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Full text of "Pioneers of Polk County, Iowa, and reminiscences of early days"

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THE 

NEW York 
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L. F. ANDREWS 



PIONEERS 



OF 



POLK COUNTY, IOWA 



AND REMINISCENCES OF 
EARLY DAYS 

BY 

L. F. ANDREWS 



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Volume I 




1 



DES MOINES 
BAKER-TRISLER COMPANY 

1908 



: i J 

A»TOA, LENOX ANfe 

TILD*K c O JNDATIO**. 

08 L 



THE REGISTER AND LEADER COMPANY, 
DES MOINES. 



INTRODUCTION 

THIS is a compilation of Sketches of Pioneers of Polk 
County, Iowa, and Reminiscences of Early Days, 
printed in the Sunday Register and Leader during the 
years 1904-5-6, that they may be more tangible and access- 
ible to those who desire to preserve them. 

The pioneers gave little or no attention to history. They 
were too busily engaged in making history, yet, historically, 
the period in which they lived was important and potential, 
for then was laid the foundation of the civic and social life 
of the county. It was not a time of great events, yet it was 
one of self-reliance, of persevering toil, of many priva- 
tions, of numerous exigencies, all of which were cheerfully 
endured through faith in the well-being that was to follow. 

The pioneers were generally poor. The experience of one 
was that of all. A common interest and common sympathy 
bound them together with enduring ties, for they were sev- 
eral years without the protection of civil government, or the 
presence of any judiciary government officer, and they 
became a law unto themselves. Therefore, the interest of 
one was the interest of all. The protection of each indi- 
vidual was in the good-will and help of the entire commu- 
nity. Most of them have passed away, but they left a herit- 
age of sons and daughters who have followed in the ways of 
righteousness and good-living. 

Special effort has been made to have the record truth- 
fully presented and chronologically correct. If errors are 
discovered, it should be borne in mind that forty years is a 
long time to retain in memory events of a restless and ever- 
changing community; that an infallible record of a person 
now living is impossible; that many of the pioneers passed 
away long ago; that the record must be gathered largely 
from the memory of their kindred and friends. 

Publication in this form must be credited to the gener- 
osity and public spirit of Lowell Chamberlain, who volun- 
tarily assumed the expense thereof purely as a public bene- 
faction. To him, therefore, are the two volumes most heart- 
ily dedicated. 

The Author. 




First Official Seal of Polk County, Iowa 
The Eagle Side of a Half Dollar 




THOMAS MITCHELL 



THOMAS MITCHELL 

THOMAS MITCHELL may be justly recorded as the god- 
father of Polk County. His generous, humanitarian heart 
embraced all men and all things. His very face was a smile. 
Everybody called him ''Uncle Tommy." 

He was born March Third, 1816, in Claremont, Sullivan 
County, ]STew Hampshire, and was of Scotch-Irish descent. His 
father was a farmer, and Thomas spent his boyhood days on the 
old home farm, receiving such education as the common schools of 
that day afforded. When he was sixteen years old his father died, 
and he had to look out for himself. He got employment on a farm 
at eleven dollars a month the first year, and fourteen dollars a 
month the second year. In 1836, he got a job in a paper mill at 
four dollars per week. The next year he was paid the same, and 
eight cents an hour for overwork, and twelve hours was a day's 
work. In 1837, he went on the road selling books and paper for 
the Springfield Paper Mill Company. In 1839, he bid good-bye to 
his rock-ribbed native state, and started for the Mississippi Valley. 
He spent the Winter of that year in Saint Charles County, Mis- 
souri, on a farm, at fifteen dollars per month. 

March Eighth, 1840, he arrived at Keosauqua, and soon after 
went to Fairfield, where he resided until 1844, when, in April, he 
came to Polk County. The whole country hereabouts was then 
under military control. He obtained a permit from Captain Allen, 
commanding officer of Fort Des Moines, to make a land claim and 
cultivate it, provided he would build a bridge over the creek now 
called Camp Creek, an important thing, as it was on the direct trail 
from Keokuk and Iowa Citv to Fort Des Moines, and, in the 
Spring and Fall, the stream was nearly impassable. 

Near the creek and a grove of wild Crab Apple trees (now 
Apple Grove), he erected, with his own hands, a double log cabin 
of green timber, with a puncheon floor (split logs with the flat side 
up), and "pole" bedsteads, and there, with his wife and two small 

5 



6 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

children, no cabin nearer than Marengo eastward, Red Rock, in 
Marion County, southward, and "The Fort," twelve miles west- 
ward, he began his work of civilization, and laid the foundation of 
his later popularity and usefulness. It necessitated pluck and hard 
work. Trials and hardships were abundant. For nearly five 
months his wife did not see the face of a white woman. 

As time went on, his cabin became the favorite stopping-place 
of travelers and immigrants. The latch-string was always out ; his 
heart was as open as his cabin doors. Although he brought with 
him a good supply of provisions, the demands upon it made neces- 
sary frequent trips to Keokuk and Fairfield for corn meal and 
bacon, often over bad roads in inclement weather, and requiring 
many days' absence from home. 

The demand upon his hospitality so increased that he was forced 
to make his cabin a tavern, for travelers would stop there, tavern 
or no tavern, and he was too kind-hearted to turn them awav. 
Hungry, weary, and unsatisfied with stops made farther east, they 
would cheer up as they plodded on with : "Wait till we get to Tom 
Mitchell's, then we'll be all right." A good, square meal of bacon, 
corn bread and milk for twenty-five cents was sure. If the new- 
comer was poor, it was all the same, he was as welcome as those 
who paid, and was sent off with a hearty handshake and blessing. 
A prominent business man of this city, probably remembers one 
day in the early Forties, when, as a young man, late at night he 
reached "Uncle Tommy's" tavern, tired and hungry after a hard 
day's tramp, with but ten cents in his pocket, enough to pay for 
lodging only. He went to bed supperless. The next morning he 
arose, paid for his lodging, and was about to depart, when he was 
asked if he would not have breakfast. The aroma from the cooking 
in the kitchen was a sore aggravation, but he declined. "Uncle 
Tommy" suspected the real cause of his abstinence, and questioned 
him. Taking him by the hand, he told him to wait and get a good 
breakfast — just as welcome as though he had money to pay for it. 
He took breakfast, came to "The Fort," served several years as 
clerk in a store, and then went into business for himself. 

Judge Casady says he took his first meal in Polk County in 
"Uncle Tommy's" cabin, after a long, weary day's journey, and it 
was one of the most satisfying he ever ate. 



THOMAS MITCHELL 7 

In the Spring of 1847, "Uncle Tommy" moved his cabin to the 
north end of Apple Grove, and, as the mail passed his place, it was 
made a post-office, and he the postmaster. 

With logs and his own hands, he built the first school-house in 
what is now Beaver Township (then a part of Camp). He 
employed a teacher, paying her three dollars a week from his own 
pocket. 

Very soon after the military abandoned "The Fort," it became 
apparent that organization for good government, good roads, and 
management of other local affairs was necessary. Under the Terri- 
torial government, counties were first organized along the Missis- 
sippi River. As other counties were formed, they were attached 
to the older counties for judicial and election purposes, until they 
were able to take care of themselves. Thus, Louisa, Washington, 
and Mahaska were attached to older eastern counties, but with Polk 
it was different. It had been so largely settled and well governed 
by the Claim Club, it was able to maintain a separate municipal 
government. There was no nearby county to which it could be 
attached, and it was given an independent existence without proba- 
tion. It was sui generis in that respect. To give prestige to its 
importance, it was given jurisdiction over all territory in the state 
north and west of it, and the several counties subsequently carved 
out of it were attached to Polk until they could go alone. 

In January, 1846, the Legislature organized Polk County, fixed 
its boundaries, selected Commissioners to locate its county-seat, 
provided for an election to elect county officers, and apportioned it 
into election precincts, but without clearly defined boundaries. 
Camp Precinct, in which "Uncle Tommy" lived, embraced nearly 
all the southeast part of the county, or what is now Camp, Beaver, 
and Four Mile townships. "Uncle Tommy's" house was the polling 
place. There was no registration, no challengers. The voter rode 
across the country, cast his ballot in "Uncle Tommy's" hat, and 
went his wav. 

Daniel Trullinger, who lives on Morton Street, says he first saw 
the site of Des Moines, June Twenty-Eighth, 1843 ; made the brick 
used in the foundations and chimneys of the garrison buildings; 
worked through the Summer for one dollar a day, and went away ; 



8 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

came back in 1846, arrived at "Uncle Tommy's" just in time to 
vote, which he did within fifteen minutes after arrival. Forty-two 
votes were cast at that precinct. "Uncle Tommy" was elected the 
first Sheriff of the county, to serve until the next election, in 
August, when he was reelected. 

At the April election, the candidates for County Surveyor were 
A. D. Jones, a wide-awake, shrewd fellow, who had been at "The 
Fort" less than five weeks, and a man named Woodward, who, it is 
said, represented the country. Jones spent the entire day at "Uncle 
Tommy's" place, working for himself, but didn't get a vote. Wood- 
ward received a majority of the total votes cast, but, by a system 
of mathematics not uncommon in those days, he was counted out, 
and the place given to Jones. The entire vote of the county was 
one hundred seventy-five. 

The next day after the election, the District Court for the first 
time convened in room Twenty-Six, in one of the log buildings 
which was being used for a public school, the teacher, a Miss Davis, 
having to vacate for the court. On opening court, "Uncle Tommy" 
was ordered to hunt up twenty-three good men for the Grand Jury. 
Catching them on the run, with no time for toilet making, the next 
day he brought them into court, "Uncle Jerry" Church being coat- 
less, for which he explained to the court that the Sheriff was in too 
big a hurry to allow "dressing up." 

The jury was charged by the court, whereupon they went down 
to 'Coon River, sat on some logs, discussed the generality of things 
in general for an hour, decided there was nothing doing for the 
court, made due report of their finding, which was accepted, and 
they were discharged. The court then adjourned to September. 

At the September term, "Uncle Tommy" captured his first pris- 
oner, an indicted man, who had escaped from a Missouri jail. A 
mob gathered to rescue him, but "Uncle Tommy" and his deputy, 
"Pete" Myers, eluded them, and the next day delivered him to 
Missouri officers, who were on his trail. 

Immediately after the passage of the Act organizing the county 
and creating a Commission to locate the county-seat, public senti- 
ment was aroused respecting the location. Speculation relative 
thereto had been rife for some time — even prior to the legislative 



THOMAS MITCHELL 9 

enactment. Jeremiah Church, or "Uncle Jerry," as everybody 
called him, laid out a town, two miles down the river on the west 
bank, and named it Dudley. He established a rope ferry over the 
river, to draw travel that way, and with great expectations, waited 
the coming of the locating commissioners. 

Doctor T. K. Brooks, who had purchased the land occupied as 
the trading post, and William Lamb, who owned a farm adjoining, 
where the packing-houses and starch works are now, laid out 
Brooklyn, a town of magnificent distances, and picturesque attract- 
iveness. Another town on the river, below Dudley, was named 
Jericho, with a vigorous hornblower on its walls. 

There were others, and all rivals of "The Fort." The Legisla- 
ture being in session, they sent a strong lobby to secure the county- 
seat elsewhere than at "The Fort" certain, and at Brooklyn if 
possible. The principal objection to "The Fort" was that it was 
not central enough — too far north and west. The delay and pro- 
crastination of the locating commissioners intensified the struggle 
of the lobbyists. Judge Casady was the Senator from this district, 
and being a resident of "The Fort," he kept close tab on the Brook- 
lynites, who, failing to make much progress, came home, and 
"Uncle Tommy" decided to have a hand in the game. 

One very cold morning in February, he and Doctor Fagen 
started on horseback for Iowa City, over the bleak, desolate prairie, 
one hundred and twenty miles away, without fee or hope of reward. 
They made their first night's halt at Bennett's cabin, about four 
miles east of what is now Newton, nearly frozen, jaded and hungry. 
Refreshed with corn bread, bacon and sleep, they went on. Arriv- 
ing at the Capital, they joined Casady in a scheme to fix up the 
geography, and in a few days secured an amendment to the Act of 
January Seventeenth, by which a tier of townships was set off from 
the east side of Polk County to Jasper County, and a tier of town- 
ships from Warren County added on the south side of Polk. 

In the deal they unwittingly "foozled" the congressional district 
boundaries, causing considerable political strife until 1853, when 
the townships were restored to their original position, with which 
Doctor A. Y. Hull figured conspicuously. But that is another 
story. 



10 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

Having laid the foundation for the settlement of the county-seat 
question, "Uncle Tommy" came to "The Fort," and, to personally 
identify himself therewith, during the Summer built a cabin of 
hewn logs, between Market and Elm near Fifth, which stood as a 
landmark, notably from the three large Poplar trees near it, until 
1880, when it was torn down to give room for the Chicago, Bur- 
lington and Quincy Railroad depot. 

Immediately after the State was organized, it became apparent 
that the Capital must be removed farther west. Fort Des Moines 
was rapidly coming into public notice. Bills wei?> before each 
succeeding Legislature to secure a re-location, but the conflicting 
interests of rival localities caused defeat, and it was not until 1855 
that it was located, and then not at Fort Des Moines, but "within 
two miles of the junction of the Des Moines and Raccoon rivers," 
for the putting of "Fort Des Moines" in a legislative Act in those 
days was like shaking a red rag at a bull — a signal lor a fight. 

During all those years of dilatory contest, "Uncle Tommy" was 
an active participant for Des Moines. 

When the county was first organized, it was politically Demo- 
cratic. "The Fort" was the political center. Barlow Granger, 
Judge Casady, and R. L. Tidrick controlled political affairs. Bar- 
low was the Grand Sachem. His office was the seat of power, and 
special care was taken that no Whig got a place. Sometimes citi- 
zens would make an effort to elect a Whig, who was eminently 
qualified, deservedly popular, on purely personal grounds, and 
succeed in getting a majority on the face of the returns, but Barlow 
usually had a card up his sleeve to play, which won the game. 
Polk County embraced a large territory "for election purposes," 
and a poll list from some far-off, forgotten precincts would come 
straggling in, actually without seal or the signature of election 
officers, even after the elected Whig had received his commission, 
and the Democrat was counted in, but nobody got mad about it. 
The emoluments of office then were not worth a vigorous contention. 

In 1848, however, the Whigs put up a game to win. It was the 
election of President and Congressmen. The congressional candi- 
dates were Daniel F. Miller, of Keokuk, and William Thompson, 
of Henry County. Kanesville (now Council Bluffs) had been 



THOMAS MITCHELL 11 

made a voting precinct. The Mormons, who had been driven from 
Nauvoo, had made a settlement at and near Kanesville. To get 
their vote was the problem. It was quite evident they held the 
balance of power. The Democrats got at work quick with every 
possible device. The Mormons were poor; money would talk. 
Monroe County Democrats sent John Webb there, and it was soon 
given out that he had the Mormons "fixed." The Whigs learned 
their scheme, and W. H. Seevers (later Judge of the Supreme 
Court) sent a special messenger to "Uncle Tommy" with a big 
purse and notice that, "The Democrats are buying the Mormons 
like hogs, at so much per head. We must outbid them." "Uncle 
Tommy" had a scheme. The control of the Mormons lay with the 
leaders of the Church. In July, 1845, when on their pilgrimage 
from Nauvoo, three hundred of them, leaders included, halted for 
a rest of several days at his tavern, weary and hungry. They 
pitched their tents and raised their banners. "Uncle Tommy," as 
host, distinguished himself by his kindness and hospitality, and 
sent them on their way rejoicing. 

Taking the purse from Seevers' messenger, he added half a 
hundred dollars to it, called up his deputy sheriff, "Pete" Myers, 
who was no slouch in politics, gave him a fast horse, and told him 
to go to "The Fort," get more money, and then go to Kanesville, 
"without stopping." With the money raised, a newspaper office 
was purchased and presented to Orson Hyde, the church leader, 
and The Guardian was at once issued, as the "Protector of the 
Rights of the People" — first the Mormons, second the Whigs. 

Immediately after the election it was rumored that the Mor- 
mons had voted solid for Miller. Albia had been selected as the 
place to count the votes, and Judge Jonathan C. Hall, of Burling- 
ton, to watch the count for the Democrats. The poll books were in 
custody of one Pickett, a Mormon. Kanesville, though a voting 
precinct, had not been attached to an organized county. "Pete" 
Myers, Doctor Brooks, and Charley Van got their heads together 
for protective purposes. They decided that, to make the Kanes- 
ville vote legal, Pickett, on his arrival here, en route to Albia, 
should be made a public officer, and sworn in as the organizing 
sheriff of Pottawattamie, such county then being only in embryo. 



12 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

Barlow and his coadjutors got onto the scheme, and suggested to 
Wallace, the County Clerk, a radical Democrat, that he resign, 
which he did instanter. When Pickett arrived there was no County 
Clerk to install him as organizing sheriff. "Pete" and Charley 
put the screws to Lewis Whitten, Deputy Clerk, and "persuaded" 
him to do it. Pickett then went to Albia and delivered the poll list 
to Dudley C. Barbour, County Clerk, who had heard of the Whig 
newspaper scheme. He threw them on the table, and requested 
Pickett to go back and sit down awhile, as he was busy and 
not ready to receive the lists. A crowd was present, there was 
also confusion, politics and whiskey. Judge Hall came in later, 
approached Pickett, chatted with him a few moments, and asked 
for the poll list of Kanesville, but it was missing — couldn't be 
found. As the poll list had not been officially received, the canvass 
went on; Thompson was declared elected, was given the com- 
mission, and took his seat. The AVhigs were wild with rage, and 
Miller at once made a formal contest for the seat before Congress. 
A committee, after investigation, reported that Miller was entitled 
to the seat, to which Thompson demurred, on the ground that a 
majority of the Mormon vote was illegal, aliens, etc. He asked, 
and was granted, ninety days to get proof thereof. Depositions 
were taken before Judge Charles Mason, ex-Judge of the Supreme 
Court, a just and upright man. On one occasion, Miller raised 
a question of jurisdiction in the case, when Mason quickly drew a 
lot of papers from his pocket to verify his position, and out of them 
tumbled the missing poll list. Explanation was made, the Judge 
declaring he received them honestly, but how he was not at liberty 
to say. Judge Hall was then put on oath, and said that when he 
arrived at Burlington he found the poll list in his saddle-bags ; how 
they got there he knew not. He delivered them to Thompson. 

The contest was continued to April, 1850, when a congressional 
commission, sitting at Kanesville, found every vote cast for Miller 
was legal. Thompson was ousted. Miller then ran again, and was 
reelected. 

Orson Hyde and Almon W. Babbitt, of Illinois, known as the 
fighting Mormon Congressman, were summoned before Brigham 
Young, at Salt Lake City. Both were vigorously denounced by 



THOMAS MITCHELL 13 

Young for their political pranks. Hyde was dismissed from the 
Church ; Babbitt snapped his fingers at Brigham and went his way. 

In 1840, when Barlow started his hebdomadal Star, "Uncle 
Tommy" paid him the first dollar in money received on subscrip- 
tion. 

In 1852, the Polk County Agricultural Society held its second 
Fair on the District grounds at Horseshoe Lake, on 'Coon bot- 
toms ; the first was held in the court-house yard. "Uncle Tommy" 
was a Director of the Society, and, with a Mr. Bennett, exhibited 
seventeen fine Durham cattle, the first brought into the county. 
He was also elected one of the managers of the state Society when 
it was organized in 1853. 

The same year, he and Isaac Cooper were appointed executors 
of the first will filed in the county — that of John L. Frederick, an 
early settler. The will fixed their pay at one dollar and fifty cents 
per day. 

In 1854, came one of the most exciting political contests ever 
had in the county. The Democrats had nominated Judge Curtis 
Bates, successor of Barlow as editor of the Star, for Governor, and 
the Whigs had nominated James W. Grimes, of Burlington. The 
presidential election the previous year had shown that Polk County 
was close- — that thirteen votes would defeat the Democrats. Where 
to get them was the question. Local pride, and the prestige given 
Des Moines and the county in the nomination of Bates, was an 
important factor which Barlow and his coterie did not fail to pound 
into the ears of susceptible Whigs — Democrats didn't need it. As 
election day approached, the Whigs were in despair. "Uncle 
Tommy" and Granville Holland put their heads together one day, 
and decided that something must be done. This is what was done : 
They went all over the county, bought all the hogs they could find, 
paying one and one-half cents per pound — a high price then — 
hired sixteen good Democrats to drive them to Ottumwa, the near- 
est market, starting them so as to arrive at their destination the 
day before election. "Uncle Tommy" and Granville went down 
with a team, sold the hogs on their arrival, gave the team to the 
sixteen drivers, mounted two fleet horses, arrived home in time to 
put in good work at the polls and vote. The drivers did not get 



14 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

home until the day after election. The county record shows the 
vote was : Grimes, four hundred fifty ; Bates, four hundred fifty, 
and the Democrats for the first time were defeated. 

In 1856, the Slack Water Navigation [Obstruction] Company, 
having sold its half-constructed dams, old scows, and other junk, 
to the state of Iowa, and gone out of business, and the State having 
entered into an agreement with the Keokuk, Fort Des Moines and 
Minnesota Railway Company (now the Valley road), by which it 
was to take the river land grant and complete the road, the Legis- 
lature appointed "Uncle Tommy," W. W. Belknap (later Secretary 
of War), and C. C. Carpenter (later Governor), a commission to 
transfer to the railroad company the franchises, rights, and privi- 
leges of the defunct Navigation Company, which was done with 
most distinguished consideration. 

In 1858, "Uncle Tommy" was elected Representative in the 
Legislature, at its first session in Des Moines, and he secured the 
passage of a law to take out the crooks and curves in that holy 
terror to farmers and teamsters, in the Spring and Fall, the 
tortuous Skunk River, by which a large area of land was reclaimed. 

In 1859, he was elected a member of the Board of County 
Supervisors, and held that office six years. 

In 1867, he laid out the town of Mitchellville, became a resident 
thereof, founded and built a seminary, which for many years was 
a flourishing school, but, becoming overshadowed by the schools at 
Des Moines, went down, was sold to the State, and transformed 
into the present Industrial School for Girls. He also helped to 
organize the Universalist Church, and erected a meeting-house, in 
which the present engineer of our Weather Bureau Service, Pro- 
fessor Sage, was the preacher. 

In 1868, at the organization of the Old Settlers' Association, 
he was a prominent factor, and was elected President. 

In 1874, he was elected State Senator, reelected in 1876, and 
was one of the most efficient members of that body in support of 
all efforts to improve the educational and moral interests of the 
people generally, the county and Des Moines especially, for he was 
always deemed a component part of the Capital City he had so 
diligently labored to establish and promote. 



THOMAS MITCHELL 15 

Politically, he was a Whig, and an Abolitionist from birth. 
During the notable Free Soil fight in Kansas, his cabin was a 
well-known station on the "Underground Railroad" for negroes 
escaping to Canada. He was a humanitarian, a lover of good 
government, the church, and the school ; public-spirited, of genial, 
sunny nature, beloved by everybody. His later years were passed 
in quietude until July Fifteenth, 1894, when he passed over to 
"the other shore," one of God's noblemen. 

Religiously, he was a devoted Universalist, but his humanitarian 
spirit embraced all creeds. He loved a Methodist or Presbyterian 
as fervently as a Universalist. He gave largely and cheerfully to 
churches of all denominations, for, like Abou Ben Adhem, he loved 
his fellow-man. 

Socially, his whole life was a benefaction to the county and the 
state. He made everybody about him, wherever he was, happier 
and better. The darkest night, the most tempestuous storm, the 
most piercing cold, could not prevent him serving his friends, and 
they were numberless, for he touched human life in Polk County 
in all its phases. For half a century his counsel was sought by 
leading men in the state in matters of public import, so widely 
known was his probity and honor. He was once wealthy, but he 
built and equipped school-houses, employed teachers, built churches, 
gave to good objects large sums — in fact, his whole life was a 
charity to do good. Through an unfortunate investment, he lost 
heavily, and died poor in worldly effects, but the richest man whose 
name is on the death-roll of the county or state — rich in true riches, 
an unsullied name, and possessing the reverence and affection of 
the people with whom he had lived. 

November Fifth, 1904. 




REV. THOMPSON BIRD 



REV. THOMPSON BIRD 

STANDING on a street corner, seeing the street cars, the arc 
and incandescent lights, the "devil wagon," the tall and stately 
marts of trade, in every direction the concomitants of a pros- 
perous, contented, enlightened and healthful municipality, the 
mind of the old-timer naturally harks back to the days when things 
were not thus ; to the early days and the struggles, privations and 
untoward experience thereto; to his coadjutors and co-workers who 
laid the foundation for this present superstructure, and he calls the 
roll of them. There was Alex. Scott, Doctor Brooks, Father Bird, 
Ezra Rathbun, R. L. Tidrick, Judge Rice, Jonathan Lyon, Judge 
Casady, Barlow Granger, "Billy" Moore, Esquire Michael, the 
Hippees, the Maishes, Captain Harry and J. M. Griffith, Judge 
McKay, Doctor Grimmel, Isaac Brandt, Isaac Cooper, Wesley 
Redhead, Judge McIIenry, Dan. Finch, Jeff. Polk, Ed. Clapp, Ira 
Cook, Lamp and Hoyt Sherman, W. H. Meacham, S. A. Robert- 
son, Conrad Youngerman, J. B. Stewart, Father Brazil, "Jim" 
Savery, R. W. Sypher, Captain West, Doctor Hull, C. D. Rein- 
king, Doctor Turner, L. Harbach, Frank Mills, Colonel Spofford, 
Madison Young, Frank Allen, Charley Good, Judge Williamson — 
all prominently identified with the origin, growth and prosperity 
of the city, and not only them, but their good wives as well, for be 
it known that upon them often fell trials, sacrifices, privations and 
burdens of pioneer life most grievously. Luxuries — even ordinary 
needs for housekeeping — were sadly wanting. Cooking was done 
in kettles and skillets, in fireplaces built of rough stone, mud and 
sticks ; furniture was scarce, and with hammer, saw and axe, from 
old boxes, slabs and timber, must be improvised tables, stools, 
benches and shelving. At times the flour and meal got short, the 
roads were bad, streams flooded, mills fifty to an hundred miles 
away. To get to them and return was a task of days and weeks. 
The only relief was the "hominy block," which consisted of a log 

Vol. I— (2). 17 



18 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

about four feet long, with one end dug out in shape of a drug- 
gist's mortar, and a pestle made of a stick with an iron wedge 
driven into one end to crush and grind the corn into meal. Meat 
abounded in wild game, and in season ducks could be gathered at 
Sherman Lake, where the old county fair ground was, at a pond 
and slough where the Rock Island depot now is, and at Dean's 
Lake near the packing houses. There are good housewives now 
living in luxurious homes in the city who have not forgotten the 
hominy block bread. Some of them may remember a certain big 
picnic at which there was but one loaf of wheat bread, all other 
bread being made from corn. 

They were sturdy, generous, industrious, frugal, honest, plain 
people, engaged in home making, but they builded better than they 
knew. Most of them have gone to their final rest, but they are 
represented yet by their children — vigorous, forceful business men 
of the city. Some of them are with us yet — honored, respected, 
and, with contentment, basking in the sunset of a life well spent. 

The writer feels assured that by common consent a distinctive 
place should be given Rev. Thompson Bird, or Father Bird, as he 
was familiarly and most reverently called, known and loved by 
everybody. He came here in 1847 as a missionary preacher of the 
Presbyterian Church. His field was the southern half of the state, 
traversing it generally on foot, preaching in the cabins of pioneers, 
sharing their frugal hospitality, their joys and sorrows. It was 
not uncommon for him to walk twenty miles to preach in some new 
settlement, and at one time he walked to Cedar Rapids, over one 
hundred and thirty miles, with blistered feet, to attend a meeting of 
the synod of the Church. He organized churches wherever he 
went, probably a greater number than any other person in the state. 
While in this work, he laid the foundation of and organized the 
first church of that denomination in the city, of which there were 
but six members. He at once set about building a place for 
worship. It was a laborious task, often saddened by the shadows 
of failure. The people were poor; contributions small and far 
between, but with these pittances, the selling of a portion of his 
library and other valuables, and with the aid of his estimable, 
cultured wife, who taught a private school, to get money for the 



EEV. THOMPSON BIRD 19 

building, after six years lie succeeded. It was a small, unpreten- 
tious structure, occupying the lot south of the present Western 
Union Telegraph office on Fourth Street, in which he served as 
pastor until it was burned, in 1867. 

The church building completed, a bell was needed. By a clever 
device it was secured. He had gathered a large collection of auto- 
graphs of prominent men of the country, and these he offered to 
Doctor Sprague, of Albany, New York, if he would provide the 
bell, which offer was accepted. It was not a large bell, but its 
tones were as sweet to the villagers as are now the chimes of Saint 
Paul's. It was melted and lost in the burning of the building. 

As the years passed, his physical powers weakened until, stricken 
with paralysis, he reached the end January Fourth, 1869. He was 
a lovable man, cultured, genial, charitable in all things, yet firm 
in his opinions, zealous ever in the advancement of Christianity, 
education and the upbuilding of society. He manifested great 
interest in civic affairs, and was one of the commissioners to form 
the first town charter and the first school district. He was a wise 
counselor, an exemplar of the best in manhood ; specially fond of 
children, and they of him. So it was he won the reverential title 
of "Father" from old and young. His impress upon the early 
formation of society was probably more indelible than that of any 
other man. It can be truly said that he, with Elder Nash and 
Father Brazil, were the fathers of the Church and founders of the 
religious element prevailing in the city to-day. In perpetuation of 
the memory of Father Bird, the city has given his name to one of 
the public schools. 

When dirt was cheap, he purchased the block between Locust, 
Third, Fourth and Center streets, for two hundred dollars, and 
built a log cabin thereon, adding thereto by his own hands — for 
everybody had to be a jack-of -all-trades — as his family increased. 
There he lived many years, to the end of his days. A portion of 
the field was cultivated, and the writer hereof has a vivid recollec- 
tion of one night during a severe thunderstorm, when it was so 
dark the way could be seen only when the lightning flashed, of 
going up Fourth Street, and at the corner of Locust tumbling over 
the rail fence among the potato vines. From the sale of building 



20 PIONEEES OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

lots and the rapid growth of the town, Father Bird became a 
wealthy man. 

No mention of him would be complete without reference to his 
wife and co-worker. As a school teacher for several years, she had 
much to do with moulding the character of the children, all who in 
after life bore testimony of the loveliness of her character and 
beneficence of her tutelage. In the social life of the community 
she was beloved, revered and known in her later years as Mother 
Bird. She went to her rest in 1901, having passed her ninetieth 
year. 

April Tenth, 1904. 




WILLIAM W. MOORE 



WILLIAM W. MOORE 

NO record of early days in Des Moines would be complete 
without mention of W. W. Moore, familiarly known to 
everybody in Polk County as "Billy." He came to the 
town when the Indians were here. 

He was born "All Fools' Day" — but he is not a fool — in Madi- 
son, Indiana, 1832. Shortly after, his parents moved to Franklin, 
Johnson County, Indiana. When eleven years old, he began busi- 
ness life as a clerk in the dry goods trade, with Wooster & Woods, 
for four dollars per month. The following year he enlisted with 
Henry Fox for twenty-five dollars per month. The third year he 
engaged with I. B. Whipple & Company, for thirty-five dollars a 
month, where he remained until 1847, when he was attacked with 
Western Fever, and came to Iowa, landing at Keokuk with three 
dollars and thirty-five cents in his pocket, and no baggage. He 
took the trail on foot to Oskaloosa, which he reached in good condi- 
tion, but without a cent — dead broke. His most pressing demand 
was that from an empty stomach. The first job available was table- 
waiting at the Kinsman Hotel, which he took and served two weeks 
for his board. 

While serving the hostelry he heard so much about Fort Des 
Moines, at "Raccoon Forks," he concluded it must be a good place 
for a young man with business intent, and at four o'clock on the 
morning of May Sixth, he set his face hitherward, arriving at 
"Uncle Tommy" Mitchell's, at Apple Grove, in the eastern part of 
the county, at eight o'clock in the evening of the same day. There 
he had a good night's rest and the proverbial hearty welcome of 
"Uncle Tommy," whom "Billy" says was "the best and most popu- 
lar man who ever lived in Polk County." 

The next day, at two o'clock, he hove into town, and ran up 
against the Des Moines River, with no way to get across it to the 
West Side except by swimming, or on the ferry-boat, the toll tariff 

21 



22 PIONEEKS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

on which was twenty-five cents. Searching his pockets, he found 
fifteen cents, all the money he had, the remainder of a tip he had 
received from a guest at the hotel in Oskaloosa. He sat down to 
commune with himself and the situation, but not long after, "Old 
Man" Fredericks, as he was called, who lived near Eising Sun, 
came along with a wagon, and "Billy" explained to him his pre- 
dicament, whereupon he was told to, "Get right into the wagon ; it 
shan't cost you a cent," which he did with the greatest alacrity. 

Soon after he landed on the West Side, while wandering about 
he fell in with another young fellow, who subsequently became the 
well-known and popular physician, W. H. Ward, now in Arizona, 
who was likewise "strapped." To emphasize his companionship, 
"Billy" invested his fifteen cents in "Cuba Six" cigars, and they 
went down by the riverside, sat down on the grass to enjoy a smoke. 
It being their primitive experience, the emesis properties of the 
tobacco soon got in their work, and a rebellious stomach kept them 
busy until after ten o'clock in the evening. As "Billy" put it, 
"We was two of the sickest kids imaginable." But it did not cure 
them, for they became inveterate smokers. 

"Billy's" next move was for bread and butter. B. F. Allen, or 
"Frank," as everybody called him, was running a dry goods store 
on Second Street, where all business was done, and wanted a clerk. 
He offered "Billy" twenty-five dollars, board and washing, per 
month, which was promptly accepted. 

On Sunday morning, "Billy" arose early, the stores were nearly 
all open, especially the "groceries" — they had no Sundays in those 
days at "The Forks ;" there were no churches, no preachers, and 
the day was usually passed in such amusements as could be impro- 
vised for the occasion. During the morning a man came in from 
the country who wanted some goods from the store — must have 
them. "Billy," ambitious to do things, took him in, sold him 
twenty dollars and fifteen cents' worth, put the money in his 
pocket, locked the store door, and joined the loungers around the 
"groceries." The amusement that day was a "hoss" race. The 
starting point was not far from the rear of the Iowa Loan and 
Trust Building, and the ending at the bluff near the Water Works. 
"Billy" joined the crowd to see the races. Monday morning he 



WILLIAM W. MOORE 23 

was on hand at the store early, and, with considerable show of 
pride, counted out the proceeds of his Sunday morning sale to 
Allen, and was explaining to him how it happened, when a fellow 
came in, congratulated "Billy" on his good luck Sunday, and asked 
how much he won. "Two hundred dollars," responded "Billy," 
without a quiver. Allen, who was somewhat of a churchman, 
looked at "Billy" rather sharply for a moment, and then said. 
"Keep it, but don't do it again. Invest it in town lots." 

"Billy's" first business venture was a drug store at the corner 
of Second and Market streets, and in the Star, he advertised "a 
choice lot of drugs, wines, brandies, candles, lard oil (kerosene 
and electric light was then unknown), brooms, fish and castor oil, 
by the steamboats Caleb Cope and Tormentor." He knew nothing 
of drugs, and he secured the services of Doctor Saunders to assist 
him. The doctor went through the drug stock, fixed the prices, 
and told "Billy" that in case he was absent, the price meant by the 
ounce ; if a liquid was wanted, measure it in an ounce vial. One 
day a man wanted eight ounces of quicksilver. "Billy" hustled 
around, found an eight-ounce vial, filled it and delivered it, remark- 
ing that it was "danged heavy stuff." 

When the doctor returned, he discovered the absence of the 
quicksilver, and asked what had become of it. 

"Sold it," said "Billy," "eight-ounce bottle full for eight 
ounces." 

"Thunder!" said the doctor. "Why, there was eight pounds 
of it." 

On another occasion, a man wanted a pound of soda. According 
to instructions, that the marked price was by the ounce, he charged 
one dollar and fifty cents for the soda, which cost five cents, but he 
never manifested any compunctions of conscience respecting the 
profit. 

He soon after concluded the drug business was not his forte. 
He went over to the corner of Second and Vine, opened a dry goods 
store, and hoisted the sign of "Hoosier Store." In those days the 
merchants did not have kodak-anti-Comstock pictures of feminine 
lingerie, alphabetical corsets, and cascaret tablets to illustrate their 
wares in the columns of the Star and Gazette; they used plain, 



24 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

homespun English. For climaxes, they resorted to poetry. "Billy" 
mounted his Pegasus, which limped a little in spots : 

"For Billy Moore is now on hand, 

With goods new, rich and rare, sir ; 
And cords of goods at his command, 

To make the people stare, sir. 
He has Dry Goods of the latest style, 

New Furs, Cloaks, Shawls and Laces, 
Beaver hats, trimmed in style to please the ladies — 

God bless their pretty faces. 
Sound the trumpet, beat the drum, 

From housetop and from steeple, 
For Billy Moore is now on hand, 

And bound to please the people." 

One day, in 1848, a fellow came into the store, and bantered 
him to buy the lot on Fourth Street, where the Western Union 
Telegraph office is. He did not want it ; it was too far away from 
business, but the fellow persisted, and "Billy," for a bluff, offered 
him a hand-me-down coat and pair of cowhide boots. He took the 
bluff, and gave a deed for the lot. It was the first property "Billy" 
bought in Des Moines. He sold it for fifteen hundred dollars. 

In 1852, business having moved westward, he purchased the 
southeast corner of Walnut and Fourth streets, extending to the 
alley east and south, for six hundred dollars. Reserving the corner, 
he sold the remainder for about twenty thousand dollars, and on 
what was supposed to be an Indian mound, erected a two-story 
frame, fronting on Walnut street, and re-opened the "Hoosier 
Store," where he remained several years, the leading dry goods 
dealer in town. In the early Seventies he moved the store east, and 
on the corner erected "Moore's Hall," a three-story brick, the first 
exclusive amusement hall in the city. There Patti gave her first 
"farewell" concert, and there "Honest" Emma Abbott began her 
operatic career, when she was so small a dry goods box had to be 
provided for her to stand on to be seen. Later, it was remodeled 
and became "Moore's Opera House," and "Billy" turned his atten- 
tion to public amusement. When other and more pretentious 
theaters came to compete for public patronage, the opera house was 
closed. For a few years a museum and vaudeville show was con- 



WILLIAM W. MOORE 25 

ducted in it, known as "Wonderland." At present, "Billy" retains 
only an office room in the building, the remainder being rented. 
He is a member of the National Association of Bill Posters, which, 
with swapping yarns with old-time visitors, occupies his time. 

His marriage was a notable event in those early days. It was 
solemnized in the home of L. D. Winchester, the first brick dwell- 
ing house in the town. It stood where the Valley National Bank 
now is, at Fourth Street and Court Avenue. Elder Nash was the 
officiating clergyman, as he and Father Bird were, by common 
consent, given the monopoly of that important function in those 
early days. The Elder also did the marrying for "Billy's" four 
daughters. 

April Seventeenth, 1904. 



THE 

RK 

A»ur, IlHen, 

1& 





JUDGE P. M. CASADY 



JUDGE P. M. CASADY 

ONE of the most conspicuous landmarks of the city, as it were, 
is Phineas M. Casady, or "Judge," as he is familiarly 
called. He arrived here June Eleventh, 1846. The outlook 
at that time, to a young man on business bent, was not attractive. 
Civilization had scarcely begun. A few log cabins were scattered 
here and there — the heritage left by the military garrison. They 
stood, principally, along the two rivers ; those along the Des Moines 
were called, "Des Moines Row;" those along the Raccoon, "Coon 
Row." These cabins were rented from Uncle Sam on such terms 
as could be agreed upon with his agents, until more commodious 
quarters could be prepared, and with the increase of newcomers, it 
was often necessary to "double up." This was a little inconvenient, 
but everybody was neighborly and helped to make life pleasant. 

The Judge deposited his belongings at Martin (X) Tucker's 
tavern — Tucker signed his name with an X because he couldn't do 
otherwise — the only first-class tavern iD town. It was the garrison 
blacksmith shop, which he had improved, as he announced to the 
public, "by having run an avenue through it, and having put up a 
condition to it, he would be able to detain the public in a more 
hostile manner." It stood near where the old Fort Dodge depot 
now is. 

The Judge put out his sign as a lawyer on one of the cabins on 
'Coon Row. Law practice in those days was unlike that of to-day. 
Courts were few and far between. Lawyers rode the circuit of a 
hundred miles, had good times, and, despite frequent legal tilts, 
formed social ties strong and lasting. Perhaps not so well versed 
in legal technicalities as are the lawyers of to-day, they were well 
grounded in common sense and exact justice, which is the founda- 
tion of good law. They did not get very much pay for their services, 
either. Money was scarce, and the people were poor. A fee of five 
dollars cash was uncommon. The Judge says he once had a case 

27 



28 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

of considerable importance to a man twenty-five miles away. Start- 
ing early in the morning on horseback, he went, tried and won the 
case, and returned home after midnight, for which the man gave 
him fifteen dollars, the largest fee he got in those days, and which 
to-day, for like service, would not be less than one hundred dollars. 

Plain, conservative, unostentatious and courteous, the Judge 
quickly won the esteem and confidence of the public, and a large 
practice. He was the second attorney admitted to the Bar of Polk 
County. 

In January following, Doctor T. K. Brooks resigned the office 
of Postmaster, to devote his entire time to his profession, and the 
Judge was appointed his successor. The office, which was down 
near the Starch Works, was removed to his law office. The postal 
business was not very extensive, as he often carried the mail in his 
hat and delivered it to the proper persons as he met them — a sort 
of rural mail delivery. The salary was not sufficient for very 
sumptuous living, and in 1848 he resigned the postmastership and 
formed a partnership with R. L. Tidrick in a land and real estate 
business, which continued successfully until 1853. 

In 1848, Casady was elected Senator, to represent the counties 
of Polk, Marion, Dallas, Jasper, Marshall, Story, Boone, Warren, 
and Madison in the Legislature. He served through the second 
and third sessions, declining a nomination for the fourth. 

As Senator, his broad, conservative, practical views on all public 
questions; his genial, courteous bearing, made him an influential 
leader and director of the legislative mind. He was not an orator, 
but a plain commoner, winning success by logical, convincing, 
"heart-to-heart" talks. He aided very largely in laying the founda- 
tion for the civil government of the state, and in forming the state 
Constitution. He was one of the committee that formed and named 
nearly all the counties of the state. 

He was always true and loyal to his own county and town, and, 
with a score of localities vigorously pitted against him, he secured 
the adoption of measures whereby this city became the Capital of 
the state. 

While he was Senator, the rush of immigration, land seekers, 
homesteaders and speculators became immense, and the establish- 



JUDGE P. M. CASADY 29 

ment of a government land office was a necessity for the proper 
transaction of business. So soon as this became apparent, a score 
of cities and towns were aspirants for its location. At each session 
of the Legislature the Judge secured the adoption of a memorial to 
the Government for the establishment of a Land Office, and that it 
be located at Des Moines. 

After retiring from the Senate, he turned his attention to busi- 
ness affairs generally. 

In 1851, he assisted in organizing the First Baptist Church, 
was one of the charter members, and was elected Trustee of the 
Society. The same year, he, with Father Bird and Lamp Sherman, 
was elected to form a charter for the town, and under the provisions 
of that charter he was elected a member of the first council, which 
laid the foundation for Des Moines' municipal government. Their 
work was purely patriotic ; they got no pay. He was again elected 
to the third council. 

In 1854, he was nominated for Judge of the District Court. 
The district was large, and as the Whigs and Know Nothings 
were getting pretty thick, he took the stump. Marshall County 
was in the throes of a county-seat war, and to checkmate the Know 
Nothings, he had to resort to a little tactics ; so he rode up there. 
The Court House was a log building, part of which was used for a 
stable. He was received very cordially, his horse put into a stall 
and fed, while he dined at the hostelry. During the visit, he and 
Frank Anson, a good friend and father of the noted baseball player, 
got their heads together and fixed up the county fences. The Judge 
came home and was elected by a good majority, but soon after his 
election he was appointed Receiver of Public Money for the United 
States Land Office. The compensation being better and more cer- 
tain, he resigned the judgeship without holding a single hearing of 
court. 

In 1853, with Hoyt Sherman and Tidrick, he erected the Sher- 
man Block, at the corner of Third Street and Court Avenue, for a 
State Bank and business offices, the third floor being used as a 
public hall. Subsequently it was used for post office and county 
offices, while the Court House was being built; then, for several 
years, as the City Hall. 



30 PIONEEKS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

In 1857, the country was flooded with notes of wild-cat banks, 
having no reliability and some of them no accessible habitat. Busi- 
ness was demoralized; nobody knew whether a five-dollar note 
received one day would buy a meal of victuals the next morning. 
The quickest riddance of them was the aim of those who got them. 
To give greater stability to the money market, the Legislature 
authorized corporations with banking privileges, and, in accordance 
therewith, the State Bank of Iowa was organized, with eight 
branches, and the Judge was elected one of the directors of the Des 
Moines branch. The bank at once was favorably received, and 
rendered good service until Uncle Sam took control of monetary 
affairs with his national bank system, when the State Bank was 
merged into the National State Bank, May, 1865. 

In 1859, the Judge formed a law partnership with Jefferson S. 
Polk and General M. M. Crocker, making one of the strongest firms 
in practice. He was engaged in law and real estate business until 
1864, when, having acquired a competency, he retired from active 
business, though occasionally giving aid to start some new enter- 
prise, as in 1871 he was one of the organizers of the City Water 
Works Company, and in 1873 the State Printing Company, to 
furnish "patent insides" for newspapers, and now the Western 
Newspaper Union. 

He was one of the charter members of Ebenezer Encampment, 
Independent Order of Odd Fellows. 

In 1866 was organized the Equitable Life Insurance Company 
of Iowa. The Judge was elected its first President, and held the 
place until 1872. It is recognized as one of the most substantial 
institutions in the state. 

In July, 1875, the Des Moines Bank was organized by Simon 
Casady and Elwood Gatch. In January, 1883, the Union Savings 
Bank was organized, and in October, the Des Moines Savings Bank 
was incorporated, and succeeded to the business of the two above 
named banks. In 1895, Judge Casady was elected President, and 
still holds the place, and may be found there every day, in peaceful 
contentment, ready for a social chat, or to swap yarns with an old- 
timer. "Hank" Anson dropped in on him a few days ago, and 
their hilarity nearly upset the bank boys. 



JUDGE P. M. CASADY 31 

In all his acts as lawyer, senator or minor public official, the 
Judge was ever actuated by the consciousness of responsibility and 
duty to the public, and it may be truly said that no one did more 
than he to aid the county and town during their formative period, 
or to secure the heritage we possess as the State Capital and a city 
of financial, social and educational distinction. 

May Eighth, 1904. 




RYI 

'■-n. 





ELDER JOHN A. NASH 



ELDER J. A. NASH 

TO the zealous, philanthropic labor of Father Bird, Elder 
Nash and Father Brazil rightfully belongs the founding of 
the religious and educational element in the social life of this 
city, as evidenced by the ninety-six houses for religious worship 
and the sixty-two schools. 

Rev. John A. Nash, or "Elder," as he was familiarly called, 
came to Des Moines January Third, 1851, as a Baptist missionary 
preacher, fresh from college, and made his home in a log cabin 
where Walter Reed's harness store now is, on Walnut Street. The 
first Sabbath after his arrival he was invited to preach by Father 
Bird, and then began that strong and unusual friendship so notable 
in their after lives. It was indeed remarkable. Always united in 
thought and deed for the religious and educational advancement of 
the community, they walked or rode together over their circuit, 
heartily greeted everywhere. As an instance of this fellowship, on 
one occasion when Father Bird was going away to be absent several 
days, he wrote the Elder as follows : 

"Rev. J. A. Nash, Dear Brother — In case of death of my wife 
during my absence, I wish you to conduct the funeral service, with 
such assistance as you may select. My lot in the cemetery is Num- 
ber One, in the northeast corner. 

"Yours, as ever, 

"Thompson Bikd. 
"Des Moines, October Twentieth, 1865." 

Quite singularly, the good woman outlived them both. 

The diversity of their belief on some doctrinal points was often 
the source of quaint humor, though both were firmly grounded in 
their faith. Once, they were going away some distance on horse- 
back, and, arriving at a stream which had been filled by hard rains, 
they stopped to consider, when the Elder said : 

Vol. I— (3). 33 



34 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

"Brother Bird, you are better acquainted with this stream than 
I am ; suppose you go over first." 

"That is the first time I ever knew a Baptist to attempt to force 
a Presbyterian into a stream," said the other, with a smile. 

At another time, when departing from an evening meeting dur- 
ing a heavy downpour, the Elder said : 

"Brother Bird, it is raining hard." 

"I always supposed you were not afraid of water," was the 
quiet response. 

Immediately on his arrival, the Elder began the formation of a 
Church, and January Eighteenth, with a few of his faith, at the 
log cabin of John Reichenecker, was organized the First Baptist 
Church. He was elected pastor, and plans were formed to secure 
a meeting-house. In 1848, the County Commissioners donated a 
lot on Mulberry Street, between Fifth and Sixth streets, where 
Shank's undertaking rooms now are, for a Mission Baptist Church, 
conditioned that a building of frame, brick or stone, not less than 
twenty-four by thirty feet, be erected thereon before January, 1851. 
The conditions having failed, and to prevent a reversion of the gift, 
William McKay purchased the lot and deeded it to the Church, and 
measures were at once taken to build a house. The membership 
was small, and generally poor. Funds came in small contributions ; 
brick had to be made by hand, and lumber hauled from Burlington. 
Progress was slow. The Elder worked like a laborer, but never 
faltered nor lost faith. Optimism was his peculiar trait. He met 
the future always with a smile. Finally, after many delays and 
discouragements, the building was completed in 1856. The seats 
were plain pine boards with straight backs, and oil lamps were used 
for lighting. 

The membership increased so that in 1866 a larger edifice 
became imperative. The old site was impracticable ; and, as with 
all the others, the church was kept busy getting away from the 
encroachments of business and trade. A location was selected at 
the corner of Eighth and Locust streets, and a large, fine building 
erected, but before its completion, the Elder resigned the pastorate 
to devote his time to educational work. 

In 1853, he began a select school, to give a higher education 
than could be obtained in the public schools. There were no school- 



ELDER J. A. NASH 35 

houses. The County Commissioners granted the use of a room in 
the Court House, and there Des Moines Academy, the first high 
school in the town, was held, until 1855. The school at once 
became overcrowded and popular. It was subsequently removed 
to Ninth Street, just south of University Avenue, and finally to 
the corner of Seventh and Center streets, under the title of Forest 
Home Seminary. In 1863, Elder ISTash withdrew from the school, 
its management passing to Leonard Brown, until 1866, when the 
school was closed. 

In May, 1855, at a meeting of the State Conference of the 
Lutheran Church, it was decided to establish a college for that 
denomination. A site was purchased on Pleasant Street, between 
Fifteenth and Sixteenth, where Younker's residence now is, and a 
building commenced. The corner-stone of what was to be Iowa 
Central College was laid May Twenty-third, 1855. Money and 
material were scarce, progress slow, and after many delays and 
reverses, the project was abandoned, and Elder Nash got possession 
of the property, through purchase by the Baptists of the state, 
completed the building, and in November, 1865, opened the Uni- 
versity of Des Moines. He devoted his time and talent, as Presi- 
dent, Professor, Teacher, Solicitor, or in any capacity, to aid in 
establishing the institution on a firm foundation, and lived to see 
it fully equipped and affiliated with the University of Chicago, a 
notable testimonial of his labor and zeal. It is now Des Moines 
College. 

The Prospect Park Land Company, owning a large tract of land 
which had been annexed to the city on the north, donated a block 
at State and Ninth streets for a college site, and the Elder at once 
embraced the opportunity to merge his school into an institution 
of wider scope. 

If solitude was deemed essential to a successful school, the loca- 
tion, at the outset, was certainly isolated enough, for northward 
was open, unoccupied space to Devil's Gap, a wierd, uncanny place 
suggestive of spooks and goblins ; on the east was dense forest, and 
the young women students were wont to tell of dexterous exploits 
in chasing will-o'-the-wisps over the field to the Gap on murky 
evenings. A few years, however, changed the scene to one of beau- 
tiful homes. 



36 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

In 1852, the Elder was elected a member of the first Town 
Council, with Father Bird, and at the first meeting he presented a 
motion that he "be discharged from serving in the Council of the 
village," whereupon a member facetiously moved to amend the 
motion by changing the word "village" to "city," but the Elder 
would not have it so, declaring he would not serve. His resigna- 
tion was accepted, and Judge Casady was elected to fill the vacancy. 

The Elder was much interested in horticulture, and the second 
year after his arrival occupied a tract on Sycamore Street (now 
Grand Avenue), between Fifth and Sixth streets, where the Catho- 
lic School now is, extending north to Bird's Run and east to Isaac 
Cooper's lot, where the Water Works office is, on which was a 
nursery of fruit and ornamental trees and shrubs. Along the 
street he planted the row of Maple trees, which grew to immense 
size, and for years were the pride of the city, but, like his nursery, 
they succumbed to the ruthless hand of progress. 

Abandoning the nursery, the Elder purchased a tract at Ninth 
Street and Forest Avenue, where he established an orchard and 
nursery and erected a commodious dwelling, where he lived to the 
end of his days. 

In 1869, he was elected County Superintendent of Schools, 
served one year and resigned. 

As he and Father Bird did all the marrying in the early days, 
it was natural that they should be recognized at the anniversary of 
those events. December Twenty-fifth, 1875, "Billy" Moore, Lamp 
Sherman and Doctor W. II. Ward celebrated their silver weddings. 
"Billy" was married by the Elder, Sherman by Father Bird, and 
Ward by Rev. Sanford Haines. The Old Settlers' Association 
gave each couple an elegant silver service set, three pioneer 
judges, Casady, Williamson and Phillips, making the presentation 
addresses, Elder Nash responding for the recipients, Father Bird 
and Elder Haines having deceased. 

In 1884, the Elder was persuaded, against his wishes, to permit 
his name to go on the Prohibition Party ticket as a candidate for 
Congress, and though defeated, he ran ahead of the party. 

While the life of the pioneer preacher was usually somber, there 
was sometimes a flash of sunshine in it. The Elder was wont to 



ELDER J. A. NASH 37 

tell this on himself : He was going to fill an appointment to preach 
in one of the settlements, and reached a double log cabin at night. 
He asked permission of the settler to stay over night, which was 
cheerfully granted. A wedding was on, the cabin was filled with 
guests, some of whom must stay over night, having come some dis- 
tance. On disposing of them, there was left a small room just 
large enough for a bed. The door, also, could not be opened only 
sufficient for a person to squeeze through. With the smallness of 
room there was also a shortness of bedclothes. There was but one 
sheet on the bed. The Elder accepted the situation with thanks and 
his usual smile, turned in and slept soundly until early the next 
morning, when, before daylight, he was awakened by a shaking of 
his shoulder, and tugging of the sheet on his bed. Arousing him- 
self, he said, with great surprise: "What is it? Is breakfast 
ready ?" "No, but I must have this sheet to set the table with," 
said the hostess, as she gave it a final jerk and carried it away. 

He was very popular with the little folk, and greatly enjoyed 
their Sunday School picnics, on which occasion he was a boy with 
the boys. When going to a picnic, the average boy takes his appetite 
with him, and the mothers often declared they could not under- 
stand how a boy could eat all day at a picnic and not suffer the 
consequences. When the time for lunch came, the Elder would 
say to the youngsters: "The boy who eats the most sandwiches 
will get the largest piece of pie." When they got through eating 
sandwiches, there was no room for pie, which explained the mystery 
to the mothers. 

Resulting from an accident while attempting to board a moving 
train, he died in February, 1890, at the age of seventy-five years, 
leaving a record of having built more churches than any other man 
in the state, and the impress of a beautiful life everywhere. To 
perpetuate his memory, his name has been given to a public park 
on the block north of his late residence. 

May Fifteenth, 1904. 




REV. J. F. BRAZIL 



HEV. J. F. BRAZIL 

IN 1854, Bishop Matthias Loras, of Dubuque, purchased two lots 
at the corner of Sixth and Locust streets, paying eight hundred 

dollars therefor, and donated them to the Catholic Church. G. 
A. Plathe was sent here as a parish priest. In 1856, two small 
frame buildings were erected on those lots for church and school 
purposes. 

Father Plathe was a benevolent, courteous, conscientious man, 
and entered upon his labors with zeal and was highly esteemed. He 
was physically frail, the labor was hard, his strength failed, he 
relinquished the field, and was succeeded, in 1860, by John F. 
Brazil, or " Father" Brazil, as everybody called him, a grand, good 
man, who exerted a powerful influence for the uplifting of not only 
his own parishioners, but society generally. Though firm in his 
religious faith, he was tolerant toward all that would develop his 
theory of good government — education, industry and sobriety. He 
was kind, courteous, affable, energetic, public-spirited, and always 
diligent in advancing the welfare of his church, his schools and the 
city. A notable instance occurred during the memorable contest 
in 1870 to prevent the larceny of the Capital of the State, in which 
for once Des Moines was united, for it was her against the State. 
After years of struggle and strife with rival localities to secure to 
Des Moines the Seat of Government, a proposition came before the 
Legislature to provide funds for the erection of a new State House. 
A formidable opposition developed, which evidently expected that 
by defeating the measure the removal of the Capital to some other 
locality would be possible. The bill was in charge of Hon. John 
A. Kasson, who fully understood that the subject demanded the 
exercise of his best judgment, skill and diplomacy. There was 
intense enthusiasm in both houses. By good management, he 
worked the bill to a third reading in the lower house (it had passed 
the Senate), beyond which he dare not attempt to go, for he dis- 

39 



40 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

covered that with every member in his seat he could get but one 
or two majority. For three weeks he waited a favorable oppor- 
tunity to fix the day for a final vote. One of the men he relied 
upon was inclined to dodge, and on the morning of that day he 
discovered he was not present, and was told that enemies of the bill 
had, the night previous, taken advantage of the bibulous inclina- 
tions of the man, and attempted to put him in a somnolent condi- 
tion, to last several hours. Knowing that Father Brazil had great 
influence with the man, he hurriedly sent a messenger and carriage 
to him, requesting him to find the man and bring him to the State 
House at once, and not let him get out of his sight. The good 
father responded instantly. 

He found the man down by 'Coon River, sitting on a log, evi- 
dently ruminating over the deceitfulness of the liquor dispensed 
in this city, and shortly after had him in his seat on the floor of the 
House, just as the final roll call was being made. Everybody was 
keeping tally, the clerk gave ample pause for responses, and when 
it was ended there was a tie — there was one vote short — the man 
on the log had not answered to the call. Father Brazil, standing 
behind him, seized him by the collar, exclaiming: "Stand up, sir; 
be a man, and vote." He arose and voted "Aye." The victory 
was won, and the shouts and cheers that followed shook the build- 
ing to the foundation. That ended the Seat of Government fight. 

Father Brazil quickly discovered after his arrival here that his 
charge must yield to the progress of events, and, with excellent 
foresight and judgment, he purchased half a block at the corner of 
High Street and Sixth Avenue, a tract at the corner of Sixth and 
Grand avenues (then Sycamore Street) and a large tract at Fourth 
and Ascension streets, and awaited future demands. 

In 1864, he displaced the frame buildings at Sixth Avenue and 
Locust Street with a brick edifice, now stores and offices, which was 
dedicated as St. Ambrose Church. It was also used for school 
purposes until 1872, when a three-story brick school building and a 
residence adjoining for teachers at Sixth and Grand Avenues were 
erected, and the foundation laid in a small way for the present 
magnificent Mercy Hospital, at Fourth and x\scension streets. 

Father Brazil gave to his school special care. Often I saw him 
going about the streets, and, finding children idling or playing 



REV. J. F. BRAZIL 41 

"hookey," he would march them to the schoolhouse with a repri- 
mand they did not forget. 

In 1891, the magnificent stone church was completed at Sixth 
Avenue and High Street ; the hospital, after several enlargements, 
lavishly equipped, was completed in 1894, but Father Brazil did 
not live to enjoy the fruition of his hopes and ambition ; he died 
suddenly in September, 1885, at near the noon of life, widely 
mourned. But the churches, schools, hospitals and many other 
beneficent things he founded, cherished and labored for, are elo- 
quent testimonials, not only to the two thousand communicants of 
his church, but to the community at large, of his noble character 
and spirited interest in the welfare and betterment of the com- 
munity in which he lived. 

As the governing head of his parish, he ruled with firm hand. 
He would shake the plate before a member of his congregation if 
he did not contribute what he thought he should. And yet this 
dominant trait in his character was accepted by his parishioners 
with reverential spirit, for they knew he was always striving for 
their advancement and improvement. 

May Fifteenth, 1904. 



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DANIEL 0. FINCH 



DANIEL O. FINCH 

DANIEL O. FINCH, or "Dan," as old-timers knew him best- 
in the early days everybody was called by his "front" name 
— came to Des Moines in 1853, and joined Curtis Bates in 
the law and banking business, their office being on Second Street, 
nearly all stores and offices then being on that street near 'Coon 
Point. He was one of the foremost lawyers in the state, his civil 
and criminal practice extending far and wide, the latter being 
usually for the "under dog in the fight." He was a natural orator, 
genial, courteous, alert, humorous, convivial and fond of society. 
He at once became an important personage in the body politic. 

In 1854, P. M. Casady having resigned as District Judge imme- 
diately after his election, he recommended "Dan" to Governor 
Hempstead as his successor, but the Governor appointed C. J. 
McFarland, of Boone County, a very eccentric man, ostensibly on 
the ground that McFarland received the next highest vote in the 
convention which nominated Casady, but "Dan's" friends claimed 
it was because McFarland could control the most votes for the 
Governor in his race for Congressman. "Dan" said nothing. 

In 1857, he was nominated State Senator, and was defeated by 
a very small majority. He ran far ahead of his party ticket, receiv- 
ing one hundred fifty votes on the East Side in the Whig stronghold 
of Lee Township. 

He was the leading attorney for the Des Moines River Land 
Company in the memorable extended litigation, disputes and neigh- 
borhood disturbances among settlers, resulting in a most deplorable 
state of affairs. The trouble arose from the vacillating and con- 
flicting decisions of the Government Land Department at "Wash- 
ington respecting grants of land made to the State of Iowa under 
an Act of Congress in 1846 for the improvement of the Des Moines 
River by a slack water system of locks and dams. By that act 
every alternate section of land within five miles of the river, from 

43 



44 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

its mouth to Raccoon Forks, was donated for this improvement. 
The state began to make the improvement, but in 1854 got sick of 
the job and sold out to the River Navigation and Railroad Com- 
pany, who agreed to complete the work, and Congress transferred 
the grant to the state, which was to^ transfer the land to the com- 
pany as the work progressed. In the progress of events, the com- 
pany claimed that the grant extended to the north line of the state, 
and the Commissioner of the Land Office so decided, but was over- 
ruled by the Secretary of the Interior, and the question was bandied 
between the Land Department, the courts, the state and the com- 
pany, and finally the right was vested in the company. Prior to 
this claim of extension, the United States, and the state also, had 
disposed of land to settlers which was within this grant, above 
Raccoon Forks, and on which they made homes and improved 
farms, and when the River Land Company attempted to oust them, 
the trouble began, for the settlers could not see the difference 
between a legal and moral right. That the State of Iowa was most 
outrageously cheated in the deal there can be no doubt. Felix G. 
Clark, for many years Register of the Government Land Office 
here, and whose knowledge of land laws surpassed that of any 
official at Washington, said to me one day: "There," putting his 
finger on one of the Government field maps, "are over nine thou- 
sand acres that River Land Company got they had no more right 
to than you have to put your hand in my pocket and take my 
money. If I wanted to homestead a farm, I would go there and 
take it, and I would defy the company to get it away from me." 

The energy with which Dan served his clients came near ending 
his days on one occasion. The trouble among settlers had got into 
court at Fort Dodge. At the hearing, the Court House was crowded 
to the doors, the excitement was intense, and there was evidently 
bad blood present. The evidence had been closed, all the attorneys 
had made their arguments except "Dan," who began his just after 
dark, when immediately the lights were extinguished and a row 
was on. "Dan," quickly comprehending the situation, got away to 
his hotel and escaped the bodily assault intended on him. Securing 
two revolvers, he went back to finish his argument, but the judge 
had wisely adjourned court for a week. 



DANIEL O. FINCH 45 

These cases were of a class wherein his conscience rebelled 
against his professional duty to his client, for "Dan" was the very- 
soul of honor and justice. 

In 1854, Curtis Bates, editor of the Star, was nominated for 
Governor, to run against Grimes, the Whig candidate, and, that he 
might devote his time to the campaign, "Dan" was selected to edit 
the paper, he being a politician in all that the name implies, but he 
soon concluded that ink-slinging was not his forte. He resigned, 
and soon after the Star twinkled out. 

He was a leader in the Democratic party, and an orator unsur- 
passed in the state. He was a delegate to the National Convention 
in 1862, 1864 and 1868, and President of the State Convention 
in 1876. 

He was very successful before a jury. His descriptive powers 
and wonderful use of language would often secure him a verdict 
against the law and facts, hence he was the popular attorney of 
defendants in criminal cases, but he was not a pettifogger nor a 
shyster. 

He was a special favorite of Judge McFarland, the like of whom 
was never seen on the bench in this state. He was a rugged, uncon- 
ventional man, a good lawyer, had a keen sense of exact justice, 
with a heart in the right place, but of gross, bibulous habits and 
given to swearing, like the army in Flanders, regardless of place or 
persons. His decisions were often appealed from, more because 
of his peculiarities than otherwise, but were rarely reversed. 

At one time "Dan" was defending a criminal I will name Smith, 
who was convicted by the jury, whereupon the judge at once sen- 
tenced him to pay a fine and be imprisoned in the county jail for 
a term. "Dan" arose and suggested to the court that she — the 
judge always called his court a "she" — had made an error. "The 
statute provides," said he, "that the penalty shall be a fine or 
imprisonment, not both." 

The judge looked at "Dan" a moment, and, pointing to the 
jail, retorted : "Daniel, do you see that building over there ?" 
"Dan" replied that he did. 

"Well, take your seat," said the judge; and "Dan" subsided. 
The next morning, on opening court, the judge said: "Mr. 
Sheriff, bring that man Smith into court." He was brought in, 



46 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

much to the surprise of "Dan," who could not imagine what was 
coming next. 

"Mr. Smith," said the judge, "I have changed my mind and 
concluded to change your sentence to imprisonment, and remit the 
fine ; for if I fine you and let you go, I'll be d — d if I would know 
where to find you when I wanted you." 

On another occasion, one Rain was accused of stealing six hun- 
dred dollars from Taylor Pierce, a prominent early settler, who 
for many years was City Clerk and Auditor, and, in fact, practi- 
cally ran the whole town government. He was an Indian trader, 
spoke their language fluently, and the Tama County Musquakies 
always made him a visit when they came to the city. As I could 
not understand the inconsistency of names here when I came to 
the city — the city was called a city of monks, one river the same, 
and another river the Raccoon — when Indian names were much 
more musical and applicable, I asked Taylor to give me the Indian 
names of the two rivers, and he said the Indians called the 'Coon 
"As-e-po-lo," accent on the last syllable, which means the raccoon, 
or "As-e-po-lo-sepo," the terminal "sepo" meaning river. The Des 
Moines was called "Ke-o-sau-qua," which means dark, black, inky, 
as the water usually had that appearance in the Spring and Fall, 
when they hunted along its banks, caused by drainage from the 
prairies burned over and covered with charred, blackened debris 
of grass and weeds. Taylor said he once met a band of Fox 
Indians one hundred miles north from Des Moines, who were 
hunting, and, asking them where they were going, they replied, 
"Up Ke-o-sau-qua-sepo." Sometimes they would be headed towards 
Des Moines, and their answer would be, "Posse [pony] puckachee 
[going] Asepolo," meaning that they and their ponies were going 
to the Raccoon, as they always called The Fort. 

But, to get back to my subject. When the hearing had been 
closed, the judge told the jury to retire to their room and prepare 
their verdict. They started, when "Dan" laid before the judge 
some instructions and requested that they be given the jury. 

"Hold on, jury! Wait a minute," said the judge. Running 
his eye hastily over the papers, and brushing them aside : "Go on, 
gentlemen, to your room ; (turning to "Dan") he is guilty as h — 1." 



DANIEL O. FINCH 47 

The jury returned a verdict of "guilty," and the judge sent him 
to the pen for five years. "Dan" immediately asked leave to file a 
motion. 

"Daniel, do you see that blue house over there (the jail) ? Sit 
down, or I'll send you there in five minutes." "Dan" sat down. 

On another occasion, "Dan" and John A. Kasson were stump- 
ing the Congressional District during a hot political campaign, in 
joint debate, as opposing candidates. They rode together in the 
same buckboard ; ate and slept together at hotels. The temperature 
was torrid, it being mid-Summer. At one hotel, during the night, 
Kasson discovered an extensive system of blood-sucking going on 
all over his anatomy, and, bounding out of the bed, he seized "Dan" 
and, giving him a shake, said : "Get up, Dan, or the bedbugs will 
eat you up." 

"Dan" opened his eyes, muttered in sepulchral tones : "Where 
ignorance is bliss, 'tis folly to be wise," then turned over and went 
to sleep. 

"Dan" is still living, but has retired from active business.* 

May Twenty-second, 1904. 



*Died in San Francisco, November Twenty-sixth, 1906. 




BARLOW GRANGER 



BARLOW GRANGER 

BARLOW GRANGER— not to know of Barlow is to deny 
one's citizenship — came to Des Moines with a friend named 
Jones (before the flood of 1849) to grow up with the country. 
After looking over the town a couple of days, they concluded they 
could do better, and started away. About two miles out, on the 
bluff overlooking Des Moines River, like Lot's wife, they stopped 
and looked back. Though Barlow was never accused of sestheticism 
nor the pulchritudinous, he was pleased with the surrounding 
scenery and the prospective resources. They came back, and went 
into the real estate and land warrant business. Barlow, with great 
expectations — for both were in an impecunious way — selected a 
spot near where they halted on the bluff for a future suburban 
home, and Jones selected what is now Terrace Hill, the home of 
Fred M. Ilubbell. Soon after, however, Jones joined the vast 
caravan then wending its way through this section to the California 
gold fields. 

As business was not very brisk, Barlow added law to his reper- 
toire. Though not pretending to be a full-fledged lawyer, he 
believed all things are possible to him who wills. He had gradu- 
ated from a printing oflice in a large Eastern city, which is a better 
educational institution for a young man with all-round purposes 
than most of the colleges. 

Lawyers in those days did not have very extensive libraries. 
When going over the circuit, a few books, a clean shirt and pocket 
handkerchief, a bit of lunch, a plug of tobacco, and a bottle of 
"something else" stored in a bag, and lashed to the saddle, was the 
usual outfit. 

In April, 1849, the Democrats concluded their party needed a 
newspaper, and Curtis Bates, a lawyer with political aspirations, 
offered to become sponsor for the cost of an outfit. Barlow pur- 
chased a press and other material at Iowa City, Bates indorsing 

Vol. I— (4). 49 



50 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

his paper, and, after many delays and divers obstructions in Skunk 
River bottoms, that holy terror of teamsters, stage drivers, and 
emigrants, causing more profanity than any other spot in the state, 
the fixtures arrived here, and the first number of the Star was 
issued June Twenty-sixth, 1849, from one of the double log bar- 
rack buildings on 'Coon Row, near the "Point." The second num- 
ber did not appear until the last week in August, as the man who 
went to Keokuk for paper was taken sick with a fever and did not 
get back. 

It was a seven-column paper ; theoretically, its price was two 
dollars a year, cash in advance, but practically, at the convenience 
of the subscriber, in dubious, stump-tail, wild-cat money, old rags, 
hen fruit and cord-wood. 

The following Winter was very severe, snow was three to five 
feet deep, the winds blew in through the log chinkings, all over 
the office, and kettles of hot coals had to be kept under the press to 
warm the ink and rollers. The conditions were discouraging to an 
ambitious young man, and at the end of the year, finding that the 
paper interfered with his more lucrative affairs, Barlow abandoned 
it, satisfied with hebdomadal glory, and soon after the Star passed 
into gloom, but it scintillated brilliantly while it existed. Barlow 
was popular, and his paper was welcomed heartily by the entire 
community. He didn't have reporters — didn't need any — he knew 
everybody, their business, and all their family and social affairs. 
He took the field for Tom Benton and the Wilmot Proviso, lam- 
basted the Whigs, and the slack-water-navigation-dams nuisance, 
regardless of style or diction. 

Resuming the practice of law, he advertised his business thusly : 

BARLOW 

ATTORNEY AND COUNSELOR AT LAW 

GRANGER 

SOLICITOR IN CHANCERY 
COURT HOUSE FORT DES MOINES 

Barlow attends to all business in his line, 
and Granger to some that ain't. 



BAKLOW GRANGER 51 

One of his first clients was a man named Robinson, who had 
made a claim and put up a cabin before the official survey was 
made, and when the survey was made, his cabin was just across 
the line on a claim made by one Daily. He came to consult Barlow, 
who told him the law was against him ; that in a law suit Daily 
would hold the cabin. He was greatly worried, and insisted that 
as a lawyer Barlow could find some way to get out of it. Barlow 
looked wise, pondered awhile, and said: 

"I know of no human method for relief, but you know Iowa 
winds are powerful; they have moved houses and barns farther 
than your cabin is over the line," and resumed his reading. 

Robinson dropped his head, communed with himself a few 
moments, put on his hat and went home. A few days after he 
came back. 

"Good morning. How are things up the river?" said Barlow. 

"Bad, bad enough. We had a h — 1 of a wind up there last 
night, and my house was blown clear over the line onto my land," 
was Robinson's reply, and he felt so good over it he laid a five- 
dollar bill on Barlow's table. Daily, finding himself outwitted, 
never said a word. 

In 1850, Barlow was appointed to the staff of Governor Hemp- 
stead, and served four years. That's how he got the title of 
"Colonel." They didn't have spectacular displays, inauguration 
parades, nor military encampments in those days, so Barlow was 
spared the toggery of shoulder straps, gold trimmings, blue clothes 
and brass buttons. 

Barlow says that the Governor called his staff together one day, 
and said he did not think there would be any occasion for action, 
unless it might be with the Missourians over the boundary ques- 
tion, "and if it comes, we will whip them — just get them drunk 
and we can whip them." 

In August, 1854, he was elected Prosecuting Attorney, and held 
the office until July, 1855, when, by the resignation of Judge 
Byron Rice, and operation of law, he became County Judge, which 
office he held one year, being succeeded by Thomas H. Napier. It 
is of record that as County Prosecutor Barlow had not a verdict 
quashed, and gained every case in court but one. He even beat the 
eccentric Judge McFarland on a question of ethics. 



52 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

There was a well-known man named Milner, living in the north 
part of the town, who came sauntering into court one day with his 
hat on. On seeing him, the judge ordered the bailiff to arrest him, 
and on his appearance he told the judge he was a Quaker — always 
wore his hat in meetings. "Well, sit down, then, with your hat 
on," replied the judge. Before court adjourned, Milner forgot his 
Quakerism, took off his hat, and laid it aside. The judge, on dis- 
covering it, yelled out: "Mr. Quaker, put on your hat, and keep 
it on." 

A few days after, Barlow started to leave the court-room with 
his hat on. Seeing him, the judge ordered the bailiff to arrest him 
and bring him before the court. As the bailiff approached, Barlow 
whirled about and went straight to the judge. 

"Don't you know you are in contempt of court by wearing your 
hat in the court-room ?" queried the judge. 

"My religious principles, sir," said Barlow, "are such that I 
never take off my hat except in the presence of my Maker and to 
sleep. I am a Friend." 

"Friend of what?" said the judge. 

"I'm a Quaker," explained Barlow. 

"Oh, a Quaker, are you ? Well, sit down, Mr. Quaker, and keep 
your d — d hat on if you want to." 

In 1855, Barlow was elected Mayor of the town, with W. H. 
McHenry, Wm. McKay (both subsequently judges), F. R. West, 
Martin Winters, A. Newton (subsequently mayor), W. C. Burton, 
and J. D. Davis as City Council, all now dead but Barlow. The 
officers were: Lamp Sherman, Recorder; Benj. Bryant, Treasurer; 
Ed. Clapp, Street Commissioner, all now dead but Ed. 

Barlow was prominent among those who have builded the city. 
Always solicitous for the success of every projected improvement, 
active in support of every enterprise and industry in the early 
days, until he concluded the city had become strong enough to go 
alone, when he began to shirk the collar. 

In the notable Capital location fight, in 1854, he was an impor- 
tant and efficient factor, and gave to his home commimity all the 
power of his brain and brawn. It required genuine pluck and 
public spirit to go in mid-Winter, buffeting the storms and discom- 



BAKLOW GRANGER 53 

forts of stage-company jerkeys and crowded taverns, to labor with 
the lawmakers without fee or hope of reward, to secure the location, 
for it was the field against The Fort. 

When the Seat of Government had been won, and the East 
Siders and The Fort went to battle for the location of the State 
House, in 1856, Barlow was in it for all he was worth, for Grim- 
mel's Hill, lying north of Chestnut Street, between Fourth and 
Sixth streets, and he did not hesitate to express himself in true 
Barlow style respecting the matter generally, and the East Siders 
especially. 

When the laggard Slack-Water Navigation Company had failed 
in its trust, and so obstructed the river with its half-constructed 
dams and debris that boats could not pass up, and had become a 
nuisance, railroads were projected as a remedy, talked of in settlers' 
cabins, on street corners, in mass meeting — Barlow was in it. 
Petitions were sent to Congress for help, and the agitation then 
begun resulted in the railroads we now have, while the dam of the 
River Improvement Company at Bonaparte still remains to be 
damned by all fishermen above it. 

Politically, Barlow is a Democrat, of an independent and an 
entirely original variety. He never sought a public office, yet he 
was several times elected to places of importance. He was always 
ready, however, when a political scrimmage was on. He was not 
such an orator as "Dan" Finch, but he was a good talker, plain, 
blunt — called a spade a spade. His special function was that of 
advisor or corrector, for whenever the party got into close quarters 
and prospects were dubious, a secret conclave would convene in his 
office, and, as with Robinson's cabin, he generally found a way to 
get out, as Hoyt Sherman once discovered when, in 1855, he was 
candidate for Sheriff. The election returns sent in showed a 
majority for Sherman. The Whigs were jubilant, and had a jolli- 
fication, but a fellow named Spaulding, from a back, forgotten pre- 
cinct, turned up with votes enough to elect another man, precisely 
as scheduled by Barlow at a conclave held two days before. 

Financially, Barlow is on Easy Street. With several fine, pro- 
ductive stock farms as bread-winners, in his pleasant suburban 
home, surrounded by natural and acquired beauties, on the spot 



54 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

selected the second day after he arrived here, he is passing his 
eighty-eighth year in peace and contentment, always pleased to 
meet the many friends and neighbors who enjoy his sociability and 
his remarkable recollection of men and things he has rubbed up 
against. 

Nearly every day, he comes into town to keep in touch with 
events. If you see a plain man, with white hair and beard, soft 
hat of olden vintage, on the street, swapping yarns with some old- 
timer, or lampooning the Republicans, and twirling a jack-knife 
between his left thumb and first finger — he has worn out three 
handles already — that's Barlow Granger.' 

May Twenty-ninth, 1904. 

*Died June Seventh, 1905. 



* 




B. F. ALLEN 



B. F. ALLEN 

BF. ALLEN, or "Frank," as he was usually called, came to 
Des Moines in 1848, bringing with him about fifteen thou- 
sand dollars, in those days deemed a large sum. He at once 
joined Jonathan Lyon in a general business at the northeast corner 
of Second and Vine streets, dealing in "everything from a silk 
dress to a goose yoke — and a little more," as advertised. 

Being energetic and ambitious to do things, he soon began to 
widen out, and in 1850, with Charley Van, built a steam sawmill 
not far from the south end of 'Coon River bridge, an improvement 
of great public benefit, as lumber was scarce and had to be hauled 
long distances, much of the time over nearly impassable roads. The 
river timber land was abundant with the cream of Black Walnut 
trees, and the lumber that went through that mill into buildings 
would to-day be worth a fabulous sum. 

The Winter of 1850-51 was very severe, the Spring freshets 
flooded the country and made the roads impassable; provisions 
became exhausted, and with his usual good will in an emergency, 
Allen and R. W. Sypher purchased a steamboat in St. Louis, of 
which the Gazette, of June 25, says: 

"They placed upon it over two hundred tons of freight for Des 
Moines and Ottumwa. They proceeded up the river as far as 
Bentonsport, and there unfreighted to get over the dam. The 
result is to be regretted, and especially now, from the fact that it 
had on board a large quantity of flour. There is not a pound in 
the market, and everybody is out." 

In the same paper is quoted flour at fourteen dollars per barrel ; 
wheat, one dollar and a quarter per bushel; corn, one dollar and 
a quarter per bushel. In the Winter of 1853, John Woodward 
sold three thousand pounds of fine dressed pork for forty-five dol- 
lars, there being no market. 



55 



56 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

The value to the community, present and prospective, is not 
disclosed in this newspaper paragraph. In those days transporta- 
tion was the important factor in mercantile affairs. It fixed the 
price of every article for household use — often exorbitant — as well 
as that of farm products. Railroads were far off. Two states, and 
years of delay interposed between the" possible and probable relief. 
There was little inducement for the merchant to exchange goods 
for farm produce, as the expense of getting it to market left no 
profit. The solution of the problem was to make Des Moines a 
trading and shipping point, and use the river, the expectancy being 
that in due time it would be made navigable. The Gazette of April 
Seventh mentions the building of three flat-boats at Lafayette, 
Doctor Hull's town, a few miles down the river, and says : 

"They will be ladened with corn and other products. It is the 
beginning of good times in Central Iowa. Let the obstacles be 
removed from the Des Moines River, and next Spring we guarantee 
that scores of flat-boats will be built in this part of the country, 
and the surplus produce will be readily exchanged for cash. Tear 
out the dams, clear away the snags, and thereby open up a way into 
the interior of the state for steamboat navigation." 

Allen and Sypher, with their steamboats, were getting ready for 
it. In 1855, Allen concluded there was more profit in other direc- 
tions than selling rags and goose-yokes, and he opened a bank and 
real estate office, the next year moved it to the corner where The 
Register and Leader building now is, where for fifteen years it was 
the money center of the city, and a large portion of the state — in 
fact, Frank Allen was the banker for nearly everybody. His busi- 
ness was enormous for that period. That was the year of the State 
House fiasco. He evidenced his loyalty to the West Siders by 
putting up two thousand dollars to put the building on Grimmel's 
Hill — on paper, for that fund never got beyond the paper stage; 
the East Siders nullified it. 

During the period from 1855 to 1858, monetary affairs in the 
West were in a demoralized condition. The country was flooded 
with notes of speculative, irresponsible banks. Merchants and 
business men would meet daily and prepare a list of banks deemed 
good for the day, at par, at discount, and worthless. The list would 



B. F. ALLE1ST 57 

be revised on the arrival of each mail, and the bank note detector, 
which was found in every business place. The conditions were ripe 
for counterfeiters and sharpers, and they got in their work, thus 
adding to the trouble. A merchant of this city went to St. Louis 
to buy goods. He carefully selected the best notes he could find to 
pay his bills, but when he got there he could not get a dollar for 
the whole of them. 

The first State Constitution prohibited banks of issue, hence 
Iowa was made the dump for all sorts of stump-tail, red-dog, wild- 
cat notes, issued by anybody who could get them engraved and 
printed. They were generally issued from some isolated, inaccessible 
place, and sent for circulation as far away as possible. I visited 
one of those banks once. It was in a logging camp in the thick 
woods near the east shore of Lake Michigan. It was about eight 
feet square, eight feet high, made of rough boards, flat roof, with 
one small sliding window, a plain board shelf, on which the notes 
were signed, a small door, over which, in red chalk, was the name 
of the bank. It was never occupied but once. When I saw it, the 
bank had closed. How many notes were put out was never known. 
This money would often be palmed off on farmers, or in isolated 
localities, for horses or other traffic, by sharpers and land sharks. 
One of the most notable hereabouts was the Agricultural Bank of 
Tennessee, which had a large circulation engineered by a local 
banking firm, which failed in the panic of 1857, leaving thousands 
of dollars afloat without a redeemer. A good supply of those notes 
could probably be gathered now in this county. I have some. 

Banks were organized in Nebraska, but owned and controlled by 
bankers in this state. Allen had one, the Bank of Nebraska, the 
notes of which he protected and kept at par through his private 
bank in Des Moines. They were current everywhere, and were of 
great benefit to the community. 

In 1857, under the new Constitution authorizing banks of issue, 
to provide protection against the worthless stuff in circulation and 
drive it out of the country, the State Bank of Iowa was organized 
with eight branches, one of which was at Des Moines. Captain 
F. B,. West was President, and Allen one of the Directors. It was 
managed conservatively, had abundant capital, its notes always 



58 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

par, redeemed when presented, but were largely hoarded as safe to 
keep. It was the only bank organized under the Constitution, and 
when Uncle Sam's national banking system was established, it was 
merged into the National State Bank, in 1865. 

In 1857, Allen erected, on the block now occupied by the Iowa 
Hotel, a large two-story brick residence, which became noted for 
the receptions and hospitality dispensed therein by him and his 
beautiful wife. 

In 1860, he was a member of the City Council from the Second 
Ward. 

During the Civil War period, business was largely demoralized 
and little progress was made in city improvements. Though there 
was constant tension of the public mind, only once did the city get 
unduly excited. It was reported one day that the somewhat noted 
bushwhacker, "Missouri Bill," was headed straight for Des Moines, 
on looting bent. As the city was practically defenseless, there was 
considerable alarm, and the banks quietly put their funds in safe 
places. Captain Harry Griffith and Colonel James A. Williamson, 
who were here on a furlough, organized a company to man a battery 
of two guns, which were stationed on the State House grounds, 
ready for any emergency, but it was soon learned that "Bill" was 
going the other way, and the battery was disbanded, much to the 
regret of Harry, whose "dander" was up. 

In 1865, the war over, business was rapidly resumed and great 
progress was made in city improvements. Allen organized the 
first Gas Company, tallow candles and lard oil being the only 
illuminants. The works were located at the corner of Second and 
Elm streets. A large sum of money was expended in an effort to 
produce hydro-carbon gas from coal and superheated steam. The 
gas could be generated, but it was impossible to get crucibles, or 
retorts, which would resist the required intense ieat. They would 
crack, causing so much leakage, loss of time, material and labor, 
it was abandoned, and the ordinary gas method adopted. But it 
was an ideal gas and had intense heating properties. 

In 1865, Allen, with Wesley Redhead and others, organized the 
Des Moines Coal Company. Redhead had been burrowing around 
in spots sufficient to show the presence of coal near the city, and the 



B. F. ALLEN" 59 

company, with ample capital, was formed for systematic mining. 
As the coal was near the surface and in pockets, it was soon cleaned 
out. 

The same year, he, with E. J. Ingersoll, organized the Hawkeye 
Insurance Company, which is still doing business at the old stand, 
one of the oldest and staunchest in the state. 

In 1867, the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad reached 
the city. Allen was one of the directors and a large stockholder. 
On the proposed line of the road west to the Missouri River, towns 
and stations were to be located. That was his opportunity. He 
had the money. He organized a Land Company, took in the pro- 
posed town sites and stations, platted them, sold them on easy 
terms, and gathered in a pile of profit. 

In 1869, having completed the erection of a residence, the most 
magnificent in the state, with interior furnishings equally lavish 
and munificent in cost, among which was a Chickering grand 
square piano, Louis XlVth style, costing seventeen hundred dol- 
lars, a small drawing-room table costing one thousand dollars, he 
threw open its doors to the friends of himself and wife on Friday 
evening, January Twenty-seventh, it being the fifteenth anniver- 
sary of his marriage. The Register the next morning made the 
following mention of it: — 

"Such a brilliant affair, undoubtedly and confessedly the finest 
ever given at a private residence in the Northwest, occurring in a 
city not yet out of its teens, and which is yet called a town of the 
frontier, is not merely a matter of pride to the estimable persons 
giving it, but is also a proud honor for the ambitious young city in 
which it was given. Larger and older cities parade smaller matters 
as evidence of their civilization and aristocratic preeminence. If 
such evidences are causes of self-gratification with metropolitan 
cities, how much more so are they in this city, whose ground is 
hardly yet free from the moccasin tracks of the savage, and which 
is not yet recognized by the Eastern people as a town to be known 
among cities ? The founders and first settlers of Des Moines are 
still here, still young, and are still the sturdy, prominent business 
men of the place. The work around them is not the work of their 
fathers ; their own arms hewed out the forests, laid the foundation 



60 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

stones, and built the city, and the day of its greatness in its coming 
finds these pioneers and builders not yet past the meridian of life. 

"Among those who thronged the mansion, the most delighted of 
all, were the scores of old-settlers who were his neighbors in the 
days when the aristocracy of the city lived in log houses, and called 
a candy-pulling so elegant as not to be sneezed at. While others 
enjoyed the social pleasures and bounteous hospitalities of the even- 
ing, these old settlers appreciated it with a zest and pride no others 
could feel. For a young town, away out here on the prairie sea, to 
eclipse good old Cincinnati, ambitious Chicago, and aristocratic 
St. Louis was no light honor. Few men have two hundred and fifty 
thousand dollars to spend in fitting up themselves a home, and Des 
Moines is the only city in the West that has done it. 

"In addition to Des Moines friends, large parties were in attend- 
ance from Chicago and the river cities of the state. Among the 
notables from Chicago were L. L. Colburn, R. A. Ketchum, W. F. 
Brackett, J. B. Raymond, W. B. Walker, James Wood, Charles J. 
Connell, accompanied by Miss Cobb, Miss Matteson, Miss Rose- 
crans, Miss Rice, Miss Doty, and W. W. Boyington, the celebrated 
architect, his wife and son. The Chicago press was represented by 
the Tribune, Republican and Times, and the Indianapolis Mirror 
also had a representative. Among the distinguished men of our 
own state were Governor Merrill, Secretary of State General Ed 
Wright, Auditor of State John A. Elliott, Treasurer of State 
Samuel E. Rankin, several Judges of the Supreme Court, Con- 
gressman-elect Frank W. Palmer, ex-Congressman John A. Kasson, 
General N". B. Baker, General George W. Clark. Many other dis- 
tinguished persons were also present. 

"The large company found no discomfort in this palace home. 
There was room in abundance, and ladies could promenade free 
from fear of the blundering footfalls of awkward men disturbing 
their sweeping trains. The toilettes of the ladies far exceeded all 
expectation. In richness, elegance and exquisiteness of attire, they 
excited universal admiration. In tastefulness of dress, grace of 
manner, intelligence of bearing, culture of mind, and beauty of 
person, the ladies of our young city are celebrated, and on this gala 
day they were brighter and sweeter than ever. We can only say 



B. F. ALLEN 61 

that we were proud of theni — a pride which was increased by the 
cordial and flattering compliments bestowed by the visitors from 
abroad. The evening was passed in an abandon of intelligent pleas- 
ure. The night outside was bad and boisterous, but within all was 
merry and bright. On every side were bright flowers which were 
very grateful to the eyes which have looked upon snow and Winter 
for several months. Some idea may be gained of their profusion 
by the statement that two thousand dollars' worth were used in 
decorations — the one bouquet gracing the center table costing seven 
hundred dollars. The supper of itself was of royal excellence — 
some six thousand dollars being expended in its supply, for which, 
to John Wright, the famous Chicago caterer, was given a carte 
blanche commission, which culminated in a table display of the 
seven hundred dollar bouquet in the center, boned turkey at each 
end, smothered in port-colored jelly; three baskets of natural fruit; 
two Charlotte Russe fountains; two Nouget Pyramids, trimmed 
with vintage grapes and oranges ; two pyramids of wine jelly ; two 
fruit cakes weighing twenty-five pounds; a large basket of ice 
cream, trimmed with iced fruits; one statuette of Washington in 
lemon ice cream ; one lion in vanilla ice cream ; one basket contain- 
ing a mammoth strawberry in ice cream; foreign nuts, oysters, 
comfits, confections, and substantials, with lemonade, tea, coffee, 
and chocolate served in china and silverware. 

"The grand piano, first under the masterly touch of William H. 
Lehman, and afterward of the almost perfect hands of Professor 
Apel, gave out entrancing melody. Miss Kitty Allen, Miss Mate 
Newton, and Major Studor each favored the company with a 
superbly rendered solo. Messrs. Thomas Hatton and Joseph P. 
Sharman sang one of their splendid duets. 

"Although a crystal wedding, and no presents were expected, it 
being so announced, Mrs. James C. Savery took the privilege of 
presenting a complete set of glassware, the main piece of which 
bore the eloquent inspiration, 'Dieu vous Garde' — God protect you, 
thus mirroring the wish of every person present." 

That the present generation may know how their grandmothers 
dressed on this occasion, I give the report of W. E. Campbell, who 
represented the Chicago Republican, and who was more au fait in 
such things than the rest of us : — 



62 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

"Mrs. Allen, the hostess, was elegantly attired in a rich, black 
velvet robe, made plain, her dark hair decked with roses. She wel- 
comed all her guests with grace and dignity of nature's gentle- 
woman and accomplished lady; her bright face wreathed in happy 
smiles and cordiality of manner, betokening the pleasure felt in the 
pleasure thus bestowed upon others. 

"Miss Kitty Allen, a very pretty and charming young lady of 
only fourteen years, most ably assisted her mother in the reception 
and entertainment of the guests, and throughout the evening, like 
a graceful fawn, flitted from room to room, her bright presence 
always welcomed. She was attired in a short pink dress, the skirt 
trimmed with blue flounces of the same material, half panier puffed 
waist and white kid gaiters. 

"Miss Florence McKay was attired in a lavender silk, square 
neck and long train ; hair crimped and adorned with roses. 

"Mrs. Major William Ragan wore a white alpaca, with white 
satin crystal bead trimmings, square neck, flowing sleeves and train. 

"Mrs. George C. Tichenor, a handsome lady, wore a handsome 
blue silk, with white lace overskirt, trimmed with white satin and 
looped with pink roses. 

"Mrs. R. T. Wellslager wore a rich black silk, with black satin 
and lace trimmings. 

"Mrs. Colonel Stewart, a tall, graceful lady, wore a checked black 
and white silk, with long train, square neck and satin trimmings. 

"Miss Susie Wilson, a very pretty and fascinating blonde, was 
most becomingly attired in a white grenadine with a white puffed 
flounce on the skirt, puffed upper-waist, the dress trimmed with 
pink satin, hair curled and ornamented with a wreath of white 
roses. 

"Mrs. W. S. Pritchard, a handsome lady, was dressed in a 
purple silk with white lace overskirt, looped with buff roses, low 
neck and short sleeves. 

"Mrs. J. B. Stewart wore a lavender silk, square neck and long 
train, trimmed with white point lace and lavender silk — a very 
pretty costume. 

"Mrs. E. F. Hooker wore a light tinted water silk with white 
chenile trimmings, square neck and long train. 



B. F. ALLEN 63 

"Mrs. E. H. Gillette was becomingly dressed in a handsome 
white silk, corsage waist, train flowing sleeves, dress trimmed with 
white satin — an elegant dress. 

"Mrs. C. C. Howell wore a short brown silk with lace overskirt 
looped with roses. 

"Mrs. Judge John Mitchell, a bright and pretty brunette, wore 
a drab and striped silk, square neck and long train, with white 
fringe and bead trimmings. 

"Miss Ella Keane, a pretty young lady, wore a green silk dress, 
with train ; green satin trimmings. 

"Miss Nettie West, a pretty and sprightly little miss of seven 
summers, was very tastefully dressed in buff alpaca with blue silk 
trimmings. 

"Mrs. L. F. Andrews, a white alpaca, train, square neck, with 
pink satin overskirt. 

"Mrs. Governor Merrill wore a handsome dark purple silk, long 
train, purple satin and fringe trimmings — a rich costume. 

"Miss Jeanette Russell wore a rich green silk, long train, with 
white lace overskirt looped with roses, white puffed lace waist — a 
pretty young lady and a tasteful dress. 

"Miss Kitty Johnson, a pretty young lady, was modestly attired 
in a short drab alpaca, scarlet opera cloak. 

"Mrs. Add Hepburn wore a rich green silk dress, made plain ; 
a very handsome lady. 

"Miss Mollie Rommell, a very pretty young lady, was attired in 
white alpaca, puffed waist and long train. 

"Mrs. A. C. Talbott was becomingly attired in plain white book 
muslin with double skirt looped with roses. 

"The Misses Le Bousquet, a couple of bright and pretty sisters, 
were similarly attired in dress of white Swiss muslin, long trains, 
puffed waists and pink sashes, dark hair ornamented. 

"Miss Mattie Whitledge, a very pretty lady, wore a light blue 
silk, long train and flowing sleeves, dark hair decked with roses. 

"Miss Hattie Ankeny, a pretty brunette, was dressed in a buff 
alpaca, square neck, flowing sleeves and long train; black hair 
trimmed with roses. 



64 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

"Mrs. William Foster wore a pink satin with broad flounce, 
white point lace overskirt, with white puffed waist, low neck and 
short sleeves. 

"Mrs. E. J. Ingersoll was dressed in a lilac silk, square neck, 
flowing sleeves and train ; waist trimmed with white point lace and 
lilac satin. 

"Miss Kellogg wore a white alpaca, long train, puffed waist, 
with white satin trimmings, hair decked with roses. 

"Miss Mata Newton wore a buff alpaca, square neck and long 
train with white satin fringe. 

"Mrs. J. D. Seeberger was attired in a light drab satin with 
white lace sleeves bound with scarlet satin. 

"Mrs. J. C. Savery wore a rich and costly black satin robe de 
Paris, ornamented with white beaded lace. 

"Mrs. Charles Spofford, a pretty lady, wore a white lace dress 
trimmed with white satin. 

"Miss Sadie Washburn, a pretty blonde, was attired in a white 
alpaca, long train, square neck, heavy purple satin trimmings. 

"Mrs. William H. Quick wore a light drab silk, made plain, 
with white lace and satin trimmings. 

"Mrs. John Knight was beautifully attired in a blue watered 
silk, white point lace overskirt, square neck, flowing sleeves, and 
long train. 

"Miss Maggie Lyon, a very pretty young lady, wore a pink 
alpaca, made plain, waist trimmed with satin fringe. 

"Mrs. Tac. Hussey, white organdie, baby waist and full skirt, 
pink roses in hair ; a trim and vivacious little lady." 

In 1871, Mr. Allen provided one of the most valuable benefac- 
tions for the city, in organizing the Des Moines Water Company, 
with three hundred thousand dollars capital. The works were built 
where they now are. Subsequently they passed to Polk & Hubbell, 
then to a stock company. 

In 1874, some evil genius induced him to go to Chicago. To 
become a Napoleon of finance was an honorable ambition. There 
unconscionable bank sharks unloaded on him the Cook County 
National IBank. He at once applied all his skill and means to 
bring it to the front, but soon discovered it to be a sepulchre of 



B. F. ALLEN" 65 

rottenness. He dumped into it all the resources he could command, 
and, draining day by day the receipts of the bank here — it was like 
pouring water into a rat-hole — it had no bottom, and in 1876 it 
collapsed, swallowing in the wreck all he possessed, together with 
the thousands of hard earnings of plain working people and busi- 
ness men who had entrusted their money to his custody. The crash 
created great excitement. There were deep mutterings of personal 
vengeance. Public meetings were held, and a committee selected, 
through which an assignee was chosen, to whom he turned over all 
his property, but the litigation and expenses following left little or 
nothing for creditors, especially small depositors least able to bear 
the loss. 

From that time, misfortune, like an avenging Nemesis, dogged 
his steps. Try as he would to get on his feet, he failed. Added to 
this, his wife, grief-stricken and broken-hearted, in January, went 
to her final rest. He went West, and is now, I believe, in San 
Dimas, California, engaged in fruit raising. 

Despite the great loss and misfortune his collapse entailed upon 
the city, it can be truly said that from 1858 to 1876 he controlled 
the financial and monetary affairs of this community. If money 
was wanted for any legitimate business, a merchant or business 
man required means to tide over a hard spot, a church or society 
needed help, or a young, industrious man wanted to buy a lot and 
build a home, it was only necessary to go to Frank Allen and get 
it; of course, ten per cent interest and mortgage security being 
understood, for it was never believed he was doing business for his 
health, yet he was never oppressive, was generous with gifts to 
worthy objects, and helpful to the city in many ways. 

June Fifth, 1904. 



Vol. I— (5). 




HOYT SHERMAN 



HOYT SHERMAN 

FEW men have been better known at home and abroad than 
Hoyt Sherman. From the beginning to the end of his days 
he was loyal to the city of his adoption, and gave to it the full 
benefit of his business talent, excellent judgment, conservatism and 
wise counsel. He was a man for emergencies. Many times he was 
called to fiduciary posts, local, state and national, where integrity 
and fidelity were fully tested. Courteous, affable, social, he was 
very popular. 

He came to Des Moines from a printing office in Ohio, in May, 
1848, and entered the office of Thomas McMullen, School Fund 
Commissioner, then selling school lands granted the state by an 
Act of Congress. Soon after he became Deputy Postmaster under 
R. L. Tidrick, the office being in the office of Casady & Tidrick, on 
Second Street, near Vine. In the Spring of 1849, Tidrick resigned 
and he was appointed to the vacancy by President Taylor, the 
office then being designated "Raccoon River" by the Postal Depart- 
ment. He held the office until 1853. Soon after his appointment, 
he built an office on the east side of Second Street near Vine, and 
moved the office from the old barrack building thereto, it being the 
first exclusive post office building in the city. 

It is a coincidence that he built the second building used as a 
post office, called the Sherman Block, corner of Third Street and 
Court Avenue, also the third post office, a two-story frame on Third 
Street in the rear of the Sherman Block, and disbursed the govern- 
ment funds for building the present post office. The identical safe 
used by him in his first post office is still doing business in the post 
office, and "Jim" Miller says it is as good as ever, but it hasn't any 
time lock nor fancy combination tumblers. 

At the May term of the District Court, 1849, Sherman was 
admitted to the Bar, and became one of the prominent attorneys 
before the court. 

67 



68 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

In 1850, lie began to give attention to real estate. The well- 
known and extensive Pursely Estate was to be settled, the realty 
divided into five-acre lots and sold by order of the court. Sherman 
wanted one of the lots, but he had only one hundred dollars to 
invest. The sale was to be at auction. On the day fixed, he was 
there and was offered five dollars to act as clerk of the sale, which 
he accepted. When the tract he wanted was offered, it soon devel- 
oped that others wanted it. Bids ran up to the limit of his pile 
and halted for a time, when he added the five dollars — his dav's 
compensation — and got it. There he subsequently built the fine 
residence where he lived until his death, January Fifth, 1904. The 
property is probably worth fifty thousand dollars. 

In 1852, he was elected Clerk of the District Court and admin- 
istrator of the estate of Judge Burbridge. 

In 1853, was built the Sherman Block, at the northeast corner 
of Third Street and Court Avenue, three stories high. The corner 
was designed for a bank, the second floor for offices, the third an 
amusement hall. Subsequently, the second and third floors were 
used for several years as county and city offices, until the rookery 
on Locust Street was built. 

In 1854, the demand for better facilities for handling the mone- 
tary transactions consequent upon the immense land sales, most of 
which was done by speculators and land sharps with wild-cat money 
of little or no value and doubtful parentage, became apparent and 
a necessity. The bank of Hoyt Sherman & Company was organized 
to do a legitimate banking and exchange business. The known 
integrity and character of the company at once brought it success, 
and it was largely instrumental in driving out the worthless notes 
of the Agricultural Bank of Tennessee. 

Sherman was not a politician nor a place-seeker, but in 1855 the 
Whigs persuaded him to become a candidate for Sheriff, with fair 
prospect of success, being exceedingly popular. The Democrats 
got scared. They agreed that Hoyt was a hard man to beat. His 
opponent was D. B. Spaulding, from Big Creek Settlement, up in 
Madison Township. Barlow Granger, who was chief engineer of 
the Democratic machine, put his wits at work. Something must 
be done. The glory of the party must be maintained. A Whig 



HOYT SHERMAN" 69 

in the fattest office in the county must not be permitted. A secret 
conclave was held in Barlow's office two days before the election. 
When the election returns came in, they showed Sherman's election 
by a small majority, and the Whigs were joyful. But a day or two 
after, a fellow came in from an outlying, forgotten precinct up in 
the northwest corner of the county, with votes enough to give the 
majority to Spaulding. The Whigs always charged the defeat to 
Barlow, but the ways of politics are past finding out. Spaulding 
served the term and was reelected. 

In 1856, during the State House scrimmage between the "East 
Siders" and The Eort, Sherman took an active part. To give aid 
and comfort to the "West Siders," and put the State House on 
Grimmel's Hill, he subscribed three thousand dollars to the "war 
fund." 

In 1858, when, under the new Constitution authorizing banks 
of issue, the State Bank of Iowa was organized, Sherman was 
elected Cashier of the Des Moines Branch, and the bank of Hoyt 
Sherman & Company merged into it. It had ample capital, its 
notes were kept at par and redeemed on presentation. It continued 
in business until Uncle Sam's national banking system went into 
operation. 

In 1861, he was appointed Paymaster in the Army, with the 
rank of Major, and served through the Civil War. He disbursed 
millions of dollars, without the discrepancy of a penny. In this, 
as in all his business transactions, he was the personification of 
exactness. 

In January, 1867, the Equitable Life Insurance Company, now 
one of the leading companies of the kind in the West, was organized 
and he was elected Actuary ; in February following, Secretary ; in 
January, 1874, President, holding the office fourteen years. 

In 1868, he was elected Corresponding Secretary of the Old 
Settlers' Association, and held the place several years. 

In 1871, he became one of those who formed the Des Moines 
Water Company and laid the foundation of the present system of 
water supply, and the only like system in the United States supply- 
ing a city of like area and population. 

Early in 1876, the Iowa Industrial Exposition Company was 
organized, with Sherman President. The object was the erection 



70 PIONEERS OE POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

of a building for the permanent exhibit of specimens of arts and 
industries of the state. A fine three-story brick, one hundred and 
thirty-two feet square, was erected, a large organ put in, and the 
interior arranged for exhibits. In September, a formal opening 
was had of a very creditable display. After several years, public 
interest in it waned, receipts fell below expenses, stockholders 
became dissatisfied, and it was sold to Mills & Company, who occu- 
pied it for their large publishing and printing business until 1881, 
when they retired from business and sold the building to a com- 
pany who transformed it to the present Iliad Block. 

On the failure of Allen, at a mass meeting of citizens and credit- 
ors, Sherman was selected by an unanimous vote for assignee to 
settle the immense tangled aifairs of the estate, and make distribu- 
tion of the property, a service which, for several years, required the 
exercise of sterling business capacity, diplomacy and sound judg- 
ment. It was a constant, vigorous contest with lawyers and litigants 
in the courts, and at the end little was left for anybody. 

In social life, Sherman was of courtly, dignified mien — the 
young maidens in the very early days used to say at their social 
gatherings, "He is a nice young man, but too dignified." The young 
people in those days enjoyed life to the full extent of their exuber- 
ant natures, with very few conventionalities. There was ample time 
and space for pleasure seeking. There were no classified clubs. As 
late as 1876 was to be seen an old, low, dilapidated building, part 
log and part frame, at the southeast corner of Twelfth and Walnut 
streets, around which cluster many pleasant memories among old- 
timers. It was built originally of hewn logs by T. B. Hoxie, in 
1848, and considered the finest house in the whole county, which 
then embraced a large expanse of territory. In 1849, it passed to 
S. G. Keene. It was the headquarters for social functions. In 
summer-time, in the shade of the stately trees around it, were many 
happy, joyous gatherings. Mrs. Keene was never more delighted 
than when surrounded with a lot of hilarious young people. There 
were but two other houses in sight then, the residence of Mrs. 
Grimmel, north on the hill, and another where now is the corner of 
Third and Vine streets, later on a part of the old Monitor House. 
After the decease of her husband, Mrs. Keene married Mr. Sypher, 






HOYT SHERMAN" 71 

and her residence on Fourth Street, where the Elliott Hotel and 
Brinsinaid's store are, became the Mecca of socialities.* 
June Twelfth, 1904. 



*Died June Twenty-fifth, 1904. 




DR. T. K. BROOKS 



DOCTOR T. K. BROOKS 

FEW, if any, of the first settlers here were better or more inti- 
mately known than Doctor Thomas K. Brooks, whose pro- 
fession led him into the homes and confidence of the settlers. 
His genial, jolly, sympathetic nature made him very popular. 
Though an excellent physician, his presence was often more bene- 
ficial than his medicine. 

He came to The Fort in September, 1845, and for a time made 
his home with John Beach, the Indian Agent, about half a mile 
east of Capitol Hill, on what was known as the "Four Mile" or 
"State Koad." 

The next year was a busy one. He purchased the claim rights 
of Phelps & Company, the fur traders, near where the packing 
houses are, and in the Spring began to cultivate a farm. He also 
floated brick down the 'Coon during high water, and in the Fall 
erected, not far from Beach's residence, the first brick dwelling- 
house on the East Side, in which he lived several years. Near it 
was a pretty little body of water known as Brooks' Lake. 

In April, a weekly mail with Keokuk was established. The first 
bag was sent by a special messenger. On opening the bag, a com- 
mission was found appointing the Doctor Postmaster. He duly 
qualified, removed the office to his residence, and next year resigned 
as it interfered too much with his practice. 

In this year agitation arose respecting the removal of the Capi- 
tal from Iowa City to a more central point in the state. In January, 
a bill was before the Legislature to organize Polk County. Imme- 
diately, effort was made to secure the location of its county-seat. 
The Doctor, who had proved an indifferent farmer, and Jerry- 
Church, laid out their claims into towns — on paper — and Brooklyn, 
Dudley, and Jerico became rivals of The Fort. Each had a strong 
lobby at Iowa City to get the Legislature to fix the county-seat, and 
after a spirited contest, it finally decided to send a Commission to 

73 



74 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

locate it within two miles of Raccoon Forks. There was then a 
lively scrimmage between Brooklyn and The Fort, but the latter 
had the most population, the greatest prestige, and the Commis- 
sioners located it there. Politics also had much to do with it. The 
Fort was on the west side of the river, and its voters mostly Demo- 
crats. The Doctor was a Whig and an East Sider. The first county 
election was held in April. There was considerable talk of sharp 
practice. A. D. Jones, who surveyed the original town of Fort 
Des Moines, and a man named Woodward were candidates for 
Surveyor. 

Woodward was a Brooklyn supporter ; Jones was a West Sider, 
with "expectations" if The Fort won. He spent the whole election 
day at the polls in Camp Precinct and did not get a vote. When 
the votes were returned, there were one hundred and five for Wood- 
ward from Camp and Allen precincts, and seventy for Jones from 
The Fort. By some peculiar method of addition, division and 
silence, the election was given to Jones. That was the beginning 
of the feud between the East and West sides, which for ten years 
was more or less furious, coming to a climax in the contest for the 
location of the State House. It left a rankling which still exists, a 
fact apparent in every city divided by a river. 

After the county-seat question was settled, the Doctor devoted 
his time to his practice, with real estate as a side line. He was an 
active member of the Settlers' Claim Club, organized to protect 
settlers against claim jumpers and land sharks. He was an ardent 
Whig, a good speaker, and took an active part in politics, not as a 
place-seeker, but to prevent some Democrat from getting one. 

In 1850, the Doctor was the Whig candidate for Probate Judge, 
his opponent being J. C. Jones. Probably owing to the Doctor's 
profession, the Democrats didn't want him to administer their 
estates, and they elected Jones by a vote of seventy-six to one hun- 
dred and eight. 

In 1852, the farmers, beginning to have ambition and pride in 
their doings, had an agricultural Fair in the Court House yard. 
Brooks, who was a lover of the horse, drove some fine steppers, a 
pseudo farmer, exhibited some good equine specimens merely to set 
"the boys" thinking. 



DOCTOR T. K. BROOKS 75 

In 1853-4, the Doctor, with W. A. Scott, John S. Dean, J. M. 
and Harry Griffiths, and the two Lyons, began to build up a town 
by laying out and platting additions on the East Side. They were 
all hustlers, sharp, shrewd, and, to emphasize their individuality, 
disregard and disrespect for The Fort, they adopted "East Demoin" 
as the corporate name of their new town, and so it went in their 
real estate conveyances and on record. The Doctor built a fine 
residence near the corner of Sixth and Walnut streets, in which he 
resided until his death. 

In the Spring of 1853, the State Agricultural Society was 
formed, and its first Exhibition was held at Fairfield, in the Fall. 
The Doctor, "Uncle Tommy" Mitchell and Judge Wm. McKay 
were the Directors for Polk County. 

In 1855, when the contest for the permanent location of the 
State House came on, the Doctor, with Scott, the Griffiths, the 
Lyons, Doctor A. B. Shaw, and others, formed an Association — a 
sort of close corporation — so close its ways were never disclosed — 
to provide the necessary means to induce the Legislative Commis- 
sion, who were authorized to receive bonus, lots or aid of any kind, 
to fix the location on that side. The West Siders wanted it put on 
Grimmel's Hill, between Fourth and Eighth streets, School Street 
and Grand Avenue. 

They subscribed to a fund $159,250, to be paid if there located. 
By some peculiar system of financiering, the East Siders won. The 
West Siders were mad. They charged all sorts of sculduggery 
against the East Siders — that, whereas the money subscribed on 
the West Side was to be paid to the State, on the East Side it all 
went into the pockets of somebody else. It is a fact, however, that 
some of the men in it lost large sums, and if the truth was known, 
some of the Legislative Commission got more than their two dollars 
per diem while making their investigation. 

During this year, the Doctor was drawn to serve on the Grand 
Jury, and was made Foreman. In those days the County Com- 
missioners issued licenses to keep "groceries," which, being inter- 
preted, meant the privilege to sell "corn juice" and "tangle-foot" 
with tea, coffee, and sugar. The traffic, however, became so demor- 
alizing that the Legislature cut it out, and prohibited the sale of 



76 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

intoxicating liquors except by a duly authorized County Agent. The 
agent for Polk County was Doctor D. V. Cole. He was given one 
thousand dollars with which to purchase a supply of "pure, unadul- 
terated liquor for medical, mechanical and sacramental purposes," 
— so runs the record. The "purposes" were often very "mechan- 
ically" construed by purchasers, whose veracity was not very seri- 
ously questioned. It was not surprising, therefore, that there was 
notable increase of "sickness" and "mechanical industries," or that 
the "County Grocery" did a thriving business. The record, how- 
ever, does not disclose any spiritual revival among the churches. 

When Judge McFarland came, with his District Court and 
Grand Jury, he was unusually sober. He instructed the jury that 
it was a part of their duty to look for probable infraction of the 
laws, and especially the sale and quality of the "goods" kept at the 
County Agency. The jury — fifteen of them — proceeded forthwith 
to the examination, spending several hours testing the liquor, espe- 
cially for purity, at the suggestion of the foreman. They finally 
returned to the Court House filled with the satisfactoriness of their 
work — in fact, it was said, too full for utterance — filed their report, 
at once adjourned, and went home. The Judge, learning the jury 
had returned, ordered the bailiff peremptorily to bring them into 
court. Being told that they had gone home, he inquired if there 
was "anything left." He was told there was a sample of "the best" 
on file in the Sheriff's office; he thereupon adjourned court, and 
invited the lawyers to go with him and "test it." 

On another occasion, when the Judge was "full," the jury 
appeared before him for instructions. Straightening himself up, 
he said : 

"Gentlemen of the Jury: You will (hie) find the law of Iowa 
in the laws of Iowa. It is your (hie) duty, gentlemen, to see that 
the law (hie) is obeyed, and that it is not violated. You are made 
(hie), gentlemen, a body to inquire into every breach (hie) of the 
law, and to do this you're duly sworn (hie) — sworn — sworn. If 
you have prob'ble (hie) cause to believe that liquor has been sold 
by the dram (hie), you must make presentment to the court. For 
your instructions (hie), I will say that a dram of whiskey is a 
(hie) mule's ear full. Mr. Foreman, you will indict (hie) every 



DOCTOR T. K. BKOOKS 77 

man in the world (hie). Mr. Clerk, yon will let (hie) Mr. Fore- 
man have all the books in the (hie) world. You will retire, gentle- 
men to your (hie) — adjourn the court, Mr. (hie) Sheriff, to one 
o'clock." 

The Doctor was especially interested in educational matters, and 
gave to public schools his earnest, vigorous support. In 1856, when 
the Lutheran Church State Conference decided to establish a col- 
lege here, he was elected one of the Board of Trustees. The hard 
times of 1857 brought failure to the project, and the property 
passed to Elder Nash, and became what is now Des Moines College 
after several changes of name and location. 

In 1860 and 1867, the Doctor was the Alderman from the Sixth 
Ward in the City Council, and a vigorous, active member of that 
body. 

In 1864, the Soldiers' Relief Society was organized, with Mayor 
Leas President and the Doctor Vice-President. In December, a 
festival was held, at which the net proceeds were four thousand 
two hundred and forty-five dollars and twenty-eight cents. Every- 
body was open-handed, and during the year the society raised seven 
thousand two hundred and sixty-one dollars and thirty-five cents. 
Added to this were generous donations by civic societies, churches 
and individuals. In this benevolent service, the Doctor devoted 
his most earnest effort; for with him relief to the call of suffering 
was paramount. 

He died in 1868, after a short illness, of pneumonia, aged fifty- 
seven, leaving a record of earnest, forcible effort to promote the 
prosperity and best interests of the city and county. 

June Nineteenth, 1904. 




ROBERT L. TIDR1CK 






ROBERT L. TIDRICK 

OF the pioneers of the city, none were more thoroughly identi- 
fied with its history, or a part of it during the first thirty 
years, than R. L. Tidrick. He arrived here in May, 1847, 
fresh from a law school, and at once opened a private school in one 
of the log barrack buildings on 'Coon Row. That the school was 
popular is evidenced by the large attendance of scholars from all 
parts of the county. In the Fall, he joined Major William McKay, 
who subsequently became Judge of the District Court, in the prac- 
tice of law. 

In the Spring of 1848, he was appointed Postmaster, to succeed 
Doctor Brooks, and removed the office to the law office of P. M. 
Casady, on Second Street, near Vine. He held the office one year, 
when he formed a partnership with Casady in the law and real 
estate business, the land business having increased to large propor- 
tions by the influx of settlers. 

In April, 1848, at a meeting of citizens of the county, the Set- 
tlers' Claim Club was organized, consisting of one hundred mem- 
bers, for the purpose of protecting settlers from speculators and 
claim jumpers. For some time before lands were surveyed or open 
to homestead entry, settlers had come, staked out claims and com- 
menced the cultivation of farms and building of houses, awaiting 
the time when they could be formally entered and secured through 
the Government Land Office. Meanwhile, speculators from the 
East, with ample fimds, went all over the country, selected the most 
desirable spots, and made a record thereof, with the intent to over- 
bid the settler and real claimant when the lands were offered for 
sale at the Land Office. Claim jumpers also abounded, who would 
take advantage of a settler's temporary absence or sickness, so as 
not to be present at the land sale. In other parts of the state there 
had been very many of these claim troubles. Actual and bona fide 
settlers were despoiled and robbed of their homes, even murders 

79 



80 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

were committed, and in some counties mob law reigned. It was to 
provide better protection and prevent mob violence that the club 
was formed here. Rules were adopted and committees elected to 
enforce the rules, the first of which was : — 

"We will protect all persons who do or may hold claims, against 
the interference of any person who shall attempt to deprive such 
claim holders of their claims and improvements, by preemption or 
otherwise." 

It was also declared that every person who attempted to interfere 
with the rights of a claim holder should be deemed a nuisance, and 
abated ; and they be notified by the proper committee to leave the 
vicinity and county, with pledged authority to enforce the order to 
travel. 

Strict vigilance was kept by members of the club. Strangers 
going through the county found it eminently proper to keep their 
hands off from land claims. If they became suspicious of any 
scheme against a settler, they were emphatically and convincingly 
shown that their personal safety was in their absence from the 
community. 

A short time prior to the land sale at Iowa City, an immense 
meeting of the club and settlers was held, and Tidrick was elected 
bidder to attend the sale at Iowa City, and a platoon of stalwart 
men were selected as his body-guard, to go thoroughly equipped to 
meet what might come. Their presence was sufficient to secure the 
adjustment of nearly every claim presented from this county, at 
the minimum price of one dollar and a quarter per acre. Not a 
speculator dared to raise a bid when made by Tidrick. By this 
unity of action and the cool-headedness of Tidrick, the county was 
saved the turmoil and disturbances which prevailed elsewhere. 
Subsequent to this, whenever dispute arose respecting a claim, the 
Club Committee settled it. There was no appeal from it. If one 
of the contestants was suspected to be a speculator, he was informed 
that the roads were in good condition for traveling, and fence rails, 
tar and feathers accessible. 

A single incident will illustrate the methods. It was after the 
Land Office had been removed to Des Moines. A man came here 
named Bates, who disported himself with considerable pomposity 



ROBERT L. TIDRICK 81 

about the taverns. The land sales were brisk. The town was full 
of settlers entering their claims and making purchases. He made 
it known that he was here to buy land ; that he had money, plenty 
to buy all he wanted and pay the price according to law. He didn't 
care a continental about Claim Clubs. He would buy a claim if 
he got a chance. One morning when the sale opened, a settler's 
claim in Walnut Township was put up and he made a bid on it. 
Instantly he was surrounded by a group of stalwart, determined 
men, and two rails planted vertically in front of him, with several 
old shotguns and pistols outlying. He was politely invited to take 
a walk. He was escorted to the river bank. He sat down. A 
strong guard was left with him. The water in the river was cold. 
What might happen after night came on was uncertain. The doings 
of the Club Committee in such cases were never made public, as a 
rule. He pondered over the subject until darkness came, when he 
collapsed, and made a pledge that he would offer no more interfer- 
ence with settlers' claims, and he was permitted to travel. 

"Jim" Miller, over here in the post office, remembers one night 
when he was living over east of Capitol Hill. He was awakened 
from sleep by some disturbance outside. He hustled out to learn 
the cause. A few rods from the house was a deep well, near which 
could be dimly discerned a posse of men. "Jim" advanced to see 
who they were, when he was told to stay where he was, and "in the 
morning go to Moody's store and get a well rope." He obeyed 
orders. The next morning the well rope was gone, and, at Moody's 
a new well rope sixty feet long was waiting for him, charges all 
paid, but by whom he never knew. He asked no questions. There 
were occasions in those days when inquisitiveness was folly. 

In November, 1850, Tidrick was appointed Prosecuting Attor- 
ney, to fill a vacancy, and served until the next election, in April, 
when J. M. Perry, a loquacious and somewhat consequential law- 
yer, was elected, who gained some notoriety on one occasion by 
running up against Judge Byron Rice, an incident more properly 
to be noted in sketches of the Judge later on. 

In 1852, the rush for land by home-seekers throughout the cen- 
tral part of the state began to increase rapidly. For them to tra- 
verse the country to make their selection, often fifty to a hundred 

Vol. I— (6). 



82 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

miles, then go to Iowa City to make a formal entry and pay for it 
was an enormous expense, for those, in most cases, unable to bear it. 
After repeated petitions of the Iowa Legislature for relief from 
the Government, in September, a Land Office was established here, 
and the following April Tidrick was appointed Register, held the 
place one year, and resigned because of bad health. The office was 
in the Exchange Block, corner of Third and Walnut streets. The 
tide of land-seekers at once set in here ; the town was crowded day 
and night. With it floated in the speculators. Everybody was on 
the rush. .The man who had selected a tract a hundred miles away 
was in a hurry to get it entered lest it be done by another who had 
been there before him. The jurisdiction of the Polk County Claims 
Club didn't extend to this traffic, which covered all the state north 
and west of Polk County, and west of Grundy County. For two 
or three years this was a lively town. 

In 1855, having been out of business for two years by bad 
health, Tidrick became a partner with Hoyt Sherman and Judge 
Casady in the banking and real estate business at Third and Wal- 
nut streets. 

When the State House contest between the East Side and West 
Side came on, Tidrick put up one thousand dollars to have the 
Capitol placed on Grimmel's Hill, and was very active to beat the 
East Siders. 

In 1856, the Sherman Block, at Third Street and Court Avenue, 
was built, and occupied by the banking firm of Sherman, Casady 
& Tidrick, the post office, general business offices, then for county 
and city offices. It was for several years the trade center. 

In 1857, when the prefix "Fort" was dropped and the city sim- 
ply became Des Moines, at the election in April, Tidrick was elected 
Alderman from the Fourth Ward, and in 1879 was elected Mayor. 

In 1860, he organized the Des Moines Iron Works, which, with 
several mutations and expansions, is still doing business at East 
First Street and Court Avenue, as the Des Moines Manufacturing 
and Supply Company. 

In 1876, he joined the Association which built the Exposition 
Building, at a cost of seventy-five thousand dollars, at Eighth and 
Walnut streets (now the Iliad), for the permanent exhibition of 



ROBERT L. TIDRICK 83 

Art and Industry of the state. With persistent boosting and energy 
of the promoters, it was a success for a couple of years, but, being 
ahead of time, it failed for want of support, and was transformed 
to a printing house by Frank Mills, who occupied it until he quit 
business, when it was changed to its present form. The original 
promoters sunk several thousand dollars in the enterprise, which 
was intended not so much for profit as a benefit and help to the city. 

In May, 1888, Tidrick was again appointed Register of the 
Land Office, and held the office one year, when he retired from all 
active business. 

He was an efficient, active member of the Brotherhood of Early 
Settlers, and for many years its Recording Secretary. It was what 
is now known as the Old Settlers' Association. 

He was a quiet, unostentatious man, not a politician or a place- 
seeker, yet often selected for places of trust. He was a man of few 
words, without forensic ability, quite unlike his long-time business 
partner, Judge Casady, yet in his own way, beginning with an edu- 
cational effort, he helped materially to mould and build the city, 
and became quite wealthy. He died October Twenty-fourth, 1894. 

July Third, 1904. 




DR. FRANCIS C. GR1MMEL 



DOCTOR FRANCIS C. GRIMMEL 

ONE of the very early settlers here who made their impress 
upon the city, and for sixteen years was one of the foremost, 
energetic, respected citizens, was Doctor F. C. Grimmel. 

In August, 1846, in Ohio, he gathered together his family, con- 
sisting of his wife, three sons and two daughters, and, with four 
wagons loaded with household goods and a small lot of drugs, 
drawn by ten horses, he set out for Fort Des Moines. He arrived 
here late at night, October Fifteenth, having to ford the river 
between Grand Avenue and Walnut Street, there being no bridges. 
There was not a place for them to unload, and they camped out, as 
they had every night during the journey. 

The next morning, the only vacant or available place to be had 
was the large, oblong, log Guard House used by the soldiers, which 
stood near the present northeast corner of Third and Vine streets, 
and fronted on the Parade Ground, the north line of which was 
Vine Street, east line Fourth Street, west line Sixth Street, south, 
'Coon River. 

The house was divided into two compartments about fourteen 
feet square, with small iron-barred windows. The chinking between 
the logs had broken away, and, to make it endurable, the wagon 
covers were fastened to the walls. The Winter was severe. In con- 
tradistinction from the "old-fashioned" Winters talked of nowa- 
days, that was a typical one. The mercury fell to thirty-six below 
zero, many cattle and hogs froze to death ; the earth was frozen so 
hard, to dig a grave for the burial of a person, logs and wood had 
to burned to thaw it so as to render it penetrable with a spade. 
Provisions were scarce, and there was much suffering throughout 
the country. The Doctor's family got out of meat. Doctor Brooks 
came over one day to make a friendly visit with the new comers, 
discovered the paucity of their larder, and, with his proverbial 
goodness, at evening brought a quarter of beef. There was no place 

85 



86 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

inside to put it. There were seven persons and a drug store in two 
small rooms. Ice boxes and refrigerators had not materialized; 
there was no cellar. It was himg on the outside wall, where it was 
cut from daily as wanted, an exposure that would hardly be wise 
in these days of higher civilization. But they didn't have locks on 
their doors on those days. The pioneers were all friends and neigh- 
bors; their doors and hearts were open always; they shared with 
each other whatever they had. A common interest and common 
sympathy bound them together. It was in the very nature of things 
that each person's protection was in the good-will of the community 
about him. 

Reverting to those days, said one of the old-timers, who passed 
through trials and privations of which those of the middle age 
to-day can have no conception whatever : 

"We were all on an equality. Caste would not have been toler- 
ated. What one had, we all had. It was the happiest period of my 
life. But to-day, if you lean against a neighbor's shade tree, he'll 
charge you for it. If you are poor and sick, you may lie and suffer 
unnoticed, uncared for, and probably go to the Poor House, and 
the man who reported you will charge the county for doing it." 

The first Winter was passed in the Guard House. The first 
move in the Spring was to get out of it. The Doctor purchased the 
Government warehouse, which was on the East Side, a story-and-a- 
half structure of two-inch walnut plank ; tore it down, removed it 
to near where the Sisters of Mercy now reside on Sixth Avenue, 
rebuilt it, and lived in it during the Summer while he was building 
a permanent residence. One portion of it was used for a stock of 
drugs and his office until 1852, when he built a frame store at the 
corner of Sixth and Grand avenues, which he occupied several 
years, when the lot was sold to the Catholics and the store removed 
to Mulberry Street. In it Rev. Ezra Rathbun lived and died. 

In the Spring of 1847, the Doctor made a claim of eighty acres 
lying between what is now Grand Avenue and School, Fourth and 
Ninth streets. 

So soon as the Doctor had made his claim, he selected the site 
for a residence "away out on the hill," as they said at the post 
office, down near "The Point," when anybody inquired for the Doc- 
tor professionally. 



DOCTOR FRANCIS C. GRIMMEL 87 

The timbers for sills, joist and rafters were cut and hewn on 
the claim between Park and School streets. The weatherboards 
were sawed at Parmalee's mill, near the mouth of Middle River, in 
Warren County. The shingles and lath were made by hand. The 
frame was the regular down-east mill style, with mortise, tenon, 
braces and pinned jointures. When put together, the carpenters 
declared it could be rolled all over town. The top plate was syca- 
more, the corner posts oak. One night, after the frame was put up, 
lightning struck one upper corner, passed down the oak post, sliver- 
ing it and the tenon, without injuring the tenon mortise in the 
sycamore plate. 

It was late in the Fall, help being scarce, before the house was 
ready for plastering, but there was no lime nor plasterer. Cloth 
was fastened to the walls and ceiling, and another Winter passed 
in discomfort. In June following, the Doctor's daughter, Augusta, 
and P. M. Casady (now known as the "Judge") were married 
therein. It was a notable, jolly affair. The groom was popular, a 
lawyer, and candidate for State Senator. The groomsman was 
Doctor Fagen, who, for two years, had been a roommate and chum 
of the groom, and who was the Whig candidate for Senator against 
the groom. For the fun of it, a vote for Senator was taken by the 
whole crowd, and the Doctor beat the groom by a large majority, 
every blessed one of the girls voting against him — they didn't like 
the breaking up of their social circles by marriages — but their vote 
was soon after verified by the marriage of the Doctor to the brides- 
maid, Melissa Hoxie. 

The second Fall, the house was completed, a plasterer having 
come to the town, and it became famous afterward for weddings 
and social gatherings. It was a cherished place for young people. 
In it, in 1855, was held the meeting for organizing the first Luth- 
eran Church, the Doctor and his good wife being earnest, active 
Lutherans. It was the first complete timber frame house built in 
the town. 

In Summer time, the pet family horse, who grazed in the large 
field about the house, could be seen with head and neck thrust in an 
open window to receive the benefactions so proverbial within. The 
house was destroyed by fire in 1889, the lot then sold, the hill cut 
away, and the Catholic Church built thereon. 



88 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

Simultaneously with the making of the claim by the Doctor, 
Edwin and Edward Hall, twin brothers, who built the dam at the 
foot of Center Street, made a claim westward from the river along 
Center Street. In 1854, when the claims were made additions to 
the city, in locating the streets it was discovered the claims over- 
lapped. To avoid expensive litigation, for land was cheap, the 
claims being covered with timber and tangled underbrush, and 
prospective purchasers scarce, a compromise was made, which 
explains the jog the length of one lot in Fourth Street at Center. 

In 1855, at a meeting of the State Lutheran Convention here, it 
was decided to establish a college of the Church. Through the 
earnest effort and influence of the Doctor and his estimable wife, 
Des Moines was selected for its location. A corporation was formed, 
a site purchased on Pleasant Street, where Younker's residence 
now is ; the Doctor gave ten thousand dollars to the project; he was 
elected one of the trustees ; a building was commenced, the corner- 
stone laid May Twenty-sixth, 1856, when hard times came on, 
material difficult to obtain, the project was abandoned, and the 
property sold to the Baptist denomination. 

In the State House location fiasco, 1855, the Doctor was an 
enthusiastic West Sider, subscribing ten thousand dollars to the 
"war fund." He offered ten acres of his claim, and Richard Hol- 
comb, who had a claim adjoining that of Grimmel's on the west, 
and lived in a log cabin on the hillside, near where Irving School 
is, offered ten acres also, or more, if wanted, for a building site, 
and ten thousand dollars to the "war fund." 

In 1855, Grimmel retired from active business, and for recrea- 
tion, the following year, built a large two-story brick residence, cor- 
ner of Park Street and Sixth Avenue, where he lived until his 
death, in 1862. In 1865, the property was sold to General J. M. 
Tuttle, and the Doctor's widow returned to the old house. 

After General Turtle's death, the brick house was torn away, 
the lot excavated, and the Victoria Hotel built thereon. 

Politically, the Doctor was a radical Democrat. He was skillful 
and successful in his profession, zealous in the promotion of reli- 
gious, educational and civic affairs, liberal in all matters of charity, 
his controlling effort being to help the city. 



DOCTOR FRANCIS C. GRIMMEL 89 

Contemporary with the Doctor was Doctor Pierce B. Fagen, an 
excellent physician, a graduate of several medical schools. He 
arrived here in June, 1846, the second doctor in town, Doctor 
Brooks having preceded him. With him came Judge Casady. The 
night before, they stopped at the cabin of "Uncle Tommy" Mitchell, 
well known to everybody in Polk County for fifty years — in fact, 
the godfather of the county — who lived near where Mitchellville 
now is. 

A young boy of Mitchell's was bitten by a rattlesnake the day 
Doctor Fagen arrived there. It was a godsend for the boy. There 
was no drug store at hand, not a neighbor's cabin within several 
miles. The only possible antidote for the poison to be had was 
tobacco and whiskey, usually kept in a settler's cabin, though 
"Uncle Tommy" was a good cold-water man. The boy was loaded 
with tobacco and whiskey, and recovered, which helped the Doctor 
more than all the "puffs" in Barlow Granger's Star. He opened 
an office with Mr. Casady and at once got into public favor. 

He was a wide-awake Whig, and in 1848, when Casady was a 
candidate for State Senator, he was the Whig candidate and took 
the stump against him. They roomed, ate and slept together, 
"boarding 'round," first at the tavern of Martin (X) Tucker — 
Martin wrote the "X" and somebody else the rest — then the Mar- 
tin House, and so on. They were firm chums. Casady won out, 
though the Doctor received a large vote in Polk County. His 
friends charged the Democrats with working the sympathy racket, 
by telling the people that it was more important to the health of 
the community that the Doctor be kept at home during the Winter. 
A lawyer could be easily spared, not so a good doctor. But when 
the county-seat location contest came on in the Legislature, during 
the Winter, the Doctor and "Uncle Tommy" Mitchell started one 
very cold morning in February, on horseback, to go to Iowa City 
to lobby for The Fort. They reached Bennett's cabin, four miles 
east of Newton, the first night, nearly frozen, and hungry as bears. 
Corn bread, sour bacon, a corn-shuck bed short at both ends, was 
the best the cabin afforded. It required pluck and public spirit, 
but they went on, and helped materially in securing favorable 
legislation. 



90 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

The first deed executed in the county by an individual was by 
Fagen. It was for forty acres lying within the plat set apart by 
the County Commissioners as the Original Town, and was part of 
a claim made by the Doctor. The deed was to convey title to the 
Commissioners. The price paid was three hundred and five dollars, 
or about seven dollars and a half per acre. It is now in the heart 
of the city, as the original town lay between Des Moines River and 
Eighth Street west, 'Coon River and Locust Street north. A big 
town it was, prospectively. 

In November, 1849, the Doctor and Melissa Hoxie, the brides- 
maid at the Casady wedding, were married in the Hoxie house. It 
was a notable event. Guests came from all over the county ; "Uncle 
Tommy" Mitchell from Apple Grove, Doctor Brooks from Indian 
Agency, Charley Van from Vantown, the latter coming with an 
ox team. 

While the wedding ceremony was on, a terrific storm came, com- 
pelling the guests to remain through the night — some for several 
days. The house was packed. It was an unique affair, replete 
with all the jollity Charley Van could concoct to "kill time." 

As transportation facilities at that time were sadly wanting, 
Colonel Hooker's stage coaches not having reached this point, and 
steamboats being barred by the two half-completed dams of the 
River "Obstruction" Company at Bonaparte, there was no bridal 
tour. 

The Hoxie house was a prominent landmark for many years. 
It was built in 1848, of hewn logs, clap-boarded, a lean-to, and 
outside brick chimney. It stood on the Hoxie claim, fenced in by 
rails, near the present southwest corner of Twelfth and Walnut 
streets, but askew to the street, and, with the Grimmel house on 
"the hill," a small one near the corner of Vine and Third streets, 
where Cownie's Glove Factory is, were the only buildings visible 
in that territory. It subsequently was sold to Samuel Keene, and 
became the headquarters for social functions, Mrs. Keene being a 
great favorite with the young people, memories of which were 
recalled by Hoyt Sherman, "Dan" Finch, Judge Casady, "Ed" 
Clapp, and other old-timers for years after. In 1879, deserted, 
dilapidated, unsightly, and awry with the street, it was torn down. 



DOCTOR FRANCIS C. GRIMMEL 91 

The rails composing the stake-and-ridered fence around the 
claim were cut and placed by good "Uncle Jimmy" Jordan, the 
grand old-timer, father of the wife of Doctor Hanawalt. 

When "Missouri Bill" headed this way with his bushwhackers, 
during the Civil War, to loot the Capital, the banks of the city 
removed their money and valuables to "Uncle Jimmy's" farm, near 
present Valley Junction, and cached them for safety. But "Bill" 
ran up against some "blue-coats" and didn't get here, much to the 
regret of Captain Harry Griffith, who was prepared to give him a 
salutation from several six-pounders. 

In 1850, Fagen was the Whig candidate for County Supervisor 
for Des Moines Township, but as it was against the divine rights 
of the Democrats, he was defeated, though he beat the Democratic 
vote in the township. Soon after the election, he had an acute 
attack of California gold fever, which "carried him off," and the 
town and county lost a helpful, active, earnest supporter of all that 
was good. 

July Twelfth, 1904. 



to 



FOURTH OF JULY IN EARLY DAYS 

THE pioneers were patriotic as well as public-spirited and 
industrious. The first Fourth of July celebration of the 
town was in 1846, less than four months after the town had 
a legal existence. The soldiers had left, taking away all the cannon, 
but cannon improvised from logs, and blacksmiths' anvils, were 
utilized to make a noise, while the small boy echoed it by charging 
old smooth-bored, muzzle-loading muskets with bullets picked from 
cabin logs which had been "peppered" by the soldiers in some of 
their hilarious moments. There were no cartridges and breech- 
loaders in that day. 

Early in the day, a procession was formed of about two hundred 
persons — nearly the entire population — which marched to a small 
grove not far from where the Observatory Building now is. Colonel 
Tom Baker, the first Prosecuting Attorney of the county, an active 
Democratic politician and prominent functionary, delivered a fine 
oration, and William McKay, afterward Judge of the District 
Court, read the Declaration of Independence. A big banquet was 
spread, at one dollar a couple. Toasts, repartee, and cheers were 
abundant, the event winding up with a dance on the lawn in the 
evening, by the light of the silvery moon. It was a joyful occasion. 

A. D. Jones, who surveyed and laid out the town only one month 
before, subsequently wrote of the affair, that four weeks later he 
took a census of the entire population, and, among those present, 
were "eleven young ladies and thirteen young gentlemen who were 
proper subjects for matrimony, and an old maid by the name of 
Jemima Scott." 

As the census of a month later showed less than three hundred, 
with a big sprinkling of babies, the presumption is that the celebra- 
tion was an old-fashioned jollification. 

In 1847, the day was celebrated in the well-known Saylor Set- 
tlement, near where Saylorville now is. It was largely attended by 

93 



94 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

settlers of the county. There was a big dinner, impromptu speeches, 
and a general jollification. John Saylor, on whose claim the fes- 
tivities were held, came here in 1845. There was nobody between 
him and British Columbia, except the Red Man. In the rear of 
his cabin was a beautiful natural grave. He had a permit to fur- 
nish hay for the garrison, and embraced the opportunity to develop 
a farm. Mrs. Saylor was a pioneer of true womanly virtues, and 
endured privations and trials which would overcome most of the 
sex to-day. When in a reminiscent mood, she would tell of times 
when the larder was empty and the family went to bed at night 
hungry ; that for six weeks at a time she was alone, while her hus- 
band was away on business, with wolves so bold and plentiful they 
chased the house dogs to the doors, and would climb up and peer 
into the windows; that for better sauce, wild crab apples were 
roasted ; that roasted acorns sometimes had to satisfy craving hun- 
ger ; that honey gathered from the bee trees was the only substitute 
for sugar available ; that once a lot of Indians came and demanded 
meat. A big club in the hands of her husband cleared them out. 

In 1848, extensive preparation was made for a celebration in 
the grove on George Beebe's farm, up in Madison Township. It 
was managed on the cooperative plan, by contributions from the 
old settlers all over the county. The principal manager was Mrs. 
Beebe, who was a master at such functions, and very popular. She 
was a good cook, lived in a log cabin, and didn't have many desir- 
able accessories to culinary art. Sometimes the flour, ground in 
the very uncertain mills, would not be bolted. She fitted an old 
veil to a dry-goods box, in which to bolt the flour, by shaking it. 
The feature of this celebration was the dinner, for which the good 
dames spent a week in preparation. It was said one person dug a 
sack of potatoes and carried them three miles on his back to add 
to the menu. At one cabin, salt was solicited. The reply was: 
"Oh, no ! We have no salt !" But it was a splendid affair, and 
hugely enjoyed. It afforded opportunity to give play to an exuber- 
ance of spirit long pent up by their isolation, for cabins two and 
three miles apart were considered quite neighborly. William H. 
McHenry, afterward Judge of the District Court, delivered an 
oration. The day was passed in recreations and mutual exchange 
of incidents in their pioneer days. There were no fireworks. 



FOURTH OF JULY IN EARLY DAYS 95 

In 1851, the steamboat Caleb Cope, having run the obstructions 
of the River Improvement Company, happened to be in port in Des 
Moines, having brought up from Saint Louis a big load of flour 
and other food supplies. The people were in patriotic mood, for 
nothing is more conductive to good humor than a well-loaded 
stomach. The Cope was chartered for an excursion up the river. 
The Star of that date says : 

"The Des Moines Band was there, and the light fantastic toe 
brought into requisition. Our city belles and beaux understand 
that performance well — in fact, are hard to beat." 

The presence of the "Des Moines Band" on that occasion should 
be accepted in a Pickwickian sense, the instrumental music at The 
Fort then being two or three fiddlers. 

While I think of it, the fiddle was a prominent factor in many 
ways in those days, and some notable pioneers were very good 
fiddlers. "Old Joe" Williams, as he was called by the lawyers, 
who started in as Territorial Judge in the lower part of the terri- 
tory, and moved north and west as counties were organized, until 
Polk County was added to his district. He was somewhat eccentric, 
but opposite to Judge McFarland, for he was a radical prohibition- 
ist, and made special effort wherever ho went to get the lawyers to 
sign the temperance pledge. He was an excellent lawyer and judge. 
He was also a good musician, played several instruments, but the 
fiddle was his favorite. At places where he held court, he would 
join the lawyers in social gatherings and entertain them with 
songs and his fiddle. 

He was once a candidate for Supreme Judge, with S. C. Hast- 
ings as his opponent. At the same time, George W. Jones and 
Thomas Wilson were candidates for United States Senator. At 
the nominating caucus the Judge and Jones won out. The defeated 
fellows were deeply chagrined. Said Wilson to his friends : "If I 
had been beaten by a high-minded, honorable man, I could have 
stood it without a murmur, but to be defeated by a dancing-master 
will ruin my reputation forever." 

Hastings retorted with : "Wilson, you were defeated by a high- 
minded, honorable gentleman — a dancing-master. I congratulate 
you. For me there is no consolation ; a d — d fiddler beat me." 



96 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

The allusion of Wilson to the "dancing-master" will be appre- 
ciated by old-timers, who knew George W. Jones when in his best 
Chesterfieldian days. 

As a rule, the National Holiday was fittingly recognized by the 
pioneers, according to their environments, usually by neighborhood 
gatherings, with little martial spirit. The sky-rocket, cannon 
cracker and toy pistol had not arrived. The enjoyment was more 
satisfactory than the general experience at the present time. 

Des Moines has never given much concerted recognition of the 
day as a body politic. It is usually observed scatteringly by socie- 
ties and families, in picnics and social functions. 

In 1876, was one of the most elaborate displays ever held in the 
city. It was estimated that not less than twenty-five thousand per- 
sons were in attendance. Governor Kirkwood was President of the 
Day, Rev. A. L. Frisbie Chaplain, Doctor E. R. Hutchins and B. 
F. Montgomery of Council Bluffs the orators. The speakers' stand 
was at the old Fair Grounds near 'Coon River, on lower Ninth 
Street. There was booming of cannon, bands of music galore, 
elaborate street decoration, a big procession, and exuberant enthusi- 
asm everywhere. The day was to wind up with a splendid display 
of fireworks on the east bank of the Des Moines River, above the 
dam. The entire population had gathered on the West Side bluff 
to witness it. The day had been hot and sultry, several persons 
succumbing to the heat. Just at the opening of the fireworks, with 
scarce a moment's warning, there was a cloudburst of water, and 
for twenty minutes it seemed as if the very bottom of the firmament 
had dropped out. There was no wind, no lightning, no thunder — 
nothing but a sudden swash. There were no sewers, and few 
streets paved. Bird's Run, an open ravine, was the natural drain 
for all the north and northwest part of the city, and it quickly 
became a very demon. For fifty feet in width it swept everything 
in its way. Every wooden bridge over all street crossings from 
Eleventh to the river was carried off ; at Fourth Street and Grand 
Avenue, it tore away nearly a whole building lot. The sudden 
drenching of the people put a damper on the closing scene of what 
was a notable celebration. 

June Twenty-sixth, 1904. 





Til den // 




COLONEL J. M. GRIFFITH 



COLONEL J. M. GRIFFITH 

COLONEL J. M. GRIFFITH, who was an important factor 
in developing the East Side, came from the East in the Fall 
of 1850, and, after looking over the field, concluded to invest. 
He rented a store on Second Street, paid one hundred dollars for 
rent in advance, to secure what he wanted, went away, returned the 
next Spring, took possession of the store, and began a general mer- 
chandise business. He evinced his characteristic public spirit by 
laying a sidewalk in front of the store lot, the first laid in the city. 
The town was rapidly becoming a trading-point. Settlers from 
Boone and surrounding counties came here to get supplies and dis- 
pose of their products. To the merchant, transportation was an 
important matter. It was then both difficult and uncertain. The 
Colonel, with an eye to business, and to secure regularity and per- 
manency, chartered a steamboat in 1851 for regular service between 
The Fort and points down the river. At Bonaparte, where the 
alleged River Improvement Company had obstructed navigation 
with abandoned, half-completed dams and debris, freight would be 
transferred around the break. When the river was high, the boat 
could go through to St. Louis without transfer. It was an enter- 
prise of great benefit to the entire country. It also enabled the 
merchant to widen the scope of his traffic, to put him more in con- 
tact with the farmer, to get his produce in exchange for store 
goods — in fact, barter was the principal method of trading, for 
money was scarce. It therefore required some time for the mer- 
chant to convert his goods into cash, because of the want of con- 
venient and adequate transportation facilities. Sometimes he could 
hasten the exchange by investing in hogs and sending them to 
market on foot, as they were always in demand down the river. An 
incident of that kind is related where a merchant, with trade dull, 
a store full of goods, thought he would stir things up a bit by 
taking a whirl with hogs. He bought every hog in the country 

Vol. I— (7). 97 



98 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

that could travel, giving his note on short time for them. He hired 
a lot of men and boys to drive them to Keokuk, going himself, 
leaving his store in charge of clerks. 

Arriving at Keokuk, the market was flat. He chartered a steam- 
boat for St. Louis, put the hogs on Undismissed some of the drivers, 
and started down the river. When the drivers returned, there was 
inquiry as to the merchant and the hogs. All they could say was 
that the last they saw of them they were headed down-stream. The 
second lot of drivers could give no better satisfaction. The note- 
holders got uneasy and suspicious that the man had "skipped." 
They soon began to turn the notes in at the store in exchange for 
goods. This quickly increased to a panic. They took everything 
that was wanted, and some that was not, until the entire store was 
cleaned out. A large portion of the goods were out of style and 
unsaleable. Just at that juncture, the merchant turned up, with a 
big, new stock of goods, and pockets bulging with dollars. He was 
astounded by the situation of his affairs, threatened to sue every- 
body in the community for libel and defamation of character, while 
he quietly laughed "up his sleeve." He went right on with his 
business, buying hogs and selling "rags." It was not long before 
the farmers declared, with a wink, that it was "just a trick of 
trade," but they made no more "runs" on his store. 

Soon after his arrival, the Colonel began to invest in real estate, 
purchasing a tract on the East Side and platting it into lots. In 
1855, he, with his brother, Harry, built a three-story brick store 
and office building at the corner of Locust and Fourth Streets. Sub- 
sequently, it was remodeled to the Jones Hotel, and is now the 
Lakota. 

W. A. Scott, the two Lyons, John H. Deakin, and others also 
purchased tracts and platted them, and proceeded vigorously to 
build up a rival to The Fort. They were hustlers, and boomed the 
project, with great surprise to the West Siders. They named the 
aggregation "East Demoin," Deakin being sponsor for the orthog- 
raphy. He declared he didn't care what the "literary fellers" over 
at The Fort said, he would have it as he wanted, and so it stands 
yet on the records. 

Later on, Judge Napier, to help them along, by virtue of 
authority vested in a County Judge, set off the whole of Des 



COLONEL J. M. GRIFFITH 99 

Moines Township east of the river, "to be known and hailed as Lee 
Township." 

In 1856, when the question of location of a site for a State 
House came on, the East Siders were ready for the fray. The 
Commissioners sent by the Legislature to fix the place were author- 
ized to accept land, or anything else, to aid in building a Capitol, 
or get a place to put it. The East Siders formed the "Capitol 
Stock Association," got Eastern men who were making real estate 
investments here interested in it ; Grimes, who was a candidate for 
Governor, was said to be in it, gave it his influence (not improb- 
able, as the site must be approved by the Governor) a fact the West 
Siders afterward declared necessitated the proffer of extraordinary 
inducments to the gubernatorial candidate. Two hundred and fifty 
lots were put into the pool, and what else was never made known. 
The West Siders subscribed a fund of $159,250 and ten or twenty 
acres of land, if the site was fixed on the West Side. 

As the site must be within two miles of the fork of the Des 
Moines and Raccoon rivers, there were others. Doctor T. K. 
Brooks and "Uncle Jerry" Church had a magnificent City of 
Brooklyn — on paper — on the beautiful plateau down where the 
packing-houses are, which they put into the contest. 

The Commissioners came, in all the glory of dignified impor- 
tance, and "put up" at the "Demoine House," corner of First and 
Walnut streets, kept by Colonel Spofford. They investigated 
several days with great taciturnity and solemnity. They tramped 
over the West Side, East Side, and Brooklyn. The air was full of 
plots and schemes. There were wheels within wheels. Neither side 
could find out what the other was doing. Excitement was intense. 
The East Siders declared the West Siders' subscription was not 
worth the paper it was written on ; the West Siders retaliated with 
equal invectives. It was a bitter contest. Finally, the Commis- 
sioners fixed a day when they would meet all parties. The West 
Siders put in an appearance. Brooklyn had withdrawn and joined 
the East Siders. The West Siders were quietly informed that the 
question had been settled the night previous. The East Side had 
offered forty acres, and agreed to build a State House, and the offer 
had been accepted. The West Siders were wild with rage. They 



... 



100 PIONEEKS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

condemned the Commissioners, and charged the East Siders with 
all manner of fraud. 

The East Siders being all Whigs, and the West Siders mostly 
Democrats, the latter declared it was a political trick to help 
Grimes. They went to the Legislature and demanded an investiga- 
tion of the whole transaction, which was granted, but when insti- 
tuted, the witnesses were affected with remarkable "forgettery," 
or declined to tell what thev knew for fear of defamation of char- 

t/ 

acter. One of them, however, when asked why the Commissioners 
slept at the "Demoine House" and did the eating and drinking on 
the East Side, replied that the East Siders were more courteous and 
hospitable than the West Siders. Another one said there was a lot 
of money and heaps of Ananiasan and Sapphiran appliances used, 
but he did not know who got the money. 

The Commissioners, for themselves, had no personal knowledge 
of any unlawful or improper methods used to influence their action. 

It developed, however, that a man named Baldwin was an inter- 
mediary between the Commissioners and East Siders. He financed 
the whole business, did all the buying, selling and dividing of 
swag, if there was any. He denied the right of the Legislature to 
interfere with his real estate business. As it was said he had stated 
vociferously on his first appearance here that "fifty thousand dol- 
lars would locate the Capitol," the West Siders declared somebody 
got the money. 

In the deal, the State got a mighty good thing, but some of the 
East Siders lost a pile of money. 

Knowing the Colonel was an East Side booster at that time, I 
asked him a few days ago how many lots he put into the State 
House pool. He laughingly replied : "Not a lot, but I lost a hun- 
dred dollars in the deal. One of the Commissioners sent here came 
to me and said he wanted a hundred dollars. I gave him the money, 
and that's the last I saw of it. He probably forgot it, and I pre- 
sume the administrator of his estate never knew anything about it." 

In 1855, there were but few houses on the East Side. The fre- 
quent submerging of it by floods was not encouraging for residence 
building, but the Colonel and his coadjutors had faith in the pros- 
pective. The building fever broke out that year on both sides of 



COLONEL J. M. GRIFFITH 101 

the river, and great improvement was made. The Colonel built a 
fine residence at the corner of East Sixth and Walnut streets, where 
he lived many years. It was a favorite place for dinners, recep- 
tions and social gatherings of the Aliens, Shermans, Mills, Robert- 
sons, Williamsons, Hulls, and many others long gone to their final 
rest. I think "Tom" Hatton, "Friday" Eason, Mrs. Bina M. 
Wyman, and Mrs. Ed. Clapp have not forgotten some of them. 

The Colonel, being largely interested in real estate and building, 
crossed the river and built the first store at the northwest corner of 
Court Avenue and Second Street. It was a one-story frame. 

About that time, he was called to serve as juryman in court 
before Judge McFarland, who happened to be quite sober. J. E. 
Jewett was one of the lawyers in the case. He was making his 
argument, and with great emphasis endeavoring to impress the 
court with the importance and weight of it, when he discovered the 
Judge was apparently sound asleep. He stopped speaking and 
stood looking at the Judge, when he opened his eyes with: "Go 
on, Jewett; G — d d — n ye, go on!" 

On another occasion, when the weather was hot and sultry, 
"Dan" Finch was one of the lawyers in the case, and, as all old- 
timers well know, had a voluminous, incisive vocabulary at his 
command. The case dragged along without material interest, and 
the Judge fell asleep. "Dan" and his opposing lawyer got into a 
heated wrangle over a point in the case, and were making fierce 
and loud charges against each other, which awoke the Judge, when 
he roared : "Stop that, or I'll lick h — 1 out of both of you." 

In September, 1862, when the Thirty-ninth Iowa Infantry regi- 
ment was organized, the Colonel was commissioned its Major. The 
enlistments were nearly all from Polk County. In October, it was 
mustered into the United States Army at Davenport. Soon after, 
nearly half of it was sent to the hospital with measles, and, before 
complete recovery, was ordered to report at Cairo. It disembarked 
at Columbus, spending the first night without tents, in mud and 
rain. October Eighteenth, it moved by rail to Corinth, where it 
had severe marches and several skirmishes with Forrest's forces. 

On the Thirty-first, a bloody fight for six hours was had at Par- 
ker's Cross Roads. For two hours those raw soldiers withstood 
and repulsed the whole of Forrest's army of seven thousand, when, 



102 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

by a mistaken order, it was thrown into confusion and retired, but 
soon re-formed and rested that night on the field they won. The 
Colonel was severely wounded. 

In January, 1863, it was sent to Corinth, assigned to the Second 
Brigade until November, when it joined Sherman in his march to 
the sea. At the battle of Altoona, it stood at the front like a stone 
wall and won imperishable fame. In October, the Major was pro- 
moted to Lieutenant-Colonel, May Twelfth, 1865, to Colonel, and 
mustered out at the close of the war as Colonel. Soon after, he 
was appointed Government Inspector at the Custom House in New 
Orleans, where he remained four years, and resigned, his physical 
system having been completely shattered with yellow fever. 

Returning to Des Moines, he gradually closed his several busi- 
ness interests, and now, with his estimable wife, in satisfactory con- 
sciousness of having done what he could for the city of his adoption, 
is quietly waiting the final summons which comes to all men. 

Recalling the military services of the Colonel brings to mind an 
incident, somewhat peculiar, occurring here after the war closed. 

Very soon after the close of the Rebellion, a man and his wife 
came to Des Moines, started in business, and became quite promi- 
nent and successful. Little was known of his antecedents, of which 
he said nothing. His rank and social position were apparently 
satisfactory, and only those most familiar with him noticed his 
reticence. He was a familiar personage on the streets. A few 
years ago he died. His widow left the city soon after. Several 
months later, I received a letter enclosing a photograph, inquiring 
if a man of a certain name, of whom the photo was a likeness, had 
lived in the city, and deceased on or about a certain date. I replied 
that the photo was true to a man who had lived and deceased here, 
but under another name. Naturally, I desired to get the sequel 
as to the matter. It was that, soon after the decease of the man, the 
widow made application for a pension, based on military service 
during the Civil War. Investigation of the records at Washington 
disclosed an application on file from another woman, based on the 
same identical service. Later, another application was filed by a 
woman holding a marriage certificate ante-dating those of the other 
two applicants, and whom the man had deserted, leaving her with 



COLONEL J. M. GKIFFITH 103 

several children, one of whom is now an officer in the United States 
Army. It was for the benefit of this woman the inquiry I refer to 
was made, and she has probably received the pension, but not in the 
name the man who lived and died here was known by. 
July Twenty-fourth, 1904. 




COLONEL SUMNER F. SPOFFORD 



COLONEL SUMNER F. SPOFFORD 

MENTION of men and events of early days would be incom- 
plete that omitted "Colonel" Sumner F. Spofford, who came 
here in 1854, and for thirty-four years was a moving spirit 
in public affairs. Without a military record, he was given the title 
of "Colonel" by common consent, and it fitted him well. 

In 1852, Conrad Stutsman made additions to one of the log 
buildings at the corner of First and Walnut streets, and named it 
the Pennsylvania House. It was one story and a half high, the 
upper story being one room. Beds were placed along each side, with- 
out curtains or partitions. It was usually crowded — sometimes 
three in a bed — such was the influx of land-seekers, and they were 
not very fastidious. There were no wardrobes. Hats, boots and 
shoes were thrown under the beds. Shelter, grub and a place to 
sleep satisfied the patrons. It was a lively hostelry. 

In 1854, Stutsman moved it south, and built a large two-story 
frame, and sold it to J. C. Warner and John Yost, who opened it 
to the public in April, 1855. Both being East Siders, they named 
it "Demoine House," because that was the way the word was 
spoken, they said, and it remained so as long as the house existed. 

Soon after the opening, the Colonel bought it for sixteen thou- 
sand dollars, and was host until 1862. It was a lively place. The 
bar-room annex on the south side was the rendezvous for politicians. 
There being no public hall, the dining-room was a favorite place 
for dancing parties, where, in the pale, mellow light of tallow dips 
or whale oil, joy went unconfined. The Colonel was an ideal Boni- 
face, social, cordial, polite, energetic, and immensely popular. 

In 1876, the house was torn down, to be replaced with one larger 
and up-to-date, long contemplated. The foundation was laid, but 
'hard times and other causes forced abandonment of the project. 
A portion of the foundation still remains. The property now 
belongs to Uncle Sam, who, after the usual divisive river strife, and 

105 



106 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

the East Siders winning a river-front location, will erect a new 
Post Office creditable to himself and the city. 

At the southwest corner of the hotel, at the rear, fronting on the 
alley, was one of the log barrack buildings, occupied by "Uncle" 
Thomas French, by right of eminent domain, as it were, so long as 
the hotel existed. He was a bachelor, kind, companionable, great 
lover of books, fond of children, and a good carpenter, but, as his 
expenses were light, little manual labor was required. He spent 
much time in fishing, seemingly for the sole satisfaction received 
from giving his catches to his friends, save what he cooked for 
himself — an art he understood. He could catch, too, when others 
could not get a "nibble." He had a "hook and line, bob and 
sinker" for every kind of fish that swam the stream. He was an 
inveterate smoker. He and "Ret" Clarkson were warm friends. 
"Ret" abhorred tobacco — would not allow smoking in his editorial 
room, yet it was generally understood around the Register estab- 
lishment that "Uncle Tommy" could draw his pipe there. Politi- 
cally, "Uncle Tommy" was a Republican ; religiously, a hard-shell 
Baptist. His mission was to do good, care for the sick, and solace 
the sorrowing. 

The energy and sterling qualities of the Colonel did not long 
escape attention. 

In the contest for the State House location, he was a West Sider, 
subscribed one thousand dollars to the West Side fund, was a good 
persuader, a good Democrat, yet somehow he failed to win over 
his guests, the legislative committee sent to fix the site. As the 
story went, he did not run up against the right man. He should 
have spent a short time in that south annex in a hear-to-heart talk 
with one Baldwin. But that is another story, to be told later on. 

In 1863, the Colonel was elected Trustee for the Second Ward, 
the office not having progressed to the dignity of Alderman. 

In 18C5, pursuant to a vote of the electors, the County Super- 
visors, of whom the Colonel was a member, purchased two hundred 
and eighty acres for a Poor Farm, at a cost of six thousand five 
hundred and fifty dollars. The Colonel and "Uncle Jimmy" Jor- 
dan were appointed a committee to purchase the necessary cattle, 
horses, hogs and farm machinery to put it in operation. That was 
the beginning of the present county asylum for the poor and insane. 



COLONEL SUMNER F. SPOFFORD 107 

In 1866, the Colonel, with Frank R. Laird, were granted the 
privilege of building the first bridge over the river, at Walnut 
Street, by County Judge Napier, who, as the law then was, had 
power to order bridges built wheresoever he pleased. It was a 
wooden Howe truss pattern, and soon after completion one span 
was broken by a drove of horses. It was a toll bridge. The Colonel 
collected the first toll, and he was the first person to cross it with a 
horse and carriage. The people did not take kindly to toll-paying, 
and in November, 1876, it was made a free bridge. The Colonel 
collected the last toll, and carried it with the first in his pocket 
several years as souvenirs. They were both of Uncle Sam's frac- 
tional currency, there being no silver coin in circulation in those 
days. The bridge was owned by the county, and, when made free, 
was turned over to the city, and all bridges tolled from 1871 to 
1879, when, under agreement between the city and county, all were 
made free. 

In 1868, the city being politically Republican by a small major- 
ity, the Democrats made extraordinary effort to gain the city elec- 
tion, and persuaded the Colonel, much against his inclination, to 
allow his name to go at the head of the ticket for Mayor. The 
contest was a vigorous one. The Register, edited by Frank Palmer, 
evidently alarmed by the popularity of the Colonel, lambasted him 
with a pointedness equal to some of Barlow Granger's expressions 
in his old Star. One day it said of him : 

"The candidates on the Democratic city ticket plant their feet 
firmly on the infernal planks of the Copperhead platform adopted 
by the conclave (State Convention) last week. Spofford is just as 
much a part of the Democratic wheel, when it moves, as 'Dirty 
Shirt' Dean, Finch, Teetotaller' McHenry (Judge M. D. Mc- 
Henry), 'Automatical Tom-Tit' Bently, 'Brick' Pomeroy, the mis- 
cellaneous youth, Ayres — not quite so noisy, not quite so blatant, 
and probably not quite so earnest, but pledged to it as much as 
they." 

This screed bears very much the ear-marks of Seward Smith, 
who wielded a pen with a sharp, caustic point, a shrewd, astute 
political manipulator rarely equaled. It was not Palmer's style. 
Smith was the candidate for City Solicitor against Bently, who 



108 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

subsequently defended the convicted murderer, Howard, hung at 
a lamp post by vigilantes, and who fled the city on being informed 
the vigilantes were seeking him. He never came back. 

The Colonel came out of the fray with a seat in the Mayor's 
chair, but the remainder of the ticket was carried by the Repub- 
licans. That was the last time the Colonel could be inveigled into 
political office seeking. 

When, in 1871, the Ulm & Coskrey Bank and the Citizens Bank 
were merged, and the Citizens National Bank was organized, the 
Colonel was elected one of the Directors, and served several years. 

In 1860, the Legislature, to promote immigration to the state, 
provided for the establishment of an agency in New York, but with 
very unsatisfactory results, and, in 1872, it was discontinued, a 
Board of Immigration substituted, with headquarters here, and 
Governor Merrill, a Republican, appointed the Colonel a member 
of the board. Pamphlets entitled, "Iowa, the Home for Immi- 
grants," were printed in English, Dutch, German, Swedish and 
Norwegian languages, setting forth the advantages of the state for 
the farmer and business man, and sent broadcast over Europe, 
resulting in an immense gain to our population. The board was 
abolished in 1876. 

In 1872, with Captain F. R. West, George A. Jewett and Wes- 
ley Redhead, he organized the Des Moines Scale Company, to 
manufacture scales, windmills and butter makers. He was the 
Vice-President. In 1874, the business passed to Dickinson, Berry 
& Sargent. This last company did not exist long. It was not 
equipped to compete with the big Howe and Fairbanks companies. 
Sargent was an inventive genius, and very poor. He carried around 
in his pocket a small model of a railroad brake shoe he had invented, 
which he was satisfied was a good thing. To get it into use was the 
problem. He had no money. Another impediment was, a mechanic 
for the Union Pacific road had a patent for a brake shoe, the wear- 
ing surface of which was chilled iron, which, when pressed against 
the chilled iron of the car wheel, had no grip, and proved imprac- 
ticable. Sargent's shoe was precisely like it, except that when 
molding it he put in old wrought iron nuts and pieces of scrap 
wrought iron. These being softer than the chilled iron, would 



COLONEL SUMNER F. SPOFFORD 109 

grip the car wheel. But the shoe was valueless to him so long as 
the patent on the other shoe existed, even though that shoe was of 
no value. In some way, Sargent got possession of all the rights of 
the other shoe, went to Chicago, where it was quickly approved by 
practical men. It is now in use on nearly every railroad in this 
country and Europe, and Sargent is many times a millionaire. 

In 1873, Governor Samuel Merrill, Judge Casady, Lieutenant- 
Governor Gue, ex-State Auditor Elliott, and the Colonel incorpor- 
ated the State Printing Company. The Colonel was elected Presi- 
dent. Its business was to furnish "insides" for country news- 
papers, and the purchase and sale of printers' supplies. In 1876, 
the name was changed to Iowa Printing Company, and in 1880 to 
Western Newspaper Union, which it is to-day. 

In 1871, A. J. Jack laid out the town of Commerce, about eight 
miles west, and built a flour mill and dam across 'Coon River. 
Soon after, Spofford, who, in his young days, was the "mill boy" 
in one of his father's mills, and being only president, vice-president, 
director, secretary, or treasurer in a dozen corporations, concluded 
to add this flour mill as a reminder of his early training, and pur- 
chased it. In 1874, he put in his last "grist," and sold the mill 
to A. J. Delano. 

The Colonel was greatly interested in agricultural Fairs. In 
the old days, before the wheels were removed from the State Fair, 
which itinerated over the state, the County Fair was his special 
hobby. He admired a good horse. He was a superb horseman — 
not the fast variety — and usually had a few fine steppers. While 
he did not "follow the races," there were few horses that could eat 
hay from the rear end of his wagon when on the road. He was a 
great favorite with the young women, and nothing gave him more 
pleasure than to fill his big four-seated carriage with them on 
pleasant days and give them a ride about the city. If the days were 
long enough, all had a chance, filling the air with the bubbling-over 
of their merriment and happiness. In Winter, it would be a big 
sleigh or a broad hay rack on runners. Sometimes it would be an 
evening skylarking surprise to "Uncle Jimmy" Jordan or the 
Flynns. A turn-out with the Colonel was an event coveted and 
enjoyed by many matrons now living. At big civic functions and 
parades, the Colonel was the Chief Marshal. 



110 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

Though politically a Democrat, Republican Governors many 
times appointed him to places of trust, without pecuniary profit, 
yet he was ever ready to give his time and service to benefit the 
community. He was often a good reliance in emergencies, when 
individual effort was more potent than money. 

He went to rest in Woodland, in 1885, but the spot is lost to 
the searcher, as the inscriptions on the monument erected to his 
memory have become obliterated. 

July Thirty-first, 1904. 




ORK 

1909 




WESLEY REDHEAD 



WESLEY REDHEAD 

AMONG the early hustlers and epoch-makers of Polk County 
and Des Moines, was Wesley Redhead, for forty years 
known by every man, woman and child in the community. 

Born in Cumberland County, England, July Twenty-second, 
1825, when but four years old he came over the sea with his par- 
ents to Montreal, Canada. His parents died in 1831, and he then 
went to live with an uncle in Cincinnati, where he was apprenticed 
to learn the printing business, and, being the youngest in the office, 
was the "printer's devil," and one of the first newsboys of that city. 

After a time, his uncle, thinking his environments were bad, 
sent him to Fairfield, Vermont, where his eldest brother was 
engaged in cabinet making. Three weeks were required for the 
journey. After a month's trial at cabinet making, Wesley con- 
cluded he could do better. He left Fairfield between two days, 
without a "ticket of leave," and walked most of the way to White- 
hall, New York, where he got a job as driver on the Erie Canal. 
When the canal froze up, he went to a farm, where he worked two 
years, receiving therefor his board, clothes, and three months' 
schooling each year. 

In 1842, he concluded farming was not for him, and went to 
Saratoga Springs, where, for two seasons, he served the visitors 
at Congress Springs as a "dipper" of the aqueous fluid, when 
another predatory fit seized him, and he shipped on a Mississippi 
River steamboat as cabin-boy. On the way up, at Muscatine, in 
September, 1844, he deserted the ship, and went to Iowa City, 
where a brother resided. There he secured employment in the 
office of the Iowa Capital Reporter, at three dollars a week, his 
stunt being the "devil's" work, and setting one column of type a 
day for the paper. Playing the "devil" for one year was enough 
for him, and, in 1845, he went to Anamosa, where he got employ- 
ment to run a carding machine in a woolen factory, but soon after 

111 



112 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

his health became impaired, and he returned to Iowa City and 
apprenticed himself for three years to learn the tailoring trade. On 
the expiration of the term, he worked as a "jour." until 1851, when 
he came to Port Des Moines and opened a tailor shop on Second 
Street, then the center of trade and fashion. Judge Casady, Bar- 
low Granger, Hoyt Sherman, "Dan" Finch, and others of the old 
boys, say he made good clothes — better than we get nowadays. 

In 1852, he was ready for another change, to suit his versatile 
genius, and he took a clerkship in the general merchandise store of 
J. M. Griffiths, on Second Street, at twenty dollars a month. 

He was a good mixer, jolly, and, though a Democrat, in 1853 
he was appointed postmaster by President Fillmore, to succeed 
Hoyt Sherman, who had resigned. He retained the office in the 
building erected by Sherman at Second and Vine streets, put in a 
small stock of books and stationery, and remained there until the 
Sherman Block was completed at Third Street and Court Avenue. 

In 1855, he opened an agency of the ./Etna Fire Insurance Com- 
pany, of Hartford, and issued the first policy of insurance on prop- 
erty in the town. 

That was the year of the contest between the East and West 
Side for the location of the State House. Wesley was a West 
Sider, and subscribed one thousand dollars to the "war fund." 

In 1856, at the May term of court, he was admitted to the bar 
as an attorney, not with the purpose of practicing the profession, 
but as an aid in business affairs. That was the last term of the 
unique McFarland on the bench. During the term, the second appli- 
cation for a divorce in Polk County was made, the only one at 
that term. I think the case was Mitchell vs. Mitchell. A Mrs. 
Dailey had married one Mitchell, who, not long after, joined the 
gold-seeking caravan for California, and forgot to come back. The 
plaintiff set forth in her petition her various grievances, especially 
that of desertion. Judge McKay, who had been the judge of the 
court one term, was the attorney for the grass widow. He pre- 
sented her case in an able and convincing argument. The court at 
once took it under consideration, and happened to be in fair condi- 
tion. McKay was standing near, waiting the decision. McFar- 
land, looking up, said: 



WESLEY BEDHEAD 113 

"Here, Judge, take your decree. Call her Mrs. Dailey here- 
after, and put her against the first chance she gets." 

On another occasion, in Marshall County, a divorce case was up 
in which belligerency on one side was set forth in the petition. The 
Judge was "half seas over." The first witness called was asked 
if he knew the parties to the suit. He replied : "Oh, not much. 
They are always fighting and fuddling around." 

The Judge aroused himself from his bibulous stupor and mut- 
tered : "Fud-ling-round and a-r-o-u-n-d ; next case." 

The Judge was an athlete of prodigious strength, which he 
never used except as occasion required, but he enjoyed seeing 
others indulge in athletic sport. He was holding court one hot day 
in a schoolhouse in Newton. The windows and doors were all open, 
and "Dan" Finch was addressing the jury, when a man in the 
crowd outside, in a loud voice, boasted that he could throw any 
man in Jasper County, at a side-hold. The Judge tapped on his 
desk, and said he would take a recess for a few minutes. Going 
outside, he asked for the man who had made the boast. A large 
man named Sparks replied that he was the man. The Judge 
ordered a ring made, and requested "Dan," who had some reputa- 
tion as a wrestler, to try him, which he did, and put him three 
times squarely on his back, whereat the fellow got mad, and, getting 
on his feet, seized a big club and hurled it at "Dan," barely missing 
his head. The Judge grabbed the fellow with one hand by the 
throat, and shook him up lively, remarking that if he touched 
"Dan" he would wipe the ground with him, adding : " 'Dan' does 
the wrestling on this circuit, but I do the fighting." That ended 
the scene, and the court resumed its session. 

In 1857, Eedhead removed the Post Office to Sherman Block, 
which had just been completed, and put in a large stock of books 
and stationery ; made a specialty of school books, and controlled the 
trade of the city for many years. 

In the early Sixties, he began to widen the scope of his business. 
Coal and cattle presented strong inducements to him. The presence 
of coal in and around the town was well known. Doctor Brooks 
and W. A. Scott burrowed into the bluff southeast of the Capitol, 
and got coal for the garrison blacksmiths in 1843-4. Later on, 

Vol. I— (8). 



114 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

factories and mills were supplied with it. In 1856, a factory where 
the German Church stands, at West Second and Center streets, 
burrowed direct from the engine-room and got coal to heat its 
boilers. It was also dug up from the bed of the Des Moines River 
near Rattlesnake Bend. The veins were thin, and the quality not 
good. 

In 1864, Redhead organized a company and began mining coal 
in a systematic way, with varied success. 

In 1865, he, with William T. Vincent, an old Welsh coal miner, 
B. F. Allen, M. Starr, William Phillips, Hoyt Sherman, John 
Teesdale, James W. Davis, L. W. Dennis, Frank Butler, and E. 
Sandford, organized the Des Moines Coal Company, and coal min- 
ing was begun in a more extensive manner. The digging was done 
on the old Peet farm, on the bottoms in the north part of the city, 
along Des Moines River, under the foremanship of John Gibson, 
a Derbyshire, England, miner. The coal was in "pockets," so-called, 
near the surface, which were soon cleaned out, requiring frequent 
removals and changes of location. They burrowed all over the 
farm until the supply was exhausted, so as to render further dig- 
ging unprofitable 

In 1867, when the Equitable Life Insurance Company was 
organized, Redhead was elected Vice-President. He was one of the 
organizers of the People's Savings Bank, and one of its Directors. 

In 1866, Redhead was elected to represent the county in the 
Lower House of the Twenty-first General Assembly. He was made 
a member of the standing committees on Banks and Banking, 
Schools, Agriculture, Police Regulations, Fish and Game, Board 
of Public Charities, and Library, of the latter being its chairman. 

He started in early and energetically to regulate things, and 
was the author of numerous bills, the most notable of which was 
one prohibiting the issuance of a marriage license by the Clerk 
of the District Court, unless the parties gave him satisfactory 
assurance that they would be able to support themselves and their 
progeny. S. M. Weaver, the member from Hardin, now one of 
the judges of the Supreme Court, with the irony of fate, but 
facetiously, moved its reference to the Committee on Retrenchment 
and Reform. There it went, and Wesley, during the remainder 



WESLEY REDHEAD 115 

of the session, was left to ruminate on tricks of legislation. It 
never came back to the House. 

At the same election, he was elected a member of the Board of 
County Supervisors, to represent Des Moines Township. At the 
January meeting, following, of the Board, it was found that the 
township had acquired a population of four thousand, and was 
entitled to another supervisor, and Redhead was elected. 

In 1867, he retired from active participation in the business of 
the firm of Redhead & Wellslager, to devote his time to the develop- 
ment of his coal projects. He owned a large tract of land south 
of 'Coon River, near the south end of Seventh Street bridge. Per- 
sistent in the belief that stratified coal existed in this locality, he 
determined to test it on his own land, though Gibson and other old 
miners thought it doubtful. Machinery was purchased, and early 
in 1873, a prospecting drill was started, with a day and night crew. 
At the depth of seventy feet, three inferior veins of coal had been 
pierced, with a flint rock stubbornly resisting further progress of 
the drill. John advised abandonment of the whole business, but 
Wesley declared he would "go to China, or find coal." He asked 
John how much drill rod was left, and being told there was twenty 
feet, he ordered the work to proceed, saying if twenty feet of rod 
was not enough, he would add one hundred more. The work went 
on, the drill advancing but three inches per day, for four weeks, 
when the rock was penetrated, and the drill plunged through a 
strata of fine coal. It was late in the evening, and Wesley, elated 
with the discovery, went to Allen's house, routed him out of bed to 
make it known. Allen was so well pleased, he invested thirty-five 
thousand dollars in the company. A shaft was immediately put in, 
and, at the depth of one hundred and twenty-five feet, ninety feet 
below the bed of 'Coon River, a coal measure four feet and six 
inches thick was reached on the Second of June, and on the Third, 
a load of coal was delivered at Wesley's office, and thus was inaugu- 
rated one of the most valuable industries of the state. 

John is still digging coal under about half of Polk County. 
Wesley gradually purchased all shares of the company held by 
others, and, in 1874, became the sole owner. 

In 1876, he sent samples of his "Black Diamonds," as he called 
them, to the Centennial Exposition at Philadelphia, which were 



116 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

given high commendation in the award of merits, and greatly sur- 
prised the Eastern coal miners. 

In May, 1880, James P. Clark, who had been his confidential 
clerk, joined him, and the name of the company was changed to 
Pioneer Coal Company. 

Redhead was always a busy man, with a restless energy to do 
things, to develop some good industrial or social project. He did 
more than was expected, promoted business enterprises, and devel- 
oped one of the greatest and most valuable natural resources of 
the city and county. 

In 1865, when the old State Bank of Iowa was reorganized 
under the National Banking Law, he became a stockholder and 
director. In 1876, its charter was surrendered. 

He was always interested in agricultural affairs, and owned a 
good farm. When the Patrons of Husbandry and Granger craze 
became epidemic in the Western States, in September, 1870, he 
was instrumental in organizing, and was a charter member of 
Capital Grange, Number Five. 

In 1872, he was one of the organizers of the Des Moines Scale 
Company, and was elected its treasurer. Its business was the 
manufacture of scales, windmills, and butter-workers, and so con- 
tinued to 1874, when the establishment was leased to William 
Dickerson. 

In 1873, the State Printing Company was organized, to print 
auxiliary newspaper sheets, or what was known as "patent insides," 
for country newspapers. Redhead was one of the directors, and 
was elected Vice-President of the company. 

In 1879, when a wide-spread effort was made to permanently 
locate the State Fair, in which several towns in the state were like- 
wise interested, Redhead was actively instrumental in securing it 
for Des Moines, and in furnishing some of the land on which it is 
located. 

In 1885, he organized the Pioneer Hay Company, with a capital 
of sixty thousand dollars, its business being to purchase prairie 
land, bale prairie hay, and the breeding of fine cattle. Out of it 
has come the noted Redhead herd of Hereford cattle, known all 
over the country, and now owned by his son George. 



WESLEY REDHEAD 117 

For several years Redhead was an active member of the Public 
School Board. 

He was a man of strict integrity, honesty and fidelity to every 
trust imposed upon him. 

Socially, he was affable, fond of society, a good mixer, and 
immensely popular. In the early days, there were no predatory 
barnstormers, amusement halls, nor concert troupes, and the people 
had to rely on their own resources for amusements. In Summer, 
picnics, parties, and out-of-door dances under trees; in Winter, 
sleigh-rides and dancing in the dining-rooms of the taverns, were 
frequent and enjoyable. The pleasant home of Mr. Redhead was 
a favorite meeting-place for young people, with whom he and his 
lovable wife were chummy friends. He was a charter member of 
Emanuel Consistory, A. A. S. R., Number Two. 

Politically, Redhead was a Democrat, until 1865, when he 
became a Republican ; but he was not a politician — had no time to 
waste in the game. The Sixth Ward, however, pressed him into 
service in 1870 and 1871, as its Alderman, and he proved an effi- 
cient member. 

Religiously, he was a Methodist, and a substantial pillar of that 
church. 

August Seventh, 1904. 







JUDGE BYRON RICE 






JUDGE BYRON RICE 

THOUGH not one of the earliest settlers here, Byron Rice, 
who came in September, 1849, may be recorded the father of 
Des Moines, as a civil compact; for, prior to 1849, the county 
and the town were comparatively unorganized. It was the forma- 
tive period. Schools were supported by subscriptions, and in the 
country the teachers "boarded 'round." Schoolhouses were made 
of logs by the people of a neighborhood, who, upon a given day, 
would bring logs together and build the house. A fund would be 
raised by subscription, and a teacher employed, whose compensa- 
tion was fixed by circumstances and conditions. If a married per- 
son, potatoes, corn, family supplies — even rails would be accepted ; 
for, in 1846, a contract was made with a rural teacher wherein he 
was to teach Spelling, Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic three 
months for a dollar and a half per scholar, provided twenty schol- 
ars were signed, or a total of thirty dollars (whether for each 
month or the full term, the contract does not say). The citizens 
agreed to furnish a suitable house and board the teacher. The 
salary could be "paid in rails at the customary price." 

Until 1849, all schools in Polk County were subscription schools 
— and at The Fort were held in barrack log buildings left by the 
soldiers, under rude and uncomfortable conditions. Father Bird 
was the first to get under his own roof. Miss Davis, who occupied 
one of the larger buildings, had to move out whenever the Honor- 
able, the District Court, came, or there was some important public 
meeting to be held. 

In 1849, was organized the first Public School District of Fort 
Des Moines, and Byron Rice was elected teacher. He was a young 
man, about twenty-three years old, a newly fledged lawyer, of pre- 
possessing appearance, and bearing an impress of sterling qualities. 
Moreover, he was out of a job. The school opened for the Fall 
and Winter term in the Methodist Church, a 24x30 foot frame 

119 



120 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

structure on Fifth Street, where the Iowa Loan and Trust Building 
now is. 

After a few weeks, the school was removed to the partly fin- 
ished Court House, standing on the site of the Union Depot. There 
were no outside doors ; the inside doors, rough boards made by car- 
penters ; walls unplastered. The room was heated with a box stove 
at one end, and an old cook stove, abandoned by the soldiers, at the 
other end. He always said he got along very well. He had the 
faculty to adapt himself to circumstances, as afterward was fully 
disclosed. He continued teaching during the following Summer, 
when he determined to practice law, that being his profession. 

For the next term of school, in 1850, one Charles L. Anderson 
was an applicant to succeed him. November Twenty- fifth, the School 
Director, " Sammy" Gray, who plastered the first frame house in 
the town (Doctor Grimmel's), and William W. Jones, a farmer, 
on the north town limit (all the Jones hereabout had a "W" in 
their middle name — George W., John W., and William W., etc.), 
held a meeting to test his qualifications. Madison Young, a thor- 
oughly educated man, somewhat unique, was secretary of the board. 
Jones declined to take part in the examination, and requested the 
appointment of Lewis Whitten, a former subscription school 
teacher, and Byron Rice to make the examination, Rice to quiz in 
Mathematics. Then they rested, and Anderson was put through 
his stunts. Whereupon the board, with all due appreciation of the 
dignity of their office, prepared the report of their doings, and 
directed Madison to place it on record, to-wit: 

"The undersigned Board of Directors of the School District 
Number Five, Des Moines Township, in Polk County, State of 
Iowa, have this day examined Charles L. Anderson, a school teacher 
employed by them, and find him qualified in point of talent and 
learning to teach school in said district. 

"SAMUEL GRAY, 
"W. W T . JONES, 

"Directors. 

"Fort Des Moines, November Twenty-fifth, 1850." 

To the report Madison affixed the following addenda, for rea- 
sons known best to himself : 



JUDGE BYRON RICE 121 

"The Secretary will further state that Lewis Whittcn, acting 
as examiner in place of W. W. Jones, treasurer, came to the con- 
clusion that Charles L. Anderson, teacher, as aforesaid, was incom- 
petent to teach school in point of learning and ability, but made 
no written report upon the subject. 

"Byron Rice, examiner in Arithmetic, asked Charles L. Ander- 
son, teacher, as aforesaid, why he multiplied the numerators 
together in multiplication of Vulgar Fractions. Mr. Anderson 
was unable to tell. Mr. Rice further asked Mr. Anderson why he 
inverted the divisor in division of Vulgar Fractions. Mr. Ander- 
son was unable to tell. Mr. Rice gave Mr. Anderson some sums 
to do in Complex Fractions. Mr. Anderson remarked that they 
were of no earthly use, or practical benefit, and if scholars should 
bring arithmetics to his school that had Complex Fractions in, he 
should order them to tear such Fractions out of their books. 

"Byron Rice refused to make any report. 

"Madison Young, Secretary, examined Charles L. Anderson in 
Reading, Writing, Spelling, Arithmetic and English Grammar, 
and came to the conclusion that Charles L. Anderson did not pos- 
sess sufficient knowledge in Reading, Arithmetic and English 
Grammar to teach the same, and was incompetent to teach a public 
school. 

"MADISON YOUNG, 

"Secretary. 

"Novembek Twenty-fifth, 1850." 

Whether or not Anderson taught the school, the record does not 
show, but, as on the Twenty-fifth of March, the treasurer, Jones, 
paid him twenty-five dollars, the presumption is he did. What 
became of the Fractions, I have been unable to learn from the rec- 
ords or any of the scholars. 

It was quite common in those early days for a man to get places 
he was not entitled to. Hoyt Sherman learned that when he got 
the majority vote for Sheriff, and D. B. Spaulding got the office. 
So, also, W. W. Williamson, who was elected Judge of the District 
Court, and even received his commission, but the noted, if not 
notorious, McFarland got the place. 



122 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

It was the accepted unwritten law, up to 1856, that only Demo- 
crats could hold public office in Polk County, and Barlow Granger, 
"Dan" Finch, "Ben" Bryant et al saw that the law was enforced. 

In 1850, Rice formed a law partnership with J. E. Jewett. His 
first case in court was to defend a„ man charged with a misde- 
meanor, which, in law, covers a multitude of offenses — in fact, 
anything not specifically named in the statute. His opposing law- 
yer was John M. Perry, the Prosecuting Attorney, who blew into 
the town in the Spring of 1848 — a very good lawyer, but egotistical, 
pompous and overbearing. Rice was tall, slender, dressed in good 
taste, and pleasing in manners. Perry had sized him up, and said 
to bystanders one day that he would have some fun with "that 
young man from New York when the case came on; there was 
nothing of him; a young upstart." Soon after the trial began, 
Perry commenced having his "fun*' by insolence and bulldozing, 
which he carried so far as to call Rice a liar. No sooner was the 
word spoken than he lay sprawling on the floor. The act so pleased 
several people that they presented Rice with substantial tokens of 
their approval, and declared he should have Perry's place as Prose- 
cuting Attorney, and at the next August election they made good. 
He was elected. Perry steered clear of Rice afterward. A year 
later he went to California, became a drunken sot, died in an alley, 
and was buried a pauper. 

In November, following the election, S. R. Burbridge, who was 
County Judge, died, and, in accordance with the statutes, the Prose- 
cuting Attorney became the County Judge until the next election. 

The County Judge was the ruling power of the county ; his judg- 
ment, whether wise or otherwise, was final ; there was no appeal 
from it. He was an autocrat with unlimited possibilities and great 
responsibility. He issued and refused marriage licenses, levied 
taxes, ordered bridges and roads built, organized counties and 
towns, built court houses and jails. It was inevitable that he must 
be one having the most implicit trust and confidence of the people, 
and such was the fact, for from the first to last of them, in 1861, 
when the system was abolished, they were men of good judgment, 
strict integrity, and some of them had knotty problems to solve. 



JUDGE BYRON RICE 123 

The Judge brought to his office a well-trained mind, a system of 
order and exactness in business transactions, and was at once a 
busy man, straightening out the tangled affairs consequent upon 
the incapacity or carelessness of others, and also to devise measures 
to meet the progress of events and rapid changing of conditions. 
The records of the county for the first two or three years were 
utterly unintelligible — often contradictory. With the aid of Hoyt 
Sherman, then County Clerk, order was brought out of chaos. 

In 1851, the people concluded The Fort had become big enough 
to go alone, and they asked the Judge for the privileges of a cor- 
poration. He thereupon, on the Twenty-second of September, 
ordered a special election "For" or "Against" incorporation. 

"For" received every vote but one. Who the negative alien was 
never transpired. On the Twenty-seventh, he ordered another elec- 
tion for the selection of three persons to prepare a Town Charter. 
Judge Casady, Lamp. Sherman and Father Bird were chosen. 
October Eleventh, they reported to the Judge a charter and bounda- 
ries of the town. Another election was immediately ordered on the 
adoption of the charter. It received every vote, and continued in 
force until 1862, when the Legislature, by special Act, incorporated 
the town. It can therefore fairly be said that the Judge was the 
father of the town. What would the people to-day think of four 
city elections in one month ? 

While the Judge was in the corporating business, he laid out 
and organized the counties of Hardin and Story, as his jurisdiction 
extended over all territory north and west, except Boone and Dallas 
counties. 

In 1853, the people were clamorous for railroads. Despairing 
of getting any relief through the River Navigation Company, they 
turned to railroads. The air was full of projects; the state was 
gridironed with roads — on paper — some of them so tortuous as to 
be dubbed the "Ram's Horn," the "Sheep's Leg," etc. The Chicago 
and Galena Road had reached Galena. Of the several projects, the 
Lyons and Iowa Central Air Line, to be connected with the Galena, 
thence, via Lyons, Maquoketa, Iowa City, and Des Moines, to the 
Missouri River, seemed to be the most feasible and promising. 



124 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

Yielding to the public sentiment, Judge Rice ordered an election, 
at which it was voted to subscribe one hundred and fifty thousand 
dollars to aid in building this road, but the Judge was "from Mis- 
souri" — he refused to issue any bonds until there was something 
to show for them. The road never got beyond the paper stage. 

In the meantime, the Mississippi and Missouri Road was started 
from Davenport, to go to Missouri River by a route offering the 
best inducements. Strong effort was made to have the subscription 
to the Air Line Road transferred to this road. Judge Rice refused 
to sanction it, but later, under Judge Napier, who succeeded Rice, 
three hundred thousand dollars was voted by Polk County. Several 
other counties also voted aid and issued bonds, for the road was 
impecunious and clamorous for money, but Napier refused to issue 
bonds. The road got as far as Iowa City, became bankrupt, and 
was sold to the Chicago and Rock Island. Despairing of ever get- 
ting the road, Napier ordered an election, at which the subscription 
was rescinded, and Polk County — though it finally got the road — 
escaped the troubles and expensive litigation with counties which 
issued bonds, in which not a mile of road was built. For many 
years after, their Boards of Supervisors were hauled before the 
Federal Court here, fined and ordered to prison for contempt of 
court in refusing to levy a tax to pay the judgments on the bonds. 
They finally had to do it. 

In 1855, the Judge resigned, and, with A. Newton, Wiley C. 
Burton, and Lovell White, built the Exchange Block, corner of 
Third and Walnut streets, the first brick business building erected 
in the town. The first floor was occupied by stores, and two banks, 
one of which was Greene, Weare and Rice. The upper floors were 
occupied with the United States Land Office, the River Improve- 
ment Company, Justice of the Peace, lawyers, etc. It was the cen- 
ter of business for several years. The Register was published there 
several years, and there James S. Clarkson was born into the liter- 
ary world as "Ret." 

In 1859, the Judge retired from the banking business and 
resumed the practice of law with "Dan" Finch, continuing to the 
Fall of 1876, when he retired from active business. 



JUDGE BYRON RICE 125 

His last official act was the appointment of Doctor D. V. Cole, 
County Liquor Agent, under the prohibitory law, authorizing the 
sale of intoxicating liquors only by the County Agent. 

Politically, the Judge was a Democrat of the conservative type. 
He was not a place-seeker, was public-spirited, and active in sup- 
port of educational and civic advancement. Socially, he was popu- 
lar. After his marriage, he built a fine house on Locust Street, 
west of where the Equitable Building is, where, with his jolly, good 
wife as hostess, social functions were frequent. Hoyt Sherman's 
house was at the corner of Sixth Avenue and Walnut Street, where 
the Utica Block now is. There were no other buildings in that sec- 
tion. There were few, if any, concerts or public amusements, hence 
the young folks had to amuse themselves. There was generally 
some social scheme brewing at Hoyt Sherman's, or "Dan" Finch's. 
It would be a dance, a picnic, a "surprise" on somebody in the 
country, or a serenade of the whole neighborhood, with most excru- 
ciating harmonies, the usual reward being a cabbage, a bunch of 
onions or wilted posies pitched out of an upper window, and 
received with exuberant thankfulness. In either event, there was 
more real, satisfying enjoyment than is had to-day, so say the old 
"girls," with a ringing laugh, as they tell it. 

In the State House location fight, the Judge was a West Sider, 
and subscribed five hundred dollars to the "war fund." 

He went to his final rest in 1897. 

August Fourteenth, 1904. 



PARMELEE'S MILL 

THE person who goes though the country on the railroads 
diverging from the city, and sees the fine farm houses and 
their pleasing environments, has no conception of the trials 
and privations which encompassed their beginning. As a rule, the 
pioneers located their claims near rivers and creeks. The clothing 
they wore, a small quantity of flour, meal, bacon, potatoes (the 
"eyes" to be saved for planting), salt, tea, coffee, a few dishes, an 
axe, a few tools, was all they had on arrival. 

The first move was to get shelter. Often this was a rude cabin 
made of hoop poles, or a bark hut. A log cabin necessitated delay 
until men enough could be gathered for a "raising." The log walls 
up, there was not a board for roof, floor, table, shelf, seat or door. 
These must be supplied with the means at hand. Poles thatched 
with bark for the roof, a puncheon floor, or no floor at all, hoop- 
pole chairs with hickory bark seats, bedsteads of four stakes and 
poles with Linn bark interlaced, greased paper windows, doors 
framed from Walnut logs, put together with wooden pins, a wooden 
latch and wooden hinges, a rude fireplace of cobble-stones, with a 
split stick and mud chimney. 

A shelter provided, poor at the best against storms and Winter 
cold, the next demand was for food. Few had plenty, some were 
scant. None could be had until a crop was made, and that was 
corn. Meanwhile, the supplies gave out, and mills a long distance 
off, the nearest necessitating a journey of seventy-five or a hundred 
miles, over bottomless roads, swollen, bridgeless streams. 

Peter Newcomer, who settled near the river, below Barlow 
Granger's place, often had to go one hundred and forty miles to 
mill, and wait several days. G. B. Clark, who was one of the first 
Grand Jury in Polk County, had a claim near Newcomer's. He 
started on horseback to go to a neighbor's across the river, which 

127 



128 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 



was high, to get a sack of corn. Several hours after, the horse, 
saddle and sack were found, near the river, but the man, never. 

Elijah Canfield, for many years one of the most prominent citi- 
zens of Camp Township, and his family, were all sick with malarial 
fever. Two died, and he was the only one able to attend the burial. 
The flour and meal were nearly gone." He started for Oskaloosa, 
leaving the sick in dire condition and nearly destitute of anything 
for bread making. While absent, he was sick ; there were no mails, 
no tidings of him; the family became alarmed; the care of the 
farm devolved upon the debilitated wife ; for want of care the cows 
became dry, thus cutting off an important food supply; and when 
he returned the family was in a deplorable condition. 

Riley Thompson, on Four Mile, said he was often obliged to go 
to Oskaloosa for meal and flour, it sometimes taking two weeks 
from farm work. This made double work for the wife and mother 
of small children. The truck patch must be watched against prowl- 
ing Indians ; the meat house against wolves, which came out of the 
timber, often peering in at the windows or pointing their noses 
through the chinkings of the cabin ; the cows had to be hunted from 
their distant wanderings in the brush or tall grass. 

G. W. Hickman, who lived up at Beaver Creek, and who built 
a saw mill, I think in 1848, told me a few days ago at the Old Set- 
tlers' picnic, that sometimes, in bad weather, roads bad, streams 
swollen, there would not be any flour or meal in the house, and he 
had to go to Oskaloosa for something to make bread of, as Par- 
melee's mill had not begun even to grind corn. Sometimes he had 
to wait at the mill all day. If he got his grist ready at dusk, he 
traveled all night to get home to his hungry family. 

Referring to Beaver Creek reminds me that the Indian name of 
it should have been retained. It was spoken as if written Ah-mah- 
qua, short accent on the second syllable. It was derived from the 
beaver. It is regretful that the Indian names of rivers and locali- 
ties were not generally perpetuated. 

Flour and meal often was scarce at The Fort, and some of the 
pioneers who are with us yet, and living pretty high, probably 
remember days when they were glad to get pounded corn or corn- 
meal bread. Said one to me, a few days ago : "I had been accus- 
tomed down East to the good things of life. I thought I could not 



fe WV^ '"^ft" "^ *."«• -^ V^W^ & . 



PARMELEE'S MILL 129 

endure the cracked corn, or corn-meal bread, bacon, dried apples 
and dried peaches, but 'hunger is the best sauce,' you know. We 
got used to it. We had to. Sometimes, for a change, I would run 
over to Mr. James Sherman's and 'get a bit.' I asked her one day 
how she got such good things to eat. 'Oh,' she said, 'Jim gets them 
somehow; I don't know.' Jim was one of the merchants of the 
town ; a brother of Hoyt." 

Isaac Cooper, well known to everybody here ten years ago, once 
had to go to Oskaloosa for corn meal. The rivers were swollen, 
and he floated his corn across them on logs. He had to stop several 
days at the mill, sleeping in his wagon. 

In 1847, Parmelee's mill, on Middle River, about ten miles 
from The Fort, began grinding corn. For many years, it was the 
only milling point for all Central Iowa. 

John D. Parmelee came here in March, 1843, as a fur trader, 
and in May following, came soldiers for the garrison, Captain 
Allen commanding. He was an uncle of B. F. Allen, the well- 
known banker, who was induced to come here through the influence 
of his uncle. 

Immediately upon arrival, the Captain and Moses Barlow began 
the building of a mill on Middle River, near where Carlisle now is, 
to saw lumber for the garrison buildings. 

Parmelee, who was a well-educated, wide-awake Vermonter, 
soon after began to speculate. He obtained permission from Allen 
to make and improve a large claim along the Des Moines River, 
and adjacent to the saw mill — just the spot for a large town — pos- 
sibly the Capital of the state — according to John. He quit the 
fur trade and purchased Barlow's interest in the mill, which identi- 
fied Allen more closely in his projects, and he became quite promi- 
nent about The Fort. 

Soon after the purchase of Barlow's interest in the mill, Captain 
Allen died, and Parmelee got possession of his share. In 1847, 
changes were made so as to grind com, which was a godsend to the 
whole country. The County Commissioners expressed their appre- 
ciation of the new industry by ordering that it be not assessed for 
taxation. Running day and night, the mill could not clear the yard 
of waiting customers. 

Vol. I— (9). 



130 PIONEEKS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

Late in the Fall of 1848, two buhrs were put in to grind wheat, 
and Parmelee invited everybody to come and see flour made, stat- 
ing that a big jug of whiskey would be on tap for visitors. Hun- 
dreds went with grists. They went into camp to stay. Elijah Can- 
field, whom I have mentioned, was there; said he went early, but 
when he got there the whiskey jug was empty. The mill was not 
completed. There were no elevators, no bolters. After the wheat 
was ground, it was carried upstairs by hand, to a rude device for 
bolting, a slow process, indicating a long wait for grists. Mean- 
while, Daniel Moore, an old millwright, who had a claim nearby on 
which was a field of corn, was working day and night putting in 
elevators, bolters and fixtures, the campers refusing to give him a 
recess. To help matters, they cut and shocked his corn. When 
completed, the mill was run to its full capacity day and night, yet 
the yards were never clear of waiting teams. In a few months, 
from overwork and bad management (Parmelee having acquired 
a liking for "corn juice," spending much of his time at the "grocer- 
ies" in town), it got wobbly, out of order, and finally broke down, 
a terrible blow to the settlers, who at once made a joint effort to 
have it repaired. Judge Burns, a good millwright in younger 
days, was urged to do the work, and in behalf of the settlers, 
assented. In two weeks, he had it ready to start, and called for 
John to see it go, but John was at The Fort, dallying with Bacchus. 
His wife, an estimable woman, sent a servant to get him home, but, 
instead, he joined John. A second messenger was sent, with no 
better result. Finally, she sent the miller, who found the three on 
a regular "bust," but he got John home and into the mill, where, 
bracing himself up by a post, he roared out: "See, boys; see how 
she chaws!" 

Not long after, the mill passed out of his possession, his beau- 
tiful "future Capital" site faded away, he went to Colorado and 
died. The mill gradually succumbed to other mills, which, in 
1848-49, sprang up nearer The Fort, for sawing lumber, grinding 
meal and flour. Many of the pioneers were mechanics and mill- 
wrights. With their assistance, on the creeks and streams of the 
county, small mills were built, rude in construction, some of them 
never under cover, and they soon wore themselves out, but they 



PARMELEE'S MILL 131 

were of great benefit to the settlers, averting a large amount of 
trouble, expense and want. There were five on Big Creek, four on 
Four Mile, two on North River, two on Beaver, one on Walnut, 
two on Des Moines, near Saylorville. 

In 1850, the Hall brothers, who built the dam at Center Street, 
had a large saw and flour mill on the West Side. The logs were 
floated down the river, and often so many that a person could walk 
on them to Thompson's Bend. Meacham also had a small mill on 
the east side of the river to grind corn. Later, Dean & Cole had a 
large steam flour mill near the east end of the present Locust Street 
bridge. C. C. Van and B. F. Allen had a large steam flour mill 
just south of the 'Coon, near the present covered bridge, so that, in 
1850, there were about twenty mills scattered over the county, 
sufficient to supply the local demand. 

August Twenty-first, 1904. 




JEFFERSON S. POLK 



JEFFERSON S. POLK 

MEASUEED by the tangible, observable, accomplished results, 
Jefferson S. Polk (or "Jeff," as he is familiarly called) 
must be accorded a prominent place among the builders of 
the city. He came here in 1855, from Kentucky, a young lawyer, 
twenty-three years old, with no capital except a college diploma, 
ambition, pluck and perseverance, and at once began the practice 
of his profession. His office was with Judge Casady, on Second 
Street, near Vine, then the center of business. 

"When I came here," he said, a few days ago, "there was noth- 
ing here — no mercantile business, no manufacturers, no place for 
speculation. The only prospect for success was in hard work." 

For two years he paddled his own canoe. Well educated, clear 
headed, deliberate, optimistic, positive, nervous, sanguine tempera- 
ment, aggressive, plain of speech, called a spade a spade, not a bril- 
liant phrase-maker, as "Dan" Finch wap, inflexible as iron, in every 
undertaking, never accepting defeat so long as there was a shred of 
law or equity on which to hang a contest, he soon took a prominent 
part among lawyers as one not easily snuffed out. His practice was 
mostly confined to the civil courts. As with most sound lawyers, 
there then being few rules of practice or precedent, he preferred 
trial to the court rather than a jury, deeming a jury one of the 
most uncertain things in life. He was grounded in law, justice 
and equity. He despised a pettifogger. 

Soon after the Spirit Lake Massacre, a letter from the business 
house of Hoyt Sherman & Company, at Fort Dodge, dated March 
Twelfth, 1857, to M. B. Hoxie, said that three men who had just 
arrived there from the lake, reported that the Indians were murder- 
ing men, women and children. The writer also said that a com- 
pany of one hundred men had been organized to leave Fort Dodge 
at once for the scene. 

133 



134 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

It was also reported later that the Indians were moving south 
and intended to make a raid on Fort Des Moines. As there was 
no telegraph nor railroads, and the mail facilities were meager, the 
people were intensely excited. Mayor W. H. McIIenry, Sr., at 
once called out all able-bodied men to turn out for defense. Four 
companies were organized, and placed in command of Captain 
John C. Booth, formerly in the regular army. Every available 
weapon of shooting capacity was hunted up, drilling began, and the 
whole town was aroused with military spirit. A beautiful stand 
of colors, painted by W. S. Wheeler, was presented to the Guards 
in a spirited, patriotic speech. For a week, pomp and circumstance 
of war, the fife and drum kept enthusiasm at high pitch. In the 
meantime, a meeting of citizens was held in the Court House on 
the Thirty-first of May, when it was determined to send scouts to 
the north to ascertain the true state of affairs. "Jeff" Polk, Alex. 
Scott, Brax D. Thomas, and others, volunteered to go, and they 
immediately started on horseback, fully armed and equipped for 
whatever might happen. They made a quick ride to Boonesboro, 
and found there no foundation for the rumors. The expedition was 
abandoned, and Polk went on to Fort Dodge, where the District 
Court was in session, and, on motion of "Dan" Finch, he was 
admitted to the Bar. The other scouts returned and reported that 
there were no indications of Sioux Indians within the state. The 
public excitement quickly subsided. The incident, however, dis- 
closed the patriotism of the community. 

History says the massacre at Spirit Lake was committed by 
Inkapadutah, as leader. A few days before that event, I happened 
to be at Wabasha, on the Mississippi River. The only white people 
there were the Indian Agent and a few attaches. 

W T hile there, Inkapadutah, then on his way to Spirit Lake, 
halted and put up his wigwam, not far from the agency. In com- 
pany of the agent, I went there. We were given a cordial "How ! 
How I" After a short chat with the agent, the old devil brought 
out his pipe, filled it with killickinnick (dried, granulated willow 
bark), lighted it with a flint, took a few whiffs, passed it to the 
agent, then to me, repeating it until the contents were burned up. 
It was a "peace smoke," a mighty uncertain one, said the agent 



JEFFERSON S. POLK 135 

later, for he was known to be most deceitful and treacherous. He 
was full six feet high, spare frame, hair and eyes black as night, 
agile as a cat. It was said that were a person seated in the woods, 
the ground covered with dry leaves and twigs, he could approach 
him from behind without detection. 

On the opposite side of the river was a band of Chippewas, 
deadly enemies of the Sioux, and vice versa. Occasionally, they 
would put out into the river in their canoes, when the Sioux would 
make a rush to get around them and capture them. As one came to 
the shore, from an unsuccessful rush, I saw a block floating down- 
stream, and pantomimed him to shoot it. He quickly raised his 
gun and fired. The gun went into a score of pieces, some over my 
head, leaving only a part of the breech in his hands. He was a 
scared Indian. He had neglected to remove the plug put in the 
barrel to keep out the water when paddling. The next day, the 
Chippewas caught a Sioux, scalped him, and had a hilarious dance 
over it a few miles back from the river. 

In 1859, Polk formed a partnership with Judge Casady and 
M. M. Crocker, making one of the strongest law firms in the dis- 
trict. In 1861, Crocker entered the military service, and the firm 
became Casady & Polk, continuing until 1864, when Casady retired 
and was succeeded by F. M. Hubbell, as junior partner, and for 
twenty-five years Polk & Hubbell was the synonym for push and 
enterprise in the town. 

Manifest Destiny was for many years the bane of the city, the 
evidence of which can be seen to-day on East Walnut Street, from 
the bridge to Sixth Street. It drove investments and business 
improvements over to Locust Street, where they could be made at 
reasonable prices. 

When the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad reached Mar- 
shalltown, representatives came to Des Moines with a proposition 
to bring the road to the city. It was the prevailing sentiment that 
the Chicago and Rock Island was sure to come ; that one road from 
Des Moines to the Missouri River would be more than sufficient, 
there being no towns, and little else than wild, uncultivated terri- 
tory beyond. The proffer was made to bring the Northwestern here 
for a bonus of thirty-five thousand dollars, and right-of-way into 



136 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

the town. It was received with a wink — the index finger pointing 
to the State House — and the information that the Capital of the 
state was not buying railroads, nor giving prizes to induce them to 
do what good business sense should prompt them to do without aid. 
They would be heartily welcomed when they arrived. Soon after, 
the Union Pacific offered a big bonus in gold to the road across Iowa 
that first made a connection with it at the Missouri River. Then 
began one of the most vigorous events in railroad building known 
in this country. The Northwestern made a straight shoot for 
Council Bluffs, thousands of men were put to work, and it was nip 
and tuck for the locating engineers to keep out of the way of the 
graders and track layers. So, also, the Rock Island. The North- 
western got in a few days ahead. That is why the Northwestern 
main line did not come to Des Moines. 

In 1867, Mr. Polk and others organized the Equitable Life 
Insurance Company. The following year, he was elected Secretary 
and held the office fourteen years. The company is one of the 
strongest financial institutions of the state, and after nearly forty 
years, holds the faith and confidence of the public, consequent upon 
the conservative, wise and trustworthy foundation. F. M. Hubbell, 
one of the organizers, took the first policy issued. It is still 
standing. 

In 1871, Mr. Polk organized the Des Moines Water Works 
Company, with a capital of three hundred thousand dollars. Works 
were at once erected, and the city supplied with water by the Holly 
System, which is still in use, and without a parallel in any city of 
equal size in the United States, for efficiency and purity of water. 
Soon after, the works passed to Polk & Hubbell, and, in 1880, to a 
joint stock company. 

It is by the street car system he has become most conspicuously 
identified with the growth of the city — a system unequaled for 
completeness, utility, and liberality of service, in any other city in 
the Union. 

In 1866, under a perpetual charter, granted the Des Moines 
Street Railway Company, on all streets in the city, he, with F. M. 
Hubbell, Doctor M. P. Turner, and U. B. White, built the first 
mile of street railway in the city. It was from the Court House, 



JEFFERSON S. POLK 137 

on Court Avenue, to the foot of Capitol Hill, that being the main 
business street. It was the narrow gauge. It was an innovation 
in public affairs — in fact, ahead of time. There were no pave- 
ments ; the track was laid on the surface ; the cars were small ; 
the motive power, horses or mules — principally mules, as they 
could stand the plunging, sliding and floundering in the clay mud 
better. Though the charter required the speed should not exceed 
six miles per hour, on turning corners the horses must walk, and, 
to prevent rear-end collision, cars must be kept two hundred feet 
apart, there was never any undue haste. Human life was well safe- 
guarded by the staid stateliness of the consistent mules. The only 
instance of exposure I know of, was one day, when a car was pass- 
ing off the east end of the bridge. A drove of cows were coming 
in from pasture, when a couple of big dogs made a plunge at them, 
stampeding them in every direction. An excited heifer made a 
break between the mules, knocking them right and left, and went 
through the car, the driver escaping by side-stepping, likewise 
myself — the only passenger. 

The second year, the track was laid up the alley, by Doctor 
Priestley's residence, to Walnut Street, thence west to Fourth on 
the West Side, thence to the place of beginning, thus forming a 
loop road. It was a great convenience for women and children, and 
for men — when not in a hurry. After a couple of years, Polk & 
Hubbell sold their interest to the Doctor, who continued to operate 
it, but that is another story. 

In 1887, under charter of the Broad Gauge Street Railway 
Company, H. E. Teachout and G. Van Ginkel began building a 
horse car line from the East Side, on Locust Street. Simul- 
taneously, Van Ginkel and John Weber procured a charter for a 
road from 'Coon River to Sevastopol, and both companies began 
to branch out, and crowd the Doctor, by going on, or paralleling 
streets occupied by him, until he disputed their rights to use animal 
power on any street in the city, and the courts sustained him. 
Teachout then electrified his system, and the contest between the 
two companies was vigorous. There were red, blue, green and 
yellow cars, to designate the different lines and routes to people 
awaiting at the street corners, there being no central station, and 
confusion became worse confounded. 



138 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

In 1888, a charter was granted to E. T. Likes and Lowrj Goode 
to build and operate the Belt Line Railway, with steam motive 
power, in North Des Moines, beginning at Locust Street on First, 
thence north along the river to Highland Park. 

The same year, Polk procured a charter for the Rapid Transit 
Company, to operate a steam, cable, or Paton System, on all streets, 
and built a road on Ingersoll Avenue from Seventeenth Street to 
Greenwood Park. The first motive power was a small Baldwin 
locomotive, which proved inefficient. He went to Chicago, pur- 
chased a gasoline engine, installed it in a motor car, and run the 
first gasoline motor on any railway in the United States, but, like 
the "Baldwin," it was only equal to seven horses, couldn't climb 
the hills, and was abandoned. 

In the meantime, he built a road on Walnut Street, where the 
Great Western crosses, to the Fair Grounds, and operated it with 
a steam locomotive for some time. 

In 1889, he purchased the franchises and property of the Des 
Moines Street Railway, Broad Gauge Street Railway, and Sevas- 
topol Street Railway, and consolidated them with his Rapid Transit 
Railway. Soon after, he purchased the Belt Line franchise, and at 
once began the installation of an entire new system, with points of 
excellence not found in any other city in the United States. A 
central station was established, at which every car arrives and 
departs, and voluntary universal transfers given from one line to 
another. Every car passes the Post Office and Union Depot, and 
all cars on East Side lines pass the Northwestern depot. 

In 1895, he secured the right — reluctantly granted — it was too 
sudden for Uncle Sam — to carry the United States mail. Letter 
boxes were put on every car, into which mail can be placed at any 
street crossing, while the car is in service, and no matter what may 
be the speed, the car must be stopped te receive it. Arriving at the 
waiting-room, it is gathered from the boxes by a postal clerk and 
deposited in the Post Office every trip. This is a public benefac- 
tion, possessed by no other city — it is another "Iowa idea." 

A special hobby with Polk, always, has been faith in Des Moines 
and interurban railways — roads radiating in all directions, to bring 
towns within a radius of thirty miles in close connection with the 
city by cheap, rapid and frequent transit. 



JEFFERSON S. POLK 139 

In 1874, he gathered together the odds and ends of a projected 
road to Minnesota, existing mostly in air and on paper, changed 
the name, and laid a narrow-gauge track to Ames. The motive 
power was steam, electricity not having been demonstrated to be 
sufficient for such use. While building this road, he purchased 
and laid out the town of Sheldahl. Having completed the road, he 
turned it over to Callanan, Smart, and others, as the Des Moines 
and Minnesota Railway Company, who extended it a few miles and 
sold it to the Chicago and Northwestern. 

His next move was in 1881-2, to build a narrow-gauge steam 
road to Waukee, when he was joined with a syndicate of Polk & 
Hubbell, J. S. Clarkson, John S. Runnels, and others, known as 
the Wabash Syndicate, who extended the road to Panora and Fonda 
and built the branch from Clive to Boone. 

During the same period, the syndicate built the Des Moines and 
St. Louis Road, from Des Moines to Albia. It is now a part of the 
Wabash System. 

The syndicate also organized and built the Des Moines Union 
Railway, which is operated as a connecting and transfer line with 
all the trunk lines in the city. 

It is probably little known that Polk secured the right-of-way 
and subsidies for building the Des Moines Valley Road. 

Having perfected his street railway system, and his narrow- 
gauge steam roads gone to the big trunk lines, he formed a syndi- 
cate of himself, G. M. Hippee, George B. Hippee, his son-in-law, 
and Harry H. Polk, his son, organized the Interurban Electric 
Railway Company, and built the lines from Greenwood Park to 
Valley Junction, to Colfax, and to the Army Post, all of which 
will be extended and equipped for freight service, and of incal- 
culable benefit to the country as well as the city. 

Politically, Polk is a Democrat, of the independent variety. 
Often solicited, he refused public office. Law practice, and large, 
diversified business transactions were sufficient for him, and it is a 
significant fact that every business enterprise organized by him — 
many of which he now has no connection with — has gone on keep- 
ing pace with the city growth. 

As a lawyer, he ranked with the best. In the early days, laws 
were construed more liberally by the courts than now, but, grounded 



140 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

on equity and exact justice, he maintained them with a persistency 
and obstinacy which became notable. "Jeff" Polk in a law case 
involved law and equity. It was "fifty-four, forty, or fight." Every 
opposing lawyer understood that. Judge McFarland was just that 
kind of a lawyer, and a good one. ' . 

All the lawyers of those days are loaded with incidents of the 
Judge, who was troubled with a periodic thirst for corn- juice. One 
day he called Crocker, a partner of Polk, to the bench, while he 
went out to get a thirst-stopper, usually accessible in another room. 
So soon as he left the bench, the courtroom was like a schoolroom 
full of boys when the teacher is out. There was more fun than 
court. When the Judge returned, the lawyers were gathered about 
the stove, and among them was a fellow with his hat on. The 
Judge, who was a tall, stout, strong man, seeing him, seized him, 
j ammed his hat down over his face, and thrust him outside the bar, 
with: "Now stay there, d — n ye. The next time you come into 
my court, take your hat off." 

As a citizen, Mr. Polk has always identified himself with 
every effort to advance the civic, social, moral, and educational 
interests of the city, exemplifications of which are numerous and 
conspicuous. 

As a religionist, he probably would not pass an examination in 
the Westminster Catechism.* 

August Twenty-eighth, 1904. 



*Died November Third, 1907. 




ISAAC COOPER 



ISAAC COOPER 

ONE of the earliest and best known settlers of Polk County, 
and identified with the formative period of the city, was 
Isaac Cooper, a nephew of J. Fennimore Cooper, the novel- 
ist. He came here in September, 1845, made a land claim in what 
was then Delaware Township, but now a part of Clay Township, 
and waited around The Fort until the expiration of the Indian 
title, October Eleventh. On getting possession of the claim, he 
built a cabin, and dug a well, the first in Polk County — with two 
skillets borrowed of the Indians. It was about twenty feet deep, 
and furnished an abundance of pure water. 

The materials for home making were scarce. The early pioneers 
generally came with few household goods. Tables, bedsteads, 
chairs, stools, etc., had to be improvised from old boxes, poles, or 
whatever could be obtained. There were no saw mills, no boards. 
He had one chair, with which the family did very well, he used to 
say, except on Sunday. From a Black Walnut tree, he made the 
frame of a chair, and seated it with hickory bark, a more service- 
able chair than most of those in the market now. I think it is yet 
in existence, as a family treasure, with Mrs. Fred Hubbell, his 
daughter. 

As Winter came on, the children's shoes were out. Leather and 
cobblers were scarce. From the tops of a pair of his boots, and the 
skirt of a saddle abandoned by the dragoons, he made a pair of 
shoes for his boy — more serviceable, he said, than any he ever 
bought at the stores, and were probably the first made in the county. 

Scarcity of cobblers and shoes was not uncommon in those early 
days, even down to the early Fifties, and often there was no money 
to buy with, as Leonard Brown once learned. He was a young 
fellow, with considerable pretensions, a school teacher, a high 
society chap, and popular with "the girls." On one occasion, a 
social event was up, which Leonard desired to attend. There were 

141 



142 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

no invitation cards, no superfluous ceremonies in those days. The 
community was like a large family, everybody knew everybody. 
Whenever the time arrived for one of those functions, a fellow 
would "pick up" his girl, as it were, and go. On this occasion, 
Leonard invited a very nice, comely young maiden to go with him. 
She flatly declined. That was a stunner for Leonard. It broke 
him all up ; hurt his pride. It was an insinuation against his good 
name, for which, as Shakespeare says, "no firm reason could be 
rendered." It worried him, and he sought the aid of a good 
matronly friend to ascertain the cause of it. On making inquiry 
of the young woman, the reply was: 

"Why, I didn't go with him because I was barefoot. I had no 
shoes." 

The young maiden is with us yet, and has probably forgotten 
the incident, but she is able to purchase several pairs of shoes. 

Mr. Cooper at once became a leader in public affairs, and when 
the township was organized, was elected one of the Trustees, and 
Justice of the Peace. Having been a contractor and builder "Down 
East," he naturally moved in that direction. Lumber was greatly 
needed. He met the demand by building a saw mill on Four Mile 
Creek. It required faith, fortitude and pluck to attempt to harness 
that little thread-like stream to such a mill. It was of rude con- 
struction, but was of great value to the community. 

He improved his farm, became active in township affairs, and 
pushed things in various directions. He brought the first thresh- 
ing machine and reaper and mower into the county. 

In 1853, he moved to The Fort and became a permanent resi- 
dent, locating on a tract where the Water Works office and Ball 
Park now are, on Grand Avenue and Fifth Street. Soon after, he 
was appointed Chief Clerk in the office of the Register of the Uni- 
ted States Land Office, a post of great responsibility, the daily 
receipts often amounting to twenty-five thousand dollars in gold. 
Uncle Sam would not accept checks, nor "red-dog," "wild-cat" 
currency. 

In 1857, he was elected a member of the Town Council from 
the Third Ward. The same year, the County Judge, Napier, began 
to agitate a project for a new Court House, and kept at it for a 



ISAAC COOPER 143 

whole year. He wanted one worth not less than fifty thousand 
dollars. The farmers and taxpayers thought that was an enormous 
lot of money to put into one building — there was no good reason 
for it ; it was preposterous ; it was setting up a bad precedent to put 
so much money into the hands of one man. It was discussed over 
farm fences and in stores, but the Judge, who was a law unto him- 
self, decided to go ahead, and in June, 1855, made a contract with 
Cooper to erect it for sixty-three thousand dollars, according to 
plans made by D. II. Young. It was to be an elaborate affair, 
66x102, fifty feet high, surmounted by a dome and town clock — 
the clock never got beyond the dial stage — the porticos and roof 
peaks to be ornamented with life-size Basswood goddesses represent- 
ing several kinds of mythology. 

In those days, money did not grow on bushes, and the rural 
people queried as to where the Judge would get the money. 

Cooper had only got fairly started when he wanted money, and 
in May, 1859, the Judge ordered an election to vote on a proposi- 
tion to issue bonds to the amount of thirty thousand dollars. The 
proposition was adopted by one thousand and seventeen to seven 
hundred and ninety votes. The bonds were issued and sold for 
23,768.61. Cooper took three at ninety per cent, and eleven at 
eighty per cent. 

The bonds issued, the next problem was the interest and prin- 
cipal. How were they to be paid ? Public sentiment got hot. The 
Judge was lambasted on all sides. Contention, bitterness and strife 
were rampant. While none questioned the integrity and honesty 
of the Judge, his judgment was severely criticised. He was inves- 
tigated, and every few days called up to explain things, and so 
intense became the agitation that at the election, October, 1859, he 
lost his job, and was succeeded by John H. McClelland, an esti- 
mable, conservative business man, who went on with the work, but 
soon found himself short of funds. With the clamor of county 
officers, and courts parceled out in discommodious quarters in the 
Exchange Block, on Walnut Street, and the Sherman Block, on 
Court Avenue, and impatient lawyers on one side and a disgruntled 
populace on the other, the Judge was in sore straits. To issue more 
bonds was not to be considered at all. The Judge was at his wits' 
end, but he must have more money. 



144 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

When Uncle Sam made his survey of the state, there was found 
fourteen thousand five hundred acres in Polk County which were 
deemed unsuitable for cultivation, and they were transferred to the 
state as "swamp lands," much of which has since been transformed 
into valuable farms. The Judge, in his extremity, hit upon these 
"swamp lands." There was money in them, but to get it required 
legislative action. The General Assembly was "seen," and an Act 
authorizing the Judge to sell the swamp lands and use so much of 
the proceeds as was necessary to complete the Court House, pro- 
vided the electors of the county approved the same, was passed. 
The J udge thereupon ordered an election, at which the proposition 
was unanimously approved. 

The next General Assembly, in 1861-2, passed an Act placing 
all court houses under control of the County Boards of Super- 
visors. The first move of the Polk County Board was to get pos- 
session and boss the job. They attempted to oust Cooper, but he had 
a good contract, and those who know him, know he doesn't scare 
easily ; he was of such temperament that he could be led where he 
could not be driven, but he was so continually harassed and embar- 
rassed that he surrendered his contract, and the Supervisors fin- 
ished the main structure so it could be occupied in 1863. Then 
came the dome, and the whole was not completed until 1865 — in 
fact, was never completed, for, so soon as the dome was finished, 
Jupiter Pluvius disclosed holes in the roof, and from then on there 
was constant repairing, alteration and reconstruction until its final 
destruction. The cost of it was near one hundred thousand dol- 
lars. It was, at best, an architectural monstrosity, and, with the 
jail in the cellar, always a nuisance and abomination. I have no 
doubt, the demise of several judges, county officers and lawyers 
could be traced to the unhealthfulness of that old rookery, with its 
walls completely saturated with the poison of sewer air, one of the 
most insidious foes of human life. 

After retiring from the Court House, Cooper turned to real 
estate investments and settlement with the County Supervisors, 
until 1875, when, with impaired health, he went to California, 
where he made his temporary home. 

Politically, he was a Democrat, but had little to do with politics. 
He was a plain man, of few words, of most positive temperament, 



ISAAC COOPER 145 

never vacillating, his "yea" and "nay" were final ; never identified 
himself with the strifes between the East and West Side, and, in. 
the early days, was helpful in many ways in developing the county 
and town.* 

September Fourth, 1904. 



*Die<l August Thirteenth, 1902, aged eighty-nine. 



Vol. I— (10) 




R. W. SYPHER 



JR. W. SYPHER 

ONE of the very first merchants to open a store in Des 
Moines was R. W. Sypher, who came early in 1846. He 
occupied a double log cabin on the Phelps Fur Company 
claim, about a mile east on the plateau, near the river, as all trade 
and business, outside of the military garrison, was in that direc- 
tion. A double log cabin of the settlers was different from that at 
The Fort. The settlers' cabin was composed of two cabins of equal 
size, with a space between equal to the size of the cabin. The space 
was roofed from cabin to cabin, the space being utilized for a stor- 
age shed. At The Fort, the structures were the same, except that 
the space between the cabins was walled up with logs, between 
which ports, or loop-holes, were made through which soldiers could 
thrust their guns when necessary. 

Sypher's store was stocked with groceries, dry goods, hardware, 
queensware (now called crockery), boots, shoes, glass, nails, and 
everything liable to be needed in the community, and was largely 
advertised in the Star. Immediately the soldiers leaving, he built 
a frame store at the northwest corner of Second and Vine streets, 
adjoining that of Frank Allen. He soon began to branch out by 
establishing branch stores at Booneville (now Boone), and other 
places, and became a merchant prince. His greatest source of 
trouble was the River Improvement dams, down at Bonaparte, 
which obstructed the passage of steamboats then, and to-day the 
fish. His goods required frequent replenishment. There were no 
railroads, the land roads were often impassable for teaming from 
Keokuk and Burlington, the nearest source of supply, and more 
than one hundred and seventy miles away. 

In June, 1851, the year of the "great flood" — nothing like it 
before nor since — the whole country bordering the water courses 
was under water. The pioneer settlers made their claims along 
rivers and creeks. The flood destroyed all hope of making a crop. 

147 



148 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

At The Fort, affairs were in serious condition. Food supplies 
were scarce; there was no flour. Keokuk and Burlington had an 
abundance, but their merchants and shippers were not disposed to 
assume the expense and risk of sending merchandise and supplies 
up a wild, turbulent river, obstructed by half completed dams, and 
completely damned by river boatmen. It became apparent that 
relief could come only by home industry. Accordingly, Sypher, 
Colonel J. M. Griffith, W. T. Marvin, who kept the Marvin House, 
on Third Street near Walnut, and others planned to go to St. Louis, 
charter a steamboat, and get supplies. A small, flat-bottomed skiff 
was made, and Griffith, Marvin, Peter Myers, a politician and 
speculator, Hoyt Sherman, Postmaster, boarded it, the last two as 
supercargo, not being personally interested in family supplies, to 
float down to Keokuk, where they arrived on the fourth day, tying 
up at night wherever they could reach an accessible place to get 
"grub." From Keokuk, they went to St. Louis, where they char- 
tered a stern-wheel steamboat, loaded it with a cargo of flour and 
general merchandise, and started for home. On arriving at Bona- 
parte, they met the River Improvement Company's submerged 
dam. Several ineffectual attempts were made to get over it, but 
the rushing torrent was too strong. The cargo was transferred to 
a warehouse, and another trip made to St. Louis to get a boat that 
could climb dams. 

The Caleb Cope was secured and soon reached the stored freight, 
which was put on board and the trip completed without delay, 
arriving on the Fifth of July. 

The Star said of the coming: "The steamboat Caleb Cope 
arrived Sunday with a large barge, heavily laden with flour, salt, 
iron, nails, groceries, and dry goods. This will relieve the wants 
of the community." 

The whistle of the steamboat was the signal for a stampede from 
the churches to give it a welcome, which was done with waving 
'kerchiefs and cheers. It was an important event, in which the 
entire community was gastronomically interested. 

The next day after the arrival, the Captain invited the people to 
take a picnic excursion on his boat up the river. With the under- 
standing that no refreshments, liquid or otherwise, would be served 






E. W. SYPHER 149 

on the boat, about fifty prominent citizens, and their feminine 
belongings, with well-filled lunch baskets, and "something else" to 
add cheer to the occasion, accepted the invitation, and, as one of 
the party said to me last week, it was an hilarious and spirited 
affair. 

After the boat had got under way, "Billy" Moore came up the 
hatchway in his shirtsleeves, and very distraught. He had been 
in the hold looking for a special brand of calico, of "fast color," 
wanted by one of his country customers, and had expected to get 
off before the boat started. He insisted on being put ashore, as he 
was not "dressed up for company," and his store was open, but he 
was informed that no stops were to be made. The clerk came to 
the rescue, furnished him a coat, soap and water did the rest, and, 
in good presentable shape, "Billy" "jined in." He got so elated 
that he declared he would start a bank, and began to throw gold 
coins to the fishes. Between Beaver Creek and Thompson's Bend 
lies nearly two hundred dollars he sowed as they went along. 

Mercantile business in those early days was done very unlike 
what it is now. It was largely barter and credit. Money was 
scarce, much of it "wild-cat." Settlers were generally poor, yet 
strictly honest; markets for what they produced were far away. 
Often family supplies were exhausted, and badly needed. To get 
them without money was vexatious. On one occasion, a merchant 
swapped two pounds of salt for a bushel of buckwheat, and the 
settler was glad to make the trade. 

In 1849, the County Commissioners made a contract to build 
the first county jail. It was 24x15 feet, two stories. It was a 
double wall of logs, the space between the walls filled with stone. 
One of the contractors died during the construction, and the con- 
tract was transferred to Sypher, who finished it. It stood where 
the east end of the Union Depot now is, and cost seven hundred 
and fifty dollars. 

In May, 1852, The Fort having been incorporated as a town, 
Sypher was elected a member of the Council, and served one term, 
declining reelection for business reasons. There were no wards. 
The Council met in the Court House. 

In 1855, when the State Commissioners came here to locate the 
Seat of Government, Sypher took an active part in the effort to 



150 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

secure the location on Grimmel's Hill. He subscribed ten thousand 
dollars to be paid to the state if the West Side won. 

In 1856, the Lutheran Church decided to establish a denomina- 
tional college here. A corporation was formed, and Sypher was 
elected one of the Trustees. Land was purchased, a building par- 
tially constructed, when the hard times and panic of 1857 came, 
the project was abandoned, and the property sold to the Baptists. 

Sypher had a large number of sails spread, and found it neces- 
sary to begin furling some, to weather the gale. He had a clerk 
named Tyler, to whom he intrusted much of his financial affairs. 
Tyler robbed him of a large sum of money, ran away to Nebraska, 
where he joined the notorious Small gang of horse thieves, who 
stole Nebraska horses, ran them into Iowa, then stole Iowa horses 
and ran them into other states. Tyler finally got into the peniten- 
tiary in Nebraska and died there. His stealings and the panic 
necessitated Sypher closing his affairs. Practically, it put the 
whole town out of business. As a retrospective rhymester puts it : 

"We all remember how, in 'Fifty-seven, 
All enterprises seemed to have a leaven 
Of failure in them. Then came the panic, 
That scattered banker, merchant and mechanic, 
Professors, Christians, sinners — people all 
Participated in the general fall. 
Blest was he then, and free from all this shocking, 
Who made a banker of his wife's long stocking." 

In 1860, the firm of Newton & Keene, merchants in Exchange 
Block, at Third and Walnut streets, having failed, Sypher was 
appointed assignee, and closed up their business. 

In 1874, he opened a coal shaft south of 'Coon River, which he 
operated until his death, in 1879. 

He was an enterprising, public-spirited, prominent citizen, 
social and genial. His home on Fourth Street, where the Brins- 
maids' store is, was the headquarters for social functions. It was 
an open house to young people, and some gay times were had there, 
for Mrs. Sypher was immensely popular. Many of the partici- 
pants in those frolics have ceased to be, but I think "Tom" Hat- 
ton, "Friday" Eason, Mr. and Mrs. Ed. Clapp, and "Tac" Hussey 



R. W. SYPHER 151 

will remember some of the gatherings there. They will never be 
duplicated. 

The query is often made as to the origin of Eason's nickname, 
"Friday." When he was a youngster among the Vermont hills, 
he was a vigorous book reader. Robinson Crusoe was his favorite, 
and its leading character, "Friday," was his ideal hero, the splen- 
dors of whom he so strenuously and persistently impressed upon 
his playmates, they dubbed him "Friday," and it has stuck to the 
present day. He accepts it with genuine good humor, and some of 
his best friends don't know his real name. 

September Eighteenth, 1904. 




DR. M. P. TURNER 



DOCTOR M. P. TURNER 

OF the early settlers who occupied a prominent place in the 
building of Des Moines, mention must be made of Doctor 
Mahlon P. Turner. 

Though not one of the earliest, he came at a time when there 
was an open field for energy, foresight, perseverance and hard 
work — a time to lay the foundation of big enterprises. 

He and his good wife came in 1858, each being in good financial 
circumstances. Their first objective was a living place, but dwell- 
ing places were scarce. The influx of population was beyond the 
supply of homes. Two — sometimes three — families in one house 
was not uncommon, and they were not apartment houses, either. 
Dwelling houses in those days were small. The only house I could 
get in which to begin housekeeping when I came here was a one- 
story structure with two rooms about 12x14, with no cellar, on 
Locust Street, near the present Crocker Building. 

After a few months, the Doctor found a house far out in the 
country, where North Des Moines now is, quite unlike the elegant 
home on Forest Avenue where he ended his life. 

His first impression of the town and its surroundings was that 
it was a good place to plant himself. He at once began to invest 
his money in real estate, which was easily done, for there were 
many whole squares of vacant lots. He was also ready for whatever 
might "turn up," or to "turn up" something. 

One of the pressing needs of the community was adequate means 
to get over the rivers. Ferries were cumbersome, inefficient, and 
too slow. The Doctor was emphatically a moving spirit — he wanted 
to see things go. 

In the Spring of 1861, he secured a thirty-year charter for a toll 
bridge over 'Coon River — charters were cheap then — and at once 
proceeded to erect it, and, of course, captured all the travel from 
the south. It was not long before a hue-and-cry was rife that the 

153 



154 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

Doctor was getting rich with his toll bridge. The Town Council 
also got uneasy. The town treasury was getting no benefit from 
the privileges conferred. 

In 1865, the bridge was carried away by a flood. An incident 
of its going was that a man who had been in town on business, 
having completed it, took the stage to return to his home. The 
stage was crowded inside and on top. On reaching the bridge, one 
of the passengers discovered he had forgotten something of great 
value and earnestly requested the driver to return to the hotel, to 
which he acceded. On again approaching the bridge, there was a 
heavy grind, a crash, and the bridge, tangled and torn, floated down 
the turbulent 'Coon. 

Immediately, the "city dads" took advantage of the situation, 
and put in a ferry, to oust the Doctor, who was equal to the occa- 
sion. He went up the river one night, bought a small steamboat 
which was lying idle, and the next morning was running in opposi- 
tion to the town ferry. Mayor Lamareaux was out early, and read 
the riot act to the Doctor, denouncing him in bitter terms, and 
charged him with skulduggery in getting the steamboat, to which 
the Doctor responded, with his usual suavity and good nature : 

"It don't make a bit of difference to you how I got this boat. I 
am here to carry people across the river until I can build a new 
bridge." 

He at once rebuilt the bridge and went on with his toll gather- 
ing, but the opposition to it became so extensive and strenuous he 
changed tactics. He was noted for expediency ; he never got into a 
place so tight he didn't find a way to get out. He went quietly 
among the farmers and those who used the bridge, and secured sub- 
scriptions for their estimated value of the bridge to them, and thus 
collected the entire cost of the bridge, whereupon he tendered it to 
the Town Council, conditioned that it was to be free to the public 
from that time — 1868 — "forever and forever." 

In 1871, when bridging Des Moines River had become quite 
expensive, the City Council ordered collection of toll on all bridges, 
but they very soon ran up against the Doctor's perpetual free 
bridge. The people from south of 'Coon refused to pay toll on a 
bridge they had bought and paid for. There was no getting around 



DOCTOR M. P. TURNER 155 

i 

the valid contract made with the Doctor. To get out of the dilemma, 
the Council declared the bridge unsafe, condemned it, and sent men 
to take up the floor. While they were at work, a body of Bloom- 
field citizens swept down on them like a Japanese assault, routed 
them and relaid the floor. It looked warlike for a time. Both 
sides were belligerent, but wise counsel prevailed. The bridge was 
torn down in 1872, a new one erected, and it is there now, but in 
shaky condition. Thus ended the Doctor's "forever and forever 
free" contract. 

In 1866, with U. B. White, the Doctor built the second bridge 
over the Des Moines, at Court Avenue, the first having been torn 
down. In 1869, it floated down-stream on a high wave, and was 
replaced by an iron bridge. 

In 1866, the Doctor organized and procured a perpetual charter 
for a street railway on all streets, to be operated by animal power — 
another instance in which he outwitted the "city dads" — and 
became the putative father of the present magnificent street railway 
system, with its one hundred and seven big cars and sixty-two and 
one-half miles of track, unlike in uniqueness any in the United 
States. He secured the financial aid of J. S. Polk, Fred. M. Hub- 
bell, and U. B. White, and built the first mile of road from the 
Court House, on Court Avenue, to Capitol Hill. It was a chimeri- 
cal undertaking. It began nowhere and ended the same. The 
town was small, the population scattered, and Court Avenue was 
the only business east-and-west street. The track — narrow-gauge — 
was laid on the surface; there was no pavement. The cars were 
small, having a capacity for about twenty persons. The motive 
power was a pair of mules. Their speed limit under the charter 
was six miles an hour, to go around street corners at a walk, and 
cars to be kept two hundred feet apart when in motion, but the 
Doctor was never made defendant in an action for damages for 
"fast running," or runaways from defective brakes, for, if the 
brakes failed to hold the cars on a down grade, the mules would, as 
John Hamilton, now a motorman on the Sevastopol line, can prob- 
ably testify, for he drove them to the end of the mule-car service. 

The road was a great accommodation to women and children. 
It was too slow for men, except in bad, wet weather, and then it 



156 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

was not uncommon that the car would slip off the rail, and the 
men would have to get off and lift it back in place. Sometimes the 
mules, in floundering through the slippery clay mud, would fall and 
both lay flat on their back, which gave John no uneasiness — the 
mules were used to it — but it made the women and children 
hysterical. 

It was a mirth-provoking outfit, and the Doctor was often given 
humorous jibes thereon, but he always received them in his genial 
way, with the reply : 

"Never mind; just wait. This is only a beginning. This town 
is going to grow. Just give us a chance." 

With firm faith in Des Moines, patience and perseverance, the 
Doctor worked on, despite discouragements which would have 
balked many men. 

After several months, the track was laid through an alley at the 
foot of the hill to Walnut Street, then east to Fourth Street, then to 
place of beginning, thus forming a loop. 

In 1872. he had added two and one-half miles of track west on 
Walnut and High streets, and east on Grand Avenue to Tenth 
Street, but it did not pay one hundred per cent to his partners, and 
they seceded, the Doctor purchasing all their interest except that 
of White, which was taken by Mrs. Turner. A new company was 
formed, with the Doctor as President and Manager, and his wife 
as Secretary and Treasurer, and for fourteen years they extended 
and operated the "Des Moines Street Railway Company." 

In the meantime, H. E. Teachout formed a company and got a 
charter for a broad-gauge road on Locust and other streets, the 
motive power being horses. The equipment was more up-to-date 
than that of the Doctor's, and soon began to crowd him. He went 
into court with his perpetual charter and asked an injunction 
against the use of animal power by the Teachout company, in viola- 
tion of an exclusive prior charter. The courts sustained the Doc- 
tor's claim, whereupon Teachout charged his motive power to elec- 
tricity, and competition with the Doctor became lively in the occu- 
pation of streets, etc. 

Mr. Polk was also developing a street railway system under a 
charter for the Rapid Transit Company, which gave the right to 



DOCTOR M. P. TURNER 157 

use steam, cable or electricity as the motive power, and, in 1895, 
he purchased all the rights, title and interest of the other com- 
panies, consolidated them under the name of the Des Moines City 
Railway Company, established an entire new system, and pro- 
ceeded to gridiron the city with his tracks. 

The first, and for many years the only amusement hall, was 
built by the Doctor. It is the building now occupied by the Purity 
Candy Company, on Court Avenue, at the alley corner east of 
Fourth Street. 

After disposing of his street railway, he devoted his time to 
improving his holdings of real estate, a notable example of which 
is the elegant seven-story building, corner of Seventh Street and 
Grand Avenue, recently occupied by the Studebaker Carriage 
Repository. 

The ground occupied by Drake University was purchased from 
him. 

The Doctor was not a politician, and never sought a partisan 
office, but, being a man of affairs, with large property interests, 
and being popular, he was elected Alderman for the Fourth Ward 
in 1854 and 1855, the ward being strongly Democratic and Anti- 
Prohibition, the Doctor being a radical Republican and anti-saloon 
man. 

He was an earnest and helpful supporter of schools and churches, 
a real friend of the laboring class, kind-hearted, benevolent, genial, 
optimistic to eccentricity, for he saw only the bright side of things ; 
in business undertakings, whatever the discouragements, he saw 
only the "greater Des Moines," ultimate success. Even in the 
last year of his life, when disease was slowly eating away his vital- 
ity, he clung to hope. Meeting him on the streets a few days before 
he lay down never to rise, in reply to a query as to his health,, he 
replied: "Oh, I am gaining a little every day. I believe I will 
come out all right." That was the spirit of the man in all things. 

October Second, 1904. 




CAPTAIN F. R. WEST 



CAPTAIN F. R. WEST 

ANT early settler and prominent man in business affairs was 
Captain F. R. West. His title was gained from his former 
connection with a Packet Line on the old Pennsylvania 
Canal, long ago abandoned. 

He came to Des Moines in 1854, with some capital, and at once 
made investments in real estate, a large portion of which is now in 
North Des Moines. 

In 1856, he built what is now the Register and Leader Build- 
ing. The ground floor was occupied by B. F. Allen's Bank, the 
rear portion by the United States Land Office, the second floor by 
the Congregational Church, the third floor by the Journal news- 
paper. The east half of the building was occupied by Keyes & 
Crawford for general merchandise, and for many years by Ran- 
dolph and John Knight for a dry goods store, and was the center 
of attraction of matrons and maidens, who wanted something to 
wear ; it was the headquarters of Fashion. 

In 1857, when the whole country was staggering under one of 
the worst financial panics known in history, the Western states 
were flooded with currency turned out by "wild-cat" mills. It had 
little or no foundation, and included every form of "red-dog," 
"stump-tail," "wild-cat," and other rotten bank circulation. It 
would be gathered up by speculators and land sharks, and used in 
business transactions in isolated communities. While there were 
circulating notes of Eastern and Western states, having some value, 
many were based largely on bonds of Southern states, of uncertain 
value, so that the financial condition of the state was deplorable. 
Business men made haste to get their currency into a bank at the 
close of each day, with no assurance it would have any value the 
next morning, for the banks would accept it only at what it was 
worth from day to day. It was not uncommon for a merchant to 
send a package of the stuff to Keokuk or St. Louis to pay for goods, 

159 



160 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

and be informed that most of it was worthless on arriving at its 
destination. 

The new State Constitution of 1857 authorized the Legislature 
to provide a system of legitimate banking and the issue of bank- 
notes. In accordance therewith, an Act was passed providing for 
a State Bank, with branches in different localities, to meet the 
demands of business. In 1858, the first branch was established at 
Des Moines, with B. F. Allen, President, and Hoyt Sherman, 
Cashier. In 1861, Sherman entered the United States military 
service, and West was elected Cashier. The bank did an enormous 
business, its deposits at one time amounting to one million seven 
hundred and fifty thousand dollars. In 1865, it was reorganized 
under the National Banking Law, as the National State Bank. In 
1876, the Captain purchased most of the stock, surrendered the 
charter, and established an independent bank, as F. R. West & 
Sons. In 1877, he became heavily involved in his effort to help 
Allen, husband of his daughter, out of a financial struggle, and he 
finally went down in the whirlpool which swallowed Allen's mil- 
lions and wrought financial wreck and ruin all over the state. 

For eighteen years, as a banker, the Captain, by his safe, wise 
and conservative business methods, had the support and confidence 
of the entire business community, and his great personal sacrifice 
to aid in avoiding an inevitable fate was deemed by many as with- 
out reason or justification. 

In 1861, he was selected as one of the Commissioners of Iowa 
War Claims, arising from the clothing and equipping of Iowa sol- 
diers during the Civil War. So complete and just was their record 
the State had no difficulty in settling its war claims. 

In 1855, when the college of the Lutheran Church was located 
here, the Captain was one of the Board of Trustees, and was elected 
President. The project got to the cornerstone-laying stage, and 
succumbed to the general adversities of 1857. 

In September, 1853, the first real Fair of the Polk County 
Agricultural Society was held, on the old Fair Grounds, on 'Coon 
bottoms, at the foot of Ninth Street. A slim and primitive exhibi- 
tion was held in the previous October, in the Court House yard. 
Captain West was one of the Society Directors, and was very active 
in promoting the Society. 



CAPTAIN F. R. WEST 161 

At that September meeting, there were shown several fine thor- 
oughbred Shorthorns, several fine wooled sheep, and of corn, wheat, 
potatoes, and other vegetables, as fine specimens as have been seen 
at any Fair since. The women gave it the cold shoulder, exhibiting 
nothing. 

In 1855, the Captain was elected a member of the City Council, 
when Barlow Granger was Mayor. There were no wards then, and 
no scrimmages over a division of funds, the Council representing 
the city at large. In 1857, the city having been re-incorporated, he 
was elected Alderman for the Second Ward. 

While he was in the Council, the city was in a bad financial con- 
dition, as were all other communities. The prevalence of "wild- 
cat" currency had demoralized business generally. The city was 
badly in debt, and how to pay it with a currency having no specific 
value over twenty-four hours, was the problem. After much delib- 
eration, it was decided that the city do a little banking on its own 
account, by issuing "City Script." Well-executed notes, in sums 
for One, Two, Three, and Five Dollars, were issued, and furnished 
a convenient and acceptable circulating medium in the local trade 
and city business affairs. Having served the purpose of its crea- 
tion, it was withdrawn without loss to anybody. 

Occasionally, a bonfire was made of it, as witness the following, 
found among Sherman's papers after his decease: 

"Received of L. P. Sherman, Treasurer of the City of Des 
Moines, One Hundred and Twenty-nine Dollars of City Script, 
which has been signed and in circulation. 

"J. A. WILLIAMSON", 
"G. W. CLEAVELAND, 

"j. h. McClelland, 

"Committee Appointed to Burn the Same. 
"February Twenty-first, 1859." 

He was public-spirited and helpful in many ways to advance 
the welfare of the community. When the scrimmage came for the 
location of the State House, he evidenced his preference for the 
West Side by subscribing ten thousand dollars to have it put on 
Grimmel's Hill. Especially was he helpful to young men engaged 
Vol. I— (11). 



162 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

in safe, legitimate business, who sometimes got into cramped condi- 
tions and needed extension of credit, for business was then done, 
perforce, largely on credit. Application to the Captain for aid 
would be met with the inflexible rule of the bank forbidding the 
indorsement of negotiable paper by any officer thereof — he was a 
man of few words and very quiet — but if the request was worthy, 
a letter of credit would be quickly given, good at the bank, for the 
amount and time necessary to keep the young man on his feet. 

In 1876, when the Equitable Life Insurance Company, now 
one of the best financial institutions in the state, was incorporated, 
the Captain was made one of the Trustees. 

His first place of residence was in a small frame house on Third 
Street, nearly opposite Judge Casady's first bank building, now 
occupied by Colonel Eiboeck's Staats Anzeiger. In that house, 
January Thirteenth, 1854, his daughter, Arathusa, was married 
to B. F. Allen by Elder J. A. Nash, who was the favorite marital 
splicer in those days, and probably married more people than any 
minister in the state during his lifetime. The occasion was a bril- 
liant affair. The bride's schoolmates were all present and showered 
her with kisses, for she was beloved by all. The music was fur- 
nished with an old-fashioned square piano — not a "grand square" 
— which came with the family, and the first piano brought to the 
town. 

Soon after, the Captain purchased of L. D. Winchester the first 
brick dwelling erected on the west side of Des Moines River. It 
was one-story, on the block now occupied by the Valley National 
Bank, and there "Billy" Moore was married by Elder Nash, in 
December, 1851, with all the concomitant hilarity known to the 
unconventional early settlers, for in those days, "Billy" was one of 
"the boys." When the hands of the clock had reached midnight, 
an incident occurred, which — well, ask "Billy" about it. 

In that house, the Captain and his good wife lived until 1875, 
when it was torn down. Their home was the center of frequent 
and most enjoyable social functions. They were both of large 
physique — the very embodiment of genial good nature. Mrs. West 
was a special favorite with young people. She was a home-builder, 
beloved by everybody, ever ready and zealous in any movement for 



CAPTAIN F. E. WEST 163 

the good of the community. During the Civil War, she devoted 
nearly all her time to the immense labor and service of the Sol- 
diers' Relief Commission. 

In taking a retrospective view of the pioneer days, the wives 
and mothers should not be overlooked. The trials, deprivations 
and struggles they endured entitles them to honorable mention. 
While men fashioned and reared the civic structure, the mothers 
moulded and formed the character of those who are now among our 
best, most enterprising citizens. In those early days, there was no 
distinction nor caste, except the nobility of charity ; no aristocracy 
but that of magnanimity. Bound together by the common tie of 
sympathy and a common interest, there was more real humanity 
among the pioneers than we have now in social life. 

In 1883, the Captain and his wife celebrated their golden wed- 
ding, which was attended by a large gathering of old-timers and 
friends. They never overcame the shock of the financial wreck of 
1877, and they passed their remaining days in the quietude of their 
home. She went to her long rest in 1895, and he a few months 
later. 

October Sixteenth, 1904. 




GEORGE M. HIPPEE 



GEORGE M. HIPPEE 

OF the pioneers who came here in 1855, and who have been 
notably identified with the growth of the city, was George 
M. Hippee. 

Soon after his arrival, he opened a drug store, in a log cabin 
on the west side of Second Street, down near 'Coon bridge, where 
he remained several years in a quiet, unpretentious way. 

In 1856, when the State House location fight was on, he was a 
non-combatant and took no part, though his mental reservations 
were with the West Siders. 

In 1859, business on Second Street began to get crowded, and 
he ventured up to Court Avenue, purchased the southeast corner 
lot for one thousand dollars — the owner at first demanding twelve 
hundred dollars — and erected the first brick building for exclusive 
store use from bottom to top on that street. The Sherman Block, 
at Third, and the building adjoining the Register and Leader office, 
built in 1858, were largely office buildings. 

In 1864, Hippee organized the Second National Bank, with 
himself as President and George W. Jones, Cashier. It occupied 
a basement room on Court Avenue. In 1870, its charter was sur- 
rendered, and it, with the First National, was merged into the 
National State Bank. 

Early in January, 1865-6, rumors were rife about town that 
petroleum could be found in Polk County. Soon after, A. C. 
Tichenor, a well-known, unscrupulous speculator, N. H. Hibbard, 
and L. H. Gano, of Chicago, turned up here. They had rooms at 
the Savery House (now Kirkwood), where they expounded the 
gospel of petroleum. They had samples of the "ile," the real 
"Simon pure article," right out of the earth in Polk County. Their 
rooms were thronged with people seeking knowledge. The furore 
was equal to that in 1857, when Uncle "Davy" Norris discovered 
gold at the mouth of Bird's Run. 

165 



166 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

One day, when a crowd was present, a man picked up a sample 
of the petroleum, gave it a nasal sniff, put it down, and simply 
said, "Humbug." Tichenor quickly drew from his pocket a roll 
of money, planked one thousand dollars on the table, and said to 
him: 

"Just cover that ; we will select a committee to investigate, and 
if you are not satisfied within twenty-four hours that petroleum 
does exist in Polk County, the money is yours." 

That was a clincher. There could be no doubt of it by anybody. 
Tichener leased several thousand acres in the vicinity of Adelphi, 
and went to Chicago to purchase machinery to bore for oil. Mean- 
while, the oil fever became epidemic. There was vigorous poking 
in pockets for dollars to invest. Imagination was acute. Visions 
as vivid as Hamlet pictured in- the clouds to Polonius were plenti- 
ful. There were indications of oil in all directions. "When the 
wind was right," the odor of petroleum permeated all the farm- 
houses along Four Mile Creek — so it was declared. 

Dixon, the wag of the Daily Register, boosted the business by 
announcing one day that he had bought a big chunk of the tail of 
Rattlesnake Bend, with seventeen rattles included ; was boring with 
proper machinery; had struck "ile" in paying quantities, and was 
ready to sell one rattle only to each customer. 

When Tichenor returned, he took Doctor C. H. Rawson, Mayor 
Cleaveland, Seward Smith, John Brown, and Frank Palmer, editor 
of the Register, out to Spring Creek. They first visited Depew's 
farm, a half mile from Adelphi, where was a well, dry a short time 
prior, in which was water covered with oil. They then went to the 
creek spring, clambered down the steep, ragged bluff through the 
thick, tangled brush, where the oleaginous fluid was seen floating 
away, its distinctive flourescence glinting in the sunlight. They 
scooped it up in their hands; sniffed it, and declared it was the 
genuine article. Thenceforth, the Register from day to day pic- 
tured visions of the millions which the narrow valley of Four Mile 
held in soak. 

The next day, General J. M. Tuttle went out with a large party. 
They sopped up the oil with woolen cloth, pumped all the farmers 
thereabout, and came home so saturated with the stuff that Tuttle 



GEORGE M. HIPPEE 167 

organized a Petroleum Company, with a capital of five hundred 
thousand dollars. 

Hippee organized another company, with himself as President ; 
Hoyt Sherman, Cashier ; Frank Allen, Treasurer, and five hundred 
thousand dollars capital. 

George Crawford organized another company with five hundred 
thousand dollars capital. 

Tichenor had a big company in Chicago, and advertised, with 
big type, in the daily papers there. Options were taken on farms 
all over the county. There was a constant procession of people 
going to Spring Creek. Meanwhile, Tichenor's boring machine 
was making a hole in the ground, while he caught "suckers" in 
Chicago. 

It was in August, I think, rumors came that the drill had struck 
an impenetrable rock, broken and plugged the hole. 

Very late in the year, a fellow blew into town with a big bunch 
of Tichenor's Spring Creek petroleum stock for sale. Tuttle, 
Hippee, and Crawford had early retired from the field. All the 
fellow would say was: "The machinery broke, the well caved in, 
and the company busted." 

Wo petroleum has been seen since on Spring Creek. 

In 1873, Hippee, with J. J. Towne, purchased the northwest 
corner of Fourth Street and Court Avenue, where Captain West 
lived, erected a banking and office building, and established the 
Valley Bank, with which Hippee was connected until it was 
changed to the present Valley National Bank. 

In 1876, Hippee became a heavy stockholder in the Iowa Loan 
and Trust Company, and is now one of the Trustees for the bond- 
holders of $2,354,580 of debentures of the company. He is also 
a stockholder in the Hawkeye Insurance Company. 

In 1879, he, with Ira Cook and others, organized the Des 
Moines Syrup and Refining Company, with a capital of fifty thou- 
sand dollars, to make syrups and glucose from corn. A large build- 
ing was erected on Vine Street, and the project started with prom- 
ising prospects, but during the Summer of 18S0, the circumam- 
bient atmosphere was so saturated with sulphurous acid gas and 
vigorous stenches shot out from its chimneys, the Board of Health 
sat down on it. 



168 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

In 1881, Hippee started the Des Moines Bank. About the same 
time, Judge Casady started a Savings Bank. Soon after, they were 
united and formed what has become the present Des Moines Sav- 
ings Bank. Hippee is one of the directors, and a heavy stock- 
holder, but everybody, from habit, calls it "Judge Casady's Bank." 
Starting off in a dingy, little, old shanty on Third Street, with 
deposits the Judge could carry in his pocket, it soon began to grow, 
and the Judge gave it the stone-front building now occupied by the 
Staats Anzeiger; next it went to an asbestine stone building at 
Third and Walnut streets, and from thence to its present location, 
where it carries deposits amounting to over five million dollars 
regularly. 

In 1889, when the Des Moines Street Railway Company was 
organized, and purchased all the rights, title and property of other 
street railways, and consolidated them into the present system, 
Hippee became a stockholder, is one of the Board of Directors, and 
Vice-President of the company. 

He is a very quiet, taciturn person, a mighty good thinker, of 
strong, firm convictions, and when confronted with important busi- 
ness or public questions is "from Missouri" — he must be shown. 
With no speculative tendency, conservative, cautious, of strict integ- 
rity, firmly grounded in public confidence and trust, he has been 
an important factor in business and financial affairs of the city. 

Politically, he was a Democrat to 1896, when he voted for 
McKinley for President, and has since affiliated with the Repub- 
lican party. He is not a politician ; he simply goes to the polls and 
casts his ballot — that's all. Though often solicited, he has refused 
public office, except to serve nine years, from 1872, on the non- 
partisan West Des Moines School Board. 

October Twenty-third, 1904. 




~<ARY 
*"•' Jen. 

1909 




CALVIN W. KEYES 



CALVIN W. KEYES 

IN the early part of 1858, Calvin W. Keyes, who traces his fam- 
ily thread through eight generations to the first governor of 

Plymouth Colony, came into town, looked over the field, and, 
with the inalienable province of a Yankee, "guessed" he could "get 
a living here." He opened a general merchandise store down on 
Second Street, then the trade center. In September, he decided 
to make another venture. George Crawford joined with him, and 
they moved into what was called the "West" Building, just com- 
pleted, adjoining the present Register and Leader Block on the east, 
then the only brick block on Court Avenue, except the Sherman 
Block, at the corner of Third street. They were jibed and jeered 
by the Second Streeters for their temerity in going so far away 
from trade — "couldn't pay their rent ;" "might as well go to Adel." 

Having gone out into the country — as it were — they concluded 
to do business with the country. The sheep industry was in its 
infancy. It needed boosting. Keyes, coming from Vermont, the 
home of Merino sheep, naturally inclined to the wool trade, and 
later in the Fall the firm, for the first time in the county, bought 
all the wool offered — four hundred pounds — and shipped it to a 
New England factory. Seven years after, five hundred thousand 
pounds were shipped from Des Moines. 

In 1858, Napier, the County Judge, was building a new Court 
House. The East Siders had opposed the project with various 
dilatory tactics, hoping, it was declared by West Siders, to get the 
building on the East Side, but the Judge went on. The next year 
he got short of funds. Money was scarce. To issue bonds was the 
only source of relief, to which proposition the fight was resumed 
vigorously, but he won, and thirty bonds for one thousand dollars 
each were issued. They were not considered gilt-edged by investors 
— in fact, risky — but Keyes, being then a new-comer, and therefore 
not affected with the State House feud of 1856, he and Crawford, 

169 



170 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

with a firm faith in the growth and prosperity of the town and 
county, took twenty-two of the bonds at ten per cent interest, which 
quite surprised the East Siders, and Second Streeters as well. 

Soon after opening the store in the "West" Building, Keyes 
bought in Boston the first barrel of coal oil brought to the town. 
It was shipped over five different railroads to Iowa City, and 
hauled from there by teams. It was sold to consumers for two dol- 
lars per gallon. It was extracted from anthracite coal, and known 
as rock oil. A few years after, when oil was produced from wells, 
it was sold for fifty cents per gallon, but it was received with great 
caution because of its explosiveness. A fellow blew into town one 
day from Adel, however, who had discovered a process to render 
the stuff non-explosive, and he did a profitable business, selling 
it for seventy-five cents a gallon, until it was discovered his preven- 
tion was the addition of common salt. He has been periodically 
succeeded by similar fakirs. Science has not yet discovered any 
process of destroying the explosive properties of the naphtha con- 
tained in kerosene, but legislative restrictions have so regulated its 
manufacture and sale that it has become the universal ilium inant 
without "salting." 

In those early days, there were no railroads, no theaters, no 
itinerating concert troupes and barn-stormers. For amusements, 
home talent was the only source, and there was plenty of it, for con- 
certs, masquerades, dances, surprise parties, serenades, and the 
"mellar drainer." There was always something doing, memories 
of which abide yet with the old boys and girls. The three thousand 
people were contented and happy. 

Mr. Keyes was a musical genius and always ready to "jine in" 
for amusement. In 1869, he organized the second brass band, 
Mosier's Band having blowed itself out. The aggregation con- 
sisted of Wilson T. Smith, Eb bugle ; George Childs, cornet ; Chris- 
topher Howell, ophicleide; N. W. Mills, piccolo; C. W. Keyes, 
bass trombone ; Add. Hepburn, bass drum. The day after its birth, 
it was employed to furnish music for a public "doings" at the 
State House, and escorted a procession from the West Side thereto. 
Its repertoire comprised only one tune, "The Old Pine Tree," and 
it stretched that Pine tree from the Court House to the Capitol 
without a halt or break, winding up amid rapturous applause. 



CALVIN W. KEYES 171 

In 1860, Keyes imported the first pipe organ brought to the 
city. It was placed in the Episcopal Church, a small frame build- 
ing which stood on the west side of Seventh Street at the alley 
north of Younker's store. 

That was the year of Lincoln's first campaign for President. 
Politics raged at fever heat. Among the Lincoln supporters was 
Alexander Bowers, familiarly known as "Alex.," a German, weigh- 
ing about three hundred pounds, brusque, active, somewhat pomp- 
ous and authoritative. He had been for several years a freighter, 
hauling goods from Keokuk. He also carried money packages and 
other small parcels with notable trust and fidelity, to the great 
convenience of banks and business men. A package of twenty 
thousand dollars given him to deliver at Keokuk caused no more 
solicitude than if it were a pound of nails. In some way, he had 
become United States Marshal. He was a strong Lincoln sup- 
porter, a radical Abolitionist, and always active in politics. On 
the day of election, M. M. Crocker, Captain F. E. West, Wesley 
Redhead, C. W. Keyes, and nine others had formed in line at the 
polls to vote for J. C. Breckinridge, of Kentucky. "Alex." stood 
at the ballot box, watching, and as Crocker presented his ballot, 
"Alex." stopped him and declared that "no man shall vote for that 
Southerner, Breckinridge." 

Crocker, of spare, frail physique, stepped quickly aside, pale 
with excitement, eyes flashing, threw off his coat, and said to 
"Alex." : 

"If you want ever to vote again, stand aside; get away from 
this." 

Old-timers, familiar with Crocker, the snap of his eye, his fear- 
lessness, will readily realize what "Alex." quickly discovered, that 
trouble was brewing. He went away. 

I believe that was the last time either of those thirteen men 
voted a Democratic ticket. 

In 1861, Keyes decided to relieve the farmers of their surplus 
hogs. He bought two thousand at one and one-half cents per pound, 
killed them in a small packing-house up on the Savior Bottoms, 
built a flat-boat, loaded it with forty tons of pork and lard, and, 
with himself as sailing master, a crew of five roustabouts, started 



172 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 



it down the river to Ottumwa, where transfer to the railroad was 
to be made. When within one mile of Red Rock, the boat was 
scuttled by a sharp rock, and sunk in ten feet of water. Keyes 
and crew got themselves safely on shore, where they remained two 
days, sleeping on the sand, and eating raw salt pork, with roily 
river water as a thirst slaker, until a flat-boat was sent up from 
Ottumwa with a push-pole crew. The pork and lard was hoisted 
on board of it, and safely delivered at Ottumwa. 

In 1862, when the public heart was stirred with efforts to secure 
commissary aid for the soldiers, Keyes, who was a leader in musical 
affairs, and the singers of all the churches, volunteered to give a 
grand concert to raise funds for such aid. The only hall large 
enough for such an event was the third floor of the Sherman Block, 
at Third Street and Court Avenue. Hoyt Sherman, owner of the 
hall, had joined the army, leaving the custody of the building with 
"Alex." Bowers, who refused to permit the use of the hall for the 
concert, even at a good rental, for which refusal he would give no 
reason. So opposite was it to the well-known patriotism and gen- 
erosity of Sherman, the singers were indignant. It was generally 
believed that "Alex.'s" refusal was because he thought some of 
the singers were prominent Democrats, for he abhorred a Democrat. 

The County Commissioners, however, came to their relief and 
offered the free use of one of the large unfurnished rooms in the 
then new Court House. The settees — churches didn't have pews 
then — were all taken from the Methodist Church on Fifth Street, 
and two days of vigorous work given by the singers to fit up the 
courtroom. The concert was a great success. The poet laureate 
of that day, a well-known lawyer, whose familiar face is seen on 
our streets every day, and whom time later proved a better District 
Judge than poet, improvised a song for the occasion, which was 
sung by a quartette of "picked men," to the tune of "Gideon's 
Band" — it was so printed on the program. Add. Hepburn — every- 
body knew the jolly Add. — was given the last verse, which ran : 

"They say this new Court House of ours 
Is about as big as Alex. Bowers." 

Alex, nursed and kept his wrath against that "Gideon's Band" 
to the end of his days. 



CALVIN W. KEYES 173 

During the same year, there was great excitement in the town 
and country over the call for enlistment in the army. Though the 
response was prompt and liberal, there was a strong undercurrent 
of opposition. There were quite positive indications of the pres- 
ence of Knights of the Golden Circle. Union sentiment was rapidly 
crystallizing into measures for its suppression. One day, Frank 
Palmer, editor of the Register, had a private consultation with 
one of the most vociferous of the suspected clan, and in very posi- 
tive, emphatic terms, told him that he could either join the army 
and stand up for his country, or go to jail, and within a very few 
hours, too. Coming from a person of such well-known, genial 
nature, left no other inference than that there was something 
behind it. The man joined the army, made a splendid record as 
a soldier, won high distinctive honors, came home, and became 
one of our most honored and influential citizens. 

In 1869, Keves built a two-storv frame store on Court Avenue, 
next east of the present Purity Candy Factory, opened a crockery 
store, and imported from England the first one hundred crates of 
queensware that came to the city. 

In 1870, he instituted a valuable public benefaction in the mak- 
ing of sugar-cured hams by a special process, which now seems to 
have become a lost art. For a dozen years or more, his Des Moines 
hams were in highest favor all over the West, even so far as San 
Francisco. 

In 1879, he cut along Des Moines, Raccoon, North and Middle 
rivers, one hundred cars of Black Walnut logs, which were shipped 
to New York City, probably the last of that kind of shipment from 
the city. 

Having raised others to assume the burden of business, he has 
for many years ceased from active life, and is enjoying a well- 
earned rest in a community which he has helped in many ways. 

October Thirtieth, 1904. 




DR. A. Y. HULL 



DOCTOR A. Y. HULL 

OF the men who figured quite prominently in political and 
civic affairs in the early days, was Doctor A. Y. Hull, 
father of our Congressman, Captain J. A. T. Hull. He 
came here in 1849, intending to make this his abiding place. He 
reconnoitered the town — what there was of it — to find a suitable 
corner lot on which to build a home. Having selected a favorable 
location, he went down to the "corner lot market," on Second 
Street, where he was very blandly informed that corner lots had 
gone up — the price was twenty-five dollars. The corner where the 
Kirkwood House now is was thirty dollars. He declared it was 
outrageous ; he would not pay it ; there was nothing in nor of the 
town to warrant such prices ; he would go and start a town of his 
own. 

The town had, just prior, received a little boost. Speculation 
was rife. The year before, the United States Geological Survey 
had sent Doctor Owen here to make a survey of the Des Moines 
Valley. The surveying party consisted of seven persons, who, with 
teams and instruments, started up the river in June. When up in 
Minnesota, a band of Sisseton Sioux attacked them, destroyed their 
instruments, and probably would have scalped them had not a band 
of Fox Indians come to their rescue. The outfit returned here in 
somewhat dilapidated condition. Doctor Owen was given an ova- 
tion. He was invited to give a talk to the people, which he accepted, 
and during his remarks, he tickled the crowd present with many 
good sayings, which, viewed from the standpoint of to-day, were 
not a little prophetic. He said : 

"Located as your town is, in the center of this great state — a 
state midway between the two great oceans of the world, and 
washed on two sides by the two mighty rivers of the continent — 
with a soil of unsurpassed fertility, and vast stores of mineral 
wealth, yours must assume a broad place among the states of the 

175 



176 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

Union. When, in a few years, the Atlantic and Pacific are united 
by a railway, it will, in all probability pierce your state, and scale 
your town, giving you communication with every part of the 
world. This is Nature's choice for the great interior city of the 
state, and it needs not the spirit of prophecy to foresee that such 
must be its destiny." 

The address tickled the real estate dealers down on Second 
Street, and they boosted the price on corner lots. 

Doctor Hull went down the river, to a point where, in 1848, 
Charles Freel had started a little settlement in Camp Township, 
near the southeast corner of the county, and purchased a large tract 
of land. With his father's family, and his own, nineteen persons, 
they made their home in a log cabin fifteen feet square, with 
puncheon floor, and pole bedsteads. He laid out a town of large 
dimensions, and boomed it vigorously. 

In the Star, in January, 1850, Doctor Hull advertised in big 
type a lot sale at low prices, one-third down, one-third in six 
months, and one-third in twelve months. The prices were made 
low, on condition that the purchaser was to build a house, or other- 
wise improve it. If he couldn't get a price, he would give a lot, 
provided a house was built on it. 

He was a good mixer. He got on the warm side of the people, 
and his town, which he named Lafayette, grew. He had a big cele- 
bration one day, attended by one of the largest gatherings had in 
the county. Long tables, loaded with choicest viands, were spread 
under improvised leafy bowers. There were toasts and speeches, in 
which it was hinted that The Fort must look to her laurels, with 
her two hundred people, while Lafayette, with her one hundred 
and seventy-five — actual count — her busy stores and shops, was 
growing fast. He established two rope ferries over the river, to 
catch the large number of emigrants going west. He started a big 
shipping point, and in April, 1851, Lamp. Sherman, in his Gazette, 
said of it : 

"Steamboats, when they succeed in climbing over the dam at 
Bonaparte, make regular stops there, and the blowing of the 
steamer whistle is a signal for the whole town to turn out." 

It was a lively, bustling place, and worried The Fort folks not 
a little. 



DOCTOR A. Y. HULL 177 

Early in April, 1851, the Doctor built two flat-boats, 16x63 
feet, to carry corn and other produce to Keokuk, the first thus laden 
in the county, and of great benefit to farmers. There was haste and 
bustle to get them off, fearing they might be stranded at the Bona- 
parte dam on the return trip. There were no railroads. In the 
navigation of the river then rested the hope of the entire country. 
Schemes galore were projected at all towns along its banks for 
building craft suitable for river traffic, to be in readiness for the 
completion of the work of the River Improvement Company. The 
Fort, at the head of navigation, was to become the trade center for 
the whole of Central Iowa, and the State Capital — if the rival 
towns didn't prevent it. 

In May, heavy rains came, the river got high — rose twenty-two 
feet above the low-water mark. The whole country along the river 
was deluged. Houses, horses, cattle, hogs, and sheep were carried 
away ; ruin and devastation swept over the bottom lands. "Uncle 
Jerry" Church's town of Dudley, an embryo Capital of Iowa, 
floated away with the common wreckage, and as the last building 
started, he climbed on the roof and fiddled a requiem of "departed 
days." The water crept up about the house of Doctor Hull, at 
Lafayette, over the floor, up into the beds and bureau drawers. 
Three times the family moved to higher places, and later, steam- 
boats, which found unobstructed passage in a waterway nearly 
three miles wide, sailed over the town. When the flood subsided, 
the town had gone, but the public well was left standing in the 
middle of the river channel. 

That was the historic "year of the great flood." Streams every- 
where were over-swollen, bridges carried away, mills forced to stop, 
causing great scarcity of meal and flour. In many families, parched 
corn stood for coffee, and corn pounded with a Hickory stick in a 
Poplar log hollowed out for a mortar, was used for bread. The 
losses and devastation were more notable because the settlements 
and towns were principally located along rivers and creeks. 

In 1852, Judge Casady, having served as State Senator in the 
second and third sessions of the Legislature, and declined a renomi- 
nation, the Doctor was nominated, and elected by a large majority, 
for he was immensely popular with the early settlers, and had much 

Vol. I— (12). 



178 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

influence with them from his many acts of kindness and helpfulness 
as a physician. He was well educated, a fluent talker, and had a 
hankering for editorial work — in fact, he was, for a time, editor 
of the Star, giving zest and notable spirit to the early twinkler in 
the effort to elect Curtis Bates Governor against Grimes, Barlow 
Granger having become satisfied with newspaper glory and retired. 
The opposing candidate of the Doctor was John Lewis, a man of 
advanced age — too old to tramp the district, which embraced sev- 
eral counties — and Lewis Todhunter, a brother of the Doctor's 
wife, took the stump for Lewis. It was a peculiar and lively cam- 
paign, unlike any before or since. The Presidential contest was 
on; the Fugitive Slave Law excitement was stirring up the body 
politic; the Slack Water Navigation Company's dam and obstruc- 
tion to river navigation had incensed the people to the vituperative 
stage, and they were clamoring for railroads, the Whigs laying 
all the river troubles to the Democrats, while the Democrats, in 
turn, charged it all to the vacillating acts of Tom Ewing, in charge 
of the Land Department at Washington. There was also the 
"strip" question. Warren County was vociferously demanding 
the return of the six townships taken from her to help Des Moines 
get the County Seat. P. Gad. Bryan was her mouthpiece, and was 
saying ugly things, denouncing it not only robbery, but disrupting 
the legislative districts. To the surrender of this territory, Polk 
County was naturally opposed. To all this was added the local 
pride and interest in the candidacy of Judge Bates. 

The contest became so hot and grossly personal between the 
newspapers and the supporters of the two Senatorial candidates, 
respecting their positions on the various issues, that the Doctor 
and Lewis published a joint statement in the newspapers, and by 
handbills, that upon the "strip," river dam nuisance, and railroad 
questions, they were agreed, and requested that personal abuse be 
stopped, and both be treated like gentlemen. 

Immediately the Doctor took his seat in the Senate, he prepared 
and introduced the first bill to remove the Seat of Government to 
Des Moines. Instantly, there was opposition from all sides. Iowa 
City was ferocious, the counties of Marshall, Jasper, Mahaska, and 
Story at once showed their teeth, the latter county having located 



DOCTOR A. Y. HULL 179 

at State Center the geographical center of the state. The Doctor 
was obstructed at every move, by dilatory and conflicting amend- 
ments, throughout the entire session. He failed to secure the 
change, but he defeated all schemes to fix the location elsewhere. 

P. Gad. Bryan, the Representative from Warren County in the 
Lower House, had a bill before that body, restoring Warren County 
the "stolen strip." 

When the Government survey was made, the south line of the 
county was run straight due east and west. At the then southwest 
corner of Camp Township, the river bends to the south, thus leaving 
a strip of several sections between the line of original survey and 
the river, which was part of the territory taken from Warren, and 
on which the Doctor had his town of Lafayette, and on which he 
then resided. Bryan's bill restored the entire territory taken. The 
Doctor vigorously opposed it, as it practically legislated him out of 
office, located him in another county and another senatorial district, 
but Bryan secured its passage. The effect of it was so glaringly 
unjust that the Doctor secured an amendment to the law by which 
the river was made the boundary line, and all of the "strip" north 
of it was to remain a part of Polk County. The bill, however, cut 
Allen Township in twain and set "Uncle Jerry" Church and his 
town of Carlisle over into Warren County. Thus ended the first 
chapter in the many exciting incidents of the contest to perma- 
nently fix the Seat of Government at Des Moines, extending over 
eighteen years, to the Fourteenth General Assembly, in 1870, when 
the final quietus was put to it in the appropriation to build the 
New Capitol, an event with a history full of exciting scenes, to be 
disclosed later on. 

At the close of his senatorial term, in 1854, the Doctor disposed 
of his land in the "strip," came to town, bought two lots on East 
Locust Street, where the Mirror Theater now is, built a fine cottage, 
opened a law office, and became an active participant in many legal 
skirmishes in the courts with "Dan" Finch, J. E. Jewett, M. M. 
Crocker, and other prominent lawyers, in Judge McFarland's 
court. The Judge, though a good jurist, was eccentric in many 
ways, and loved whiskey. The stories the lawyers used to tell of 
him would fill a book. The conventionalities of the court in those 



180 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

days were not quite up to the standard of to-day. On one occasion, 
it was said, a well-known lawyer came into court while a trial was 
on, and during a lull in the proceedings, arose near the bench, and 
very sedately asked the court if a motion could be received. "Yes, 
sir," replied the Judge. "Motions are always in order in this 
court." 

"Well, then, take notice of the motion of my elbow," said the 
lawyer, as he held up a bottle of good "Old Rye." 

"Yes, yes ; but, d — n ye, don't drink it all up before I get there," 
said the Judge, as he left his seat, went down and helped the lawyer 
dispose of his "motion." He then resumed his seat, and court went 
on as though nothing had happened. 

In the notable contest over the location of the State House, the 
Doctor was an East Sider, and took an active part in defeating 
the West Side, though he had nothing to do with the alleged pecu- 
liar land deals, in which a large number of city lots on the East 
Side got into possession of certain of the Legislative Commission 
sent to fix the site of the State House. 

The Doctor continued his law practice here until 1860, when 
he removed to Sedalia, Missouri, where he edited a newspaper 
several years. He died at Kiowa, Kansas, in December, 1900. His 
remains were brought here and deposited in Woodland. 

November Twelfth, 1904. 




JAMES C. JORDAN 



JAMES C. JORDAN 

TO continue the record of the location of the Capital at Des 
Moines, mention must be made of James C. Jordan, or 
"Uncle Jimmy," as everybody called him, one of the most 
prominent among the early settlers, and closely identified with the 
growth and prosperity of the county and town. 

He came in the early Fall of 1846, and selected a location about 
six miles west of The Fort, in Des Moines Township, which then 
embraced what are now the townships of Saylor, Valley, Bloom- 
field, Webster, Lee, Grant, Allen, Four Mile, Delaware, part of 
Clay, and The Fort. His claim was between 'Coon River and 
Walnut Creek. The first night, he camped under two large Oak 
trees, where he later erected a log cabin. It was an ideal spot for 
a person of rural taste and habit. His cabin was large, and fur- 
nished with "battened'' doors, and window frames made from lum- 
ber purchased from Parmelee's mill, near Carlisle. His near neigh- 
bors were in Dallas County. Later, he replaced the cabin with an 
elegant dwelling, where, as in the cabin, there was ever a broad 
hospitality, a hearty welcome to rich and poor, white or black. His 
latchstring was always out, and many a weary or storm-beaten 
traveler found cheerful welcome and comfort therein, for "Uncle 
Jimmy" was a friend to all mankind. He passed through all the 
vicissitudes of pioneer life in those days. Sometimes the empty 
flour or meal box necessitated a long trip to Oskaloosa to get a 
supply. For meat, the surrounding timberland provided deer, 
squirrels and coons — the skins of which were legal tender at the 
stores for groceries and dry goods, and they were not an insignifi- 
cant source of revenue, either. The boys used to tell this of one of 
"Uncle Jimmy's" raids on coons. One day, he, with others, had 
driven some coons into a large hollow tree. A fellow would reach in, 
grab a coon by the tail, and throw it out for his comrades to quiet 
with a club. Finally, "Uncle Jimmy" made a grab, but the coon 

181 



182 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

had turned, and he got hold of the wrong end, which laid him up 
a week for repairs. 

The Winter of 1847 was verv severe, and wolves were a. source 
of much trouble to settlers on bottom lands along the streams. 
"Uncle Jimmy" walked to The Fort nearly every day to make and 
build a rail fence around Hoxie's big cornfield, which lay along 
what is now Grand Avenue and west of Twelfth Street. He was 
the architect and builder of what was the most aristocratic resi- 
dence at The Fort. It was at the corner of Twelfth and Walnut 
streets, and at an acute angle to the street, there being no platted 
streets then west of Seventh Street. It was built of hewn logs, cov- 
ered with clapboards ; had a lean-to on the west side and big brick 
chimney. It was surrounded by several large trees. There being 
but two other houses visible from it — one, Doctor Grimmel's, where 
Saint Ambrose Catholic Church now stands, the other where 
Cownie's Glove Factory is — it was a conspicuous landmark for 
many years. In 1849, it was sold to S. G. Keene, a dry goods 
merchant, and was the center for social functions and frolics, Mrs. 
Keene being fond of amusements and very popular with the young 
people. Some of the "old girls" tell of lively times had there — 
things said and done which would not comport with present society 
exactness. The old house was torn down in 1876. 

In 1849, "Uncle Jimmy" built, at or near Valley Junction, the 
first schoolhouse in what is now Walnut Township. The work was 
done by Samuel Hiner, a brother of "Jack" Hiner, who so myste- 
riously disappeared in 1869. It was of logs, and cost him sixty- 
nine dollars. He was a firm believer in the school and church as 
promoters of civilization and good government, and his labor and 
purse were freely given to each. 

In 1851, the flood year, Walnut Creek, like all other streams, 
was unprecedently swollen. Bridges were carried away, fording 
was impossible. Flour and meal got short. To go to mill, the grist 
was placed on the back of a horse, which swam across. The owner 
could wade or swim. 

In 1854, Jordan was nominated for State Senator, to succeed 
Doctor Hull. He at first resisted the nomination, but finally yielded 
on the earnest request of Whigs, and Free Soil Democrats — the 



JAMES C. JORDAN" 183 

Kansas-Nebraska issue being before the people. The Legislature 
had to elect a United States Senator, which added great interest 
to the contest, as the Whigs were getting numerous enough to be 
counted upon. Jordan's opponent was Theophilus Bryan, of Guth- 
rie County. The Democratic candidate for United States Senator 
was Augustus Csesar Dodge, of Burlington. The congressional 
district embraced all the state south and west of the north line of 
Marshall County. At the election, on the face of the returns, Bryan 
had a majority. He was given the commission, took his seat, and 
voted for Dodge for United States Senator. The Whigs soon after 
discovered that down in Jasper County, just before election, there 
had been employed on streets and roads a large number of aliens, 
whose names had got on the poll books. A contest was made, the 
votes re-counted, and Bryan was eighty-five votes short. He was 
ousted, and because of some irregularity in the vote for Dodge, it 
was also set aside. Jordan was seated, and voted for James Har- 
lan, who was elected Senator. 

On taking his seat, Jordan at once resumed the work of his 
predecessor, Doctor Hull. He introduced the second bill to remove 
the Capital to Fort Des Moines. Bills which had been before the 
Legislature in 1846 and 1848, were to remove the Capital to a 
more central point in the state, the location to be selected by a spe- 
cial commission, a proviso inserted to make it possible to prevent 
it coming to Fort Des Moines. The first commission selected were 
all Quakers. They did their work admirably. They chose a spot 
down in Jasper County, on an open prairie, punctured with gopher 
holes and inhabited with prairie dogs, six miles from the Des 
Moines River, and several miles from a settler's cabin, laid out the 
future Capital, sold corner lots, put the money in their pockets, and 
went home. Their report to the next Legislature of their doings 
was so permeated with evidence that they had been defiled by the 
"world, the flesh and the devil," the whole business was repudiated, 
the money paid for corner lots returned to the purchasers, and the 
gophers and little dogs left undisturbed. 

When the Quakers' report was submitted, McFarland, whu sub- 
sequently became the notorious Judge, moved that the report be 
referred to a special committee to report how much of the site 
selected was under water and how much had been burned up. 



184 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

Jordan's bill was specific; it designated Fort Des Moines as the 
objective point. Immediately it was loaded with amendments and 
dilatory motions. Naturally, Iowa City had cause for objection, 
as it robbed her of considerable prestige as the Seat of Government. 
Marshalltown, Newton, Oskaloosa, and other towns were ambitious 
for the prize, but Jordan, with his genial, conservative ways, and 
the aid of his colleagues in the Lower House, and active lobbies 
from The Fort, carried the bill through, the Seat of Government to 
be located by a commission, within two miles of the junction of the 
Des Moines and Raccoon rivers. To placate Iowa City, she was 
given the State House, then uncompleted, for a State University. 

In 1856, he was reelected as a Free Soiler. When the Kansas- 
Nebraska contest and the Fugitive Slave Law were exciting the 
people, and John Brown's agents were shipping negroes to Canada 
over the Underground Railroad, there were several stations in Polk 
County. The tricks and devices practiced to escape the vigilance 
of slave-hunters, close on their track, were numerous and often ludi- 
crous, for there was a strong pro-slavery sentiment in the county, 
the Statesman frequently giving voice to it in vigorous editorials, 
denouncing the opposition to the Fugitive Slave Law, with special 
anathemas against the Methodists. In fact, Slavery existed here at 
one time. Joseph Smart, the Indian Interpreter at the Trading 
Post, went to Missouri, bought two negro women, brought them 
here, and kept them for some time as servants. When he got 
though with them, he took them South and sold them. Jordan 
was born and raised in a slave state, yet always abhorred slave- 
holding. He was a staunch Methodist, and during the John Brown 
raid, his home was always open to the fugitive. At one time, Brown, 
with twenty-four negroes, were quartered there, and it required 
good engineering to get them disposed of, for the stations were at 
many angles. There was one with Reverend Demas Robinson, a 
pioneer Baptist preacher, in Four Mile Township ; another at Grin- 
nell, and at other places. Frequently, to elude the hunters, the 
negroes would have to be returned to stations passed, and routed 
another way. 

In 1858, when the Des Moines branch of the State Bank was 
organized, the first authorized by law to issue bank-notes, Jordan 



JAMES C. JORDAN 185 

was a stockholder and elected one of the Directors, and thereby 
became largely interested in and identified with town affairs — in 
fact, he was always considered a part of the city. He was several 
times elected a member of the county Board of Supervisors, and 
would have been continued ad infinitum, but he got tired of it. 

In 1846, Congress granted to the State of Iowa the alternate 
sections of land on each side of Des Moines River, in an area of 
five miles wide, for the purpose of improving the navigation of the 
river from the Mississippi to Raccoon Forks. The land was to be 
sold at the highest market price. In 1847, the State organized a 
Board of Public Works, the Slack Water Navigation Company 
came into being; dams were partially constructed at Bentonsport, 
Croton, and Keosauqua ; stone was quarried all along the river for 
several years, but the only evidence of progress was the regularity 
with which the public lands were demanded and turned over to the 
companies improving the river. 

In 1854, the State, through its functionaries, the Board of Pub- 
lic Works, having disposed of nearly all the land embraced in the 
grant below the "Porks," and incurred a debt of seventy thousand 
dollars, sold out to Bangs & Company, of New York, who agreed 
to assume the debt, take the land grant, and complete the river 
improvements; but in 1854, they abandoned the work, secured 
a franchise as the Keokuk, Fort Des Moines and Minnesota Rail- 
way Company, and started the building of the road, reaching Eddy- 
ville in 1861, where it practically stopped for want of funds. In 
1862, the Legislature granted the Des Moines Valley Railroad 
Company what little of the grant lands were left, and had not been 
sequestrated or stolen outright, to complete the road to Des Moines. 
This gave new impetus to the railroad question, which was agitat- 
ing the whole country, and Des Moines especially. Immediately, 
there was a rumor that a strong effort was being made to divert 
the road away from Des Moines, by an offer of big bonuses. The 
company was short of funds, and needed the money. Calvin Leigh- 
ton, who was interested in the road, and friendly to Des Moines, 
quietly told Judge Casady, Jordan, and others that a fund of sev- 
enty thousand dollars would secure the completion of the road to 
Des Moines. Jordan, who had increased his land area to eighteen 



186 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

hundred acres, and was raising, buying and shipping cattle by the 
hundreds, at once offered to be one of two hundred to raise one 
hundred thousand dollars. It was done; it cost him over one thou- 
sand dollars. So pleased was Keokuk, she got the subscribers to 
the fund there, gave them a grand ovation, an excursion down the 
Mississippi, and jollied them extravagantly. The road was com- 
pleted, the first passenger train entered Des Moines on August 
Twenty-ninth, 1866. It stopped on the East Side, there being no 
bridge over the river, and was greeted with a large crowd of people, 
who had waited long and patiently for the coming of the first 
railway. 

"Uncle Jimmy" was an ardent Methodist. His cabin and his 
later elegant mansion were the Mecca of circuit-riders and preach- 
ers. They liked his yellow-legged chickens and sumptuous table 
spread, for he was a good provider. 

All his life, he was an earnest church worker and liberal sup- 
porter of churches, colleges, schools and the ministry. Under his 
cabin roof, religious services were first held in Walnut Township. 
In 1862, he organized a chapel and built a church, which was called 
the "Jordan." After a few years, its location was changed, when 
he and his wife joined the First Methodist Church, in the city, 
and practically became citizens of the town. 

In 1862, during the Civil War, a rumor came that a band of 
Missouri bush-whackers were on their way to loot Des Moines, and 
there was great excitement. The banks at once sought a refuge for 
their funds. Those of the State Bank were removed to "Uncle 
Jimmy's" place, where he cached them beyond the probability of 
seizure. The marauders, however, ran up against some of Uncle 
Sam's "blue-coats" and didn't get here. 

In 1865, the maintenance of the indigent, deserving poor people 
of the county had become a serious question. Hitherto, their care 
and support had been farmed out among divers persons, and the 
expenses were frequently exorbitant. A more economical system 
was demanded by the taxpayers. The County Supervisors, there- 
fore, decided to purchase a Poor Farm, and Jordan, Doctor Brooks, 
and D. C. Marts were elected to purchase one hundred and twenty 
acres, and the same is a part of the present provision made for the 
care of the poor and incurable insane persons of the county. 



JAMES C. JORDAN 187 

In 1868, he joined the Brotherhood of Early Settlers, and when 
the Old Settlers' Association was organized, Jordan was elected 
one of the Vice-Presidents, and was always an active member, and 
present at all its social functions. 

In 1879, he was elected a member of the Lower House of the 
Eighteenth General Assembly, which inaugurated the fight against 
oleomargarine, for pure butter, established the State Pharmacy 
Commission, State Board of Health, and Coal Mine Inspection, in 
which he took an active and helpful part. 

Having accumulated abundant wealth, Jordan, during his later 
life, disposed of much of his land, lived on Easy Street, dividing 
his time with the town and his rural home, until he went to his 
Eternal Home. 

November Nineteenth, 1904. 




FRANK M. MILLS 



FRANK M. MILLS 

ONE of the most active, energetic men who came here in the 
early days, and who impressed his individuality upon pass- 
ing events, was Frank M. Mills. Small of stature, but a 
perfect bundle of restless energy and force, which permeated every 
political, social and business affair of the city and the state — in 
fact, several states — his sole idea seemed to be to make Des Moines 
the center of all territory west of the Mississippi, and in certain 
ways he succeeded very well. He was the head and moving spirit 
in what became the most extensive enterprise of its kind west of 
Chicago. 

He came here in April, 1856, and opened a shoe store on Court 
Avenue, between Second and Third streets, in a small wooden 
building on the north side of the street, and diligently sought the 
welfare of the soles of the people of the little town ; but it was not 
to his temperament. He was a practical printer. His brother, 
N". W. ("Web," as everybody called him), came in the Fall and 
started a small job printing office in the Gatling Building, down 
on Second Street below Market, near the newspaper and law offices. 
Frank — everybody calls him "Frank" — soon quit his sole-caring 
business, joined his brother, and they made a good team, for they 
were both hustlers and good mixers. It being the only strictly job 
printing office in town, the business kept pace with the rapid devel- 
opment of events. The first handbill printed — they didn't have 
presses nor type for poster printing — was for Woodward (Aleck.) 
and Hepburn (the redoubtable "Add"), dry goods merchants. 

The little printing office, costing six hundred dollars, was a win- 
ner from the start, and so increased that in 1859 a three-story brick 
building was erected on Court Avenue, adjoining the old well- 
known Baker drug store at the southeast corner of Third, and 
Frank began to spread out. He added an old-fashioned Adams 
press for book printing, an "alligator" job press, which kept the 

189 



190 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

surgeons busy repairing fingers it chewed up, an Ericson hot air 
engine, which wheezed and rattled like a threshing machine, was 
whimsical and uncertain as a mule, would often, when work was 
pressing, give a despairing groan, like a lost soul, and stop. Then 
the "devil" had to go for one or two stout natives of Ireland to turn 
the wheels of the presses until the "caloric" got over the sulks. 
There were no electric motors, few steam engines, and wood for 
"caloric" fuel was cheaper than coal. The Adams press did good 
printing, but was slow, its speed being about five hundred impres- 
sions an hour. It was a very different outfit than its successors of 
to-day. 

In 1858, Erank added another feature to his enterprise. He 
got into the good graces of the Legislature, and was elected State 
Binder. He managed to hold the place until 1867. In 1869, he 
was elected State Printer, and reelected in 1878 and 1880. So 
popular was he that it was a common saying that all he had to do 
was to ask for the office. 

These appointments gave an immense impetus to his business. 
New machinery was purchased, and the establishment equipped to 
meet the demand. Blank book making, book printing, lithograph- 
ing, map making, wood engraving, stereotyping, music printing, a 
book, stationery and music store were added, and a large corps of 
men were put on the road, who traversed every county in Iowa, and 
seven other states, and brought an immense amount of business to 
Des Moines, not only in their lines, but many side lines, for they 
were rustlers and popular. Of them I recall Cranston, Pelton, 
Norman, Blackmar, Dickenson, Ecker, Burns, C. T. Haskins, 
"Charley" Greene, and "Bob" Flynn, the last two notorious jokers 
and exaggerating yarn-spinners. They are all dead, I think. "Will" 
Lehman, still with us, who graduated from the music department, 
was cutting obituaries on headstones to be set in Woodland Ceme- 
tery when Frank was selling boots and shoes, but the cemetery 
didn't populate fast enough to secure him a good living, and he 
took charge of the music department. 

In book making, Frank's genius inclined to law. The first book 
was The Civil Code of Iowa, written by Hon. John A. Kasson. 
This was followed by fifty-six volumes of Iowa Supreme Court 



FRANK M. MILLS 191 

Reports, Kansas, Nebraska, and Arkansas Court Reports, and 
several extensive books on special subjects by eminent lawyers, 
White's Geological Survey of Iowa, in three costly volumes, the 
Western Jurist, a law magazine, seventeen years, and in 1866 the 
first City Directory, which contained four thousand five hundred 
and twelve names. He personally prepared an index Digest of ten 
volumes of the American Turf Register, which is the standard 
authority among horsemen to-day. He employed the best talent 
he could find to edit his publications, as in all the business depart- 
ments. On his payroll at times, there was a Governor, an United 
States Senator, two Congressmen, a Foreign Minister, two United 
States Consuls, one United States Supreme Court Judge, three 
state Supreme Court Judges, and two First Assistant Postmaster- 
Generals. 

The mechanical departments were occupied by one hundred and 
fifty to two hundred men and women, skilled in their several 
duties, among whom I recall Al. Swalm, Jut. Rhoads, Lafe Young, 
Philo Kenyon, George A. Miller, Lewis Bolton, the Bishard boys, 
Bernard Murphy, State Printer,, the ubiquitous "Tac" Hussey, 
W. S. Welch, Ella McLoney, City Librarian, and Charles Sheldon, 
now the celebrated artist and illustrator for a leading London pub- 
lication, "Ret" Clarkson, and Henry Sheppard, now publisher of 
the Inland Printer, the finest trade journal in the world. Every 
Saturday, Frank was confronted with a cash demand for about two 
thousand dollars to meet the payroll. 

In 1861, when the call was made for the Tenth Iowa Infantry, 
during the Civil War, one Sunday "Hub" Hoxie, W T iley C. Bur- 
ton, Judge John Mitchell, and Doctor Brownell brought Frank a 
commission as Adjutant, and earnestly solicited him, because of 
his energy and popularity, to raise the regiment, another having 
attempted to and failed, on condition that he would not be required 
to go with it to the field, owing to the demoralized condition of his 
business, his brother, "Web" having, as Major and Captain of the 
Capital Guards, gone into the Second Regiment, and taken with 
him nearly every eligible man of the establishment. Frank assented 
and at once went to the task. After riding over the country day 
and night for several weeks, he secured the men, swore them in, 
subsisted them, and went with them to the rendezvous at Iowa City. 



192 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

In 1865, Frank concluded there was room for further enlarge- 
ment of the business. The lot on Fourth Street, where the Western 
Union Telegraph office and Munger's Hotel are, was purchased, 
Father Bird's church torn down, and a three-story brick erected. 
His elder brother, J. W., joined him, and in December, 1866, the 
Daily Register was purchased, and consolidated with the other busi- 
ness. The daily was a small six-column folio sheet. It was soon 
enlarged — in fact, was enlarged four times under Frank's manage- 
ment. Frank Palmer continued as editor two years, and was suc- 
ceeded by J. W. and a score of special writers. An early move of 
the management was to put new, young blood into the paper. 
Among the "type-stickers" were "Ret" Clarkson, Al. Swalm, and 
Lafe Young. They were assigned to the reportorial department, 
where they quickly impressed their individuality so distinctly it 
needed no confirming signature. "Ret's" forte was panegyrics and 
politics, in both of which he developed remarkable brilliancy. He 
soon became editor-in-chief, and one of the most important factors 
in Iowa politics, and, with John S. Runnells and Judge N. M. 
Hubbard, became what was known as the Republican Regency. 

During Frank's management, he institued a series of descriptive 
sketches of the counties of this state, especially in the Northwest, 
then uninhabited, written by Judge A. R. Fulton. The sketches 
were printed in the Register, accompanied with a map showing 
every unoccupied forty acres in each county, and set forth the 
inducement to home-seekers. The result was the immediate settle- 
ment of the whole region by an intelligent, sturdy people. 

After four years' newspaper experience, the Register was sold 
to C. F. Clarkson and his two sons, Richard P. and James S. 
("Ret."). 

In 1872, the Iowa Exposition Company was organized, and a 
three-story brick building 132x132, erected on Walnut street west 
of Eighth, to be used as a permanent exposition of the goods and 
wares of merchants and manufacturers of the state, and also of 
curios and the State Horticultural Society. A large, fine organ 
was put in, and several exhibitions were given, but public interest 
waned ; it was ahead of time ; too far out, and for several months 
was closed. That was Frank's opportunity. He bought the build- 
ing, remodeled it, removed from Fourth Street, and occupied it 



FRANK M. MILLS 193 

until 1886, when he closed his business. The building was sold 
and transformed into what is now the Iliad Hotel. 

A notable feature of the big establishment was its educational 
facilities. Embracing as it did a multiplicity of branches, book, 
job, music, lithographing, blank books and newspapers — at one 
time, four newspapers — it was a veritable printers' college. Good 
printers were scarce, and the best way to get them was to make 
them, hence there were always several apprentices, and they began 
with the rudiments of the business — Frank was exacting on rudi- 
ments — and worked their way through the several departments. 
Sometimes they demurred to so much time spent on rudiments, but 
he would tell them the more time spent on rudiments, the better 
craftsmen they would make. The result was there graduated from 
the college many who became foremen or superintendents in estab- 
lishments all over the country, newspaper publishers, or went into 
business themselves. When the first typesetting machine was inaug- 
urated in Chicago, Frank was requested to send a person competent 
to run it, and he sent Miss Ella McLoney, now City Librarian, who 
was an expert book compositor and good proofreader. She went 
and made good, as she always does. 

Sometimes the apprentices chafed at their slow progress, and 
thought they were worth promotion and more pay than they were 
getting, and would come to me as Superintendent for a raise. I 
recall an instance when Lafe Young one day very gently informed 
Frank that a boy of his caliber, superior ability, and large experi- 
ence^ — less than a year — was worth more than three dollars and a 
half a week — it was too small pay entirely. Frank solaced him 
by telling him that too much money was bad for a boy; that to 
succeed in business, he must learn the business, practice economy ; 
that then was the time to acquire habits of economy. He gradu- 
ated from the establishment as the city editor of the Daily Register 
and is now the publisher of the Des Moines Daily Capital, with 
a circulation of over forty-six thousand. 

At one time Frank had a notion to revolutionize the horse indus- 
try of the state. He bought a big farm, not far out, on which he 
proposed to breed Percheron horses from the finest specimens that 
could be found in France. After he had got his project well 

Vol. I— (13). 



194 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

advanced, he invited an old, experienced live-stock man to go out 
there and make observations. After going over the premises and 
eating a good, square meal, he asked his visitor what he thought 
of it. 

"It's all very nice, Frank," he replied, "but you have made a 
mistake. You'll find that farmers are a good deal more interested 
in cattle and hogs than one-ton horses. They haven't got to that 
yet." 

Among his live-stock was a herd of Polled Angus cattle, of very 
fine blood. There was one heifer he was proud of, which produced 
more champion-herd individuals than any other in the state. In 
1902, three of her progeny were sold for ten thousand dollars. But 
live-stock prices took a big slump, and he had so many irons in the 
fire, he sold the farm. But his venture, so far as he went, was a 
success. 

In 1873, he was elected Alderman from the Second Ward, on 
purely local issues. He didn't want it, but had to yield to public 
demand. 

During the forty years of his business activity here, he assisted 
very materially in building the town in many ways. His books 
show that he paid as wages to employes while in business over two 
million five hundred thousand dollars. He is now running a daily 
paper in Springfield, Illinois, and building an electric street rail- 
way in Salt Lake City, Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and an inter- 
urban electric road at Benton Harbor, Michigan, but still claims 
Des Moines as his home city, to which he will some time return 
and abide. 

December Fourth, 1904. 



BENJAMIN B. BRYANT 

AMONG the earliest settlers in this region, antedating Barlow 
Granger and his clan of "pioneers," was Benjamin B. Bry- 
ant, small of stature, active, energetic, unique in many 
ways, social, genial, who became quite popular and held many 
places of public trust, the duties of which he performed with strict 
integrity. 

He came here in 1842, with others, to make preparation for 
removing the Wapello Indian Agency to this locality. Subse- 
quently, he joined the Trading Company as Chief Clerk and 
Trader with the Indians, being familiar with their language and 
acquainted with nearly everyone on the reservation, their villages 
or camps being about three miles down the river. He was rigidly 
honest, and had the most implicit faith of the Indians. He often 
related incidents of his transactions with them. He had more faith 
in the "honest Indian" than he did in white men. He gave them 
credit for whatever they purchased, and put it on record in a book 
in the form of a promissory note, payable at a certain price, after 
certain moons, the only almanac the Indians understood. They 
signed the notes in the same way Martin Tucker, an early tavern 
keeper on 'Coon Row did, with a big "X." Ben used to say the 
notes were paid, and he never lost a dollar. His old book is still in 
existence, and would be an interesting addition to "Charley" 
Aldrich's State Historical Collection. 

His knowledge of the language induced me to inquire of him 
the Indian name of the river we call Des Moines. He said it was 
"Keosauk-sepo," from its mouth to its source, "Keosauk" meaning 
"dark, rolling water," and "sepo" meaning "river." They didn't 
accept the corrupted, misapplied misnomer we now have, a sui 
generis, the only distinctive quality of which is it has never been 
duplicated by any other community, a feature appreciated only by 
the postal clerks. It is unfortunate the Indian name was not 
perpetuated. -^5 



196 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

It may not be generally known that Des Moines came very 
near being given another name, officially. In 1833, Lewis Cass, 
then Secretary of War, in his annual report, recommended that 
dragoons be sent west of the Mississippi to protect emigrants from 
outrages committed by predatory bands of Indians. The President, 
in his message to Congress, approved the plan, and in accordance 
therewith, by order of the War Department, Colonel Kearney, with 
three companies of dragoons, in May, 1834, was ordered to move 
to the right bank of the Mississippi River, near the mouth of the 
Des Moines River, for Winter quarters. Through sickness of his 
troop and other causes, he did not get under way until September. 
On the Second, he wrote the Department he would leave the next 
day with four companies, and requested that a name be given the 
new post, and that it be declared a "double-ration" post. 

The troops arrived on the Twenty-eighth. The Winter was 
very severe, and there was much suffering from uncomfortable 
quarters. In February, 1835, he repeated his request that a name 
be given the post, and stating that, merely for convenience, he had 
designated it "Camp Des Moines, Michigan Territory." On the 
back of this letter, Secretary Cass wrote, "Let the post be called 
Fort Des Moines, and let it be a double-ration post." 

During the year 1834, emigrants came into the territory west- 
ward along the river, and in March, Kearney was ordered to go 
up to Raccoon Fork and reconnoiter for the selection of a military 
post. He arrived August Eighth, and after going over the field, 
reported unfavorable to the project ; that he saw nothing to make it 
necessary or advisable; the land was covered with timber and 
underbrush; no stone or other material for making chimneys; no 
springs, and the river unnavigable for boats to carry stores to it, 
etc., etc. 

The War Department did not agree with Kearney's opinion, 
and Colonel Croghan, Insepctor-General, was detailed to make a 
more careful examination and report upon the expediency of 
removing the garrison from Fort Armstrong, at Rock River, to a 
place up the Des Moines, which he did, and reported that so rapid 
was the emigration in that direction, before a suitable post and 
garrison could be established, the emigrants would be abundantly 



BENJAMIN B. BRYANT 197 

able to take care of themselves, and it was neeedless to expend so 
much money, only to be abandoned in a couple of years. 

The War Department did not accept his opinion, and decided 
that not only was it a duty to protect emigrants, but also those 
Indian tribes with whom treaties had been made, against whom 
emigrants, unscrupulous land sharks, and speculators were making 
encroachments, and marauding bands of other tribes continually 
making raids. 

To this end, General Scott decided to send a detachment of 
dragoons to the reservation of the Sauks (Sacs) and Foxes, and in 
October, 1842, Captain James Allen came and selected "The Point 
made by the junction of Des Moines and Raccoon rivers." He 
reported that "during next Summer a good, comfortable establish- 
ment could be made for one company of dragoons for two thousand 
dollars." 

His report was accepted, but it failed to get though the circumlo- 
cution office at Washington until February, 1843, when an order 
was made establishing the post, and directing Captain Allen to fix 
the site. He reported May Tenth that he had located the post, 
named it Fort Raccoon, and requested that it be made a double- 
ration post. The War Department didn't like the name ; declared 
it was shocking, too "wild and woolly West." Adjutant-General 
Jones suggested "Fort Iowa." Soon after, however, Captain Allen 
received notice from General Scott that "Raccoon" would not be a 
proper name, and until further direction by the War Department, 
he would call it "Fort Des Moines." To this Captain Allen forc- 
ibly objected, because of the liability to be confused with the late 
post on the Mississippi (it having been abandoned), and the old 
post in Wisconsin, causing great delay and inconvenience in busi- 
ness transactions — which, in fact, had already been experienced. 
He therefore asked that some other name be given. He also renewed 
his request for a double-ration post, to all of which General Scott 
was willing to accede, but the War and Treasury Department had 
got at loggerheads as to the rights of a post to double rations, asked 
for by Colonel Kearney. Captain Allen's request was pigeonholed 
pending a decision of that question, but before it was decided — 
if it ever was — public use and common consent to a fortuity of 



198 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

corroborative circumstances, had so fixed the name that a change 
was unnecessary. 

On the convening of the first session of the District Court, in 
1846, "Ben" was appointed Bailiff of the court. 

The early records of the county were kept in very unintelligible 
form, on loose sheets of paper, and otherwise, which have been lost, 
so that not until Judge Rice and Hoyt Sherman came into office as 
County Clerk, in 1852, were the records kept in complete and per- 
manent form. 

August Sixth, 1849, he was elected County Treasurer, and he 
must have been quite sure of his election, for a presumed record 
shows that his official bond was filed July Fourteenth. As he was 
a good Democrat, and as Barlow Granger, Judge Casady and R. L. 
Tidrick ran the machine in those days, and no Whig had even a 
hope of public office, the particularity of records was of little 
account. "Ben" served the term and was reelected. 

In 1853, he was elected a member of the Town Council, and 
reelected in 1854-55-56-57, and was a very active and influential 
member at that formative period, when good judgment was an 
important factor in public affairs. 

He served several terms as Justice of the Peace, and was quite 
popular as an arbiter among litigants. A story was told that once, 
when he was a candidate for office, the Whigs, who had gained 
enough strength to take some active part in politics, started a report 
that "Ben" was not the man for the place; that he was completely 
under control of Crocker (subsequently the General), and so was 
his court. "Ben" denied it most emphatically. "Give me an oppor- 
tunity," said he, "and I will show you." It was not long before 
a case was brought before him in which Crocker was one of the 
lawyers. During the hearing, Crocker made several objections to 
his opponent's method of procedure, and "Ben" in every one 
decided against Crocker — with an eye to the Whigs and that office 
— until finally, after a knockout, Crocker retorted: "I cannot 
understand the action of the court in this case. I believe the court 
has been tampered with." 

"I fine you ten dollars for contempt of court," replied "Ben." 

"All right," said Crocker, as he drew a paper from his pocket, 
"I'll indorse it on the back of this promissory note of yours." 



BENJAMIN" B. BRYANT 199 

There was a couple of well-known fellows in town I will call 
B and C, who by some means were very frequently summoned as 
jurymen in "Ben's" court. They didn't like to be hauled into court 
every few days from their business, and they put their heads 
together to get rid of it. The next time they were called, B, who 
is still in business at the old stand, went to the defendant's attorney 
in the case and very confidentially said to him that he did not think 
he was a proper person for the jury, as he had some knowledge of 
it, and beside, was strongly prejudiced against some of the parties 
to the suit. He suggested that C would be a good juryman. 

C, who has since passed beyond the reach of mundane courts, 
went to the plaintiff's lawyer and told the same tale, and suggested 
the selection of B. 

When the case came up for hearing, both were peremptorily 
challenged for cause, and dismissed. They played the trick until 
they got rid of jury serving in "Ben's" court. 

After the close of his several terms as Justice of the Peace, he 
was appointed Deputy Sheriff, and held that place, I think, until 
his decease, in 1866. 

He amassed considerable wealth, and began the erection of a fine 
brick residence at the corner of Fifth and Vine streets, now a part 
of the Rock Island Station. The spot was low, wet, little else than 
a slough ; in fact, in early Spring the boys used to shoot wild ducks 
a block east of it. His project was accepted as one of his eccentrici- 
ties. A cellar being impossible, he built a basement story above 
ground, and got the first story up, when the panic of 1857 came, 
which strewed this country with wrecks of fortunes, and he was 
obliged to stop. He put on a nondescript roof, and made it his 
home, where for many years it was, with its high skeleton basement 
of open doors and windows, a conspicuous reminder to the whole 
town of hard times, of one who deserved a better fate, and who was 
a prominent personage in the earliest days of the town. 

December Eleventh, 1904. 




CONRAD YOUNGERMAN 



CONRAD YOUNGERMAN 

FOR forty years there was no better known man in the town and 
city than Conrad Youngerinan. Coming here in 1856, a 
young man, of German birth, steady, industrious habits, of 
sterling integrity, he at once began to make a place for himself. 
He was poor in purse, but rich in earnest endeavor. A mason by 
trade, the prevailing hard times prevented building operations 
almost entirely, and he did whatever he could get to do. His first 
work was laying brick and stone of the first building for exclusive 
use as a store in town, and erected by G. M. Hippee, at the corner 
of Second Street and Court Avenue. He also laid stone in the old 
dam for the Williams mill, at Center Street. He didn't watch the 
clock. There were no Trades Unions, no eight and ten hour sys- 
tems in those days. It was from seven in the morning to six at 
night, or later, according to circumstances, and he was mighty glad 
to get a dollar and a half a day. 

Among his earliest work was the laying of the stone steps at the 
east front of the Court House, in company with Francis Geneser. 
They went up to Dell Rapids one day, quarried the stone, hauled it 
down, and the next day cut and put it in place. It was a procrasti- 
nating job, and so was the whole structure. They also laid the 
bases in the portico, on which stood George Baldwin's pet basswood 
goddesses, so long admired as specimens of high art in early days. 

As financial conditions improved, he took jobs by contract, and 
whether verbal or in writing, it was all the same, his spoken word 
was as good as the bond of the best fidelity security company. His 
energy and integrity soon brought him to the front as the leading 
builder in the city, and on nearly every street can be seen business 
blocks, churches, halls, hotels, schoolhouses, public buildings and 
residences of his erection. 

Among those I recall are, on Second Street, the first Casady 
Bank, now the Stoats Anzeiger office; the old Given plow works, 

201 



202 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

now a part of Green's foundry ; the Harbach undertaking depart- 
ment building; the German Catholic Church, corner of Crocker; 
the Central Fire Station, corner of Grand Avenue. 

On Third Street, the Harbach Building, now the Court House ; 
a large residence block, corner of Chestnut, and the Whalen Block. 

On Fourth Street, the block in the rear of The Register and 
Leader Building, the Iowa Hotel, the Brinsmaid store, and the 
block adjoining the Valley National Bank. 

On Fifth Street, the four-story block corner of Mulberry, which 
in 1893, he tore down and substituted the present eight-story block 
with its one hundred and forty-two business offices and suites, and 
the Manhattan Block. 

On Walnut Street, the Vorse Block, now occupied by the Hey- 
wood Candy Company; the four-story block corner of Seventh, 
where is now Younker's Block ; the Rothwell Block, corner of Sixth 
Avenue; the Masonic Temple, and the old Exposition Building, 
now the Iliad. 

On Locust Street, the block occupied by the Kenyon and the 
Miller printing houses; the block northeast corner of Fifth; the 
four-story Asbestine Stone Block, corner of Fifth, which he tore 
away and substituted the present fine Crocker Building; the Har- 
. bach-Harris store, and the block at northeast corner of Sixth, now 
occupied by Bromley and the kodak store. 

On Eighth Street, the first Turnverein Hall, and the Sheuerman 
woolen mills. 

On Ninth Street, the Wells livery and hack headquarters. 

On Market Street, the old Syrup and Refining Company build- 
ing, which was summarily closed because of the pestilential stinks 
which filled the air from it. As an infant industry, it received 
poor encouragement. 

He also built the Jewish Synagogue, Irving and Webster 
schoolhouses, and on the East Side the old Shepherd & Perrior 
woolen mill, now the casket factory; the original block now occu- 
pied by the Capital City Bank, and Goldstone Hotel. 

Of the fine residences to his credit are those of J. S. Polk, on 
Grand Avenue, and Hoyt Sherman, on Woodland Avenue. 

In 1875, owing to the scarcity of stone for building purposes, 
he began the manufacture of artificial, or asbestine stone, from 



CONRAD YOTOGERMAIST 203 

sand and cement, moulded from prepared patterns. It proved an 
excellent, durable substitute, for window lintels and caps, and with 
it he faced the outside structure of several buildings, since torn 
away and replaced with a more attractive and substantial vitrified 
brick made from the excellent clay later found so abundant within 
the city limits. 

He was public-spirited, and aided in many ways in promoting 
the prosperity of the city. He was no politician nor place-seeker, 
but, recognizing his business qualifications and large property inter- 
ests, public sentiment pressed him into service in the City Council 
at a period when extensive sewering, paving and lighting systems 
were being established, and for four years he was an important fac- 
tor in perfecting plans for public improvements. 

He stood like a rock against jobbery, speculative schemes and 
grabs, and demanded that all municipal affairs be conducted on 
strictly business principles. There was no vacillation about him. 
He was a man of few words, independent in thought and action, 
plain in speech, called a spade a spade, regardless of time or place. 
He was genial, social, and popular. 

While he builded well pecuniarily for himself, he helped the 
city materially. 

After the completion of his Crocker Building, he practically 
retired from business other than to look after his property holdings. 

December Seventeenth, 1904. 



THOMAS H. NAPIER 

A PIONEER of considerable distinction and influence dur- 
ing a critical period of the county and town, was Thomas 
H. Napier, a Virginian, who came here in April, 1846, and 
made a claim near Four Mile Creek, in what is now Grant Town- 
ship. He experienced the vicissitudes and vexations common to 
all settlers in those days, the most important of which was the 
want of lumber for house building and facilities for procuring food 
supplies. Mills were fifty to seventy-five miles away, and wheat 
made into flour at but few. Corn meal was the staple. Often the 
family meal box was empty. Swollen rivers and impossible wagon- 
ing necessitated pounding corn at the home, or sometimes the small 
boy would be given a carpenter's plane, and, inverting it, by pass- 
ing the ear over it he could "jint" enough to serve the family needs. 
It was a little "scratchy," they used to say, but was relished better 
than the "angel" cake of to-day. 

Napier, with some experience in building, having helped to 
quarry and furnish the stone for the first Capitol of the state, at 
Iowa City, concluded to utilize Four Mile Creek, a small stream 
with swift current and considerable fall. He therefore constructed 
a dam and built a small mill of rude construction for sawing lum- 
ber and grinding grain, which was of immense value to the settlers. 
Wheat was sometimes ground, but there was no bolting machine, 
and the flour was coarse. The farmers' wives, however, were equal 
to the emergency. Fastening a coarse cloth over the open side of a 
box, and sifting the flour, they secured what greatly improved the 
quality of their bread. 

In April, 1847, the Township of Four Mile was set off from 
Des Moines Township, and at the first election therein, Xapier 
was elected Justice of the Peace. 

The township derived its name from the small, tortuous stream 
which flowed through it. The township has since then been so 

205 



206 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

decimated by carving other townships from it that it has practically 
lost the creek entirely. The Fort having been established some 
time before the county was settled, travel from the East to The 
Fort, and the trail crossed this creek, very near where the Rock 
Island railroad now crosses it, about four miles east, and travelers 
and teamsters reaching it knew they were within four miles of The 
Fort. There, the first bridge in the county was built. The creek 
is very serpentine, the railroad crossing it four times between Des 
Moines and Altoona. 

At the second session of the District Court, Napier was chosen 
on the Grand Jury. There was a large docket of criminal cases, 
but no indictments were found, and all of the defendants were 
discharged. 

At the August election, in 1849, he was elected Sheriff, and 
served two years. 

In 1854, having become a resident of The Fort, he was elected 
County Judge, the most important office in the gift of the people, 
for, as the law then was, the County Judge was the executive officer 
of the county, had full control of all county affairs, levied 
taxes, built roads and bridges, organized and laid out townships. 
He was a law unto himself, and from his decisions there was no 
appeal. Napier was a man of good executive capacity and busi- 
ness qualifications, and had the confidence of the people. 

In 1855, Doctor Cole having resigned as County Agent for the 
sale of intoxicating liquors, under the Prohibitory Law then in 
force, the Judge had considerable difficulty in finding a suitable 
place to keep the "critter," as the county must furnish the supply, 
which could be sold only by the County Agent, for "medical, 
mechanical, and sacramental purposes only." "Hod" Bush con- 
vinced the Judge that he had a safe, convenient place to keep it, 
and thereupon the Judge ordered that "Hod" be paid three hun- 
dred and twenty-five dollars for his building. There were no side 
or back doors in it, nor annexes. The spiritus frumenti was put 
into it, and "Hod" was appointed agent to dispose of it, "according 
to the law made and provided." An inspection of his record indi- 
cates a remarkable amount of sickness and the frequent recurrence 
of the names of purchasers, and that the disorders were of the 



THOMAS H. NAPIER 207 

intermittent form ; also an increasing demand for stimulants for 
mechanical industries. One day, a fellow came in from the coun- 
try, who wanted a gallon of whiskey. On being told the require- 
ments of the law, and that some lawful reason must be given for 
the sale, he hesitated and studied for several minutes, when he said : 
"Well, I guess you may put it down for mechanical purposes ; I'm 
going to raise a barn to-morrow." He got the whiskey. 

In 1857, the Judge began to agitate the question of a new Court 
House, the first house, a nondescript affair 24x36, having become 
too small for the increasing business of the court. He had enlarged 
ideas and wanted a building commensurate with the Capital of the 
State of Iowa. It was to be 66x102 feet, fifty feet high, with a 
tower twenty-seven and one-half feet, the walls and floors of brick, 
and have eight cisterns. The cost was to be about sixty thousand 
dollars. The people were astonished, and, while admiring his 
public-spiritedness, denounced the project as extravagant and chi- 
merical. The bitter feud between the East and West sides engen- 
dered in the fight over the location of the State House, was still 
hot, and the East Side vigorously and vehemently opposed the 
scheme, the West Siders saying it was because the East Siders 
wanted the building on their side. 

A mass meeting was called one day on the West Side, at which 
the East Siders, turned out, prepared for a fight, among whom 
was Judge M. D. McHenry, who was to champion the East Siders 
against General Crocker, who spoke for the West Side. Napier 
went to McHenry and said to him: "Judge, you are from Ken- 
tucky; I am from Virginia; you know what that means." The 
Judge took the hint. 

But JSFapier, who was strong in his determination, went on, and 
in 1858 made a contract with Isaac Cooper to build the house for 
sixty-three thousand three hundred dollars, and work was at once 
begun. During the first year, the first story was reared, when the 
funds ran out, the taxes received being insufficient. The Judge 
ordered an election to vote on the proposition to issue bonds to the 
amount of thirty thousand dollars to complete the building. Then 
there was another outbreak of opposition, but the election carried 
by a vote of one thousand and seventeen to seven hundred and 



208 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

ninety. The bonds were issued and quickly sold, and work pro- 
ceeded, very slowly, being obstructed by delay in getting material. 
Not many months elapsed, and the proceeds of the bond sale were 
exhausted. To issue more bonds was preposterous — the Judge 
knew that. 

Work was suspended until another source of revenue could be 
found. The Judge was hauled before the County Commissioners 
to explain matters, public meetings were held at which the Judge 
was excoriated in the highest style of vituperative art. Cooper got 
disgruntled and threw up the job. Napier also lost his job. Judge 
J. H. McClelland, Napier's successor, got out of the dilemma by 
getting an Act passed by the Legislature authorizing the sale of the 
swamp lands of the county, the proceeds thereof to be used in com- 
pleting the Court House. 

The Board of Supervisors, who succeeded the County Judge, 
under a change in the law, in 1860, took up the work, and by them 
and their successors it was carried to completion in 1864. The 
bonds, principal and interest, were not paid until 1872, when the 
cost had reached eighty-five thousand dollars. 

During the first decade of the settlement of the county, the peo- 
ple were clamorous for better transportation facilities. The hauling 
of merchandise from Keokuk and the sending of live-stock on foot 
to market, was onerous, tedious, and expensive. The passage of 
steamboats up and down the river was limited to favorable and 
uncertain conditions. Public attention was turned to railroads as 
the only means of relief. Mass meetings were held, the newspaper 
columns were filed with the subject to the exclusion of all else, and 
public sentiment was kept at fever heat. Congress was petitioned 
for relief, but with sluggardly effect. In response thereto, the state 
was gridironed with proposed railroads. 

In 1847, the Chicago and Galena Road had reached Freeport, 
in Illinois, but the great West being deemed of more importance 
than Galena, the route was diverted to the Mississippi River, the 
objective point being Lyons. A road was then projected from that 
place, via Maquoketa, to Des Moines, and called the Central Air 
Line. Of all the various projects, this seemed the most promising, 
and Polk County voted, three hundred and sixty-six to one hundred 



THOMAS H. NAPIER 209 

and sixty-two, to issue bonds in the sum of two hundred and fifty 
thousand dollars to aid in building the road. Other counties also 
voted and issued bonds, but hard times came on and the project 
never got beyond the stage of expectation. 

Soon after, the Mississippi and Missouri Road was projected 
from Davenport to some point on the Missouri River, the route to 
be determined by the aid given. Several counties along a supposed 
probable route voted for and issued bonds to the company. Mahaska 
County put up two hundred thousand dollars. Polk County was 
vigorously importuned to transfer the bonds issued to the Air Line 
Road to the Mississippi and Missouri, and finally yielded, with a 
majority vote of two hundred and twenty-nine. The bonds were 
prepared and great preparations were made for the road. A right- 
of-way through the town was reserved where Locust Street now is, 
much to the disgust of the young folks, as from Twelfth to Fif- 
teenth Street was an open common, and a favorite place for ball 
games — and for cows. Manifest Destiny stuck out at every point. 
Judge Napier, however, refused to sign the bonds. He was too 
shrewd to give something for nothing. He would wait until the 
road reached the county, for which he was lambasted on all sides. 
At the next election, this contumacy cost him his job, but time vin- 
dicated his judgment. The road reached Marengo, when the com- 
pany became bankrupt, the road was sold to the Chicago and Rock 
Island, and completed to Des Moines in 1868. The city and the 
county thus escaped the long and vexatious litigation that followed 
against counties which issued bonds to the defunct Mississippi and 
Missouri Company, and nearly bankrupted them. The Federal 
Courts held the bonds were negotiable, and having passed to third 
persons, innocent purchasers, however unjust and unconscionable it 
might be, they must be paid, and for many years the Supervisors of 
such counties would be hauled before the court here and ordered to 
go home and levy the tax to pay for a road that was never built, or 
go to jail. 

Most of the members of the Bar who practiced here in the Fed- 
eral Court at that time have passed away, and of them the man 
who, with all the ability of a skilled lawyer, prosecuted the cases to 
final judgment. Both he and his partner gained great wealth out 

Vol. I— (14). 



210 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

of the transaction, and the latter, because thereof, was entrusted 
with the funds of estates, which he embezzled, and for which he is 
now in the penitentiary at Anamosa, a most righteous judgment, 
many people will say. 

In 1857, the East Siders had become so embittered against the 
West Siders, growing out of the State House location fight, that the 
township had become like a house divided against itself, and could 
not be endured. To placate the East Siders, Judge Napier set off 
all that part of Des Moines Township east of Des Moines River for 
election, revenue and judicial purposes, "to be known and hailed 
as Lee Township." Whether or not, in the selection of the name, 
he expressed his Democratic proclivities and pride of birth, he 
never made known. 

At the close of his service as County Judge, in 1859, he was 
elected Justice of the Peace, an office he filled for some time, with 
great satisfaction to the public. 

In 1866, he gave authority to build the first bridge over Des 
Moines River, at Walnut Street. It was of wood, and the Howe 
truss pattern. It was opened as a toll bridge October Twenty-third. 

The Judge was of large physique, active, energetic, had a well- 
balanced mind, strong determination, and integrity never ques- 
tioned. It was a common expression, "He is a mighty smart man." 
He came into an office in which was vested control of affairs vitally 
important to the county and town during the formative period, 
when local interests and factional contentions often aroused public 
sentiment even to the vituperative stage, yet, though often severely 
criticised, he kept his determination to the end. The passage of 
time proved the wisdom of his judgment and the value of his serv- 
ice as a promoter of the growth and prosperity of the county and 
town. He died in 1894, aged eighty-five years. 

January Seventh, 1905. 




JAMES C. SAVERY 



JAMES C. SAVERY 

MR. S A VERY was born in Wareham, Massachusetts, Novem- 
ber Thirtieth, 1826. His forefathers were Puritans, of the 
Pilgrim Fathers, who emigrated to America in 1620. In 
early life, his family resided at Saratoga, New York. He came 
to Des Moines early in the Spring of 1853, and soon after pur- 
chased the Marvin House, on Third Street, south of the present 
Court House. He paid three thousand dollars for the lot, 132x132, 
and the buildings thereon, and changed the name to Everett House. 
It was the headquarters for the Stage Company, and the influx of 
land buyers and speculators kept it crowded. It was torn down in 
1876. 

One day, a young man who was seeking a job as school teacher 
came to the house. After searching the town several days, with 
little prospect of success, and hearing of an opening at Port Dodge 
— his funds getting short — he shouldered his carpet-sack and 
started on foot to make the eighty-mile trip. In 1872, he came 
back as Governor of the State of Iowa ; and his name was Cyrus C. 
Carpenter, a man honored and beloved by everybody to a degree 
seldom equaled. 

In 1856, the Marvin House was leased to Absalom Morris, the 
name changed to City Hotel, and Savery engaged in real estate 
business. 

In 1855, "Billy" Moore, R. W. Sypher, and a few others, hav- 
ing moved up from Second Street to Fourth Street, got together 
and inaugurated a movement to get a big hotel in that vicinity, to 
"draw trade uptown." They got subscriptions to a fund for a 
bonus. It was slow work, for money was scarce; but finally, in 
1856, a company was formed and an agreement made with Savery 
to erect a hotel on the corner now occupied by the Kirkwood, to cost 
sixty-five thousand dollars, and to be named the Savery House. 

211 



212 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

To illustrate the changes in value of property, the block on 
which the hotel stands, 132x132, was sold to Thomas Gilpin for 
thirty dollars. It was subsequently sold to Granville Holland, a 
well-known old-timer, land buyer, and speculator, for an old horse 
and wagon. He built a small house on it, enclosed the block with 
a board fence, made a garden of part of it, and occupied it for a 
home. In May, 1856, Savery purchased the property, the records 
showing the consideration was three thousand dollars for the land 
and fifteen hundred dollars for improvements. The property was 
assessed last year for taxation purposes at one hundred' and eighty- 
five thousand dollars. 

The hotel subscription reached about thirty thousand dollars, 
when it dragged, and, as one of them put it : "Money was scarce, 
we got discouraged, and dumped the whole thing over to 'Jim' [as 
Savery was familiarly called], and quit." 

In June, 1856, Savery made a contract with S. A. Robertson to 
build the hotel, and the foundation was put in that year. The next 
year came the financial panic. Everybody was land poor. They 
could not sell lots enough to pay the taxes on their holdings. Work 
on the hotel was temporarily suspended, but after a time resumed 
and carried on with procrastination until 1862, when, partially 
completed, it was opened for business, and finally finished in 1865. 
In 1879, the name was changed to "Kirkwood," in honor of Gov- 
ernor Kirkwood. 

In 1855, A. J. Stevens, a banker, who was floating a large 
amount of "wild-cat," "agricultural" money, grown in an obscure 
place in Tennessee, became ambitious to get into an office, and, not- 
withstanding Barlow Granger, Lamp. Sherman, and Pete Myers 
had laid away wrecks of newspapers, he induced Savery to join him 
and start a Republican paper, with the understanding that Stevens 
was to purchase the outfit and Savery pay the running expenses. 
In June, 1856, was issued the first number of the Iowa Citizen, the 
first Republican paper in the town. The next year Stevens' bank 
went overboard in the great financial crash. 

An investigation of the affairs of the newspaper showed that the 
outfit was purchased on credit, which had to be paid ; but Savery, 
with his proverbial pertinacity, continued the paper for two years 



JAMES C. SAVERY 213 

at a total loss of seven thousand dollars, and sold it to John Tees- 
dale for half its cost, retired from the field satisfied with newspaper 
glory, and went on with his hotel and real estate projects. 

A search for the bound volume of the Citizen disclosed the fact 
that it was burned with the residence of Savery, which stood where 
is now the elegant residence of J. S. Polk, on Grand Avenue, a 
regrettable loss to the history of those early days. 

Reminiscences of this panic period would be incomplete which 
omitted Judge McFarland, sequelae of which often reached his 
court, wherein he became famous as well as notorious from his 
eccentricities, bibulous habit, and profanity. 

The District Court at that time included, with Polk, nearly all 
the counties in the northwest portion of the state. 

Lawyers were scarce, outside of Des Moines, so that when the 
time for courts to be held in the various counties came, the Judge, 
the lawyers, and other attaches of the court would pool their trans- 
portation expenses, and charter an outfit to make the circuit. "Dan" 
Finch, one of the most prominent lawyers in the state, was gener- 
ally one of the crowd. He was a personal friend of the Judge, and 
often the target of his most vigorous expletives. The tales that 
were told of the Judge by jurymen would fill a book. 

One very hot day in July, the Judge had been out to dine with 
an old-time friend. On coming into court, "half seas over," he 
upset his chair and sat down on the side of it. Gathering himself 
together and getting on his feet, turned to the Bailiff with: "Take 
this d — d three legged thing away so soon as court adjourns, and 
get a new one, and don't you forget it." 

In a case on trial at one time, the plaintiff's attorney was mak- 
ing his closing argument. After speaking a short time, he suddenly 
stopped and took his seat. 

The Judge aroused himself with: "Well, well, what in h — 1 
are you waiting for ?" 

"For your honor to wake." 

"Look here, young man, I had made up my mind to instruct the 
jury for you, when the other side closed, but concluded to let you 
practice your d — d oratory while I took a nap. Now, then, when 
you are tired of talking as I have been of listening to this case, we 
will get down to business. Go on, sir, d — n you ; go on." 



214 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

On another occasion, the Judge came into court very wobbly 
and late. After getting himself fairly seated, he explained to the 
bar that he was not feeling well, and would hear motions only that 
morning. An attorney informed him he had an important case set 
for hearing and had several witnesses present. 

"Can't help it, sir; and I will fine you five dollars for con- 
tempt," replied the Judge. 

"Do you propose to fine a man for contempt when court is not 
in session ?" 

"You hush up, young man, and listen to what I have to say. 
You must understand, sir, that this court, if she understands her- 
self, and she thinks she does, is subject to contempt whether in 
session or not, and don't you forget it. But, it being your first 
offense, the fine will be remitted, provided you take the boys down 
to Jim Campbell's and set up the 'painkiller'." 

The court, lawyers and witnesses proceeded at once to liquidate 
the fine. 

At another time, when the court, Sheriff and attaches were jour- 
neying around the circuit, one of their teams gave out, with ten 
miles to go, and the day closing. They were overtaken by a man 
with fresh horses, he riding one and leading the other. A proposal 
was made to exchange teams until their destination was reached, 
which was obstinately rejected, either for goodness or money. The 
Sheriff was standing by the stranger's horses when the Judge arose 
and sang out : 

"Mr. Sheriff, open court." 

Scarcely had the "Hear ye! Hear ye!" echoed over the prairie, 
when the Judge declared: 

"This court is now open, and it is ordered that you, sir, [to the 
stranger], dismount and make terms with the Sheriff at once, or 
for him to put you under arrest." 

The horseman was completely dazed, but after a little hesitation, 
and taking a square view of the two hundred and fifty pounds of 
judge, dismounted and made the exchange. 

In 1878, during a period of adversity which swept over the 
entire West, Savery met with heavy losses, and was compelled to 
dispose of some of his holdings, among which was his hotel. He 



JAMES C. SAVERY 215 

went to Montana, where, in a few years, he recuperated his losses, 
returned to Des Moines, and, with James Callanan, formed the 
American Emigrant Company, whose business it was to furnish 
emigrants with through tickets from European ports to destination, 
exercise protection over them, purchase land, and sell to emigrants 
only. The company bought wild land all over the Northwest, and 
through it over one hundred thousand Scandinavians were settled 
on good farms and added to the productive industry of the country, 
of which Iowa received a large proportion. 

In 1879, the purchasers of the Savery House, to the surprise 
and regret of citizens quite generally, changed the name of the 
house to "Kirkwood," in honor of the old War Governor. For a 
long time after, "Ret." Clarkson, editor of the Register, and W. W. 
Witmer, editor of the Leader, refused to accept the change, despite 
the universal reverence for Kirkwood, and continued to call it the 
"Old Savery," thereby indicating that they deemed the change 
unfair to one who had done so much for Des Moines. 

In 1886, the town had grown northward and westward so that 
property holders and business men deemed another hotel a neces- 
sary improvement. Frank Reisley, who was running what is now 
the Iowa Hotel, a prominent hotel man, was ambitious to secure a 
hostelry of later and more modern construction. To that end, he, 
W. W. Witmer, and George H. Maish made a joint agreement to 
organize a corporation for the purpose of building a hotel. A loca- 
tion was the first question to be settled. After considerable investi- 
gation, it was finally decided to take what was known as the Colonel 
Hooker place, at Fourth and Locust streets. Then came the name, 
which was widely discussed among business men, when was devel- 
oped the fact that the old "Savery House" had not been forgotten. 
Witmer and Maish, who had been vigorous protestants against that 
change of name, concluded it would be a good stroke of policy to 
name the new house the "Savery," and that the people would 
approve it. In deference to that public sentiment, the name was 
selected before articles of corporation were drawn, money sub- 
scribed, or any consultation had with Mr. Savery. 

When the subscription list was opened, Witmer, Maish, and 
Reisley signed for forty thousand dollars each. Adjoining prop- 
erty owners to the site selected subscribed sufficient to make sure the 



216 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 



project, and upon that showing, Mr. Savery contributed five thou- 
sand dollars to the bonus fund, which was all the pecuniary interest 
he had in the house up to the time it was opened to the public. He 
had no stock in the corporation. 

In the Spring of 1887, the contract for construction was let to 
S. A. Robertson, who built the first Savery House, and July First, 
1888, it was opened for the reception of guests, under the manage- 
ment of Mr. Reisley, having cost the sum of one hundred and sixty- 
five thousand dollars. 

In later years, Mr. Savery acquired considerable interest in it, 
but he often said that he regarded the selection of its name under 
the connecting circumstances a greater testimonial of the esteem 
of his fellow citizens than if he had built the house. 

In 1893, I think, he disposed of his interest in the hotel, owing 
to the demands of other business, and divides his time between 
New York, Montana, and Des Moines, which he helped to build, 
and which he says is his home.* 

February Twelfth, 1905. 



♦Deceased, at Cable, Montana, August Twenty-first, 1905. 




JOHN A. KASSON 



HON. JOHN A. KASSON 

JOHN A. KASSON was born near Burlington, Vermont, Janu- 
ary Eleventh, 1822. He received his education at the Univer- 
sity of Vermont, graduating in 1842. His legal studies were 
prosecuted in Massachusetts, where he was admitted to the Bar. 

He came to Des Moines early in 1857, and at once began the 
practice of law. During the Fall of that year, the Seat of Govern- 
ment was removed from Iowa City, and he was appointed by Gov- 
ernor Lowe as chairman of a commission to investigate the condi- 
tion of the several state offices. 

The contest between the East and West Side over the location of 
the State House was still brewing. The West Siders had filed a 
protest with the Legislature against the decision of the Commis- 
sioners respecting the location, charging violation of the statutes, 
bribery and corruption ; "that, notwithstanding the people and citi- 
zens on the west side of Des Moines River offered to donate to the 
state sufficient land for public use, and to make a donation of funds 
to the amount of two hundred thousand dollars besides, to have the 
Seat of Government located on that side; that the Commissioners 
did locate it on the East Side, without any donation of land other 
than for public buildings, and did receive in consideration for said 
location, in land and money, amounting to from seven thousand to 
ten thousand dollars to each Commissioner, all in the year 1856." 

A committee to make full investigation of the matter was 
requested. 

The East Siders denied all the allegations and laughed at the 
allegers, declaring that the two hundred thousand dollars offered 
by the West Siders was never intended to be paid, and was made 
by a lot of fellows who couldn't pay it if they would. 

The investigation began in February, 1858, and Mr. Kasson 
was employed as an attorney for the West Siders. The evidence 
given before the committee showed that two hundred and fifty lots 

217 



218 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

were put up on the East Side, to be used to the best advantage in 
securing the location; that one John Baldwin was a go-between 
the Commissioners and the bonuses; that he offered to secure a 
location on the West Side for fifty thousand dollars ; that he lived 
and slept with one of the Commissioners ; that one of the Commis- 
sioners publicly declared he must have ten thousand dollars of the 
fund. 

When Baldwin was put on the stand, he said he was here on real 
estate business, and the committee had nothing to do with his pri- 
vate affairs. Asked if he did not know that some of the Commis- 
sioners got an interest in some of the lots, the title being in other 
persons, he refused to answer. 

Several witnesses, when asked if they did not know of certain 
Commissioners who, at the time of, or soon after the location, pro- 
cured an interest in lots on the East Side, or the right to procure a 
title in certain contingencies, refused to answer, because it "would 
tend, if answered affirmatively, to bring them to public scandal." 

J. A. Williamson, attorney for the East Siders, didn't hesitate 
to give his part in the matter. When asked if he knew of Pegram 
(one of the Commissioners) receiving any interest in property on 
the East Side, at, or soon after the location of the Capitol, replied, 
"Yes." 

Question. — "What was the number of the lots ?" 

Answer. — "About fifty." 

Question. — "Do you know of any other Commissioner having 
an interest in lots here ?" 

Answer. — "I don't. I heard such things." 

Question. — Do you know of any property or money being given 
to Baldwin?" 

Answer. — "If I do, it is of a professional character." 

Question. — "Did you know of any attempt to influence the Com- 
missioners in the location of the Capitol ?" 

Answer. — "I do. I used all lawful means to get it, including 
Cheaspeake and Sardinian appliances and any quantity of whiskey. 
I solicited donations, knowing that similar appliances were being 
made on the other side of the river. I found one person willing to 
trust ten or fifteen lots in my hands, but that is my private busi- 
ness." 



JOHN A. KASSON 219 

Question. — "Did they receive any gratuity in lots or money 
before or after the location was made?" 

Answer. — "It is possible they may have had some presents. I 
know some of them have property here." 

Question. — "Did Baldwin say to you, if you would give one 
thousand dollars in addition to the lots, he would secure the location 
on the East Side ?" 

Refused to answer. 

W. A. Scott testified that the Capitol was located partly on his 
and Lyon's addition to the Town of Demoine. 

Asked if he, at or about the time of the location, did convey, or 
agree to convey or hold in trust, any part of his property to any of 
the Commissioners, he refused to answer. 

Lyon testified that he let Baldwin have ten lots in consideration 
of his influence, to get the location on the East Side. 

The West Siders all testified that they offered ten or twenty 
acres for a site and a subscription fund of one hundred and fifty- 
nine thousand, two hundred and fifty dollars as a bonus to the 
state. 

Lovell White testified that he owned property on the West Side, 
was a witness by compulsion, and under protest; that three days 
before the location was made, Baldwin told him the West Side 
must put up money; that for twenty thousand dollars guaranteed 
to him, he would secure the location on the West Side. The next 
day he offered it for fifteen thousand dollars; the West Siders at 
once raised twelve thousand dollars, and notified the Commission- 
ers they were ready to meet them, and the next day was set for 
meeting them to consider their proposition; that the subscription 
was increased nearly two thousand dollars ; that at the appointed 
meeting it was offered to the Commissioners, when they were 
informed that the location was made the previous night. 

The committee reported to the Legislature that in their opinion 
Pegram was bribed ; that Baldwin had the Commissioners for sale 
to the highest bidder on both sides of the river; that all of them 
could not be identified with fraud and corruption because testi- 
mony was withheld, and the committee had not the power to bring 
it out ; that nothing was found on which to base a charge against 
Commissioner Goodrell. 



220 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

The report was pigeonholed and never heard of again, the West 
Siders claiming that Governor Grimes was mixed up in the deal, 
and further publicity would cause greater scandal. 

Whatever may be the true history of this affair, it is true that 
W. A. Scott and Harrison Lyon, and a few others, fulfilled their 
agreement, furnished the site of the present Capitol, built a tem- 
porary State House, and gave them to the state, with a sacrifice 
nearly reaching bankruptcy. 

In 1858, Mr. Kasson was elected Chairman of the Republican 
State Central Committee, and under his skillful management the 
Republicans carried the county, except the county offices, but that 
was the last victory for the Democrats. 

In 1860, he was elected a delegate to the Republican National 
Convention which nominated Lincoln for President, and Horace 
Greeley said Kasson was the author of the memorable platform put 
forth by the convention. 

In 1861, the second appointment made by President Lincoln 
was that of Mr. Kasson, as First Assistant Postmaster General. 
While in that office, he revised all the postal laws, secured a uni- 
form rate of postage at home and with foreign countries. 

In 1862, while he was attending the International Postal Con- 
vention in Paris, he was nominated for Congressman from this 
district, then comprising twenty-three counties. On his return, he 
accepted it. During his term, one of the most important periods 
in our national history, he proved of great value to the Government. 

At the end of his term, he was renominated, his opponent being 
"Dan" Finch, his law partner. The two were the most eloquent 
and effective speakers in the state. They traveled, roomed, ate, and 
slept together, and had a lively campaign. The only discourage- 
ment experienced during the torrid season, they used to say, was 
the voracity of the bedbugs at some of the rural hostelries. In the 
contest, "Dan" lost his case. 

Soon after his election, Mr. Kasson was delegated by the Post- 
office Department to select a site for a new Postoffice in Des Moines. 
Business was then all below Fourth Street, the town was growing 
rapidly, and corner lots in that section were held at big figures. 
Kasson resorted to a little strategy. He had a personal friend pur- 
chase the block where the Postoffice now is, at a fair valuation for 



JOHN A. KASSON 221 

property outside of the business district, "merely as an invest- 
ment." The Methodist Church stood north of it on Fifth Street, 
and the Valley Bank east of it on Court Avenue. On the block 
where the Youngerman Block is was a small one-story dwelling 
with a "dug-out" cellar beside it. When the Government got ready 
to erect the building, the site was deeded to Uncle Sam, to the great 
surprise of corner-lot speculators. 

In 1867, Kasson was nominated for Congressman, but Frank 
Palmer, editor of the Register; Tom Withrow, a leading lawyer, 
and C. C. JSTourse, Judge of the District Court, were opposed to 
him, and there ensued one of the most bitter, acrimonious contests 
ever known in the party. Domestic affairs were bruited with great 
venom, engendering personal and social animosities, which existed 
for many years. Kasson was defeated. 

bourse's term was near its end. He was a fine lawyer and able 
judge. Under other conditions, he would have been reelected, but 
the friends of Kasson determined to rebuke him for his action in 
the Congressional contest. They packed the Judicial Convention 
and defeated his nomination. He at once resigned the office and 
returned to law practice. 

Soon after his defeat, Kasson was commissioned by the Postal 
Department to the International Postal Convention at Paris, where 
was established the system of uniform foreign postal rates. 

While he was absent, agitation began for a new State House, on 
the beautiful site which belonged to the state. The old State House, 
hastily built, was inconvenient, and had become unsafe. It was 
urged that the time had come to uitilize the property. There were 
also indications that delay might give rival localities opportunity 
to obstruct proceedings. Polk County became aroused and deter- 
mined to push things. From his long experience in public affairs, 
and his well-known attachment to his home town, public sentiment 
naturally turned to Kasson, and, during the Summer of 1867, he 
was nominated Representative in the Twelfth General Assembly, 
while he was in Europe. On his return, he was informed thereof, 
and the reasons for it. He accepted, and was elected by a large 
majority. 

Early in the session, he prepared a bill providing for a new 
Capitol, to cost not exceeding a million and a half dollars. So 



222 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

soon as presented, rival localities showed their hands, by amend- 
ments, to cut the cost all the way to six hundred thousand dollars, 
and dilatory motions, one being to postpone all action until the 
Chicago and Northwestern Road was completed to Des Moines, so 
that stone and lime could be transported — thus showing the ear- 
marks of Marshalltown — all of which, after prolonged struggle, 
were defeated, and the first week in March, the bill passed the 
House, and went to the Senate, where the opposition had so solidi- 
fied itself as to succeed in so amending it as to change it entirely, 
and sent it back to the House so late in the session Kasson and his 
friends decided to let it go. It provided for a Board of Commis- 
sioners, who were to receive competitive plans for a Capitol, to cost 
a million, a million and a half, and two million dollars, to receive 
specimens of stone from quarries within the state, the same to be 
tested for durability, color, quality, absorption of moisture, and 
freezing, and to make the necessary repairs on the old State House, 
and report to the next General Assembly. 

Mr. Kasson was reelected to the House, and Frank Allen, then 
in the height of his influence and popularity as a banker and busi- 
ness man, was sent to the Senate. 

At this session, Kasson changed his plan, and sent his Capitol 
bill first to the Senate, where it was quickly sent to a committee, 
who had the plans and specifications provided by the Act of the 
previous session. With slight amendments, the bill passed, and 
was sent to the House, where Kasson was confronted with a new 
opposition element. There was in existence what was called the 
"Appropriation Ring," composed of members representing the dif- 
ferent districts in which were located the several State Institutions, 
which practically controlled all legislation. It fixed and parcelled 
out the sums wanted for their institutions, and no important bill 
could get through either house unless by consent of this Ring, which 
demanded first that its claims be conceded. A personal observa- 
tion and attendance at each consecutive session for more than 
twenty years demonstrated the continuous presence of this per- 
nicious element. In 1878, Tom Updegraff, of Clayton, determined 
to break it up. There was asked an extraordinary appropriation 
of seventy-five thousand dollars, for the central dome and four tur- 
rets of the Capitol. The Ring resorted to its usual tactics, and 



JOHN A. KASSON 223 

relegated the Capitol to the foot of the calendar, as the tail-ender. 
Torn got wrathy, and one day arose to smite it. He was a splendid 
speaker, and had a vocabulary replete with keen, cutting sarcasm. 
He charged the Ring with wilful abuse of legislative duties; ho 
cited the vote from the roll call of each member of it, showing its 
vote as a unit on every important measure. Instantly, the House 
was in an uproar. He was called to order, but he went on, and 
closed in these words : 

"Gentlemen of the Ring, you may go on and block the wheels 
of legislation, but I warn you there is nothing, save the wrath of 
Almighty God, so terrible as the vengeance of an outraged, indig- 
nant people." 

That speech sent him to Congress, and broke the Ring for that 
session. In addition to this ring, Kasson found the opposition more 
completely organized, under the leadership of M. E. Cutts, of 
Mahaska, master of rhetoric, sarcasm, and innuendo. He coddled 
the Ring, and scared the timid with the stupendous grabs, taxes, 
and folly of the Capitol scheme, concocted solely for the benefit of 
Des Moines. For a whole month, Kasson sought, with all his skill 
and tactics, to get the bill made a special order for March Eighth, 
when it was taken up, and after the most exciting debate ever 
known in the House, it was ordered engrossed for final passage by 
a vote of forty-nine to forty-eight, and there Kasson stopped, for 
Cutts had so terrified the timid and unified the Ring for four 
weeks, he did not dare to call it up. 

Finally, he fixed April Eighth as the day for a final contest, 
with assurances of a full house. The House was densely packed. 
The bill was quickly taken up, and met with dilatory motions, 
which were finally lost, and the roll call began, the clerk reading 
very slowly, amid the breathless silence. Every member was keep- 
ing close tally. On verifying the call, Kasson's "Aye" was miss- 
ing. In his intensity of tally-keeping, he answered his call with 
"twenty," he being the twentieth in his list of "ayes." The error 
was soon corrected, and the vote stood fifty-two to forty-six, three 
members dodging or being absent. There was a shout which made 
the walls shake. 

The bill went over to the Senate, where it quickly passed, and 
the second contest was ended. 



224 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 



A mass meeting of citizens was held, and, with a band of music, 
went to Kasson's home, and after congratulations on his success, 
presented him with a fine gold-topped cane, which Charles Aldrich 
now has in his state collection of curios. 

The nine Commissioners provided for in the Act were elected at 
a joint meeting of both houses, and went on to lay the foundation 
of the new building. They brought a huge red granite boulder 
from Buchanan County, which was formed into a large cube, on 
which they had cut, conspicuously, their several names. They also 
prepared small cubes of various kinds of stone offered for the super- 
structure, which were sent to experts to be tested, and be returned 
in sealed wrappings, on which was to be inscribed nothing but the 
test. From these, a selection of stone was made. During the next 
Winter, the frost so disintegrated the foundation that it tumbled 
into the pit. The appropriation was exhausted, and the Commis- 
sion could go no further. 

When the next General Assembly convened, the prospect was 
dismal. The wreck and waste in that foundation was foreboding. 
The air was full of charges and counter-charges, while rumors were 
current that the stone quarry selected to furnish the stone for the 
superstructure had come into possession of one of the Commission- 
ers. Amid all this was the fear that the whole project might be 
lost to Des Moines. 

The Senate at once began measures to fix the responsibility for 
the defective foundation, and certain suspicious contracts. A Joint 
Resolution was adopted, providing for an investigation by a joint 
committee. Its own Committee on Public Buildings was also 
instructed to make investigation. The result was the condemnation 
of the whole business in emphatic terms, and the Commissioners' 
names erased from the corner-stone. 

The field was then open for a new contest. Kasson, who had 
again been pressed into service, at once prepared a bill, amending 
the former Act, providing for the appointment of J. G. Foote, of 
Burlington; Maturin L. Fisher, of Clayton; Robert S. Finkbine 
and Peter A. Dey, of Johnson — two Republicans and two Demo- 
crats — as Commissioners to construct the building, the Governor 
to be ex-officio chairman, and the appropriation of one hundred and 
twenty-five thousand dollars annually. The old fight was resumed. 



JOHN A. KASSON 225 

Cutts had been left at home, but Ainsworth, of Fayette — who, 
though unequal to Cutts, was an antagonist Kasson found not easily 
handled — took the opposition leadership, and tried to cut the appro- 
priation to a total sum of seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars, 
but after a long contest, with dilatory motions and amendments, 
Kasson succeeded, with the agreement that the Commission must 
keep in view one million five hundred thousand dollars as the cost, 
whereupon Ainsworth revealed the presence of the old Ring by 
moving that all other appropriations must be paid first. So adroitly 
did he put it, the House adopted it, Kasson shrewdly not resisting, 
relying on the Senate to squelch it, as it did the next day, and sent 
it back to the House, where it was taken up and passed the same 
day, by a vote of fifty-three to thirty-eight, and the five years' event- 
ful contest was ended. 

The new Commission at once removed the rotten foundation, cut 
the names of the former Commissioners from the corner-stone, and 
substituted the word "Iowa" — only that, and nothing more — went 
forward and completed the building with honesty and fidelity which 
received universal commendation from beginning to end. Not a 
dollar was lost or misspent. Every contractor for material learned 
early — some to their severe cost — that a contract must be executed 
strictly according to terms, without hope of change, concessions or 
rebates. An instance of their rigidi + y of rule is that one day I 
went to their office, and found General Ed Wright, their Secretary, 
with a large table spread with bills and vouchers, and very much 
excited. Asked if they were going to move. "No," he replied. 
"That man over there (indicating Eoote) in the corner, is short two 
cents in his last quarterly account, and he has kept this office stirred 
up for two weeks to find where they went. 'Bob' and I offered to 
give him the pennies, but he won't have it." Finally, among the 
thousands of bills was found one in dubious writing. It was 
returned to the maker for a duplicate that could be deciphered. In 
the duplicate, it was found a figure five in the cents column had 
been mistaken for a figure three. 

When the building was completed and the Commission closed 
their accounts, there was a discrepancy of about three dollars, but 
wherein, the Legislature never sought to learn. 

Vol. I— (15). 



226 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

In 1873, Kasson was again elected Congressman; reelected in 
1875 ; declined renomination in 1877 ; was appointed United States 
Minister to Austria, served four years, and while absent in 1881, 
was again elected Congressman, reelected in 1883, served one year, 
and resigned, when he was immediately appointed United States 
Minister to Berlin, resigning in 1885. In 1889, he was again sent 
to Berlin to attend the International Conference to settle difficul- 
ties between the American, German, and English governments, and 
upon the accomplishment thereof, he came home. 

February Fifteenth, 1905. 




S. A. ROBERTSON 



SAMUEL A. ROBERTSON 

EARLY in the Spring of 1856, there strolled into the town a 
young man not twenty years old, looking for a job. Having 
learned it was the Capital of the state, that a new Capitol was 
being built, he thought there must be a chance to join the body 
politic and grow up with the country. Securing lodging at the 
Marvin House, on Third Street, where Harbach's Building now is, 
he went out to reconnoiter the place and interrogate the inhabitants. 
It did not require much time; there was not much of a town. All 
its business was done below Third Street, mostly on Second. He 
concluded there was nothing doing, times hard, money scarce ; that 
there was no place for him, and, like Barlow Granger, he gathered 
up his carpet-sack, shook the dust of the town from his feet, went 
on board a steamboat lying in the river, and started for a more 
promising location. On the boat, he met J. C. Savery, to whom 
he related his experience. Savery told him he was just the man he 
was looking for ; that he was on his way to St. Louis to get plans 
for a big hotel, and if he would go back, he would give him the job 
of building it. The young man thought that was a good thing. He 
left the boat at Pella, came back, has grown up with the town, and 
had a conspicuous part in its growth and prosperity. 

So soon as plans were completed, he began work on the Hotel 
Savery, now the Kirkwood, but soon after, money and material 
being scarce, the work was stopped. The Court House was then 
being constructed, and he went to Isaac Cooper, the contractor and 
builder, for work, and was given a place at two dollars and a half 
per day. Cooper used to say he would lay more brick in a day, and 
better, than any two men on the job. After working three months, 
without getting any pay, the Fourth of July came, and a big picnic 
was planned to be given at Horseshoe Lake, then the popular place 
for all outdoor social events, and he decided to take it in. He hunted 
up Isaac, explained the situation, emphasizing it with the statement 

227 



228 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

that he had promised his wife to go, and must have some money. 
Isaac responded with: "I am dead broke;" but, searching his 
pockets, he fished out a gold dollar — the only money everybody 
"salted" when they got it — which was given him. 

On another occasion, his wife being in Cincinnati, Mr. Robert- 
son planned to bring her home. He laid sidewalks during the 
Summer and accumulated about two hundred dollars. The country 
was flooded with "stump-tail," "red-horse," "wild-cat," "brindle- 
pup" currency of doubtful character, it being the special prayer 
of every banker each day to have it checked out before the closing 
hour. He therefore went to James Callanan, who was running a 
bank, and asked for money that would be good until he could reach 
Cincinnati. 

"The best I've got is Illinois currency," was the response. 

The Illinois currency was listed by bankers then as "Western 
Mixed," which included all the "wild-cats," but, as it was the best 
in the bank, he took it, and started for Cincinnati. Arriving at 
Saint Louis, he stopped at a hotel, and in the evening met a man 
who was manager of what is now the "Big Four" railway system, 
to whom he told his destination. His friend gave him a letter 
which was said "might be of some use to him." The next morning, 
when he went to pay his hotel bill, his Hlinois currency had depre- 
ciated to nothingness — wasn't worth a cent. He borrowed enough 
to pay his bill, and ten cents for ferriage across the river, trusting 
to luck to get further. Having been considerably connected with 
railroad building in Ohio, he thought he would try it on the Super- 
intendent of a Cincinnati road for transportation, but he was 
rebuffed with a complacency which quite upset him. Pulling the 
friend's letter from his pocket, he gave it to the obdurate function- 
ary, who, after reading it, said it was good for any favor desired 
on their line. The letter was signed by a man who once ran for 
President — George B. McClellan. 

Returning, Mr. Robertson began to branch out as a contractor, 
but money was scarce, people couldn't pay their taxes, work on the 
Court House was held up, the city had no money, and was issuing 
script of fractional amounts, which soon became unpopular and 
went out of circulation, the money in use being the "red-dog" 



SAMUEL A. ROBERTSON 229 

variety, and of little value. As an incident, a man was driving 
into town one day, on Woodland Avenue, with a load of wood, 
when he was halted by a citizen who asked the price of the wood. 
"Four dollars a cord, gold ; in banknotes, cord for cord." 

To keep business moving, he made a contract with Martin 
Tuttle to build a house and take his pay in groceries ; another with 
''Billy" Moore for a house, to be paid for in dry goods; another 
with Stacy Johns, to be paid for in boots and shoes, and it is still 
standing, at Fifth Street and Grand Avenue, and known as the 
"Montague Treatment" place. Another contract was made with 
W. S. Terry, to be paid for in harness ; another with John Hays, 
for which he took a note, which he sold to Judge Williamson for a 
house on Woodland Avenue, the first home he owned in town. By 
this time, he could pay his workmen in orders on his several credit 
depositories, which they were glad to get. "Talk about hard times," 
said he one day, when in a reminiscent mood, "the present genera- 
tion don't know what that means. I worked nine months at one 
time, and received only thirteen dollars in money. A laboring man 
had to take his pay in trade. If he got money — banknotes — he had 
no assurance it would buy him a pound of bacon the next day." 

When the Postoffice was remodeled, he was selected to do the 
work. He went to Washington, secured two hundred and fifty 
thousand dollars, made large additions to the ground area, added 
a third story and a clock tower, and returned thirty-nine thousand 
dollars of unused funds to Uncle Sam, for which unexpected favor 
and fidelity he was specially commended. 

When the new Capitol was ordered built, he made a contract to 
furnish the stone, the statute requiring the stone must be from 
quarries within this state. A quarry at Earlham was selected by 
the Commissioners, and he laid a side-track to it. Another quarry 
was selected at Rock Creek, in Van Buren County, to which he 
built a railroad. From these quarries, immense quantities of stone 
were delivered. It was, in stonelayers' parlance, "green" — that is, 
filled with moisture, and with it the foundation for the building 
was laid. The Winter freezing so disintegrated the stone that in 
the following Spring, the foundation had tumbled into the pit, and 
hundreds of tons of uncut dimension stone blocks were broken into 



230 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

fragments. Some of them can now be seen on Ninth Street, not 
far south of Court Avenue. He pocketed a loss of forty-eight thou- 
sand dollars in the transaction. 

While at work on the Court House, he made plans for a County 
Jail and residence for the jailer, for which Judge Napier ordered 
he be paid ten dollars, but the jail succumbed to the hard times and 
was not built. 

In 1864, he narrowly escaped an end to his life. He was stand- 
ing in front of Ensign's stable, on Walnut Street, where now is the 
Dickenson Building, when a drunken soldier passed, threatening 
to shoot him, but he got away, while the soldier went on, and, meet- 
ing a negro, shot him. The soldier was spirited back to the army, 
came home after the war was over, but was never tried for murder. 

In 1878, the city came to the conclusion to get out of the mud, 
and avoid being washed away by freshets. There were no pave- 
ments, nor sewers. In wet seasons, the clay mud was so deep and 
sticky as to render travel almost impossible, and in heavy rainfalls 
the rush of water did serious damage to streets and private prop- 
erty. Bird's Run, an open ravine, draining the whole northwest 
and central part of the town, was a perfect terror. A remedy was 
imperative, but how to get it was the problem. Public attention 
turned to Robertson as one having had large experience in public 
improvements, and though a Democrat of the radical persuasion, 
residing in a ward radically Republican, he was elected to the City 
Council, and at once so vigorously and persistently pressed the sub- 
ject there and elsewhere that a general system of sewering and 
paving was planned, and work begun. Bird's Run was harnessed 
within a wall twelve feet in diameter, over which was built the 
Auditorium, and intercepting sewers laid, to which have been 
added many miles of like construction. Robertson may be justly 
called the father of the sewer system of the city. 

In 1890, he organized the Des Moines Brick Manufacturing 
Company, installed a large brick-making plant, and demonstrated 
the value of the clay industry, which has become one of the most 
valuable in the city, the superiority of its product being admitted 
all over the country. 

He was a director and heavy stockholder of the Iowa National 
Bank, and for several years was its President. He is one of the 



SAMUEL A. ROBERTSON 231 

Board of Directors of the Royal Union Mutual Life Insurance 
Company. Latterly, however, he has withdrawn from all financial 
institutions. 

During his forty-eight years' residence, he has been prominently 
identified with public improvements, financial interests, and every 
undertaking to promote the prosperity of the town, and in many 
ways may be said to be one of the most prominent builders of Des 
Moines, and especially as a contractor. On nearly every street in 
the city are public buildings, business blocks, and residences erected 
by him. Of the most prominent, which I can recall, are the Con- 
gregational Church, which stood where the Chamberlain Hotel now 
is; the Aborn House, now the Iowa Hotel; three schoolhouses on 
the West Side ; two on the East Side ; the block at Fifth and Vine 
streets, occupied by the Hammond Packing Company; the block 
occupied by Chase & West, on Walnut Street; the Graefe House, 
on Walnut Street ; "Billy" Moore's Opera House ; basement story 
under the old Capitol ; the original building now the Elliott Hotel, 
on Fourth Street ; the present Savery House ; the Robertson Block, 
on East Locust Street, and commenced the first Savery Hotel, now 
the Kirkwood, which was temporarily abandoned by the panic of 
1857. Beside these, are hundreds of costly residences. 

His correct business principles and trust of the people have 
secured to him a competency sufficient for the years which are to 
come to him. 

February Twenty-second, 1905. 




W. A. SCOTT 



WILLIAM ALEXANDER SCOTT 

IN an unhonored grave, in a dreary, neglected spot in Des Moines, 
without stick or stone of any kind to commemorate his life or 

his public services and benefactions, lies the man who personally 
built and paid for the first State House in Des Moines, and who 
gave to the State of Iowa a part of the ground upon which now 
stands its present magnificent Capitol building. 

In an early day, William Alexander Scott was a man of some 
influence and honored standing in Des Moines and Polk County. 
To-day only a few, the men who were pioneers with him, remember 
his name, even, and still fewer men know the disgraceful neglect 
that has made his last resting-place, on the bluff overlooking the 
Des Moines Valley, a shame to the public spirit and generosity of 
Des Moines. 

His grave is located in a spot that would never be guessed as a 
human burial place. It lies just south of Vine Street, midway 
between East Eleventh and East Twelfth streets. Buildings have 
crowded around it on three sides — not sightly dwellings, but barns 
and outhouses ; one outhouse stands within ten or fifteen feet of the 
grave. There is nothing now to mark his resting-place. Once 
there was a fence about the grave, placed there by a brother long 
since dead, but ruthless hands have torn it down, bit by bit, for one 
vandalistic reason or other. A year ago, there stood at the side of 
the grave a tree that was planted there by thoughtful hands, and 
which, through the years, had grown large enough to cast its pro- 
tecting shade over the spot, but last Spring or Summer that, too, 
was ruthlessly cut down, and all that remains now to mark the 
grave is the shattered stump of that tree. 

How did Scott come to be buried there? It is an interesting 
tale, and characteristic of the love the old pioneer felt for the Des 
Moines Valley. One day, years ago, when an old man, he was 
standing with some friends on the point of the bluff south of the 

233 



234 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

present Capitol, overlooking the grand view of the river valley and 
his fine farm on the plateau. He said, in a very impressive way: 
"When I die, I want to be buried here, where we stand." 

In accordance with that desire, his body was brought here by 
his brother John, followed by a cortege of his loving friends and 
citizens, and there buried. The burial plat was purchased and 
deeded to Lee Township. A tree was planted, and for a time 
friends, now dead, maintained a cheap board fence about the grave. 
Now it is marked only by gross neglect, to the shame and ingrati- 
tude of the richest state in the Union, and of a people who profess 
a love of justice, of patriotism, of public spirit, and the exaltation 
of the righteous. 

A pioneer of pioneers was William Alexander Scott, or "Aleck," 
as he was usually called. He came here in 1843, with the dragoons, 
and was given use of a section of land to cultivate for furnishing 
farm products for the garrison. He remained until the Indians 
were removed, when he went with them to Kansas as an Indian 
trader. When the military post was abandoned, and land entries 
were permitted, in 1846, he returned and purchased five hundred 
acres lying along the Des Moines River, comprising a large portion 
of what is now the East Side. He built a large double log house, 
a few hundred yards southeast of the present Soldiers' Monument, 
on the bottoms. A double log house consisted of two houses with 
an open space between equal to the length of each house, and cov- 
ered with a roof for the shelter of wagons, plows, harness, etc., one 
house being used for a dwelling, the other for stabling. 

The East Side, for some distance from the river, was covered 
with a dense thicket of underbrush, the principal occupants being 
rabbits. 

One of the early questions to be solved by Scott and other pio- 
neers was the river crossing. The center of population and busi- 
ness was at The Fort, and travel was in that direction. During a 
portion of the year, neither the Des Moines nor the 'Coon could be 
forded. For a time, skiffs and small boats were provided for ferry- 
ing of individuals, but teams had to be left on the farther side. In 
1846, Scott put on a flatboat ferry and did a lucrative business, as 
emigrants moving west passed through here, the numbers increas- 
ing rapidly. During the California emigration, over six hundred 



WILLIAM ALEXANDER SCOTT 235 

horses, and as many people, were ferried in a single day, and 
"Aleck," as everybody called him, charged stiff prices, as the trav- 
elers were generally well supplied with the lucre. It is related that 
on the day of the last session of the first Legislature in Des Moines, 
the Anti-Prohibition members had a jamboree, and about three 
o'clock in the morning came wobbling to the ferry. The ferry was 
closed, and they were informed that it would cost fifty cents a head 
to get across the river, whereat they demurred, raged and swore. 
Money was scarce, and some of the men had no fifty cents, but 
"Aleck's" demand was inexorable, and after some parleying, they 
raised the funds and were landed on the West Side. 

Those ferries were a great convenience to the people, and aided 
very materially to increase the business and prosperity of The Fort. 

Judge Williams, who held the first District Court in Polk 
County, and subsequently became Chief Justice of the Supreme 
Court, used to tell a ferry story on himself to his friends. He was 
a jolly, sociable person, always ready for fun, a good story-teller, 
and enjoyed joking. He boarded on the East Side, and would get 
ferried over the river in a skiff rather than take "Aleck's" cumber- 
some craft. One day he wanted to get across, but there was no boy 
nor man in sight with a skiff. However, Mary Hayes, a buxom 
young woman, was washing clothes near the river. Accosting her, 
he asked : "Mary, how am I to get across the river ?" 

"Why, in the skiff, I suppose," she replied. 

"But there is no one to bring back the skiff, and I am a very 
poor rower. JSTow, Mary, can't you take pity on a man in my pre- 
dicament and row me over. I'll pay you in any number of kisses." 

"Certainly, I'll take you over, but as to the kisses, Mr. Judge, 
I don't want any from such an old scrub as you." 

"Oh, I suppose you have had a surfeit of them. Has Jim — " 

"Now, look here, Judge, if you want to go across, get in, sit 
still, and be still." 

The Judge got in, and was silent until they were well out in the 
river current, and Mary was pulling the oars like a sailor. 

"Mary!" 

"Sir?" 

"Suppose I turn this boat downstream, and carry you off and 
marry you. Wouldn't that be delightful ?" 



236 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

Mary's eyes snapped with ire. 

"You carry me off ! You marry me ! I wouldn't have such a 
dried-up old cracklin. I wouldn't marry you if you were the last 
man on earth, and I couldn't get to heaven without a husband, and 
if you don't stop your nonsense, I'll pitch you into the river, and 
you can go as far as you please, but you don't take me with you." 

The Judge used to tell the story among his friends with great 
enjoyment. 

In 1847, "Aleck" was given a license by the County Commis- 
sioners to run a ferry across the Des Moines and 'Coon rivers, the 
seal of the Commissioners being affixed with a silver half dollar, 
the county having no official seal. 

When the town of Fort Des Moines was organized, the Town 
Council concluded "Aleck" was making too much money with his 
ferries, and it was time the town got some benefit from them. A 
Perry Committee was appointed, to devise ways and means there- 
for. The ways were numerous, but the means were few. The 
Perry Committee was instructed to provide a license for ferries, 
but "Aleck" claimed he had a perpetual commission to ferry from 
the old Indian chief, Keokuk, and the County Commissioners, 
having lost their jurisdiction, "Aleck" held on. The Council then 
ordered a foot bridge constructed, which the Perry Committee sat 
down on. After a time, a compromise was made with "Aleck" to 
run a ferry over the Des Moines and 'Coon rivers, the doctors and 
mails to be carried free. After wrestling with the problem nearly 
two years, an agreement was made with "Aleck" to put in a float 
bridge at what is now Grand Avenue, then Sycamore on the West 
Side, and Keokuk on the East Side. It was serviceable only a 
portion of the year, for in high water it was too short, and in low 
water it was too long, making it difficult to get on or off from it. 
It was also a single track, and if teams met on it there was trouble, 
for one must back out, but it was a mighty good thing for the fisher- 
men, and some of the fish caught from that bridge would surprise 
the fishers of to-day. The bridge was not a success, and "Aleck" 
kept right on with his ferry until 1856, when he built a trestle or 
arch bridge at Court Avenue, the first structural bridge over the 
river. It was weak in the joints and shaky, and in 1859 broke 
down. 



WILLIAM ALEXANDER SCOTT 237 

In April, 1849, occurred what is known as the Fleming War. 
One Asa Fleming, a school teacher, son of a preacher, had taken a 
claim not far south of The Fort. A man named Perkins endeav- 
ored to preempt the claim — in fact, did file in the Land Office his 
intent to do so. Both were members of the County Claim Club, 
which was governed by the following rules : 

"One. — We will protect all persons who may hold claims against 
the interference of any person or persons who shall attempt to 
deprive such claim holders of their rights by preemption or other- 
wise. 

"Two. — We will, in all cases, discountenance the speculator or 
other person who shall attempt any innovation upon the homes of 
the rightful settlers ; that we will not hold any fellowship with such 
person, and that he be regarded as a nuisance in the community. 

"Three. — No person shall be allowed to preempt or purchase in 
any form from the Government any land which shall be held as a 
claim, unless he shall first obtain the consent of the claimant. 

"Four. — The filing of an intention to preempt contrary to the 
rights of the settler shall be regarded as an attempt to wrongfully 
deprive the citizen of his home and his claim. 

"Five. — It shall be the duty of the Committee [Standing] to 
notify any person who shall preeempt or attempt to do so, by filing 
his intention to preempt, the claim of another person, to leave the 
vicinity and the comity ; and they have authority to enforce a com- 
pliance with said notice, and we will sustain the Committee in 
the discharge of all their duties." 

Adopted April Eighth, 1848. 

One day Fleming saw Perkins hovering about his claim. He 
quickly gathered together some of his friends, and, armed with 
guns, started for vengeance. In those days, misdoers, claim-jumpers 
and horse thieves were disposed of by Judge Lynch. 

Perkins learned that the posse was after him. He knew, as a 
Club member, what that meant, and quickly mounting a fleet horse, 
without coat or hat, fled to The Fort, barely escaping several shots 
sent after him. Eluding his pursuers, he reached the ferry in a 
perfect tremor of fright and fatigue, and begged "Aleck" to get 
him across the river quick, which was done. He went into obscurity 



238 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

for several days, and after recovering from his fright, became val- 
orous, and procured a warrant for the arrest of Fleming, on a 
charge of attempt to murder. Fleming was arrested and brought 
before Esquire Luce. His friends quickly rallied for his defense, 
and while the court was getting ready for business, swooped down 
on the crowd, seized Fleming, and carried him away. He was 
soon after re-arrested and brought to The Fort, when his friends — 
eighty of them — again rallied, armed and equipped for another 
rescue. Arriving at the ferry, they demanded immediate crossing, 
but "Aleck" hesitated, he didn't seem to be in any haste, when he 
was told that if he did not take them across, they would shoot up 
the whole town. They threatened and cursed him in several lan- 
guages, but he didn't scare. While this disturbance was going on, 
The Fort had got stirred up. Coroner Phillips, full of spiritus 
frumenti, declared Martial Law, and ordered all stores and busi- 
ness places closed, which gave the West Siders acceptable oppor- 
tunity to turn out and see the scrimmage. 

"Aleck" was obdurate. He told the mob that not a man could 
cross the river until all guns were stacked and weapons laid aside. 
Very sullenly they finally surrendered, and were taken over to the 
West Side, which, under Phillips' Martial Law, was quiet and in 
good order to receive them. Fleming was duly examined, the 
charges against him were sustained, and he was bound over to the 
Grand Jury, but was released on giving an appearance bond. The 
Grand Jury did not indict him. In the meantime, public sentiment 
had rendered Perkins quite unpopular. Legal proceedings were 
had against him, and he gave a bond to let Fleming alone, but he 
always claimed that Fleming's claim covered more land than he 
was entitled to, and it was only the excess he was trying to get, but 
Fleming's father being a Methodist preacher, and the settlement 
nearly all Methodists, they joined together against him. 

There was a man named Holland, a land speculator, who, it was 
rumored, furnished Perkins the money to preempt Fleming's claim, 
and thereupon a Vigilance Committee of about thirty, well armed, 
surrounded his house one day and ordered him to come out, which 
he quietly did, assuring the crowd that he was ready to meet his 
doom, but requested the privilege of making some remarks, which 



WILLIAM ALEXANDER SCOTT 239 

was granted. He was a good talker, and so forcibly and eloquently 
appealed to the crowd with his defense, that it relaxed its ven- 
geance into a broad smile, shook hands with him, and, at his 
request, went to the corner "grocery" to quench its thirst for gore 
with corn juice, and thus ended the famous Fleming War. 

In 1849, Scott had his land platted and annexed it to "East 
Demoine." He built several dwellings and a large brick house 
near what is now the east end of the Rock Island Railroad bridge, 
which, for several years, was known as the Scott House, later the 
Slatten and the Hawkeye, and still later, the Refuge of Sin and 
Prostitution, until it was torn down soon after the railroad was 
completed. 

Immediately after the Seat of Government was located here, 
public attention became aroused respecting the location of the State 
House. Both sides of the river were ambitious and eager to secure 
it. In 1855, Scott, A. M. Lyon, and a few others formed an Asso- 
ciation to get the location on the East Side. Citizens outside of 
the Association also joined in the project, and a large number of 
town lots were put into a sort of pool as a bonus to influence a 
decision of the State Commissioners in the location. Scott's Asso- 
ciation offered to give forty acres of land — nearly all of which was 
owned by Scott — and to build a State House. The West Siders 
offered the necessary land and about three hundred thousand dol- 
lars as a bonus to the state. Then ensued one of the most exciting 
contests known in the history of the town, and in which was engen- 
dered strife and animosities which have not yet been obliterated. 

In that contest, Scott was the victim of unscrupulous specu- 
lators, through his innate honesty, and over-weening faith in 
Humanity. He executed his agreement to the very letter, at a 
great loss to himself, carried the first State House to completion, 
donated the site for it, and also most of that on which the State 
House now stands, though then quite unlike what it now is. It 
was covered with forest trees and underbrush so dense that several 
women once got lost in attempting to go through it, causing consid- 
erable alarm to friends for several hours. On the west and south 
sides, it was twenty feet above the present elevation. 

When the State House deal was over, Scott had little left. 



240 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

When the Legislature convened at its first session in Des Moines, 
Scott gave a very elaborate reception in his new brick hotel to the 
members and state officers, and he was the observed of all observers 
as "the man who built the State House." It was a very popular 
hostelry with legislators and lawyers. 

Politically, Scott was a Democrat, but not a politician. In 1857, 
at the urgent request of friends relying on his popularity, he ran 
for Representative to the first Legislature held in Des Moines, 
against "Uncle Tommy" Mitchell, and, while he carried Lee Town- 
ship by a vote of one hundred and sixty to one hundred and fifty- 
four, he was defeated by a vote of one thousand and eighty to eight 
hundred and ninety-four, in the county. At this session, a law was 
passed providing for the placing of draws in all bridges over the 
Des Moines River, from its junction with the 'Coon to its mouth, 
thus practically declaring the river above Des Moines an unnavi- 
gable stream. In 1860, some difficulty arose over Scott's bridge, 
as an obstruction to navigation, and an Act was passed providing 
that so much of the Law of 1857-8 which provided for draws in 
bridges, and declaring the river not navigable above Scott's bridge, 
be repealed, but the multiplicity of bridges within the city evi- 
dences little regard for the repeal, and navigation above The Forks 
is not a disturbing question. 

Scott married a very intelligent Indian woman, who was a good 
wife, but she had an appetite for "fire-water," and periodically 
would lock herself in a room, put on a full Indian dress, and have 
a spree for a week, when she would resume her wifely duties in a 
very proper manner. 

"Aleck" was a big-hearted man, with liberal impulses, and gen- 
erous to a fault. He lacked fortitude to resist a solicitation for aid 
or accommodation. He indorsed the obligations of others, which 
he had to pay, and to do which he encumbered his property with 
mortgages. The wide-spread financial depression caused by the 
panic of 1856-7 cut off all sources of recovery from his embarrass- 
ment, and with hope that fortune would favor him and enable him 
to redeem and save his property, he started for Pike's Peak, but 
when crossing the plains was taken ill and died in a tent, June 
Twenty-third, 1859. 

February Twenty-ninth, 1905. 




LOUIS HARBACH 



LOUIS HARBACH 

IT seems almost a supererogation to mention one so well known 
to nearly every man, woman and child in Des Moines, in these 

reminiscences, as Louis Harbach, for there are very few houses 
or buildings in the town that have not something connected with 
him. 

He came here in June, 1857, when only nineteen years old, with 
an empty purse, but abundant pluck and energy, and at once got a 
job at his trade as harness-maker, with W. S. Terry, I think. He 
worked two years at his trade. His elder brother, Christopher, had 
a small furniture shop on Second Street, between Court Avenue 
and Walnut. Louis went to Cincinnati, and learned the cabinet 
maker's trade, came back and joined his brother. Their shop — it 
had not attained the dignity of a store — was a long, narrow, loose- 
constructed, one-story wooden building, with unplastered walls. 
But two or three men were employed. There was no machinery; 
every article made was worked out by hand from lumber as it came 
from the mill. While not as elegant and recherche as can be seen 
in his Walnut Street house to-day, it was made to stay made. I 
have one of his old-time bedsteads, made of black walnut, then as 
plentiful as pine now is, which is as firm in its joints as when put 
together. But prices were pretty stiff in those days. An article 
which then cost twenty-five dollars can be bought of him to-day for 
four dollars and a half. 

He at once put new life and enterprise into the concern. By 
indomitable energy, excellent business capacity, and strict integ- 
rity, the business increased, necessitating more space, and a four- 
story brick building was erected on Third Street, the first of its 
kind in the town, and now occupied as a Court House. It was 
used for retail trade, and in 1860, he brought the first lot of factory 
made furniture. It was shipped by steamboats from Cincinnati, 
and landed at 'Coon River Point. 

Vol. I— (16). 241 



242 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 



Soon after, a large three-story brick, the first in the city for 
factory use, was erected on Locust Street, near the bridge, wherein 
all work was done by hand, until 1882, when steam power and 
machinery was put in. This was soon followed by a five-story 
brick, with stone front and basement, on Third Street, the first of 
its kind. It was for the wholesale trade. It is now used for the 
mantel and undertaking departments.. 

In 1866, the retail business of the city had moved westward, 
and trade increased beyond the capacity of the Third Street house, 
and another move was necessitated. A fine structure, 44x132 feet, 
of brick, with stone front, was erected on Walnut Street, again the 
first of its kind. In the meantime, the wholesale trade had out- 
grown its quarters, and an immense three-story warehouse and 
upholstery factory at Sixth Avenue and Market Street was erected. 

Harbach's faith in the future growth of the city thus prompted 
the building of the first three, four, five, and six story business 
buildings therein, and set the pace for others to follow. 

During all these years, he has been an extensive employer of 
skilled labor in the various departments of his business, often reach- 
ing a hundred and fifty men, and thus helped to build homes and 
add to the wealth of the community. 

For several years, he was a director and stockholder of the Des 
Moines Savings Bank. 

When the movement for securing a new PostoflSce was inaugu- 
rated, he was selected by the business men of the city to negotiate 
the purchase of property necessary for the site, a duty requiring 
considerable skill and good judgment, involving a deal with a dozen 
different lot owners, and a public alley. He executed the task to 
the satisfaction of all concerned — with the possible exception of the 
East Siders — purchased the site for one hundred and fifty thousand 
dollars cash, and deeded it to Uncle Sam as a donation from the 
business men of the city. 

During the year past, he has retired from active business, and 
the name which for more than forty years has been a household 
word in Des Moines, will pass into history, and that which has 
been so important a factor in the upbuilding of the town, will be 
put in the hands of his four sons, to the manner born, who will 



LOUIS HARBACH 243 

abandon the Walnut Street house, the retail trade, the Locust 
Street factory, and concentrate the business in an immense factory 
and warehouse at No. 100 South Fifth, a change in business affairs 
which grows in diversification the more it is contemplated. 

Politically, Harbach is a Democrat. He has never sought nor 
held a public office ; yet has exercised the duty of every citizen, to 
give his influence in favor of good government. The Church, the 
School, and all things that conserve to the best interest of society, 
have received his liberal support. Positive in temperament, reti- 
cent in speech, conservative in thought and action, an extensive 
property holder, prominent in business affairs, he has aided very 
largely in the growth and prosperity of the community. 

March Fifth, 1905. 



WILLIAM H. MEACHAM 

THE title to land and the military control of affairs of Polk 
County expired on the booming of the cannon at The Fort, 
at midnight, October Twelfth, 1845. 

Through the personal effort of William H. Meacham, a meeting 
was held two days after, on the Fourteenth, at the cabin of John 
Scott, when the first step was taken to establish local civil govern- 
ment for the county and town. About twenty persons were present, 
nearly all residents of The Fort — plain, common people, who 
believed that good government was founded in justice and equity. 
There was no local form of government in existence — military con- 
trol had ceased. Meacham was elected Chairman. The object of 
the meeting was the organization of an Association to protect them- 
selves against claim jumpers and speculators. A committee was 
appointed to prepare by-laws for the Association. It was a gather- 
ing of stalwart, earnest men, who had laid the foundation of homes, 
and did not want to be despoiled of them by speculators and land 
sharks constantly roaming the country, ready to seize upon every 
opportunity to take advantage of the ignorance or inadvertence of 
the settler to sequestrate whatever they could get hold of. 

The following is a verbatim report of the committee, as it 
appears on the original record : 

"The Committee Taking in Consideration the Rapped Emagra- 
tion to this cuntry think It Proper to Form the Following Buy 
Laws, to Viz : 

"Section One. — Resolved, That all Persons over the age of 
Sixteen Years Doeing for them Selves hav the right to make a 
claim them Selves or threw thare Agents. 

"Sec. Two. — Resolved, that all Persons ma claim Three HHd 
and Twenty Acres in Too Separate Parcels and no moar. 

"Sec. Three. — Resolved, that all Persons making a Claim 
Shall Mark It out By Blazing or Staking in sutch a mannar that 
the Lines ma bee Esaly Traist. 

245 



246 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

"Sec. Four. — Resolved, that all Persons making Claims on the 
Des Moines and Rac Coon Rivers, The Rivers Shall constitute one 
Line of said Claim. 

"Sec. Five. — Resolved, that the First Person Marking out A 
claim after the Legal Time be the Lawful Oner. 

"Sec. Six. — Resolved, that all Persons Marking thare Claims 
out as Designated in Section Third and Building a House within 
Sixtey days, at least Fourteen Feett Squair, Four round High, 
Shall hold Six Months from the time of Marking Said Claim. 

"Sec. Seven. — Resolved, that all TJnresidents after every Six 
months shal putt on Twenty Five Dollars worth of Work or caus 
to be don on said Claim or forfit his Claim. 

Sec. Eight. — Resolved, that any Person having difficultys in 
relation to thare claims, It shall be thare duty for each person to 
choos an arbatrator and tha too when choosen choos the third Per- 
sen to settle Sutch Diffaculties. 

Sec. Nine. — Resolved, that thare be a committee of Eleven to 
call out the People to Settle Claim Diffaculties when tha cant be 
otherwise Settled. 

Sec. Ten. — Resolved, that after these Resolutions be adopted 
and sined tha bee in full foarse." 

The resolutions were adopted, twenty names were affixed thereto, 
and Meacham was elected Chairman of the Association. 

Three years later, in April, 1848, at a meeting of the settlers in 
Polk County, Meacham was again elected Chairman, and a Claim 
Club organized, similar to the former Association, with an addi- 
tional provision for a Vigilance Committee to enforce the regu- 
lations. 

Meacham was for several years a Captain on sea-going vessels, 
and had many of the characteristics of that class of men. He was 
an ardent Methodist, and was familiarly called "Father Meacham" 
by the brethren. He lived in a log cabin on the East Side, near 
the river ford, which was near the present east end of Locust Street 
bridge. While he did not keep a tavern, he never refused the hos- 
pitality of his home to strangers, an accommodation of great benefit 
to persons coming in the night, too late to attempt to ford the river, 
as the course was crooked, the exit from the east being near Walnut 



WILLIAM H. MEACHAM 247 

Street. He also had a farm on the East Side, adjoining that of 
"Aleck" Scott on the north, the Government Road dividing them. 

In 1845, Meacham and nine others met in one of the log cabins 
and organized what is now the First Methodist Church. Services 
were held in the cabins of the society members. What they lacked 
in numbers, they made up in zeal and enthusiasm. Reverend Ezra 
Rathbun, a very talented man, who worked on week days, at what- 
ever he could get to do, did the preaching for them. 

At the termination of the treaty with the Indians, the Govern- 
ment withheld a tract four miles square around The Fort, and in 
January, 1846, Congress ceded to Polk County one hundred and 
sixty acres of the four miles square, for a County Seat, an act which 
has not a duplicate in the records of Congress. 

Perry L. Crossman, Clerk of the District Court, was ordered 
to divide the county into voting precincts, and make the necessary 
arrangements for an election, April Sixth, 1846, to elect county 
officers, for organizing the county, to hold office until the regular 
election in August. At the April election, Meacham was elected as 
a member of the Board of County Commissioners, and by that 
board, its Chairman. He was also one of the Judges of Election 
for Des Moines Precinct. 

During the year 1846 occurred the notable contest for location 
of the County Seat, in which Brooklyn, Lafayette, Polk City, and 
other ambitious settlements were contestants, which has already 
been set forth in these reminiscences. 

In June, 1846, Meacham and Saylor, as County Commission- 
ers, met to adopt measures to survey the one hundred and sixty 
acres, and for the sale of town lots. It was ordered that A. D. 
Jones, County Surveyor, proceed at once to survey and lay out the 
town, and that sale of the town lots at auction be held July Fif- 
teenth, the lots to be sold for payment at six, twelve and eighteen 
months. 

Jones at once made the survey. As he had no chain, he used a 
rope, which must have got wet and shrunk, for when he had finished 
the plat, he found that there was considerable shortage. On the 
Eighth of July, he certified to the Commissioners that he had made 
the survey, and filed a plat of the town . It is known in all legal 



248 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

conveyances as the "Original Town." It was bounded on the south 
by Elm, east by Des Moines River, north by Locust Street, and 
west by Eighth Street. 

At the public sale of lots, on the Fifteenth of July, the first pay- 
ments received were sufficient to furnish quite a fund for public 
use. But one lot was sold for spot cash, twenty-seven dollars and 
a half, it being one of the lots now occupied by Green's foundry, on 
Second Street. The lots at the northeast corner of Third Street 
and Court Avenue, where the Sherman Block is, sold for thirty-five 
dollars; northeast corner of Third and Walnut streets, eighteen 
dollars ; southeast corner of Fifth Street and Court Avenue, oppo- 
site the Postoffice, fifty-two dollars, purchased for investment, there 
being no business demand west of Third Street ; southwest corner 
of Second Street and Court Avenue, thirty dollars; northeast cor- 
ner Second and Market streets, one hundred and six dollars. 

The entire Block Thirty-seven, at The Point, near 'Coon bridge, 
was once sold for eight hundred and sixty-three dollars, and lot Six, 
next to the southeast corner of the block, soon after sold for one 
hundred and seventy-five dollars. The same year, the corner of 
Eighth and Locusts streets sold for twenty-five dollars, these being 
the extreme points of lot buying. 

The corner occupied by The Register and Leader was sold for 
thirty-seven dollars, the lot adjoining east for thirty-five dollars, 
and in 1866, it was .sold for eight thousand four hundred and fifty 
dollars. 

In 1847, the lots where the new Postoffice is to stand were sold 
for sixty-five dollars. They were sold last year, as the Postoffice 
site, for fifty thousand dollars, spot cash. 

In July, 1850, lot Five, in block Fourteen, sold for thirty dol* 
lars. It and lot Five adjoining were valued for assessment at one 
hundred and twenty-two dollars. On these lots is the Youngerman 
Block, corner of Fifth and Mulberry streets. I have been told 
Youngerman paid for them twenty thousand dollars. I was offered 
them in 1866 for two thousand dollars. 

At the election in October, 1847, the boundaries as described on 
the plat were adopted, and in April of that year, the newly-elected 
County Commissioners authorized Mr. McKay, the County Agent, 



WILLIAM H. MEACHAM 249 

to sell all the "houses, rails, and all other property belonging to the 
county, at auction," and the sale was made, but it was soon discov- 
ered that the County Commissioners had been selling lots and prop- 
erty to which they had no title. Robert A. Kinzie held a claim 
granted by Captain Allen, Commander of The Fort, commencing 
at the mouth of 'Coon River, thence up Des Moines River half a 
mile to an oak tree, thence west half a mile to an oak tree, thence 
south to an elm tree, thence southeast to 'Coon River, containing 
about one-half section of land, with all the building and improve- 
ments thereon. 

Doctor P. B. Fagen also held a claim for a quarter section, 
which also lay within the platted town. It was, therefore, neces- 
sary for the county to secure title to these claims, which was done 
by Kinzie giving a quit-claim deed in consideration of the sum of 
five hundred dollars, and Fagen likewise for three hundred dollars, 
which evidences the sense of exact justice which prompted the 
founders of the town, for they could have made much more money 
by holding on a few years. 

At the second term of the District Court, in September, 1846, 
Meacham was one of the Grand Jury. There was a large docket 
of cases before it, but no indictments were found, and the defend- 
ants were all dismissed. 

In 1847, I think, Meacham was olected Justice of the Peace. 
The magistrates in those days were not presumed to be versed in 
ethics of law, and, moreover, the income was not very attractive. 
They were usually selected for their good judgment and common- 
sense, and the office was accepted more as a matter of public spirit, 
and some honor, than otherwise. The records of their proceedings 
were often humorous. An instance is a case to establish the owner- 
ship of a certain steer. The Esquire's record says : 

"I turned to the plaintiff's wife and asked if the steer in ques- 
tion had any white on its tail, and she answered, 'No,' whereupon 
the steer in question was produced, and, being examined, it was 
found there were white hairs in the end of its tail. Judgment was 
therefore rendered for defendant and two dollars and twenty-five 
cents costs, and the steer delivered to defendant." 

Meacham held the office for several years, became a terror to 
horse thieves and claim jumpers, and was noted for his zeal and 



250 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

courage in running them down and driving them out of the country. 
He finally became a monomaniac on the subject. In the excite- 
ment of some occasions, his old "sea-dog" habits got the better of 
him, and he would swear vigorously, which he subsequently would 
reproachfully confess. There were a lot of general marauders in 
Camp Township, known as the Ridgeway Gang, suspected of horse 
stealing, and even worse crimes. One.of them, named Kesner, had 
a bad reputation and was handy with a gun. Meacham went after 
him once. Fully arming himself for an emergency, he went to the 
fellow's house, quickly opened the door, and went in. Kesner saw 
him, knew what was coming, and reached for his gun, when Mea- 
cham leveled his gun on him, commanded him to throw up his 
hands, or he would be a dead man quick, emphasizing it with a 
volley of vigorous swear words, and Kesner surrendered without 
resistance. 

On another occasion, a most brutal murder had been committed 
near the Poweshiek County line. The whole country was aroused. 
The Ridgeway Gang was suspected of being parties to it. Mea- 
cham, with an armed posse, arrested Ridgeway and a son-in-law 
and brought them to the Sheriff's office, but, there not being suffi- 
cient evidence to hold them, they were released. Ridgeway then 
had Meacham arrested for false imprisonment, but public senti- 
ment was so strong against the gang that he was released. Ridge- 
way's testimony in the case, however, was so crooked that he was 
arrested for perjury and brought before Will Porter, then a Justice 
of the Peace, and bound over to the Grand Jury. It was decided 
to accept no one on the appearance bond but some of the suspected 
Gang, and when the time came for further hearing, the whole Gang 
and their families had left the country. In the meantime, however, 
one of the Gang had been captured by a Vigilance Committee and 
left hanging to a tree in Poweshiek County. 

In 1847, lumber was scarce. There was no saw mill nearer than 
Parmelee's mill, ten miles down the river. Meacham put in opera- 
tion a circular saw, near the east side of the river, between Locust 
and Walnut streets, with which he turned out about two thousand 
feet of lumber a day, in fair weather, for it stood in open air, and 
was propelled by six horses. The logs were cut from the dense 



WILLIAM H. MEACHAM 251 

timber just north of Locust Street. It was the first mill started in 
the town, and was a valuable enterprise. 

"Father Meacham" was a good man, active and helpful in pro- 
moting the welfare of the community. He had a good wife, and 
this is how he got her. He was driving along the road one day, 
down near Iowaville, and met a very comely appearing woman 
walking on the roadside. He halted and accosted her : 

"Are you a married woman ?" 

"No, sir," was the reply. 

"Then you are the woman I have been looking for. Will you 
marry me?" 

After a moment's consideration, she said, "Yes." 

It must have been so, for he often related it, and she never 
denied it. 

In 1859, I think, his physical system broke down and he went 
to his rest. 

March Twelfth, 1905. 




JAMES CALLANAN 



JAMES CALLANAN 

ONE of the most notable personages identified with the history 
of Des Moines for fifty years was James Callanan. Per- 
sonally, he was known only by a few ; yet he was an impor- 
tant factor in the body politic. His life was a dual one. In one, 
to the masses, he was a business man and financier, whose sole pur- 
pose was to acquire wealth ; yet it was to secure means to gratify 
his other self, in the dispensation of practical philanthropy; to 
reach out for the want, privation, and misery which environ the 
poor and oppressed ; to the abuses of dumb animals, imposed by the 
heartlessness of others. It was this side of his life that was little 
known, and yet it subordinated his other side. He did not carry his 
heart upon his sleeve. His right hand little knew what his left 
hand did. Ostentation had no place in a fiber of his being. He 
shrunk with extreme timidity from public notice. To the inquisi- 
tions of newspaper reporters he was, always in a kindly manner, a 
sealed book. He lived very largely within himself. He had no 
confidants. 

In business transactions, he was methodical, exacting and spe- 
cific. Every agreement must be fulfilled to the very letter, often 
with great sacrifice and difficulty to those with whom he was deal- 
ing. For that reason, he was very generally considered a sort of 
Shylock — too exacting of the "pound of flesh." But it was not 
uncommon for him, when he found the case was worthy of his 
beneficence, to cancel the obligation, and destroy the contract, with 
the admonition to the recipient to say nothing about it. In that 
way, thousands of dollars were given to worthy persons struggling 
against the misfortunes of life. 

Under the first Constitution of the state, the issue of banknotes, 
or "the creating of paper to circulate as money," was prohibited. 
That left the door wide open for banks in other states, and Iowa 
became the dumping-place for their notes. In 1855-6, the rush for 

253 



254 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

land purchases developed a large number of banks, whose business 
was largely, if not wholly, that of buying land, or furnishing set- 
tlers with money to purchase land. Speculation was rampant, and 
much of the money in circulation was of doubtful character and 
genealogy. 

In 1854, one Andrew J. Stevens was elected State Auditor. He 
served one year and resigned, when he went into the real estate 
business. Being a man of considerable publicity, he at once became 
prominent in land speculation, to facilitate which he needed a bank. 
He induced Callanan and S. R. Ingham, residents of New York, 
to join him, and the banking firm of A. J. Stevens & Company was 
started. Down in an obscure place in Tennessee, he bought the 
charter of the Agricultural Bank of Tennessee, loaded himself with 
its beautifully engraved notes, and immediately began to unload 
them on the community. It was "easy come, easy go." Having 
the prestige of being a local institution, he was enabled to loan it 
in large blocks, to land-buyers and speculators, taking their indi- 
vidual promissory notes therefor, with an agreement that he would 
redeem his banknote when presented at his bank. It was one of the 
wildest "wild-cat," kiting systems. In 1857, it went down in the 
financial crash, and thousands of his banknotes are still waiting 
their redemption. 

Callanan and Ingham repudiated Stevens and his business 
methods, ousted him from the company, and turned their attention 
to real estate and legitimate banking, Ingham becoming the resident 
member of the firm. In 1863, the partnership was dissolved, and 
Callanan found it necessary to come to Des Moines and give per- 
sonal supervision to his investments, made when on frequent visits 
here, in 1856-7. 

During the hard times of 1856-7, and the War period, Eastern 
speculators and others, who had purchased land and town lots, 
found it often impossible to sell enough of their holdings to pay 
their taxes, which were allowed to lapse, became delinquent, and 
the land was sold for the taxes. Callanan invested extensively at 
these sales, with immense profit to himself, as there were very few 
redemptions of this property. 



JAMES CALLANAN 255 

It was during the formative period of the town. Being a large 
property holder, he took great interest in public affairs. Of excel- 
lent business capacity, conservative and cautious, his counsel and 
aid was often sought — seldom, if ever, proffered — and so he was 
an important factor in the betterment of civic, business and social 
matters. 

In 1865, he, with Frank Allen, Frank Palmer, and E. J. Inger- 
soll, organized the Hawkeye Insurance Company. He was a heavy 
stockholder, and one of the directors. 

For several years it was simply a partnership. He had no 
faith in the "manifest destiny" sentiment which pertained among 
the people — that "all roads led to the Capital of the state; that 
all things must, perforce, come to it." He believed that communi- 
ties, like individuals, to win success, must go after it. He dis- 
agreed with the policy which had spurned the proffer of the Chi- 
cago and Northwestern Railway to come to the city on very reason- 
able terms, and practically forced it to seek a route to Missouri 
River elsewhere. 

For twenty years the people had anxiously waited the coming 
of railroads. The old Missouri and Mississippi Road had crept 
slowly westward to Marengo, where it stopped, and went into the 
Bankruptcy Court. The Des Moines Valley Road got as far as 
Pella and halted from sheer impecuniosity. With expectations 
blasted, hope crushed by repeated disappointments, Callanan, 
"Jeff" Polk, Ex-Governor Merrill, and a few others began an agi- 
tation to create public sentiment in favor of narrow-gauge roads 
radiating in various directions, and in February, 1866, a mass 
meeting of citizens was held in the Court House, at which the con- 
sensus of expressed opinion was that such roads would be not only 
helpful to the town, but beneficial to the territory traversed by 
them. In accordance therewith, the Iowa and Minnesota Railway 
Company was organized, to build a narrow-gauge road from Des 
Moines to the north and south line of the state. Work was begun 
on a portion of the line north of Polk City and in Warren County. 
With limited finances, the company struggled along for two years, 
when creditors began to harass it with court judgments to such 
extent it was obliged to suspend. The road was bisected, the north 



256 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

half was transferred to the Des Moines and Minnesota Railroad 
Company, which practically meant Polk & Hubbell. The south 
half was transferred to the Des Moines, Indianola and Missouri 
Railway Company. 

In 1870, the company controlling the north half adopted mea- 
sures to secure tax aid from townships along the proposed line to 
Ames. Subsidies to the amount of one hundred and eighty thou- 
sand dollars were thus secured and tendered to the Chicago and 
Northwestern to build the road. For two years the Northwestern 
dallied with the proposition. "Manifest destiny" of the Capital 
,had no allurements for it. It had reached Missouri River. Polk 
& Hubbell got tired of the dallying, and the local company resolved 
to build the road. Callanan was induced to take hold of the project. 
A reorganization was made, and new officers were elected. During 
that year, the road was built to Ames. It was during the "Granger" 
or "Patrons of Husbandry" excitement, and to curry a little favor 
with the dominant fad, the first locomotive on the road was named 
"The Granger." 

Soon after construction was begun, citizens of townships which 
had voted aid began to harass the company with court injunctions 
and the right-of-way was nearly plastered with them, thus involv- 
ing the company in vexatious litigation and expenditures of money 
which seriously embarrassed its financial affairs. 

The wrangles, turmoil and tribulation of the project satisfied 
Callanan with railroad building, and he withdrew from the busi- 
ness. That, I think, was the only public industrial enterprise he 
ever took any part in, and it was his intense interest in the improve- 
ment of the city that prompted him in that instance. In 1879, the 
road was transferred to the Chicago and Northwestern, and was 
changed to the standard gauge. 

Callanan's excellent judgment, conservative temperament, and 
long experience was often sought by leading financial institutions 
of the city. He was for many years Treasurer of the Hawkeye 
Insurance Company, and at his decease President of the Capital 
City Bank, Vice-President of the Citizens National Bank, and a 
Director of the Valley National Bank. 

In 1872, Callanan, with several other citizens, organized the 
Iowa Loan and Trust Company, with a capital of one hundred 



JAMES CALLANAN" 257 

thousand dollars, and erected the fine building it now occupies, on 
the spot where stood the original meeting-house of the First Metho- 
dist Church, and was once the starting point from which the 
Indians ran their races, to a point where the Water Works now are. 
The business of the company was to loan money on real estate 
security, and promote building enterprises. Callanan was a heavy 
stockholder and one of the Trustees. In that building, of the scores 
of finely equipped office suites, he selected one isolated room in the 
southwest corner, on the third floor, where, in accordance with his 
plain, simple taste, he handled business transactions amounting to 
millions, amid furniture and fixtures which will probably not add 
more than fifteen dollars to the value of his estate. 

In 1878, it became quite apparent that something must be done 
to get the city out of the mud which at certain seasons of the year 
rendered the streets nearly impassable. Some of them had been 
graded; none paved. They were simply dirt roads. It was not 
uncommon to see wagons hub deep in mud or the wheels carrying 
fifty to a hundred pounds of sticky clay, or to see teams stuck fast. 
The humanitarian spirit of Callanan, his sympathy for dumb ani- 
mals struggling up steep grades, often under the lash of brutal 
drivers, prompted him to suggest and advocate a system of paving 
and sewering. S. A. Robertson, being then in the City Council, 
took the subject up, and succeeded, after most persistent efforts, in 
securing the adoption of the system which we have to-day. 

In 1879, the subject of facilities for the higher education of 
girls than was afforded by the public schools, attracted public atten- 
tion. For boys, colleges and seminaries were numerous, but for 
girls, they were few and far away. A company was formed of a 
few public-spirited citizens, who pledged liberal support to a school 
adapted to that end. That was Callanan's opportunity to work out 
one of his manifold public benefactions. Although he had no chil- 
dren to inspire him, he became enthusiastic on the subject, and 
assumed the burden of the whole project. He purchased the elegant 
residence of J. B. Stewart, on Pleasant Street, remodeled it, added 
more to it, fitted and equipped it in luxurious manner to accommo- 
date two hundred and fifty pupils, at a cost of eighty thousand 
dollars. He had then laid the foundation for another benefaction. 

Vol. I— (17). 



258 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

In his boyhood days, he attended a seminary in Cazenovia, New 
York. Among the teachers was Reverend C. R. Pomeroy and his 
wife, whom he regarded as his ideals for the management of his 
new enterprise. He brought them here, and installed them as the 
head of Callanan College, a name awarded to it by universal assent. 
The school nourished with success for several years, but such was 
the rapid advancement of educational facilities in the public schools 
and the establishment of other colleges, it finally closed. Subse- 
quently, he leased one of the buildings, to be used as the Musical 
Department of Drake University. The other, in 1896, he gave the 
use of to an association of charitable women, for a Home for Aged 
Christian Women, and it was so occupied for several years, when 
another location was selected, and the scope of the institution was 
enlarged to embrace the aged and infirm of both sexes, which is now 
the Home for the Aged, located on University Avenue. 

In 1881, Callanan, with James C. Savery, formed the American 
Emigrant Company. They purchased so-called swamp lands — 
land which had been thrown out by the Government Surveyors 
when surveying the public lands as of doubtful utility for farm 
purposes, and considered valueless. These lands were purchased 
all over the state and sold to emigrants and actual settlers at low 
prices, thus, while bringing wealth to the company, it added largely 
to the population and industrial wealth of the state, for the lands 
proved to be valuable for farm purposes. Polk County's second 
Court House was partly built and her Poor Farm was purchased 
with proceeds from the sale of swamp lands, which now command 
a high price as well-cultivated farms. 

In 1900, the Methodist people of the state began a movement 
for the establishment of a hospital. The Methodist Hospital Asso- 
ciation was formed, and Callanan was appealed to for aid in the 
enterprise. He heartily approved the movement and offered the 
two college buildings and ground on Pleasant Street, which had 
cost him eighty thousand dollars, at a valuation of sixty thousand 
dollars, for thirty thousand dollars. The proffer was accepted, 
and the property was deeded to the Association. The remodeling 
of the building was at once commenced. Callanan had great con- 
fidence in the lay members of the Hospital Association, as he had 



JAMES CALLANAN 259 

also deep interest in the institution, and two years ago gave the 
Association thirty thousand dollars cash, conditioned that he be 
paid semi-annually six hundred dollars during his lifetime. The 
annuities were paid promptly — three of them — when he passed 
away. He was solicited to permit the hospital to bear his name, 
but he refused. 

One of the directors of the Association, who was an intimate 
friend of his, and who probably knew the humanitarian side of his 
life as well as any other person, said to me : 

"I held him in higher regard than any layman I ever knew, as 
being, in a high and good sense, the greatest and best man Iowa has 
produced. While there have been in public life men who have suc- 
ceeded in public careers, men of greater minds, none had the great 
brain and kindly heart which he possessed, and so I regarded him 
as the peer of them all." 

The hospital is now practically completed, a magnificent fire- 
proof structure, equipped with the best and most approved appli- 
ances, and has a capacity to care for three thousand persons annu- 
ally, regardless of nationality, religion or color — a notable public 
improvement, and a credit to the public-spirited members of the 
Association who planned and secured it. 

While Callanan was public-spirited and always interested in 
civic affairs, it is to the humanitarian side of his life the city is 
most indebted. I have stated that he invested extensively in tax 
titles by purchasing land sold for delinquent taxes. In numerous 
instances, where he found on examination — it was never in his 
heart to do wrong to any person — that the delinquency was caused 
by some misfortune, that the owner of the property was honest, 
temperate and industrious, possibly a widow struggling against 
poverty with a family of small children, to give them his deed to 
the property and throw in the taxes, with the request to say nothing 
about it. 

I recall an instance of a promising young man, whose physical 
system had become seriously impaired. He applied to Callanan 
for assistance to procure medical aid. He was loaned money, for 
which he gave his promissory note. He was sent to a hospital in 
Chicago, his expenses paid, and on his return his note was surren- 
dered to him. 



260 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

The poor people, regardless of race or color, and dumb animals, 
and the amelioration of their condition, were constant objects of 
his thought and studied effort. When the storms of Winter came, 
"What will become of them?" worried him, and in many untold 
ways he brought relief to poverty-stricken houses, and rescue to 
dumb animals. Said L. M. Mann to me a few days ago : "I went 
one morning to his office, and he seemed greatly depressed, and not 
in good spirits. He said to me: 'I was greatly troubled all last 
night ; could not sleep, for all through the day yesterday, through 
the Humane Society, there was poured into my ears tales of suffer- 
ing and want of poor people, dumb animals poorly fed, unshod 
horses falling when forced to draw heavy loads over the slippery 
streets, or being cruelly beaten by their drivers.' " 

So it was, naturally, that when the Des Moines Humane Society 
was organized, he was made its President, and so continued to his 
death. It was the special object of his support and care. No limit 
was put upon its benefactions, except that of reason and good judg- 
ment. Whatever was required or necessary must be provided, and 
the means thereto were furnished while he lived, and in his last 
will and testament he gave the Society twenty thousand dollars, 
conditioned that Mrs. Elizabeth D. Jones be retained as Secretary 
during her life, and that she be paid an annual salary of eight hun- 
dred dollars out of the bequest. A further sum of fifty thousand 
dollars was given for general charitable purposes. He was prouder 
of being President of the Humane Society than of the places held 
in banks or financial institutions, or of all his stocks and bonds, for 
through it he could help the helpless. 

He was especially fond of children. The number of friendless 
boys and girls who have received his generous help will never be 
known. 

He was not a churchman, but to churches of all denominations 
he was a liberal giver. 

He was a friend of the colored race, and embraced every oppor- 
tunity to improve its condition, through churches and schools. 
From 1866 to 1870, H. S. De Forrest, D. D., was pastor of Plym- 
outh Congregational Church, in Des Moines. During his pastorate, 
he and Callanan became firm friends. After the close of his pastor- 
ate, De Forrest went to Talladega, Alabama, where, in 1879, he 



JAMES CALLAHAN 261 

was elected President of a flourishing industrial school for the 
negro race. Callanan and Ex-Governor Samuel Merrill purchased 
a fine, large mansion and presented it to the College for a home for 
De Forrest, who occupied it until 1896, when he was accidentally 
killed. Callanan's great interest in the college prompted his 
munificent bequest of one hundred thousand dollars in his will. 

To Des Moines Benedict Home for Unfortunate Girls he gave 
ten thousand dollars ; to the Salvation Army, twenty thousand dol- 
lars; to Des Moines College, five thousand dollars; to the Iowa 
Humane Society, fifty thousand dollars. 

March Nineteenth, 1905. 




CHARLES WEITZ 



CHARLES WEITZ 

1 CANNOT avoid mention in these reminiscences of old-timers 
of friend Weitz, who, from his genial nature, good humor, and 

sociability, was known as "Charley" by everybody here in the 
early days. 

He was born in Schotten, Germany, about thirty miles from 
the city of Frankfort, in Hesse-Darmstadt, May Fourth, 1826. 
His father, Heinrich Weitz, was born in the same locality, and 
spent his entire life there. The son, Charles, one of four children, 
attended school until he was fourteen years of age, and was then 
apprenticed to a cabinet-maker, with whom he remained for two 
years. At the termination of this apprenticeship, he took his future 
entirely in his own hands, and started out full of ambition and 
vigor, to increase his knowledge by visiting most of the large cities 
in Germany, France, and Switzerland. He not only added this to 
his equipment for success in his chosen vocation, but also developed 
a broader mental culture, an ambition characteristic of his entire 
life. He learned to speak French and English as fluently as he did 
his native tongue. In 1847, he was drafted into the army, and 
served two years during the War of 1848. In 1850, he determined 
to visit the New World, so in the Spring of that year, he and his 
brother, Christian, sailed for New York. There he remained but 
a short time, coming west to Ashland, then to Columbus, Ohio, 
where he began to work at his trade in earnest. A chance news- 
paper item caught his eye, telling of the removal of the Capital 
of Iowa from Iowa City to Des Moines. He concluded that the 
Capital of Iowa would be a good place to plant himself and grow 
up with the country. Accordingly, he sailed into Des Moines, early 
in 1855, in a prairie schooner, propelled by two mules, so he says, 
crossing Des Moines River on "Aleck" Scott's flat-boat, there being 
no bridges. His first move was to find a place to live. Houses 
were scarce, and most of them contained two or more families. 

263 



264 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

Being a carpenter, he decided to build a house for himself, and 
meanwhile domiciled as best he could. He purchased a lot on the 
corner of what is now Eighth and Pleasant streets, for which he 
paid five hundred dollars, a big price at that time for so isolated a 
spot, but he wanted to live in the shadow of the State House, which 
was to be placed on Grimmel's Hill. He didn't know the East 
Siders as well as he does now. 

The lot secured, the next move was for lumber, of which there 
was none in the town. He went down the river several miles, 
selected and bought trees, had them cut down, sawed into lumber at 
Newcomer's mill, hauled it here, and built a small one-story house 
of two rooms. He had got it enclosed when, about the middle of 
May, Dan Vieser, a cabinet-maker, well known in early days, made 
his appearance in search of a job and place to live. So soon as he 
got across the river, he accosted the first man he met, which was 
down near Second Street, with: 

"Can you tell me where 'Charley' Weitz lives ?" 

"Do you see that small new house away out yonder in the grubs, 
on the side hill ? That's his house," was the answer. 

Dan. was not long in reaching it, and making known to "Char- 
ley" his wants. 

Early settlers were hospitable and kind. There was not much 
refinement, but there was generosity, good fellowship, and com- 
munity of interest which prompted them to help each other. So 
"Charley" offered Dan and his wife half of his house, and to feed 
them until they could get a better place. 

There being no machinery here for making what is called 
"matched flooring," loose boards were laid to set the stove on, a few 
others on which to set a dry goods box, used for a table, also for a 
cupboard, which, when the meal was over, was pushed into a corner 
and the boards shifted about to set the bed on. Seats were impro- 
vised from whatever was handy. The walls were not plastered. 
The lumber was green and filled with sap. It so shrunk in drying 
that when the Winter storms came, the snow drifted in, so that it 
was often necessary to turn out in the night and move the bed and 
the floor, repeating the process if the wind shifted, or sleep under 
a snow-drift. One night, Dan. turned out, stepped on the loose 
end of a board, which tipped up, landing him in the cellar. 



CHARLES WEITZ 265 

In due time, came an increase in "Charley's" family, and more 
space was required. The small house was removed, and a larger 
one, of two stories, erected to accommodate his seven kids. It was 
sufficient for several years, but was removed and the present elegant 
and modern residence erected. 

"Charley's" second objective point after landing was bread and 
butter. His first job was putting the windows in the basement of 
the Savery House (now the Kirkwood), which the genial host of 
that hostelry may be pleased to know was first used for cutting, 
curing and packing pork. 

"Charley" had difficulty in getting work to do. For some reason, 
the bosses would not employ him. He therefore decided to be his 
own boss. His first contract was to build a drug store down near 
'Coon Point, on Second Street. It was built, with all its inside 
fittings, of black walnut lumber. He thus became the first building 
contractor in the town. His merit as a mechanic, integrity and 
good fellowship soon secured him abundant business, and for many 
years he has been one of the largest contractors in the city. 

Among the most notable buildings to his credit that I can recall 
are the Catholic Church, on Sixth Avenue, in 1856, where the Pit- 
cairn Block now is; the German Catholic Church, on Second 
Street; the Hawthorne School building (now Olive McHenry), 
Seventeenth and Crocker streets; Garfield School building, on 
Third Street; Valley National Bank; the original Good Block; 
Bollins Block; Masonic Temple; Des Moines National Bank; 
Younker's store and Harris-Emery Company's store, on Walnut 
Street ; the hospital at the County Poor Earm ; Kratzer Carriage 
Works; Brown-Hurley six-story building, on First Street; J. I. 
Case farm implement building ; Schmitt & Henry Furniture Fac- 
tory, and the Fair Grounds Stock Pavilion, and residences by the 
hundreds. 

During the first five years, though there was great demand for 
building, money was scarce, and that in circulation was mostly of 
the Eastern, "red-dog" variety, and Stevens' Agricultural Bank of 
Tennessee, a villainous "wild-cat," which went bankrupt in 1857, 
leaving "Charley" to hold its notes for a large amount. 

Nearly all business was done on credit. Mechanics of all kinds 
were paid in orders on stores, which they were glad to get. In 



266 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

1859, "Charley" employed ten men, who, with himself, worked the 
whole year, for which he only received in cash, four dollars. 

But living expenses were cheap then. A good carpenter got a 
dollar and a half a day — the days were longer than they are now. 
Pork spare ribs were two cents per pound ; hogs, seventy-five cents 
per hundred pounds. A good two-hundred-pound hog could be 
bought for two dollars and a half. The rivers abounded with fish, 
and the country with wild game. The staple food was corn meal, 
pork and bacon. The good housewife's pastry exploiting was lim- 
ited to dried-apple pies, except in the season of wild berries and 
crab-apples. Everybody lived within his means, was independent, 
and happy. 

As the years passed, "Charley's" business increased. He also 
invested in town lots, and became interested in civic affairs. His 
jolly temperament, honesty and strict integrity won him promi- 
nence in business circles. For many years, he has been a stock- 
holder and Director of the Valley National Bank and Valley Sav- 
ings Bank; also a stockholder of the German Savings Bank, of 
which he is the President. 

During the scrimmage between the East and West sides over 
the location of the State House, in 1856, he was a West Sider, 
firmly believing the State House would be placed on Grimmel's 
Hill, and thus he had selected his lot for a home; but you could 
not buy it to-day for twenty thousand dollars. 

In 1857, when the Lutheran Church, of which he and his family 
are active members, made an effort to establish a denominational 
college here, he was a liberal subscriber to the building fund, 
always taking great interest in educational affairs. 

When the Civil War broke out, and regiments were being organ- 
ized here, General Williamson appointed him to drill several com- 
panies of recruits. His experience gained in the German Army 
made his services especially valuable in putting the boys through 
their stunts. He knew more military tactics than the Colonels and 
other shoulder-strappers. 

In 1886, he was induced to run for Alderman-at-Large in the 
City Council. He was elected and served two terms, which satis- 
fied him with public office-holding. Though a Democrat, in a 



CHARLES WEITZ 267 

strong Eepublican community, the property holders wanted the 
benefit of his common-sense and good judgment at a time when 
extensive public improvements were before the people. In the 
anxiety and haste to get out of the mud, the city had, a few years 
prior, paved several streets with cedar blocks, which made a very 
smooth roadway, pleasing to the eye, but deceptive to traffic. They 
soon became defective, rotted at the bottom from accumulated mois- 
ture, and emitted an unhealthful, obnoxious gas, compared with 
which the perfume of rotten eggs was delectable. It was evident 
that a more durable material must be substituted. The develop- 
ment of the brick industry had produced a hard-bumed brick, and 
"Charley," in his practical way, took up the subject with the City 
Council and suggested the use of such brick for street paving. It 
was adopted, since when cedar blocks have become a putrid remi- 
niscence . The last of them, on East Seventh Street, having become 
so rotten as to be impassable, were removed a year ago. 

In May, 1904, at the age of eighty-one, "Charley" turned over 
his business to his sons and decided to spend the remainder of his 
days on Easy Street, and enjoy the fruition of his good works in 
the town he had helped so conspicuously to build. 

In looking over its records recently, Jonathan Lodge, Number 
One Hundred and Thirty-seven, Independent Order of Odd Fel- 
lows, discovered the fact that its oldest member, Charles Weitz, 
had been loyal to the lodge for fifty years. A half century of lodge 
loyalty merited some appropriate reward, so it was proposed that 
the lodge celebrate the event in fitting manner. 

On the evening of October Sixth, 1856, "Charley" was initiated 
into the Order of Odd Fellows, in Fort Des Moines Lodge Number 
Twenty-five, and remained with that lodge until he organized the 
German lodge, Jonathan, Number One Hundred and Thirty-seven, 
of which he is now the only living charter member. 

His efforts for the fostering and preserving of German thought, 
culture and refinement were so constant and so successful that the 
lodge, in remembering the anniversary, voted to honor him with 
the most elegant jewel that could be secured by them. The jewel 
was authorized by the Grand Master of the Sovereign Grand Lodge, 
and was made in Baltimore. It is the most elegant medal ever 



268 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

made for a lodge celebration, and is enclosed in a beautiful case. 
Owing to "Charley's" feeble health, the ceremonies could not be 
held in the hall, with a joint meeting of the two lodges, as was 
planned, but was conducted by a committee of members at the com- 
odious residence on Eighth and Pleasant streets. In a touching 
and appropriate speech, Colonel Eiboeck presented the medal and 
expressed the respect and regards of both lodges. "Charley" was 
most happy in accepting the medal, and with his hearty thanks 
expressed a hope that he would yet be able to attend another meet- 
ing at the lodge room. 

The shadows of the coming night are gathering about him, and 
he is prepared therefor. His life in Des Moines has been charac- 
terized by sturdiness, honesty, sagacity, integrity, fair dealing in 
all his private and public affairs, zeal in the upbuilding of his 
adopted home by all the means tending to make it one of homes — 
characteristics which have won the most reverent affection of his 
family, honor and respect of his fellow-citizens, and esteem of 
everybody. No pioneer of Des Moines will leave to posterity a 
more notable testimonial of his having lived than will "Charley" 
Weitz.* 

April Second, 1905. 



*Died November Tenth, 1906. 



WILLIAM F. AYERS 

ONE of the earliest settlers at The Fort was William F. Ayers, 
who came in 1845, when the soldiers were here. He was a 
tailor and made clothing for the troopers and early settlers. 
Judge Casady and Barlow Granger say he made better clothing 
than can be got nowadays. It may not have been quite up to the 
Paris fashions, but it was made to wear, and was equal to the 
fashion of the pioneers. 

At the county organization election, on April Sixth, 1846, he 
was elected County Treasurer, to serve until the regular election in 
August following. The treasury was not overburdened at that 
time. It abounded largely in expectations. The county officials 
got no pay for services, for there was no revenue except the fees for 
licenses to keep a grocery, and the sale of lots, a settlement of which 
was made in October, when it was found there was $2,233.59 in the 
treasury, of which one hundred and forty-five dollars was allowed 
as expenses for surveying and platting the original town. The 
taxes assessed that year for the enti/e county amounted to three 
hundred and fourteen dollars and fourteen cents. One man, G. B. 
Clark, made the assessment for the whole county, for which he was 
allowed thirty dollars. 

At that April election, three County Commissioners were elected 
— W. H. Meacham, Benjamin Saylor, and E. W. Fouts — who had 
control of all county affairs. At the second meeting of the Com- 
missioners, in May, they took dinner with Ayers — there were no 
taverns, and they "boarded around," as it were. During the dinner 
hour, they discussed county affairs. The garrison was then known 
as Fort Eaccoon, a name they did not like; it was not dignified 
enough for a town that would be the capital of the state. It would 
be called "Coontown," and its people "Coons." They decided to 
change it to Fort Des Moines, after the larger and more pretentious 
river, and it was so ordered. 

269 



270 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

During the year 1845, it became quite certain the Capital would 
be removed to a more central point in the state. Speculation at 
once arose as to the probable location. Polk County and Fort Des 
Moines were ambitious, and there were others. J. B. Saylor, an 
active, influential man, had started a town about four miles up Des 
Moines River, which he was booming briskly. It bid fair to out- 
rank The Fort, and to this he added the very forceful claim that 
it was the nearest the center of the county — that The Fort was 
away off on one side, an argument that could not be abjured. 
Ayers, wide awake to public affairs and politics, decided to take 
a hand in the game. He went to Oskaloosa, got a surveyor to come 
and make measurements, who found The Fort to be about four 
miles south and east of the county center. Something must be 
done. The possibility of Saylorville must be put beyond perad- 
venture. Judge Casady, who represented the county in the Legis- 
lature, was appealed to. He promptly responded by preparing a 
bill to set off a tier of townships from Jasper County on the east, 
and also from what was to be Warren County on the south, and 
attach them to Polk County. Ayers gathered several friends one 
day into his lumber wagon and took them to Iowa City to help the 
Judge. It was in mid-Winter, the temperature below zero, and it 
was a trip requiring fortitude and public spirit. The bill passed, 
the county was "squared," The Fort was made the "Seat of Jus- 
tice." The sequestration of the strips from Jasper and Warren 
having served its purpose, they were, with legislative magnanimity, 
returned to their original place, and The Fort went on her way 
rejoicing. 

While this movement was going on, William McKay, a lawyer, 
who subsequently became a Judge, received a tip from Iowa City 
that The Fort would be selected as the Seat of Government. He 
took Ayers into his confidence, who at once made a claim for one 
hundred and sixty acres lying west of Eighth Street and south of 
Sycamore (now Grand Avenue), which he was to divide with 
McKay. He went one night, during a severe rainstorm, to blaze 
the trees and set the stakes on the lines of his claim. Perry Cross- 
man, the first County Clerk, disputed the claim, but Ayers cut some 
logs from the timber further west and hauled them to the spot 



WILLIAM F. AYERS 271 

selected for his cabin, about where Teachout's icemaking plant is. 
The following night, Crossman's men came and cut up the logs. 
Avers hauled more logs, put up a tent, and placed his son, Guy, a 
robust lad of sixteen years, who is still on duty in the city, to guard 
it. His only weapon was a hatchet. Crossman's men again appeared 
and pulled down the tent, when Guy, with hatchet in hand, declared 
that the first man who touched a log would get the hatchet. One 
fellow, with a sneer at the boy's bravado, seized a log, and he got 
the hatchet in his thigh, whereupon the gang retired. Crossman 
then sold his claim rights to James Campbell, a well-known doctor 
in the early days. During the contention, the Old Settlers' Asso- 
ciation took a part, for conciliatory purposes, and a compromise 
was made by which Campbell and Ayers each took eighty acres. 
Ayers then sold to Doctor P. B. Fagen two acres of his claim near 
Eighth and Mulberry streets, on which he erected a two-story frame 
dwelling-house, facing south, and it is there now. Ayers fenced, 
with rails split from the cabin logs, twenty acres, and planted them 
with corn. Subsequently, after dividing with McKay, he sold his 
claim rights to Doctor Fagen for nine hundred dollars, and entered 
at the Government Land Office fifty acres, which included Horse- 
shoe Lake, on the bottoms along 'Coon River, a spot which subse- 
quently became historic. 

The second, really the first, County Agricultural Fair was held 
thereon, in October, 1853. For several years, it was used for annual 
Fairs of the Polk County Association and the Central Iowa Dis- 
trict Association, but subsequently passed to the Des Moines Driv- 
ing Park Association, who purchased seventy acres surrounding the 
lake and along the river and fitted them up with a splendid half- 
mile track, amphitheater, floral, fine art and agricultural halls, 
skating rink, buildings, stands, stalls, dwellings, barns, etc., and 
for many years it was the favorite resort for fairs, cattle and horse 
shows, picnics, and other social events. The noted trotting stallion, 
Rarus, once gave an exhibit of his then wonderful speed against 
time in the presence of an immense crowd. His stride of twenty- 
two feet forced him to keep the outside of the track clear around 
the course. The track was in fine condition, and he beat his record 
on a half-mile track. Floods and high water finally caused its 



272 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

abandonment, and now the Chicago Great Western Railroad, and 
the city dump, have buried in oblivion what was once a beautiful 
place. 

In 1847, Ayers was active in organizing what became the Old 
Settlers' Claim Club, whose regulations embodied the idea of giving 
every man a fair deal. There then being no form of local govern- 
ment in existence, the old settlers resolved to become a law unto 
themselves, for protection against claim jumpers, horse thieves, and 
land grabbers, and they governed wisely and well. 

In 1848, with the nine hundred dollars raised from Fagen, 
Ayers purchased seven hundred and twenty acres in Jefferson 
Township, which he greatly improved, and which has been known 
for many years as "Ayers' Grove." 

In 1855, Ayers built his first house. It was a two-story frame, 
and formed a part of what is now the Benedict Home, which was 
built around it. 

In the Fall of 1855, he bought the Griffith & Stanton sawmill, 
on the East Side, and moved it to the west side of Des Moines 
River at the foot of North Street (now University Avenue), he 
owning timber land along the river. It was the first steam circular 
sawmill in the town. Its capacity was four thousand feet per day. 
The logs were cut along the river and floated to the mill. Some- 
times the rafts reached as far as Thompson's Bend. Black Walnut 
lumber was worth three dollars per hundred feet, and a dollar and 
a quarter in the log at the mill. 

In 1856, in the contest between the East and West Side over the 
location of the State House, Ayers was a West Sider. He deemed 
it nonsense to put the Capitol "away off in the country, in the 
woods," and he affirmed his conviction by subscribing five thousand 
dollars to the fund to secure its location on the West Side, but the 
East Siders had something more tangible than paper promises to 
give the locating Commissioners, and got the prize. It was a big 
"scoop." 

In 1856, Scribner & Farnham had a portable steam sawmill 
south of Market Square, on the bottoms, near the 'Coon. The logs 
were cut on the elevation, and rolled down to the mill. 

In 1856, Ayers, with his son Guy, built a large steam flour mill, 
where now is the power house of the Edison Light Company. The 



WILLIAM F. AYERS 273 

boiler and all machinery were brought from Mount Vernon, Ohio. 
Its capacity was three hundred bushels of wheat per day. It cost 
sixteen thousand dollars. The coal used for fuel was tunneled out 
from the bluffs along the river. 

When the mill was ready for business, Guy went over the county 
for wheat. The first contract he made was with a widow named 
Boone, for four hundred bushels for future delivery, at one dollar 
per bushel in gold. She refused to make a written agreement, say- 
ing her word was good enough. Before the season closed, Guy 
paid two dollars per bushel, but the widow delivered her wheat as 
she agreed. That was the way old settlers did business — they had 
faith in one another. 

In 1857 came the hard times. The country was flooded with 
notes of "wild-cat," rotten banks. Gold was scarce. There was no 
silver. Bankruptcy threatened every business. Lot owners could 
not sell enough to pay their taxes. All building stopped. The best 
walnut lumber could not be sold at any price. On the mill prop- 
erty was a mortgage drawing interest at two per cent a month. The 
panic forced a foreclosure of it, with great loss to Ayers, and soon 
after the mill was destroyed by fire. 

Religiously, Ayers was an Episcopalian. He was one of the 
vestrymen of the First Episcopal Church, and held the place many 
years. 

Politically, he was a Whig, and ardent supporter of John C. 
Fremont for President, but during the Kansas Free State contest, 
was opposed to the John Brown-negro-underground-emigration 
scheme, and took no part in it. Though an active politician, he was 
not a place-seeker, the first county treasurership being the only 
public office he held. 

He was a true type of the pioneer of that day. Of kindly, genial 
impulses, honest, public-spirited and progressive, he was prominent 
in public affairs during the formative period of the county and 
town. He died in January, 1867. 

April Ninth, 1905. 



Vol. I— (18). 



DES MOINES-WHAT IT MEANS 

MTJCH has been written as to the origin and meaning of the 
name, "Des Moines." That it is from the French, and 
means "The Monks" is true. That the city was named from 
the river is also true. As there were never any monks in Iowa, it 
is evident the name is a mis-application, or a corruption. The river 
was discovered by Pere Marquette and M. Jollyet, in 1673. 

John Dawson Gilmary Shea (1852), the eminent author of 
"Histories of Catholic Missions Among Indian Tribes," "Explora- 
tions of the Mississippi," "History of the Catholic Church of the 
United States," in his "History of the Life and Explorations of 
Marquette," gives the narrative of Marquette in English, as trans- 
lated by Father Claudius Dablon, Superior of the Mission of the 
Society of Jesuits at Quebec, of which Marquette was a member, 
and also in French, as Marquette wrote it. 

Marquette was commissioned by Frontenac, Governor General 
of New France, as the whole northwest part of North America was 
then called, to explore the Mississippi River. He was also com- 
missioned by his superior, Father Dablon, to establish Missions 
among the Indians. With him went Jollyet, also a Jesuit, and 
member of the Society. They went up Fox River, from Green Bay 
to a village of Miamis, at a point where Portage now is, then 
crossed over to the Wisconsin River, thence down that stream, and 
on the Seventeenth of June floated out into the Mississippi, the first 
white men to see Iowa. In his narrative of the expedition, he says : 

"We set out in two bark canoes, M. Jollyet [so Marquette wrote 
it] and myself and five men, firmly resolved to do all and suffer all 
for so glorious an enterprise. 

"It was on the seventeenth of May, 1673, that we started from 
the Mission at Michilimacinac. 

"We advanced constantly, but as we did not know where we 
were going, having made more than one hundred leagues without 

275 



276 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

having discovered anything but beasts and birds, we kept well on 
our guard. We made only a little fire on the shore at night to pre- 
pare our meals, and after supper kept off shore, passing the night 
in our canoes. 

"Proceeding south and southwest, we find ourselves at forty-one 
degrees north, and then at forty degrees and some minutes, partly 
by southeast and partly by southwest/ after having advanced more 
than sixty leagues without having discovered anything. 

"At last, on June Twenty-fifth, we perceived the footprints of 
men by the water side, and a beaten path entering a prairie. We 
stopped to examine it, and concluded it was a path leading to some 
Indian village. We resolved to go and reconnoiter. We accord- 
ingly left our two canoes in charge of our people, cautioning them 
to beware of a surprise ; then M. Jollyet and I undertook this rather 
hazardous discovery for two single men, who thus put themselves 
at the discretion of an unknown and barbarous people. We fol- 
lowed 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 half a league from the former. We passed on and 
heard the Indians talking. We announced ourselves by a cry with 
all our strength. At this, the Indians rushed out of their cabins, 
and, seeing we were but two, they deputed four old men to come 
and speak with us. Two carried tobacco pipes trimmed with many 
feathers. They were a long time coming a little way. I spoke first, 
and asked who they were. They replied, 'We are Illini.' " 

The narrative then relates their visit with the Indians, who 
received them graciously. After six days, on departing, the head 
chief addressed them, saying : 

"I thank thee, Black Gown, and thee, Frenchman [to Jollyet] 
\Je te remercie Robe noire, et toi Francaise s'addressment a M. 
Jollyet^, for taking so much pains to visit us; never has the earth 
been so beautiful, nor the sun so bright as to-day; never has the 
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 to-day." 

Placing his hand on the head of a little Indian boy, he said : 

"Here is my son, whom I give to you to show you my heart. I 
pray you have pity on me and my nation. It is you who know the 



DES MOINES— WHAT IT MEANS 277 

Great Spirit who made us all. It is you who speak to Him, and 
know His word. Ask Him to give us life and health, and come and 
live with us." 

Marquette promised to return in four months. A big feast fol- 
lowed, at which dog flesh was served, the highest token of esteem 
an Indian could offer. Marquette was presented with an elabor- 
ately ornamented calumet, or peace pipe, which he was told would 
assure him welcome and safety among Indians wherever he went. 

When they departed, six hundred persons went with them to 
their canoes. They then resumed their journey down the river to 
Arkansas River, where they decided to go no farther, but return to 
Canada. On reaching the Rivier des Illini (now Illinois), they 
learned from the Indians of a shorter route. They therefore went 
up the Illini to a point near the Rivier des Plaines, crossed over to 
the latter, thence down the latter to its entrance into Lake Michi- 
gan. They went by slow degrees, visiting Indian villages on the 
way. 

Arriving at the lake, they separated, Marquette to return to his 
mission along the Hurons, and Jollyet to Quebec, to report to the 
Government. Marquette built a cabin at the mouth of the des 
Plaines, established a Mission at Le Vantam, and for a year or 
more preached to the Indians and visited their villages. In May, 
1675, sick from exposure in the swamps and lowlands in that sec- 
tion, with two companions, he started up Lake Michigan for Saint 
Ignace. He soon became prostrated, and a few days later motioned 
to land. A cabin was hastily prepared, a bed of pine boughs made, 
and he was tenderly removed thereto, but he rapidly grew worse, 
and on the Eighteenth passed to his rest. His body was enshrouded 
in birch bark and buried in the sand, near what is now the mouth 
of Marquette River. Two years later, friendly Indians removed 
his remains to Saint Ignace, and in 1877, on the site of the old 
Saint Ignace Mission Church, descendants of French and Indians 
erected a monument in memory of him. 

Jollyet started on his trip to Quebec. When going down Saint 
Lawrence Rapids, his canoe capsized and all its contents were lost, 
together with the little Indian boy, Jollyet barely escaping with 
his life. Subsequently, he made his report of the expedition from 
memory, but it was very incomplete and never given to the public. 



278 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

Other explorers soon followed Marquette and made their reports. 
Meanwhile, Marquette's narrative lay in the archives of Father 
Dablon's college, Frontenac, the Governor of New France, having 
become involved with the Jesuits and Church authorities over the 
sale of liquor to the Indians, the Church opposing it. He sup- 
pressed publication of the narrative, and it would have remained 
in oblivion had not Dablon and Thevenot, a distinguished French 
traveler and author, in 1681, discovered it and arranged for its 
publication. 

A few years later, Canada fell into the hands of England, the 
Jesuits were condemned and ostracised, and the college at Quebec 
ordered closed, but before its close, Father Cazot, desiring to save 
some valuable church records and objects, gathered them together 
and deposited them in Hotel Dieu, a hospital in Quebec, in care of 
nuns not embraced in the edict against the Jesuits, and among them 
was the original narrative of Marquette. In 1852, the narrative 
was delivered by the nuns to Mr. Shea, who says : 

"The manuscript comprised sixty pages, thirty-seven of which 
were a narrative of the voyage down the Mississippi River, from 
the mouth of the Wisconsin River, one leaf to the calumet pre- 
sented to Marquette, all in Marquette's handwriting. There was 
also a map charted by Marquette, on which is shown, in latitude 
about forty, a river. Near its mouth is inscribed two Indian vil- 
lages, one 'Moingowena', the other 'Peoweria.' The distance and 
circumstances give good reason to believe the river is now the Des 
Moines." 

Other explorers and travelers followed Marquette — La Salle, 
1679; Hennepin, 1680; Franquelin, 1688; Charlevoix, 1721; 
Sinex Map of North America, 1710 ; l'Isle Louisiana and Missis- 
sippi Map, 1722 ; all follow the nomenclature of Marquette except 
Franquelin, who wrote it "Moingoana." 

Father Kemper, in his "History of the Catholic Church in 
Iowa," says : 

"In the Spring of the year 1720, the Capuchin, Pere Le Grand, 
drafted for the Capuchin Monastery at Dijon, a terrestrial globe, 
which is now preserved in the public library in Dijon, in France, 
on which the Mississippi, Missouri, Illinois, Des Moines, and Saint 



DES MOINES— WHAT IT MEANS 279 

Peter rivers are plainly marked, and special prominence is given 
to the Des Moines River, which there has the name of 'R. des 
Moingona — River of the Moingonas. From this Indian tribe, the 
present name of the river has its derivation, and not as some have 
presumed, from ( B. des Moines' — River of the Monks. 

"Tradition speaks of the Indian custom, from ages immemorial, 
of using a path from the Des Moines Rapids on the Mississippi 
westward, and the very name of the people of this river has refer- 
ence to this Indian highway, the Moingona, signifying 'The People 
by the Way.' When the early settlers took possession of the land, 
they could yet see plain evidences of this Indian trail leading to 
the Des Moines and beyond it to the west. It must have been at 
some former period a great thoroughfare, as it was worn in many 
places on level ground for miles, six inches in depth." 

In Biddle's revised report of "Lewis and Clark's Expedition," 
is a marginal note saying that "Moingona" is an old word of Algon- 
quin origin; it does not mean "The Monks." 

Adair's "American Indians" gives the word, "Moingona." 

Charlevoix, a noted French traveler, historian, and Jesuit, came 
over from France, stopped at the Kaskaskian Mission nearly two 
years, where he must have learned much of Marquette and his work, 
for, in 1721, he traversed the river from its mouth to its source, 
and in his "History of New France," as all northwestern America 
was then called, he wrote: 

"The Moingona issues from the midst of an immense meadow, 
which swarms with buffalo and other wild beasts. Its course is 
said to be three hundred and fifty leagues in length. It rises from 
a lake. Going up the Moingona, we find great quantities of pit 
coal." 

Nicollet, in his report to the United States Government, explain- 
ing his "Hydrographic Map of the Mississippi Basin," gives the 
name "Moingoana," but says it is a corruption of the Algonquin 
word "Mikoning." 

Winterbottom, in 1795, charted it "Moin;" Bertram's map 
charts it "les Monk." 

Here, then, we have this name given by Marquette, used and 
recognized by explorers, historians, and chartists for more than one 



280 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

hundred and fifty years. They were all Frenchmen, and good 
scholars ; not one says it means "The Monks ;" most of them declare 
it does not. 

Then, what does it mean ? Marquette did not give it. He prob- 
ably would have done so had he not died before completing his 
mission. His report was compiled for the Government from his 
notes by Thevenot, six years after his .death. 

Thirty years ago, I asked the old chief of the remnant of the 
Sauk and Fox tribes at Tama, a man over ninety years old, the 
meaning of the word, and he said he did not know ; it was not his 
language. 

The best source of information now, therefore, is the language 
used by the Indians whom Marquette met. They spoke a dialect 
of the Algonquin. They were descendants of the once noted Mas- 
cotins, or Fire Indians, who dwelt around Lake Michigan and along 
Illinois River. 

Schoolcraft, who traveled and lived with these Indians several 
years, in his "Archives of the Aborigines," Volume Three, gives 
an extensive analysis of the language. He says: 

"It is composed largely of pronouns, confined principally to 
inanimate things ; also cluster words, every one of which is a sen- 
tence or affirmation. A word often is interpreted variously by a 
sign or gesture when spoken." 

His list of key words gives "moin," meaning corn ; "gon," mean- 
ing land or place ; "na," meaning excellent, good, always. From 
this, it is a fair presumption that the word written by Marquette, 
as best he could in French, as spoken by the Indians, is a cluster 
word meaning "a good place to raise corn — to live," and agrees 
with the sentiment expressed by the Indians to Marquette. It is 
not a French word. 

Now, then, how came the change to "Des Moines ?" 

Nicollet explains it by saying that, "The territory west of the 
Mississippi was all under the dominion of Spain, and all traffic 
or trade was that of agents, Spanish and French, of the American 
Fur Company, who traveled up and down the rivers, trading with 
the Indians, and, finding it difficult to speak the word 'Moingona,' 
they clipped it to 'De Mon,' 'De Mong,' etc. The Creoles did the 



DES MOINES— WHAT IT MEANS 281 

same. They now do so. They say, 'Road of the Mons/ meaning 
the road from the head of the lower rapids to the Indian village 
above, so as to avoid the rapids. Early settlers followed the habit." 

This clipping is shown in the treaty with the Sauk and Fox 
Indians as late as 1834, wherein the river is named "Demoin," and 
one tribe is called the "Sok." Sault Saint Marie is clipped to 
"Soo ;" Raccoon River is clipped to " 'Coon," and myriads of 
people do not know what it stands for. 

In 1834, Congress having attached the "Black Hawk Purchase" 
to the Territory of Michigan, for temporary government, the Legis- 
lature of Michigan divided it into two counties ; the south half was 
named after the river, and, with little regard for history, facts or 
tradition, sought to euphonize it by making it pure French, and 
named it "Des Moines." 

Instead, therefore, of perpetuating the Indian name of the river, 
we have a name which has no incident or tradition on which to 
base it, and entirely alien to that given by Marquette, a historical 
fact much regretted. 

April Sixteenth, 1905. 




MAJOR THOMAS CAVANAGH 



MAJOR THOMAS CAVANAGH 

EARLY settlers of Des Moines often recall with pleasure their 
remembrance of Thomas Cavanagh. On Christmas Day, in 
1848, he walked across the Mississippi River at Clinton on 
the ice, and arrived here early in 1849 ; a man about thirty-five 
years old, of large physique, athletic, muscular build, who was for 
many years a model, valued citizen, known to everybody as the 
"Major." He was of that class of pioneers noted for their humility, 
stability, and progressiveness. 

Born of prosperous parents, in Ireland, liberally educated, with 
aesthetic temperament, eminently social nature, refined taste, he, 
with his parents, had passed through the terrible Famine of 1847-8, 
which had invoked the world's charity for relief. When it had 
partially subsided, they determined to come to America, the Land 
of Promise. The "Major" came in advance, bearing letters to 
Judge Casady and R. L. Tidrick, then in law and real estate busi- 
ness. He was received in the kindly, open-hearted manner of the 
pioneers, whose gospel of living was to help one another. Would 
that there were more of that among the present generation. The 
Judge was impressed with his politeness, courteous mien, and 
scrupulous neatness of apparel, for in those days, old settlers did 
not give much attention to fine clothes, and fastidiousness in dress 
was a noticeable distinction. 

The "Major" had some money, which he desired to invest in the 
most remunerative way. The Judge naturally suggested "corner 
lots," he having just purchased a couple at the corner of Fifth and 
Walnut streets, where Clapp's Block now stands. He recommended 
the southeast corner of the same block, at Mulberry Street, where 
the Youngerman Building now is. The "Major" purchased it for 
thirty dollars, and received the first and original deed from the 
County Supervisors, the county having received its title direct from 
Uncle Sam by donation. In 1891, when the corner-stone of the 

283 



284 PIONEEKS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

Youngerman Building was laid, the "Major's" deed was, with other 
articles, deposited therein. He also made several other good invest- 
ments in real estate. 

His parents came soon after, went to an Irish settlement in 
Dallas County, and the "Major" joined them, where he laid out 
and established the town of Eedfield, remaining there five years. 
It was while there he got the title of "Major," which he carried by 
common consent, and his own hearty assent, to the end of his days. 
In his little town was a couple of Southerners, jolly, jovial fellows, 
named Owens and Burns, who were his close chums. Under the 
rule that all Southerners are "Colonels," Owens was dubbed the 
"Colonel," Burns the "Judge" (a title that he afterward actually 
acquired), and Cavanagh the "Major," and the titles stuck. 

At the September Term of the District Court, in 1854, the 
"Major" was admitted to the Bar of Polk County, and the next 
year returned to Des Moines and opened an office as a lawyer, real 
estate broker, and emigrant agent. 

The bibulous Judge McFarland was then on the bench, and one 
day a divorce case was up for a hearing. The Judge had evidently 
been out the night before with agreeable friends. He came into 
court "half seas over," and, after getting into his seat and turning 
over his record, called the case, but before the lawyers had got 
fairly ready to proceed, he had lapsed into somnolence. The first 
witness was asked if he knew the parties to the suit. He replied, 
"Not very well, but they were always fighting and fuddling 
around." 

The Judge aroused himself from his stupor, and mumbled: 
"Fud-dling around and a-r-o-u-n-d. Call the next case." 

Such a spectacle was so abhorrent to the "Major," he seldom 
appeared before that court, and confined himself to his real estate 
business. He at once came into public esteem and favor, for he was 
of that temperament which drew people to him. His extreme 
suavity and courtesy gave him the distinction of being the most 
polite man who ever lived in the city. There was nearly the counter- 
part of him in J. D. Seeberger, the well-known hardware merchant. 
Old-timers would frequently smile when those two, meeting on the 
streets, would tip their hats and side-step to give the right-of-way, 
and the parting bow. 



MAJOR THOMAS CAVANAGH 285 

The "Major" became prominent in social affairs — not the fash- 
ions of society, but in that which pertains to the betterment of 
social life. He was an ardent friend of the Church and School, and 
a strong temperance advocate. In 1856, when Father Plathe was 
striving to build the first Catholic Church, at the corner of Sixth 
and Locust, the "Major" did valiant service, and when, in 1863, 
that grand, good man, Father Brazil, sought to build a larger and 
finer structure on the same spot, at a time when it was harder to 
raise one hundred dollars than it is now one thousand dollars, the 
"Major" canvassed the town with him for funds, and one day they 
ran up against Isaac Brandt, who is known to be a radical hater of 
whiskey. Isaac agreed to subscribe twenty-five dollars, provided — 
he tied a string to it, half hoping it would be refused — that Father 
Brazil should occasionally preach a good temperance sermon to his 
congregation. Both men quickly grasped his hands, and said the 
terms pleased them greatly. Some time after the new edifice was 
dedicated, Isaac thought he would go there one Sunday and hear the 
sermon. The usher gave him a seat well in front, and not far away 
sat the "Major." The house was packed. Whether or not Father 
Brazil knew of his presence, Isaac never learned, but the sermon 
was a most eloquent and scathing one against the evils and wrongs 
of intemperance, in which he made pointed allusion to the habits 
of a well-known man there present, now dead — he might as well 
have given his name — in which he said a man who will get drunk, 
spend his earnings for whiskey, and deprive his wife and children 
of the many things money would bring them, he would refuse to 
give absolution. The sermon had its intended effect. The man 
reformed and became a useful member of the church and the com- 
munity. Isaac has never regretted the investment of that twenty- 
five dollars. 

The principles of sobriety and right-living thus founded by 
Father Brazil and the "Major" permeated society generally, and 
have remained to this day. It is a fact that very few communicants 
of the Catholic Church are ever seen in the Police Court. 

In 1862, during the exciting events of the Civil War period, 
when a Democrat was suspected of being a Rebel, a Copperhead, or 
a member of the Knights of the Golden Circle, the "Major" was 



286 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

nominated for City Mayor. He was a Democrat, but not a poli- 
tician. He knew very little of the chicanery of politics, and took 
no part in it, or the excitement of the times. Such was his popu- 
larity, he was elected. Scarcely had he taken the office, when, on 
the Twenty-eighth of June, occurred the murder of Michael King 
by A. D. Marsh, the City Marshal, a hot-headed Kentuckian, con- 
spicuous for his immense watch chain, which hung down to his 
knees, and his truculent nature, which found vent a short time 
prior by shooting a German and arresting a negro without a war- 
rant, with evident purpose to deliver him to his slave master. King 
was a man of athletic build, at times a little pugnacious. Some ill- 
feeling existed between him and Marsh over the impounding of 
some of his pigs by Marsh. The two met at the Sherman Building, 
corner of Third Street and Court Avenue, in which then were the 
city offices. On the way upstairs, they got into an altercation, when 
Marsh stabbed King, who struggled up to the Mayor's room, in the 
third story, where he died in a few moments. Marsh, seeing he 
was dying, quickly went to his home, and immediately fled the 
country. A Coroner's Jury was called, before whom the Mayor 
testified as follows : 

"I was coming up the stairs toward my office, in company with 
King and Marsh. They were very unfriendly, and passed hard 
words as they came up. I was in advance of them, and when they 
were about turning the platform to get up the upper flight of stairs, 
as I supposed, I heard a noise which I supposed was King and 
Marsh at blows or quarreling. I turned around and saw Marsh 
putting a dirk in the scabbard. King came up the stairs, and when 
he had reached me at the top of the stairs, he said : 'I am stabbed.' 
I told him to sit down. He commenced falling, lay down, and grew 
worse very fast. He repeatedly said : 'Marsh has stabbed me.' I 
ordered a doctor, who was soon in attendance. I also acquiesced 
in the suggestion that Marsh be arrested." 

The whole community was aroused, especially the Irish, and 
summary vengeance was threatened against Marsh. Search for 
him for several days was made, with great caution, as his desperate 
character was well known, but no trace of him could be found, and 
the event was passing into history, when, several years later, T. E. 



MAJOR THOMAS CAVANAGH 287 

Brown, the lawyer and capitalist well known in the early days, 
returned from a business trip to Texas, where he said he saw Marsh 
and had a little experience with him. He was informed while there 
that Marsh had formed a conspiracy to rob him, knowing that he 
was accustomed to carry large sums of money. He did not propose 
to give him the opportunity. He had him arrested on a charge of 
murder, and he was put in jail. Sheriff McCalla and Jonathan 
Stutsman were sent after him, and in due time returned, but with- 
out Marsh, to explain which they said that when passing up the 
river from the gulf of New Orleans, Marsh, who had declared he 
would not be taken to Des Moines alive, watching the opportunity, 
suddenly leaped overboard; his ankles and hands being heavily 
manacled, he at once went down in the rapid current and was seen 
no more. Articles in their possession taken from him gave credence 
to their statements. But some time later, James F. Kemp, a boot 
and shoe merchant, was in New Orleans, where he said he met 
Marsh, who said he was in the cattle trade in Texas. No further 
attempt to get him was made, and it became the general opinion 
that his escape from the Sheriff was a myth — that he was given 
opportunity to get away and stay away, thus saving the county con- 
siderable expense. 

That was the second murder in Des Moines, the first being that 
of a woman, also named King. 

The "Major" was an efficient official, performing the duties of 
Mayor and Police Magistrate upon a higher plane than is usually 
given the place. He closed his term with so much credit, he was 
nominated for a second term. The city was in a most turbulent 
condition. The war spirit was high. A draft for the army had 
been ordered. United States Marshals were here, hunting Knights 
of the Golden Circle, which the Register declared was a "secret 
organization, a Jesuitical sneak, plotting in the dark against the 
liberties of the people." Every Democrat was an alleged sympa- 
thizer with Jefferson Davis, but the most scathing attribute that 
could be applied to the "Major" was to call him the "acquiescent" 
candidate, referring back to his testimony in the King murder 
hearing. 

The campaign was an exciting one, and so was the election, the 
"Major" using his best effort to allay the tumult. When the time 



288 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

for counting the votes came, there was a big crowd present. Several 
acrimonious disputes arose, in one of which, Hy. Hatch, an active 
politician and well-known character, told the "Major," who was 
present counseling a fair and honest count, to "Go to h — 1," to 
which the "Major" quietly replied, "I cannot do that," clearly 
illustrative of his character. 

The result of the count was : Leas, four hundred and sixty-four ; 
Cavanagh, four hundred and forty-eight, the defeat of the "Major" 
by sixteen votes. 

To show the intense feeling prevailing, the Register the next 
morning announced in big type: "Great Union Victory!" "Cop- 
perheads Floored !" "Old Acquiescence Subsides !" "Copperheads 
Carry One Ward !" "We wonder if Kavanaugh [witness the spell- 
ing] 'acquiesces' in the decision ?" 

The "Major" was satisfied with politics. That was the only 
public office he held. He thereafter devoted his energies to the 
social side of life, in the broadest, humanitarian sense. He was a 
diligent helper of churches and schools. Though an ardent member 
of the Catholic Church, his Catholicism and liberality of sentiment 
embraced all things which tended to promote good society. It was 
not uncommon to see him, a large, robust man, going about visiting 
schools and other public functions with S. F. Hanna, a very dimin- 
utive person, of frail physique, about four feet high, a good Pres- 
byterian, for they were great chums, both bachelors, and popular. 
It was amusing, as it was singular. 

In 1862, when the Savery House (now Kirkwood) was opened, 
the "Major" was one of the first guests, and there made his home 
until his marriage, in 1872. 

He was one of the founders of the City Public Library, and one 
of its firmest supporters. 

He had a fine library of law and literature. Occupying a part 
of his office was a pseudo-lawyer, who one night left town, taking 
with him the "Major's" library. Some time after, he returned 
the "Major's" much cherished family Bible, for which manifesta- 
tion of conscience, the "Major" expressed complete satisfaction. 

He retired from business in 1890, and died April Twenty-fifth, 
1891, leaving a wife and three children. 



MAJOR THOMAS CAVANAGH 289 

Those who knew him will bear witness that he was ripened, cul- 
tured, benevolent, public-spirited, and the best type of manhood. 
For womanhood and motherhood, he had the most profound regard. 
It is no marvel, then, that with so many estimable qualities, he had 
the esteem and confidence of all good people. He held many 
important fiduciary trusts, as administrator of estates. As a bene- 
factor to Des Moines, and especially to its domestic and social life, 
it can be truly said of him, as it was of the renowned French states- 
man, Thier, at his death, "He has lived." 

April Twenty-third, 1905. 



Vol. I— (19), 




EDWIN R. CLAPP 



EDWIN P. CLAPP 

IF you search his old family records, you will probably find it 
written, Edwin Ruthven Clapp, but for the last fifty years 

he has been familiarly known as Ed. 

He came to Henry County with his parents in the year 1837, 
a young boy, and has eaten the ashen crust of poverty in common 
with many other pioneer lads, who, with willing hands and deter- 
mined purpose, have assisted their parents in opening up farms 
and doing the drudgery which usually fell to the lot of the pio- 
neer boys of sixty years ago. 

He started out in the world with merely a hint of education. 
Two Winter terms of three months each, in a log schoolhouse 
near Mount Pleasant, Iowa, was all that was vouchsafed to him. 
There was no time nor place, after that, for even a partial educa- 
tion. Penury and untoward circumstances chained him to such 
manual labor as could be found, and his own busy hands and 
resistless energy carved out a career and fortune of which any 
citizen of Iowa might well be proud. 

His entire time, after the death of his father, which occurred 
very soon after arriving in Iowa, was employed, together with an 
older brother, in supplying, very scantily, food and raiment for 
the widowed mother and young sister. Later, he found employment 
at the Tiffany House, Mount Pleasant, at the sum of four dollars 
per month. His duties were various — from stable boy to table 
waiter. 

In 1845, his brother Wallace came to Fort Des Moines to engage 
in the grocery business. Ed. followed him a year later, in Febru- 
ary, walking the entire distance, his trunk coming on a wagon-load 
of groceries from Mount Pleasant, the driver kindly giving him 
that much of a lift, his purse being lighter than his trunk. He was 
a young man of eighteen years, with pluck, ambition and great 
expectations. For one of such temperament, the town presented 

291 



292 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

little encouragement. It was composed of the log cabins deserted 
by the soldiers, and about a hundred people. He did whatever he 
could find to do. His first job was running a ferry-boat for the 
season at ten dollars a month, and it was not an easy one, for the 
rush of people into the new territory was great. He worked a year 
as clerk for his brother, who had a general store in the log building 
used by the soldiers for commissary storage, down at The Point, 
just east of 'Coon bridge. 

As the community increased, so did its needs. Transportation 
facilities were meager. There were no railroads. The river was 
passable for steamboats only at flood times in the Spring. Flour 
mills were a hundred miles away. St. Louis was the nearest point 
for merchants to get supplies, which were sent by boats to Keokuk, 
and from there hauled by wagons to The Fort. At Fairfield and 
Oskaloosa were the nearest flour mills. That was an opportunity 
for Ed. He went into the business of hauling freight from Keokuk 
and flour and meal from the mills. He often made trips from Des 
Moines to Keokuk and back. He was a good handler of stock. He 
drove oxen well. Alone, he would drive a yoke of oxen the one 
hundred and eighty miles to Keokuk, and return, laden with sup- 
plies. The old flint-lock musket was his only protection ; and that 
meant only the one shot. Trouble he may have had on these jour- 
neys, but he always managed to come through it smoothly, for he 
was a man of cool nerve. 

In 1849, he engaged in farming, but two years later returned 
to town, and, being of genial, jolly, good nature, he was popular, 
and found business abundant, as the town was growing. 

In 1850, Judge Casady bought two lots at the southwest corner 
of Fifth and Walnut streets, for which he paid sixty dollars. Being 
low in part, ice covered it in Winter, and the boys made it a skating 
rink. The Judge built a three-room, one-story house on the lots, in 
which he made his residence. 

In 1853, Ed. concluded there was money in real estate, and in 
June, bought the lots of Casady for five hundred and fifty dollars, 
and in July, sold them to Israel Spencer for five hundred dol- 
lars, reserving the rental and use of the buildings for five years. 
Thereon, Ed. had a wool yard for a time. 



EDWIN E. CLAPP 293 

In the Spring of 1851, came what is known in history as the 
"big flood." The whole East Side was under water. On the West 
Side, Jesse Dicks rafted logs along Second Street, of which he built 
his house. Bottom lands for miles in width along the Des Moines 
River were overflowed. The previous Winter had been very severe 
and the Spring rainfall had made the roads impassable for teams, 
merchants' stocks of goods had become depleted, and family larders 
bare of supplies. Nevertheless, inspired with patriotic fervor, the 
people had a public dinner on the Fourth of July, which was 
attended with genuine Western enthusiasm and enjoyment. The 
table spread was elaborate, but the good housewives were put to 
their wits to supply the absolute want of flour in their cooking, for 
there was none to be had. On the next day, the steamboat, Caleb 
Cope, came into port heavy laden with merchandise, flour, etc., on 
which there was great rejoicing. Captain Price caught the infec- 
tion, and invited the town to take an excursion up the river on his 
steamer. About fifty leading citizens responded, taking with them 
refreshments, solid and liquid (the Captain having given notice 
that the bar and steward's quarters would be locked). It was a 
jolly, hilarious crowd of men and women, among whom was Ed. 
The newspapers said nothing about it, but Ed. will probably say, 
if you ask him, "It was rather noisy." 

In 1855, the community having increased to some importance, 
Ed. began to mix in public affairs. He was elected Street Commis- 
sioner. The subject of bridges was an important one at that time; 
but how to get them, and what kind, was the problem. John H. 
Miller, the Civil Engineer, who made the first map of Des Moines, 
a copy of which hangs in the rooms of the Commercial Club, recom- 
mended to the Town Council a floating bridge. The suggestion 
was adopted, but the town had no money. The increase of travel, 
and the slow, cumbersome, inadequate ferries, made bridges a neces- 
sity. It was therefore decided to raise a fund by subscription, the 
subscribers thereto to be allowed to cross without toll. Ed. was 
given the custody of the subscription list, and nearly three thousand 
dollars was raised, when dollars were scarce. The bridge was built 
at Court Avenue, that being the principal east and west street, and 
was the first bridge across the Des Moines. 



294 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

In 1855, Ed. built a bridge over Bird's Run, on Fourth Street, 
a terror in those days when heavy rainfalls came. It was the first 
structural bridge in the town, and he was allowed twenty dollars 
and ninety-nine cents for the job. In the present days of boodle, 
grabs and "extras" in public works, the particularity of that ninety- 
nine cents is significant. It shows that Ed. was honest — would not 
claim a penny he had not earned. Consciences were not as elastic 
in those days as they seem to be nowadays. 

In 1856, Ed. started the first ice business in the town. His 
storage plant was on the river just above the dam, and it is of 
record that Judge Napier, who was then general manager of county 
affairs, ordered the County Treasurer to pay him eight dollars for 
ice furnished the District Court during the August Term that year. 
Old-timers, who are familiar with the inordinate thirst for whiskey 
of McFarland, the presiding Judge, will not deem Ed.'s bill for 
congealed protoxide of hydrogen furnished exorbitant, for the 
Judge was seldom sober. He came into court one day in a very 
maudlin condition. The lawyers, litigants, jury, and witnesses in 
the case on trial were all present. He got himself into his chair, 
looked vacantly around for a moment, nodded to the Sheriff, and 
mumbled out : "Well ! Well ! Gentlemen ; call this Board to-mor- 
row morning at eight o'clock," and, gathering himself together, 
meandered away to his hotel. 

In 1856, occurred the famous fight between the East and West 
Side over the location of the State House. Ed. was a loyal W«ri 
Sider, subscribed five hundred dollars to the war fund, and did 
valiant service in the scrimmage. 

In 1860, he bought a farm in Walnut Township, now the well- 
known Flynn farm, and engaged in raising cattle and grain on an 
extensive sale. He was so successful that, in 1867, he was appointed 
Live Stock Agent for the Chicago and Rock Island Railroad, and 
had control of that department from the Missouri River to the Mis- 
sissippi. In 1865, he sold the farm, and continued with the rail- 
road company several years thereafter. 

In 1860, he was elected Sergeant-at-Arms of the Lower House 
of the Eighth General Assembly. 

In 1869, his penchant for town lots was aroused, and he again 
bought the two lots at Fifth and Walnut streets, but this time he 



EDWIN K. CLAPP 295 

had to plank down twenty-seven thousand dollars. On the corner 
was a hide and leather store, and on the west lot a livery stable. 
Two years later, he built a three-story brick office building thereon, 
the Citizens National Bank occupying the corner. In 1882, he 
added another story. In 1883, it was nearly destroyed by fire, with 
great loss to the Masonic Lodge, which occupied the upper floor, 
occupants of business offices, the Citizens' National Bank, and 
Morris & Humphrey, merchants. The debris was soon cleared 
away and the building restored. In 1890, he entirely remodeled 
it, according to modern ideas, added another story, and put in an 
elevator, the first in an office building in the city, thus constituting 
him the first bridge builder, ice dealer, and elevator constructor in 
the city. 

It will be seen there is a jog in Walnut Street at Fifth, by which 
"Clapp's Block," emblazoned on the cornice in gold letters, is made 
a prominent landmark on the street, to be seen by everybody. When 
A. D. Jones surveyed the "Original Town," it was done with a 
rope instead of a chain, and in making the plat, Court Avenue was 
made one hundred feet wide, as it was expected to be the principal 
business street of the city. At the head of it was placed the Public 
Square, on which were to be the Court House and other public build- 
ings. Doctor P. B. Fagen, who owned, or held title to, a portion 
of the land embraced in the plat west of Fifth Street, raised objec- 
tion to the survey, claiming irregularities therein. They had some 
difficulty over the matter, but it was finally settled by letting the 
survey stand as made as far west as Fifth Street, and to narrow 
Walnut and Mulberry streets to let in the Public Square as origin- 
ally platted, and on this agreement the plat was finally made and 
recorded, and thus came the jog in Walnut Street. 

In 1887, Ed. gave an old-fashioned dinner to the early settlers, 
in honor of his fifty years' residence, which was largely attended. 
It was a joyous reunion of those who had experienced the trials and 
vicissitudes of pioneer life, and an occasion for recounting them. 
Listening newcomers concluded they knew very little about hard 
times. 

In 1903, when the Century Savings Bank was organized, he 
became a stockholder, one of the Directors, and was also elected 



296 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

Vice-President. The bank took the corner vacated by the Citizens 
National Bank. 

Religiously, Ed. is a regular church-goer, but I would not vouch 
for his orthodoxy in any sectarian creed. 

Socially, he is affable, jovial, fond of jesting and a good joke, 
whether the victim be himself or some other fellow. Old-timers 
can recall Hy. Hatch, better known as "Laughing Hatch," a Gov- 
ernment mail contractor, an inveterate jester and story-teller, who 
punctuated his points with a laugh that could be heard half a mile. 
He was known to every show company that appeared in "Billy" 
Moore's old hall, for when he saw anything funny in the perform- 
ance, and started his cachination, the stage business stopped, the 
players and audience soon caught the infection, and everybody 
joined in a hearty laugh. When Ed. and Hy. got together on a 
street corner, every onlooker knew what was coming — there was 
hilarity galore. Sometimes, Levi J. Wells — he of the 'bus line — 
an inveterate jester, would join in, and they would fill the air with 
Hy.'s laughter. 

Ed. was an active and popular member of the Independent 
Order of Odd Fellows. 

The excellent business capacity, pluck, and executive ability 
manifested in all his undertakings has secured to Ed. a competency, 
while his loyalty and public spirit have won him a prominent place 
among those who helped to build up the city from the day of its 
foundation.* 

April Thirtieth, 1905. 



*Died June Eighth, 1906. 



JOHN D. McGLOTHLIN 

AMONG the very early settlers prominently associated with 
the public affairs of Polk County and The Fort during their 
formative governmental period, was John D. McGlothlin, a 
typical pioneer, whose experiences, like others of his class in those 
days, contrasted with their environments twenty years later, seem 
altogether mythical. 

He came, with his family, in June, 1846, from Indiana, in the 
proverbial "prairie schooner," and purchased a claim held by G. B. 
Clark, on Keokuk Prairie, originally a part of Des Moines Town- 
ship, but now in Allen Township. He paid four hundred dollars 
for the claim. It was an attractive spot, the favorite camping- 
ground and headquarters of the famous Indian chief, whose name 
it bears, for many years, and up to the time of his removal from 
the territory, in 1845, to Kansas, where he died in 1848. It is 
pertinent here to say the name of the old chief has been anglicized 
to modern idioms. When he was before the Government Commis- 
sion to identify the half-breeds in the allotment to them of the Half- 
Breed Tract, he wrote his name on the record many times, and 
always "Ke-O-Kuk." The terminal, "Kuk," was evidently a tribal 
or family name, as the names of several chiefs on the record have 
the same terminal. 

McGlothlin's claim was on the west side of Des Moines River, 
and extended westward to North Eiver, sloping gradually back 
from the two rivers. 

Clark was a bachelor, and lived with a family in a cabin made 
of poles, a puncheon floor of hewed slabs in one corner for the bed 
to stand on, the remainder being the natural soil; no door, no 
chimney, the smoke escaping between the logs. Instead of a door, 
the opening made for a chimney was used. That was the greeting 
presented to McGlothlin for a home. He at once built a chimney 
of stones and clay from the rivers, and made other changes, so that 

297 



298 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

it might be more comfortable. During the Summer, the family 
suffered severely from fever and ague, which was epidemic all over 
the Des Moines Valley. It was of the vigorous, shaking variety — 
often fatal. 

In October, he built a new log cabin. It had one room. As there 
was no lumber in the country, a part of the room was floored with 
slabs split from logs. There was no window nor door, the chimney 
opening being used until the chimney and fireplace was built, when 
a door was made in one end. 

He brought with him corn and flour enough to supply the family 
for four months, but in October they became exhausted. The near- 
est mill was at Oskaloosa, sixty miles away. Hitching four horses 
to the "prairie schooner," which he filled with "grists" for himself 
and neighbors in the vicinity, he went to Oskaloosa, and arriving 
there found the mill surrounded by farmers, waiting, with "grists" 
enough to keep the mill busy for several days. He went on to Fair- 
field, where he found no better prospect, and went on to Bonaparte, 
where he had better luck. He then started homeward. The roads 
were in a horrible condition. Several times the team was mired, 
the grain unloaded, and the wagon hauled out of the mud. On the 
way, he picked up a lot of sheep and hogs, and arrived at his cabin 
twenty-one days after leaving it, to the great delight of his family, 
who had become worried over his long absence, and, beside much 
suffering from sickness, were deprived of proper sustenance for 
want of flour. 

In the sketch of William A. Meacham, mention is made of 
the hurried escape from the Vigilance Committee in Camp Town- 
ship of the Reeves Gang of horse thieves and general marauders. 
On their way to Missouri, they camped one night near McGloth- 
lin's. During the night, one of their wagons was burned by fire 
from their camp. The generous-hearted settlers in the neighbor- 
hood, not knowing the character of the outfit, made up a purse to 
compensate the loss, and they hurried on out of the state. 

In 1848, the settlers began to consider ways and means for some 
form of civil government, there being none in existence. Accord- 
ingly, in August, 1848, was organized the Old Settlers' Claim 
Club. McGlothlin was elected first Vice-President of the Club. 



JOHN D. McGLOTHLIN 299 

In the same year and the same month, he was elected one of 
three County Commissioners, reelected in 1849 and 1850, serving 
until August, 1851, when the office was abolished and the duties 
thereof conferred upon a County Judge. The Commissioners had 
full control of all county affairs, could levy taxes, organize town- 
ships, locate public roads, build bridges and public buildings, and 
from their decisions there was no appeal. County affairs were 
then in an embryo condition. Much depended on the intelligence 
and good judgment of the Commissioners. McGlothlin was an 
active, progressive member of the Board, and possessed excellent 
business qualifications. Of genial temperament, he at once came 
into close relation with all the people. He spent much time at The 
Fort, and took great interest in its affairs, so much so that he was 
considered a resident. 

The pages of the record of the doings of the Board give abun- 
dant evidence of their public spirit. It was a period of progress. 
The county and town were rapidly growing, and civic affairs must 
keep pace therewith. 

The first important business was the building of a Court House. 
An agreement was made with John Saylor that he should, "during 
the year 1848, erect and set up and inclose, and during the year 
1849, shall completely finish, in a good, substantial, workmanlike 
manner, according to the best of his art and skill, a Court House, 
for the sum of two thousand and fifty dollars." In January, 1850, 
Saylor threw up his job. He was allowed two hundred and twenty- 
five dollars for what he had done, and the Commissioners con- 
tinued the work until completed. Its total cost was two thousand 
and fifteen dollars. It was where the Union Depot now is. It was 
sold, with the jail, in 1863, to the Trustees of the Central Church 
of Christ, for eight hundred dollars. In 1865, it was torn down, to 
give place to a larger structure, which was occupied until 1875, 
when the encroachment of railroads along Vine Street necessitated 
a new location, and the old frame building was used as the Wabash 
Depot for several years. 

Having provided for a Court House, the Commissioners were, 
as are the Supervisors of to-day, confronted with the necessity of a 
jail. Accordingly, in February, 1849, a contract was made with 



300 PIOKEEKS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

James Guerant and George Shell to build a log jail for seven hun- 
dred and fifty dollars, on the lot adjoining the Court House. It 
was to be constructed of "hewn timbers one foot square, with double 
walls, with a space between the walls of six inches, to be filled with 
strong and substantial stone, closely pounded so as to fill the space, 
the cracks between the timbers to be filled with mortar." It was 
to be two stories high. It was to this jail the noted and bibulous 
Judge McFarland one day threatened to send "Dan" Finch, the 
well-known old-time lawyer. The Judge had made a ruling in a 
case "Dan" was trying, to which "Dan" objected, on the ground 
that the court had made a mistake. "Daniel," retorted the Judge, 
pointing with his index finger, "do you see that jail over there? 
Well, sit down, or I'll send you there in five minutes." "Dan" 
subsided. 

In November, 1849, Guerant, one of the jail contractors, threw 
up his job. He was allowed three hundred dollars for work and 
material furnished, and the Commissioners completed the jail at 
a total cost of one thousand, one hundred and seventy-five dollars 
and five cents. 

In 1850, it became quite apparent that the Capital would be 
removed from Iowa City. With his accustomed public spirit and 
business qualifications, and with an eye to the future, McGlothlin 
suggested, and it was ordered that, "in case the Capital of Iowa 
shall be removed to Fort Des Moines within four months from the 
date hereof [November Twenty-second, 1850], an appropriation 
of eight thousand dollars be and is hereby made for the purpose of 
erecting a Court House of sufficient capacity that the same may be 
used by the State of Iowa as a State House so long as the state shall 
desire to occupy the same." 

During the year, the Commissioners discovered an unusual 
increase in court expenses. Therefore, in October, they ordered 
that, "no fees shall be allowed to any person serving as witness 
before the Grand Jury," a measure as commendable at the present 
time as then. The service was put upon the ground of a duty owed 
to the public. 

In April, 1849, the Board granted a license, for twenty-five 
dollars, to Edward and Edwin Hall, twin brothers, to build a dam 



JOHN D. McGLOTHLIN 301 

across Des Moines River at the foot of Center Street, and to main- 
tain the same for fifty years. The license expired in 1899, but 
the dam is there yet, an important factor in public utilities. 

The first Warranty Deed executed in the county was signed 
August 14, 1848, by Mr. McGlothlin, as County Commissioner. 
It was for Lot Eight, Block Thirty, in the Original Town, the lot 
next to the alley on the southwest corner of Vine and Second, 
where Green's foundry is. It was sold, at the sale of town lots, in 
July, 1846, for two hundred and seventeen dollars and a half, to 
William Mcllvain, of Wapello County. He planked down the 
money, and, being a stranger, and the only purchaser present with 
"spot cash," he was suspected of being a land-grabber and specu- 
lator, and was given very emphatically to understand that the trav- 
eling in rural districts was good. He bought no more lots, and sub- 
missively waited two years for his deed. 

The first Warranty Deed in the county from an individual was 
by Doctor P. B. Fagen, and dated the same day as the foregoing. 
The first Board of Commissioners, in their haste to expedite public 
affairs, and largely through the influence of A. D. Jones, general 
superintendent of civic affairs at The Fort, who surveyed and plat- 
ted the town, took in land that belonged to Fagen and sold it at 
the town lot sale in 1846. In order to give a good title to the pur- 
chasers, McGlothlin and his Board purchased of Fagen his interest, 
paying him three hundred and five dollars. It was that portion 
now occupied by the railroad stations and big warehouses below 
Court Avenue. 

While, as Commissioner, McGlothlin was pushing forward pub- 
lic improvements, he improved his farm, until the eight hundred 
acres, with its large and commodious buildings, orchards, splendid 
herds of horses, cattle, hogs, and sheep, became a rural paradise. 
Watermelons were one of his fads. Old-timers at The Fort used 
to make frequent visits there in the season to feast on them. Judge 
Casady says the first melon he ate in Polk County was there, and 
of the best quality and size he ever saw. When he was ready to 
leave, he was "held up" until his wagon was packed with melons. 

Religiously, McGlothlin was a Baptist, and an active supporter 
of churches and schools. He was emphatically a home-builder, and 
his home exemplified his ideas of what such should be. 



302 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

Politically, he was a Democrat, of the Jeffersonian variety, but 
not a politician nor an office-seeker. During the Greenback craze, 
he identified himself with that element, and was an active, influen- 
tial member of the Patrons of Husbandry. 

In many ways, he was an important factor in the foundation, 
growth and prosperity of the county and town. He died in 1878. 

May Twenty-first, 1905. ' . 



THE 
















" 




FREDERICK C. MACARTNEY 



FREDERICK C. MACARTNEY 

IT is an old axiom that the way to a man's good nature is through 
his stomach, and, so being, F. C. Macartney, or Fred., as he is 

familiarly called, must have the true friendship and good fellow- 
ship of myriads of people, for, during the past forty-two years, as a 
caterer to the public, he has proved himself the prince of hotel- 
keepers, and, not only that, he and his family have been largely and 
intimately connected with the business and social life of the city. 

He came here from Canada in 1863, a young man in the adoles- 
cent stage, hunting a job. With him was a brother, George, who 
was employed by "Billy" Quick as United States Express messen- 
ger for several years, and died in 1865. 

Fred, took the first job he could find. I. N. Webster was run- 
ning the Savery House, which James C. Savery had, at progressive 
stages, with many postponements, partially completed. It was a 
plain structure, unlike the present one. There were no balconies, 
no cornices, no outside ornamental "flubdubs." The offices were 
all on the second floor. The ground floor was as the bricklayers left 
it. Fred, hired himself out as clerk of the hotel, at twelve dollars 
a month and his board. In those days, hotel clerks didn't wear 
diamond-studded shirt fronts ; there were no day and night clerks, 
no porter, no bell-boys, no elevators. His daily stunt was to keep 
books, sweep, dust, wait on guests, from six o'clock in the morning 
until supper was over. At night, he could lie on the lounge in the 
office until all passengers had arrived by stage from Brooklyn and 
Nevada, then the terminals of the Rock Island and Northwestern 
roads, and then he could go to bed. When the roads were bad, 
when Skunk River got on a rampage, and passengers had to walk 
most of the way, and carry a rail to pry the coach out of the mire, 
he didn't go to bed at all. It was a sort of continuous performance. 

In October, 1864, George C. Savery, a brother of J. C, took 
the house and retained Fred, as Chief Clerk, a place he held, 

303 



304 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

becoming practically the manager — George being too angular for 
a hotel man — until 1875, when J. C. purchased George's interest 
and installed Fred, as Manager. The house was re-furnished 
throughout, the structure having been completed. 

In 1879, the house was sold under foreclosure of a mortgage. 
The entire furniture was removed and shipped to Yankton, thence 
by steamboat to Fort Benton, thence by wagon to Helena, Mont., 
where it was sold at auction, Fred, going also as custodian of the 
property. There he remained, with J. C. Savery, who was engaged 
in several mining projects, as bookkeeper and supply purchaser for 
the miners' stores until September, 1882, when he returned to Des 
Moines and engaged in the brick and tile business. But brick- 
making was not his forte, and in 1886, he assumed the management 
of Hotel Colfax, a mammoth summer and health resort built and 
fitted up by the Rock Island Railroad Company, near Colfax. He 
remained there until 1888, when he went to California, and kept a 
hotel in Vera Cruz until March, 1891. 

In 1879, the old Savery House having been purchased by J. N. 
Dewey and S. R. Ingham, was again remodeled, the name changed 
to "Kirkwood," in honor of the old War Governor, and re-opened 
under the management of C. D. Bogue and John Wyman, who 
remodeled it, moved the office and rotunda to the ground floor, and 
held it until 1891, when Fred, purchased Bogue's interest and 
became the sole manager, and has so continued to the present time, 
having as assistants his sons, Frederick C, Jr., and George. 

In the early days, the house was the home of many business men 
— the first City Directory contains the names of fifty-one — year 
after year, surrounded by all the comforts of the best homes in the 
town. I recall a few of them : J. C. Savery and wife ; Doctor F. 
Woodruff, druggist, and wife ; J. B. Stewart, banker ; E. J. Inger- 
soll, founder of the Hawkeye Insurance Company, and wife ; S. R. 
Ingham, capitalist, and wife ; George W. Clark, lawyer, and wife ; 
Rev. J. M. Chamberlin; "Billy" Quick, United States Express 
Agent; Rev. F. Brooks; Major Thomas Cavanagh (ten years) ; A. 
Y. Rawson, merchant, wife and daughter ; J. H. Windsor and wife ; 
Colonel J. M. Elwood, lawyer; John A. Kasson; N. B. Baker, 
Adjutant-General, and family; J. M. Dixon, City Editor of the 



FREDERICK C. MACARTNEY 305 

Register; Tac. Hussey and wife (twenty-five years), and William 
Foster. 

When Foster arrived, Fred, asked him what his occupation was. 

"Architect," replied Foster. 

"Well," said Fred., "you had better go back East, for you will 
starve to death in this town," and for several years, Foster thought 
Fred, told the truth. 

The house was also the favorite stopping-place of the venerable 
Judge Miller, Clerk Corkhill, and other officers of the Federal 
Court, Judge Dillon (fifteen years), and Judge Baldwin, of the 
State Supreme Court. The latter was a person of large propor- 
tions, weighing over five hundred pounds, of which he was, as was 
Cromwell of the big wart on his nose, exceedingly sensitive, and it 
was a source of much discomfort. He came to the house once when 
there was a big convention and the house full. When the dinner 
hour came, Fred., knowing that all the chairs in the dining-room 
had arms, removed one at the end of a table and substituted a heavy 
one without arms, and when the Judge was ready, escorted him to 
the seat, but just as he was taking it, some friends at another table 
invited him to sit with them ; and Fred., very quietly and courte- 
ously, exchanged the chairs, and the Judge sat down. On return- 
ing to the office, he gave Fred, a regular lambasting for thus invit- 
ing attention to his ponderosity. 

Of the Governors who made the house their homes during the 
terms were Kirkwood, Stone, Merrill, Carpenter, Sherman, Gear, 
and their families. Of the newspaper editors, there were Beards- 
ley, of the Burlington Hawk-Eye; Ham, Dubuque Herald; Sam. 
Clark, Keokuk Gate City ; Ed. Russell, Davenport Gazette; Judge 
Thomas. W. Clagett, Keokuk Constitution, and the venerable quill- 
driver and party regulator, Rathbun, of the Marion Register — all 
of whom have gone to their eternal home except the latter. 

In September, 1875, at the Reunion of the Army of the Tennes- 
see, when nearly sixty thousand soldiers were in the city, the Presi- 
dent, General Grant, General Belknap, Secretary of War, General 
W. T. Sherman, General Pope, General Myers ("Old Probs"), and 
several other military dignitaries were guests of the house, and at 
the close of the event, Fred, gave them a banquet, the spread of 

Vol. I— (20). 



306 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

which has never been equalled in the city. Kingsley, the noted 
caterer of Chicago, was given carte blanche to prepare the menu. 

It was during this reunion that Grant made the memorable 
speech in Moore's Hall, which raised a tempest throughout the 
country, and which greatly incensed the Catholics, all of which was 
caused by an incident common to the experience of all daily news- 
papers. 

The President was to meet the school children of the city. The 
hall was packed. The speech was along educational lines. A Reg- 
ister reporter and myself were present. So soon as the President 
concluded, General Belknap secured the manuscript and gave it to 
us, when a fellow claiming to represent a New York paper asked 
the privilege of taking it to send it by wire to his paper, to which 
we courteously assented. He did not make his appearance again 
until nearly three o'clock in the morning. In the meantime, Belk- 
nap and the two of us kept vigil at the hotel office and nursed our 
wrath. The presses were being held and the editors and compos- 
itors in the Register office were clamoring for that speech. A copy 
was made very hurriedly from the manuscript, which was written 
with lead pencil, with many erasures and interlineations. 

The paragraph which caused the excitement as it appeared in 
the Register was as follows : 

"Encourage free schools, and resolve that not one dollar of 
money appropriated to their support, no matter how raised, shall be 
appropriated to the support of any sectarian school. Resolve that 
neither the state or nation, or both combined, shall support institu- 
tions of learning other than those sufficient to afford every child 
growing up in the land the opportunity of a good, common-school 
education, unmixed with sectarian, pagan or atheistic tenets. Leave 
the matter of religion to the family altar, the church, and the pri- 
vate school." 

Its appearance at once caused a commotion. It was a declara- 
tion of hostility to higher education. Inquiries came here from all 
quarters as to the correctness of the report, which was apparently 
confirmed by the fact that Grant remained in the city several days 
after the speech, and made no correction or comment on it. 

It was not long before a copy of a paper containing that speech 
could not be found in the city ; even the newspaper office files were 



FREDERICK C. MACARTNEY 307 

robbed. A few days ago, I went to the State Historical Building, 
to get the speech as it appeared in the Register, bound volumes of 
which are kept there, but some despicable vandal had cut it entirely 
out of the paper, thus robbing the public of a valuable record. 

The following is what Grant did say, as shown by a photo- 
graphic copy which I possessed : 

"Encourage free schools, and resolve that not one dollar of 
money appropriated to their support, no matter how raised, shall 
be appropriated to the support of any sectarian school. Resolve 
that either the state or nation, or both combined, shall support insti- 
tutions of learning sufficient to afford to every child growing up in 
the land the opportunity of a good, common-school education, 
unmixed with sectarian, pagan, or atheistical tenets. Leave the 
matter of religion to the family circle, the church, and the private 
school supported entirely by private contribution." 

Of all the numerous families who made the hotel their home, 
some ten, fifteen and twenty-five years, and the myriads of guests, 
there has not been a death in it, but there have been hundreds of 
births and marriages. 

The ground floor was not finished for several years after the 
opening, business and trade not having gotten that far west. The 
first office of the Western Union Telegraph Company was in what 
is now Parlor A, and Frank Johnson, well known to old-timers as 
successor to his father, who started the first 'bus line, was the mes- 
senger boy. The first room finished was the dining-room, and was 
used for some time by the Christian Church. 

The first occupants of the ground floor were the Register, on the 
Fourth Street front, in the room where Matt Kane had his restau- 
rant ; next, Christ. Bathman opened a barber shop, and it is there 
now. On the Walnut Street front, Jule Parmalee had a jewelry 
store at the corner, and it still is a jewelry store, S. Joseph having 
occupied it for thirty-five years ; next west was H. Monroe, with a 
clothing store, adjoining which was L. H. Bush, with a drug store, 
and "Charley" Rogg as clerk. In the west half were Manning & 
Miller, grocers and grain buyers. The rear part, where the cafe 
now is, was used for storing grain, and even now, in tearing up 
floors for repairs in the rooms above it, the space under the floor is 
filled with grain chaff. 



308 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

Politically, Fred, is a Republican, but takes little part in poli- 
tics, yet his house was the headquarters of political conventions, 
and some very stirring events occurred there, probably the most 
exciting of which was the fierce contest, in 1872, between the 
friends of Allison and Harlan for United States Senator. That 
was an epoch-maker in Iowa politics, when was settled for forty 
years a periodical source of contention and strife in the Republican 
party. I don't think Fred, has forgotten that fight. 

In 1896, with faith in his conservatism, public spirit, and busi- 
ness qualifications, the West Siders persuaded him to assent to a 
nomination for Alderman at Large. He was elected by a nearly 
unanimous vote, but one term in a bear garden satisfied him. 

During the past year, he practically retired from active manage- 
ment, and put his son George, to the manner born, as full of good 
fellowship as he is large around, into the harness, who, with 'Gene 
Spring and R. G. Fisher, are again putting the house through 
another transformation, adding many improvements, and installing 
in greater degree the homelike features which have so held public 
favor for fifty years. 

Though Fred, will have a paternal interest in the house, he will 
live on Easy Street, spending the summer months at Sleepy Hol- 
low, Lake Okoboji, fighting mosquitos, and fishing. 

No history of this house would be complete that did not give 
good credit to Mrs. Macartney, who, as housekeeper and home- 
maker, added so much to its popularity — a woman who not only 
gave honor to her position, but to social life of the city. She came 
to her position by natural progression. When Fred began service 
in the house, Webster, the proprietor, had several daughters, of the 
truly helpful kind. One day, Parker Anderson, the cook, a famous 
colored river steamboat cook, was chatting with one of the daugh- 
ters, who was making pies for dinner, when she declared she did not 
like hotel-keeping; wished her father would get out of it; she 
wouldn't marry the best man living if he was a hotel-keeper. To 
which Parker retorted: "Miss Lottie, sure, you'll marry a hotel- 
keeper, talking lak dat." Five years later, Miss Lottie became 
Mrs. Macartney, and has remained in the house most of the time 
since, occupying the same rooms which she entered as a bride, in 



FREDERICK C. MACARTNEY 309 

November, 1868, and vacated with Fred, in April last. Fred, says 
her pies are just as good to-day as in the days when she "wouldn't 
marry a hotel man." 

Their old family waiter, who waited on them over thirty years, 
and lifted each child as a baby into his high chair in the dining- 
room, is still with the house. 

March Twenty-eighth, 1905. 



MICHAEL H. KING 

GOING over the roster of those prominently identified with 
the growth of Des Moines, very few so impressed his per- 
sonality upon it as Michael H. King, or "Mike,' as he was 
universally called. He came here in 1856, at the age of twenty- 
four years. His first job was as clerk in the store of R. W. Clark. 
Soon after, he engaged as bookkeeper with Alex. Scott, who was 
running saw mills, mining coal, and promoting the removal of the 
State Capital to Des Moines, and locating the State House on the 
East Side. 

While he was with Scott, in 1857, the Fourth of July was made 
memorable by a demonstration given by the Callithumpians, con- 
sisting of more than one hundred and fifty young fellows dressed 
in the most fantastic garb they could invent, headed by a musical 
band composed of John Boyd, with a fiddle ; Lew Noll, a triangle ; 
C. A. Rogers, bones, and "Jim" Miller, tambourine. Hugh King, 
a brother of "Mike," was general commander, and "Bill" Lan- 
caster secretary of the aggregation. The band was carried on a big 
platform, built on a wagon. The music they made can be contem- 
plated by the temperament of the fellows who made it. The pro- 
cession paraded the streets, halting at the corners, when "Bill" 
would call the roll, and "Jim," as bandmaster would swing his 
baton for a blast of the most excruciating number in his repertoire. 
The crowd finally got around to the Demoin House, at Walnut and 
First streets, the only "first-class" hotel in town, where they were 
joined by a large number of citizens. "Mike" was called on for a 
speech. He gave a splendid oration, and proved himself a man for 
the occasion, to their great surprise — subsequently often repeated — 
for which he was given robust cheers, and a "solo" by the band. 
The Legislature having just before permanently located the Capital 
here, the people were jubilant. General Crocker also made an 
eloquent address. 

311 



312 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

"Mike" remained with Scott about a year, when he started in 
mercantile business for himself, but failed to meet his expectation. 
He was then elected Justice of the Peace for Lee Township, and 
served two terms. 

In 1862, he was elected City Clerk, when Colonel Spofford was 
Mayor, and served one term. He then ran for Police Judge, and, 
though the returns showed his election, the Democrats, by some 
system of addition and subtraction, counted him out. He then 
became bookkeeper at Shepard, Perrior & Bennett's woolen mills, 
which were where the casket factory now is, near the east end of 
Locust Street bridge, where he remained several years. 

In 1869, he was elected a member of the Board of County 
Supervisors, to represent Lee Township, and served one year, when 
the Legislature abolished the system of township representation and 
provided for a Board of three members, to be elected by the county 
at large, and "Mike," who was not as well known in the country 
as in Lee Township, for a time lost his grip in politics. 

At a meeting of the Board, September Ninth, 1870, he offered 
the following resolution, which was unanimously adopted : 

"Be It Resolved by the Board of Supervisors of Polk County, 
Iowa, That we cordially endorse the action of the President of the 
United States in recognizing the French Republic, and hereby offer 
our earnest wish for the triumph of the new Republic." 

In 1872, the old Sixth Ward, which comprised all the territory 
from Des Moines River, between Grand Avenue and Court Avenue, 
to the east city limits, elected him Alderman, and he was reelected 
annually until 1880, when the term was changed to two years, and 
he was reelected each term until 1889, when he was elected, served 
one year, and in 1890, with Judge W. W. Williamson, was 
appointed by the Mayor on the first Board of Public Works, on 
which he served one year and two weeks, this completing more than 
nineteen years consecutive service in the City Council, a record I 
do not think can be duplicated by any city in this country. It is 
needless to say he had no opposition. He had abundance of it, both 
in and outside the Council. It was during his public service, was 
laid the foundation for a complete system of public improvements, 
water works, a fire department, sewerage, street lighting, bridges, 



MICHAEL H. KING 313 

street grading, and paving. He was enterprising, energetic, aggress- 
ive, and had faith in the future. His policy was to build for the 
future, keeping present taxes low, and have the coming generations 
pay for the improvements and benefits which they were to enjoy. 
He was broad-minded and courageous in doing what he believed 
was for the public good. Often involved in angry, heated contests 
in the Council, and the target of bitter opposition, he was always 
calm, courteous, yet immovable, and invariably, by the logic and 
soundness of his premises, indomitable will, and imperturbability 
of manner, won his colleagues to his support. While these contests 
were waging in the Council, the taxpayers were denouncing him for 
his "Utopian extravagant schemes, concocted for the sole benefit of 
a lot of his satellites and grafters." A great hue-and-cry would be 
raised every year, that "Mike" King was running the city into 
bankruptcy, and plans were made to defeat his election, but his 
ward knew him, and at the first meeting of the Council, in April, 
he was there to answer to roll call. 

While in the Council, he was engaged largely in railroad grad- 
ing contracts for the Chicago and Northwestern, in Wisconsin, and 
the Rock Island, in Kansas and Nebraska. In 1884, he built the 
narrow-gauge road from Des Moines to Cainesville, now the "Q." 
road. He excavated the basement of the Capitol, and graded the 
entire grounds, removing over fifty thousand cubic yards of earth. 
Old-timers remember that on the south and west sides, the grounds 
were twenty feet higher than now, and covered with large timber 
trees. He also did a large amount of street grading in the city. It 
was not uncommon to see streets filled with his army of men, mules 
and wheel scrapers, a notable instance of which was High Sreet, 
which originally was an ugly place. He gave employment to more 
men than any person in the city. When he had a job, he gave the 
work to the temperate, industrious, poor man, hence the plain, 
common people, the sturdy laboring classes, were his staunch and 
unwavering friends, many of whom had good evidence of his fealty 
to them, for sometimes the assessments made for street improve- 
ments would jeopardize their homes, and he would get the burden 
removed ; yet he never used them for political or pecuniary advan- 
tage. In all of his various contracts or work done for the city, 



314 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

whether under resolution of the Council or a written agreement, 
he filled the requirements to the letter. There were no constructive 
claims for "extras." As a member of the Council, he stood as a 
rock against all projects for possible "grabs." During many years 
he was Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, and of the 
Committee on Streets and Alleys, and controlled the expenditure 
of large sums of money, yet there will- not be found on the record 
the use of public funds dishonestly or without warrant or an equiv- 
alent in service. In some of his most extensive grading contracts, 
he lost heavily, but he made it an inexorable rule to pay his laborers 
first, and to that end he mortgaged his capacious home, which, after 
his death, was sold under foreclosure of the mortgage, and it stands 
to-day, on East Grand Avenue, unoccupied, a silent testimonial to 
his honesty and integrity. 

In 1888, he, with Martin Tuttle, was appointed the first Board 
of Public Works of the city by the Mayor, for the term of three 
years, or, as the statute reads, "to hold the office until their suc- 
cessors are duly appointed and qualified." Before the term expired, 
Mayor Carpenter was succeeded as Mayor by John H. Campbell, 
a shrewd politician, who at once appointed a new Board. Of course, 
there was a contest at once. "Mike" was not a novice in the game 
of politics. He went to the courts for writs of injunction, man- 
damus, certiorari, or whatever he could get, claiming he had been 
ousted unlawfully, as his legal term had not expired. But the courts 
could find nothing in the statute which prevented Campbell from 
paying his political debts as he saw fit — in fact, gave him, by impli- 
cation, the privilege so to do. He then sued the city for the two 
years' salary which Campbell had cut out, and the case went to the 
Supreme Court, where it was held that his service and salary ended 
when his successor had been "duly appointed and qualified." The 
statute seems to have been concocted for the special benefit of the 
game of politics. It was, however, subsequently radically changed. 

Politically, "Mike" was originally a Republican, and was very 
active in political affairs. He was a good, common-sense speaker, 
and a good organizer, but in 1878, he became an Independent, and 
drifted off to the Greenback party, was chosen one of the editors of 
the Daily People, established to boost Gillett into Congress. "Mike" 
was the principal booster, and Gillett got there. 



MICHAEL H. KING 315 

In 1896, "Mike" joined the "Pops," and was one of the dele- 
gates to the St. Louis Convention which nominated Bryan for 
President. 

He was one of the organizers of the Irish Land League of Iowa, 
and was a delegate to the National League Convention, at Buffalo, 
during the visit of Parnell to America, in 1880. He secured a 
visit of the renowned English statesman to Des Moines. The Leg- 
islature was in session, and Parnell was specially invited to visit 
that body, which he did, giving a speech in both houses, an event 
which crowded the halls with people. 

Religiously, King was a Catholic, an active, devoted member 
and supporter of Saint Ambrose Church, and parochial schools of 
the denomination, but he was catholic enough to include all other 
churches and schools as helpful to the betterment of social life. 

In 1876, Father Brazil appointed him, J. S. Clarkson ("Ret"), 
John W. Geneser, J. B. McGorrisk, and John C. Reagan, a Board 
of Trustees, to build Mercy Hospital, which gave the city that 
splendid institution. 

In 1893, he was appointed by Bishop Cosgrove as one of the 
delegates to the Catholic Congress at Chicago, during the World's 
Fair. 

He died during the ceremonies of Memorial Day, 1902, leaving 
no heritage to his family, but the record of a kind husband and 
father, a public-spirited citizen, a friend of the poor, an honest, 
well-spent life. 

June Fourth, 1905. 




JUDGE WILLIAM H. McHENRY. Sr. 



JUDGE WILLIAM H. McHENRY, Sr. 

ONE of the pioneers who became prominently identified with 
county and city affairs was William H. McHenry, Sr., who, 
as his name indicates, was of Irish descent. His ancestors 
settled in Maryland long before the Revolutionary War, becoming 
quite prominent. Fort McHenry was named for one of them. 

He came here in August, 1848, from Indiana. There were no 
bridges, and he forded the river, went up to Beaver Creek, about 
six miles northwest, selected a claim near the creek, built a cabin, 
and bcame a citizen. In his youth, he was deprived of the oppor- 
tunity to get a liberal education, but he secured the best afforded 
by the common schools. His greatest proficiency was in mathe- 
matics, and he became a surveyor, which was of great benefit to the 
Beaver Creek Settlement especially, and settlers generally, in locat- 
ing, fixing the boundaries and corners of their claims. It was dur- 
ing much excitement over claims. For months, speculators and 
land-seekers from the East had swarmed over the county, making 
selection of lands, evidently anticipating the time when it would 
be offered for sale by the Government, and in the absence of a real 
settler or claim-holder, from sickness or other cause, they could bid 
it off regardless of all rights of the settler. McHenry quickly saw 
the danger to his settlement, and at once began an organization for 
the protection of their claim rights. There were no laws, Territor- 
ial or Federal, applicable thereto, so, as he used to put it, "We 
became a law unto ourselves." A stranger seen going over the coun- 
try had to be careful not to meddle with land claims, and if sus- 
pected of any scheme for jumping a claim, he was not safe until he 
got out of the country. At a meeting of settlers, McHenry, Tom 
Baker, and Thomas Watson were appointed to prepare Regulations 
for the Settlers' Club, which was done as follows : 

"One. — There shall be a committee of three to settle all disputes 
between settlers as to claims, boundary lines, etc. 

317 



318 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

"Two. — That there be a Secretary, whose duty shall be to reg- 
ister in a book the name of every man, and description of land, each 
wants bid off at the land sale in Iowa City ; that the Secretary shall 
attend such land sale, and bid off the land in the name of the man 
registered as claimant; that it should be the duty of settlers to 
attend the land sales in a body, and there knock down and drag out 
any man other than the said Secretary who attempts to bid on the 
settler's home." 

The claims made by settlers were considered by each and all as 
sacred, and not to be interfered with, but to be upheld and enforced 
at all hazards. Those "Club Laws," as they were called, were 
peculiarly adapted to the conditions present. They originated in 
the "eternal fitness of things," and that class of natural rights not 
enumerated in the Constitution, Federal or otherwise. In their 
enforcement, Lynch was often the presiding Judge. His judg- 
ments were swift, sure, and certain, from which there was no 
appeal, no venue, no delay. 

Subsequently, a more formal Club was formed, embracing the 
whole county. 

During the first two years of his residence, McHenry did con- 
siderable surveying for the Government in other counties. In 1851, 
he was elected Justice of the Peace, and served two terms. In the 
meantime, he resumed the study of law, which he had commenced 
in 1845, but was unable to complete, and in 1851, he was admitted 
to the Bar of Polk County, and divided his time between sporadic 
law cases and surveying. 

In 1853, he was elected Sheriff, and as such, arrested Pleasant 
Fonts, who committed the first murder in Polk County, which 
occurred in August, 1854. 

Fouts and his wife lived in discord, and after a quarrel one day, 
they agreed to separate. He rented their house and went away, but 
after several months returned, and persuaded his wife to live 
with him again, and a tent was put up near the house to await the 
vacation of it by the family who had rented. One evening, Fouts 
came home, secretly approached his wife while she was at work, 
and stabbed her. She escaped from him and fled into the house, 
reeking with blood. Fouts followed her, the bloody knife in hand, 



JUDGE WILLIAM H. McHENKY, S». 319 

renewed the attack, and cut her throat. She died in a few moments. 
He fled, but was soon arrested, indicted for murder in the first 
degree, and arraigned for trial in October, when Curtis Bates and 
"Dan" Finch, his lawyers, pleaded, "Not Guilty," and asked a 
change of venue, which was granted, and Jasper County was the 
county assigned for the trial. When the case came on there, a 
further venue was asked, and it was sent to Warren County, where, 
after a very tedious trial, Barlow Granger, Prosecuting Attorney, 
assisted by Lewis Todhunter, appearing for the state, the jury ren- 
dered a verdict of, "Guilty of murder in the first degree." 

A motion was made for a new trial, but denied by the court, 
who ordered that "the defendant be hung by the neck till he is dead, 
and that the execution of said defendant take place at some public 
and convenient place within one mile of the town of Indianola, 
within the County of Warren, on the Fifteenth day of December, 
A. D. 1854, at one o'clock of that day." 

Fouts was remanded to the custody of McHenry, and the case 
taken to the Supreme Court, for error in the indictment. The claim 
was sustained, the offense changed to that of "murder in the second 
degree," and the penalty fixed at imprisonment for life in Fort 
Madison Penitentiary. McHenry took him by stage coach to Iowa 
City, and thence, upon the decision of the Supreme Court, to the 
Penitentiary, where he remained twenty-three years, and died. 
After his death, his two daughters employed McHenry to settle 
his estate, and the proceeds were delivered to them. 

While he was Sheriff, he was often entrusted with large sums in 
gold, for the purchase of land, because of his extensive knowledge 
of the country. He would make the selection, survey it, fix the 
boundaries, executing the trust with scrupulous exactitude. 

In 1856, he was elected County Drainage Commissioner, whose 
duty it was, in case a person desired to drain his land, and cross the 
land of another, and they disagreed as to terms, to examine the 
premises, give the parties a hearing, and fix the damage that might 
accrue. 

It was during this year occurred the memorable contest between 
the East and West sides over the location of the State House. The 
Commissioners appointed by the Legislature to make the location 
employed McHenry to make a survey of the grounds they selected. 



320 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

On the Twenty-second of April, the West Siders raised a sub- 
scription of one hundred and twenty-five thousand and eight hun- 
dred dollars, as a bonus to be given, together with ten acres of land, 
to the state, provided the Capitol was located on the West Side, and 
the Commissioners were notified thereof. The subscription com- 
mittee was informed that they would be given a hearing the next 
morning, and the subscription be considered, but when the hour for 
the hearing arrived, the West Siders were informed that the loca- 
tion had been fixed. McHenry was called as a witness before a 
committee of the Legislature to show that the Commissioners had 
completed their real estate deals, divided the swag, as the West 
Siders claimed, and located the Capitol several days before hearing 
from the West Side. His testimony was as follows : 

"Question. — Did you reside in Des Moines at the time of the 
location of the Capitol, in 1856, and were you called upon to sur- 
vey the ground upon which the Capitol is located, and other public 
grounds ? If so, state what time you were called upon, what time 
you made the survey, and what time you first heard the location 
was made. 

"Answer. — I did live here. I was called upon to survey the 
Capitol grounds, I think, on Monday, April Twenty-first. I can't 
say when I first heard of the location, but it was before I made the 
survey. 

"Question. — What grounds did you survey, and how long did 
you continue in the employ of the Commissioners ? 

"Answer. — The first survey was on Capitol Square, the next 
was one designated on Bailsman's map as 'State Grounds,' the next 
was on the south side of the Raccoon River. I was employed three 
or four days. 

"Question. — Do you recollect making an appointment with 
Judge Crookham to make a survey on the south side of the Raccoon 
River ? 

"Answer. — I do. 

"Question. — Did you do any surveying for Judge Crookham 
(one of the Commissioners) on his private account, or in any way, 
except as on public grounds ? 

"Answer. — I never did." 



JUDGE WILLIAM H. McHENRY, Sb. 321 

In November, 1856, McHenry was elected a member of the 
Town Council of Fort Des Moines, and served until April follow- 
ing, when the town became incorporated as a city and he was elected 
Mayor. 

In 1857, McHenry turned his attention to law practice. His 
wide acquaintance with people throughout the country, his genial, 
social temperament, integrity, and veracity won him an immense 
clientele. 

He was not brilliant, but solid, sensible, deliberate, methodical, 
and reliable. His sympathies were always for the common people, 
the unfortunate, "the under dog in the fight." His practice was 
largely in the Criminal Court, and he became the proverbial 
defender in criminal cases. If a person got within the meshes of 
law, "Old Bill McHenry," a soubriquet often applied to him, not 
reproachfully, but as a mark of distinction, of trust, and abiding 
faith, for there was another "Bill McHenry," his son, a rising 
young lawyer, now a popular, estimable Judge of the District 
Court — was secured to get him out. To a client, he was true as 
steel. The question of fee seldom entered his head. As a rule, his 
clients were the unfortunate, the poorer class, seldom capitalists or 
corporations. He was extremely liberal. If his client had no 
money, it was all the same, hence he never became rich. 

As an advocate before a jury, he had few equals. All he wanted 
was a body of good, sensible men — farmers, if possible — in the box. 
He never indulged in hifalutin language, was never spectacular, 
never emotional, never "played to the gallery." He planted himself 
in a law of Justice, Equity, and Humanity, and, in his plain, orig- 
inal, unique way, with a vocabulary all his own, abjuring techni- 
calities, despising shystering, he was a powerful pleader. 

In 1870, he was elected City Solicitor, with J. P. Foster, a 
Republican, Mayor, and a Republican majority in the Council. 

In 1875, he was elected Alderman for the Second Ward, and 
reelected in 1876. 

In 1878, he was nominated for Judge of the District Court, by 
the Democrats. There had not been a Democrat elected to ^hat 
office in the county for twenty years, and his election was deemed 
impossible, but he had so ingratiated himself into the confidence 

Vol. I— (21). 



322 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

and good-will of the people, he was elected by a large majority, and 
so admirably did he administer justice, he was reelected. 

In criminal cases, his humanity, sympathy, kindness of heart, 
and desire to temper justice with mercy, often carried him to the 
verge of liberality in his decisions. Criticism by the more astute 
members of the Bar and outsiders availed nothing. He went on, in 
his rugged, uncommon way, dispensing the Gospel of Justice, 
Equity and Humanity to the end. In the more abstruse questions 
of law, he made as good a guess at the solution as the more finished 
graduates of law schools, and he left the bench with high commenda- 
tion for his probity and integrity. 

He was an enthusiastic member of the Old Settlers' Association, 
never missed its gatherings, and often entertained the crowd with 
his large fund of incidents and stories pertaining to early days. He 
used to tell one on Martin (X) Tucker, who kept the first tavern 
in the town. Tucker was a pompous, illiterate character, and was 
known all over the country as "Martin X." His often boasted 
shrewdness was in detecting schemes of sharpers who floated into 
town. One day, a down-East Yankee came to the tavern — the town 
had not got to the "hotel" stage. A few days after his arrival, Mar- 
tin began quizzing him about Yankee tricks, and asked him to 
relate some of them. He evaded, but said he would do so later. 
Soon after, he was missing, and his bill unpaid. Several weeks 
after, Martin received a letter from him, asking his opinion of 
Yankee tricks. 

Politically, McHenry was a Democrat, of the unterrified vari- 
ety. He took an active part in all political campaigns. On the 
stump, his quaint, original speeches were always in demand, and 
drew the crowds, for they knew what would be coming. He never 
toyed with "isms," or went off in tangents, but kept within the 
landmarks of the old party. 

He was patriotic, and popular as a Fourth of July speaker, but 
he kept the "Bird of Freedom" close to the earth, never flying it 
beyond the vision of the common people, never exploiting rhetorical 
pyrotechnics. 

He was public-spirited. His wide experience in various depart- 
ments of civic life, his judicial training and conservatism, were 
helpful to the community in many ways. 



JUDGE WILLIAM H. McHEKRY, Se. 323 

He died in 1893, leaving no heritage but the record of a useful, 
helpful life, and sons and daughters who have won public esteem 
and preferment. 

June Twenty-fifth, 1905. 




JAMES S. CLARKSON 



JAMES S. CLARKSON 

OLD-TIMERS of Polk County most assuredly have not for- 
gotten James S. Clarkson, or "Ret," as everybody called 
him, who was so prominently identified with all the various 
activities of the county in the early days. 

Born in Brookville, Franklin County, Indiana, May Seven- 
teenth, 1842, he was literally raised in the printing office of his 
father, Coker F., who published the Brookville American. He 
began setting type in the office when he was so small, boxes had to 
be piled up for him to stand on and reach the type boxes, and there 
he acquired an education in one of the best practical schools in this 
or any other country. 

When he was twelve years old, in 1854, his father disposed of 
his newspaper and engaged in railroad building until 1855, when 
he purchased a large tract of wild prairie land in Grundy County, 
Iowa, and with the assistance of "Ret" and his brother, Richard 
P., more familiarly known as "Dick," began making what became 
the famous "Melrose Farm." During the winter months, he added 
variety to his vocation by working in a saw mill. 

In 1861, when the cannon's roar at Fort Sumter reverberated 
over the country, he tendered his services to Uncle Sam, but the 
army doctors rejected him for physical disability, caused by over- 
work in a saw mill the previous Winter. He enlisted again in 1862, 
in a cavalry company, and was again rejected because of a weak 
heart. He went back to the farm with the enthusiasm in which 
Cartoonist "Ding" would picture: 

"The whining schoolboy, with his satchel 
And shining morning face, creeping like a snail, 
Unwillingly, to school." 

Nevertheless, he stuck to the farm, and while his father was 
absent as State Senator from that county, served as sole manager 
of it, but it is safe to say his heart was not in it. He was not built 

325 



326 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

for a promoter of graniverous quadrupeds. His natural bent was 
toward journalism, and he became impressed with the idea that the 
Eldora Ledger would be a good thing to have. One day, he broached 
the subject to his father, who suddenly squelched his ambitious 
dream with the tart retort that if he had no higher aspiration than 
that, he had better stick to the farm imtil something better pre- 
sented itself. 

He stuck to the farm until the Spring of 1866, when the jour- 
nalistic cravings of his nature brought him to Des Moines, May 
Eleventh, and he at once took a "case" as compositor in the Register 
office, in the Exchange Block, at Third and Walnut streets. Six 
weeks after, he was made assistant foreman of the composing- 
room, and three months later, promoted to foreman. Frank W. 
Palmer was the editor, assisted by the never-to-be-forgotten J. M. 
Dixon, a very peculiar man, and writer of oddities and pungent 
paragraphs. 

While employed in the office as compositor, Clarkson indulged 
in sending news letters to several newspapers over the signature of 
"Ret." The office boys took it up, and it became universal. He 
always responded to it with geniality, in recognition of the good- 
fellowship which prompted it, and thousands of people did not 
know he had any other "front" name. 

Dixon was a special correspondent of the Chicago Tribune, for 
which he was paid twenty dollars per month. His eyes became 
seriously affected, resulting in total blindness. "Ret" assumed the 
correspondence, and for nearly three years did the work, received 
the pay, and gave it to Dixon. 

In the early Spring of 1866, began a contest for an election of 
Congressman from the then Fifth District. John A. Kasson was 
a candidate for renomination for a third term. The friends of 
General G. M. Dodge and a large contingent of the soldier element 
decided to put the General in the field, in recognition of his bril- 
liant war record. The Register, Thomas F. Withrow, General Nat. 
Baker, and other leading Republicans, supported Dodge. It was 
one of the fiercest and most bitter struggles ever known in the party 
in the district or state. The General received the nomination, and 
was elected. 



JAMES S. CLARKSON 327 

December First, 1866, Frank M. Mills and his brother, Jacob 
W., purchased the Register establishment, and on the Sixth took 
possession, signalizing the event with a banquet to the editors and 
printers. Mr. Palmer was retained as editor-in-chief. 

Several months later, a reorganization of the newspaper force 
became necessary. J. A. Carey, who had been assisting Palmer, 
was sent into the field for outside work, which made a vacancy at 
the city editor's desk. Frank, who was the active principle and 
moving spirit of Mills & Company, began casting about for some- 
one to fill the vacancy. He had for some time been attracted by 
"Ret," who held a "case" in the composing-room. One day, J. C 
Benedict, the chief bookkeeper, casually said to Frank that "Ret" 
was going away — that he had, or was about to book at the stage 
office for an overland ride to San Francisco. Frank sent for him 
to come to the business office. He promptly responded, and was 
offered Carey's place. He took it, and, said Frank to me, a few 
days ago : "I think I am entitled to credit for saving to the state 
of Iowa one of its greatest editors." 

In 1869, Palmer retired from the Register, to run for Congress. 
Dodge, satisfied with the glory and emoluments of one term in an 
office he did not like, and did not want, declined a renomination, 
and "Ret" was given the editorial chair on probation. Fearing he 
might be too young for so heavy work, and with vivid remembrance 
of the events of 1867, Frank made arrangements for articles from 
General Nat. Baker, an old editorial wheelhorse; Louis Ruttkay, 
a fine scholar and polished writer ; Tom Withrow, the nestor of the 
Iowa Bar, and General Solicitor of the Chicago and Rock Island 
Railroad, and John S. Runnells, one of the most polished political 
persuaders that ever mounted a stump, but it was soon discovered 
that the young man who would push a pencil from Monday morn- 
ing to Saturday night without stopping was equal to the occasion. 
Al. Swalm, a second Dixon, was called down from the composing- 
room and installed in the city editor's chair, and the general verdict 
was that the two made a team that was hard to get ahead of. Later, 
Al. was sent to Grand Junction and Jefferson to run newspapers 
for Mills & Company, and "Lafe" Young, who had been an appren- 
tice in the job department, and was running a job press, was given 



328 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

Al.'s place at the city editor's desk, which he held until he went to 
Atlantic and started the Telegraph. 

In 1869, the printing business of Mills & Company had in- 
creased to such magnitude the newspaper became an incubus, and 
they were inclined to dispose of it. That was "Ret's" opportunity, 
and he suggested the purchase of it to his father, as "worthy of 
higher aspirations." The suggestion was accepted, the purchase 
made for thirty thousand dollars, cash, and December Fourth, 
1870, the property was transferred to the father and sons, "Ret" 
and Dick, under the firm name of the Clarkson Company. "Ret" 
became the editor, Dick the business manager. 

"Ret" was an editor by birth, "a chip off the old block." He 
possesses a virile, versatile, matured mind, well stored with gems 
gathered from the choicest and best authors. 

Old-timers recall with pleasure the force, directness and diction 
of his political editorials; the elegance, descriptive beauties and 
masterful word-building of his more sentimental productions, 
sparkling with all the charms of the purling, babbling brook adown 
the mountain side. The impress of his individuality, as clear as 
the shadow from a photographer's camera, was stamped in every 
line. He had a peculiar genius for constructing obituary notices. 
It used to be said there were those who were willing to die if "Ret" 
would write their obituary. He is the author of two works of fic- 
tion, but not under his own name, which had a large sale. 

There was one style of his writing — his chirography — the pub- 
lic never saw. It was simply execrable, and it was vouchsafed 
only to the compositors who put it in type to enjoy the beauty of it. 
The swear-words declaimed in their efforts to decipher it were 
terrific. It was unique — nothing like it, except, perhaps, that of 
John H. Gear, Governor Larrabee, Judge George G. Wright, and 
Horace Greeley, none of whom could decipher their own after it 
got "cold." There was fun with the "regulars" when a tramp hove 
into the office for a chance to "sub." He would be given a "case," 
Jones, the foreman, with a twinkle of his eye, would slip a "take" 
of "Ret's" copy on the hook ; the fellow would grab it, go to his 
place, study over it, turn it around several times, and break out: 
"See here, boss, what the h — 1 is this yer givin' me. Looks like an 



JAMES S. CLARKSON 329 

inscription on an Egyptian obelisk," and hand it back to the fore- 
man. Harry Porter was the only compositor who could read it 
readily, and the boys were willing he should have all the "phat" 
there was in it. 

He wrote very rapidly with a pencil, on soft paper, and several 
years before he left the Register, his wrist muscles collapsed under 
the strain of his strenuous pushing, and he had to employ a stenog- 
rapher, and later a typewriting machine, when those came into use. 

I recall an instance, when "Ret" and Dick took a trip to the 
Pacific Coast, and the only time, I think, Dick went outside the 
city limits while he was connected with the Register. Just before 
leaving the office, "Ret" sent upstairs a full column editorial for the 
next morning's issue. Harry Porter was off duty, and after a 
serious consultation among the boys, O. H. P. Grove volunteered 
to tackle it. He awaited the return of the proof with dismal expecta- 
tions, and great was his surprise to find a crisp, new One Dollar 
bill pinned to it, complimentary to his expertness as a guesser. As 
a reminder of the event, a page of the manuscript of the editorial 
was pasted up in the composing-room, where it remained several 
years. 

In 1871, when the Des Moines National Bank was organized, 
he was a stockholder, was elected one of the Board of Directors, 
and subsequently Vice-President. 

He had abiding faith in the city of his adoption, every foot of 
which was underlaid with coal, surrounded by an immense wealth 
of raw product, in the center of the finest body of land the sun 
shines upon — it only needed greater facilities for communication 
with the outside world to secure growth and prosperity. He decided 
that what was necessary was railroads. The town had but one, the 
Rock Island. The Chicago and Northwestern had built its road 
forty miles north of it to the Missouri River, the Chicago, Burling- 
ton and Quincy fifty miles south of it to the same point, and the 
town was fenced in. The so-called Granger Law was in force, the 
four big trunk lines were vigorously fighting it, and declared that 
not another mile of railroad should be built in Iowa. Des Moines 
was at a standstill, and lethargic. The big, old Savery House was 
closed and empty ; small boys could be seen casting stones through 



330 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

its windows. "Ret" decided that something must be done, and one 
night, in 1878, I think it was, he sent the office boy in haste to his 
residence for his valise, and went to Chicago, where he spent several 
days in strenuous effort to induce the railroad magnates to release 
their embargo, at least against Des Moines. That he was successful 
was evidenced by the fact that immediately on his return, he organ- 
ized the Des Moines and Knoxville Railway Company, went per- 
sonally into the field, secured the right-of-way from Knoxville to 
Des Moines, raised the funds to build the road, and when the road- 
bed was completed, the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy laid the 
iron on it, and January Tenth, 1880, the first passenger train came 
into the city over it. "Ret" was President of the company from 
start to finish. 

To get another outlet in another direction, in July, 1879, he 
organized the Des Moines, Marshalltown, Marion and Milwaukee 
Railway Company, secured the right-of-way, and survey of the 
route, negotiated with the Chicago, Milwaukee and Saint Paul to 
iron and operate it, but the project failed. 

"Ret" then turned his attention to the Wabash, a connection 
with which would not only give Des Moines a third communication 
with Chicago, but with Saint Louis and the South. He and John S. 
Runnells went to New York and made an agreement with Jay 
Gould similar to that made with the Chicago, Burlington and 
Quincy, whereby the Wabash was to be extended to Des Moines. 
The Des Moines and Saint Louis Railroad Company was organized, 
and when the roadbed was ready for the iron, Mr. Gould was called 
to execute his part of the compact. In that compact was a provision 
that two narrow-gauge feeders should be built northward and west- 
ward from Des Moines. Accordingly, early in 1880, "Ret" organ- 
ized the Adel and Western Railroad Company, the name of which 
was, in September, changed to Des Moines and Northwestern Rail- 
road Company. This was followed with the organization of the 
Saint Louis, Des Moines and Northern. Polk & Hubbell became 
interested in the narrow-gauge roads, and one was built through 
Dallas and Guthrie counties to Fonda, and the other to Boone. 

In January, 1886, "Ret" negotiated the incorporation of the 
Des Moines Union Railroad Company, composed of the Des Moines 



JAMES S. CLARKSON 331 

and Saint Louis, Des Moines and Northwestern, Saint Louis, Des 
Moines and Northern, and Wabash, Saint Louis and Pacific Rail- 
road Companies, and he was elected President of the corporation. 

To secure these four roads to Des Moines, "Ret" spent nearly 
half his time for two years, and much money from his own pocket. 
Nor was that all. It was not uncommon for him to turn the paper 
over to "the boys," and post off to New York and Philadelphia, to 
assist in starting some new industry in Des Moines. 

He is a radical Republican, an active politician, and under- 
stands the game in all its phases. The influence of the Register 
attained national fame, and in 1868, I think, he was made Chair- 
man of the State Central Committee, and served several years. In 
1867, when only twenty-five years old, he was offered, by President 
Grant, the mission to Switzerland, but declined it. In 1871, he 
was appointed Postmaster for Des Moines, served six years, and 
resigned on account of his inability to agree with the Southern 
policy inaugurated by President Hayes, and his unwillingness to 
oppose a President he was serving under officially. In 1881, Presi- 
dent Garfield offered him a foreign mission, but he declined it. In 
1889, he was appointed, by President Harrison, First Assistant 
Postmaster General, and served one year, when he was offered a 
mission to China or Russia, but declined them. 

He was a delegate to each Republican National Convention from 
1876 to 1896; a member of the Republican National Committee 
from 1880 to 1896 ; Chairman of the Committee from 1890 to 
1892, and President of the Republican League of the United States 
from 1891 to 1893. 

During the entire war period, to him a Secessionist was a Rebel, 
and so long as he was editor of the Register, it was so printed in its 
columns. He recognized no such substitute as "Confederate." 

He is of nervous, lymphatic temperament, genial and compan- 
ionable, but not loquacious ; is decidedly positive in character ; pos- 
sesses an indomitable will which even the most adverse circum- 
stances cannot break ; is a close, tenacious friend, and a hard hater. 
An enemy he can forgive, but forget, never. Is inclined to be 
aggressive, and woe to the person or thing that becomes the target 
of his trenchant pen when dipped in gall. He was an earnest pro- 



332 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

moter of the growth and prosperity of the town of his adoption, and 
from the viewpoint of the present-day "booster" dispensation, he 
was a booster when it was needed. He gave to the industrial, edu- 
cational, and church interests the powerful influence of his news- 
paper. For several years he was an active member of the West 
Side School Board. 

In 1879, a beginning was made to estblish a school for the higher 
education of girls, and the preparation of boys for college, to which 
endeavor the columns of the Daily Register gave enthusiastic sup- 
port. It culminated the following year in the incorporation of Cal- 
lanan College, so named in honor of James Callanan, who donated 
the grounds and building, as a boarding school of the highest excel- 
lence for young women, and "Ret" was elected one of the Board of 
Trustees. 

He was a charter member of Capital City Lodge Number 
Twenty-nine, Knights of Pythias, organized March Twenty-sixth, 
1876. 

In 1891, he sold his interest in the Register to his brother, Dick, 
went to New York and organized the New York and New Jersey 
Bridge Company, to build a bridge over the Hudson River at Fifty- 
ninth Street, to cost sixty-five million dollars, and was made Presi- 
dent of the company. 

In 1902, President Roosevelt appointed him Surveyor of Cus- 
toms for the port of New York, which place he now holds. Some 
day, he will return to Des Moines, which he claims is his home. 

May First, 1904. 




JUDGE WILLIAM W. WILLIAMSON 



JUDGE WILLIAM W. WILLIAMSON 

OF the pioneers of Des Moines who came early, grew up with 
the town, and became prominent factors in civic affairs was 
William W. Williamson, or Judge, as he was more famil- 
iarly known, a Kentuckian by birth. 

On learning, through the newspapers, in 1848, that the Capital 
of the state was to be removed from Iowa City to Monroe City, 
which had been selected by a lot of Quakers appointed by the Legis- 
lature, because of faith in them to resist the machinations of sharp- 
ers, speculators, and temptations of "the flesh and the devil." So, 
with his wife, a carriage, and two fine Kentucky thoroughbred 
horses, they embarked on a steamboat for Keokuk, via Saint Louis. 
From Keokuk, they journeyed to Monroe City. Prospectively, it 
was a beautiful city. It was platted with parks, boulevards, foun- 
tains, wide streets, and so forth, but when they arrived there, said 
Mrs. Williamson, a few days ago, "There was nothing but a lot of 
stakes set all over the town, not a building in sight in any direction, 
and we went on to Fairfield." 

The Quakers had "fallen from grace," been caught in the wiles 
of the Tempter, and departed from their faith. So tainted with 
corruption was their action, the Legislature repudiated it entirely, 
and the future Capital was relegated to the gophers and prairie 
dogs. 

After a short halt in Fairfield, the Judge and his wife came to 
Fort Des Moines. Houses were scarce, but they found a log cabin 
near what is now the corner of Ninth and Walnut streets, where 
they began their first experience in housekeeping. The log cabin 
being unsuitable for cold weather, they soon after moved to a small 
frame building with a clap-board roof, on Second Street below 
Vine. The house had but two small rooms, one above the other. 
The upper floor, or sleeping-room, was reached by means of a lad- 
der though a hole in the floor. Upon retiring, the ladder was pulled 

333 



334 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 



up after them, and they slept the sleep of the just. They were 
young and vigorous, and enjoyed the new life in the wild and 
woolly West immensely. They were both full-blooded Methodists, 
and tinctured with genuine Kentucky hospitality. Their house was 
always open to the "brethren," sans ceremony, sometimes to the 
great discomfort of the hostess, for, as she used to say: "Though 
they were good people, always welcome, they had good appetites, 
and there were times when provisions were scarce. One day, there 
came a preacher and his wife. I had very little flour, bacon or 
corn meal. I wanted to make some pies, but there were no dried 
apples — we didn't have canned nor green fruit in those days — and 
I went out on the plateau north, gathered some sheep sorrel, and 
made the pies, and they were good." 

On another occasion, in 1851, on Sunday, July Third, the whole 
country was flooded with high water ; teams could not go anywhere 
to mill ; the whole town was short of provisions. The next day there 
were to be dinners and suppers, but the larders were bare, and 
everybody was anxiously waiting the coming of a steamboat with 
supplies. A large gathering had assembled in a frame building on 
Walnut Street, where the Simon clothing store now is, when the 
small whistle of a steamboat broke in upon them. Instantly, the 
entire assemblage made a rush for the river, and the meeting closed 
without a benediction from the preacher. The people were more 
interested in flour and bacon than Biblical rhetoric, and they gave 
the steamboat a rousing welcome, for it was loaded with just what 
they wanted. 

In 1851, the Whigs resurrected the wreck of the Fort Des 
Moines Gazette, which Lamp. Sherman had laid away after a vain 
eifort to keep it afloat, and February Twenty-eighth, issued the 
first number of the Iowa State Journal, with Peter Myers & Com- 
pany publishers, and Williamson the leading editor. It was during 
the Presidential campaign of General Winfield Scott, and the paper 
did effective service, but Whigs were in the minority, the paper 
received no public patronage, and in August, 1852, ceased to be, 
and Williamson went back to his law books. 

Under the Legislative Act of 1846, organizing Polk County, the 
counties of Story, Boone, and Dallas, and all the territory north and 



JUDGE WILLIAM W. WILLIAMSON 335 

west thereof were attached to Polk for election, revenue and judi- 
cial purposes, and all residents therein could vote for national, 
state, and county officers as being in Polk County. 

In 1847, a new voting precinct was established, comprising the 
County of Boone and all the territory north and west of it. 

In 1849, a new County of Boone was established, entirely inde- 
pendent of Polk, with prescribed limits, but no provision was 
made for the unorganized territory, north and west, for election or 
judicial purposes, hence, de facto, it did not belong to Polk nor 
Boone. 

In April, 1853, Williamson was elected Prosecuting Attorney, 
and served one year, being succeeded by Barlow Granger, the Demo- 
crats making a special effort to get control of all the county offices. 

At the same election, he was elected one of the Council of the 
"Original Town of Fort Des Moines." There were no wards, the 
Councilmen being elected by the people at large. He held the office 
one term. 

In 1855, at the Democratic nominating convention, McFarland 
and Judge Curtis Bates were candidates, The Fort supporting the 
latter. A count of noses showed the vote would be close, but late 
in the session a fellow came in claiming to represent King County, 
up in what is now a part of Sac County, a county which had never 
been heard of. He was admitted, and voted for McFarland, giving 
him a majority of one vote. Of course, Bates' friends were mad. 

The Whigs nominated Williamson, who had become prominent 
and popular. The Know-nothing craze was flourishing, with its 
shiboleth, "Americans to Rule Americans," and the small, diamond- 
shaped paper frequently scattered about the streets as notice of an 
immediate meeting of the clan somewhere, operated as a red rag to 
the Irish, Scandinavians, and Dutch. This element, and some of 
Bates' friends, affiliated with the Whigs. The Capital re-location 
subject and the gubernatorial campaign were also on, so that the 
whole country was considerably stirred up. 

At the election, the returns showed that Williamson had a small 
majority. The Democrats asked for a postponement until the 
"back country" could be heard from, but he was declared elected, 
and was given his commission by the Governor. In the meantime, 



336 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

some poll books were sent in from Butler County, which had just 
been organized out of the territory formerly belonging to Polk 
County, but which had been cut off from all jurisdiction by the 
Act of 1849. The Democrats claimed the poll books should be rec- 
ognized and the votes counted. The question was referred to the 
Judges of Election, two Democrats and one Whig, who accepted 
the poll books and counted their forty votes for McFarland. John 
A. Hull, of Boone, a prominent politician in those days, contested 
the election, claiming that the forty votes given to McFarland were 
illegal, as not a name of a voter appeared on the alleged poll books, 
neither were they signed by anybody as Judge or Clerk of Election. 
The contest went to the Supreme Court, where it was decided that 
unless fraud could be shown in the election, the votes must be 
counted, notwithstanding there were some irregularities, the court 
thus ignoring the fact that the votes were cast in Butler County, 
which had been attached to another district entirely for election 
purposes. 

McFarland got the place, and learning that Hull had been seek- 
ing to defeat him, recalled the fact that Hull owed him for a barrel 
of lime. He sued for the value of the lime, and got a judgment 
in a Justice Court. Hull paid the judgment, but McFarland's 
temper having cooled, he refused to take it, and it went to the heirs 
of the estate of the Justice. 

Though Williamson did not get the place, he got the title, which 
stuck to the end of his days. 

He had the usual experience of other lawyers with the bibulous 
McFarland. One day, when he and his opponent were arguing a 
case, the Judge was so drunk he tumbled off his chair. Gathering 
himself into his seat again, he said: "Go on with your d — n 
speechifying. I'll show you when you get through." 

One morning, court had been opened, the Judge was in his seat, 
and the lawyers were standing about, preparing to settle down to 
business, when a man, ill-dressed, came straggling in and planted 
himself directly in front of the Judge, with his hat on. Nothing 
would excite the ire of the Judge more than to see a man in "open 
court" with his hat on. 

"Well, what do you want? Take off your d — d hat!" said the 
Judge. 



JUDGE WILLIAM W. WILLIAMSON 337 

"I have been elected to an office, and I want to be qualified," 
replied the stranger. 

"I'll swear you," said the Judge, "but all h — 1 couldn't qualify 
you." 

In 1856, during the contest over the location of the State House, 
Williamson was an active West Sider, and was one of the commit- 
tee who secured the three hundred thousand dollar fund to be given 
the state as a bonus for locating it on the West Side., and in the 
investigation, in 1858, of the subject, in which the Commissioners 
who located it on the East Side were charged with corruption and 
boodling, the East Siders claiming the West Siders' subscription 
was not worth the paper it was written on. Williamson was called 
as a witness and testified as follows : 

"Question. — Were you a resident of Fort Des Moines at the 
time of the location of the Capitol ? 

"Answer. — I was. 

"Question. — Did you know this paper (marked 'E') was in cir- 
culation about the time of the location, and if so, what was the 
understanding as to the subscriptions being bona fide? 

"Answer. — My understanding was that it would not be accepted 
— for I had heard the Commissioners had located the Capitol on 
the East Side. 

"Question. — Did you sign that papur with intent to pay ? [He 
signed for five himdred dollars.] 

"Answer. — Had the location been made on the west side of the 
river, after the subscription had been presented to the Commis- 
sioners, I presume I would have paid it. 

"Question. — Did you own property on the west side of the 
river ? 

"Answer. — Yes. 

"Question. — Were you influenced by that fact in subscribing ? 

"Answer. — In part, I was. I resided there, and for convenience 
I wished to have it there." 

Politically, the Judge was a Free Soil Whig, though the son of 
a slaveholder, and raised on a plantation. He was an active, lead- 
ing man in his party in the early days, when there was a strong 
pro-slavery element among the Democrats, who did not think a 
Whig had any rights they should respect. 
Vol. I— (22). 



338 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

He was a supporting pillar — financially as well as morally — of 
the Methodist Church and of the public schools. He brought with 
him to Des Moines considerable money, and as his wife once said, 
"He gave it all away to churches and schools." He was a member 
of the West Side School Board twelve years, and devoted much of 
his time to the office without compensation. He was very fond of 
children, and a great favorite with them. Nearly every day, little 
ones would come to his house on the lot corner of Fifth and Locust, 
where the Marquardt Bank now is, bringing pictures to "Willie 
Willyumson," as they called him, until nearly every room in the 
house was papered with them. 

During the formative period of the town and city, he was identi- 
fied with every movement for progress and improvement. He died 
in 1893. 

July Ninth, 1905. 




COLONEL J. N. DEWEY 



COLONEL J. N. DEWEY 

THIETY years ago, a very dignified and prominent individual 
in Des Moines was Colonel J. N. Dewey. How he acquired 
the military title, I never learned. He was not a Kentuckian, 
nor was he ever in the military service, except by implication. 

By profession, he was a civil engineer, and in the early 'Fifties, 
did railroad engineering in Massachusetts and New York. When 
Hugh Riddle was at the head of the New York and Erie Road, the 
Colonel surveyed, laid out, and assisted largely in building that 
road, and when Riddle came to Chicago and became President and 
head of the Chicago and Rock Island Road, so great was his confi- 
dence in the Colonel, he was a frequent and influential adviser with 
the leading men of that road, and represented them in the Direc- 
tory Board of the Burlington, Cedar Rapids and Northern Division. 

In 1855, he came to Des Moines, then only a small village, and 
began business in surveying, engineering, and real estate. An adept 
in his profession, and possessing excellent business qualifications, 
his services were valuable in promoting the growth and business 
interests of the town, and in 1856 he was elected Engineer by the 
Town Council of Fort Des Moines, and reelected in 1857 City 
Engineer by the first Council of the City of Des Moines, and was 
prominently identified with the laying out of streets and alleys and 
fixing the holdings of lot owners. His services in the City Council, 
when business qualifications were much needed, were of great value 
to the city. 

In 1860, he was elected City Treasurer, and held that office one 
term. 

In 1860, the Legislature convened in special session to devise 
measures for a War and Defense Fund, and to enable the state to 
comply with the demands of the United States for soldiers in "sup- 
pressing the Rebellion," as the statute reads. (All through the war 
period, the Legislature used the terms "rebellion" and "rebel.") 

339 



340 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

An appropriation of several hundred thousand dollars was made 
to pay the expenses therefor. The Colonel and S. R. Ingham were 
elected Commissioners by the Legislature to disburse that fund. 
It was an onerous and difficult task. It embraced the auditing of 
"all accounts and disbursements having reference to the military 
organization, arming and subsistence of the same, and all expendi- 
tures regarding the purchase of arms, 'Uniforms, and accoutrements, 
army supplies and subsistence for any of the companies of the state 
called into the service of the General Government." 

ISTo claim could be paid unless proved and allowed by the Com- 
missioners. For this service, they were allowed three dollars per 
day and actual mileage. 

The war period was a field day for "grafters" and speculators 
in army supplies, and there were many always alert to "make 
money" by it, but, while not penurious nor captious, the Colonel 
and Ingham would pay no "padded" or constructive claims against 
the state or United States. They could not be swerved one iota 
from exact justice and right. There must be a tangible equivalent 
for every dollar expended. A single glance at the frigid facial 
expression of those two men would send a shiver down the spinal 
column of the most persuasive and versatile jobber in Government 
contracts, and visions of "graft" vanished into nothingness. 

The Legislature also provided in the original Act for protection 
against "wild-cat" money, by requiring paymasters and all other 
disbursing officers to make their payments in coin of the United 
States, or be removed from office and barred from holding any office 
in the state for five years. 

The burden of the labor of the Commission was assumed by the 
Colonel, who devoted his entire time thereto. There was very little 
building in the town during the period. All business enterprises 
were greatly depressed. 

In 1862, the Colonel was appointed by President Lincoln as 
Assessor of Internal Revenue for the Third District, he being the 
first one appointed. Soon after, he was appointed by Secretary of 
War Stanton as Commissary of Subsistence, but the duties of his 
office as Auditor of the Iowa War Fund were so exacting he was 
obliged to resign both appointments. 



COLONEL J. K DEWEY 341 

In 1864, the Des Moines Gas Company was organized. During 
the first year, its work was largely experimental, in an effort to 
make gas from superheated steam. Brilliant gas could be and was 
made, but no substance could be found of which to make the cru- 
cibles that would withstand the intense heat necessary for "cook- 
ing" or heating the steam. The project was abandoned, the usual 
process adopted, and gas was first supplied for private use, Tues- 
day evening, July Eleventh, 1865. 

In 1866, the Colonel was selected, by Act of the Legislature, a 
special agent of the state to settle and adjust with the United States 
all claims of the state for expenses incurred during the war in 
raising and equipping troops, expenses in protecting her frontier 
from guerrilla raids, and also expenses incurred in protecting her 
frontier after the Spirit Lake Massacre by Inkapadutah and his 
band, in 1857 ; also to settle all claims of the state of the five per 
cent of the sale of public lands. His compensation was fixed at five 
dollars per day, and so thoroughly complete and exact was kept 
the account for raising and equipping Iowa regiments under the 
Act of 1860, with its multiplexity and complications, every claim 
which had passed through his hands was allowed and paid. 

All these papers, records, and statements relating to his war 
commission, carefully preserved, are stored in the barn at his late 
residence. 

In 1868, he was elected Alderman for the Third Ward, and 
reelected in 1869. The ward then comprised all the territory 
between Locust and Center streets west of Des Moines river. 

In 1870, the Legislature passed an Act providing for the erec- 
tion of the new Capitol. An appropriation of one hundred and 
fifty thousand dollars was made to begin the work, and a Board of 
Commissioners was elected to carry out the provisions of the Act. 
The Colonel was one of the Commissioners, each of whom had to 
give a bond to the state in the sum of fifty thousand dollars, that 
he would honestly perform his duties. Work was commenced at 
once, and on a cold, rainy day, November Twenty-third, 1871, the 
corner-stone was laid with elaborate and appropriate ceremonies, 
and the foundation finished for the erection of the superstructure. 

In 1875, the Capital City Gas Light Company was organized, 
and a charter obtained from the City Council. The Colonel was 



342 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

elected President of the company, and on the evening of September 
Twenty-third, 1876, the city was first lighted by that company, and 
has continued its service to the present day. 

In 1878, the city had grown so as to encroach largely on the 
territory of Des Moines and Lee townships, little being left of them. 
The Legislature was appealed to for relief, and an Act was passed 
providing that where a city of the first class embraced parts of two 
or more townships, an Alderman-at-Large should be elected to rep- 
resent such township. Under this Act, the Colonel was elected 
Alderman-at-Large to represent Des Moines Township. 

While associated with Ingham in various official undertakings, 
the Colonel was so well pleased with him, a business partnership 
was formed, and when the old Savery House (Kirkwood) was sold 
under a mortgage, it was purchased by Ingham and the Colonel, 
stripped of all its contents, the rotunda and business offices removed 
from the second floor to the ground floor, and the whole interior 
remodeled. The name was changed to "Kirkwood," in honor of 
the old War Governor. The Colonel retained his interest in it 
until 1889, when he sold it back to Ingham. 

In 1880, when the City Water Works passed from Polk & Hub- 
bell to a joint stock company, the Colonel was made President of 
the company. 

The Colonel was, to the masses, serene, taciturn, and frigid. 
Few knew him intimately, but those who did, socially and in busi- 
ness, found him gracious and companionable. He had a warm side 
to those who got next it. He was a fast friend. He was kind and 
charitable to the poor, to whom he made liberal contributions. He 
also gave generously to churches and other worthy objects, and 
always with the request that the source should be unknown to the 
beneficiaries. He disliked newspaper publicity of his doings, and 
the reporter who attempted to "pump" him very quickly discovered 
his aversion to it. 

He took great interest in civic affairs, and his oft-repeated elec- 
tion to public office evidences the public faith in his honesty and 
integrity. 

Politically, the Colonel was a Republican. He took an active 
advisory part in politics, but never sought public office, yet for 



COLONEL J. K DEWEY 343 

nearly twenty years he was a public servant, and during the war 
period did the state notable, conscientious service. He was intensely 
patriotic, and strongly desired to enlist in the army, but his age 
precluded it. When the news came of the assassination of Presi- 
dent Lincoln, the city was intensely excited. Hurried preparations 
were made for public expression of its sadness and sorrow. The 
Mayor requested that all public offices, office buildings, and private 
residences be appropriately draped. A mass meeting was held in 
the Court House Square, on Sunday, attended by an immense 
crowd of people. Eloquent addresses were made by Frank W. 
Palmer, John A. Kasson, J. A. Williamson, and others, the meet- 
ing closing with a benediction by the venerable pioneer and beloved 
first rector of the Episcopal Church, the Reverend Doctor Peet. 
The pastors of all the churches, at their morning service, except 
one, gave heartfelt expression of sympathy for the Nation's great 
loss. Some devoted the entire service to the event. At the Episco- 
pal Church, the rector, John E. Ryan, conducted the regular serv- 
ice. At the close of his sermon, he asked the attention of the audi- 
ence for a moment, and said that, as a Christian minister and 
patriot, he would not do his duty if he omitted to mention the dis- 
tressing event of Saturday, but he had many times declared his 
pulpit should never be profaned to the preaching of politics. He 
would not, on the one hand, carp at the measures of the administra- 
tion, nor on the other eulogize the virtues of the late Executive. 
There was instant expression of indignation at the mockery of the 
incident, and the audience dispersed in discomfiture. The next 
day, when vestrymen the Colonel, Hoyt Sherman, "Dan" Pinch, 
and others met to make preparations to drape the church, which 
was a small frame standing on Seventh Street between Walnut and 
Locust, where the Younker store now is, they were informed the 
rector had refused to permit the church to be opened for such pur- 
pose. The doors were forced, and the interior elaborately draped. 
The rector soon after left the city. 

During the later years of his life, the Colonel retired from act- 
ive business, having become quite wealthy. He died in September, 
1889. 

September Third, 1905. 



JUDGE WILLIAM McKAY 

A PIONEER of Des Moines who took an active and influen- 
tial part in the formative period of the town was Major 
William McKay, a graduate of a Kentucky military school, 
hence his title. He came in February, 1846, while the soldiers 
were here, and while Fort Des Moines was under military control, 
but considerably relaxed, settlers having been permitted to come in 
and take residences as best they could. He was a young man of 
culture, courtly manners, genial and attractive. He soon gained 
public attention, and was considered a very desirable acquisition to 
the little hamlet just entering into civic life. The entire popula- 
tion did not exceed one hundred, but was increasing rapidly. 

The buildings were of log construction, and comprised those 
used by the soldiers of the garrison — it was not strictly a "fort." 
They extended from the "Point," at the junction of the rivers, one 
along Raccoon as far west as Fifth Street, and one along the Des 
Moines as far as Walnut Street. One of them stood in the rear 
of the old Demoin House, near Walnut, as late as 1869, and was 
occupied by "Uncle Tommy" French, a bachelor, a good carpenter, 
a good man, a good fisherman, who supplied his friends with the 
best of his catch. 

The barrack buildings were quickly filled, and other cabins 
added. 

At the first election in the county, on April Sixth, 1846, a Board 
of County Commissioners was elected, who had control of all 
county affairs. At the first meeting of the Board, April Thir- 
teenth, the Major was elected Clerk of the Board, and soon after 
was appointed County Agent, and directed to sell at auction the 
houses, rails, and other property which the Government had trans- 
ferred to the county. The sale was made July Sixteenth, and was 
a welcome event. Many families were living in tents, or "doubled 
up" in cabins, and they were anxious to get into better quarters, 

345 



346 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

and the barrack buildings were quickly sold, to some who afterward 
lived in more pretentious and costly houses, but not more contented 
and happy. 

The pioneers were patriotic, and July Fourth, 1846, the day 
was celebrated with great enthusiasm. Anvils and big logs were 
substituted for cannon, as noise producers. A procession of men 
and women from the town and country, numbering about two hun- 
dred, was formed, headed by two fiddles — brass bands had not 
materialized — which marched to a small grove — there were plenty 
of them on the plateau at that time — where Tom Baker delivered 
an oration, the Major read the National Magna Charta, a big din- 
ner was served ; there were toasts and repartees, and a dance in the 
evening of a very hot day closed the first event of the kind in Polk 
County. 

The first state Legislature, which convened at Iowa City, in 
November, 1846, decided to remove the Capital to a more central 
point, and appointed a lot of alleged Quakers to select eight hun- 
dred acres of public land, which Congress had donated for that 
purpose, to be the Capital, which they did, on an open prairie in 
Jasper County. They platted a town, sold lots, and named the 
"future Capital" Monroe City. The Major was Clerk of the Com- 
mission, and his record of proceedings was too exactly precise. It 
showed that four hundred and fifteen lots were sols* on time pay- 
ments for seven thousand, one hundred and ninety-eight, aollars and 
twelve cents; that one thousand seven hundred and ninety-seven 
dollars and forty-three cents was received in cash ; that their serv- 
ices and expenses were two thousand, one hundred and six dollars 
and fifty-seven cents; that two of the Commissioners bid off fifty- 
two lots and optioned big chunks of land lying roundabout, for 
future delivery. The whole business was so tainted with "skull- 
duggery," the Legislature repudiated it. 

At the May Term of the District Court, in 1847, the Major 
was admitted to the Bar of Polk County, and was the first lawyer 
admitted thereto. He at once became very prominent and successful. 
On the adoption of the first state Constitution, Polk County was 
made the Fifth Judicial District, and at the April election, 1849, 
the Major was elected the first Judge of the District Court. 



JUDGE WILLIAM McKAY 347 

It is a curious fact that from 1846 to 1849, there was no official 
record of an election held in Polk County, the only evidence of 
such election being the record of proceedings and acts of public 
officers. The first evidence of the election of Judge McKay is his 
entries on the court docket at the May Term. It was not until 
1851 that intelligible county records were kept. The first-comers 
were easy-going fellows. They didn't stand much on ceremony. 
There were not many of them ; they knew each other well ; they 
would get together, talk over matters, agree on some line of action, 
go and do it, and let it go at that. There was, however, ample 
prior official notice of an election to be held, for there were poli- 
ticians in those days. For instance, County Clerk Lewis Whitten 
issued the following election notice : 

"There will be elected at our next election [no date given] a 
state officer styled Superintendent of Public Instruction, a district 
officer styled a District Judge, and such county and township offi- 
cers as are mentioned in the advertisement. We hope the Demo- 
crats will play the Whigs a strong game, and show that we have a 
majority in the county. It is said the Democratic candidate for 
Judge is the best lawyer in the state." 

The election of Coroner Phillips, the first one elected, is another 
instance. There is no record to show that a successor was elected 
to him for sixteen years, yet in the interim the certificates of several 
persons as Coroner are on file in the county offices. He was an 
eccentric and somewhat bibulous character, and had an exalted 
opinion of his office. During the noted "Fleming War," he put the 
town under Martial Law. He went around to all the stores, 
ordered them closed and locked, to save the goods from pillage, and 
everybody to "arm themselves and be ready to act under orders." 
On another occasion, two Indians came to The Fort, got drunk, 
and one killed the other. Phillips was called. He came, turned 
him over, opened his eyes, and pronounced him dead, "dead as 
h — 1." Someone suggested the calling of a jury. "What in h — 1 
do you want of a jury ?" said he. "He's dead, you know he's dead, 
and Miss Hays knows he's dead. Bury him, and go about your 
business." 

That occurrence reminds me that the Miss Hays to whom Phil- 
lips referred was a somewhat boisterous character. She was once 



348 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

brought before a Justice of the Peace, charged with assault and 
battery. The record of the case shows the following: 

"On the oath of , warrant was ishued on the 23d 

day of december. Warrant Returnd on the 27th day of december, 
and the defendant braught, a vanire ishued and jury braught forth- 
with, and after the jury was sworn and thare names called as fol- 
lowes to wit Thomas Leng, henry Spong, J. P. Taylor, Samuel 
hays, Aron Smith, Stephen gosse, and witness Swor and examend 
the jury retired and braught in a verdick of gilty of manslawter 
and judgement accordingly and commitment ishued and the defend- 
ant sent to the county jail. 

it 



"Justice of the Peace." 

In April, 1850, when Fort Des Moines Lodge Number Twenty- 
six, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, was organized, the first 
instituted in the county, McKay was installed its Warden, and he 
was a prominent and influential member. 

He was a firm believer in the religious creed of the Baptist 
denomination, and in February, 1851, at a meeting of fifteen of 
the faith, held in the Court House, he assisted in organizing the 
First Baptist Church, and he was elected one of the deacons. In 
January, 1848, the County Commissioners donated a lot to the 
church, conditioned that a meeting-house be erected thereon within 
two years, the lot to be held in trust by the Judge. The times were 
hard, the house was not built, and, to prevent reversion of the lot 
to the county, the Judge purchased it, and later, when ready to 
build, he donated the lot to the church. 

The Judge was an ardent teetotaler, and avowed his temperance 
principles on all occasions, even in his political campaigns. In 
1852, when North Star Lodge of Good Templars was organized, 
he was one of the charter members. 

He loved the beautiful, whether in animal or still life. He fore- 
saw, in the broad prairies, running streams, and healthful climate 
of his adopted state the possibilities for horses, cattle, and grain. 
In 1853, a movement was inaugurated for the organization of the 
State Agricultural Society, and for holding the first State Fair, 
Iowa then being the only Free State not holding such a Fair. The 



JUDGE WILLIAM McKAY 349 

Society was organized in December of that year, and the Judge 
was elected one of the three directors to represent Polk County. 

In 1854, his second term expired, and he was a candidate for 
reelection. The Know-Nothing craze was rife, and the political 
atmosphere was breezy. P. M. Casady was the Democratic candi- 
date. The district comprised the whole northwestern part of the 
state. McKay had become very popular during his four years' 
service. The fight between the East and West sides over the loca- 
tion of the State House was on, with "blood on the moon." Grimes 
was running for Governor against Curtis Bates, a prominent Demo- 
crat at The Fort, and the outlook portended a close contest. Casady 
having been State Senator two terms, and largely instrumental in 
securing the removal of the Capital to Des Moines, was widely 
known. He was not so good a talker on the stump as McKay, but 
he got close to the plain people, with his heart-to-heart talks and 
earnest, logical, convincing way of putting things. The situation 
demanded strategy — there's nothing like strategy in war. It was 
anything to beat the Whigs. Marshall County was in the throes 
of a county-seat contest. W. W. Miller and two others had been 
appointed to select a place for the county-seat, and they seem to 
have got in "cahoot" with one John B. Hobbs, for speculative pur- 
poses, and located it at Marietta. The court was held in a log 
building, one side of which was divided into horse stalls, so that 
Judge McKay's horse quietly munched hay and oats while court 
was in session. Marshalltown wanted the county-seat, and old 
"Hank" Anson, father of the well-known baseball player, inaugu- 
rated a movement to get it, invited Casady to assist, to which he 
responded, with the explanation to Des Moines friends that he was 
going up there to "visit among some old friends." He was received 
with great cordiality, given "the best in the house," and his horse 
put up in the "Court House stable." He hobnobbed with the old 
settlers, chucked the babies under the chin, while he told Miller 
and his confederates that they had made a mistake — Marietta was 
too low, wet, and undesirable for a county-seat. Marshaltown won 
the county-seat, and Casady won the judgeship, but immediately 
after his election he was appointed Register of the United States 
Land Office, carrying a better salary, and he resigned the judgeship 
without holding a court. 



350 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

After his defeat, McKay returned to the practice of law, in a 
court presided over by a Judge, the very antithesis of all his moral 
sentiments, a Judge so eccentric in his habits as to become notori- 
ous — the well-known McFarland. Every lawyer of that day was 
loaded with incidents of his peculiarities. On one occasion, General 
Samuel A. Rice had an important case before him. The Judge 
came into court so groggy he couldn't see straight, and in ill-humor. 
The first business was the hearing of motions, which were pre- 
sented by the lawyers, every one of which the Judge very curtly 
denied, without reason or explanation. When Rice's turn came, 
he very quietly presented his motion with the remark that he did 
so merely to "save a point," but as his Honor was overruling every- 
thing, he could not expect an exception in his case. 

"No, you don't, Sammy ; no, you don't," said the Judge, arous- 
ing himself from his somnolent condition. "This Honorable court 
has investigated that point, and you are sustained." 

As the motion covered all the points he wanted to save, Rice 
won out. 

Soon after his defeat, McKay was appointed a member of the 
River Land Commission, to represent the state in the final settle- 
ment of the tangled affairs of that master project of public improve- 
ment and river obstruction. 

In 1857, he went to Kansas, where he died in 1859. In all his 
relations with civic or social life, he stood for the betterment of all. 

July Thirtieth, 1905. 




MRS. P. M. CASADY 



PIONEER WOMEN 

MY reminiscences of pioneers and old settlers — the pioneer 
claims a little distinction because he was "first in" — has 
been confined mostly to the men, but the wives and mothers 
should not be forgotten. While they did not build houses, business 
blocks, churches, and schoolhouses, make laws, and lay the founda- 
tion of civic government, they did lay the foundation of what is 
most essential to good government, to a successful, progressive, and 
prosperous community. They were the home-builders, the mould- 
ers of child life. They left to succeeding generations a heritage in 
the character of their children (was there ever a settler's cabin pre- 
sided over by a childless woman), who have, with fidelity to their 
early training, perpetuated the nobility of their maternity upon 
the county and town, so that the character and influence of the pio- 
neer matrons is woven into the warp and woof of our civic life. 

It was the mother who bore and cared for the babies, cared for 
the house, looked after the garden, milked the cows, and made the 
butter, dressed the fowls, gathered and preserved the wild fruit, did 
the family knitting and sewing, fried out the fat for and dipped the 
candles, helped in the fields, and did the thousands of things a good 
mother finds to do from four o'clock in the morning until night 
hours, when all others of the family are in bed asleep. 

It required courage and self-abnegation for those women to turn 
their faces from homes and kindred in the more civilized communi- 
ties, many of them homes of plenty, and environments pleasing to 
woman's nature, to make new homes, and endure the hardships, 
sickness, want, and unending toil during the best years of life, to 
build up a new civilization. 

There were also the trials and discouragements of housekeeping 
with meager facilities or improvised substitutes. 

Their first experience was a log cabin, often one room, which 
was parlor, living-room, bedroom, and kitchen, with oiled paper 

351 



352 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

windows, puncheon floor, and so well ventilated the stars could be 
seen through the openings. For water, a hole in the ground, with- 
out wall or curb, or a far-off creek or river. 

Cooking was done by fireplaces of rude construction. For bread- 
making and biscuit, an iron skillet was heated over coals on the 
hearth, the dough put in, a heated cover placed over the skillet, and 
covered with live coals. A Dutch oven was sometimes used, with 
an open front, and set before the fire. Coffee was boiled in a vessel 
on coals drawn out on the hearth. Meats and vegetables were cooked 
in iron pots and kettles. Corn bread was usually cooked on hot 
pone-cake boards. Corn bread, pork, and rye coffee were the staple 
foods. Sometimes there was no flour nor corn meal ; mills were far 
away, roads impassable, rivers flooded and unfordable. Meal could 
be had only by pounding up the corn, or "jinting" it, which con- 
sisted of turning a carpenter's plane bottom up and shaving off the 
corn from the cob. There were many occasions when whole fami- 
lies went to bed hungry because "father" was delayed in getting 
home from the mill. 

The experience of the pioneer of the town and country was much 
the same, the difference being in their nearness to each other. In 
the country, isolation was a saddening condition for the pioneer 
woman, the story of which could be found in the records of an 
asylum for the insane. 

Mrs. Judge Casady probably has not forgotten her introduction 
to pioneer life. Raised in comparative luxury, the daughter of a 
well-to-do physician, F. C. Grimmel, she arrived here in a covered 
wagon, after a long and weary journey from Ohio, in August, 1846, 
at ten o'clock in the night. There was not a vacant place in which 
the family could unload the wagons, and the night was spent in 
camping. The next day, the abandoned log Guard House, with its 
iron-barred windows and doors, was secured, and there, at Vine 
and Third streets, the Summer and Winter were spent. The next 
year, her father bought one of the Government warehouses, made 
of plank, tore it down, and made a small dwelling-house of it, near 
the corner of Sixth and High. In 1848, she married the Judge, who 
built a small frame house on the corner now occupied by Clapp's 
Block, where she lived a few years, and adapted herself to the con- 
tingencies of the times and place. There were no si d walks nor 




MRS. ISAAC COOPER 



PIONEER WOMEN 353 

pavements. In wet weather, and on rainy days, the mud was deep, 
and passable only by donning the Judge's boots. It was the habit 
of the pioneers to adapt themselves to circumstances and conditions. 
She will pass her eightieth birthday the Nineteenth of the present 
month. 

The little community at The Fort often got hungry ; the larders 
got bare ; provisions got scarce. When the soldiers retired, and the 
surplus of the commissary stores of the garrison were sold, it was a 
great boon, for there were many families with little or nothing to 
eat in the house. Rice was sold for two and one-half cents per 
pound ; pork, three cents ; eggs, three cents a dozen, and sugar less 
than one-fourth price. 

Said Mrs. J. M. Griffith to me one day : "I never knew what it 
was to want for anything, or be hungry, until I came to Fort Des 
Moines. It was not because there were not means to procure it, 
but it could not be found. I was often hungry from scarcity of 
food supplies. I also got so satiated and tired of corn bread, bacon 
and dried apples, I thought I could not endure them, but I got 
used to them — I had to." 

Mrs. Isaac Cooper also braved the trials and vicissitudes of life 
in a cabin, and its scanty comforts. There was but one chair for 
all, sufficient when there were no "callers." To supply the defi- 
ciency, Isaac fashioned one from a Black Walnut tree, and the bark 
of Linnwood. Her children wore out their shoes, as children pro- 
verbially do. There was no shoemaker — he had not arrived — and 
the father again came to the rescue by making some shoes from the 
leather of saddles the soldiers had discarded. While they were not 
as fashionable as the "Sorosis" of the present day, they did good 
service. Mrs. Fred. Hubbell doubtless has a vivid recollection of 
those shoes, and the exquisite pleasure of "breaking them in." 

Mrs. Nancy Barns was born in Virginia, May Twenty-fifth, 
1820, and when a child, her parents removed to Miami County, 
Ohio. In 1855, with her husband, William S. Barns, she went 
down the Ohio River, thence up the Mississippi to Keokuk, thence 
by wagon to Fort Des Moines. She has a memory replete with 
reminiscences of the trials and deprivations of the early days. Her 
husband for many years had a general store on Second Street. 

Vol. I— (23). 



354 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

When they came to The Fort, the only way to get a house was to 
buy a lot and build. He went to Summerset to get lumber for a 
house. The mill owner could not furnish the lumber, would not 
rent the mill, so he bought the mill and some trees, sawed the lum- 
ber, hauled it to The Fort with oxen, and built a small house, "out 
on the hills," at what is now Tenth Street, and there Mrs. Barns 
still resides. In the early days, she tQok an active part in the social 
life of the town. Despite her eighty-five years, she is as young in 
spirit and vivacity as most persons half her age. 

The severest trials and deprivations were among the settlers in 
the country, hardly conceivable now, when is seen the beautiful 
homes and magnificent farms of the present occupants. 

George Beebe, who started the well-known "Beebe Settlement," 
a few miles north, built a cabin in 1846. There was no chinking 
between the logs, and the wolves would come in the night and stick 
their noses through the cracks, badly frightening Mrs. Beebe and 
the children when her husband was absent. In the Summer time, 
snakes would crawl into the cabin, only to be discovered by the ter- 
rified shrieks of a little tot, or when turning down the bedclothes to 
lay him away to sleep. Prairie fires in the Fall would sweep around 
the cabin, the flames leaping high in the air, threatening destruc- 
tion of everything in their path, the mother and children watching 
with terror lest it sweep away their home. Often the flour was 
scarce, and the primitive mills, just starting, had no appliances for 
bolting it. Mrs. Beebe contrived one by using a box, on one side 
of which she fastened some coarse woven cloth, in which was put 
the flour, and the box shaken back and forth on slats laid on stools 
or chairs. 

Elijah Canfield, who became a prominent and wealthy farmer 
in Camp Township, started out with a log cabin sixteen feet square, 
with stick chimney and fireplace of small stones. Wolves and rat- 
tlesnakes were a constant source of terror to Mrs. Canfield and the 
children. During the Summer of 1846, there was an epidemic of 
ague in the settlement, seven of the family were sick, two died, and 
only the father, himself enfeebled, was able to attend the funeral, 
neighboring farmers performing the duties of sepulture. During 
the sickness, the supply of flour and meal was exhausted, and the 



, PUI I 






MRS. NANCY BARNES 



PIONEER WOMEN 355 

father started to Oskaloosa to get them. While absent, he was pros- 
trated with sickness. There were no mail facilities, for getting 
information respecting his delay, and his family were very greatly 
alarmed and distressed by his long absence and the need of supplies. 
The mother, worn out with care and worry, debilitated by sickness, 
was unable to look after the cows ; they wandered away, went dry, 
and there was great suffering. 

Isolation was one of the most serious burdens of the pioneer 
women. With few or no amusements, or little to divert the mind 
from constant toil, they sometimes broke down completely. 

While the pioneer women suffered much, they also enjoyed much 
that will never be duplicated in Polk County. They had a monop- 
oly of life, near to Nature, with all its experiences, advantages and 
privileges which will not come to any succeeding them. 

The present generation can hardly have a conception of the evo- 
lution from the wild, blank prairies and river valleys to the mag- 
nificent farms, thriving, progressive cities and towns; from the 
"prairie schooner," horseback mail carrier, and stage-coach to the 
electric car, telephone, sewing-machine, electric light and power, 
all of which were unknown to the pioneers. 

August Sixteenth, 1905. 




LEVI J. WELLS 



LEVI J. WELLS 

ALTHOUGH not a pioneer, according to a strict construction 
of the code, Levi J. Wells came early enough to be entitled 
an "Old Settler." He hove into Des Moines in 1856, with 
intent and purpose to do something, but there was little or nothing 
doing. The town was small, times were hard, and money was 
scarce, and what there was of it was of the "wild-cat" variety, and 
of doubtful paternity. 

The first job he struck was hauling brick for "Jim" Savery, 
who was building what is now the Kirkwood House. He was a 
good carpenter and master workman. By industry and economy, 
he had accumulated about two thousand dollars, a part of which 
he invested in some of Alexander Scott's acres on the East Side, 
south of the Capitol. The remainder he planted in the historic 
A. J. Stevens' balloon bank, which went up in the air soon after, 
and with it all of Levi's hard-earned dollars. A little thing like 
that did not feaze him. 

In 1860, Alexander Williams and John J., his son, well known 
to citizens of the present generation, purchased the old dilapidated 
flour mill and flood-beaten dam at First and Center streets, and 
with the practical help of Levi, rebuilt the mill and dam. It was 
exclusively a "toll" mill, the amount of toll being regulated by the 
compunctiousness of the miller, but I never heard of John being 
suspected of exorbitant toll. The old mill was a big benefaction 
to farmers and the community at large for more than thirty years, 
but it finally succumbed to the progress of events. 

After the completion of the mill, Levi resumed business as 
builder and contractor during the war period, with the consequent 
disturbance to all business enterprises during those four years of 
tumult and strife. 

In 1864, it became evident that Polk County was short its quota 
of enlisted men, and that a forced draft was the only means of 

357 



358 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

supplying the deficiency. When, later, it became a certainty, there 
was a sudden hegira of able-bodied men to a more congenial and 
healthful climate. The whole community was greatly stirred up. 
Heroic efforts were made by the city wards and townships to secure 
their quota of men called for, but some of the townships failed, and 
the unlucky man with money who got spotted paid a good price for 
a substitute. In the city, all the wards but the First furnished 
their quota, and when the dragnet was thown out, Levi was caught. 
He made no effort to "dodge," but promptly presented himself at 
headquarters for a physical and mental examination. The doctors 
thought he was a good catch, but on going over his anatomy, found 
the thumb and two fingers missing on his right hand, which had 
been fingering with a buzz saw. Though, much as Uncle Sam 
needed men, he would not take emasculated specimens, and Levi 
was dropped with thanks. 

Immediately after the close of the war, business of all kinds 
began to thrive. There was a great demand for food products. 
The whole country had been denuded of them, and Levi decided to 
speculate a little on the shortage. He bought one hundred barrels 
of pickled pork, threw it on the wrong side of the market, pocketed 
a dead loss of eight hundred dollars, and decided to make no further 
effort to help Iowa farmers by building up the pork industry. That 
cured pork cured his speculative symptoms for all time. 

In 1866, he leased the old "Grout House," so called, built of 
small cobblestones, coarse gravel, and cement, which stood for many 
years at the northeast corner of East Sixth and Walnut, and was a 
popular home for Legislators and state officers, ex-Governor Gue 
making it his abiding place for some time. But Levi was not built 
for a Boniface, the life was too sedentary, and after a year's experi- 
ence, though profitable, he retired and began building houses in a 
small way on some of his East Side holdings. 

In 1868, he purchased of George Sneer his livery stable, on the 
west half of the present Clapp Block, next to the alley on Walnut 
Street, and at once inaugurated a new era in that business in the 
city. He introduced hacks and 'busses, and kept pace with the 
rapid growth of the city. He was a lover of good horses, and usu- 
ally drove some fine steppers, not record-breakers, but just fast 



LEVI J. WELLS 359 

enough to worry and aggravate the other fellows when out for an 
airing. The increase of business necessitated the building of four- 
floor brick stables on Fourth street, soon to be followed with a 
large, four-story brick at Eighth and Mulberry. Though he is not 
with us, his familiar vehicular monogram, "W.," has been perpetu- 
ated by his son Jesse. 

Prior to 1878, the streets of the city were simply dirt roads. 
There was no pavement, and at certain seasons the wet, heavy, 
sticky clay rendered the passage of light vehicles difficult, and of 
heavy loads nearly impossible. It was ruinous to fine carriages, 
and wearing on horseflesh. To get heavy-loaded wagons stalled on 
Walnut Street out of the mud with jacks and hoists was a frequent 
occurrence. Sometimes, Levi's hacks got stuck. I remember an 
instance in the late Fall, after a long rainfall. It was a dank, 
cloudy evening, and his hacks were carrying people to receptions. 
At the corner of Fourth Street, on turning west into Chestnut, the 
wheels went down over the hubs, the horses floundered and fell. 
All that could be done was to extricate the passengers, get the horses 
clear, and abandon the vehicles. There was also some doings over 
at the State House, and in struggling up the Locust Street grade, 
the horses got as far as Ninth Street, and quit from sheer exhaus- 
tion. They were also removed, and the hacks left. During the 
night, the mercury suddenly dropped, and the hacks were frozen 
fast in the earth, to be chopped out or left to the radiant rays of 
the Summer sun. 

The City Council was again and again petitioned to devise some 
means for relief. They were lambasted, cajoled, and condemned 
by the people. One day, during a long period of mud and slush, 
and the streets simply sluggish rivers of ooze, Levi hove into Wal- 
nut Street with a large flat-bottom boat, drawn by four large, fine 
horses, which was hauled up and down the street, placarded : "For 
Passage, Apply to the City Council." There was a man in the bow 
to look out for breakers and snags, carrying a long, graduated pole, 
which he jabbed into the depths, and with stentorian voice declared 
his findings : "Three fathoms," "Four fathoms," "Two fathoms." 
The whole outfit, horses, vessel and men, were covered with mud. 
It was a masterly production of satire, and brought results, for 



360 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

immediately began a system of paving and sewering, culminating 
in what we have to-day. 

When the German Savings Bank was organized, Levi became a 
stockholder and one of the Board of Directors. Subsequently, he 
was elected President. 

During the Semi-Centennial Celebration of the city, in 1896, 
Levi went over on the East Side, at the grounds of the old aban- 
doned brickyard, where he found the skeleton of the identical cart 
in which he hauled brick for the old Savery House. He toggled 
it up for service, found an ancient gray horse, embellished with 
spavins and string-halt (a high stepper), whose ribs and bones 
could be counted half a mile off ; a dilapidated harness, generously 
repaired with rope, and padded with straw, to ease the equine pro- 
tuberances, and, with these, he joined the procession, accompanied 
by his wife and children, all clad in garbs of years long gone by. 
The vigor with which he pushed on the tow lines, and used the gad 
to expedite his steed, expected every moment to tumble over and 
block the procession, was a notable one of the many good features 
of that event. 

Socially, Levi was genial, affable, and kind-hearted. He was a 
good story-teller, and often united with "Laughing" Hatch in spin- 
ning yarns. When the two got together on a street corner, there 
was fun galore — the more so if Ed. Clapp "jined in." Hatch's 
laugh could be heard half a mile, and it would tickle a whole 
square. It was one of the best cures for the "blues" in the whole 
pharmacopoeia. Old-timers used to greatly enjoy their exuberant 
collisions. The trio were also horse fanciers, and drove some fine 
animals. 

Politically, Levi was a Republican, and, as a large property- 
holder and good citizen, took an active part in politics, not as a 
place-seeker, but as a "sentinel on the watch tower," whereby he 
exerted a good influence for the betterment of civic affairs. He 
was, however, in 1891, inveigled to run for Alderman of his ward. 
Michael Drady had been holding the place year after year, and the 
Third Warders wanted a change. I. E. Tone, the spice and coffee 
dealer, was Levi's opponent. At the March election, Levi won out, 
but through some misinterpretation of a new-fangled statute, the 



LEVI J. WELLS 361 

entire city election was set aside and another held in April, but 
Levi had no taste for the bear-garden business, refused to run 
again, and Tone was elected. 

Levi was public-spirited, and enlisted vigorously and heartily 
in all public events and projects for social improvement of the com- 
munity. He died February Fifteenth, 1902. 

August Thirtieth, 1905. 



JOHN HAYS 

PROMINENT among those who tramped down the weeds and 
brush at Fort Des Moines — in fact, all over Polk County — in 
the very early days, and helped materially to transform the 
scene first presented to him, in 1846, of a row of whitewashed 
log cabins strung along the Des Moines and 'Coon rivers, and east- 
ward only a wide expanse of timber and brush, to a prosperous 
and beautiful city, was John Hays. 

Of Irish parentage, born in Virginia, raised on a farm, educated 
and fitted for a school teacher, which profession he followed two 
years, in 1846, he determined to abandon his place in Missouri — 
he was opposed to the slave-holding element in that state — and find 
a home in Iowa among a more liberty-loving people. 

Mounting a pony, he took an Indian trail across the uninhabited 
prairies, and followed it to "Raccoon Fork," arriving in February. 

The little hamlet contained less than a hundred souls. Judge 
Casady's census of June of that year gives thirty-four as compris- 
ing the entire male population, not one-half of whom were married. 
John was seeking a job. The first man he met was John B. Saylor, 
who had started a Settlement, now Saylorville, who advised the 
selection of a land claim and farming as the best opening, the busi- 
ness demands at The Fort not being very flattering. He therefore 
made a claim at what is now Polk City, built a log cabin, and began 
the development of a farm, but two months later, receiving a good 
offer — he always had an eye to the remunerative dollar — sold the 
claim, and moved to the Saylor Settlement, where he purchased 
another claim, and began again to grow up with the country, with 
the usual trials, discouragements, and privations of the pioneers on 
a farm. 

Early in 1848, he came to The Fort, and, with a splendid Say- 
lorville girl for a housekeeper, took a log cabin with one room, on 
Second Street between Walnut and Locust, which was standing 

363 



364 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

as late as 1880, and engaged in teaming, but soon after joined 
"Uncle Jimmy" Jordan in buying and shipping live stock, a busi- 
ness he continued for fifteen years with good and substantial profit. 

All animals had to go on foot to Keokuk. He drove the first 
lot of hogs from Polk County to Keokuk. He learned a lot about 
the innate cussedness of the animal before he got there, and was 
ready to accept the apostolic assertions of Matthew, Mark, and 
Luke, that they were "possessed of devils." 

In those early days, the stock buyer seldom had much capital. 
He would go over the country and give his promissory note for the 
animals he purchased. When he had a sufficient number, he would 
drive them to Keokuk, often requiring several weeks, and some- 
times attended with great difficulties and dangers from storms and 
absence of bridges. There were also meager facilities for handling 
live stock — stock platform scales had not materialized. An old- 
timer relates that he was obliged on one trip to weigh his hogs with 
the old-fashioned steelyards. He took the breeching from the horse's 
harness, made a swing in which the hogs were suspended, and 
weighed one at a time. Prices were low, compared with the pres- 
ent. If he got a dollar and a half to two dollars per hundred 
pounds, he did well. On his return, he would make the circuit 
again and pay for the animals he had bought. 

In 1848, John opened a butcher shop in one of the log barrack 
buildings at 'Coon Point, on Second Street, south of "Jim" Camp- 
bell's big grocery store, the first butcher shop in the town. The 
butchering was done in the shop, and the meat sales were held 
on Wednesday and Saturday, one good beef animal being sufficient 
for one week. This was a sort of side line for John, but in those 
days, business versatility was a necessity. He had a partner named 
Johnson, who looked after the shop. One day, John gave him the 
money to go to Delhi and buy a fat cow. He returned without the 
cow, saying she was wild and got away from him, but John, having 
more faith in the docility of Delhi cows, made an investigation, and 
found that Johnson had run up against a "hoss trot" and staked all 
the money on the wrong "hoss." That busted the first butcher 
shop in Polk County, and the partnership. 

The Winter of 1848 was noted as that of the big snow. The 
snow came early and often, and was very deep. Wolves were quite 



JOHN HAYS 365 

numerous in the dense timber and thicket along the rivers. The deep 
snow forced them, from hunger, to raid the premises of settlers, 
who were greatly annoyed by their onslaught on calves and sheep, 
there being very few barns or stables for protection against them. 
They would even attack teams along the highway. On Christmas 
Day, Hays, while going to Saylorville on horseback, was suddenly 
confronted with five long, lank, hungry fellows howling for blood. 
He had no gun or other weapon for defense. Releasing a stirrup 
from the saddle, he gave them a running battle for two miles, kill- 
ing two of them. His terror-stricken horse, with every muscle 
strung to its utmost tension, finally outran the remainder. 

When the Old Settlers organized their Claim Club, in 1848, for 
protection of their land claims against claim-jumpers and specu- 
lators, Hays was a charter member. Land-grabbers gave the organ- 
ization a wide berth. 

John was very conservative, somewhat reticent, and not very 
optimistic respecting The Fort — had more faith in cattle and hogs 
than in corner lots. In 1849, he was offered the corner at Walnut 
and Third, where the Exchange Block now is, for seven dollars and 
a half, and he would not take it ; could not see seven dollars' worth 
of future glory in the town. "Too far out" — but soon after he 
changed his mind and bought a lot at the corner of Court Avenue 
and Fourth streets, opposite The Register and Leader office, on 
which was one of the several high Indian mounds to be found in 
the town, for which he paid one hundred silver dollars, and on the 
mound he built the Cottage House, a one-and-one-half-story frame, 
which for five years he kept as a favorite sojourners' home, when it 
passed to J. D. Long. The name was changed to Avenue House, 
and for several years Mrs. Long was the beloved foster mother of 
many young people who made the house their home. 

There were several lots in the early 'Fifties which were "too far 
out." Solomon McCain owned the block where now the Citizens' 
National Bank is, and he offered it to the genial Falstafian Esquire, 
Absalom Morris, for an old silver-cased watch, but the Esquire 
couldn't see anything very attractive in a "cow pasture." Finally, 
after several banterings, McCain told him to "keep his old pewter 
watch." 



366 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

J. L. Mason, managing engineer of a ladies' hat emporium on 
Locust Street, has been thinking cuss words for twenty years over 
a mistake he made in solving the difference between foresight and 
hindsight, as related to buying corner lots. He used to run carding 
machines in that good old "Deacon" Pernor's woolen mill on the 
East Side. By getting up before the roosters crowed, working fif- 
teen hours a day, with no lay-off except Sunday, the loyal Baptist 
deacon closing the mill on that day, he had accumulated a little 
surplus cash which he decided to invest in town property. He was 
offered the corner of Seventh and Walnut, where the Hub shoe 
store is, for twenty-five dollars, but somebody down in Bentonport, 
where were the River Navigation locks and dam, and a railway 
station on the Valley Road, that was to be, offered him two corner 
lots with a house on them for the same money. J. L. thought that 
was better than one lot and no house, and he made haste to get pos- 
session. He sees things differently now, and thinks cuss thinks 
every time he passes that Hub corner. 

Hays was a charter member of the First Baptist Church. In 
1848, the County Commissioners donated to the Missionary Baptist 
Church a lot at the northwest corner of Sixth and Cherry, on con- 
dition that a frame, brick, or stone building, not less than 24x30 
feet, be erected thereon within two years. The band of Baptists 
was very small, and poor. It was not until February, 1851, that a 
church organization was perfected, with fifteen members, but one 
of whom, I think, is now living, and steps taken to build a meeting- 
house. In the meantime, the time limit of the lot donation had 
expired, but Judge William McKay, another charter member, pur- 
chased the lot to prevent its reversion to the county. Business 
changes rendered the lot undesirable. Two lots were offered at 
Locust and Fourth, for five hundred dollars, but refused, the price 
being deemed exorbitant, an estimate fully confirmed, as they after- 
ward went into the Savery House deal at three hundred dollars. 
A lot was finally selected on Mulberry Street, opposite the Court 
House, where Shank's undertaking rooms are, for which the orig- 
inal lot, donated by McKay, and sixty dollars were given, and then 
began the erection of the church. Progress was slow, money and 
material were scarce. For six years, the members struggled amid 



JOHN HAYS 367 

delays and discouragements, until March, 1856, when the church 
was dedicated. 

In 1851, the Board of County Commissioners was abolished and 
their powers and duties vested in a County Judge. At the August 
election, Forgis G. Burbridge was elected the first Judge of that 
court, and Hays was made bailiff of the court. His length of serv- 
ice is not shown in the records. 

In 1859, was one of the most strenuous political campaigns in 
the history of the state or county. It was the first struggle between 
the Democrats and Republicans. Samuel J. Kirkwood, subse- 
quently the War Governor, was put up to make his first run for 
Governor. His opponent was Augustus Caesar Dodge, the nestor 
of his party, and known by everybody in the state, while Kirkwood 
was almost unknown, but he worked his way to the front and good 
graces of the people, and the Democrats suffered a defeat which 
has not been recovered. Hays generally had a hand in all the poli- 
tics there was going, and he was as shrewd as the best of them. He 
kept Barlow Granger and his crowd busy guessing and keeping up 
their fences. He was the Republican candidate for Sheriff, the 
most profitable office in the county, and was elected by a big major- 
ity. That was the beginning of a new order of things. The County 
Judge System, by which the Judge controlled all public affairs of 
the county, was relegated to oblivion, and all county business vested 
in a Board of Supervisors. The Judge was limited to probate 
matter. From that day to this, the Democrats have never elected 
their ticket in Polk County, or in this city. John served two years. 
Having helped to wind up the Democratic Party was glory enough, 
and, having accumulated considerable wealth, he decided to retire 
to private life. In 1870, he purchased a large fruit farm a few 
miles south of the city, where he resided until his death, in 1890. 

Politically, John was a Whig. His first ballot was cast for 
"Tippecanoe and Tyler, too," in 1840. On the organization of the 
Republican Party, he united with it, and to the end of his days, 
the Democrats found him a formidable foe in all political cam- 
paigns. His long years of stock-buying trips over the country put 
him in touch with the farmers, and being genial, sensible, honest, 
and a farmer, too, he had to be reckoned with, but he was not an 
office-seeker. 



368 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

Socially, he was affable, jolly, but not loquacious ; always active 
and helpful in all moral and educational projects, and a highly 
esteemed member of the Masonic fraternity. 

July Twenty-third, 1905. 



- 




WILLIAM H. QUICK 



WILLIAM H. QUICK 

ONE of the best known men in Des Moines, and it may be said 
from Chicago to Sundown, is William H. Quick, or "Billy," 
as he is best known. Though not a pioneer of civilization, 
he was the pioneer of what has become an important part of the 
business life of the city and country — a great express business. 

Born in Hamburg, Sussex County, New Jersey, July First, 
1832, a descendant of sturdy Holland stock from the land of wind- 
mills, who settled in New Jersey on a land grant from Queen Anne, 
he is, as he said a few days ago, "a full-blooded Holland Dutch* 
man." His father was a miller, and in his youth, "Billy" was a 
general utility boy in the mill. Through some defect in the records 
of the land grant, his father was dispossessed of the property, and 
"Billy" was forced to paddle his own canoe. At the age of fifteen 
years, he took charge of a mill of five run of stones on Groeffel 
Hill, near Paterson, for old man Snyder, another Holland Dutch- 
man, and ran it nine years. Snyder used to say : " 'Billy' makes 
the best flour of any man in the country." 

In May, 1852, he became ambitious to be a railroad man, and 
enlisted as a brakeman on the New York and Erie Railroad, under 
Hugh Riddle's management. 

In May, 1853, Riddle having become general manager of the 
Chicago and Rock Island, "Billy" transferred himself to that road 
as baggageman, and in May, 1855, was promoted to conductor. 

In May, 1856, he was appointed as messenger for Parker's 
Express, on a line running from Iowa City to Dubuque. 

In May, 1857, he was appointed agent at Iowa City of the Uni- 
ted States Express Company, who had purchased all the rights and 
franchises of the Parkers. The old Mississippi and Missouri Rail- 
road was slowly creeping westward, and, as extended, "Billy" was 
moved to Marengo, Brooklyn, Grinnell, and, in 1863, he was 
appointed superintendent of the company lines in Iowa, and the 

Vol. I— (24). 369 



370 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

small part of Nebraska in which it operated. Since then, his terri- 
tory has been enlarged to embrace Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Mis- 
souri, Nebraska, Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, and 
Indian Territory, or the entire Rock Island Railroad system in 
those states. 

His first office in Des Moines was in a small frame building on 
the west side of Third Street, next to the alley, between Court 
Avenue and Walnut Street, and opposite the Blodgett House, partly 
built by the soldiers, first known as the Marvin House. It was the 
headquarters of the Western Stage Company, who carried all stuff 
for the Express Company. A. T. Johnson, the pioneer omnibus 
line man, was the stage agent, and collected the express charges, 
"Billy" often paying him twenty-five thousand dollars a month. 

When "Billy" took the office, there was only a weekly service. 
He immediately had it changed to a daily service. There were no 
delivery wagons in those days. Everybody had to go after their 
packages. Some merchants used hand carts. 

Immediately on his appointment as superintendent, he selected 
his messengers from the old, trusty stage-drivers and stage mes- 
sengers whom he knew well. The record of their service is worthy 
of mention. They remained with him as long as they lived. His 
employes may die, but they never resign. I recall a few of his old- 
time boys : George Butts, Aaron Stein, Winslow Billinger, John 
S. Magill, C. F. Chester, Fred. Kromer, E. M. Morseman — all 
dead except the latter — now President of the Pacific Express Com- 
pany. "Billy" was proud of them, and often declared the company 
never lost a dollar by any act of one of them. A photograph group 
of six was presented to "Billy" Christmas Day, forty-two years 
ago, and he prizes it highly as a reminder of early days, and a tes- 
timonial of true, trusty friends. 

The oldest messenger in the service was Kromer, or "Dutch 
Fred.," as he was best known. He began stage-driving when nine- 
teen years old, drove with them westward to Des Moines, and on 
to Omaha. In 1861, he became a stage messenger from Des Moines 
to Omaha and Fort Kearney, Nebraska. When the railroad was 
completed, he was transferred thereto, and so continued to the end 
of his days, which came last year, at the age of seventy-six, having 



WILLIAM H. QUICK 371 

served sixty years without the loss of a dollar of the vast sums of 
money entrusted to his care. Lie was the very soul of honor and 
integrity, and of upright character. So implicit was the trust in 
him, "Billy" once said : "If I wanted to send away a million dol- 
lars, and it was mine, I would give it to Fred., without a receipt, 
and think no more about it, for it would be delivered if he lived to 
get there." Reminiscently, he went on to say: "In the early days, 
people were honest. There was very little robbery. Money and 
valuables were placed in common iron boxes. There would be a 
change of stage drivers every ten miles, but we never thought of 
robbery. Now, we would not send such a box around the corner in 
Council Bluffs without extra protection. There has never been but 
one robbery in Iowa of our company, and that was about eight 
o'clock on the evening of July Twenty-first, 1873, when Jack Raf- 
ferty, one of the best and most popular locomotive engineers who 
ever pulled a throttle, was killed. The train was coming east from 
Council Bluffs, and between Anita and Adair, in a deep cut on a 
sharp curve and heavy grade, suddenly the engine gave a lurch and 
went into the ditch. The cab was crushed and Jack was probably 
thrown against the reverse lever, and his neck broken. The rob- 
bers, of whom there were seven, Cole and John Younger, the notor- 
ious bandits, and five of the Jesse James Gang, had removed the 
spikes and bolts from a rail, and, with ropes and straps, as the 
engine approached, pulled it aside. So quickly had Jack thrown 
the emergency brake, only the engine and express car left the rails. 
The passengers were severely shaken up, but not injured. Superin- 
tendent Royce, who was on the train, and "Billy" Smith, conduc- 
tor, rushed out to ascertain the cause of the stop, when they were 
greeted with a fusillade of revolvers, and ordered to get back inside 
p. d. q., which, being interpreted, means, 'pretty d — d quick.' 
Royce discreetly obeyed, but "Billy" pushed ahead toward the 
engine, when several bullets whizzed through his trousers, and he 
retired. A Chicago man also came out and implored the Gang not 
to shoot innocent women and children. 

"The reply, punctuated by a revolver shot, was : 'Get back 
inside. We ain't no common highwaymen. We only rob the rich 
to give to the poor.' In the meantime, two of the most stalwart of 



372 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

the seven entered the express car, where John R. Burgess, another 
veteran messenger, still on deck, with over forty years of service 
to his credit, was guarding his treasure box. With three big revolv- 
ers leveled at his head, he was ordered to hand out his key. Thinks 
went through his head in haste, but he concluded his life was worth 
more than the contents of the safe, and he very politely presented 
the key, when the master of ceremonies directed him to open the 
safe, and do it quick, which John very slowly and reluctantly did. 
The money was quickly extracted. Several mail sacks were cut 
open, but no letters taken. Picking up several valuable registered 
mail boxes, they asked if they contained money. 'You can't prove 
it by me,' said John, and they were thrown down when they left the 
car. Overlooking a large amount of gold bullion, they mounted 
their horses and went away, the whole event not occupying over 
fifteen minutes. The money was what had been taken at stations 
between Council Bluffs and Adair, and amounted to only eighteen 
hundred dollars. 

The robbers stopped for dinner the next day at a farmhouse a 
few miles distant, and thereby were fully identified. "Billy" and 
Dan Bringolf, then Sheriff, went down to Missouri to round them 
up, but soon discovered they were being "shadowed," though care- 
fully concealing their identity, for immediately on their arrival, 
"Billy" was visited by General Joe Shelby, who informed him he 
knew what he was there for ; that the James boys were under his 
command, and couldn't be taken away. Everywhere they met a 
like rebuff, the chase was abandoned, and the robbers never caught. 

Another old-timer who, for the last thirty years as money mes- 
senger has been known to every bank, store and business house in 
the city is Doty — his "front" name don't count — I doubt whether 
he knows it himself — it's just Doty. For many years, he drove a 
wagon and a beautiful, intelligent bay horse named Jack, a great 
pet, with an ever-present taste for sugar and candy, which was so 
pampered by women and children, Doty said they "played the 
deuce" with him. On going to a house to deliver a package, some 
child or woman up the street would appear holding up a hand, and 
away Jack would go to get what he knew was coming. It was not 
uncommon for him to be a block away, or around a corner, munch- 
ing sugar with some young damsel, when Doty had finished his 



WILLIAM H. QUICK 373 

delivery, but express horses, like Methodist preachers, have to go 
where they are sent, and when Jack was sent to Omaha, it broke 
Doty all up, but he is still on duty, though his work has been 
greatly lightened. 

Another veteran was E. L. Smith, who was appointed agent at 
Eddyville, in 1857; in May, 1865, checked in as agent at Des 
Moines, and until his decease, about a year ago, every day found 
him at his desk. He was very quiet, courteous, methodical, highly 
esteemed by all employes and everybody who knew him. 

The fidelity of these men to the trusts imposed with them, and 
the length of continuous service, is indeed remarkable, and a con- 
stant pleasure to "Billy" Quick. 

Politically, "Billy" was an old-line Democrat, until McKinley 
first ran for President, when he concluded there was no difference 
between the Democrats and Republicans ; that the Saint Louis 
Republican platform was identically the Tilden platform, except as 
to the tariff, which he indorsed, and he flopped, voted for McKin- 
ley, joined the Republican Party, and has been there since. He 
is not a politician, and takes but little active part in politics, but 
there are lots of United States Express boys who, when an impor- 
tant election approaches, want to know how he will vote. 

Socially, he is genial, affable, and popular ; is strongly attached 
to his employes, and they to him. A generation or more ago, he 
was one of "the boys." He is a member of the Royal Arch Chapter 
of the Masonic fraternity, and in 1860, when a delegate to the 
Grand Chapter of the Royal Arch Masons of the United States, he, 
with several other Iowa delegates, were initiated in the mysteries 
and miseries of the Sons of Malta. Subsequently, he joined the 
R. E. C. A., a cabalistic organization concocted about thirty years 
ago by Hy. Smith and Ed. Whitcomb. "Ret" Clarkson prepared 
the ritual. A lodge-room was secured between Second and Third 
streets on Court Avenue, and there the mysteries of the organiza- 
tion were carried out. Every month or two, promptly at half past 
ten o'clock, a long file of men could be seen coming down the stairs 
of the old building. Snake-like, they formed a procession of over 
a block in length. Each man wore a mask and a long white robe, 
and carried in one hand a spear and in the other a hickory stick, 



374 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

into which a hole had been bored and a candle set. Behind, came 
C. D. Miller, the Scribe, who was armed with a pen about four feet 
long and a bundle of records large enough to start the biggest bon- 
fire ever built in Des Moines. Following him, came other men 
similarly garbed, carrying kerosene oil and the properties of the 
lodge. Around the streets they would march until the entire popu- 
lace would be aroused to witness the strange ceremony. Sometimes, 
on gala occasions, a brass band would be added. 

When Fourth and Walnut streets was reached, the men would 
form a big circle, in the center of which a big pot and tripod was 
erected. The fire would be lighted, and then, singing some strange 
song, the masqueraders would march around, dropping bits of 
paper into the fire. What these papers contained was a subject 
of much speculation. Some even declared that they were the unpaid 
wash bills of the members. 

After the ceremonv, the crowd would march into the old Saverv 
Hotel (now the Kirkwood), and there sit down to the banquet pre- 
pared. The same bill of fare was always presented — a bowl of 
soup, which had to be eaten with a fork. 

On the night of the last day of the year, was brought to the big 
circle the records for the year, and every paper representing a busi- 
ness transaction, bills, receipts, etc., and, as the fellows circled 
around, a leaf from the record and a bill, or other paper, would be 
cast into the flames, until all were burned, and the work of the 
year obliterated. 

This was the public view of the organization. No one knew of 
many quiet visits to the homes of the poor and suffering, where 
loads of coal were left and empty larders were filled, where suffer- 
ing was relieved and medical attendance secured for the sick. For 
years this charitable work was kept up and maintained quietly and 
unobstrusively. Many in Des Moines to-day can tell of the visit of 
quiet men, who, low-voiced and sympathetic, learned of the strug- 
gles of poor and incapacitated people. 

The hold which this old organization got on the members, and 
the friendships which were formed there, has been lasting to the 
extreme. Scattered about over the country, the old former mem- 
bers remember the old home guard well. There are still in the city 



WILLIAM H. QUICK 375 

such men as "Billy" Quick, "Charley" Leonard, W. L. White, 
Harry West, John Chase, Harry Shepherd, Will. Lehman, George 
D. McCain, Con. Miller, Fred, Macartney, George Lyon, A. D. 
Willis, "Friday" Eason, and many others, whose membership has 
continued through these many years. 
September Tenth, 1905. 




GENERAL N. B. BAKER 



GENERAL N. B. BAKER 

OF all men prominently connected with the history of the state 
and of Des Moines, none stand out more conspicuously than 
General Nathaniel B. Baker. 
Born in Hillsborough, Merrimac County, New Hampshire, in 
1818, he received a liberal education preparatory to entering Har- 
vard University, from which he graduated in 1839, when twenty- 
one years old ; studied law with Franklin Pierce, subsequently 
President of the United States; admitted to the Bar in 1842; 
appointed Clerk of the Court of Common Pleas in 1845 ; Clerk of 
the Superior Court of Merrimac County in 1846; elected Repre- 
sentative to the Legislature in 1851, and chosen Speaker of the 
House; prominently mentioned for presidential candidate by the 
Democratic Party in 1852 ; for three years associate editor of the 
New Hampshire Patriot, he became one of the most influential 
men in the state, and a leader of the Democratic Party. He was 
exceedingly popular with young men, and very helpful to them. 
In 1854, he was elected Governor, the last of his political faith in 
that state, and served one term. In 1856, he came to Iowa, and 
settled in Clinton, then a small town, but ambitious. The Legisla- 
ture made a grant of land to the Iowa Central Air Line Railway 
Company, which had forfeited the grant by failure to comply with 
its terms. Clinton wanted a transfer of the grant to the Cedar 
Rapids and Missouri River Railway Company, organized to build 
a road from Clinton to the Missouri River, and which is now a 
part of the great Chicago and Northwestern system. To secure his 
influence, and the benefit of his legislative experience in behalf of 
that project, Baker was elected Representative to the Legislature 
in the Fall of 1859. No mistake was made in his selection, for he 
at once became a leader, and largely instrumental in shaping the 
legislation of that eventful session. "Honest John Edwards," as 
he was called, from Lucas County, was the Speaker. With little 

377 



378 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

or no experience, he got on very well, except when the members 
became turbulent and got in a wrangle, as they sometimes do, he 
would call "the gentleman from Clinton" to the chair, who would 
quickly quell the storm and get business going as smoothly as if 
never ruffled, for he knew how to appeal to men, to gain their 
good-will and support. 

"Charley" Aldrich, fresh from the prairies up in Hamilton 
County, was elected Chief Clerk. He didn't know as much about 
Legislatures as he does now. He had never seen one in session; 
hadn't the slightest idea of what he had to do, and, terribly fearful 
he wouldn't do it straight, it made him nervous and weak in the 
knees. Baker, who occupied a seat directly in front of the Clerk's 
desk, noticed the young man's trepidation, and the third day, after 
adjournment, went to the desk, gave "Charley" a whack on the 
back, saying : "See here, young man, I've got something to say to 
you. I sit right there," indicating his seat, "where I can see you 
from head to foot, and I notice that when you are reading or call 
the roll, your knees tremble. I want to say to you that it's all d — d 
nonsense, and I don't want to see any more of it. You needn't 
stand in fear of anybody in this House. You are going to make a 
good Clerk, and we all like you. Brace right up, my boy ; you are 
all right," then turning on his heel, walked away. 

The bill for the transfer of the land grant came up early in the 
session. The railroad company was represented in the Third House 
by a man named Crocker, its President, and a prominent Eastern 
railway manager. He was assisted by one Bodfish, with several 
attaches. It was the first lobby ever before an Iowa Legislature. 
It was known as the "Owl Club." Crocker was of commanding 
presence, dignified in manner, with a color and cut of hair ; large, 
round, gray eyes, with wise, solemn aspect, which gave him the 
perfect semblance of an owl — hence the name. He was the chief 
engineer of the Club. Bodfish, a large, portly, jovial individual, a 
good mixer, had charge of the dispensary department. Its head- 
quarters was at the old Demoin House, at First and Walnut. Baker 
had, perforce, charge of the bill in the House, and at once called in 
play all the tactics he had acquired from practice and experience. 
He was recruiting officer for the Club, and kept its rooms, which 



GENERAL N. B. BAKER 379 

occupied nearly the whole ground floor of the old rookery, well 
supplied with members. A novel scene was the Club in proces- 
sion, marching over to the State House every morning. It was 
never asserted that much money was being used, but generous prom- 
ises of land were made, if the bill passed, and an abundant supply 
of thirst assuagers of several varieties were constantly on tap at the 
south end of the hostelry, while Bodfish had a quiet place to which 
were invited the Governor, Judges of the Supreme Court, and Leg- 
islators, for liquid refreshments. Governor Lowe, who was a man 
of most sanctimonious mien, indulged in no levity, of rigid tem- 
perance habits, declined the proffer, until Bodfish, "on the honor 
of a gentleman" and temperance man, assured him the whiskey 
they had brought to Iowa had all been run down a "yarn string" 
from the fifth story of a warehouse to the cellar, thus removing all 
its satanic elements and objectionable features; that it was harm- 
less, and known to the elect as "string whiskey." The next day, 
the Governor told Judge Wright all about the innocent "string 
whiskey" — he ought to have known better — Bodfish had set up for 
him, and that evening, at a banquet given by the Club, the Judge, 
in his most inimitable, jocular way, related the Governor's dis- 
covery of harmless "string whiskey," which brought down the 
house and actually provoked a broad smile from the victim. It was 
a rather curt sally, but the old pioneers understood one another 
thoroughly, and the Judge thought it was too good to keep bottled 
up. 

The land grant was transferred, and thus was secured the com- 
pletion of the road, one of the greatest public improvements ever 
made in the state. 

Another incident of the session, illustrating the trait of Baker 
to grasp situations and meet emergencies, was an election on the 
part of the House of a state officer, after a spirited and somewhat 
acrimonious contest. "Charley" made up the journal of the pro- 
ceedings and deposited it in a cupboard behind his desk, to be 
reported the next morning, but before the hour of meeting, discov- 
ered that the entire record respecting the election was missing. He 
was all broken up, and what to do did not know, but, recalling 
Baker's brace-up friendliness, laid the whole matter quietly before 



380 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

him. Asked if he still had the original minutes of the proceedings, 
he replied he had. "Well," said Baker, "leave it with me, and I 
will fix it up all right." When the House opened the next morn- 
ing and "Charley" began to read his journal, Baker arose and 
stated that a portion of the journal had been lost or stolen, that the 
Clerk still had the original minutes from which the journal was 
made, and moved that he be instructed to make the proper restitu- 
tion, which was adopted. "Charley" "restored the journal, and it 
was approved by the House, thus averting an investigation and a 
big scandal. Who committed the larceny was never known, but 
"Charley" was always sure he could put his finger on the man. 

In 1861, when the war clouds began to gather, the Southern 
states were seceding from the Union and raising the red flag of 
Rebellion, Governor Kirkwood called a special session of the Leg- 
islature, in May, to provide ways and means to support the Presi- 
dent in his effort to suppress the insurrection. Iowa had no drilled 
military organization, and no money. There was also a large por- 
tion of the Democratic Party bitterly opposed to Lincoln's war 
measures, and loyal people were intensely alarmed respecting their 
action. Baker immediately went to the Governor and informed him 
he would do all in his power to induce his Democratic friends to 
support him, and aid in putting the state in condition to meet the 
demands of the President. He was made chairman of the Com- 
mittee on Military Affairs in the House, secured the necessary 
provision for arming and equipping soldiers, for the support of 
their families, and the issue of war bonds for eight hundred thou- 
sand dollars, to provide a war and defense fund. At the close of 
the session, he was appointed Adjutant General, and soon after 
removed to Des Moines. In July of the same year, the State Con- 
vention of the Union Party nominated him for Governor, but he 
declined, declaring he would support Kirkwood in putting down 
the Rebellion. 

As the war progressed, he was made Inspector General, Quar- 
termaster, Paymaster, and Commissary General. The labor devolv- 
ing upon him in organizing and equipping the fifty-seven regiments 
and four batteries which Iowa sent to the field was enormous, espe- 
cially with the first regiments, for there were no telegraphs, no 



GENERAL N". B. BAKER 381 

railroads, and to get them into rendezvous camps, stage coaches, 
livery hacks, and private conveyances had to be provided. 

In addition to that labor, he kept a record and watchful care 
of the soldiers, wanted to know their condition at all times, and 
their casualties. After heavy battles, he would ask the department 
at Washington for details. At first, he was informed that the time 
of the department was "to precious to be devoted to sending casual- 
ties to the Adjutant General of Iowa, for the benefit of civilians," 
but the Adjutant General of Iowa knew his rights and could not 
be bluffed. Sometimes he needed army supplies, and an attempt 
would be made at Washington to unroll red tape on him — he 
despised red tape — and they would get a vigorous rounding up. 
He was past-master in the use of what General Fitzhugh Lee called 
"energetic idioms" — his swear words, on occasions, were indeed 
robustous, and typical samples thereof would be hurled at head- 
quarters, regardless of rank or station. 

His office was a model of system and efficiency. Of the immense 
sums which passed through his hands, not a penny miscarried. He 
made a brief record of every Iowa soldier (eighty thousand), com- 
prised in eight thick volumes, of wonderful accuracy, and of price- 
less value, as has often been verified, even the Pension Department 
at Washington depending upon it largely for facts. 

The General had great affection for the soldiers, and they for 
him. No soldier, his family, or widow, ever appealed to him in 
vain. He would, and often did, make great sacrifices for them, 
even to his last dollar and clothes. It was marvelous the number 
he could call by name. They were all his "boys," and they most 
reverently called him "Pap." 

Nothing incensed him so intensely as to be told that some of 
"his boys" were being ill treated while in the rendezvous camp, 
before being mustered into the United States service. He took 
vigorous measure to stop it, and the perpetrators got a rounding up 
with the most forceful expletives in his masterful vocabulary. 
Shoulder straps interposed no hindrance in such cases. 

When the Forty-seventh Regiment — the one hundred day men 
— were sent to rendezvous at Davenport, they were put on guard 
duty. They knew nothing of military duties, and the officers of 



382 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

the camp looked at them askance, and gave them no instruction. 
One night a camp shoulder-strapper found a young man of the 
Forty-seventh asleep at his post. He was called up, given a piece 
of timber, ordered to place it across his shoulders and walk the beat 
until further orders. While he was doing it, Baker came along, 
and, seeing him, asked what he was carrying that log for. On 
being told, he went to headquarters, and in very expressive lan- 
guage informed them that they hadn't one d — d bit of authority 
over the Forty-seventh Regiment, and to let it alone. 

An instance, illustrating his watchfulness of them, was a rail- 
road collision in Indiana, by which several of them were killed and 
wounded. He at once issued public notice to their friends not to 
make any settlement with the railway companies; that he would 
secure the proper reparation for what he deemed palpable, criminal 
negligence, and he did so. 

The incidents illustrating the varied characteristics of this big- 
hearted, patriotic, public-spirited man during his servitude would 
fill a big book. 

During the Winter of 1862, the army had met with numerous 
reverses, and the people had become disheartened. The Legislature 
was in session, and one day a resolution was before the House to 
take a recess over Washington's Birthday. Amendments, farcical 
and ridiculous, had been piled on it, and the House was in a 
turmoil and wrangle, when a telegraph message was brought to 
the Speaker, announcing the capture of Fort Donelson. Instantly, 
there was a shout, all business was suspended, and everything loose 
went up in the air, amid which General Baker mounted a desk, 
and, with his leonine voice, moved that "the Prohibitory law be 
suspended for twenty-four hours. All in favor thereof, say 'Aye.' 
The Ayes have it." What transpired during the remainder of the 
day can be imagined, for before sundown several members had been 
completely overcome by their enthusiasm. The General and Gov- 
ernor gave a banquet that night at the Demoin House, in honor of 
the capture, and during the latter's speech at the table, respecting 
the action of the South — he had no children — said : "I will do all 
I can to avenge the wrong, and I will teach my children — if I ever 
have any — " when the Senator from Dallas County sprang up, 



GENERAL N". B. BAKER 383 

and, giving the table a vigorous whack with his fist, declared: 
"Governor, you shall have, and I now move that the Seventh Com- 
mandment be suspended for your benefit." It was unanimously 
adopted. 

In 1864, learning that deserters from Price's army were cross- 
ing into Southern Iowa, for robbery and murder, Baker issued 
orders to the State Militia to "Be alert, and if those desperadoes 
enter the state to rob, steal, and murder, and are caught in the act, 
they are to be treated as oulaws, and shot on the spot, or hung to 
the nearest tree." 

In September, 1867, came the invasion of grasshoppers, an 
event of historic importance, and one of the most serious of the 
trials and hardships of the early settlers in the new counties. To 
one who did not see them, the ravages of the voracious insects 
would be deemed incredible. They came from the west, appearing 
first in Webster County. They spread over the ground, fences, 
buildings, and trees, ate the grain in the fields, grass, even the bark 
of young fruit trees, currants and gooseberries. During their stay, 
they deposited their eggs just below the surface of the earth, which 
hatched the following Spring, and the devastation was repeated, 
until their wings had grown, when they flew away in masses, dark- 
ening the sun. Thus they kept on for several years, invading the 
counties of Webster, Woodbury, Ida, Sac, Calhoun, Cherokee, Car- 
roll, Greene, Dallas, Page, Adams, Ringgold, Madison, Adair, 
Boone, Warren, and Polk. In Jefferson and Boone, the Chicago 
and Northwestern had lots of trouble, so thick were the hoppers 
they stopped trains on the grades. They reached Des Moines in 
their hopping stage, with a vigorous appetite, moved straight for- 
ward like an army of soldiers, the main body following Bird's Run, 
resting at night, cutting a wide swath in vegetation, leaving only 
bare stalks, and badly disfigured trees and shrubs. They went 
southeast across the rivers, their passage through the city requiring 
several days. 

So disastrous in some of the new northwest counties had been 
the scourge to settlers, they were reduced to absolute want and pov- 
erty. Many of them abandoned their desolated farms, or sold 
them for a mere song, and left the state. Appeals were made for 



384 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

help. The Legislature appropriated fifty thousand dollars, to be 
expended for the purchase of seed for the farmers, but there was 
need of clothing and other supplies. General Baker at once started 
measures for relief. Some of his "boys" were sufferers, but his big 
heart was no respector of persons, and by his energetic, organizing 
capacity and vigorous appeals to the people — they were simply 
demands without apologies — and with the generous cooperation of 
the railroads and express companies, he soon had supplies in their 
homes. He went hither and thither, day and night, for months, 
often forgetting to eat or sleep. While on one of his errands of 
helpfulness among the settlers, in the Winter of 1874, he exposed 
himself a whole day in a storm of sleet and snow, took a severe cold, 
terminating in a pulmonary affection, which baffled all medical 
skill, and his giant-like form wasted slowly away, until September 
Thirteenth, 1876, when he passed to eternal rest as gently as a babe 
to sleep, poor in purse, but rich in the affections of the people. 

In September, 1870, a reunion of Iowa soldiers was held in Des 
Moines, when thirty thousand of them were camped on the ground 
where the Capitol stands, and eastward thereof. It was the largest 
reunion of soldiers ever held in any state. To feed them was a 
monster undertaking. Murphy's big packing-house was given for 
cooking by steam. It required twelve beeves and sixty-four barrels 
of coffee for one meal. During the encampment of five davs, one 
hundred and seven fat cattle, four hundred and ninety-eight barrels 
of coffee, and tons of other supplies were consumed. General 
Tecumseh Sherman was present, and wherever he appeared was 
greeted with a whoop that made the welkin ring. "Pap" Baker 
was happy, and so were his "boys." I recall going to the Police 
Court, one morning, in the Sherman Block, at Third and Court 
Avenue, to report proceedings. More than a score of the "boys" 
had been "pinched" during the night for over-indulgence in "Oh- 
be-joyful." Mayor Hatch was just ready to open court when Baker 
came in, and, looking around the room, inquired, "Sam," "Bill," 
"Joe," and so on, "What are you doing here?" to which they 
replied they were under arrest. "Arrest, h — 1 !" retorted the Gen- 
eral, "Get out of here." The Mayor interrupted him with notice 
that they were there for trial. "To h — 1 with your trial. These 



GENERAL N. B. BAKER 385 

are my boys. I'll take care of them. Fall in, boys," and he 
marched them out of the court-room, leaving the court and police 
dumbfounded at his effrontery. There were no more arrests of 
his "boys." 

He was a member, for many years, of the State Press Associa- 
tion. His newspaper experience prompted him often to discuss 
public affairs in the state papers, whose columns were always open 
to him, and many a powerful, stirring article appeared in the edito- 
rial columns of the Daily Register from his pen, unknown outside 
the office. He was a hail-fellow with reporters, and ever ready to 
give them aid. 

He was a member of Capital Lodge, Number One Hundred and 
Ten, of the Masonic Order, and when the Masonic Mutual Benefit 
Association of Iowa was incorporated, in 1857, he was its first 
Vice-President. 

As a citizen, his whole aim and purpose was to do good, to help 
the whole community. Brusque of manner he was, and blunt of 
speech, but a tenderer heart never beat in human frame. His gen- 
erosity was ruinous to him. His interest in and helpfulness to 
young men was proverbial. His love of children was supreme. 
Those who were poor and needy were special objects of his com- 
miseration and activities. It was not uncommon for him to pick 
up on the street a poorly clad and shivering boy during Winter 
cold and storm, lead him into a store, tit him with a warm, new 
suit of clothes, and go his way, the boy never knowing who had 
done it. 

The granite column which marks his resting-place in Woodland 
Cemetery was erected with funds contributed in small sums by 
thousands of "his boys," a special privilege they requested, as a 
testimonial of their high regard for him. A special Act of Con- 
gress directed the War Department to place the four brass cannon 
which surround it. 

No good portrait representing him in the prime of life is in 
existence. The one presented herewith was copied from a portrait 
now in the Aldrich collection in the State Historical Building. 

August Nineteenth, 1906. 

Vol. I— (25). 



CHRISTMAS IN EARLY DAYS 

IN" the very early days, very little attention was given to Christ- 
mas as a public holiday. From 1846 to 1850, the town was 

small, the people poor, their chief purpose and labor being to 
secure a living and establish homes. If the day was observed at all, 
it was with dancing parties and frolics by the young folks, who 
were always ready for amusements, arranged by themselves, as 
concert troupes and dramatic barnstormers had not got this far 
West. 

The first Christmas observance at The Fort was in 1845. The 
Indian title to the Eeservation had expired, and some of the sol- 
diers had been removed. W. F. Ayers, one of the first settlers in 
the county, and the first County Treasurer, had moved in from the 
country and taken one of the large log barrack buildings, where he 
gave an "open house." The community was small — merely a large 
family, outside of the soldiers. From the commissary supplies of 
the Post, Mrs. Ayers prepared a generous and sumptuous feast, for 
she was a good cook. There was no turkey, the Indians having 
killed or driven them away; neither was there deer or other wild 
game. 

The event was participated in by a score or more, and story-tell- 
ing and general conversation furnished entertainment. There were 
present two Sergeants and two privates from the garrison, the two 
privates, quite singularly, being old acquaintances of Ayers' "down 
East," who had drifted into the army. Their appearance added 
zest to the occasion. On clearing the table after the departure of 
the guests, a silver dollar was found under each plate. 

There was no homecoming, no homegoing, in those days. Dis- 
tance, want of transportation, and general poverty made impossible 
the reunion of separated families. 

Later on, the community was augmented so that social gather- 
ings and dances were numerous. Said one of the old boys : "We 

387 



388 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

used to dance every night in the week, and Sundays, too." They 
didn't have orchestra music, but there were several good fiddlers, 
of whom the very earliest was George Michael, who kept a grocery ; 
Glascott, Mason and Sam Vanatta, who made spinning wheels in 
the daytime and fiddled at night. He was a good fiddler, and 
made good spinning wheels, too, as numerous grandmothers of 
to-day can testify. 

There was no oil, no kerosene. "Poled" tallow dips were used 
for lights, a "poled" dip being made with cotton wicking measured 
the length of a candle, then strung on a pole about an inch apart, 
and dipped in melted tallow, then hung up until cooled and hard- 
ened, the process being repeated until enough tallow had been 
taken on. 

The small boy, and some of larger growth, usually celebrated 
the day skating on Horseshoe Lake, down near the old Fair Ground 
— but long since drained and buried under city improvements — 
and on a little pond where the Clapp Block now is. 

Soon after the Indians were removed, wild game became plenti- 
ful again, and turkey and deer steaks graced the festive board. It 
is related that Camillus Leftwich, living near Four Mile Creek, 
started from his cabin one day to visit a neighbor, when a bear ran 
out from the underbrush ahead of him. He at once gathered 
together a few of his neighbors to capture the animal. An old 
flintlock shotgun was the only gun in the party, the other weapons 
being clubs and pitchforks. Leftwich had two dogs, which quickly 
took the scent, bruin was rounded up, and while the dogs were 
teasing him, a well-directed shot at short range laid him out. 

In 1848, Martin X. Tucker, a large and somewhat pompous 
individual, with considerable self-importance, but whose early edu- 
cation had been so neglected he could not write his name, decided 
to improve his business. He had, in 1846, started the first tavern 
in the town, but the rapid influx of demand overtaxed its capacity, 
and he purchased a large, double log building on Market Street, 
between Second and Third, which had been used by the dragoons, 
and having, as he used to say, "run an avenue through it, put up a 
condition to it, and put an arbor on one side, to please Tillie (his 
daughter), he was able to detain the public in a more hostile 
manner." 



CHRISTMAS IN EARLY DAYS 389 

At Christmas, he decided to celebrate the day with a house- 
warming. The young folks swarmed in on him and had a glorious 
time, with frolics and dances to the inspiring strains of "Money 
Musk" and "Arkansaw Traveler," sawed out by Vanatta and Glass- 
cot. At midnight, Martin, dressed in a black, clerical suit, of the 
best production of Thrift, the tailor, and standing collar reaching 
to his ears, broke into the doings with: "Gentlemen and ladies, 
this thing must stop right now. All you who want to anticipate 
further will have to pay for it." 

The pronunciamento didn't feaze the girls and boys a bit ; they 
"anticipated further" until the roosters began to crow, when Guy 
Ayers, with a lively team, a long, wide box on a pair of runners, 
distributed them to their several domiciles. 

That was the Winter of the "big snow," unprecedented in the 
history of the county, and will never be forgotten by the settlers 
of that time. The snow began to fall early in November, and con- 
tinued at intervals until December Twenty-first, when over twenty- 
two and one-half inches fell, and during the entire month the depth 
was over three feet. There were frequent violent winds, with low 
temperature, rendering it almost impossible for the people in the 
country to get about. If necessity forced the venturer to go any 
distance, the winds closed up his tracks as fast as made, so that he 
could not retrace them. Seth Williams, who lived a few miles from 
Polk City, when out in a windstorm, lost his bearings, stopped his 
team, and walked in a circle around it to keep from freezing until 
daylight came. There was much suffering in the cabins, which 
were illy constructed to withstand the piercing wind and extreme 
cold. There was also serious loss of poorly protected live stock, 
not only from weather exposure, but from timber wolves, which 
were forced by hunger to make raids on farm enclosures. It was 
a climatic period as memorable as the year of the "big flood." 

During the war period, Christmas Day was made the occasion 
for festivals and bazaars, held in vacant storerooms and all avail- 
able places on the East and West sides, to raise funds for the relief 
of soldiers' families. If the day fell on Sunday, the churches aided 
in the charitable work. 

In 1864, the day fell on Sunday. I do not recall the weather 
condition. The Weather Bureau had not come into being. Leastwise, 



390 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

the only public recognition of the day was by the Daily Register, 
in which "Dobbs" (Dixon), who engineered the local page, expos- 
tulated thus: 

"The Roman and Grecian empires were doubtless large institu- 
tions. They had their national holidays and festivities, but they 
were greatly behind the times, as they neither had Christmas nor 
the Fourth of July. It never entered the heads of these pagan 
subjects that in the year of the world four thousand and four 
hundred, their system of polytheisms, which had been strengthened 
by the traditions of centuries, would receive a mortal shock at 
Bethlehem by the birth of the Son of Mary. They were all old 
fogies, to whom Christianity was a word and a power unknown, 
and their children, who had been taught to locate all their male 
and female deities on Mount Olympus, or some other earthly emi- 
nence, knew as little about Santa Claus and his mysterious visits 
to the domiciles of this world, as a Copperhead ("Dobbs" was a 
red-hot Union man) knows about Christ's Sermon on the Mount. 
We celebrate to-day, not the birth of Adam, nor the escape of Noah 
from a devastating flood, nor the release of the Hebrews from 
Egyptian captivity, nor the birth of the mad man of Macedonia, 
nor the building of the temple of Jerusalem, nor the founding of 
earthly empires. We celebrate the greatest event in the world's 
history — the birth of the world's Redeemer." 

In the country, the day was observed by neighborhood visits. 
They didn't wait for invitations. Their latchstrings were always out 
— except to prevent intrusion by prowling Indians, seeking food or 
whiskey, and frightening the children half out of their wits. Then 
it was only necessary to pull in the string, which passed through a 
hole in the door, and the door was barred. At those visits, there 
would be discussed political, social, philosophical, and religious 
affairs, and thus, beside the delights of the viands that roasted on 
the hearth, or steamed in the pot, there was always good cheer and 
fellowship. 

December Twenty-fifth, 1904. 






IS i 




JOHN H. GIVEN 



JOHN H. GIVEN 

AN active, zealous promoter of the growth and prosperity of 
Des Moines was John H. Given. Its development was his 
constant desire and incentive to action. Very few men 
were more widely known in Polk County in the early days, or were 
more helpful to the betterment of the community. He was one of 
the solid men of those days. 

Of English descent, a native of Virginia, his youth was passed 
on a farm, his education obtained during Winter months in the 
District School. At the age of seventeen, he entered an apprentice- 
ship to learn the trade of wagon-maker. After five years' service, 
he attended college one year, and in 1842, came to Iowa, stopping 
for a time at Dahlonega, near Ottumwa, where, among strangers, 
in a new country, at twenty-three years of age, with no capital but 
a vigorous, healthy body, persistent energy, prudence and industry, 
he began business life and to grow up with the country. While 
there, public attention was turning toward Fort Des Moines as a 
trade center, and in October, 1845, when the last payment was 
made to the Indians, he came to The Fort and purchased land 
claims. 

That was an interesting event in the history of the town and 
county. It was the final assemblage of the Indians prior to their 
exodus from the country. There was present Keokuk, the great 
orator and diplomat of his tribe; Poweshiek, young Black Hawk, 
Kiskekosh, Pasishamone, and other head men. The emotions which 
filled the hearts of those venerable chiefs, as they received their last 
Stipend for what had been the home of their people for generations, 
with full consciousness that immediately they must turn their backs 
upon it all and go where they would soon be lost in oblivion and 
national annihilation by a race to whom they had been friendly and 
true in turbulent and perilous times, must have been soul-stirring. 
Keokuk did not long survive the change. Three years later, he 
went to the happy hunting-grounds of Manitou, the Great Spirit. 

391 



392 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

The payments were made in silver, in accordance with the allot- 
ment to each tribe per capita, after deducting claims presented by 
the Indian Traders, which were often the source of much conten- 
tion, and some which would hardly pass an examination by a 
mutual insurance investigating committee. The exorbitant prices 
charged, the excessive number of blanket coats, thermometers and 
other articles which the Indians never used, and the frequent repe- 
tition of such charges, indicated clearly that the Indian Trader 
was not in business for his health; that some claims were utterly 
spurious. What was left — usually very little — was turned over to 
Keokuk in a lump, and by him distributed to those entitled to it, 
and it was soon squandered. 

Keokuk's signature appears many times on the old agency rec- 
ords, and it is written Ke-O-Kuk, as though to emphasize and give 
accent to it, which was also the correct way of speaking it. He was 
very proud of that big "0." 

In May, 1851, Given came to The Fort for a permanent resi- 
dence. There were about two hundred people here. Houses were 
scarce, the log cabins of the soldiers' garrison being occupied, but 
he found an illy-constructed, small, frame building, with two small 
rooms, at the northwest corner of Vine and Third streets, a few 
rods distant from the location of the flagstaff of the garrison, and 
where now is the Schermerhorn cold storage plant, which he and 
his young wife occupied until they could find a better one, as was a 
necessity in those days ; sometimes there were two and three fami- 
lies in one house, and they were not apartment houses, either. 

There is a discrepancy as to the exact location of the flagstaff. 
Dixon, in his history of Polk County, says it was in the rear of the 
old American House, which stood on the northeast corner of Second 
and Market. Another writer says it was near the corner of Third 
and Walnut. Judge Casady says it was standing some time after 
he came here, and it was standing near Market, not far from where 
Given had his plow shop, and southeast of it. Guy Ayers, who was 
a youngster, familiar with it, and tramped around it a hundred 
times, says it was on a line due southeast between the Guard House, 
which stood just north and west of where Given had his plow shop, 
and the officers' headquarters; that when the survey of the town 



JOHN H. GIVEN 393 

was made, the east line of Second Street nearly struck the staff 
about the center of the lot on the corner of Market. When the 
town lots were sold at public auction, in July, 1847, the purchasers 
did not want the flagstaff there, and it was ordered removed to 
another place. It was taken down, but never again raised. The 
people in those days were more interested in bread and butter than 
"Old Glory." 

Immediately after his arrival, Given started a wagon shop, 
between Vine and Second streets, in the rear of his residence, where 
Green's foundry now is, and, to meet the demands of the rapid 
increase of settlers on farm lands, he added to his business farm 
implements. The first implement a farmer wanted was a plow, and 
he made plows. The first year, he turned out over two hundred 
plows. His plows were a great benefit to the pioneer farmers. Des 
Moines was the central point of trade for a large area of country. 
Sometimes, a farmer would come to get supplies for a whole Settle- 
ment, who had given him a memorandum of their wants, written 
on such scraps of paper as could be found about the house, and the 
money to pay for them, no one farmer in those days being able to 
advance the funds, as money was scarce. On one occasion, three 
farmers came (from fifty miles south) to get family supplies, and 
brought their plows to be repaired. The repairing required the 
time of several days, which, with unexpected expenses, was more 
than the money in hand, so one of them returned with the family 
supplies, and the other two remained and dug coal for a week, to 
be used in the plow shop, to pay their expenses. The coal was dug 
out of the river banks, where it was procured for the blacksmiths of 
the garrison. 

The plow business increased annually, so that a large brick 
building, 40x130, was built at the corner of Market and Second 
streets, and in 1888, when he retired from business, the output was 
about two thousand plows annually, which went all over the West 
His carriage business was completely "plowed under." 

To obtain a more suitable residence, he purchased a lot at the 
corner of Seventh and Vine, where he built a brick, two-story house, 
that then being the most fashionable part, of the town. He then 
tore down the frame house in which he had been living, and erected 



394 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

a three-story brick hotel, which, for twenty years, was known as 
the Given House, subsequently as the Windsor, and several years 
ago was transformed to the Schermerhorn plant. 

A thorough business man and property holder, he was elected 
a member of the Council of the Town of Fort Des Moines, in 1856. 
That was a year of strenuous life in Des Moines. The East and 
West sides were engaged in a vigorous contest over the location of 
the State House, the Legislature having selected Des Moines as the 
Capital of the state. 

Given took a hand in the scrimmage, and when the West Siders 
raised a fund of three hundred thousand dollars to secure the loca- 
tion, the subscription paper shows his name there for five hundred 
dollars. 

In 1858, the City of Des Moines having been incorporated by 
the Legislature, Given was elected Councilman from the Second 
Ward, and reelected in 1872 and 1873. 

Fully appreciating the value of education, resultant from his 
own experience in his youth, he was actively and intensely inter- 
ested in the public schools and the promotion of educational facili- 
ties. For many years, he was an influential member of the School 
Board, and assisted materially in laying the foundation of the pres- 
ent public school system. 

Politically, he was a Whig, though he was raised under Demo- 
cratic environments, his father being a radical Democrat, and his 
paternal grandfather a Democrat and large slave-holder. He cast 
his first vote for Henry Clay, and when the Republican Party was 
formed, he became a member, and so continued through life. He 
was not a politician in any sense of that term. His election to pub- 
lic office was because of public desire to get the benefit of his good 
judgment and excellent business qualifications. 

Socially, he was a member of Pioneer Lodge, Number Twenty- 
two, of the Masonic fraternity, the first lodge in the city, and 
passed through all its official chairs except Worshipful Master. He 
took an active part in temperance movements, and was an influen- 
tial member of the Order of Good Templars and Sons of Temper- 
ance. He was quiet and unobtrusive in manner, yet genial and 
companionable. His sterling integrity won the esteem of all who 



JOHN H. GIVEN 395 

knew him. His honesty in business affairs, his inexorable rule to 
give every man a fair deal, and his good management, secured him 
a competency, so that he retired from active business several years 
before his decease, which occurred in December, 1899. 
October Eighth, 1905. 




PETER NEWCOMER 



PETER NEWCOMER 

PASSENGERS on the Winterset Branch of the Rock Island 
Road, just after leaving the city, pass a narrow space between 
the high bluff and the river, barely wide enough for the track, 
known as "Newcomer's Point," named from Peter Newcomer, one 
of the very earliest settlers in Polk County. It was an important 
landmark in the early days to the emigrant. 

Newcomer came here with the soldiers, in 1843, and was 
employed as a carpenter in building barracks at the garrison, his 
family living in a cabin at the Agency and Trading Post, down 
where the packing-houses now are. There were about twenty people 
living there, outside of the garrison. 

Soon after the garrison was established, a military road was laid 
out to Toole's Point, now Monroe, in Jasper County, where connec- 
tion could be made with a road to Eddyville, and thence to Bur- 
lington, or Keokuk. Between the garrison and Eddyville there 
was nothing but Avild prairie and timber. To aid in opening this 
road, and making it passable for transporting supplies for the gar- 
rison, Captain Allen, the garrison commander, soon saw the neces- 
sity for bridges. Four Mile Creek was a serious impediment, as 
its bed and banks for some distance were such spongy drift that 
it was nearly impassable for teams several months in the year. 
To get the bridges was the problem. To get a request for authority 
to build them through the circumlocution offices at Washington was 
dubious, and would probably result as did his request to have the 
Post named Fort Raccoon, and made a double-ration Post, which 
got tangled up in a contest between the War and Treasury Depart- 
ments, where it lay for two years without reply. There was no 
local government machinery to which he could apply for relief, so 
he offered Newcomer a permit to make a claim for three hundred 
and twenty acres of land if he would build a bridge over Four Mile 
Creek. That was Peter's opportunity. The offer was promptly 

397 



398 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

accepted. He built the bridge, the first within the county, and for 
many years it was a noted landmark to teamsters, who, after weary 
hours of toil and struggle, with heavy loads and fatigued teams, 
far into the night, when they reached that bridge, took fresh cour- 
age, for they knew they were only four miles from home. By day- 
light, the Point was conspicuous, as it could be seen a long distance 
away. 

His permit was not limited to any locality, but the supposition 
was the claim would be made near the bridge, which was built near 
where the Rock Island Road crosses the creek, just east of the city 
limits, the stream being so tortuous the railroad crosses it four 
times. He, however, made his claim along the big bend in Des 
Moines River, in what is now Grant Township, and adjoining the 
city on the east side, following the custom of newcomers, to settle 
along rivers and creeks, and near their skirting timber. At numer- 
ous places along the streams were abrupt, short turns, which, when 
viewed from a distance on the prairie, gave them the appearance 
of a point, and they were given the names of the settlers who first 
located the land comprising them, thus we have Newcomer's Point, 
Toole's Point, and many others. 

So soon as he located his claim, he built a small cabin, in which 
he installed himself and young wife. Though isolated from civil- 
ized life, there being no other settlers within several miles, and 
Keokuk's Indian village not far away, they often declared they 
found great enjoyment and pleasure in making their new home. 

The usual experience and deprivation of pioneers was theirs. 
Although he was a carpenter, able to construct many household 
articles of use and convenience, there was no lumber, the mills were 
fifty miles away. He improvised from timber, chairs, tables, etc., 
and one day his wife wanted a churn. He peeled the bark from a 
green hickory tree, fitted a bottom in one end, a dasher top to the 
other end, and she said it made as good a butter as any churn. 
There were no mills nearer than Fairfield, and when flour or meal 
was wanted, he had to go there, and often so thronged were the 
mills by persons waiting for their grinding to be done, he would be 
compelled to wait several days or go on east ; he would go on, some- 
times one hundred and forty miles, in bad storms, with no place 
to get shelter. 



PETER NEWCOMER 399 

In less than one month after the soldiers left, on April Sixth, 
1846, was held the first election in Polk County, to elect county 
officers. At that election, it seems, from the returns, that every- 
body voted who wanted to, for there were one hundred and seventy- 
five ballots cast in the county, of which seventy were at The Fort. 
An official census taken twelve days after the election showed there 
were but one hundred and twenty-seven persons, men, women, and 
children, living at The Fort, of whom thirty-four were male adults, 
and all of them are now dead except Judge Casady and Ed. Clapp. 
Ed. was then only nineteen years old, but he probably voted, as did 
Daniel Trullinger, at "Uncle Tommy" Mitchell's house, within 
thirty minutes after he came into the county. The remaining thirty- 
six votes may be therefore credited to ambitious young persons. 
But the pioneers were not punctilious in such matters. They were 
largely a law unto themselves. Public offices were not worth much, 
anyhow. G. B. Clark got only thirty dollars for making the first 
assessment of the whole county, and Addison Michael, the County 
Collector, got ten dollars and ninety-six cents for collecting taxes 
of that assessment. 

Soon after the garrison was established, a mail route was opened 
to Keokuk, and Josiah Smart, the Indian Interpreter at the 
Agency, was appointed Postmaster, but he resigned, and Doctor 
T. K. Brooks, the first physician, was appointed in March, 1846. 
The mail was brought on horseback on Wednesday, and departed 
the next day. The mail bringing the Doctor's commission and 
bond was water-soaked, not unusual, when there were no bridges, 
streams flooded, and the horse had to swim when crossing. The 
bond was signed by Newcomer and "Uncle Jerry" Church, who, 
with his "magnificent town" of Dudley, was a vigorous contestant 
for the location of the Capital. 

Newcomer improved his farm by good cultivation and the erec- 
tion of good and commodious buildings, so that, by good manage- 
ment, he became quite wealthy. In 1847, he, with Isaac Cooper, 
brought the first reaper and mower into Polk County. It was an 
expensive investment, and indicated the energy and enterprise of 
the pioneers. 



400 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

In 1848, when the Settlers' Claim Club was permanently organ- 
ized for protection of their claims against claim- jumpers and land 
speculators, Newcomer was an active member, and woe betide the 
fellow who was discovered strolling about the county plotting some 
land grab. 

In 1856, when the contest for the location of the Capitol was 
on, Newcomer joined "Uncle Jerry" in his Dudley scheme, and 
when that failed, he joined the Brooks and Scott junta on the East 
Side. 

Politically, Newcomer was an old-line Whig, of the Maryland 
persuasion, and took an active part in political affairs. As a stump- 
speaker, he was noted for the directness and bluntness of his vocab- 
ulary. In state and local matters, he was radically independent, 
and somewhat peculiar. In 1848, the Legislature had passed an 
exemption law, giving a debtor protection against seizure to the 
value of five hundred dollars. He was tinctured with the old-time 
Southern ideas respecting obligations, and vigorously criticized 
Judge Casady, who was Senator from Polk County, for supporting 
the law, and when the Judge told him the next Legislature would 
increase the exemption to a homestead, he became furious, and at 
once took the stump as an independent candidate for Governor, 
opposed to any measure to prevent a person from paying his honest 
debts, and he had a very good support. The next Legislature, in 
1851, enacted the Homestead Exemption Law, and it remains on 
the statute book to-day. 

Socially, Newcomer was unostentatious, and active in promot- 
ing all measures for the betterment of the community. 

In the early 'Sixties, he became so debilitated from acute indi- 
gestion he was unable to perform any manual labor for two years. 
He became a vegetarian, his diet consisting of unleavened bread, 
eggs, and milk. I took dinner with him one day. The spread was 
not very attractive to an ordinary hungry person, but it was neatly 
served, was wholesome and nutritious. By that system, he regained 
perfect health and physical strength. 

A few years later, he went to Texas, where he died in 1891, at 
the age of seventy-nine. 

October Twenty-second, 1905. 



DOCTOR JAMES CAMPBELL 

A NOTABLE character among the pioneers was Doctor James 
Campbell. He was a hustler from the start, and had a hand 
in everything going on about The Fort — politics, trade, real 
estate, amusements — everything which made up the wild, bustling 
life of that early period. He was a man of many eccentricities and 
idiosyncrasies, good-hearted, blunt of speech, and of peppery tem- 
perament. 

He came to Iowa on horseback, in 1839, stopped for a time in 
Van Buren County, and came to Fort Des Moines early in Janu- 
ary, 1846, the second physician in the Settlement, Doctor T. K. 
Brooks being his predecessor. There was not business enough for 
two doctors, and Brooks having a little the advantage, Campbell, 
so soon as the first lot of soldiers left the garrison, opened a grocery 
in the Guard House, which stood near what is now the corner of 
Vine and Third streets. A grocery in those days consisted of a 
room with groceries on one side and a bar on the other for liquors, 
for whiskey was as staple as corn bread and bacon. The Doctor, 
with more refined taste than usual, ran a partition through the 
room, in the south side of which was the bar. In those days, liquor 
drinking was more popular than it is now, men of very circum- 
spect habits indulged, even church members. One day, a man who, 
twenty years ago, was one of the best-known and most popular in 
the country, a pillar of the Methodist Church, who held some of 
the highest offices in the gift of the people, went down on Second 
Street to get groceries. His Methodist tenets slipped a cog, and he 
loaded himself up with more wet goods than dry, until he took in 
more than he could carry on a straight line. Steering himself to 
Campbell's place, he went in, declaring he could whip any man that 
did not weigh over one hundred and forty pounds, reeling against 
the Doctor, as he entered the door. "That's just my weight," said 
the Doctor, as he gave him a side-winder straight from the shoulder, 

Vol. I— (26). 401 



402 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

which landed him out on the sidewalk, where the Doctor sat down 
on him and was giving him a vigorous pummeling when bystanders 
pulled him off, and the incident was closed. Nothing more was 
said or thought of it. That was the way of those first-comers. It 
was like the Doctor, thirty minutes after, to have invited his victim 
in to "take something," for he was generous in treating, but never 
drank himself. The good Methodist was never known to patronize 
the liquid side of a grocery after that event. 

Later on, the Doctor removed to the northwest corner of Vine 
and Second streets, where he opened a grocery and amusement hall, 
the first in the town. He was a good fiddler, and furnished the 
music for dances in his amusement hall, and some lively hoe-downs 
were had there. Fiddlers in those days were in good favor with 
the young people. "Uncle Jerry" Church, who once laid out 
a town down the river which was to be the Capital of the state, was 
a good fiddler, and often furnished music at social functions. On 
one occasion, a reception was given to Joseph Williams, of the Ter- 
ritorial Court, at the home of Doctor Brooks, on the East Side, 
where the Judge boarded when he came here to hold court. "Uncle 
Jerry" was there with his fiddle, and the Judge, who was a good 
musician, jolly and full of fun, assisted him with a clarinette, as 
the orchestra for the dances. 

During the first ten years, Second Street, from Market to Wal- 
nut, was the great thoroughfare of the town, and there was consid- 
erable rivalry among business men in building and improving it to 
hold the trade there. When the Original Town was platted, Vine 
and Walnut streets were made seventy-four feet wide, and there 
were to be boulevards. Court Avenue was made ninety-six feet, 
and sometime was to be the leading business street. All other 
streets were made sixty-four feet. Second Street, however, held 
its own until 1859, when G. M. Hippee built a big store on the 
southeast corner of Court Avenue and Third, and Hoyt Sherman 
another on the opposite corner, when trade began to move westward. 

In 1855, the Doctor built a large three-story brick building near 
'Coon Point, where he established an Eye and Ear Infirmary, the 
first brick business building in the town, and for many years it was 
cited as an evidence of the manifest destiny of The Fort, but at last 
its subsidence came from that very destiny made manifest. 



DOCTOR JAMES CAMPBELL 403 

The Doctor was inclined to sporting, and while the Indians were 
here, pony and foot racing was a frequent amusement, and at times 
not a little exciting, for the Indians were fond of racing, especially 
after they had received a payment from the Government. They 
were inveterate gamblers, also, but they were not up to the tricks 
of the settlers, and their money soon vanished. The race course 
started between Fourth and Fifth streets, where the Kirkwood 
House is, and extended a little southwest one-fourth of a mile. 
After the Indians left, the settlers used the track, and the races 
were lively, scrubby, and open to anybody who had a horse, for it 
was about all the amusement in Summer there was. 

The Doctor had a small sorrel mare, not handsome, but a com- 
plete bundle of nerves and energy. As a sprinter, she was a mighty 
deceiving beast to lots of over-zealous natives, who thought they 
knew a good thing when they saw it, and staked their dollars and 
watches on the other horse. When the first Methodist Church was 
built, where the Iowa Loan and Trust Building is, it blocked the 
race track, and it was abandoned. 

In the Fall of 1845, when Keokuk and his bands left Iowa for 
the last time, Poweshiek, whose lodges were on Skunk River, 
balked. He was a good friend of the white people, a frequent vis- 
itor at The Fort, and well known to the first settlers. He was very 
arrogant and independent, and inclined to resist his removal to 
Kansas. Instead of going there, he, with his forty lodges, camped 
on Grand River, just north of the Missouri line. The white people 
soon became excited over their coming, and threatened extermina- 
tion, which only incited the Indians to retaliation. Rumors came 
to The Fort that conditions there were serious. The Doctor, J. B. 
Scott, and Hamilton Thrift, who knew Poweshiek, one day in Feb- 
ruary, mounted horses and rode one hundred miles through deep 
snow, over trackless prairie, to Poweshiek's encampment, where 
they found trouble brewing. The old chief and his braves were 
holding dog festivals every day, which meant war. He was surly 
and inclined to be ugly, but Scott gave him a long talk, which, as 
the Doctor recalled it, was substantially as follows : 

"My friends and myself have come a long distance to help you 
out of this trouble. We are your friends. If you persist in your 



404 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

purpose of making war on the whites, many of your squaws and 
pappooses, as well as your braves, will be butchered. The remain- 
der will be driven out in the cold and snow, to perish on the prairie. 
It would be better for you now to break up your lodges and go in 
peace to the reservation in Kansas, which the Government has pro- 
vided for you." 

It was some time before he could be induced to accept the good 
advice, as he feared if he left his encampment he would be stigma- 
tized as a coward, and that he could not endure, but he finally com- 
prehended the true situation, promised to move, and soon after, he 
and his lodges were beyond the border of the state. The timely 
arrival of those three friends, and their wise counsel, undoubtedly 
saved the old chief much trouble, and possible extermination. 

In August, 1847, the Doctor was elected the second County 
Recorder and Treasurer, and served two years, when he sought a 
re-nomination. As the voters in the county were nearly all Demo- 
crats, a nomination was equivalent to an election, but Ben. Bryant, 
who ante-dated the Doctor, wanted the place. A consultation was 
held by the Old Guard, and, though the Doctor received a good 
indorsement, Ben., as a cripple, having lost part of his feet by 
freezing, won the sympathy and vote of the county. 

Prior to 1857, the county records were so badly kept that it was 
almost impossible to interpret them, and it was only after a long, 
diligent search, and much labor by Amos Brandt, when he was 
County Auditor, that the fact of the Doctor's election was estab- 
lished. For instance, during the Doctor's legal term, instruments 
are recorded bearing the names of other persons as Recorder. On 
one page, appears a chattel mortgage by G. W. Gaston to John 
Hadden, which reads : 

"One cow and sucking calf, marked with slit in the right year 
[ear], two horses; one sorrel horse seven yers old with a blase in 
the fase, marked on the right fore pastern joint by a cut from a 
wagon running over it; one bay horse blind with both eyes — age 
not nown ; and a clame of two hundred acers on the Des Moines 
river, Boon and Dallas county split by the seposed county line 
boundry. 

"Received and recorded by Peter Myers, deputy for John 
Myers." 



DOCTOR JAMES CAMPBELL 405 

Sometimes Peter signed himself as Recorder. 

I spent many an hour in the basement of the old Court House, 
seeking among the rubbish and confused mass of papers piled on 
the floor or packed in boxes, to trace some historic incident when I 
was reporting for the press. If you will go down to the present 
Court House, on Third Street, you will find in the basement old 
and valuable records covered with sand, dust, and filth, and rotting 
with mildew, a disgrace to the county. 

The Doctor was an active member of the Settlers' Claim Club, 
which, during the first three years, was practically the governing 
power of the county respecting settlers' rights, Polk County not 
being atached to any other county for election or judicial purposes. 
It was, de facto, an independent civic community, and, as the ven- 
erable Judge, "Old Bill McHenry," used to put it: "We was a 
law unto ourselves." 

In 1858, the Doctor was a busy participant in the State House 
location fight between the East and West Side. He evidenced his 
interest by subscribing five thousand dollars to the War Fund, and 
when the East Siders were haled before the Legislative Investigat- 
ing Committee to defend the charges of bribery and corruption 
made against them, and tell who got the swag, if any, the Doctor 
was called as a witness, and testified as follows : 

"Question. — Did you reside in this city at the time of the loca- 
tion of the Capitol ? 

"Answer. — Yes, sir ; on the West Side. 

"Question. — Had you any conversation with the Commission- 
ers, or either of them, at the time of the location of the Capitol, or 
soon after ? 

"Answer. — About a week after the location, I had a talk with 
Crookham in regard to the location — don't know the exact words 
— not half of it. We were talking more or less about the location 
made and about lots. I don't recollect his saying how he got them 
or how he paid for them — don't recollect how many there were. I 
understood him to say he had some lots over there — the East Side 
— and was going to have them surveyed before he went away. 

"Question. — What was your reply when Crookham said he was 
going to have his lots surveyed ? 



406 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

"Answer. — I said if I were he, I would have them run off and 
get the deeds before I left, or something like it. 

"Question. — What was jour understanding, how he got them? 

"Answer. — I thought then for locating the Capitol. He did 
not say so. I wish I knew more of it. I would tell it. I would 
like to blow it higher than the sky. 

"Question. — Do you know whether any of the Commissioners 
received anything in lots or money ? 

"Answer. — I do not. I did not hear from whom the deeds to 
Crookham were to come. 

"Question. — When you had this conversation, why did you say 
he had better get the title right before he left ? 

"Answer. — It would be my way of doing business. 

"Question. — What led to this conversation with Crookham ? 

"Answer. — I think I said we would have given more on this 
side than they gave on that. I recollect asking how much they (the 
Commissioners) got over there for themselves. 

"Question. — What reason had you to think they would accept 
offers, or were in the market ? 

"Answer. — Beause I thought no reasonable, disinterested man 
would locate it over there." 

In the very early days, good, old, rye whiskey was the favorite 
tipple with the pioneers. They could stand up under a large quan- 
tity of it, for it was not such rotten, hair-pulling, venomous stuff 
as we get now. There were also a lot of "light drinkers" about 
The Fort, who called themselves "temperance men." In 1849, 
Abe Shoemaker, who kept a "grocery" on Second Street, sent to 
Keokuk for a ten-gallon keg of ale for the "temperance men." On 
the forthcoming Fourth of July, the temperature was torrid. When 
the teamster gave the order for the ale, he was told that if he 
attempted to haul it to Fort Des Moines in the hot sun, it would 
explode and blow him skyward. "Just put in five gallons of whis- 
key, and it will go all right," said the seller. The whiskey was put 
in. It arrived all right, was on tap early the next morning, and 
before eleven o'clock every "temperance man" in the town was at 
home in bed, utterly oblivious to what occurred during the remain- 
der of the day, and in the list there were some very prominent, 



DOCTOR JAMES CAMPBELL 407 

circumspect individuals, whom it would now be improper to name, 
neither would it help the temperance cause. 

Socially, the Doctor was a hail-fellow generally. There were 
no social distinctions in those pioneer days. He was a wide-awake 
business man, a vigorous booster of the town, and, with Tom 
McMullen, laid out an addition to the Original Town, acquired two 
or three fine farms, and before his decease retired on Easy Street. 

October Twenty-second, 1905. 




SAMUEL GREEN 



SAMUEL GREEN 

OF the early settlers who helped to build the town, few were 
better known, though very quiet and unostentatious, than 
Samuel Green, or Sam., as he was familiarly called by old- 
timers. 

Having thoroughly learned the foundry business in New York, 
he came to Des Moines in March, 1857, the first practical foundry- 
man in the town. He did, for a short time after his arrival, what 
all newcomers did — whatever he could find to do. One of his intro- 
ductory jobs was helping S. A. Robertson with one of his first jobs, 
to make repairs on the old "Grout House," which stood on Court 
Avenue, southwest of the State House, in which T. E. Brown and 
his wife were living. It took its name from its construction of 
small cobblestones, lime and mortar. It was once the most fash- 
ionable hostelry in the town, and headquarters of members of the 
Legislature, and state officers. 

Sam. very soon secured employment as foreman, molder, melter, 
pattern and flask maker, and general utility man, with H. M. Hem- 
minway, who had a small foundry on East Walnut between First 
and Second streets. The river bank was fringed with small resi- 
dences, a few shops, a mill and a woolen factory. The town was 
small, business was depressed, money was scarce. "Gold pieces 
looked mighty big in those days, for most of the money was 'wild- 
cat,' practically worthless, which nobody wanted, though we had 
to take it," he says. It was the year of the worst panic known in 
the history of the state. The entire populace, scattered over the 
vast domain from river to river, shut out of the markets of the sea- 
board, were utterly prostrate. It touched the sick body of desolate 
and despairing agriculture; it paralyzed the arm of the artisan 
and toiler. Values were destroyed, personal credit forfeited, indi- 
vidual liabilities were overwhelming. The credit of the state was 
impaired; there was more than one hundred and fifty thousand 

409 



410 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

dollars of floating debt in Auditor's warrants, drawing eight per 
cent interest, with few purchasers, even at a large discount. 

The prospect was discouraging to an ambitious young man. On 
the East Side, from the river to Capitol Hill, the ground was low 
and wet, no sidewalks, and very few houses. From the river at 
Court Avenue, a trestle footway about three feet high was built 
nearly to the hill for the benefit of the members of the Legislature 
and state officers. I think Will. Porter has not forgotten that bot- 
tom. He was in politics, with a craving desire to get at the pie 
counter, and was the Democratic candidate for State Printer, the 
Winter after Sam. arrived. The day was fixed for the Legislature 
to vote in joint convention, and Will, started in a buggy for the 
State House, which stood where the Soldiers' Monument now is, 
but the mud had such a grip on the horse and buggy, he did not 
get there until the voting was over, and John Teesdale, a Repub- 
lican, was elected. Will, always declared that if the mud had not 
been so deep, and held him back, he would have won out. 

On the west side of the river, Second Street, from Market to 
Court Avenue, was the business thoroughfare. There were but one 
or two buildings on Third Street. Court House Square, the Sum- 
mer Sam. arrived, was sown with wheat, and the county paid John 
Railing eleven dollars and a half for plowing, sowing, and harvest- 
ing it. Who got the crop, the record does not say. Judge Napier 
was running county affairs then, and he generally got what he 
wanted. Amos Brandt, the well-known ex-County Auditor, was 
running a farm during Napier's reign. One day, during harvest- 
time, one of the machines broke down, and he came to town to get 
the necessary repairs, which done, he scurried back. Arriving at 
Kimball's Bridge, he ran against Napier, who stood in the middle 
of the road, arms outstretched, and commanded him to stop. Amos, 
knowing his autocratic authority over bridges and roads, suddenly 
halted, and asked the reason for his stoppage. 

"You can't cross that bridge," replied the Judge. 

"What is the trouble with it ? I crossed it a short time ago, and 
I am in a great hurry ; have been to town to get some machinery 
repaired; the men and teams are waiting. Isn't the bridge safe?" 

"You can't cross that bridge unless you give me a chew of 
tobacco !" 



SAMUEL GREEN" 411 

The Judge got the tobacco. 

Sam., however, had come to stay, and in 1859, at the Hemmin- 
way shop, was made the first reaper made in Polk County. 

Soon after Sam. joined Hemminway, they wanted some coke 
for melting iron. They went down the river above Rattlesnake 
Bend, dug out of the bluff three wagon-loads of coal, dug a hole 
seven feet in diameter and three feet deep, in the middle of Walnut 
Street, near the river, dumped the coal into it, set fire to it, banked 
it over with earth, and let it burn three days. When uncovered, 
there was a good quality of coke, the first made in Polk County, 
out of Iowa soft coal, so far as known, thus demonstrating that 
Iowa coal can be coked. It made good iron, but as hard as flint. 

In 1860, the sorghum craze struck the farmers throughout the 
country, and to meet the demand for some device to express the 
cane, the Hemminway shop designed and made small, portable 
crushing mills, and as the demand increased, a small mill was 
erected on the East Side, to which cane was brought to be crushed, 
which was of great benefit to the farmers unable to purchase a 
portable crusher. 

In 1860, Sam. formed a partnership which necessitated a dwel- 
ling-house. Houses were scarce, and he built one, one and one-half 
stories high, with four rooms, on the river front opposite the new 
City Library. The shingles and siding were Black Walnut; all 
other lumber was White Oak, and for both he paid a dollar and a 
half per hundred feet. In that house, he lived four years, when 
he built another on the corner of East Second and Locust, where 
he lived fourteen years, and then built a fine residence on the same 
street, on Capitol Hill. 

In 1867, he decided to embark in business on his own account. 
He had very limited means, but a large amount of pluck and per- 
serverance. He leased part of a lot where Given had a plow shop, 
corner of Third and Vine, and built a small foundry, at an expense 
of two hundred dollars. When the first blast was turned out, his 
books showed an indebtedness of over seven hundred dollars, which 
discouraged him, fearing he could never satisfy his creditors, but 
his marital partner, ever helpful with her optimism, encouraged 
him to go on. In this foundry, he made all the castings used in 
the Given House. 



412 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

As the years passed, by industry, economy, good judgment, and 
fair dealing, his business increased so that greater facilities were 
needed, and he bought the Dippert harness shop, the old Frank 
Allen bank, Judge Casady's first law office, and other old land- 
marks on Second Street, tore them down, and built a two-story 
brick thereon. In a few years, more space was needed, and he 
bought more lots northward to Vine. Jle added heating furnaces to 
his business, and soon after took his sons, Frank and James, born 
and raised in the business, into partnership. New equipments 
were added, a little more steam put on, until now the establishment 
has become one of the leading manufacturing industries of the city, 
its trade extending as far west as Colorado. 

Politically, Sam. is a Republican of the blackest kind, though 
his father and six brothers were radical Democrats. He cast his 
first presidential ballot for John C. Fremont. He is not a politi- 
cian, nor office-seeker. In local affairs, he exercises the right and 
duty of every good citizen, to vote for the highest public welfare. 
When he formed the parnership with his sons, a mutual pledge was 
made that neither of the firm should seek or take any political 
office, a pledge which has been rigidly observed, yet, despite that, in 
1862, his numerous friends having faith in his integrity and inter- 
est in public affairs, determined to nominate him for Alderman, 
but he would not permit it. 

Socially, he is genial, popular, interested always in educational, 
religious, and temperance movements, for the betterment of society. 
He is a member of the Order of Odd Fellows, once holding the 
office of Treasurer of Capital Lodge Number One Hundred and 
Six ; also of the Order of Good Templars, and was a charter mem- 
ber of Capital Lodge of the Ancient Order of United Workmen. 
He has always been the friend and supporter of the labor class. 

Religiously, he is a Methodist, identifying himself with the 
First Church when its first brick meeting-house was built, where 
the Iowa Loan and Trust Company building now stands, on Fifth 
Street, and is a loyal supporter of the faith. 

By judicious management, energy, honesty, and an inexorable 
rule to give every man a fair deal, he has acquired a competency, 
and in 1904 turned over the foundry to his sons, and retired to the 



SAMUEL GKEEN" 413 

southwest corner of Fourteenth and Capitol Avenue, overlooking 
Franklin Park, where he can enjoy the recompense of a life well 
spent, and work well done. 
November Fifth, 1905. 




IRA COOK 



IRA COOK 

AVERY prominent man in Des Moines in the early days was 
Ira Cook. He came to Davenport in 1836, with his father, 
a small boy, worked fourteen and fifteen hours a day helping 
his father start a farm, and plant by hand what he declared was the 
first field of corn in Scott County. 

He came to Des Moines in September, 1852, on foot, with ten 
men, his supplies and camp equipage drawn by two horses, en route 
to sub-divide, as United States Surveyor, a district of ten town- 
ships in what are now the counties of Carroll and Sac. Here he 
purchased his supplies and provisions for several months' stay in 
that uninhabited territory, the incidents of which he related one 
day, when in a reminiscent mood, which illustrates some of the 
trials and privations of pioneers. 

"Down on Second Street, well toward the lower end," he said, 
"I found B. F. Allen, with a general stock of merchandise, of whom 
I purchased my supplies. 

"Having more than my team could haul, I secured the services 
of Ed. Clapp to aid me in getting my 'traps,' including corn for my 
horses, up to my district. Ed. was not the millionaire that he now 
is, but he was the same whole-hearted, good fellow the citizens of 
Des Moines have known all these years. 

"At the crossing of Walnut Creek, Ed. suggested that a farmer 
at that point was famous for the watermelons he raised, and of 
course we all wanted some. We could find no one about the prem- 
ises, but Ed. said we must have the melons, and as he knew the way 
to the 'patch,' we soon had an increase to our wagon-load. Ed. said 
something about stopping on his way home and paying for the 
melons, but I think it is safe to say he returned by another road. 

"Two miles beyond the town of Panora was a cabin of rough 
logs occupied by a squatter named Van Order, his wife and a half- 
grown son. There we left a barrel of pork and a barrel of flour to 

415 



416 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

lighten our load, to be returned for later, as there were no roads, 
and the country was rough. The third day out, we reached our 
destination, where we camped, unloaded Ed.'s wagon, and the next 
morning, bright and early, he started homeward. 

"For the next four months, we worked early and late, in sun- 
shine and storm. After New Year's, the cold became intense, hard- 
ened as we were, our provisions were- low, and we decided to break 
camp. We were about two and a half days' travel from Van 
Order's cabin. An inventory showed we had just three days' rations. 
The first day, Friday, we made full one-third of the distance. The 
second day, following down the divide between the middle and 
south forks of 'Coon River, about nine o'clock, it began to snow, 
and soon the air was so full we could not see our course. We 
turned into the timber, and Saturday camped on Middle 'Coon. 
Sunday morning, two feet of snow covered woodland and prairie. 
I directed the cook to boil the remainder of our beans, and make 
all the flour into biscuits, which he did. I packed the whole in the 
camp chest, locked it, and put the key in my pocket. 

" Monday, we dug our way out of the snow, crossed the river, 
and resumed our journey. The men were formed in two lines, and 
broke a path for the horses and wagon. Our progress was slow 
each day, as much time was consumed in going back and forth to 
the timber to camp. The morning of the seventh day, we decided 
to leave our wagon. The horses had nothing to eat but hazel-brush, 
and the men were getting weak. That night, we camped at the 
mouth of Willow Creek, Guthrie County, without tent or shelter. 
We made coffee and ate one biscuit each. During the night, the 
wind blew a gale, and it grew colder every moment, but we had a 
good fire to keep from freezing. At four o'clock in the morning, a 
pot of strong coffee, one small biscuit, five days old, and one small 
spoonful of boiled beans, the last of our food, was eaten, and very 
soon after, nine men in a string, to break the frozen snow crust and 
make a path for the horses (one man sick, and the cook, a cripple, 
riding), were on the march. About noon, from the ridge we were 
on, a settler's cabin several miles distant on the prairie was seen, 
to which we went, stopped over night, and the next day reached 
Van Order's. The barrel of pork and flour was quickly opened, 



IRA COOK 417 

turned over to Mrs. Van Order, and for six days and nights she 
worked incessantly to fill up eleven hungry men. Van Order was 
a good hunter ; deer, turkeys, prairie chickens, and other wild game 
hung from every ridge pole, to which we did ample justice, while 
our pork and flour was equally enjoyed by our hosts. 

"So soon as our horses were recruited, the journey to civiliza- 
tion was resumed, which closed my Government surveying." 

I asked Ed. a few days ago respecting the trip, and he said he 
made the return in two days, but as to the watermelons, his mem- 
ory was foggy and treacherous. 

In 1855, Ira came to Des Moines as the resident banker of the 
firm of Cook, Sargent & Cook, a banking firm of Davenport, which, 
like many others, wanted to get the forty per cent on short loans to 
be used in the various speculative schemes then going. Business 
having begun to move over to Walnut Street, a three-story brick 
was erected on the south side, next to the alley, later occupied for 
many years by Carter & Hussey, printers and book-sellers. 

It was not much of a town ; at least, that was the opinion of 
Judge A. B. Holcomb, of Connecticut, who, that year, was in this 
section with a little money to invest for himself and Eastern 
friends. After looking over Des Moines, he went on up the river, 
invested his money in several thousand acres of land, laid out and 
boomed the town of Boonesboro. 

Writing to his Eastern friends the result of his observations, he 
said of Des Moines, under date of July Twenty-fifth, 1855 : 

"The new Capital, which is to be, is a low, dirty, stinking hole. 
I think the Capitol buildings will be some two or three miles out. 
The matter is before the Legislature again, since an injunction has 
stopped the Commissioners from locating." 

Some allowance must be made for prejudice of the Judge, as 
his town, "the geographical center of the state," as he claimed, was 
one of many at that time making desperate effort to get the Capital 
removed from Des Moines. 

In 1858, the bank having been practically wrecked by the panic 
of the previous year, closed its doors; but Ira had come to stay, 
and after winding up the bank business, in 1860, went into real 
estate and insurance. 

Vol. I— (27). 



418 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

In 1856, when the State House location fight came on, Ira 
enlisted with the West Siclers, and subscribed five thousand dollars 
to the "war fund." 

In 1861, his numerous friends elected him Mayor of the city, 
but he was not built that way — he did not like the office, and 
resigned. 

In 1862, he received an appointment in the Postoffice Depart- 
ment at Washington, which he held two years. 

In 1864, he was appointed Deputy United States Revenue Col- 
lector, a place he held for some time. 

In 1866, he was elected Alderman for the Third Ward, was 
reelected in 1867, and by the Council elected President pro tern. 
During his incumbency, the city made rapid growth, and entered 
upon a new era, for in 1868, the first railroad train entered the 
city, and business at once received a new impetus. 

In 1868, he was elected one of the Trustees of Des Moines 
Township, an office then requiring the exercise of good sense, judg- 
ment and financiering, for the city was encroaching so rapidly upon 
the domain of the township that it was difficult to know where it 
was at, or to devise ways and means to maintain its corporate exist- 
ence, for every addition to the town cut the revenues of the town- 
ship. This process went on, until a few years later the township 
officers were abolished and an Alderman-at-Large in the City Coun- 
cil was provided to represent the interests of the township. 

In 1875, Ira became a stockholder in the Iowa Loan and Trust 
Company, which, since 1873, has been one of the most important 
financial institutions in the state. In 1880, he was elected one of 
the three Trustees of the company for the bond-holders, for two 
million, three hundred and fifty-four thousand, five hundred and 
eighty dollars of debentures of the company, a fiduciary trust of 
great responsibility. 

In 1879, he decided to take a hand in the industrial industries 
of the town, and help the farmer by providing a market for his 
surplus corn. With G. M. Hippee and three others, the Des 
Moines Syrup Refining Company was organized, to make syrup, 
sugar, and glucose from corn. 



IKA COOK 419 

Politically, Ira was a Republican. He was not a politician or 
place-seeker, yet he was frequently called to serve the people, who 
had faith in his fitness for places of public trust. 

Socially, he was a good mixer, and in the very early days, a 
popular component of social functions. In those days, the only 
amusements were such as could be improvised, dancing parties, 
receptions, picnics, sleighrides, etc. Traveling troupes had not 
then struck the trail, though I recall an instance in 1857, related 
by one who was there, of a troupe which hove into town one day 
with a show called "The Forty Thieves." The only available place 
to exhibit the larcenous aggregation was in the dining-room of the 
Collins House, which was Martin (X) Tucker's old tavern remod- 
eled, and stood where the old Burlington Passenger Depot now is, 
and what is now the "Whitechapel" District, then being the fash- 
ionable part of the town. S. A. Robertson, "Laughing" (Hy.) 
Hatch, and the eccentric Judge McFarland, a jolly trio in those 
days, decided to take in the show. Arriving at the place, the room 
was packed like sardines, there was no room for the performers, 
and not a person would vacate a foot of space. After a long wait, 
the Judge roared out, with his fog-horn voice: "Bring on your 
forty thieves. If you haven't got forty thieves, bring what you 
have got." Being impossible, the show was abandoned, and "The 
Forty Thieves" neglected to give "rain checks" or return the 
entrance money. 

As the years passed, Ira identified himself prominently with all 
civic affairs beneficial to the community. He was the originator 
of the law for the adoption of children, one of the most beneficent 
measures on the statute books. In 1857, a girl about three years 
old was given to his wife, by the child's father, under a written 
agreement that she should be reared as the child of Mrs. Cook. 
Nearly a year after, having become strongly attached to her, Ira 
got imeasy, as the claim to the child rested solely on the will of the 
father, there being no law on the subject but that respecting appren- 
ticeship. He laid his case before John A. Kasson, a member of 
the Legislature, then in session, and suggested the provision of 
proper legislation respecting the adoption of children. Mr. Kasson 
heartily acquiesced, immediately prepared a bill, which was at once 



420 PIONEEES OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

passed, and went into effect a few days after. So soon as signed 
by the Governor, Ira sent an instrument of adoption to the father, 
who returned it duly executed, to which Ira and his wife affixed 
their signatures. It was then recorded, and stands as the first 
recorded in the state under that law. 

As in this instance, so in many other ways, Ira was a benefactor 
to social life and the community as a -body. 

He died in 1902. 

November Twelfth, 1905. 




JUDGE CURTIS BATES 



JUDGE CURTIS BATES 

THE pioneers of Polk County who are still living have a vivid 
remembrance of Judge Curtis Bates, who was a prominent 
factor in civic affairs in early days. 

It was little known that he was a Yankee, born in Connecticut, 
as he always preferred being considered a Buckeye, for he went to 
Trumbull County, Ohio, when three years old. There he passed 
his youth and early manhood, and began the practice of law. Soon 
after commencing practice, he was elected State Senator, as a Dem- 
ocrat, but his opponent contested the election, when it was shown 
that he was ineligible to the office, being less than twenty-five years 
old. During the contest, however, he became eligible, was re-nomi- 
nated, and elected by nearly a unanimous vote. 

He came to Iowa City in 1841, and opened a law office. In 
1846, he represented Johnson County in the second convention to 
form a state constitution, that adopted by the first convention hav- 
ing been rejected by the people. The second was accepted by the 
people, and under it Iowa was admitted to the Union. 

While at Iowa City, he was admitted to the Polk County Bar 
in 1849, became interested in Fort Des Moines, and resolved to 
establish a newspaper here. He entered into an agreement with 
Barlow Granger to take and carry into effect the project, the Judge 
to become responsible financially therefor. The press and material 
were hauled from Iowa City on wagons, and July Twenty-fourth, 
1849, the first issue of the Iowa Star, the first newspaper in the 
town, was made. The office was in one of the log buildings vacated 
by soldiers, on Second Street, near Vine. The community was 
small, as were also the circulation and income, and on February 
Twenty-second, 1850, Barlow Granger threw up the sponge, the 
establishment passed to the Judge, who assumed control and added 
to the heading a star of large proportions. He put up more money, 
formed a partnership with Luther Johnson, a young lawyer at 

421 



422 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

Iowa City, who came here to take charge of the paper, but in May, 
he died from Smallpox. The Judge again resumed control of the 
paper, and early in 1851, removed to The Fort, and opened a law 
office. He had started a town about seven miles from Council 
Bluffs, called Traders' Point, which reached the dignity of a hotel, 
a store, and nearly two hundred population, when the Missouri got 
on a rampage and floated the town away. 

The Judge was a politician— not an office seeker — as well as a 
lawyer. The air was full of politics. The Whigs were making des- 
perate efforts to revolutionize the state, the Know-Nothing craze, 
the Kansas Free State contest, the State Capital location question, 
were before the people, and the Judge took an active part in affairs, 
but, finding his law and editorial work were too onerous, he formed 
a partnership with Doctor A. Y. Hull, who wanted to take a part in 
the general scrimmage. He took the editorial end of the business, 
but at the close of the year, in May, 1852, withdrew, declaring he 
could not live on politics, yet two months later was in the field as a 
candidate for State Senator, stumped the district of twenty-four 
counties, and in October was elected. 

Upon the Doctor's retirement, the Judge again assumed entire 
control of the paper until 1853, when he formed a law partnership 
with "Dan" Finch, then in the hey-day of life, a politician of the 
most strenuous type, a jovial fellow, a brilliant speaker, a vigorous, 
pungent writer, who became associate editor of the paper. 

Relieved of editorial work, it gave the Judge more time to solve 
abstruse questions of law. For instance, the records show the fol- 
lowing case which came before the courts during this hiatus : 

William Oakes became indebted to Reuben Davis, and was so 
delinquent in payment that when Oakes was absent at Boone for 
several days, Davis sued him before Esquire Young for debt. A 
judgment was rendered in his favor, an execution issued, a Con- 
stable seized a cow and sold her at auction to William D. Corkeram 
for sixteen dollars. The money was given to Davis, and Corkeram 
put the cow in his pasture. When Oakes returned, he was mad, 
and applied to Judge Bates for counsel. Learning that Oakes had 
but one cow, and exempt from execution, the Judge secured a writ 
of replevin, and had the cow returned to Oakes. Corkeram did not 



JUDGE CURTIS BATES 423 

want to lose what he paid for the cow. Tie brought a suit against 
Davis and Wyatt Brownlee, the latter happening accidentaly to be 
present at the sale, before Esquire McClelland, on a bill, to-wit : 

"February Twenty-first, 1853. 
"Reuben Davis and Wyatt Brownlee to William D. Cork- 
eram, Dr. 

"To cash paid for cow at Constable sale $16.00 

"To costs of suit before William McClelland, Esquire 5.00 

"To keeping of cow four weeks 4.00 

"To expense in prosecuting and defending suits 15.00 



"Total $40.00" 

Davis employed J. E. Jewett as his attorney, who made the fol- 
lowing answer to the petition of plaintiff : 

"For answer to the charge in said plaintiff's account or petition 
first specified, defendant says: That the defendant never was a 
Constable nor a Deputy, nor did he ever officiate as one, nor did he 
ever, directly or indirectly, sell, bargain, or contract to sell, bargain 
or convey to said plaintiff any cow, bull, calf, steer or any other 
animal of that species, either as Constable, Sheriff, or Deputy Sher- 
iff, or in the character of any other officer, either judicial, minis- 
terial, or executive, or as a private person, for himself or anybody 
else, either as principal or agent. 

"And though said cow might have been sold, 
And paid for in American gold; 
Yet this defendant never did, 
Either sell or take another's bid. 

"And as to the second charge in said plaintiff's account or peti- 
tion, specified, this defendant for answer says : That he never was 
chosen either as plaintiff or defendant, in any suit at law or equity, 
which was tried before said Justice of the Peace, and if he ever 
was a party, it was a bald-faced meanness and transparent folly 
not to inform him of it. 

"And that a suit could e'er be tried, 
And the parties never notified, 
Is clearly wrong — and this Court sees 
That we are not liable for the fees. 



424 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

"And as to the third charge in plaintiff's account or petition, 
specified, this defendant for answer says : That he never employed 
said plaintiff to keep a cow for him ; that he paid him for all the 
keeping of cows he ever did for this defendant; and, lastly, that 
this defendant never had any cow that plaintiff could have kept. 

"And why this defendant should be dunned 
For keeping of cows he never owned, 
Or which he never agreed to pay, 
Is all submitted for the Court to say. 

"And as to the fourth and last charge in plaintiff's account, or 

petition, specified, this defendant for answer says: That he never 

employed said plaintiff to either defend or prosecute a suit for this 

defendant ; the last time he did employ him, he managed it so badly 

that he was not entitled to any fees, and that this defendant has 
paid him all his services were worth. 

"And to charge this party with that load 
Is not according to the Code ; 
And the only way, we think, to end it, 
Is to render judgment for defendant." 
Judge Bates made answer to the petition for Brownlee, to-wit : 
"Des Moines Township., Polk County, Iowa, 

"February Twenty-sixth, 1853. 
"Now, as you see, 
Conies the defendant, Brownlee, 
And on his own hook defends — 
Because he seriously contends 
That he is not indebted, 
As by said Corkeram stated. 
Persons having adverse interests to plaintiff 
May, as defendants, be joined, says the Code; 
And to join those having unity of interest is the true mode. 

"But Brownlee doth most seriously declare 
That he never joined with Davis in any affair ; 
And why he is joined in the suit now pending, 
Is far beyond his comprehending. 
Plaintiff's bill charges the defendant sixteen dollars, 



JUDGE CURTIS BATES 425 

As cash paid by him for a cow 

Which (as we gather from what follows), 

He bought at a Constable's Sale, somehow — 

When she was offered as the property of the poor man, Oakes, 

And, being his only cow, the sale turned out a hoax. 

"That Corkeram in good faith to the Constable 

His money paid isn't denied ; 

Nor that the money was to the payment 

Of Davis' judgment applied. 

But what of that ? This defendant was but a witness — 

No party to the suit — 

Though he fed, for a short time, 

The old dumb brute. 

But neither this, 

Nor the receipt of his fees, 

Could make him jointly liable 

With Davis — if the Court please. 

Nor is he liable to Corkeram 

In any event ; 

He therefore prays for costs 

And for judgment." 
After hearing the evidence and arguments of the lawyers, the 
Court decided for the defendant in both cases, by which Oakes kept 
his cow, Davis kept the money he received for the sale of her by 
the Constable ; Corkeram lost the sixteen dollars he gave the Con- 
stable for the cow, his four weeks' cow pasturing, and his twenty 
dollars expenses for law suits. He was ever after puzzled to know 
how he could be compelled to pay that Oakes debt, pasture his cow 
four weeks, and have nothing to show for it. It was a "law p'int," 
as Ben. Bryant, an early, eccentric Justice of the Peace, used to 
put it, he could not unravel. It is needless to say he lost faith in 
Jewett and Bates, who frequently shook their sides over the affair. 
In 1854, Bates was nominated by the Democratic State Conven- 
tion for Governor, in opposition to Grimes, of Burlington. The 
favor was celebrated by a big jollification at the Stutesman Tavern, 
corner of First and Walnut, afterward the Demoine House, where 



426 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 



Judge Casady, "Old Bill" McHenry, "Dan" Finch, and a host of 
others orated and made merry over the marked compliment given 
the "distinguished citizen of The Fort." 

The campaign was a vigorous one. Strong opposition to the 
Judge arose in several localities where effort was being made to 
secure the removal of the Capital from Des Moines, on the ground 
that if elected he would use his influence in favor of Des Moines, 
and also between the East and West Side respecting the location of 
the State House. It entered into politics, business, and even social 
relations. The Judge being a West Side resident, naturally received 
the support of that faction. The result of the election in the county 
was a tie, but, unexpectedly to the Democrats, the state gave Grimes 
a majority of two thousand five hundred in a vote of about forty- 
five thousand. 

The friends of the Judge attributed his defeat largely to the 
intense excitement among the River Land Settlers, caused by the 
River Improvement Company charging them five dollars an acre 
for the odd-numbered sections of land, while the even-numbered 
sections were sold by the Government for a dollar and a quarter, 
and no more. It was deemed an outrage, and more especially so as 
the river improvement did not extend above Des Moines, and was 
no benefit to them. 

In 1855, Bates, who was a Judge before he came to Des Moines, 
was a candidate before the Democratic Convention for Judge of the 
District Court, against McFarland, who served out the vacancy 
occasioned by the resignation of Judge Casady. At the convention, 
a fellow turned up who claimed to represent King County, up 
where Sac County now is, which existed only in expectation. As 
the contest was very close, and every vote counted, he was seated, 
voted for McFarland, giving him one majority, and he was declared 
the nominee. 

In 1855, the Judge, having tired of holding the bag to feed and 
sustain the impecunious Star, disposed of it, and in 1861, his 
health failing, retired from law practice and devoted his time to 
the care of his large property holdings. 

In 1860, he purchased a tract of land lying south of Clark Street 
to Oakland Avenue, between Arlington Avenue and Fourth Street. 



JUDGE CURTIS BATES 427 

It remained unplatted and unsold during his lifetime, but the pub- 
lic, by common accord, used the northern portion, along the bluff 
overlooking the river valley, as a park, and it was known as Bates 
Park, the Judge interposing no objection. In 1883, his widow 
platted the entire tract, on which she designated a space 275x145 
feet as a public park, in accordance with the evident intent of the 
Judge, and conveyed the title to the Board of Park Commissioners. 
In commemoration of her husband, she named it Bates Park. 

In 1875, the Judge was elected Alderman from the Second 
Ward, and served one term. 

Socially, the Judge was eminent for his virtues, integrity in 
business affairs, fidelity in friendship, purity of life, and loyalty 
to the home of his adoption. Whatever was to the betterment of 
civic life received his hearty support. 

Eeligiously, he was not the member of any denominational 
church, yet he was a regular attendant at the services of Father 
Bird so long as that good man was able to preach, and subsequently 
attended the Presbyterian Church. His creed was the Fatherhood 
of God, and the Brotherhood of Man. 

He died in May, 1879. 

November Nineteenth, 1905. 




COLONEL E. F. HOOKER 



COLONEL E. F. M. HOOKER 

KNOWN from the Atlantic to the Pacific, along the great west- 
ern trail of civilization, was Colonel — everybody called him 
"Colonel" — Edward Foster Mills Hooker, descendant of an 
English family, entitled by Royal decree to wear the heraldic arms 
of Thomas Hart Hooker, founder of the city of Hartford, Con- 
necticut, and cousin of the famous fighting General, Joe Hooker. 
He was a conspicuous figure wherever he was, and for nearly thirty 
years his time-silvered head, sheltered under a white, soft wool, 
broad-brimmed hat, was familiar to everybody in Des Moines. He 
wore such a hat every day in the year, and all his life, which, with 
his heavy white beard, gave him that venerable bearing which won 
him his military title. 

In 1840, he began freighting by team, but a few years later 
became connected with the Ohio Stage Company, which operated 
lines on the national roads to Wheeling, in advance of the iron 
horse. In 1850, he became General Agent of the company, and 
moved westward to Columbus, Indianapolis, Chicago, Davenport, 
in advance of the railroad. 

The pioneers of Iowa and Polk County parted company with 
the railroad at Chicago, and slowly plodded their way in "prairie 
schooners," or floated on some river boat to Keokuk, and thence, by 
wagon, to "Raccoon Forks." The tide of immigration increased 
so rapidly that in 1849, Fink & Walker established a line of stages 
from Keokuk to the "Forks." Three trips a week were to be made, 
with elegant coaches, but long before, the heavy wagons of team- 
sters had cut deep ruts in the soft prairie soil, sloughs and creeks 
were not bridged, so that, in the wet season, passengers were con- 
tent with riding in a "jerkey," walking half the distance, and car- 
rying a rail to pry the vehicle out of the mud, and getting through 
in four days. Skunk River bottoms was a holy terror to drivers 
and passengers as well. 

429 



430 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

"How far to Fort Des Moines?" asked a passenger of the driver 
one day at "Uncle Tommy" Mitchell's tavern, in 1854. 

"Sixteen miles." 

"How long will it take to get there?" 

"We can make it in six hours, I reckon, if the horses hold out, 
and the bottom don't fall out." 

The regular fare was ten dollars fo*r each person, and five dol- 
lars for each trunk. 

In 1855, the Western Stage Company purchased the Fink & 
Walker line, and July First, the first coach of the company arrived 
in Des Moines, the Colonel coming with it as General Manager of 
all its lines west of the Mississippi. The only available residence 
for him was a small frame near the corner of Walnut on Third 
Street, and there was his office. Subsequently, he built a fine brick 
residence on Locust Street, on the block now occupied by the Savery 
House. The headquarters of the company was at the Everett House, 
on the east side of the street, where the temporary Court House 
now is, and next to the Colonel's office. The rear part of the hotel 
was one of the soldiers' log barrack buildings, to which William F. 
Marvin and Benjamin Luse built an addition, named it the Marvin 
House, sold it, in 1853, to J. C. Savery, who re-named it. It was 
a lively place, always crowded, two in a bed, the overflow taking 
chairs. The town was small, the entire population of it could have 
been seated on the lot where The Register and Leader office is. The 
coming of the stages was a portentious and notable event in the 
embryo metropolis of the state. On arrival, the small boys, and 
some larger ones, turned out to greet them, the horses covered with 
mud in Spring time, foam and lather in Summer, and frost in 
Winter. I think Simon Casady, the Sherman boys, By. Keffer, 
and Harry West have not forgotten those days. 

The company was a wealthy one, and at once plans were made 
for the business of the Division Headquarters. A large farm was 
purchased to provide hay and grain and grazing for the horses, 
an immense barn and shops were built on Eighth Street, below 
Vine. There were five departments: Wood Work on Coaches; 
Iron Work; Painting and Trimming; Horseshoeing; Harness 
Making. Each department was controlled by an expert superin- 
tendent. Routes were at once opened in various directions, one 



COLONEL E. F. M. HOOKER 431 

from Davenport to Council Bluffs ; Lyons to Cedar Rapids, Iowa 
City, Davenport, and Dubuque ; Keokuk to Keosauqua ; Oskaloosa 
to Council Bluffs via Indianola, Winterset, and Lewis ; Des Moines 
to Fort Dodge via Boonesboro. Starting out with weekly trips, 
they were increased to semi-weekly, tri-weekly, and daily, as the 
country settled up and the demand increased. Its business was 
immense. During one year, its receipts between Des Moines and 
Boonesboro were one hundred thousand dollars. 

Thousands of men and horses were required, and a system of 
management devised demanding the highest degree of executive 
capacity, but the Colonel proved equal to the necessity. 

The location of the Division Terminal at Des Moines, with its 
business, its traffic, and acquisition of employes and their families, 
gave the town a new life and impetus, for from every direction of 
its routes, the potential influence was towards its headquarters., 

During the War period, the stages were of great benefit in the 
transportation of troops. The Thirty-third and Thirty-ninth Iowa 
regiments were taken to Davenport, with all their equipments, in 
two days each. Parts of the Second, Sixth, Tenth, and Fifteenth 
were also taken to their place of rendezvous. On all such occasions, 
the Colonel directed the movements in person. 

Gradually, its routes were made over Kansas, Nebraska, Mis- 
souri, and west to Denver. 

In 1868-9, the iron horse had again overtaken the Colonel, and 
in 1870, the company sold out to the Ben. Halliday Overland Stage 
Company. Its vast property was disposed of, and July First, 1874, 
the last coach was shipped to Omaha, A. T. Johnson, who had been 
the local agent from 1858, riding on the box from the barn to the 
depot. 

The Colonel then went to California, and became manager of 
the California-Oregon Stage Company, or the Shasta Line, as it 
was called, from Sacramento to San Francisco and Portland, which 
position he held five years, when, the iron horse having reached the 
Pacific Shore, and could push him no farther, he quit, and was 
soon after appointed General Agent of the Chicago, Rock Island 
and Pacific Railroad at San Francisco, where he remained about 
four years, when he was appointed General Live Stock Agent of 



432 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

the road, and stationed for a time at Salt Lake City, then eastward 
at other points, until he reached Omaha, and for thirty-one years 
he was on the payroll of the Rock Island, his services ending with 
his decease. He was known by every live-stock man from Omaha 
to San Francisco. 

In business affairs, he was exact, methodical, the soul of honor, 
expected of employes faithful service,- yet to them he was exceed- 
ingly kind. If sick or in trouble, he was their helper and best 
friend. They knew it, and so it was they served him until the 
last wheel was turned, or they rested in death. He never expected 
them to do what he would not do himself, if occasion required, and 
there were times in the experience of drivers which tested pluck 
and fortitude. I could name scores of drivers who were loaded 
with incidents interesting and often thrilling. 

As an instance of his readiness to do things, "Pap" Clark, who 
began driving for him in Ohio, and came with him to Des Moines, 
and died a few years ago on South Sixth Street, a very old man, 
once related an incident in 1850, ten miles east of Massillon. Two 
coaches had stopped for supper and to change horses. There was 
a terrific storm of rain, thunder and lightning raging. It was 
dark as pitch. The corduroy road was in horrible condition, broken 
and full of deep, dangerous holes. The coaches were to go east. 
Old "Pap" was to take the first coach out. The driver marked up 
for the second refused to go. "Pap" urged him hard, but he refused 
to budge. The Colonel, who happened to be present, as he usually 
was at such times, overheard the refusal, and said to "Pap" : 

"Have the team brought up. I will drive it. I used to drive 
team once, and I think I can do it again. If I can't manage it 
with the reins, I will use the jerk line." The old teamsters used 
to train their teams of four and six horses to be guided by the 
"near" leader, to which was attached a long single rein, and to 
which it. had been trained to respond by "jerks." 

The team was brought out, and, after requesting "Pap," who 
knew every foot of the road, to shout to him the dangerous places 
as they approached them, for they could scarcely see the horses, 
and chaining the coach body to the axles to prevent being thrown 
over, the Colonel mounted the box and the run was made safely. 



COLONEL E. F. M. HOOKER 433 

"To make such a trip," said "Pap," "over such a road, with a 
strange team, required lots of pluck." 

It was the custom of the Colonel to ride over the various lines 
on the box with the driver, and watch the horses. If he found one 
that did not match its mate in work or gait, he would simply say, 
as he left the box, "I will send you a good mate horse for that 'off 
leader,' " or as the case might be, on such a day ; when the day 
came, the horse was there. That pleased the drivers, for they 
detested a "shirk." 

The first question the Colonel put when application was made 
for a job was, "Is he honest; is he capable?" Not often, but some- 
times, his confidence was misplaced. One day, at a station out in 
the mountains, while he was strolling about, he overheard a driver 
saying to another, as the coins clinked, "There's one dollar for the 
company ; there's one dollar for me." He counted an equal division 
of six dollars, and one over, which was "for me." He concluded 
to find what was turned in as fares. It was three dollars. He 
thought the company was entitled to a little more than half the 
receipts, and the driver lost his job. 

The most famous of the Colonel's drivers was "Hank" Monk, 
immortalized by Mark Twain. He was the most expert, fearless 
driver that ever drew a rein in the Overland Service. In that 
mountainous country, mules — the Mexican variety — with most 
vicious heels, were used. A man had to stand at the head of each 
and hold him fast, while the driver gloved and got ready. When 
he grasped the reins and gave the word, the six men suddenly 
sprang aside, the coach quickly shot out of sight, and the pace was 
kept up for the ten-mile run. 

Stories galore were told of "Hank," one of which was that when 
Horace Greeley was lecturing through that country, he was billed 
for Placerville on a certain evening. Arriving at Carson City, he 
was behind time. When he boarded the coach, he said to "Hank," 
who was on the box, that he had an engagement at Placerville and 
wanted to get there quick. "Hank" gave his whip a crack and 
started at a terrific pace. The coach bounded in every direction, 
pitching Greeley all over it, until he began to get sore, when he 
asked "Hank" if he could not go a little easier. "You keep your 

Vol. I— (28). 



434 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

seat, Horace, and I'll get you there by seven o'clock," said "Hank," 
and he did, pounded almost to jelly. The incident prompted the 
gift to "Hank," by friends, of a fine gold watch, suitably inscribed, 
and chain. The watch and identical coach were exhibited at the 
Saint Louis World's Fair. 

The Colonel was proud of his drivers, and they were loyal to 
him, for he took great interest in their welfare. A passenger once 
stopped for dinner at Wood River Station, in Colorado. The eat- 
ing-house was kept by "Aunt Lamb." He heard the driver ask 
her : "Where is the Colonel ? He has not been along here for 
three months." "I would be more glad to see Ben. Halliday, for 
what the Colonel owes me, I know I will get," was the reply. 

Nearly all of the old drivers have gone to their rest. I recall a 
few yet living : John Whissen, William E. Ray, the veterinary sur- 
geon, John R. Burgess, of Des Moines; J. M. Diefenbecker, of 
Ames ; "Billy" Warren, of Stuart ; Fred. Willard and Bent Mor- 
row, of Atlantic, and Charley Coon, of Newton, and White Kimes, 
of Lynnville. 

Coon began driving in 1853, in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, 
and for eleven years drew the reins all over California, Colorado, 
and Nevada. He drove into Placerville when "Hank" Monk drove 
in there, but on another line. I met him one day last week, and he 
related some of his experiences. "I remember one night in 1854, 
when going over the mountain, I was suddenly called to halt, kick 
out the mail sack, and throw up my hands," said he, "but I gave 
the team a word they understood, and they went off like a shot, and 
I got away. That was the only time I was held up. 

"Over the ranges, the roads were fearful, steep, with short, 
reverse curves like the letter S, with the reverse so sharp the leaders 
could see the coach. We had to chain the coach down to the for- 
ward axle to keep it from going over. I had to strap myself down 
to the seat. 

"In 1861, I came East and began driving for Colonel Hooker. 
My first run was from the end of the railroad, four miles east of 
Brooklyn, to Newton, with the fast mail. The travel was immense, 
sometimes five and six coaches were necessary to take all the pas- 
sengers. It was very nice in Summer, but in Spring and Winter 
there was trouble — lots of it. 



COLONEL E. F. M. HOOKER 435 

"One Winter night, I left Grinnell at eight o'clock. The snow 
had been falling all day, and was over a foot deep. I had gone but 
a few miles when I lost the trail. I drove around for several hours, 
then took rny own tracks and followed them back until I got on 
some high ground where I could see some distance, and, selecting a 
certain star which I knew was in the direction of Newton, I fol- 
lowed it until I got to Rock Creek ; then I knew where I was. I 
got into Newton at nine o'clock the next morning, the team was 
fagged, and the passengers clamoring for breakfast. 

"After a time, my run was changed to go west from Newton, 
and one Spring, Skunk River got on a rampage, as usual, and 
flooded the whole bottoms. The driver who had preceded me had 
attempted to go through, but got into deep water, lost the mails, 
and nearly drowned the passengers, but he finally got out, and left 
the coach and horses on the other side. I was sent after them. I 
went a long distance to the south around the flood, got the horses, 
and swam them back through the flood. 

"One Winter night, with the mercury at the bottom of the ther- 
mometer, and the wind cutting like a knife — I had put on double 
extra thick clothing — on reaching a tavern four miles west of New- 
ton, I was nearly frozen. I pulled up and told the passengers that 
I would turn out there unless I got something to keep the wind out. 
"Billy" Quick, who was inside, threw out a big robe, and I went 
on. Arriving at Kendall Station, we met the coaches going east, 
and drivers being short, after thawing out for thirty minutes, I had 
to drive back to Grinnell. 

"One great source of danger we had was cattle lying in the road 
in the Summer, frightening the horses and endangering the pas- 
sengers. One driver declared he would run over them if they got 
in his way. Soon after, at Rising Sun, one night, a cow was lying 
in the middle of the road. He told the horses to go ; they spread 
out, went around the cow on both sides, and when the forward axle 
reached her, she humped herself and tipped over the coach." 

Referring to the Colonel, he said : "The Colonel was a father 
to all the drivers. If we got into trouble with the Road Agent, as 
we sometimes did, he being our boss, all we had to do was to go to 
Colonel Hooker, and it was quickly settled. When he left, and the 



436 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

company sold out to Halliday, "Billy" Quick took several of us old 
drivers, to serve the United States Express Company as messengers 
and agents." 

Coon drove seventeen years without an accident or injury to a 
passenger. He is now seventy-nine years old. 

The Colonel was a man of the people, and for the people. He 
was not versed in book lore, but he possessed an extensive knowl- 
edge of men and things, of which books are made, and he was one 
of those who are the builders of civic communities. He was loyal 
to Des Moines, the home of his adoption, and helped to build it. 

Socially, he was frank, companionable, and universally popular. 
His business life brought him in contact with all classes of people, 
and whether at some notable social function in Washington, or 
seated beside a driver on the box of a coach, he was equally cordial 
and courteous. In that respect, he was thoroughly cosmopolitan. 
He had a keen sense of humor, and thoroughly enjoyed the ludi- 
crous. He was kind, liberal in the bestowment of favors to the 
needy and worthy. It was his frankness, high sense of humor, 
unaffectedness, sincerity, and cheerfulness that won the friendship 
of all who knew him. Buoyant and light-hearted, he was always 
young, never grew old, never would give his age. To ask it, dis- 
pleased him. 

His home was an ideal one, always open to friends, who were 
scattered from ocean to ocean. He was a royal entertainer, and his 
dinners and receptions were notable functions. He enjoyed, heart- 
ily, the society of young people and little ones, of whom he had an 
attractive brood of his own. For woman, he had the most profound 
respect and regard. Motherhood, to him, was her crowning glory. 
In business relations, he was ever watchful for her care and com- 
fort. He was a member of high degree in the Masonic fraternity. 

Religiously, he was bound by no denominational creed, though 
he regularly attended the Episcopal service. He believed that per- 
sonal character should be measured by action instead of profession. 
His high sense of morality made him an exemplary citizen. 

Politically, he was like most of the pioneers, a Democrat, but 
when the Civil War came, he affiliated with the Republican party, 
but took no part in politics. Very few knew his political faith. 



COLONEL E. F. M. HOOKER 437 

He died in 1896, aged eighty-three. His funeral was attended 
by a large concourse, among whom were many notable persons from 
abroad. The cortege to the cemetery was headed with one of his 
old coaches, bearing the pall-bearers, with two old drivers, John 
R. Burgess and Fred. Kromer, on the box. 

December Thirty-first, 1905. 




CYRUS A. MOSIER 



CYRUS MOSIER 

A CONSPICUOUS person among the early settlers was 
Cyrus A. Mosier, or Cy., as he was better known among 
them. He came here when eleven years old, with his father, 
early in 1848, who, in November of that year, entered several 
tracts of Government land in the northwestern part of the present 
city. One tract was on the north side of what is now University 
Avenue, between Thirtieth and Thirty-fifth streets, on which he 
built a log cabin, about ten rods north of the avenue and west of 
Thirty-first street. There he planted the first apple and peach 
orchard in Polk County, and in 1856 and 1857, raised an immense 
crop of peaches, "the most luscious and beautiful I ever saw," said 
an old-timer to me a few days ago. The Winter of 1857 killed all 
the peach trees, since when peach growing has been abandoned in 
Polk County. 

Cyrus was a farm boy, with all that the term signifies, but he 
very early manifested a desire to get an education. Schools were 
scarce. There was a log schoolhouse more than a mile north of his 
home, through the timber and brush, at what was known as "Hick- 
man's Corner," and there he received his first lessons respecting 
the three "R's" seated on the soft side of slab benches. He soon 
graduated therefrom, and attended a private school taught by Elder 
Nash for a short time, in 1853, and a select school in 1855, for a 
short time taught by John H. Gray, who was, in 1858, elected 
Judge of the District Court. 

His school opportunities were of short duration, for he had not 
the means to defray the expenses. When not in school, his leisure 
hours were given to study and fitting himself for teaching — then 
his highest ambition. 

He did not like farming It was too isolated. He was not built 
that way, and he would break away. Sometimes he would go hunt- 
ing and trapping up the river, or driving logs down the river to the 

439 



440 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

mill. He once told me lie had walked on logs from the dam to 
Thompson's Bend. He was of extremely nervous, sanguine tem- 
perament, and always busy. Father Bird, the first preacher here, 
had purchased the land from Locust Street north to Center Street, 
between Third and Fourth streets, and wanted to cultivate it. Cyrus 
drove an ox team to break it. Corn, potatoes, and hay were grown 
on it as late as 1864. 

While he was preparing himself for teaching, he took up a sys- 
tem of stenography, or shorthand writing, then but very little 
known in the West. Without instruction, by perseverance and toil, 
many nights in the light of a "tallow dip," he mastered the sym- 
bolical pot-hooks, angles and curves, and so perfected his skill that 
he was able to do reporting. It was the custom in those days, there 
being no railroads, for the lawyers here to hire some person to take 
them around the circuit to the different places where court was to 
be held — the district covered nearly all the northwestern part of the 
state — and they frequently hired Cyrus to go with them and report 
the proceedings in their cases, for which he was paid five and ten 
dollars per day. It was a purely private clerical arrangement. He 
was thus employed at intervals for several years, and he became so 
proficient and reliable that, in 1862, he was appointed by Judge 
Gray as official reporter for his court. It was the first of the kind 
in the state, and he held the office for more than a score of years. 
I have no doubt he was the first resident of Iowa to practice report- 
ing by stenography. 

In September, 1854, he organized the first brass band. The 
town had become enthused with "Manifest Destiny," visions of the 
Seat of Government coming this way filled the air. Political 
enthusiasm also ran high, and a brass band was deemed necessary 
to give eclat to the times and occasions. It consisted of eleven 
members. Being in a reminiscent mood one day, he unburdened 
his memory of the aggregation, and its lost chords, thusly : 

"Business had crept from the 'Point' along the cabin rows on 
First and Second streets, as far as Vine, and the population of the 
town had risen to the enormous figure of seven hundred, counting 
men, women, boys, girls, all told, suburban and close-in folks living 
out at Beaver, our friend Wash. Hickman, on his farm three miles 



CYRUS MOSIER 441 

out, included. In 1854, remember the date, it was whispered about 
during the Grimes-Bates campaign for Governor, that we ought to 
have a brass band at The Forks when we had speeches by the can- 
didates and others. Furthermore, we had begun to hope for the 
Capital ; it was in the atmosphere that came across the two hundred 
miles of unsettled prairie to the northwest, and in the smoke that 
settled in the valleys in the blue October days. The old frames of 
wickiups scattered up and down North River and 'Coon, as well as 
far up the Des Moines, even into Minnesota, seemed to shout: 
'The Capital is coming to The Fort,' and settlers were asking as 
high as five dollars per acre for their farms, whereon stood sod 
corn, shone the turnip patches, and rattled the buckwheat when the 
southwest winds of Autumn came sweeping through the tangled 
straw ! Ten acres in corn, worth two-bits a bushel. Yes, we must 
put on city airs or never amount to anything ; we must fill the skies 
with better wind, more musical than that which fanned the flames 
of the prairie grass and yearly devastated the timber lands, licked 
up the rail fences, as well as some pole cabins, the homes of pio- 
neers. 'Time we had a band,' shouted the noted lawyers of those 
days, and the justices said, 'If the court understands herself, and 
she thinks she do, we will never 'mount to anything till we have a 
band — that's the p'int !' The wide-awake merchants — 'Billy' 
Moore, B. F. Allen, J. M. and H. H. Griffiths, the Campbell broth- 
ers, and Pete. Myers, Jesse Dix, the stove and tinware man ; 'Hod' 
Bush, the baker ; all the doctors, especially Doctor Henry C. Grim- 
mel, father of Doctor George Grimmel, now at Jefferson ; the old 
Doctor Frank Grimmel, with his bulldog pills, and even Doctor J. 
C. Bennett, who once led the Mormon militia, for he loved fuss and 
feathers; Alex. Scott, big-hearted, generous to a fault, were in the 
thickest of the blow. As soon as the ten who were to take the 
instruments and master them had paid in ten dollars each, the 
town, as a Committee of the Whole, went to work and raised 
another fifty dollars, making the magnificent sum total of one hun- 
dred and fifty dollars. One dollar, in those days, was bigger than 
one hundred dollars these times. The amount raised was looked 
upon as a princely sum. The instruments were bought at Daven- 
port ; part were secondhand. 



442 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

"When Ed. Clapp drove his express into town, at sunset, one 
beautiful September day, in 1854, freighted with bacon and United 
States mail, some three or four weeks old — judging from the skip- 
pers, the bacon was the oldest — he brought a box of horns, brass 
horns, mind you, some few copper, not many, else the horns might 
not all have arrived, though Ed. was always, as to-day 'safe and 
sound' on the horn question, and strictly reliable. But those old 
wagons often caused the breakage of cooperage, especially while 
standing in the tall grass on the eastern side of Skunk, waiting for 
the water and mud to go down. The news of the arrival of the box 
soon spread; the members of the band-to-be quickly gathered and 
opened the box, and, after some discussion as to the fitness of 
things, an assignment of the instruments was made, as follows : 

"William Boyd, E flat bugle, leading instrument. 

"Doctor Henry C. Grimmel, low E flat trumpet, similar to 
cornet. 

"Thomas Boyd, ophecleide, heavy bass instrument. 

"L. D. Karns, trombone. 

"James Hall, trombone. 

"Cyrus A. Mosier, B flat bugle. 

"Alonzo F. Dix, B flat bugle. 

"Horace M. Bush, French horn. 

"Wiliam Deford, French horn. 

"John B. Boyd, bass drum. 

"George Sneer, snare drum. 

"Our first trombone, Karns, the tailor, he who made 'Billy' 
Moore's fine broadcloth wedding suit, took the heavy task of teach- 
ing us to read notes and play the simplest scale. He had been a 
member of a band, and could play the trombone to perfection. Our 
first meetings were held in Doctor F. C. Grimmel's office, on the 
Commons, where the Catholic School now is. The old rail fence 
had been removed from the field where Doctor George Grimmel, as 
a boy, plowed corn barefooted. The office fronted on what is now 
Grand Avenue. It was so small there was not breathing room for 
us, and the chaos of sound soon deadened our senses, and we had to 
find another place. We went to the old first Court House, but there 
were so many demands for it — it was used as a place of worship 



CYRUS MOSIER 443 

by all the churches except the Methodist and First Prebysterian, 
and for public gatherings and the court — that we were soon forced 
out. We then interceded with the Trustees of the Fifth Street 
Methodist Church, to permit us to meet in their little frame meet- 
ing-house, where the Iowa Loan and Trust Company Building now 
is. As we had no big fiddles, nor wicked little dance fiddles, and 
'Bill' Deford was somewhat of an exhorter, 'Hod' Bush, and, I 
think, two or three others, were Methodist — in fact, we all leaned 
that way, for a majority of the pretty girls in town attended that 
church — we readily got the consent. 

"The house was open, and as cold as a barn. It had once been 
tipped over by a cyclone, but straightened up and propped by poles. 
A small Franklin wood stove was all the means for heating. We 
arranged the old-fashioned, high-backed wood benches around the 
stove as support for our music and the sconces, in which were placed 
the 'tallow dips,' which we snuffed with our fingers. The teacher — 
we had secured Professor Hess, of Saint Louis, a master of all 
brass instruments — who beat time with the wooden stove poker, 
and scolded us in several languages beside Dutch when our breaks 
were so bad as to excite his disgust. But we pounded away there 
until we were able to appear in public." 

The band was a notable acquisition to social affairs in the town, 
with its aid in celebrations and the many schemes for raising funds 
for different societies, but after a few months it collapsed, as one 
of the members once said, "for want of wind." Of the eleven 
members, not one is now living, Cyrus being the last survivor. 

In 1856, Cyrus began teaching Winter school in the rural dis- 
tricts, and so continued until he began court reporting, in 1858. 
He was a prodigious reader and always a zealous student. He 
early began to investigate the subject of Indian mounds, so many 
of which existed in the Des Moines Valley, and that of the Missis- 
sippi. There were fifteen of them on the plateau abutting the two 
rivers here, one near the corner of Fourth and Walnut, on which 
"Billy" Moore built his dwelling-house; another where the Court 
House now stands (the Sacs and Foxes had a war dance there in 
1854) ; another at the corner of Fourth and Court Avenue, oppo- 
site The Register and Leader building. The others were scattered 



444 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

in various localities. His research, investigation, and travel con- 
vinced him beyond a doubt that the Mississippi Valley was once a 
populous empire, millions of whose subjects repose in mound sepul- 
tures scattered over our valleys and prairies ; that we to-day tread 
on the ruins of a civilization older than that of the Aztecs, of a 
people divided into stationary communities, who, centuries in the 
past, possessed the arts of semi-civilized life, who worshipped the 
elements, whose form of government subordinated the masses to 
hereditary power, as revealed in marks they have left. To what 
race they belonged has not been revealed, but, reading from archae- 
ological investigations made, the conclusion is that, after centuries 
of warfare, they were driven southward into Mexico by the ances- 
tors of the Indians. 

In 1867, Cyrus was elected County Superintendent of Schools, 
but resigned during the second year of his term because the duties 
of the office interfered with his court reporting. 

In 1889, he was appointed by President Harrison a special 
agent of the General Land Office of the Interior Department at 
Washing-ton. In 1893, he was removed by President Cleveland, to 
make room for a Democrat, but in 1897, was reinstated by Presi- 
dent McKinley, and held the office three years, when he resigned 
because of failing health. The duties of the office were of respon- 
sibility and trust, requiring the supervision of Government land 
in Washington and other territories, to prevent the sequestration 
of timber by the lumber hog, or minerals, and other encroachments 
upon the public domain. The conditions of living were such his 
health became seriously impaired. While in this service, he made 
a large and valuable collection of curios. 

He was an active member of the Old Settlers' Association, and 
always added zest to its gatherings by his presence and reminiscent 
lore. 

Socially, he was genial, a good mixer, a rapid-fire talker, and 
took part in whatever was doing for the enjoyment and pleasure of 
the community. He was a charter member of Emanuel Consistory, 
Number Two, A. A. S. R., of the Masonic Order, organized in 
1867. The last few years of his life were embittered by physical 
disability. 

January Seventh, 1906. 



SAMUEL N. DYER 

LATE one day in the last week of October, 1851, Samuel N. 
Dyer sailed into Raccoon Forks in a prairie schooner, with 
his family, and tied up for the night at the Marvin House, on 
Third Street. The next morning, he went house hunting, and 
found a small vacant dwelling on Walnut street, where Vorse's 
implement warehouse stood for many years afterward, but it was 
so uninhabitable, he soon after moved to one of the double log bar- 
rack cabins in First Street, near Walnut. Conrad Stutsman, a 
radical East Sider, had built a tavern at the corner, which he 
named "Pennsylvania House." 

In 1855, Colonel S. F. Spofford and J. C. Warner purchased 
the corner, enlarged and completed the tavern, the south end join- 
ing Dyer's cabin — or Sam., as he was better known by everybody — 
in fact, there was no caste among the pioneer settlers. They knew 
each other well, and it was Jeff. Polk, Lamp. Sherman, Ed. Clapp, 
Hub. Hoxie, Pete. Myers, "Billy" Moore, "Jim" Savery, "Dan" 
Finch, Frank Allen, "Sammy" Gray, "Tom" Mitchell, "Jimmy" 
Jordan, "Bill" McHenry, Father Bird, Elder Nash, with several 
Kentucky and Virginia Captains and Colonels. It was simply an 
impulsive expression of a fraternal good fellowship. Among the 
"Colonels" was Barlow Granger. The venerable Judge George G. 
Wright, a man, as we all know, of truth, veracity, and the utmost 
circumspection, once related to a lot of old-timers how Barlow got 
his title : 

"Captain Allen, the commander of the troops at The Fort, 
before departing, was given orders to send in the name of some 
suitable person, to be commissioned Colonel and Commander of 
the Home Defenses, for safety when the United States troops were 
withdrawn, for the Indians were still here. The Captain had so 
many good friends, and all good men, that he determined to make 
the selection in a very impartial manner. So he sent out word 

445 



446 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

one day (without mentioning the direct purpose) to Alex. Scott, 
Doctor Brooks, Isaac Griffith, P. M. Casady, Will. Porter, Barlow 
Granger, M. M. Crocker, W. W. Moore, James A. Williamson, 
Harry and J. M. Griffith, to meet him at ' 'Coon Point quarters 
this evening.' All were there. Sentinel at the door. The Captain 
said : 'Friends, I have a great honor to bestow, ordered and com- 
missioned by the Government so to do, and in justice to you and 
myself, I must do so impartially. So now, gentlemen, I must put 
you to a test' [then Isaac Griffith gave one of his soft whispers, so 
as not to disturb the sentinel outside, and Barlow ran his hands 
into his pockets, and "Billy" Moore winked], but the Captain, not 
at all disturbed, said, 'Here is the test [lifting an army blanket 
from a large, good, sod-grown pumpkin, that rested on a puncheon 
bench] ; he who can bite the farthest into the pumpkin will be made 
a Colonel and Commander of the Home Defenses.' Each man, in 
about the order named, struggled and did his best, the Captain 
resetting the peg as each one distanced the other, but none over- 
reached Barlow, and he got to be Colonel." 

Sam. had to vacate the cabin. It was weather-boarded, a new 
roof put on, and fitted up for a barroom. For many years, it was 
the trysting place of legislators, lobbyists, and politicians of that 
day. The political schemes concocted therein would fill a book, 
while the "corn juice" imbibed to wash them down would be sur- 
prising. "Whiskey straight" was the popular thirst quencher in 
those days, but the quality was evidently better than most of the 
stuff sold at the present time. The cabin remained a part of the 
"Demoin House" — so named by Spofford — until the hotel was 
torn down, to be supplanted by the new Postoffice. 

In 1852, the rush to California had become so great the County 
Commissioners decided to get some benefit from it, and established 
a ferry over Des Moines River. Sam. was employed to run the 
ferry. It was not uncommon to see a line of covered wagons from 
the river to Four Mile Creek, every driver clamoring to be carried 
over first, some offering him five dollars to break the line, but he 
refused, and made them take their turn. The county did a good 
business, for thousands of teams were carried, and the toll was 
twelve and one-half cents for man and horse, thirty-seven and one- 



SAMUEL N. DYER 447 

half cents for a wagon and two horses, fifty cents for a wagon and 
four horses, and five cents per head for loose animals. 

While Sam. lived in that log cabin, his family got out of flour, 
and for twelve days they had no bread. There was wheat and corn 
enough, but no mills to grind them. "Uncle Johnny" Dean had a 
small mill on Dean Street — now First — on the east side of the 
river, near where the casket factory is, but it was troubled with 
intermittent inertness, and they, as well as everybody, had to wait 
until flour could be hauled from Keokuk. 

In 1855, Sam. was nominated for the office of County Treas- 
urer and Recorder by the Democrats, and, with Thomas H. Napier, 
candidate for County Judge, made a house-to-house canvass of the 
county. Napier was in many ways an original character. Sam. 
used to relate that one day they stopped at a farm house for dinner, 
and to grind their political axes, as it were. The good housewife 
set up a generous supply of "back-bones," a luxury well known to 
old-timers, together with other good edibles. Napier was hungry, 
and was making havoc with the "bones," not cleaning them very 
well, when he happened to see the mistress looking straight at him, 
with arms akimbo, whereupon he said, with all the suavity of the 
true Virginian, that he was: "Never mind, madam, I am in a 
hurry. The children can pick what I leave." The house was full 
of children, and the incident illustrated what the Judge subse- 
quently proved to be, as boss of all county affairs, eminently prac- 
tical. 

Sam. was elected, for there were not enough Whigs in the county 
to form a Corporal's Guard. He served one term, and gave such 
satisfaction he was renominated and elected for a second term. 

While he was Treasurer, he had to deliver the state funds to 
the State Treasurer at Iowa City, the amount sometimes being con- 
siderable. At one time, he and "Dan" Finch made the trip in a 
sleigh. It was extremely cold, the snow was deep, the roads were 
blocked, and they had to go where they could, much of the way 
over staked-and-ridered fences. 

Although he owned property on the East Side, and resided there 
when the scrimmage over the location of the State House came on, 
in 1856, he was a non-combatant, for very prudential reasons. The 



448 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

West Siders would have made his second term a very uncertain 
quantity, for they were as mad as March hares over the result of 
the contest. 

He was a cautious, conservative official, notable for integrity, 
high sense of honor, and was deservedly popular. 

Socially, he was genial, big-hearted, ever ready to grant a favor 
or assist the needy, a generosity which overburdened him, for, like 
Alex. Scott, he became responsible for the promises and obligations 
of others who failed to fulfill them, so that in 1868, when he sold 
his property and settled his affairs, there was little left. He then 
removed to Kansas, and deceased in 1888. 

He was an active and consistent member of the Presbyterian 
Church, an ardent friend and supporter of public schools, and all 
measures tending to promote morality and good government. 

January Fourteenth, 1906. 



iE 

: 





JUDGE C. J. McFARLAND 



JUDGE C. J. McFARLAND 

ONE of the most unique and noted characters of the very early 
days in Polk County and Des Moines was Cave J. McFar- 
land, the second Judge of the District Court, who stands 
out the most prominent in the judicial history of the state of any 
man connected therewith. 

A native of Ohio, he came to Iowa when in the full vigor of 
early manhood ; was of strong, athletic physique, which made him 
especially attractive anywhere; was social, convivial, and of pleas- 
ing manner. He stopped in Lee County, opened a law office, and 
was soon after elected County Attorney. 

In 1851, he was elected Representative to the Legislature from 
that county. During the session, P. M. Casady, Senator from Polk 
County, prepared a bill creating the Fifth Judicial District, and 
when it went to the Lower House, McFarland opposed it, declar- 
ing it was simply "a scheme to give some poor lawyer up at Des 
Moines a salary of a thousand dollars a year as Judge." The bill, 
however, passed. Polk County, then, for election and judicial pur- 
poses, embraced the whole northwest part of the state west of Har- 
din County. Under that act, William McKay was elected the first 
Judge in the district. 

In 1853, McFarland went to Booonesboro, resumed his profes- 
sion, secured a good practice, and became quite popular. 

In 1854, at the Judicial Convention of the Democrats, to nom- 
inate a successor to McKay, P. M. Casady was a candidate, and 
McFarland also turned up for that "salary of a thousand dollars 
a year." The Whigs renominated McKay. Casady was elected 
by a large majority, qualified and received his commission, but soon 
after was tendered the office of Receiver of the United States Land 
Office, by President Pierce, which he accepted and resigned the 
judgeship without holding a session of court, greatly to the regret 
of the people, and especially members of the Bar, for, had he 

Vol. I— (29). 449 



450 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

served, the unenviable notoriety and disgrace which came to the 
court would have been avoided. 

Stephen Hempstead, of Dubuque, was then Governor. The 
Democrats unanimously recommended "Dan" Finch as successor 
to Casady, but the Governor, having Congressional aspirations, his 
term nearing its end, evidently wanted to get his fences in the best 
possible condition to corral the most votes, and he appointed 
McFarland, giving as a reason that in the convention which nomi- 
nated Casady, he had the next highest vote, and was therefore the 
logical candidate. Whatever may have been the reason, Hempstead 
never got to Congress. 

At the next Judicial Convention of the Democrats, Polk County 
voted for Curtis Bates; Marion County, under the leadership of 
William M. Stone, for George May ; Boone County for McFarland. 
The contest was protracted and hot, but finally resulted in the 
nomination of McFarland by a majority of one vote. 

The Whigs nominated W T illiam W. Williamson, of Des Moines. 
The contest was a vigorous one. The northwest portion of the dis- 
trict was sparsely settled. Election precincts were indefinitely 
defined, or not at all. The voters of a settlement got together and 
fixed an imaginary line for a precinct, and then voted where they 
pleased. When the returns came in, Williamson was declared to be 
elected, by less than a dozen majority, and he was given his com- 
mission. 

John Hull, a big politician in early days, in Boone County, and 
other friends of McFarland, contested the election, on the ground 
that it was void by reason of unlawful practices and gross irregu- 
larities in the proceedings. An investigation was made by the 
Board of Canvassers, and the votes were re-counted. It was shown 
that most of the returns were made on pages torn from blank 
books, on loose, variegated sheets of paper, unauthenticated by sig- 
nature, oath, or otherwise, of anybody as judges of election, or in 
what precinct the votes were cast ; that Williamson received several 
votes in Minnesota, or at least outside of the district ; that the one 
majority vote which nominated McFarland was cast by proxy for 
an alleged county which had no existence. The Board threw out 
the votes cast for Williamson in Minnesota, and gave the majority 



JUDGE C. J. McFARLAND 451 

to McFarland. Williamson's friends appealed to the Supreme 
Court, where it was held that, while there were irregularities in the 
manner of election, no fraudulent action had been shown ; that the 
intent and purpose of the voter must be acccepted, and the decision 
of the Canvassing Board was affirmed. 

McFarland was one of the finest specimens of physical manhood 
— six feet in height, weighed nearly two hundred pounds, of sym- 
metrical form, of gigantic strength, which he was ever ready to 
demonstrate if occasion required, dressed finely, and wore a heavy, 
black, glossy beard. He was fearless, dissipated, humorous, kind- 
hearted, sympathetic and reckless ; had many faults, yet many vir- 
tues, which, with those knowing him best, outweighed his frailties. 
As a Judge, he was eminently just, ever inclined to disregard the 
letter of the law if thereby exact justice could be obtained. His 
sympathies were always with the weak. A client with a better 
lawyer got little advantage therefrom, for the Judge would find 
some way to overcome it and help the weaker side. 

His faith in a jury was implicit. It was his rule to sustain 
them, and overrule all motions to set aside verdicts. He studied 
the case before him, and so soon as he was satisfied where the equi- 
ties rested, to that side he gave the influence of the court. His 
decisions were rarely reversed. Exact justice was his dominant 
desire, regardless of technicalities, lawyers, and often the law itself. 
The lawyers of the district were loaded with proof of that. 

Probably no one knew the Judge better than "Dan" Finch, one 
of the foremost lawyers of the state. They were strong personal 
friends, traversed the circuit in a buggy, stopped at the same hotel, 
ate at the same table, and slept in the same bed, which, supposedly, 
would give "Dan" an advantage in court, but when on the bench, 
personal friendships had no weight, and "Dan" often declared that 
the Judge took especial delight in ruling against him. On one 
occasion, he was trying an important case at Marietta, then the 
County Seat of Marshall County, as attorney for the plaintiff. 
Important financial interests, as well as close points of law were 
involved. It occupied several days, running to the closing hours of 
the last day of the term. The trial had not progressed far before 
he discovered that not only four big lawyers, but the court, was 



452 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

against him. He finished his final speech to the jury about nine 
o'clock in the evening, when the Judge at once began orally to 
instruct the jury. The law then required such instructions to be 
given in writing on demand of either party. "Dan" concluded 
that the Judge's speech was more like that of a lawyer than an 
impartial Judge. He arose and called the attention of the Judge 
to the statute, and requested that the" instructions be reduced to 
writing, to which he replied: "Daniel, take your seat." "Dan" 
sat down, and the Judge resumed his speech. "Dan" arose again 
and repeated his demand, to which the Judge retorted : "Daniel, 
sit down, and stay there. Mr. Sheriff, if he arises again, take him 
to jail and keep him there until further orders." "Dan" was up 
in an instant, called the attention of the members of the Bar pres- 
ent to his demand, as he might need their affidavits in further pro- 
ceedings, and sat down. A moment after, the Judge said to the 
Clerk : "Give me some paper, a pen and ink, and I will give that 
d — d young man more written instructions than he wants." The 
instructions were very short, and substantially told the jury to find 
for the defendant. 

The Judge and "Dan" then went to their room at the tavern, to 
wait return of the jury, and sat down. After a long silence, the 
Judge said : " 'Dan,' don't you think you made a d — d fool of 
yourself ?" to which "Dan" retorted : "I know you have," which 
made the Judge mad. He declared he would mash "Dan's" head, 
and started for him, when the Sheriff appeared and announced 
that the jury had agreed upon a verdict. They returned to the 
Court House, where the verdict was found to be for "Dan." The 
defendant's attorney made a strong appeal for a new trial, where- 
upon "Dan" simply reminded the Judge of his rule respecting ver- 
dicts. The Judge hesitated a few moments, and then said : "The 
verdict is a d — d outrage, but I will stick to the rule; the motion 
is overruled." Returning to their room, the Judge said : " 'Dan,' 
don't you think we both made d — d fools of ourselves ?" to which 
"Dan" retorted: "The jury did not say I have." "Well, let's 
take a drink and say no more about it," said the Judge. 

On another occasion, at the first court held in Webster County, 
in a new, incompleted log building, without door, windows or roof ; 



JUDGE C. J. McFARLAND 453 

a rough pine table had been provided for the court and lawyers, 
and slab seats for the jury and spectators. A new Sheriff had been 
elected, who was present — a well dressed, portly individual, topped 
out with a plug hat, which he placed on the table beside "Dan." 
Being wholly ignorant of court duties, he asked the court for 
instructions, which were written out respecting opening court. He 
folded them carefully and placed them in his hat. The temptation 
to "Dan" was too great. Purloining the paper, he wrote another 
and put it in the hat. At the proper time, the court directed the 
Sheriff to open court. He went to the opening for a door and 
roared out: 

"Hear, ye! Hear, ye! All who have grists to grind in this 
mill, bring them in forthwith." 

"Hold on, there, Mr. Sheriff. What in h — 1 is that stuff you 
are reading," roared the Judge. 

"Your Honor, it is the paper you gave me," replied the Sheriff. 

The Judge turned to "Dan," who was diligently looking over 
his papers, and said : " 'Dan' Finch, that is some of your d — d 
work ; I know it is." 

On another occasion, the court was in session at Marietta, in a 
log cabin. A lawyer named Wood, or "Old Timber," as he was 
known all over the district, and noted for his fog-horn voice, was 
making his speech, when a man rode up, and hitched his mule near 
the open door. "Timber" was reaching the climax of his argument, 
when the mule burst forth with unearthly hee-haws. The Judge 
roared out: "Hold on, there, Timber; one jackass at a time is 
enough for this court." 

On another occasion, at Newton, Harvey J. Skiff, a well-known 
old-time lawyer, and a Captain in General Crocker's regiment dur- 
ing the Civil War, was vigorously contesting a motion, when the 
Judge ordered him to sit down, which he did not do, whereupon 
the Judge ordered him to be fined. "Fine and be d — d," retorted 
Skiff. The Judge then ordered the Sheriff to take him to Des 
Moines and commit him to jail until further orders, but he soon 
discovered there were not enough officers in Jasper County to do it, 
and the matter was dropped. 

With all his faults and frailties, the Judge had a warm heart. 
His sympathies were easily aroused, were deep and abiding. He 



454 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

was confiding, and thus liable to be deceived. As an instance, a 
voung fellow giving the name of Isaac Francisco had been indicted 
in Dallas County for horse stealing. He was a stranger, without 
money or friends, quiet, genteel, appeared the picture of innoceD^e 
and the victim of untoward circumstances. The court requested 
"Dan" to defend him. In his own defense, the fellow told so 
plausible a story and so impressed the jury that, although they 
gave a verdict against him, they recommended him to the mercy of 
the court. When the Judge called him up for sentence, he said, 
with tears rolling down his cheeks, he wished he had the power to 
save so manly appearing a young man from the penitentiary. He 
then sentenced him to the penitentiary for one day. Immediately, 
the Judge, Grand Jury, Petit Jury, and every lawyer present, 
signed a petition to Governor Grimes for a pardon. The Judge 
then directed the Sheriff to go via Burlington and present the peti- 
tion to the Governor, which was done, and the Governor pardoned 
him. Three years after, a man charged with a heinous crime com- 
mitted in Hardin County was brought to the Des Moines jail for 
safe keeping. He sent for "Dan" to take his case. He was a fine 
appearing fellow, well dressed, said he had money coming to him, 
gave his name and residence. "Dan" looked him over carefully, 
and decided to sleep over it. During the night, he concluded the 
fellow was his old Dallas County client, over which the Judge had 
shed his tears. The next morning, he accosted him with : "Good 
morning, Isaac." He replied that his name was not Isaac, but 
"Dan" quickly convinced him that he knew him, whereupon he 
confessed the whole matter. That night he broke jail, and was 
never heard of again. 

The Judge was rigidly opposed to unnecessary and useless court 
expenses, and cut them off wherever possible. In Marion County, 
a petition was filed by a man for a divorce. When the time came 
for the hearing, the man, his lawyer and a score of witnesses were 
present. The Judge, looking over the aggregation, asked the lawyer 
what he wanted of so many witnesses. "To prove the allegations 
in our petition," was the reply. "Take your decree; I know the 
defendant," said the Judge. 

At another time, a fellow had been captured at Fort Dodge with 
a horse in his possession he had stolen. The Judge happened to 



JUDGE C. J. McFARLAND 455 

be at Homer, the County Seat, and was told of the arrest. It was 
not court time, but he directed that the prisoner be brought to 
Homer at once, with the witnesses, which was done. He then 
directed the Sheriff to call in a Grand Jury. An indictment was 
found, when the Judge called him up and said to him: "Now, 
young man, if you plead guilty, I will send you to the penitentiary 
for only one year, but if you don't, and put the county to the 
expense of trying you, I will send you to the 'pen' until your hair 
turns white." The fellow pleaded guilty, received the sentence, 
and served the time. 

Such a proceeding would probably not be affirmed by our present 
Supreme Court, but a little of it nowadays would be beneficial in 
many ways. It would save a vast amount of money and expenses, 
and secure swift punishment of crime. The summary methods of 
dealing with horse thieves and claim-jumpers by pioneer settlers' 
Vigilance Committees put a quietus on that sort of rascality, for 
the culprits, if caught, knew what was coming to them. 

The Judge was chairman of the Iowa delegation to the National 
Convention which nominated Buchanan for President. His fine 
personal appearance, athletic physique, and heavy, glossy beard 
made him a conspicuous mark. A press correspondent describing 
the personnel of the delegations wrote of him as "a man with a 
flourishing crop of whiskers, whose luxurious growth doubtless 
exhausted such a large proportion of nutriment as to greatly affect 
the nerve center of the brain." When the Judge read it, he was 
furious, and declared he would "wipe the streets with his d — d car- 
cass" if he could find him, but he did not find him. 

The Judge was patriotic. Immediately after the Spirit Lake 
Massacre, rumors came that the Indians were returning and mur- 
dering the settlers on their way. The settlers at once began organ- 
izing militia for defense, the Governor sending guns and ammuni- 
tion therefor. The Judge joined a company of one hundred 
mounted men from Boone County, armed and equipped for battle. 
Arriving at Webster City, they were met by the entire populace, 
when the Judge, arising in his saddle, exclaimed with his loudest 
voice: "The Boone Tigers are here. Bring on your Indians, and 
we will lick h — 1 out of them." 



456 PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA 

Seen upon the street, in a black frock coat, the skirts of which 
connected with high-topped boots, a stove-pipe hat, covering a big, 
round face, of changeable color, the Judge was sure to arrest the 
attention of a stranger, and elicit the query: "Who's that?" to be 
answered: "Judge McFarland, of the District Court." 

He was a good judge of whiskey, and, good or bad, could never 
"pass it" without "turning it down," and, when overloaded, it 
developed that keen sense of humor which inspired the many inci- 
dents related of him. It would be unjust to his memory, however, to 
omit mention of his many good qualities, which, to those who knew 
him well, offset his uncouth ways and unfortunate habits, for he 
was really a man of social instincts, and manners of a gentleman. 
His virtues were all extrinsic, his faults intrinsic, and in combina- 
tion so strong as to be rarely found in one individual. I know of 
no person who ever questioned his integrity, whether on or off the 
bench. What he lacked in legal acquirement, was compensated by 
intellectual capacity, stalwart common sense, and love of exact jus- 
tice, with which he was as well qualified to give as correct a guess 
— Iowa jurisprudence being then in its infancy, and precedents 
few— at the law and equities of a case as the average university 
lawyer of to-day. While appeals from him to the Supreme Court 
were innumerable, he was rarely reversed. 

He died a horrible death, as the result of his bibulous habits. 

January Twenty-eighth, 1906. y 



itS 



APR' 2 1953