April,   1492 

Grant  by  Ferdinand  and  Elizabeth  to  Christopher  Columbus,  making  him 
"Admiral   Vice-Roy   and    Governor"   of   the    Islands   and   Continents   he    should 

discover. 

May.   1493 

Pope  Alexander  Sixth  issued  a  Bull  conceding  to  Spain  all  the  continents, 
inhabited  by  infidels,  which  had  been  discovered  by  Spain. 

March,   1496 

King  Henry  Seventh  granted  Letters  Patent  of  discovery  and  trade  to  John 
Cabot  and  his  sons,  Lewis,  Sebastian  and  Santius,  the)-  to  pay  to  the  king  the 
fifth  part  "of  the  capitall  gaine  so  gotten." 

November,   1620 

King  James  I  granted  to  the  "Councill  established  at  Plymouth  in  the  County 
of  Devon  for  the  planting,  ruling,  ordering  and  governing  of  New  England  in 
America"  "all  that  Circuit,  Continent,  Precincts,  and  Limitts  in  America,  lying 
and  being  in  Breadth  from  Fourty  Degrees  of  Northerly  Latitude,  from  the 
Equinoctiall  Line,  to  Fourty  eight  Degrees  of  said  Northerly  Latitude,  and  in 
length  by  all  the  Breadth  aforesaid  throughout  the   Maine  Land,   from   Sea  to 

Sea.  &c." 

1630  and   163] 

•  The  "Councill"  at  Plymouth  granted  to  the  Earl  of  Warwick  in  1030  a 
tract  of  country  south  of  Massachusetts.  On  March  19,  1631,  the  Earl  trans- 
ferred his  grant  to  Lords  Say  and  Seale.  Burke  and  others.  This  grant  included 
all  of  Louisa  countv. 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  419 

June,   1635 

The  Council  established  at  Plymouth  surrendered  its  charter  to  King  Charles. 

1662 

Charles  II  granted  a  Charter  to  John  Winthrop  and  associates,  to  the  same 
territory  included  in  the  Warwick  grant  of  1630,  Winthrop  and  his  associates 
having  purchased  the  rights  of  those  holding  under  the  Warwick  grant. 

June,   1673 

Marquette  and  Joliet  "discovered"  this  part  of  the  country  for  France. 

April,  1682 

La  Salle  claimed  for  France  a  large  part  of  the  Mississippi  valley,  including 
all  of  the  present  State  of  Iowa. 

October,   1691 

William  and  Mary  of  England,  promulgated  an  instrument  by  which  they 
did  "Will  and  Ordayne  that  the  Territories  and  Collnyes  called  or  Known  by 
the  names  of  Collony  of  the  Massachusetts  Bay  and  Collony  of  New  Plymouth" 
and  other  colonies  named  "be  erected  Vnited  and  incorporated"  into  "one  reall 
Province  by  the  name  of  Our  Province  of  Massachusetts  Bay  in  New  England." 

1762  and  1763 

England,  France  and  Spain  agreed  that  the  boundary  between  the  Provinces 
of  England  and  France  in  America  should  be  fixed  as  the  middle  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi River,  from  its  source  to  the  Ibervilles. 

France  also  ceded  Louisiana  to  Spain,  and  the  lands  now  included  in  Iowa 
were  a  part  of  the  province  of  Louisiana,  and  thus  came  under  Spanish  dominion. 

1800  and   1 801 

By  the  treaty  of  San  Ildefonso,  made  between  France  and  Spain  on  October 
1,  1800,  Spain  agreed,  upon  certain  conditions  to  re-cede  Louisiana  to  France. 
This  was  confirmed  by  a  second  treaty,  between  the  same  powers,  made  at 
Madrid,  March  21,   1801.  and  we  thus  again  came  under  French  dominion. 

April  30,   1803 

A  treaty  was  concluded  between  the  President  of  the  United  States  and 
"the  first  consul  of  the  French  Republic,  in  the  name  of  the  French  people," 
ceding  the  province  of  Louisiana  to  the  United  States ;  ratifications  were  ex- 
changed at  Washington,  October  21,  1803. 

October  31,   1803 

Act  of  Congress  authorizing  the  President  to  take  possession  of  "the  terri- 
tories ceded  by  France  to  the  United  States"  by  the  treaty  of  April  30th  last, 
and  providing  that,  until  the  expiration  of  the  present  congress,  unless  provision 
for  a  temporary  government  should  be  sooner  made  by  congress,  the  govern- 
ment thereof  should  be  vested  in  such  persons  and  exercised  in  such  manner  as 
the  President  should  direct. 


420  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

March  26,   1804 

Act  of  Congress  dividing  "that  portion  of  the  country  ceded  by  France  to 
the  United  States,  under  the  name  of  Louisiana"  so  that  all  that  part  south  of 
the  territory  of  Mississippi  and  south  of  33°  of  north  latitude  should  constitute 
the  territory  of  Orleans,  and  the  "residue  of  the  province  of  Louisiana"  should 
be  called  the  district  of  Louisiana  and  be  under  the  government  and  jurisdiction 
of  the  governor  and  judges  of  Indiana  territory. 

March  3,   1805 

Act  of  Congress  declaring  that  the  "district  of  Louisiana"  should  thence- 
forth be  known  as  the  Territory  of  Louisiana  and  providing  for  its  government 
by  a  governor  and  three  judges. 

February  20,   181 1 

Act  of  Congress  to  enable  the  people  of  Louisiana  to  form  a  state  govern- 
ment, and  prescribing  limits  which  extended  no  further  north  than  300  north 
latitude. 

April  8,  1812 

Louisiana    admitted    as    a    state. 

June  4.  181 2 

Act  of  Congress  providing  that  the  "Territory  heretofore  called  Louisiana 
shall  hereafter  be  called  Missouri,"  and  providing  for  a  territorial  government 
consisting  of  a  governor,  a  legislative  council  and  a  house  of  representatives. 

September  10,  1819 

Act  of  the  Governor  and  Judges  of  the  territory  of  Michigan  to  regulate 
ferries.  Section  2  provides,  that  the  County  Court  shall  grant  licenses  for  keep- 
ing ferries  in  their  respective  counties,  which  shall  continue  in  force  for  one 
year  and  no  longer. 

March  6,   1820 

Act  of  Congress  authorizing  the  people  of  Missouri  to  form  a  state  govern- 
ment, with  boundaries  as  follows:  Beginning  at  the  middle  of  the  Mississippi 
river  on  the  parallel  of  thirty-six  degrees  north  latitude ;  thence  west  along 
that  parallel  of  latitude  to  the  Saint  Francois  river;  thence  up,  and  following 
the  course  of  that  in  the  middle  of  the  main  channel  thereof,  to  the  parallel 
of  latitude  of  thirty-six  degrees  and  thirty  minutes ;  thence  west  along  the  same 
to  a  point  where  the  said  parallel  is  intersected  by  a  meridian  line  passing 
through  the  middle  of  the  mouth  of  the  Kansas  river,  where  the  same  empties 
into  the  Missouri  river;  thence  from  the  point  aforesaid,  north,  along  the  said 
meridian  line,  to  the  intersection  of  the  parallel  of  latitude  which  passes  through 
the  rapids  of  the  river  Des  Moines,  making  the  said  line  to  correspond  with 
the  Indian  boundary  line;  thence  east,  from  the  point  of  intersection  last  afore- 
said along  the  said  parallel  of  latitude  to  the  middle  of  the  channel  of  the  main 
fork  of  the  said  river  Des  Moines ;  thence  down  and  along  the  middle  of  the 
main  channel  of  the  said  river  Des  Moines  to  the  mouth  of  the  same  where  it 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  421 

empties  into  the  Mississippi  river ;  thence  due  east  to  the  middle  of  the  main 
channel  of  Mississippi  river;  thence  down  and  following  the  course  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi river,  in  the  middle  of  the  main  channel  thereof,  to  the  place  of  be- 
ginning. 

June  12,  1820 

The  Constitution  of  the  State  of  Missouri  was  adopted  by  a  convention  held 
at  St.  Louis;  this  constitution  fixes  the  northern  boundary  line  of  Missouri 
as  follows:  from  "the  intersection  of  the  parallel  of  latitude  which  passes 
through  the  rapids  of  the  river  Des  Moines,  making  the  said  line  correspond 
with  the  Indian  boundary  line,  thence  east  from  the  point  of  intersection  last 
aforesaid,  along  the  said  parallel  of  latitude,  to  the  middle  of  the  channel  of 
the  main  fork  of  the  said  river  Des  Moines ;  thence  down  and  along  the  middle 
of  the  main  channel  of  the  said  river  Des  Moines  to  the  mouth  of  the  same, 
where  it  empties  into  the  Mississippi  river ;  thence  due  east  to  the  middle  of 
the  main  channel  of  the  Mississippi  river,  etc. 

March,   1821 

Joint  resolution  of  congress  providing  for  the  admission  of  the  state  of 
Missouri  on   a  certain   condition,   approved   March   2,   1821. 

August,    1 82 1 

Proclamation  of  President  Monroe,  dated  August  10,  1821,  declaring  that 
Missouri  had  complied  with  the  condition  made  by  congress,  and  declaring  the 
admission  of  Missouri  into  the  Union  to  be  complete. 

February   13,   1833 

Treaty  with  the  Sac  and  Fox  Indians  made  at  Fort  Armstrong  September 
1832,  and  proclaimed  February  13,  1833.  This  is  the  Treaty  known  as  the 
"Black  Hawk  Purchase,"  or  "Scott's  Purchase,"  and  included  all  of  the  present 
Louisa  county  except  such  as  was  contained  in  the  "Keokuk  Reserve."  This 
reserve  extended  from  the  mouth  of  Smith  creek  northwest,  on  both  sides  of 
the  Iowa,  to  and  beyond  the  county  line. 

June  28.   1834 

Act  of  Congress  attaching  to  the  territory  of  Michigan  "all  that  part  of  the 
territory  of  the  United  States  bounded  on  the  east  by  the  Mississippi  river,  on 
the  south  by  the  State  of  Missouri  and  a  line  drawn  due  west  from  the  northwest 
corner  of  said  state  to  the  Missouri  river ;  on  the  southwest  and  west  by  the 
Missouri  river  and  the  White  Earth  River  falling  into  the  same ;  and  on  the 
north  by  the  northern  boundary  of  the  United  States,"  for  purposes  of  tem- 
porary  government. 

( The  territory  of  Michigan  was  formed  by  Act  of  Congress,  approved  Jan- 
uary 11,  1805,  dividing  the  Indiana  Territory  into  two  separate  governments 
and  provided  that  it  should  have  "a  government  in  all  respects  similar  to  that 
provided  by  the  ordinance  of  congress,  passed  on  the  13th  day  of  July  one 
thousand,  seven  hundred  and  eighty-seven,  for  the  government  of  the  territory 
northwest   of   the  river   Ohio;   and   by   an    act   passed   on   the   seventh    day   of 


422  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

August  one  thousand,  seven  .hundred  and  eighty-nine,  entitled  "An  act  to  pro- 
vide for  the  government  of  the  territory  northwest  of  the  river  Ohio."  This  act 
was  amended  February  16th,  1819,  March  3rd,  1823,  February  5th,  1825,  and 
January  27th,   1827.) 

September  6,  1834 

By  act  of  the  territorial  council  of  Michigan,  the  county  of  Demoine  was 
established,  containing  all  of  what  is  now  the  State  of  Iowa  south  of  a  line 
drawn  due  west  from  the  lower  end  of  Rock  Island  in  the  Mississippi  River. 
This  act  took  effect  October  1,  thereafter.  It  also  provided  "said  county  shall 
constitute  a  Township,  and  be  called  Flint  Hill." 

July  3.  1836 

Act  of  Congress  establishing  the  territorial  government  of  Wisconsin,  ap- 
proved April  20,  1836,  to  take  effect  "from  and  after  the  3rd  day  of  July  next." 
The  Territory  of  Wisconsin  included  all  of  the  present  State  of  Iowa.  This  act 
provided  that  "The  people  of  the  said  territory  shall  be  entitled  to,  and  enjoy,  all 
and  singular  the  rights,  privileges,  and  advantages,  granted  and  secured  to 
the  people  of  the  United  States  northwest  of  the  Ohio  river,  by  the  articles 
of  the  compact  contained  in  the  ordinance  for  the  government  of  the  said  ter- 
ritory, passed  on  the  thirteenth  day  of  July,  one  thousand,  seven  hundred  and 
eighty-seven;  and  shall  be  subject  to  all  the  conditions  and  restrictions  and 
prohibitions   in   said   articles   imposed   upon   the   people   of    the   said   territory." 

July  3,  1836 

The  Act  of  Congress  approved  April  20th,  1836.  established  the  Territory 
of  Wisconsin,  the  act  took  effect  "the  third  day  of  July  next."  The  new  Ter- 
ritory of  Wisconsin  included  all  of  the  present  State  of  Iowa. 

September,  1836 

Proclamation  of  Henry  Dodge,  governor  of  Wisconsin,  dated  September 
9,  1836,  in  pursuance  of  the  act  organizing  the  Territory  of  Wisconsin.  This 
proclamation  refers  to  the  fact  that  the  governor  had  caused  a  census  of  the 
territory  to  be  taken  and  apportions  the  members  of  the  council  and  house  of 
representatives  as  follows:  Des  .Moines  county,  seven  members  of  the  house, 
and  three  members  of  the  council;  Dubuque  county,  five  members  of  the  house 
and  three  members  of  the  council,  and  the  other  four  counties,  all  east  of  the 
Mississippi,  had  fourteen  members  of  the  house  and  seven  members  of  the 
council.  This  proclammation  ordered  that  the  first  election  for  members  should 
be  held  on  the  2d  Monday  of  October  thereafter. 

October,  1836 

Governor  Henry  Dodge  issued  two  proclamations,  both  dated  October  25, 
1836,  to  declare  and  make  known  the  gentlemen  who  were  duly  elected  to  the 
council  and  house.  We  give  the  names  of  those  from  Des  Moines  county  only. 
In  the  council  were  Jeremiah  Smith,  Jr.,  Joseph  B.  Teas  and  Arthur  B.  Inghram ; 
in  the  house  were  Isaac  Leffler,  Thomas  Blair,  Warren  L.  Jenkins,  John  Box, 
George  W.  .Teas,  Eli  Revnolds,  and  David  R.  Chance. 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  423 

November   15,  1836 

Act  of  the  first  session  of  the  legislative  assembly  of  the  Territory  of  Wis- 
consin, provided  that  the  counties  of  Dubuque  and  Des  Moines  should  constitute 
the  Second  Judicial  District,  and  that  David  Irvin,  Associate  Justice  of  the 
Supreme  Court  of  Wisconsin,  should  perform  District  Court  duties  in  the  Second 
District,  and  that  Court  should  be  held  in  Des  Moines  County  on  the  first  Monday 
in  April  and  the  first  Monday  in  September. 

November  17,   1836 

Act  of  the  Territorial  Legislature  of  Wisconsin,  providing  that  the  bonds 
of  the  Sheriffs  of  the  several  counties,  may  hereafter  be  approved  by  the  judges 
of  the  District  Courts  of  the  proper  county,  or  by  any  two  Justices  of  the  Peace 
of  the  same  county. 

November   17,   1836 

Act  of  the  Territorial  Legislature  of  Wisconsin  authorizing  the  judges  of 
the  Supreme  Court  for  the  several  counties  within  the  territory  to  appoint  a  Clerk 
of  each  Court  of  their  respective  districts  previous  to  the  holding  of  the  first 
term  of  Court,  said  Clerks  to  hold  their  several  appointments  until  the  first  term 
of  the  Court  for  which  they  shall  be  respectively  appointed,  and  until  their 
successors  are  appointed  and  qualified. 

December,    1836 

Act  of  the  Wisconsin  Territorial  legislature  providing  that  the  supervisors 
of  each  county  could  grant  licenses  "for  any  time  not  less  than  one  year,  for 
groceries,  victualing  houses,  and  ordinaries,  with  permission  to  sell  spirituous 
wines  and  liquors  in  small  measure,"  and  every  person  thus  licensed  was  to 
pay  to  the  treasurer  of  the  county  the  sum  of  $108.  This  act  also  provided  that 
the  duties  of  county  clerks  in  the  courts  of  Michigan  Territory,  concerning  the 
assessment  and  collection  of  territorial  taxes,  should  be  performed  by  the  clerks 
of  the  boards  of  supervisors  in  Wisconsin  Territory. 

December,    1836 

Act  of  the  Territorial  Legislature  of  Wisconsin,  approved  December  6,  1836, 
as  follows:  "An  act  to  amend  the  several  acts  hereinafter  mentioned,  to  wit: 
An  act  entitled  An  .Act  Relative  To  The  Duties  And  Privileges  of  Townships, 
approved  17th  of  April,  1833,  also  an  act  entitled  An  Act  To  Provide  For  The 
Assessment  And  Collection  Of  Township  And  County  Taxes,  approved  22d  of 
April,  1833.  Also  an  act  entitled  An  Act  To  Provide  For  the  Defraying  of 
Public  and  Necessary  Expenses  in  the  Respective  Counties  of  This  Territory, 
and  For  Other  Purposes,  approved  March  6,  1833,  also  an  act  entitled  An  Act 
to  Regulate  Highways,  approved  April  17,  1833." 

Section  I.  P>e  it  enacted,  etc.,  that  each  county  within  this  territory  now 
organized  or  that  may  be  hereafter  organized,  be  and  the  same  is  hereby  de- 
clared one  township  for  all  the  purposes  of  carrying  into  effect  the  above  recited 
acts,  and  that  there  shall  be  elected  at  the  annual  town  meeting  in  each  county, 
three  supervisors,  who   shall  perform   in   addition  to   the  duties  heretofore  as- 


424  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

signed  them  as  a  county  board,  the  duties  heretofore  performed  by  the  town- 
ship board. 

Section  2.  There  shall  be  elected  in  each  county  one  township  clerk,  who 
shall  in  addition  to  the  duties  heretofore  performed  by  him,  perforin  the  duties 
of  clerk  to  the  board  of  supervisors. 

December  7,   1836 

An  act  to  locate  and  establish  a  territorial  road  west  of  the  Mississippi.  It 
provides  that  Abel  Galland  and  Soloman  Perkins,  Benjamine  Clark,  Adam  Sher- 
rill,  William  Jones  and  Henry  L.  Lander,  be  and  the  same  are  hereby  appointed 
commissioners  to  make  and  lay  out  a  territorial  road  west  of  the  Mississippi, 
commencing  at  Farmington  on  the  Des  Moines  river,  thence  to  Moffit's  Mill, 
thence  the  nearest  and  best  route  to  Burlington  in  Des  Moines  County,  thence 
to  Wapello,  thence  by  the  nearest  and  best  route  to  Dubuque,  and  thence  by 
the  nearest  and  best  route  to  the  ferry  opposite   Prairie  Du  Chien. 

Section  4  provides  that  the  engineers  within  one  month  from  the  completion 
of  the  survey  shall  make  a  correct  plat  and  field  notes,  one  copy  to  be  filed  in 
the  office  of  the  Clerk  in  each  county  through  which  the  contemplated  road  shall 
pass. 

Section  8  provides  that  the  commissioners  within  three  months  from  the 
completion  of  the  survey  shall  make  a  report  of  the  manner  in  which  they  have 
discharged  their  duties,  including  an  estimate  of  the  probable  cost  of  constructing 
the  necessary  bridges,  with  any  other  remarks  deemed  pertinent,  one  copy  to  be 
filed  with  the  Clerk  of  the  District  Court  for  the  counties  through  which  the 
road  may  pass. 

December  7,   1836 

Act  of  the  Territorial  Legislature  of  Wisconsin  dividing  the  County  of  Des 
Moines  into  several  new  counties.  This  act  establishes  the  counties  of  Lee,  Des 
Moines.  Van  Buren,  Henry,  Louisa,  Musquitine  and  Cook. 

Section  5  of  the  Act  relates  to  Louisa  County,  and  establishes  the  boundaries 
as  follows : 

"Beginning  at  the  Mississippi  river  at  the  northeast  corner  of  Des  Moines, 
thence  up  said  river  twelve  miles  above  the  mouth  of  Iowa,  thence  west  to  the 
Indian  boundary  line,  thence  with  said  boundary  line  to  the  northwest  corner  of 
Henry  and  with  the  line  of  the  same  to  the  northwest  corner  of  the  county  ot 
Des  Moines :  thence  east  with  the  line  of  the  same  county  of  Des  Moines  to  the 
beginning." 

(See  map  showing  Louisa  County  as  originally  established.) 

December  8.   1836 

Act  of  the  Territorial  Legislature  of  Wisconsin  concerning  the  Supreme  and 
District  Courts  and  defining  their  jurisdiction  and  powers.  Section  7  is  as  fol- 
lows : 

Be  it  further  enacted  that  the  District  Courts  established  by  an  act  of  the 
Legislative  Assembly  of  the  Territory  of  Wisconsin  entitled  "An  Act  to  establish 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  425 

Judicial  Districts  for  the  Territory  of  Wisconsin  and  for  other  purposes,  ap- 
proved the  15th  of  November,  1836,  shall  have  original  jurisdiction  within  their 
respective  districts  in  all  civil  cases  at  law  and  in  equity  when  the  balance  due 
or  the  thing  demanded  shall  exceed  $50.00  and  shall  have  an  appellate  jurisdiction 
in  all  cases  in  the  several  districts  from  the  probate  courts  and  the  decisions  of 
the  Justices  of  the  Peace,  and  the  said  courts  in  term  time  and  the  Judges  thereof 
in  vacation  shall  have  power  to  award  through  the  territory  and  returnable  in  the 
proper  County,  writs  of  injunction,  ne  exeat,  habeas  corpus,  and  all  other  writs 
and  processes  that  may  be  necessary  to  the  due  execution  of  the  powers  with 
which  they  are  vested.  And  the  said  Courts  shall  respectively  have  power  and 
authority  to  determine  all  cases  of  treason,  felony,  crimes  and  misdemeanors  of 
whatever  kind  that  may  be  committed  within  any  county  or  place  within  their 
respective  districts,  and  they  may  be  brought  before  them  by  any  rules  or  regu- 
lations provided  by  law. 

December  8,   1836 

Act  of  the  Wisconsin  Territorial  Legislature  provides  that  the  existing  laws 
of  Michigan  as  declared  in  full  force  by  the  Act  of  Congress  which  included  the 
Territory  of  Wisconsin,  be  taken  and  construed  liberally  and  beneficially  for  the 
purpose  of  giving  said  laws  full  force  and  effect,  etc.,  and  that  whenever  in  said 
acts  which  are  declared  in  force  by  this  act,  the  word  "Michigan"  occurs,  the 
word  "Wisconsin"  shall  be  substituted,  and  whenever  by  the  said  act  powers  are 
conferred  and  duties  are  imposed  on  the  Supreme  Courts  or  the  Judges  thereof, 
or  County  Courts  or  Judges  thereof,  the  same  shall  be  executed  and  performed  by 
the  District  Courts  and  the  Judges  thereof  in  their  respective  Districts. 

December  9,   1836 

Act  of  the  Territorial  Legislature  of  Wisconsin,  authorizing  the  Supervisors 
of  each  County  to  Grant  licenses  for  not  less  than  one  year  for  groceries,  victual- 
ing houses  and  ordinaries  with  permission  to  sell  spirituous  liquors  and  wine 
by  small  measure  under  such  regulations  as  they  may  deem  expedient. 

February  27,   1837 

Treaty  with  Sac  and  Fox  Indians  made  September  28,  1836,  and  proclaimed 
February  27,  1837.  The  treaty  ceded  to  the  United  States,  the  400  square  miles 
reserved  by  the  treaty  proclaimed  February  13,  1833,  known  as  "Keokuk's  Re- 
serve." 

By  this  treaty,  the  Indian  title  (if  there  ever  was  any)  was  extinguished  so 
far  as  all  Louisa  County  land  was  concerned,  not  embraced  in  the  "Black  Hawk 
Purchase." 

December  20,   1837 

Act  of  the  Territorial  Legislature  of  Wisconsin,  provides  for  the  organization 
of  a  board  of  County  Commissioners,  consisting  of  three  qualified  electors,  the 
first  election  to  take  place  on  the  first  Monday  in  March  next,  and  thereafter  at 
the  general   elections. 


426  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

January  iS,  1838 

An  Act  to  establish  the  boundaries  of  the  Counties  of  Lee,  Van  Buren,  Des 
Moines,  Henry,  Louisa,  Muscatine  and  Slaughter,  to  locate  seats  of  Justice  and 
for  other  purposes. 

Section  5  relates  to  Louisa  County,  and  is  as  follows :  The  boundaries  of 
Louisa  County  shall  be  as  follows,  to-wit :  "Beginning  at  the  northeast  corner  of 
Des  Moines  County,  thence  west  to  the  northwest  corner  of  said  County,  thence 
north  with  the  range  line  between  ranges  four  and  five  west  to  the  township  line 
dividing  townships  75  and  76  north,  thence  east  with  said  line  to  the  Mississippi 
river,  thence  down  the  same  to  the  place  of  beginning,  and  the  seat  of  lustice  of 
said  county  is  hereby  established  at  the  town  of  Lower  Wappello."'  By  this  Act 
all  of  Louisa  County  west  of  Range  4  was  attached  to  a  new  county  named 
Slaughter.  This  left  all  of  the  present  township  of  Elm  Grove,  the  greater  part 
of  Columbus  City,  and  all  of  Union  and  Oakland  in  Slaughter  county.  The 
present  site  of  Columbus  City  was  in  Slaughter  county. 

January  19,  1838 

Act  of  the  Territorial  Legislature  of  Wisconsin,  providing  that  in  actions  of 
trespass  and  for  possession  of  real  estate  when  any  person  may  settle  on  any  of 
the  public  lands  in  this  territory  where  the  same  have  not  been  sold  by  the  gen- 
eral government  his,  her  or  their  possession  shall  be  construed  on  the  trial  as 
extending  to  the  boundaries  imposed  by  the  claim  of  such  person  or  persons,  so 
as  to  enable  him,  her  or  them  to  have  and  maintain  either  of  the  aforesaid  actions 
without  being  compelled  to  prove  the  actual  enclosure,  provided  that  such  claim 
shall  not  exceed  in  number  of  acres  the  amount  limited  to  any  one  person  ac- 
cording to  the  custom  of  the  neighborhood  in  which  such  land  is  situated,  and 
shall  not  in  any  case  exceed  in  extent  320  acres. 

January  23,  1838 

Act  of  the  Territorial  Legislature  of  Wisconsin,  providing  that  the  counties  of 
Louisa  and  Slaughter  shall  form  the  13th  Electoral  District,  and  shall  be  entitled 
to  elect  one  member  of  the  House  of  Representatives. 

July,  1838 

Act  of  Congress  making  appropriations  for  certain  roads  in  the  Territory  of 
Wisconsin.  One  provision  of  this  act  is  as  follows:  "For  the  survey  of  the 
Des  Moines  and  Iowa  rivers,  with  a  view  to  the  improvement  of  their  naviga- 
tion, a  sum  not  exceeding  $1,000." 

July.   1838 

Proclamation  by  William  B.  Conway,  acting  governor  of  Iowa  Territory, 
dated  July  25,  1838,  dividing  the  territory  into  judicial  districts;  the  counties  of 
Scott,  Musquitine,  Louisa,  Slaughter  and  Johnson,  were  made  the  second  judicial 
district,  which  was  assigned  to  Hon.  Joseph  Williams. 

1838 

There  is  in  the  office  of  the  secretary  of  state  at  Des  Moines  the  manuscript 
(not  dated  nor  signed,  but  purporting  to  be  issued  by  William  B.  Conway,  "act- 
ing governor")  of  a  proclamation  fixing  the  date  of  the  election  for  the  second 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  427 

Monday  in  September  following,  and  dividing  the  territory  into  electoral  dis- 
tricts, and  apportioning  the  members  of  the  council  and  house.  It  declares  that  the 
counties  of  Louisa,  Muscatine  and  Slaughter,  and  the  country  lying  west  and  at- 
tached to  Slaughter  for  judicial  purposes,  shall  form  the  fifth  legislative  district 
and  elect  one  member  of  the  council  and  four  members  of  the  house. 

July   3.    [838 

The  Act  of  Congress  approved  June  12,  1838,  established  the  Territory  of 
Iowa,  and  took  effect  from  and  after  "the  third  day  of  July  next."  it  included 
"all  that  part  of  Wisconsin,  which  lies  west  of  the  Mississippi  river,  and  west 
of  a  line  drawn  due  north  from  the  head  waters  or  sources  of  the  Mississippi 
to  the  territorial  line." 

Act  of  Congress,  approved  March  3,  1839,  "to  alter  and  amend  the  organic 
law  of  the  Territories  of  Wisconsin  and  Iowa." 

Act  of  Congress  approved  March  3,  1839.  "to  authorize  the  election  or  ap- 
pointment of  certain  officers  in  the  Territory  of  Iowa,  and  for  other  purposes." 

(The  Act  of  establishing  the  Territory  of  Iowa  and  the  two  subsequent  acts 
relating  to  it  are  published  in  the  "prefix"  to  the  Code  of  Iowa.) 

July  25,  1838 

Proclamation  of  William  T..  Conway  signing  himself  as  "acting  governor  of 
the  Territory  of  Iowa"  (and  who  had  been  duly  appointed  secretary  of  the  Terri- 
tory), in  pursuance  of  the  act  establishing  the  Territory  of  Iowa,  defined  the 
Judicial  districts  of  the  territory  and  assigned  the  Judges  of  the  Supreme  Court 
to  their  respective  districts.  The  Second  District  was  composed  of  the  counties 
of  Scott,  Musquitine,  Louisa,  Slaughter  and  Johnson,  and  Judge  Joseph  Wil- 
liams was  assigned  to  hold  District  Court  therein,  and  the  Court  term  in  Louisa 
County  was  to  begin  on  the  third  Monday  in  October. 

About  the  same  time  as  the  last  proclamation  was  issued  William  B.  Conway 
fixed  the  electoral  districts  of  the  new  Territory  of  Iowa,  and  provided  that  the 
counties  of  Louisa,  Muscatine  and  Slaughter,  and  the  country  lying  west  of  and 
attached  to  Slaughter  should  form  the  Fifth  Legislative  District,  and  elect  one 
member  of  the  council  and  four  members  of  the  house  of  representatives. 

August,   1838 

Proclamation  of  Governor  Robert  Lucas,  dated  August  15,  1838,  in  pursu- 
ance of  Section  4.  of  Act  of  Congress,  of  June  12,  1838,  establishing  the  Territory 
of  Iowa.  This  proclamation  apportions  the  "numbers"  of  the  council  and  house 
of  representatives,  fixing  the  membership  of  the  council  at  thirteen  and  of  the 
house  at  twenty-six,  and  gives  to  Louisa,  Musquitine  and  Slaughter,  and  the 
country  lying  west  and  attached  to  Slaughter,  for  judicial  purposes,  one  member 
of  the  council  and  four  members  of  the  house  of  representatives. 

October,   1838 

Governor  Robert  Lucas  on  October  18,  1838,  issued  a  proclamation  reciting 
that  by  virtue  of  the  authority  of  the  act  of  June  12,  1838  (the  organic  act  of 
Iowa),  he  had  declared  by  proclamation  the  apportionment  of  members  of  the 


428  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

council  and  house  and  "had  caused  an  election  to  be  held  in  the  territory  on 
September  ioth  last ;"  he  gives  the  names  of  the  members  elected  and,  among 
others,  states  that  James  M.  Clark  had  been  elected  member  of  the  council 
from  the  counties  of  Muscatine,  Louisa  and  Slaughter,  and  that  John  Frierson, 
Wm,  L.  Toole,  Levi  Thornton  and  S.  C.  Hastings  had  been  elected  members  of 
the  house  from  said  counties. 

December,   1838 

Act  of  Iowa  territorial  legislature  for  the  organization  of  a  board  of  county 
commissioners,  consisting  of  three  qualified  electors,  the  one  having  the  highest 
vote  to  serve  three  years,  the  next  highest  two,  and  the  next  one  year,  and 
thereafter  one  to  be  elected  each  year  to  serve  three  years. 

December,   1838 

An  Act  establishing  a  territorial  road  commencing  at  the  town  of  Black 
Hawk  in  Louisa  county  ;  thence  the  nearest  and  best  route  to  Wapello  in  said 
county ;  thence  to  Mt.  Pleasant  and  Bentonsport ;  thence  to  the  southern  line 
of  Van  Buren  county  "in  a  direction  to  Jefferson  City  in  the  state  of  Missouri." 
S.  S.  Gourley  of  Louisa  county,  was  appointed  as  one  of  the  commissioners  to 
locate  it. 

December  29,   1838 

Act  establishes  at  the  town  of  Wapello  a  seminary  of  learning  to  be  called 
the  "Wapello  Seminary"  and  provides  that  "John  Gilleland,  Samuel  Kirkpatrick, 
Hiram  Smith,  William  Milligan,  S.  S.  Gourley,  Daniel  Brewer,  James  M.  Clark, 
John  Eagen,  Thomas  England,  Thomas  Stoddard,  Robert  Williams,  Wilson 
Isett,  Joel  Bronson,  Veasey  Bunnel,  Mason  Wilson,  William  H.  R.  Thomas,  R. 
S.  Searls,  John  Ronalds,  W.  L.  Toole  and  their  associates  and  successors  will 
be  a  body  politic  incorporate  by  the  name  of  the  "Wapello  Seminary." 

January  4.   1839 

An  Act  to  organize  a  Territorial  Militia,  and  dividing  the  territory  into  three 
divisions,  the  second  division  consisting  of  the  counties  of  Louisa,  Slaughter, 
Keokuk,  Johnson.   Linn,  Cedar,   Scott  and  Muscatine. 

January   12.    1839 

An  Act  of  the  Territorial  Legislature  of  Iowa,  fixing  the  boundaries  of 
Louisa  county  as  follows : 

"Beginning  at  the  main  channel  of  the  .Mississippi  river  on  the  line  dividing 
townships  72  and  j$  north,  thence  west  on  said  township  line  to  the  line  divid- 
ing Des  Moines  and  Henry  counties ;  thence  north  on  said  line  to  the  line 
dividing  townships  jt,  and  74  north  ;  thence  west  on  said  township  line  to  the 
range  line  between  5  and  6  west ;  thence  north  with  said  line  to  the  township 
line  dividing  townships  76  and  77  north;  thence  east  with  said  line  to  the  line 
of  Muscatine  county;  thence  south  with  said  county  line  to  the  line  dividing 
townships  75  and  76  north;  thence  east  on  said  township  line  to  the  Mississippi 
river ;  thence  down  the  main  channel  of  said   river  to  the  place  of  beginning." 

By  this  act  the  county  regained  townships  74  and  75  in  range  5.  and  got  in 
addition,  township  76,  range  5,  which  had  not  before  been  a  part  of  the  county. 


1 1 1  ST<  >  R  Y  OF  LOU  I SA  COUNTY  429 

This  act  provided  for  an  election  for  the  county  seat  to  be  held  on  the  first 
Monday  in  March,  1839. 

January  21,   1839 

Louisa  county  was  made  a  part  of  the  Second  Judicial  District,  and  terms 
of  the  district  court  were  to  be  held  on  the  second  Monday  in  June  and  October, 
and  Judge  Joseph  Williams  of  the  Supreme  court  was  assigned  to  the  Second 
District  as  district  judge  thereof. 

January  21,   1839 

On  this  dav  two  acts  were  passed  relating  to  the  seat  of  government  of  the 
territory ;  the  first  one  provided  for  the  appointment  of  three  commissioners, 
one  from  each  judicial  district,  they  to  be  appointed  by  joint  ballot  of  the  coun- 
cil of  the  house  of  representatives  to  locate  and  establish  a  permanent  seat  of 
government  in  Johnson  county,  and  the  second  was  entitled,  "A  supplementary 
act"  relating  to  the  same  matter,  and  it  provides  that  the  town  selected  as  the 
seat  of  government  should  be  called  Iowa  City,  and  that  Chauncey  Swan,  John 
Ronalds  and  Robert  Ralston  should  be  the  commissioners. 

January  21,   1839 

An  Act  to  district  the  territory  of  Iowa  into  electoral  districts.  It  declared 
that  the  counties  of  Louisa  and  Slaughter  should  form  an  electoral  district  and 
be  entitled  to  two  members  of  the  House  of  Representatives. 

January  24,   1839 

Section  7  of  this  act  provides  for  the  location  and  establishment  of  a  Terri- 
torial road  commencing  at  the  Ferry  landing  opposite  Oquawka,  Illinois ;  thence 
by  the  nearest  and  best  route  by  way  of  Florence  and  Wapello  to  Napoleon  in 
Johnson  county.  The  act  names  William  Brewer  (meant  for  Daniel  Brewer), 
and  Jacob  Rinearson  of  Louisa  county  as  two  of  the  commissioners. 

January  24,   1839 

An  act  to  incorporate  the  Burlington  and  Iowa  River  Turnpike  Company. 
The  Louisa  county  incorporators  were:  James  Guest,  Israel  Trask,  Jonathan 
Parsons,  James  Erwin,  Elisha  Hooke,  William  Creighton,  John  H.  Benson,  M. 
Eastwood,  Elias  Keever,  Daniel  Brewer,  James  Gordon,  Wm.  L.  Toole,  Joshua 
Swank  and  Alvin  Clark. 

March,  1839.  An  Act  of  Congress  to  authorize  the  construction  of  a  road  from 
Dubuque  in  the  Territory  of  Iowa  to  the  northern  boundary  of  the  state  of  Mis- 
souri, and  for  other  purposes.  This  act  appropriated  $1,500  to  defray  the  expense 
of  a  survey  of  the  Red  Cedar  river  within  the  territory  of  Iowa,  with  a  view 
to  the  improvement  of  the  navigation  thereof  above  the  town  of  Moscow,  and 
the  connection  of  the  said  navigation  with  the  river  Mississippi  by  a  canal  ex- 
tending from  the  vicinity  of  said  town  to  some  suitable  point  in  or  near  the  town 
of  Bloomington. 

July  24,  1840 

An  Act  provides  as  follows:  "That  the  first  territorial  road  from  the  ferry 
landing  opposite  Oquawka  in  Illinois  to  Napoleon  in  Johnson  County,  laid  out  and 
established  by  Daniel  Brewer  and  Jacob  S.  Rinearson  of  Louisa  County  in  the 


480  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

summer  of  1829,  shall  be  as  valid  as  though  it  had  been  located  and  boundaries 
thereof  made  by  the  persons  whose  names  appeared  as  commissioners  in  the  act 
establishing  it." 

It  will  be  noticed  that  while  the  name  of  Daniel  Brewer  is  correctly  given,  a 
mistake  is  made  by  fixing  the  date  as  1829  instead  of  1839. 

July  30,  1840 

Repeals  all  of  the  Acts  of  the  Territory  of  Michigan  and  the  Territory  of 
Wisconsin  which  were  in  force  in  the  Territory  of  Iowa  on  the  4th  of  July  in  1838, 
and  provides  that  none  of  the  statutes  of  Great  Britain  shall  be  considered  as  the 
law  of  this  territory,  and  also  provides  that  this  appeal  shall  not  extend  to  any 
Wisconsin  law  which  is  private  in  its  nature. 

January  7,  1841 

An  Act  to  relocate  that  part  of  the  road  leading  from  Oquawka  to  Napoleon 
by  way  of  Florence  and  Wapello  that  lies  between  Florence  and  Oquawka;  ap- 
points Davie  E.  Blair.  William  Waddle  and  William  Walter  as  commissioners. 

January  9,   1841 

An  Act  providing  for  the  location  and  establishment  of  certain  territorial 
roads  in  Louisa  County.  One  is  from  the  mouth  of  the  Iowa  river  through  Har- 
rison and  Fredonia  to  the  territorial  road  from  Oquawka  to  Iowa  City,  and 
appoints  G.  W.  Austin,  J.  R.  Rockafeller  and  William  Thompson  as  commis- 
sioners. Another  road  is  from  Black  Hawk  by  way  of  Grandview  to  intersect 
the  territorial  road  from  Burlington  to  Iowa  City,  in  Township  yj  north,  Range 
5  west  in  Johnson  County,  and  Gabriel  Walling  of  Louisa  County  is  appointed 
as  one  of  the  commissioners. 

Another  road  was  to  commence  at  Florence,  thence  to  the  residence  of  George 
Key,  thence  to  the  residence  of  William  Buffington,  Sr.,  and  to  intersect  at  the 
Washington  County  line  the  road  running  from  Washington  to  Wapello.  Phillip 
B.  Harrison  Tohn  Mintun  and  Joseph  Buffington  were  appointed  commissioners. 

Another  road  was  to  begin  at  Black  Hawk,  thence  to  the  court  house  of 
Louisa  County,  crossing  the  Iowa  river  directly  opposite  said  court  house,  thence 
to  the  county  line  by  way  of  Hope  farm,  intersecting  the  territorial  road  from 
said  county  line  by  way  of  Mt.  Pleasant  to  the  Missouri  line.  George  Humphrey, 
Perry  Morrison  and  Joseph  Newell  were  appointed  commissioners. 

This  Act  also  in  Section  5  authorized  the  county  commissioners  of  Louisa 
county  "if  they  think  it  expedient"  to  establish  a  ferry  across  the  Iowa  river 
where  the  last  mentioned  road  should  cross  it,  to  be  kept  in  operation  under 
the  direction  of  the  county  commissioners,  and  over  which  all  citizens  of  the 
county,  with  their  horses,  teams,  etc.,  should  be  ferried  free  of  charge. 

January  13.    1841 

An  Act  providing  for  the  establishment  of  a  territorial  road  from  Burling- 
ton to  the  town  of  Black  Hawk,  commencing  on  the  north  end  of  Water  street 
in  the  upper  end  of  Burlington,  thence  to  the  house  of  James  Clark,  thence  to 
the  town  of  Black  Hawk.    Dr.  Fullenwider  and  Wesley  Swank,  and  lames  Clark 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  i;;i 

were  appointed   commissioners.     Wesley   Swank  may   have  been  a   resident   of 
Louisa  County  at  the  time,  but  the  other  two  lived  in  Des  Moines  County. 

January  15,  1841 

An  Act  to  locate  a  territorial  road  from  Columbus  City  in  Louisa  County 
to  Smith's  Mills  in  Henry  County,  Smith's  Mills  being  on  the  Skunk  river.  George 
Key  of  Louisa  County  was  one  of  the  commissioners. 

January  5,  1842 

An  Act  to  legalize  the  election  of  George  L.  Coe,  as  Probate  Judge  of  Louisa 
County,  because  at  the  time  he  was  elected  to  fill  a  vacancy,  there  wasn't  time 
between  the  happening  of  the  vacancy  and  the  day  of  holding  the  election  to  give 
the  required  notice  of  a  special  election. 

February  16,  1842 

Vacates  all  that  part  of  the  town  of  Toolsborough  situated  west  of  Mound 
street,  blocks  45  and  49  excepted. 

February  17,  1842 

An  Act, — appoints  James  W.  Isett,  Thomas  Stoddard  and  Samuel  Wood- 
side  commissioners  to  relocate,  if  they  deem  it  expedient  all  that  part  of  the 
territorial  road  lying  between  the  town  of  Fredonia  and  Port  Allen,  in  Louisa 
County. 

February,  1842 

An  Act  for  the  encouragement  of  agriculture.  Date  of  approval  not  given, 
but  the  act  immediately  before  it  was  approved  February  17th,  and  the  act  imme- 
diately after  it  was  approved  February  18th.  This  act  appropriates  "for  the  pro- 
motion of  agriculture  and  household  manufactures  in  this  territory  certain  sums 
to  various  counties,  ranging  from  $20.00  to  $140.00,  the  amount  appropriated  for 
Louisa  County  being  $45.00. 

January  26,  1843 

An  Act  legalizing  the  establishment  of  the  road,  from  the  mouth  of  the  Iowa 
River  through  Harrison  and  Fredonia,  under  act  approved  January  9,   1841. 

January  24,  1843 

An  Act  incorporating  a  seminary  of  learning  in  Grandview,  to  be  called  the 
Grandview  seminary.  The  incorporators  names  are :  Henry  Rockafellow,  Wil- 
liam Thompson,  John  Ronalds,  Spencer  Wilson,  Robert  Childers,  Gabriel  Wall- 
ing,  George   Humphrey,   Alexander   Ross,    Martin   Gray   and   Clark   Alexander. 

January  24,  1843 

An  Act  legalizing  the  official  acts  and  proceedings  of  Jacob  Mintun  who  was 
appointed  Justice  of  the  Peace  in  the  Spring  of  1842,  by  the  Trustees  of  Wapello 
township. 

February  6,  1843 

An  Act  to  incorporate  the  Iowa  Medical  Society.  Among  the  members  named 
as  incorporators  are,  John  Bell,  Jr..  and  John  Bell,  Sr. 


432  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

February  10,  1843 

An  Act  authorizing  Ezra  F.  Dennison  and  Newton  I!.  Dennison  of  Louisa 
County  to  establish  a  ferry  across  the  Mississippi  at  or  near  the  mouth  of  the 
Iowa  River,  and  gives  them  the  exclusive  right  to  ferry  for  twenty  vears,  along 
the  west  bank  of  the  Mississippi,  extending  one  mile  on  either  side  of  the  middle 
of  the  channel  of  the  Iowa  River. 

February  13,  1843 

An  Act  vacating  the  original  plat  of  the  town  of  Port  Allen,  Louisa  County, 
excepting  certain  blocks  therein  named,  and  legalizes  the  relocation  of  that  part 
of  the  territorial  road  from  the  Mississippi  river  by  way  of  Black  Hawk  and 
Fredonia  to  Iowa  City  which  lies  between  Fredonia  and  Port  Allen,  made  by 
Thomas  Stoddard  and  James  W.  Isett  under  a  previous  act. 

February  16,  1843 

An  Act  to  divorce  a  number  of  persons :  the  act  contains  twenty  sections.  The 
only  sections  of  local  interest  are  15  and  16  which  provide  that  the  marriage  con- 
tract between  Elizabeth  Ridge  way,  and  William  C.  Ridgeway  is  dissolved,  and 
Elizabeth  Ridgeway  shall  be  known  by  the  name  of  Elizabeth  Hurley,  and  that 
the  name  of  the  infant  child  of  said  parties  shall  be  Joseph  Newell  Hurley.  This 
bill  was  vetoed  by  the  Governor,  lmt  passed  both  houses  by  a  two-thirds  majority. 

February  16,  1843 

An  Act  to  locate  a  territorial  road  from  Richmond  in  Washington  county  to 
Columbus  City.     Samuel  Bell  of  Louisa  county  was  one  of  the  commissioners. 

1843 

Chapter  68.  Revised  Statute  of  1843.  provides  for  the  election  in  each  county 
of  three  county  commissioners,  a  sheriff,  coroner,  recorder,  treasurer,  collector. 
judge  of  probate,  surveyor  and  county  commissioners'  clerk:  the  treasurer,  col- 
lector and  county  commissioners  and  members  of  the  house  of  representatives  to 
be  elected  on  the  first  Tuesday  of  October,  1843,  and  on  same  day  each  year  there- 
after :  delegate  to  congress  and  county  surveyor  to  be  elected  on  first  Tuesday  in 
October,  1843,  and  on  same  day  every  second  year  thereafter:  the  election  of  mem- 
bers of  the  council,  sheriff,  commissioners'  clerk,  coroner  and  recorder,  the  first 
Tuesday  of  October,  1844.  and  even-  second  year  thereafter:  and  the  election  for 
judge  of  probate,  on  the  first  Tuesday  in  October,  1843,  ancl  every  third  year 
thereafter. 

February  12,  1844 

An  Act  to  provide  for  the  expression  of  an  opinion  of  the  people  of  the  ter- 
ritory upon  the  subject  of  the  formation  of  a  State  Constitution.  This  act  pro- 
vides for  a  vote  of  the  people  on  "convention  or  no  convention,"  and  that  if  a 
majority  of  the  votes  were  for  a  convention,  the  convention  should  consist  of 
seventy  members,  and  that  Louisa  County  should  be  entitled  to  three  members. 

January  4,  1844 

An  Act  to  legalize  the  official  acts  of  Isaac  Parsons,  Coroner  of  Louisa  County, 
and  acting  Justice  of  the  Peace  of  Jefferson  township. 


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HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  433 

January  2J,  1844 

An  Act  providing  for  the  location  of  a  territorial  road  from  Wapello  in  Louisa 
County  to  Augusta  in  Des  Moines  County  and  names  Thomas  Stoddard  and 
Merit  Jamison  of  Louisa  County  as  two  of  the  commissioners. 

February  7.  1844 

An  Act  to  incorporate  the  Grandview  Literary  and  Philosophical  Society,  and 
names  Alexander  McCall,  Lewis  Kjinsey,  Robert  Childers,  Spencer  Wilson  and 
Abraham  McCleary  as  incorporators. 

February  7.  1844 

An  Act  to  incorporate  the  "Toolesborough  Manufacturing  Company,"  and 
names  William  Shepherd,  Daniel  West.  H.  D.  Smith.  Ezra  F.  Dennison,  Jonathan 
Parsons  and  William  L.  Toole  as  incorporators.  The  capital  stock  was  limited 
to  $40,000  in  shares  of  $100.00  each,  and  the  company  was  authorized  to  take 
from  the  Iowa  river  sufficient  water  for  their  purposes  at  a  point  on  said  river 
nearly  opposite  Iowa  Town,  and  convey  the  same  over  or  through  any  suitable 
grounds  by  means  of  a  canal,  race  or  water-way  to  a  point  at  or  near 
Toolesborough. 

February  12,  1844 

An  Act  authorizing  Thomas  J.  Jamison  and  Edwin  Jones,  administrators  of 
the  estate  of  John  Jones,  deceased,  to  execute  fee  simple  deeds  for  two  lots  in 
Grandview,  known  as  lots  number  one  and  two  in  block  number  four.  Deeds  to 
be  executed  to  the  Trustees  of  the  Grandview  Seminary  and  their  successors  in 
office. 

February  14,  1844 

An  Ac+  to  perfect  the  collection  of  taxes  in  Louisa  County.  The  act  legalizes 
the  proceedings  of  the  sheriff  in  the  collection  of  taxes  on  the  tax  duplicate  for 
the  year  1843,  ancl  provides  for  his  payment  over  to  the  Treasurer  of  the  money 
collected  by  him,  etc.  (It  would  seem  from  this  that  the  Sheriff  had  been  exer- 
cising the  duties  properly  belonging  to  the  collector  of  taxes.) 

February  14,  1844 

Act  approved  February  14,  1844,  provides  that  Alvin  Clark,  of  Louisa  County 
is  authorized  to  cause  a  complete  and  legal  plat  of  Fredonia  to  be  made  out  ac- 
cording to  the  survev  made  by  John  Gilliland  in  1840  and  to  have  the  same  duly 
recorded  within  go  days  from  the  passage  of  this  act,  and  that  all  deeds, 
mortgages  and  other  contracts  in  writing  relating  to  lots  in  Fredonia  shall  be 
as  legal  and  binding  as  if  a  complete  plat  had  been  made  out  and  recorded  prior 
to  the  execution  of  such  deed,  mortgage  or  contract. 

February  15,  1844 

An  Act  amending  the  act  establishing  a  seminary  of  learning  at  Grandview, 
by  making  the  shares  of  stock  consist  of  $5.00  instead  of  $10.00,  and  provides 
that  each  share  holder  shall  be  entitled  to  one  vote  only,  instead  of  one  vote  for 
each  share. 

Vol.  1—28 


434  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

February.   1844 

Act  of  Iowa  territorial  legislature  providing  for  a  vote  on  the  question  of 
constitutional  convention  and  giving  Louisa  county  three  members  of  the  con- 
vention. 

June  19,  1844 

An  Act  relating  to  the  collection  of  taxes  in  Louisa  County  and  authorizing 
the  Board  of  County  Commissioners  to  give  the  collector  of  taxes  such  further 
time  to  complete  the  collection  as  may  be  necessary. 

March  3,   1845 

Act  of  Congress  for  the  admission  of  the  State  of  Iowa  and  Florida  into  the 
Union.     The  boundaries  of  Iowa  were  fixed  as  follows: 

"Beginning  at  the  mouth  of  the  Des  Moines  river,  at  the  Middle  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi, thence  by  the  middle  of  the  channel  of  that  river  to  a  parallel  of  latitude 
passing  through  the  mouth  of  the  Mankato,  or  Blue  Earth  river,  thence  west  along 
the  said  parallel  of  latitude,  to  a  point  where  it  is  intersected  by  a  meridian  line, 
seventeen  degrees  and  thirty  minutes  west  of  the  meridian  of  Washington  City  : 
thence  due  south  to  the  northern  boundary  line  of  the  State  of  Missouri ;  thence 
eastwardly  following  that  boundary  to  the  point  at  which  the  same  intersects  the 
Des  Moines  river,  thence  by  the  middle  of  the  channel  of  that  river  to  the  place 
of  beginning." 

May  28,  1845 

Repeals  so  much  of  the  act  to  vacate  a  part  of  the  town  plat  of  Port  Allen 
approved  February  13,  1843,  as  vacates  that  portion  of  Water  street  on  the  Iowa 
and  Cedar  rivers,  and  provides  that  said  Water  streets  fronting  on  the  Iowa  and 
Cedar  rivers  opposite  the  town  plat  of  Port  Allen  and  within  the  bounds  are 
declared  public  highways. 

June  10,  1845 

An  Act  appropriating  $50.00  to  Martin  Ffarless  of  Louisa  County  for  extra 
services  as  Sheriff  in  the  year  1838. 

January  19th,  1846 

An  Act  changing  the  electoral  districts,  and  providing  that  the  Sixth  District, 
composed  of  the  counties  of  Louisa.  Washington,  Keokuk,  Mahaska  and  Marion 
shall  be  entitled  to  one  member  of  the  council,  and  three  members  of  the  House 
of  Representatives,  and  that  the  County  of  Louisa  shall  elect  one  member,  and  the 
counties  of  Washington  and  Keokuk  shall  elect  one  member,  and  the  counties  of 
Mahaska  and  Marion  shall  elect  one  member. 

January,  1846. 

Act  of  Iowa  territorial  legislature  providing  for  a  constitutional  convention 
giving  Louisa  county  one  member,  passed  Januarv  17,   1846. 

January  12,  1846 

An  Act  authorizes  C.  Whipple  &  Co.  to  keep  a  ferry  across  the  Iowa  and 
Cedar  rivers  at  the  junction  of  said  rivers  opposite  to  the  town  of  Fredonia., 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  435 

where  the  road  leading  from  Columbus  City  to  Bloomington  crosses  said  Iowa 
river,  and  where  the  road  leading  from  Fredonia  to  Iowa  City  crosses  the  Cedar 
river. 

January  17,  1846 

An  Act  providing  for  the  election  of  delegates  to  a  convention  to  form  a 
Constitution,  and  provides  that  the  convention  shall  consist  of  thirty-two  mem- 
bers, and  Louisa  county  is  given  one  member. 

January  17,  1846 

An  Act  to  locate  a  territorial  road  from  Wapello  in  Louisa  County  to  Augusta 
in  Des  Moines  County,  and  names  Joshua  Marshall  of  Louisa  County  as  one  of 
the  commissioners. 

January  17,  T846 

Joint  resolution  of  the  Territorial  Legislature,  requesting  our  delegate  in 
Congress,  Honorable  A.  C.  Dodge  to  have  a  mail  route  established  from  Mon- 
mouth, Illinois,  by  way  of  Keithsville  (Keithsburg)  Illinois,  Wapello,  Columbus 
City  and  Port  Allen  in  Louisa  County,  to  Iowa  City. 

1846 

Joint  resolution  of  territorial  legislature  approved  January  17,  1846,  requesting 
Hon.  A.  C.  Dodge,  delegate  in  congress,  to  use  his  exertions  to  procure  an  appro- 
priation of  five  thousand  dollars  to  improve  the  territorial  road  across  the  Mis- 
sissippi bottom  between  Toolesboro  and  the  Mississippi  river. 

August  4,   1846 

Act  of  Congress  supplemental  to  the  act  for  the  admission  of  the  State  of 
Iowa  and  Florida  into  the  Union.  This  act,  among  other  things,  provides  "that 
section  numbered  sixteen  in  every  township  of  the  public  lands,  and  where  said 
section  has  been  sold  or  otherwise  disposed  of,  other  lands  equivalent  thereto, 
and  as  contiguous  as  may  be,  shall  be  granted  to  the  State  for  the  use  of  Schools." 

August  4,   1846 

Act  defining  the  boundaries  of  Iowa,  and  repealing  so  much  of  the  act  of 
March  3,  1845,  as  relates  to  the  boundaries  of  Iowa.  This  act  fixes  the  bound- 
aries of  the  State  of  Iowa  as  follows : 

"Beginning  in  the  middle  of  the  main  channel  of  the  Mississippi  river,  at  a 
point  due  east  of  the  middle  of  the  mouth  of  the  main  channel  of  the  Des  Moines 
River;  thence  up  the  middle  of  the  main  channel  of  the  said  Des  Moines  river 
to  a  point  on  said  river  where  the  northern  boundary-line  of  the  State  of  Mis- 
souri as  established  by  the  constitution  of  that  state  adopted  June  twelfth,  eight- 
een hundred  and  twenty,  crosses  the  said  middle  of  the  main  channel  of  the  said 
Des  Moines  river ;  thence  westwardly,  along  the  said  northern  boundary  line  of 
the  State  of  Missouri  as  established  at  the  time  aforesaid ;  until  an  extension  of 
said  line  intersects  the  middle  of  the  main  channel  of  the  Missouri  river;  thence 
up  the  middle  of  the  main  channel  of  the  said  Missouri  river  to  a  point  opposite 
the  middle  of  the  main  channel  of  the  Big  Sioux  River  according  to  Nicollet's 


436  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

map:  thence  up  the  main  channel  of  the  said  Big  Sioux  River,  according  to  said 
map.  until  it  is  intersected  by  the  parallel  of  forty-three  degrees  and  thirty  min- 
utes north  latitude ;  thence  east  along  said  parallel  of  forty-three  degrees  and 
thirty  minutes  until  said  parallel  intersects  the  middle  of  the  main  channel  of  the 
Mississippi  river:  thence  down  the  middle  of  the  main  channel  of  said  .Missis- 
sippi river  to  the  place  of  beginning.'* 

December  28.  1846 

Act  of  Congress  recites  that  whereas  the  people  of  Iowa  did.  on  May  18.  1846, 
by  a  convention  assembled  for  that  purpose  form  a  constitution  and  state  govern- 
ment, etc.  etc..  and  provides  that  the  -tate  of  [owa  is  admitted  into  the  Union  on 
an  equal   footing  with  the  original  states. 

1846. 

The  constitution  of  1846  apportioned  the  members  of  the  general  assembly, 
and  gave  to  "'the  counties  of  Louisa  and  Washington  one  senator  jointly,  and 
one  representative  each."  This  constitution  was  adopted  by  the  convention  May 
18,  1846,  and  ratified  by  the  people  August  3.  1846:  and  the  governor  appointed 
Monday,  October  26,  as  the  day  for  holding  the  first  election  under  it.  Act  of 
Congress  admitting  Iowa  as  a  state  became  a  law.  by  the  approval  of  President 
Polk,  on  December  28,  1846. 

January  24.   1X47 

An  Act  in  relation  to  common  schools,  containing  47  sections.  Section  :;(> 
provides  that  at  the  next  annual  township  election  in  every  organized  countv  in 
the  State,  there  shall  be  elected  a  School  Fund  Commissioner  for  the  Countv. 
who  shall  hold  his  office  for  two  years,  etc. 

February  2,   1847 

Joint  resolution  of  the  Iowa  Legislature  requesting  our  representatives  in 
Congress  to  use  their  best  exertions  to  obtain  an  appropriation,  either  of  land 
or  money,  sufficient  to  improve  the  navigation  of  the  Iowa  river  from  its  mouth 
to  Iowa  City. 

February  3.  1847 

A  joint  resolution  instructing  our  representatives  in  Congress  to  use  their 
best  endeavors  to  obtain  an  appropriation  either  of  land  or  money,  to  improve 
the  navigation  of  the  Cedar  River,  from  its  mouth  or  where  it  empties  into  the 
Mississippi  after  its  junction  with  the  Iowa  river  to  the  commonly  called  Forks 
of  said  river  in  Black  Hawk  county. 

February  4.  1847 

An  Act  to  divide  the  State  of  Iowa  into  Judicial  Districts.  The  First  District 
was  composed  of  Lee.  Des  Moines,  Louisa.  Washington  and  Henry  Counties. 

February  8.  1847 

An  Act  locating  a  State  road  from  Wallings  Landing  by  way  of  Grandview, 
Fredonia,    Columbus    City    and    CrawfonLville    to    Washington,    and    appointed 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  4ii7 

Spencer  Wilson,   Aaron    D.    Hawley    (Hurley)    of  Louisa  County,   and    Joseph 
Neal  of  Washington  County  as  commissioners. 

February  12,  1847 

An  Act  to  locate  a  State  road  from  Wallings  Landing  to  Columbus  City,  and 
appoints  Benjamin  Stoddard,  Jeremiah  Fish,  and  Aaron  D.  Hawley  as  commis- 
sioners to  locate  the  road. 

February  22,  1847 

An  Act  providing  for  laying  off  counties  into  County  Commissioner  Districts. 

February  22,  1847 

An  Act  dividing  the  State  into  Congressional  Districts,  the  Second  District 
was  composed  of  the  counties  of  Clinton,  Dubuque,  Delaware,  Johnson,  Clayton, 
Jones,  Linn,  Powesheik,  Benton,  Iowa,  Jackson,  Cedar,  Scott,  Muscatine,  Wash- 
ington, Louisa  and  Des  Moines  and  all  the  country  north  of  a  line  from  the 
northwest  corner  of  the  county  of  Polk  running  west  to  the  Missouri  River. 

January  22,  1848 

Joint  resolution  asking  our  delegation  in  Congress  to  use  their  endeavors  to 
obtain  a  grant  of  10,000  acres  of  land  foi  the  improvement  of  Muscatine  Island 
on  the  Mississippi  river. 

January  22,  1S48 

An  Act  to  review  a  part  of  the  state  road  from  Walling's  Landing  to  Colum- 
bus City,  and  appointing  Benjamine  Stoddard  and  Zachariah  Kurts  and  Aaron 
D.  Hawley  as  commissioners. 

January  24,  1848 

An  Act  authorizing  David  Sterrett,  his  heirs  and  assigns  to  construct  a  canal 
or  Mill  race  not  exceeding  in  width  one  hundred  feet  from  any  logical  point 
of  the  Pittsburg  chute  of  the  Iowa  River  to  intersect  said  Iowa  River  at  a  point 
at  or  near  England's  Addition  to  Wapello  running  through  a  part  of  Block  17 
and  the  northern  part  of  Water  street  in  England's  addition,  with  the  privilege 
of  constructing  a  dam  across  Pittsburg  Chute,  and  the  right  to  use  the  water 
power  acquired  thereby,  and  the  right  of  way  into  and  upon  an}'  land  along  the 
line  of  said  race  for  said  purpose.  Provision  was  also  made  for  the  payment 
of  damages  to  land  owners,  amount  to  be  determined  by  the  District  Court. 

January  25.  1848 

An  Act  to  authorize  A.  W.  Thompson  to  establish  a  ferry  across  the  Mis- 
sissippi river  at  a  point  in  Louisa  County  opposite  Keithsburg. 

December  16,  1848 

A  memorial  adopted  by  the  Iowa  Legislature  to  Congress  asking  an  appropria- 
tion of  lands  to  aid  in  the  construction  of  a  canal  from  Iowa  City  to  the  mouth 
of  the  Iowa  River. 

December  27,  1848 

An  Act  to  establish  a  State  road  from  Mrs.  Feslers  in  Johnson  County  to 
Columbus  Citv  in  Louisa  County. 


438  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

January  15,  1849 

An  Act  to  lay  out  and  establish  a  State  road  from  Grandview  in  Louisa 
County  to  Bloomington  in  Muscatine  County  and  appoints  Alexander  Ross  and 
Elias  Thornton  of  Louisa  County  as  two  of  the  commissioners. 

January  15,  1849 

Wesley  W.  Garner  of  Louisa  County  was  allowed  $9.00  for  three  day's 
service  as  official  clerk  of  the  General  Assembly. 

January,   1849 

Act  approved  January  23.  1849.  providing  for  the  election  of  school  fund 
commissioners  on  the  first  Monday  in  April.  1850,  and  biennially  thereafter. 
See  also  Code  of  1851,  Sections  1089  to  1106. 

September  28,  1850 

Act  of  Congress  relating  to  the  Swamp  Lands,  provides  as  follows : 
"That  to  enable  the  State  of  Arkansas  to  construct  the  necessary  levees  and 
drains  to  reclaim  the  swamp  and  overflowed  lands  therein,  the  whole  of  those 
swamp  or  overflowed  lands  made  unfit  thereby  for  cultivation  which  shall  remain 
unsold  at  the  passage  of  this  act.  shall  be,  and  the  same  are  hereby  granted  to 
said  state."  It  is  further  provided  that  the  secretary  of  the  Interior  shall  make 
out  and  transmit  to  the  governor  of  Arkansas  a  list  of  such  lands,  and  cause  same 
to  be  patented  to  the  State,  which  patent  shall  vest  the  fee  simple  title  in  said 
state  subject  to  the  disposal  of  the  legislature. 

It  is  further  provided  "that  the  provisions  of  this  act  be  extended  to,  and 
their  benefits  be  conferred  upon,  each  of  the  other  states  of  the  Union,  in  which 
such  swamp  and  overflowed  lands,  known  and  designated  as  aforesaid,  may  be 
situated."  (See  Act  of  February  5,  1851,  and  Act  of  February  2,  1853.  and  also 
Act  of  Congress  of  March  3,  1855.) 

January  21,  185 1 

An  Act  granting  the  Toolesboro  and  Burlington  Plank  Road  Company  a  right 
of  way,  not  exceeding  60  feet  in  breadth. 

February  4.  1 85 1 

An  Act  granting  the  Burlington  and  Louisa  Countv  Plank  Road  Company 
a  right  of  way. 

February  5.  1851 

An  Act  granting  the  Burlington,  Wapello  &  Virginia  Grove  Plank  Road  & 
Bridge  Company,  a  right  of  way. 

February,   1851 

The  code  of  1851,  approved  February  5  of  that  year,  provides  for  the  elec- 
tion at  the  August  election  of  1S51,  of  a  county  judge  for  four  years,  and  a 
sheriff,  coroner,  recorder,  surveyor  and  supervisor  of  roads,  for  two  years  each. 
Prosecuting  attorneys  and  clerks  of  the  court  were  to  be  elected  in  1852  at  the 
general  election,  each  for  the  term  of  two  years. 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 


439 


February  5,  185 1 

An  Act  in  relation  to  the  swamp  lands,  provides  that  the  commissioner  of  the 
State  Land  Office  may  take  steps  to  secure  to  the  State  the  swamp  lands  granted 
by  the  act  of  Congress  of  September  28,  1850.  It  also  authorizes  the  commis^ 
sioner  to  dispose  of  any  of  the  swamp  lands  of  the  state  for  such  prices  as  he 
may  think  them  worth. 

February  5,  185 1 

An  Act  to  reapportion  the  State,  provides  that  the  counties  of  Louisa  and 
Washington   shall  have   two   representatives  each,   and  one   senator   jointlv. 

January  22.  1853 

An  Act  vacating  so  much  of  the  town  of  Toolesboro,  as  is  north  of  the  Main 
street  and  east  of  Mound  street  in  said  town,  except  block  number  43. 

January  22,  1853 

An  Act  in  relation  to  certain  State  roads.  Section  42  of  it  provides  that 
Samuel  Lucas  of  Muscatine  County  and  J.  R.  Sisson  of  Louisa  County,  and 
Jonathan  Wilson  of  Washington  County  are  appointed  commissioners  to  locate 
said  road  on  the  nearest  and  best  grounds  from  Muscatine  to  Washington. 

January  22,  1853 

Resolution  of  the  General  Assembly  in  regard  to  mail  facilities,  instructing 
and  requesting  our  senators  and  representatives  to  use  their  influence  to  procure 
additional  mail  facilities.  A  large  number  of  mail  routes  are  asked  for  includ- 
ing one  from  Port  Allen  by  way  of  Hawk  Eye  and  Black  Hawk  to  Muscatine 
three  times  a  week. 

January  24,  1853 

An  Act  reapportioning  the  state  into  representative  districts,  and  makes  Louisa 
Cou'nty  the   14th  District  and  entitled  to  one   representative. 

January  24,  1853 

An  Act  appointing  William  H.  Miller  of  Muscatine  County  and  John  C. 
Lockwood  of  Louisa  County,  -agents  and  superintendents  of  the  construction  of 
the  necessary  levees  and  drains  to  reclaim  the  swamp  lands  situated  on  the  Mus- 
catine Island  and  on  the  borders  of  the  Muscatine  slough  within  Muscatine 
and  Louisa  Counties. 

February  2,  1853 

An"  Act  to  dispose  of  the  swamp  and  overflowed  lands  within  the  state,  pro- 
vides that  all  the  swamp  and  overflowed  lands  granted  to  the  State  of  Iowa  by 
Act  of  Congress  approved  September  28,  1850,  there  shall  be  grante'd  to  the 
counties  respectively  in  which  the  same  may  lie  or  be  situated  for  the  purpose  of 
constructing  the  necessary  levees  and  drains  to  reclaim  the  same,  and  the  balance 
of  said  lands,  if  any  there  shall  be  after  the  same  are  reclaimed,  shall  be  applied 
to  the  building  of  roads  and  bridges  when  necessary,  through  and  across  said 
lands,  and  if  not  needed  for  this  purpose,  to  be  expended  in  building  roads  and 
bridges  within  the  country. 


440  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

January,  1855 

Act  approved  January  24,  1855,  for  a  convention  to  revise  or  amend  the 
constitution  and  making  the  number  of  delegates  correspond  to  the  number  of 
senators  in  the  general  assembly,  thus  giving  Louisa  county  one  delegate. 

January   13,   1855 

Joint  resolution  of  the  Iowa  General  Assembly  asking  for.  additional  mail 
facilities.  One  route  mentioned  is  from  Muscatine  to  Oskaloosa  by  way  of 
Columbus  City,  Washington  and  Sigourney,  in  coaches  six  times  a  week. 

January  23.  1855 

An  Act  to  annex  so  much  of  fractional  lot  six  in  Section  11,  Township  jj. 
Range  2  in  the  State  of  Iowa  as  is  surveyed  into  town  lots  to  the  town  of 
Toolesboro.  Louisa  Count)",   [owa. 

January  25,  1855 

An  Act  to  apportion  the  State  and  to  define  the  boundaries  of  the  senatorial 
and  representative  districts.  The  County  of  Louisa  is  made  the  13th  district 
and  is  entitled  to  one  senator,  and  is  made  the  17th  representative  district,  and 
entitled  to  one  representative.  And  the  counties  of  Louisa  and  Washington  were 
made  the  19th  District,  and  entitled  to  one  representative.  This  latter  was 
called  a  "floating,"  or  "flotorial"  district. 

March  3,    1855 

Act  of  Congress  approved  March  3rd.  1855.  authorizing  the  issue  of  patents 
to  individuals  who  had  purchased  swamp  lands,  and  providing  also  for  the  pay- 
ment by  the  United  States,  to  the  State,  of  indemnity  for  such  lands,  properly 
a  part  of  the  swamp  land  grant,  as  had  been  sold  by  the  government. 

(The  Act  of  1850.  as  originally  reported  by  the  committee  granted  only  such 
lands,  as  were  designated  on  the  government  plats  of  surveys  as  "swamp"  or 
"unfit  for  cultivation ;"  but  amendments  were  adopted  making  it  apply  to  swamp 
or  overflowed  lands,  without  reference  to  the  description  on  the  surveyor's  plats. 
In  1851,  Secretary  of  the  Interior  Stuart  had  decided  that  the  swamp  land  act  of 
1850  was  a  grant  in  praesenti,  and  vested  title  in  the  states  to  all  swamp  or  over- 
flowed lands.  Many  conflicts  arose,  because  of  entries  by  and  sales  to,  individ- 
uals of  lands  which  afterward  were  found  to  be  swamp  lands:  the  act  of  March 
3d,  1855,  was  passed  to  settle  these  conflicting  claims.) 

July   15,   1856 

An  .Vet  authorizing  the  levy  of  a  tax  upon  the  lands  upon  Muscatine  [sland 
and  upon  adjoining  lands  to  construct  levees  and  to  preserve  said  lands  from 
overflow. 

July  15,   1856 

An  Act  to  incorporate  the  City  of  Wapello. 

July.  1856 

Act  approved  July  15,  1856.  vacates  the  alley  in  Block  14  in  the  town  of 
Grandview,  and  in  Block  16  and  25  in  Springer's  Addition  to  Grandview. 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  441 

January  21,  1857 

An  Act  to  amend  the  act  to  incorporate  the  City  of  Wapello. 

January  22,  1857 

An  Act  providing  that  all  that  part  of  the  original  town  plat  of  the  town 
of  Tooleshoro  in  Louisa  County,  Iowa,  heretofore  vacated  by  acts  approved  Feb- 
ruary 16,  1842,  and  January  22,  1853,  and  being  east  of  Fort  street  in  said  town 
be  restored  and  made  a  part  of  said  town,  and  the  streets  and  alleys  made  public 
highways.  The  act  is  to  take  effect  from  and  after  its  publication  in  the  Wapello 
Intelligencer  and  the  Burns  Commercial. 

January  24,  1857 

An  Act  authorizing  Wesley  W.  Garner,  James  M.  Robertson  and  William  L. 
Toole  of  Louisa  County  to  sell  Out  Lot  Number  4,  Columbus  City,  and  to 
execute  conveyance  therefor.  It  provides  that  they  shall  first  apply  the  proceeds 
of  said  sale  or  so  much  thereof  as  may  be  necessary  to  the  payment  of  the  debts 
created  by  the  trustees  of  the  Columbus  City  Seminary,  and  if  any  money  shall 
remain  after  the  payment  of  such  debts  and  expenses  of  sale,  it  shall  be  invested 
in  books  for  the  use  of  some  public  library  in  Columbus  City. 

January  2~,  1857 

An  Act  to  apportion  the  State  into  representative  Districts.  Section  31  pro- 
vides that  the  County  of  Louisa  shall  constitute  the  31st  representative  district 
and  have  one  representative.  Section  7,2  provides  that  the  county  of  Des  Moines 
shall  constitute  the  32nd  representative  district,  and  shall  have  two  representatives. 

Section  33  provides  that  the  counties  of  Des  Moines  and  Louisa  jointly,  shall 
constitute  the  33rd  representative  district,  and  have  one  representative.  The 
latter  was  also  a  floating  district. 

January  28,  1857 

An  Act  providing  for  the  location  of  certain  State  roads.  Section  11  provides 
that  Evan  J.  and  Samuel  M.  Hallowel  of  Henry  County,  and  A.  D.  Hurley  of 
Louisa  County  should  be  the  commissioners  to  locate  a  State  road  from  Mt. 
Pleasant  to  Wapello. 

January  28,  1857 

An  Act  in  relation  to  State  roads.  Section  17  provides  that  Christian  Hershe, 
R.  H.  W.  Brent  and  Ananias  Simpkins  of  Muscatine  County  be  appointed  com- 
missioners to  locate  a   State  road   from   Muscatine  to  Grandview. 

January  28,  1857 

An  Act  to  incorporate  the  City  of  Burris  in  Louisa  County,  Iowa,  to  take 
effect  from  and  after  its  publication  in  the  Wapello  Intelligencer  and  the  Burris 
Commercial. 

March  16.  1858 

An  Act  to  provide  for  levying  a  tax  on  certain  lands  to  build  a  levee  on  Mus- 
catine Island,  and  for  the  election  of  levee  commissioners. 


442  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

March  20.  1858 

An  Act  creating  the  first  Judicial  District  and  defining  the  boundaries.  Sec- 
tion 2  provides  that  the  Counties  of  Lee,  Henry.  Des  Moines  and  Lucas  shall 
constitute  the  First  District.  The  name  •"Lucas"  here  is  undoubtedly  intended 
for  Louisa.     Lucas  county  is  also  included  in  the  2nd  District. 

March  22,  1858 

An  Act  apportioning  the  State  into  representative  Districts,  makes  Louisa 
County  the  18th  District,  and  entitled  to  one  representative. 

March  25,  1858 

An  Act  ordering  a  special  election  throughout  the  State  on  the  4th  Monday 
of  June,  1858,  to  submit  to  the  people  the  question  whether  or  not  an  act  entitled, 
an  act  authorizing  general  banking  in  the  State  of  Iowa  passed  by  the  Seventh 
General  Assembly,  should  go  into  effect  and  be  in  force,  and  also  whether  an  act 
entitled,  an  act  to  incorporate  a  State  Rank  of  Iowa,  passed  by  the  Seventh  Gen- 
eral Assembly  should  go  into  effect  and  be  in  force. 

March  25.  1858 

Joint  Appropriation  Act.  From  this  it  seems  that  one  dollar  was  paid  to  the 
Wapello  Intelligencer,  and  fifty  cents  to  the  Wapello  Gazette. 

March  3,   i860 

An  Act  authorizing  the  owners  of  land  subject  to  overflow  situated  on  the 
Iowa  and  Mississippi  river  bottom  in  Des  Moines  and  Louisa  Counties  to  raise 
a  tax  upon  said  lands,  for  the  purpose  of  repairing,  continuing  and  extending 
the  levee  now  commenced. 

March,  i860 

Act  creating  a  county  board  of  supervisors,  approved  March  22d  and  took 
effect  July  4th. 

April  2,  i860 

An  Act  apportioning  the  State  into  representative  districts  makes  Louisa 
County  the  16th  District,  and  entitled  to  one  representative. 

April   5,    1862 

An  Act  repealing  the  act  which  provided  for  levying  a  tax  to  complete  and 
keep  in  repair  the  levee  on  Muscatine  Island,  etc. 

March  5,  1862 

An  Act  apportioning  the  State  into  Senatorial  Districts  makes  Louisa  County 
the  14th  District  and  entitled  to  one  Senator. 

April  8,    1S62 

An  Act  for  the  relief  of  Jacob  Mintun,  recites  that  during  his  term  of  office 
a  number  of  judgments  were  rendered  and  entered  on  his  docket  which  have  not 
his  signature  thereto,  and  authorizes  him  to  sign  the  judgments  rendered  by  him 
and  making  them  legal  and  binding. 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  443 

April  8,  1862 

An  Act  to  divide  the  State  into  Six  Congressional  Districts,  the  First  District 
being  composed  of  Lee,  Van  Buren,  Davis,  Jefferson,  Henry,  Des  Moines,  Louisa 
and  Washington  Counties. 

April  8,  1862 

An  Act  apportioning  the  State  into  representative  Districts,  leaving  Louisa 
County  still  as  the  17th  District,  and  entitled  to  one  representative. 

September  II,  1862 

An  Act  to  enable  the  qualified  electors  of  this  state  in  the  military  service  to 
vote  at  certain  elections. 

March  28.  1864 

A  new  apportionment  act  was  passed  as  to  representative  Districts  but  makes 
no  change  as  to  Louisa  County. 

March  30.   1866 

An  Act  to  legalize  an  election  held  by  the  legal  voters  of  the  town  of  Morning 
Sun  to  form  an  independent  School  District,  etc. 

April  2,  1866 

An  Act  apportioning  the  State  into  Senatorial  Districts,  makes  Louisa  County 
the  14th  Senatorial  District,  and  entitled  to  one  senator. 

1866 

The  nth  General  Assembly  passed  a  resolution  favoring  the  tri-weekly  mail 
route  from  Burlington  Ononwa  by  way  of  Port  Louisa  and  Grand  view. 

April  2,  1866 

An  Act  making  appropriations  for  the  per  diem  and  expenses  of  the  nth 
General  Assembly,  and  other  purposes.  Section  71  appropriates  for  the  expenses 
in  relation  to  the  sickness  and  funeral  of  Honorable  N.  T.  Brown  (who  was  a 
representative  from  Louisa  County),  the  sum  of  $211.65,  as  follows: 

Railroad  and  stage  fare  to  and  from- Des  Moines  of  Mrs.  Brown  and  her 

son    $4i.oo 

Incidental  expenses   5-°° 

Medicine   and    Board    24.30 

Shroud,   crape,   etc    11.60 

Burial  lot  in  the  cemetery  of  the  state IQ73 

Coffin  and  hearse  36.00 

Two  carriages    9-°° 

For  draping  hall  9-5° 

Digging  grave    5-°° 

Dr.  Robertson,  10  day's  attendance 25.00 

Dr.  Boomer,  10  day's  attendance 25.00 


444  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

January  31,   1868 

An  Act  to  correct  an  error  caused  by  omitting  Louisa  County  in  the  distribu- 
tion of  railroad  taxes  due  in  the  years  1863,  1864  and  1865. 

April  2,  1868 

An  Act  to  enable  public  corporations  to  settle  their  indebtedness,  and  for  this 
purpose  altering  and  amending  existing  charters  and  laws. 

April  2,  186S 

An  Act  to  legalize  certain  judgments  rendered  by  Benjamine  Furnace,  a  Jus- 
tice of  the  Peace  in  Louisa  County,  Iowa,  because  of  his  failure  to  sign  the  same 
at  the  time  they  were  rendered. 

April  3,  1868 

An  Act  establishing  Circuit  and  General  term  courts  and  defining  their  powers 
and  jurisdiction.  The  Counties  of  Henry  and  Louisa  constitute  the  Second  Circuit 
in  the  First  Judicial  District. 

April,  1868 

Act  approved  April  7,  1868,  created  the  office  of  county  auditor  and  providing 
that  at  the  general  election  preceding  the  expiration  of  the  term  of  office  of  the 
present  count}'  judge  in  any  county,  and  every  two  years  thereafter,  there  should 
be  elected  in  each  organized  county  in  this  state,  a  county  auditor,  whose  term  of 
office  shall  commence  on  the  rst  oi  January  following  his  election.  The  act 
further  directed  that  the  county  judge  in  each  county  should  be  ex-officio  auditor 
after  January  1.  1869,  and  until  an  auditor  was  elected  and  qualified  and  there- 
after the  office  of  county  judge  should  cease. 

April  7,  1868 

Apportionment  act  for  representative  districts,  makes  Louisa  County  the 
27th   District  and  entitled  to  one  representative. 

April  8,  1868 

Senatorial  apportionment  act  makes  Louisa  County  the  14th  Senatorial  Dis- 
trict, and  entitled  to  one  Senator. 

April  2,  1868 

Memorial  and  Joint  Resolution  of  the  Iowa  Legislature  asking  Congress  to 
declare  the  Iowa  River  I  nnavigable  from  the  City  of  Wapello  in  Louisa  County 
North. 

April  13,  1870 

"1  here  was  a  new  apportionment  for  representative  districts,  but  no  change 
as  to  Louisa  County. 

April  14.  1870 

An  Act  providing  that  on  and  after  January  1,  1871,  the  Board  of  Supervisors 
should  consist  of  three  persons. 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  445 

April    i6,   1870 

A  senatorial  apportionment  act,  makes  Louisa  County  the  14th  Senatorial 
Distriet,  and  entitled  to  one  Senator. 

May.   1870 

Act  of  Congress  in  relation  to  the  Iowa  river  in  the  state  of  iowa,  approved 
May  6,  1870,  provides  that  so  much  of  the  Iowa  river  in  the  state  of  Iowa  as  lies 
north  of  the  town  of  Wapello  shall  be  declared  not  a  navigable  river  or  public 
highway. 

March   1  r.  1872 

A  joint  resolution  giving  certain  authority  to  the  State  Auditor  in  respect  to 
credits  claimed  by  the  counties  of  Harrison,  Howard,  Marion,  Jasper,  Louisa, 
Bremer  for  State  revenue  alleged  to  have  been  stolen  from  said  counties.  In 
the  preamble  there  is  a  statement  of  the  special  amounts  claimed  to  have  been 
stolen  from  the  several  counties,  and  the  amount  stated  from  Louisa  County 
belonging  to  the  general  revenue  of  the  State  is,  $4,592.28. 

The  Joint  resolution  authorizes  the  Auditor  of  State  to  receive  and  consider 
documentary  or  other  evidence  in  writing  which  may  be  submitted  to  him,  prior 
to  the  meeting  of  the  next  General  Assembly  in  behalf  of  either  of  said  counties 
touching  the  facts  aforesaid  as  recited  in  the  preamble,  and  in  every  case  in  which 
such  averments  may  be  sustained  by  such  proof  to  his  satisfaction,  he  is  authorized 
and  directed  to  give  the  proper  corresponding  credits  to  said  counties,  and  report 
such  action  to  the  next  General  Assembly. 

April  2",  1872 

Representative  apportionment  act  makes  Louisa  County  the  28th  District,  with 
one  representative,  and  the  Senatorial  apportionment  act  passed  on  the  same 
day,  provides  that  the  counties  of  Louisa  and  Washington  shall  constitute  the 
15th  District,  and  be  entitled  to  one  senator. 

March  23.  1874 

Representative  apportionment  Act;  no  change  as  to  Louisa  County. 

March  17,   1876 

Senatorial  apportionment  act  constitutes  Washington  and  Louisa  Counties 
as  the  14th  Senatorial  District,  and  entitled  to  one  Senator. 

March   17,   1876 

Representative  apportionment  act.  makes  Louisa  County  the  30th  District  and 
entitled  to  one  representative. 

March  26,  1878 

Representative  apportionment  act,  makes  Louisa  County  the  30th  District  and 
entitled  to  one  representative. 

August,  1882 

Act  of  Congress  making  appropriations  for  the  construction,  repair  and 
preservation  of  certain  works  on  certain  rivers  and  harbors,  etc.    This  act  directs 


446  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

the  secretary  of  war  at  his  discretion  to  cause  examinations  or  surveys,  or  both, 
and  estimates  of  cost  of  improvements  at  a  great  many  places.  Among  others  is 
the  Iowa  river  from  Wapello  to  its  mouth. 

March  23,  1880 

Senatorial  apportionment.  Louisa  and  Washington  counties  made  the  nth 
District,  and  entitled  to  one  Senator. 

March  23,   1882 

Congressional  apportionment,  the  First  Congressional  District  made  to 
consist  of  the  following  counties:  Lee,  Des  Moines,  Henry.  Van  Buren,  Jefferson, 
Washington  and  Louisa. 

March  24,   1880 

Representative  apportionment.  Louisa  County  made  the  30th  District,  and 
entitled  to  one  Representative. 

April   1.   1882 

Representative  apportionment.  Louisa  County  made  the  31st  District,  and 
entitled  to  one  representative. 

February  zj,  1886 

An  Act  to  legalize  the  proceedings  of  the  Board  of  Supervisors  of  Muscatine 
and  Louisa  Counties  in  locating  and  constructing  a  levee  on  Muscatine  Island, 
and  to  provide  fur  the  payment  of  the  costs  thereof. 

March    19,    1886 

An  Act  to  legalize  the  acts  and  ordinances  of  the  town  council  of  the  incor- 
porated town  of  Morning  Sun. 

April  5,  1886 

At  establishing  the  office  of  county  attorney. 

\pril  10,  1886 

Representative  apportionment.  Louisa  County  made  the  22nd  District  and 
entitled  to  one  representative. 

April  19,  1886 

Senatorial  apportionment.  Muscatine  and  Louisa  County  made  the  20th 
Senatorial  District  and  entitled  to  one  Senator. 

July,  1892 

An  Act  of  Congress  making  appropriations  for  the  construction,  repair  and 
preservation  of  certain  public  works,  etc.,  directs  the  secretary  of  war  to  cause 
examinations  to  be  made  at  a  great  many  localities.  Among  others  is  the  "Mis- 
sissippi river,  Iowa  side,  from  mouth  of  Iowa  river  to  Bloomington,  to  determine 
the  best  method  of  removing  the  bars  and  deepening  the  channel." 


HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY  447 

August,  1894 

Another  river  and  harbor  bill,  approved  August,  1894.  similar  to  the  last 
one,  provision  of  which  is  as  follows:  "So  much  of  the  Iowa  river  within  the 
state  of  Iowa  as  lies  between  the  town  of  Toolesboro  and  the  town  of  Wapello, 
in  the  county  of  Louisa,  shall  not  be  deemed  a  navigable  river  or  public  high- 
way, but  dams  and  bridges  may  be  constructed  across  it."  This  act  further  pro- 
vides for  dredging  the  channel  of  the  Mississippi  river  at  Quincy,  Illinois,  and 
for  continuing  the  improvement  of  the  Mississippi  river  from  the  mouth  of  the 
Missouri  to  Minneapolis,  and  appropriates  the  sum  of  $15,000.  and  further  pro- 
vides that  out  of  said  appropriation  he  shall  cause  a  survey  to  be  made  on  the 
west  side  of  the  Mississippi  river,  commencing  at  the  mouth  of  Flint  creek,  in 
Des  Moines  county,  state  of  Iowa,  and  running  along  the  west  bank  of  the  river 
to  the  mouth  of  Iowa  river,  and  along  the  east  bank  of  the  Mississippi  river 
from  the  city  of  Warsaw  to  the  city  of  Quincy,  with  a  view  to  improving  the 
navigation  by  preventing  the  water  from  overflowing  the  natural  and  artificial 
banks  along  those  parts  of  the  river,  and  deepening  the  channel. 

March,  1895 

Act  of  Congress,  approved  March  2,  1895,  making  appropriations  for  sun- 
dry civil  expenses  of  the  government  for  the  year  ending  June  30,  1896,  and  for 
other  purposes.  This  act  appropriates  $85,000  to  commence  the  work  under  the 
direction  of  the  secretary  of  war  from  the  mouth  of  Flint  creek,  in  Des  Moines 
county,  state  of  Iowa,  and  running  along  the  west  bank  of  the  river  to  the  mouth 
of  the  Iowa  river,  with  a  view  to  improving  the  navigation  etc. 

February  14,  1896 

An  Act  to  legalize  the  proceedings  of  the  Board  of  Supervisors  of  Louisa 
County  relative  to  restraining  stock  from  running  at  large.  Because  of  doubt  as 
to  legality  of  the  notice. 

February  17   1896 

Joint  resolutioon  of  the  Iowa  Legislature  favoring  appropriation  by  Congress 
for  the  reconstruction  and  repair  of  the  Muscatine  Island  Levee. 

March   19,  1896 

An  Act  to  legalize  the  ordinances  of  the  City  Council  of  the  City  of  Wapello, 
granting  a  franchise  to  W.  H.  Prescott  and  his  associates  as  the  Wapello  Elec- 
tric Light  &  Power  Company. 

April  20,  1896 

Provides  that  the  counties  of  Des  Moines,  Henry  and  Louisa  shall  consti- 
tute the  20th  Judicial  District,  ami  be  entitled  to  two  Judges. 

June,  1896 

Act  of  Congress,  approved  June  3,  1896,  making  appropriations  for  rivers  and 
harbors.  This  act  among  other  things  appropriates  $75,000  for  the  purpose  of 
continuing  the  work  of  constructing  artificial  banks  between  the  mouth  of  Flint 


448  HISTORY  OF  LOUISA  COUNTY 

river    (Flint  creek),  in  Des   Moines  county,   Iowa,  and  running  along  the  west 
bank  of  the  Mississippi  river  to  the  mouth  of  the  Iowa  river. 

June,  1897 

Act  of  Congress,  approved  June  4,  1897,  making  appropriations  for  sundry 
civil  expenses  of  the  government,  etc.,  appropriates  $50,000  for  continuing  the 
work  of  constructing  artificial  banks  between  the  mouth  of  Flint  "river"  and 
running  along  the  west  hank  of  the  Mississippi  river  to  the  mouth  of  the  Iowa 
river. 

July,   i{ 


Act  of  Congress,  approved  July  6,  1898,  making  appropriations  for  sundry 
civil  expenses  of  the  government,  etc..  appropriates  $40,000,  or  so  much  of  it 
as  may  be  necessary  to  complete  the  construction  of  the  levee  from  Flint  creek 
to  the  Iowa  river. 

March,  1899 

Act  of  Congress,  approved  March  3,  1890,  making  appropriations  for  sundry 
civil  expenses  of  the  government,  etc..  appropriates  $50,000,  or  so  much  thereof 
as  may  be  necessary  for  the  completion  of  a  levee  on  the  west  bank  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi river  from  the  mouth  of  Flint  creek,  in  Des  Moines  county,  to  the  mouth 
of  the  Iowa  river,  in  Louisa  county. 

February   14,   1906 

An  Act  empowering  the  Governor  and  Secretary  of  State  to  make  quit  claim 
deeds  conveying  to  the  grantees  of  S.  Dunham  the  interest  of  the  state  in  certain 
lands  in   Sections  28  and  29,  Township  jt,,   North,   Range    1    west. 

March  17,  191 1 

Ait  to  legalize  the  incorporation  of  the  town  of  Grandview,  the  election  of  its 
officers,  the  passage  of  its  ordinances,  etc.,  etc. 

Approved  March  17,  191 1.     r.ecame  a  law  by  publication  March  23,  1911.