USA > Iowa > Adair County > History of Adair County, Iowa, and its people, Volume I > Part 1
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org.
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22
NYPL RESEARCH LIBRARIES
3 3433 08192013 8
Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2008 with funding from Microsoft Corporation
http://www.archive.org/details/historyofadairco01kilb
LUCIAN M. KILBURN
HISTORY
OF
ADAIR COUNTY
- IOWA
AND ITS PEOPLE
LUCIAN M. KILBURN
SUPERVISING EDITOR
ILLUSTRATED
VOLUME I
CHICAGO THE PIONEER PUBLISHING COMPANY 1915
THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY 730248 AITOR, LENOX AND TARIN FOUNDATIONS. 1815
A PREFATORY REMARK
To the patrons and readers of this history we desire to explain our connection with its production.
The manuscript of the general history was prepared by Mr. Gor- don K. Miller, a man of much experience in similar work in other places, and its promotion and publication was undertaken by the Pioneer Publishing Company of Chicago, which has been in the busi- ness of publishing histories for many years.
We were asked by the advance agent to verify and supervise the manuscript of the history in the light of our experience of nearly fifty years' continuous residence in Adair County and the years in which most of its development has taken place. We have endeavored con- scientiously to perform the task and to assist in securing facts which are creditable to the present generation and which should be recorded for the benefit of generations yet to come. The biographical volume should be especially interesting in years to come to the descendants of those who have made history in these earlier times. The teachings of the fathers and pride in their achievements have been mighty factors in the world's advancement. The pioneers who builded states were not the products of chance, but came from strong and vigorous ancestry whose history their descendants should be proud to record and perpetuate.
That much has been omitted which should have been preserved is probable, that some statements have not been sufficiently extended is likely, and that some generally accepted facts may not accord with individual experience and preconceived notions is possible; but the men who have prepared the work have done the best they could with the means of knowledge at their command.
History is not like mathematics, an exact science. Witnesses in court who see the same things rarely see them from the same angle or testify alike as to the exact facts. Much of history is tradition: tales passing from mouth to mouth, from sire to son, from generation to generation, and the truth never gains in the transmission of these tales. We accept as facts a great deal of history which doubtless
iii
iv
A PREFATORY REMARK
never occurred; much that in the light of the larger experience of our time we know cannot be true, but we take it with allowance and glean from it what we can.
The public and written records are reliable as far as they go, but are often defective or incomplete. The recollection of actors in past events are of value as history, but their credibility must be taken with regard to the accuracy of their observation and memory, the sound- ness of their judgment and their reliability to relate the facts unbiased by preconceived notions of personal interest.
From all available sources the historians have sought to gather the facts for this work. The development of Adair County covers less than three-fourths of a century ; most of it has been accomplished in the last fifty years. Fifty years ago there were four postoffices in the county, served with a triweekly mail carried by stage coach from Des Moines to Council Bluffs. Now the mail is delivered daily in proximity to every farmhouse. Then there were only one or two buggies in the county; now they are numbered by the thousands, not counting the vast number of automobiles which have become the prop- erty of Adair County residents. Twenty-five years ago there was not a telephone in the county, except two or three toll stations on a new line just built; now nearly every farmhouse in the county is connected with all the world. This wonderful progress almost equals the imagination of the "Arabian Nights."
But in the brief space of time which history covers, the early set- tlers who have made history have nearly all gone. Many of the pioneers moved on to newer scenes when population, as they felt, began to crowd them. They were not content to be other than pio- neers. The most of the first generation of settlers on the wild prairie are dead. They were too busy making a living to leave much record of their doings in the early times, and so the historian has to gather as he can the materials for this work; and however incomplete his record of the development may be, it will prove of value to genera- tions yet to come. We hope it will prove on completion all that its projectors have promised and that its subscribers will appreciate the work that has been accomplished. All our judgment of our fellow- men and of their work may follow the old adage: "Be to their faults a little blind: Be to their virtues very kind."
LUCIAN MOODY KILBURN,
Supervising Editor.
Greenfield, Ia., May 5, 1915.
INTRODUCTION
The history of Adair County as United States territory reaches back to that eventful day in May, 1803, when the treaty was signed by which France ceded the vast territory included in the Louisiana Purchase to our Federal Government. The hand of Providence seems plainly manifest in the course of events which led to its acquisi- tion. It is said that the American envoys who conducted the nego- tiations on behalf of the United States "spent no small part of their time explaining that they only wished a little bit of Louisiana, includ- ing New Orleans and the east bank of the Mississippi." Livingston indeed went so far as to express a very positive disinclination to take the territory west of the Mississippi at any price, stating that he should much prefer to see it remain in the hands of France or Spain, and suggesting by way of an apology for its acquisition that it might be resold to some European power. Madison, who was at the head of the State Department at that time, "felt a strong disinclination to see the national domain extend west of the Mississippi, and he so instructed Monroe and Livingston," who were in charge of the matter on our part. But Napoleon, harassed on every hand by the great powers of Europe and fearful that the territory might fall into the hands of the English, rapidly abated his demands from the exorbitant sum first asked, finally offering to take $15,000,000 and forced Liv- ingston and Monroe to become reluctant purchasers, not merely of New Orleans, but of all the immense territory stretching vaguely northwestward to the Pacific. Another strange thing about the matter is that Jefferson, in whose administration the purchase was made, "had led his party into power as special champion of states' rights and the special opponent of national sovereignty. He and they rendered a very great service to the nation by acquiring Louisiana; but it was at the cost of violating every precept which they had pro- fessed to hold dear. Thus came into the possession of the United States a territory of vast and very ill-defined extent. Congress authorized a temporary government for the newly acquired province
V
vi
INTRODUCTION
on October 31, 1803, but its jurisdiction was merely nominal, as the French governor retained his power at the request and by the author- ity of the United States. By further action of Congress the whole of the province north of the thirty-third parallel was organized into a court district and formed for governmental and judicial purposes a part of the Territory of Indiana. This action was had March 26, 1804, and affected what are now the states of Arkansas, Missouri and Iowa; also Southern Minnesota. It was called Upper Louis- iana, and in this way the name District of Louisiana originated, by which it was known during the early history of the country.
On March 3, 1805, Iowa was included as a part of the Territory of Louisiana, with the capital at St. Louis, and that part of the Louisiana Purchase now known as Louisiana became Orleans Terri- tory. The Territory of Missouri was organized June 4, 1812, and Iowa was embraced in it. When Missouri became a state in 1820, Iowa, with other territory, was detached and forgotten and "remained a country without a government, either political or judicial, until June 28, 1834, when the abuses of outlawry and crime became so prominent and serious that, as a means of redress and correction, it was included in the Territory of Michigan. During all these years it is probable that the only civil law in force in Iowa was the pro- vision of the Missouri act which prohibited slavery and involuntary servitude in the territories of the United States north of thirty-six degrees, thirty minutes, north latitude."
By 1836 the population of this region had so increased that the territorial government of Wisconsin was organized, which at first included a part of the upper peninsula of Michigan, the whole of Minnesota and Iowa, and that part of Dakota lying east of the Mis- souri and White Earth rivers. When the Territory of Iowa was organized, July 12, 1838, it included the present State of Minnesota and parts of North and South Dakota.
By an act of Congress, approved March 3, 1845, provision was made for the admission of Iowa into the Union as a sovereign state, with boundaries extending on the north the parallel of latitude pass- ing through the mouth of the Blue Earth River and on the west only to seventeen degrees, thirty minutes, from Washington, correspond- ing very nearly to the existing lines between Ringgold and Union counties on the one hand and Taylor and Adams counties on the other. This reduction of the boundaries laid down by the constitu- tional convention of 1844 was very distasteful to the people, and the admission was rejected by a popular election, and in 1846 Congress
vii
INTRODUCTION
proposed new boundary lines, having the State of Minnesota for the north boundary, Missouri for the south, the Mississippi River on the east and the Missouri and Sioux rivers on the west. The date of admission to the Union was December 28, 1846.
Comparatively few of the counties as at present established had been organized previous to the convening of the First Territorial Assembly. The three southern tiers of counties in Iowa at present were carved from the original County of Des Moines. Des Moines was the second county in Iowa to be established, Dubuque having been the first. The limits of the County of Des Moines were defined in section 2 of an act to lay off and organize counties west of the Mississippi River. In the definition of the boundaries of Des Moines County an error was made in that the county was not limited, in so many words, to territory to which the Indian title had been extin- guished. The intention of the framers of the act was to erect the southern part of the Black Hawk Purchase into Des Moines County. but by the omission of a phrase the county was apparently extended westward to the Missouri River. The territory enacted into new counties was only the southern part of the Black Hawk Purchase. It did not extend westward to the Missouri River.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I FIRST INHABITANTS OF ADAIR COUNTY
FOREWORD-FIRST SETTLERS-FIRST EVENTS. 1
CHAPTER II
ORGANIZATION AND GOVERNMENT OF ADAIR COUNTY
CREATION OF COUNTY-FIRST MEETING OF COUNTY COURT- LOCATION OF COUNTY SEAT-FURTHER COUNTY COURT PRO- CEEDINGS-THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS-SUMMARY OF COUNTY OFFICIALS - CLERKS-AUDITORS-TREASURERS-RE- CORDERS - SHERIFFS-CORONERS-SURVEYORS-REPRESENTA- TIVES-SENATORS-SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENTS-COUNTY AT- 7 TORNEYS-COURTHOUSE HISTORY-JAIL HISTORY.
CHAPTER III THE COUNTY SEAT WAR
THE COUNTY SEAT WAR. 25
CHAPTER IV MILITARY HISTORY OF ADAIR COUNTY
ROSTER OF MEN FROM ADAIR COUNTY-ROLL OF HONOR-SKETCH OF TWENTY-NINTH IOWA INFANTRY-ADAIR COUNTY BOYS IN THE SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR-REGIMENTAL SKETCH-ADAIR COUNTY'S HONORED DEAD OF THE CIVIL WAR AND THE SPAN- ISH-AMERICAN WAR
31
ix
Y
CONTENTS
CHAPTER V
PROGRESS OF EDUCATION
THE EARLY SCHOOLS-1915 SCHOOL STATISTICS-INDEPENDENT CITY, TOWN AND VILLAGE DISTRICTS-SCHOOL TOWNSHIPS- RURAL INDEPENDENT DISTRICTS-TOTAL OF ALL SCHOOLS- EDUCATIONAL-GREENFIELD HIGH SCHOOL BUILDING-A PIC- TURE OF EARLY SCHOOLS. 48
CHAPTER VI THE BENCH AND BAR OF ADAIR COUNTY
DISTRICT COURT-THE CIRCUIT COURT-THE COUNTY COURT-IMPORTANT CRIMINAL CASES-THE MENTGER MUR- DER-THE BAR-THE MEMBERS OF THE PRESENT BAR. . . 60
CHAPTER VII THE MEDICAL PROFESSION
FIRST PHYSICIANS-ADAIR COUNTY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION-REGIS- TER OF DOCTORS. 71
CHAPTER VIII HISTORY OF THE CHURCHES
METHODIST EPISCOPAL-CONGREGATIONAL-UNITED PRESBYTE- RIAN - CATHOLIC - GERMAN LUTHERAN - CHRISTIAN ORIENT CHURCHES-BAPTIST-OTHER CHURCHES. 75
CHAPTER IX GREENFIELD TOWN AND TOWNSHIP
ORGANIZATION-SETTLEMENT-A SKETCH OF EARLY GREEN- FIELD-THE PRESENT CITY-GREENFIELD BANKS-EARLY HO- TELS-MILLS-FIRST ITEMS-INCORPORATION-POSTOFFICE COMMERCIAL CLUB - NEWSPAPERS - GREENFIELD WATER WORKS - PAVING - ELECTRICITY-LIBRARY-LODGES, SOCIE- TIES AND CLUBS-THE CREAMERY INDUSTRY.
92
xi
CONTENTS
CHAPTER X
SUMMERSET TOWNSHIP AND FONTANELLE
SETTLEMENT-FIRST THINGS-ORGANIZATION-BEGINNING OF FONTANELLE-EARLY BUSINESS INTERESTS-BANKS-FONTAN- ELLE OBSERVER-DEFUNCT PAPERS-MUNICIPAL GROWTH- POSTOFFICE-FIRST HOTELS-FIRST INDUSTRIES-INCORPORA- TION - ORGANIZATIONS 107
CHAPTER XI ORIENT TOWN AND TOWNSHIP
ORGANIZATION-EARLY SETTLERS-NOTES OF HISTORY-TOWN OF ORIENT-BANKS-SOCIETIES-NEWSPAPERS 121
CHAPTER XII SUMMIT TOWNSHIP AND CITY OF ADAIR
EARLY SETTLEMENT-FIRST ITEMS - ORGANIZATION - ADAIR - GROWTH OF BUSINESS-BANKS-NEWSPAPERS-MILLS AND ELEVATORS-HOTELS-POSTOFFICE-GROWTH OF CITY-SOCIE- TIES-A TRAIN ROBBERY-THE 1884 FIRE. 127
CHAPTER XIII BRIDGEWATER TOWN AND TOWNSHIP
ORGANIZATION-BRIDGEWATER TOWN-BANKS 138
CHAPTER XIV JEFFERSON TOWNSHIP
EARLY SETTLEMENT-EARLY DAY ITEMS-MILLS-POSTOFFICE- ORGANIZATION 141
CHAPTER XV RICHLAND TOWNSHIP
EARLY SETTLEMENT-HISTORIC ITEMS-ORGANIZATION-LODGES AND CHURCHES-BIOGRAPHICAL-NEVIN 147
xii
CONTENTS CHAPTER XVI JACKSON TOWNSHIP
EARLY SETTLEMENT-FIRST ITEMS-ORGANIZATION-POSTOFFICE. 153
CHAPTER XVII LINCOLN TOWNSHIP
EARLY SETTLEMENT-ITEMS-ORGANIZATION-STUART 158
CHAPTER XVIII
HARRISON TOWNSHIP
TOPOGRAPHY-EARLY SETTLEMENT-ORGANIZATION-PORT UNION POSTOFFICE-STORES-NOTES 161
CHAPTER XIX GROVE TOWNSHIP
ORGANIZATION-EARLY SETTLEMENT-ITEMS
165
CHAPTER XX
EUREKA TOWNSHIP
FIRST SETTLEMENT-ORGANIZATION-ITEMS
167
CHAPTER XXI
PRUSSIA TOWNSHIP
TOPOGRAPHY-EARLY SETTLEMENT-ORGANIZATION-ITEMS . . 169
CHAPTER XXII
WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP
EARLY SETTLEMENT - ORGANIZATION - PIONEER NOTES - BIO- GRAPHICAL 171,
CHAPTER XXIII
GRAND RIVER TOWNSHIP
TOPOGRAPHY-SETTLEMENT-ORGANIZATION
175
CONTENTS xiii
CHAPTER XXIV UNION TOWNSHIP
TOPOGRAPHY-SETTLEMENT-ITEMS 177
CHAPTER XXV WALNUT TOWNSHIP
TOPOGRAPHY-EARLY SETTLEMENT-SCRAPS-CASEY 179
CHAPTER XXVI LEE TOWNSHIP
TOPOGRAPHY-EARLY SETTLEMENT-EARLY EVENTS-ORGANIZA-
182 TION
CHAPTER XXVII MISCELLANEOUS
RAILROADS-TELEPHONES-COUNTY BRIDGE AND ROAD WORK- THE GRANGE-ROADS-COUNTY FAIR ASSOCIATION-FARMERS' INSTITUTES-AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT-EARLY TIMES IN FONTANELLE - WILD GAME - PRIVATIONS - PANTHER- REMINISCENCES OF S. W. PRYOR- EARLY SETTLEMENT IN NORTH PART OF ADAIR COUNTY-A BAD WINTER-CHAUTAU- QUA-MILLS-COAL MINING-STATISTICS OF POPULATION- THE ADAIR COUNTY MUTUAL INSURANCE ASSOCIATION-AN UNDERGROUND RAILROAD STATION - MARRIAGES - TOWN PLATS - THE SILENT CITY - EARLY FINANCE - SHORT SKETCHES
184
CHAPTER XXVIII GEOLOGICAL REPORT ON ADAIR COUNTY
By James Willis Gow
PREVIOUS GEOLOGICAL WORK-ELEVATIONS-EXPOSURES AND DEEP SHAFTS-EXPOSURES EAST OF THE DIVIDE-THE DRIFT SHEETS-POST-PLEISTOCENE DEPOSITS-ECONOMIC GEOLOGY- BOTANY
217
History of Adair County
CHAPTER I
FIRST INHABITANTS OF ADAIR COUNTY
FOREWORD
Pioneer history is in many respects an elusive subject. Records of the days when the settlers hewed their homes from the unbroken wilderness have not been adequately preserved and consequently the sources of information which have survived are treasures which must be kept and immortalized by the present generation and the ones to come, lest the tales of the hardships and sturdy deeds performed be lost to view forever. Such is the purpose of history. Pioneer his- tory, as well as any other, grows with the telling. There is glamour and interest centering around the hard-fought battles of the early days which will bear the retelling many times over. What if bits of imagination are introduced in the retelling? Any life is prosaic in the stern reality-and narrative beauty is added by the coloration of the bare facts; but, of course, strict adherence to these same facts is the prime requisite.
In the beginning of Iowa history, and also that of Adair County, settlements were miles apart and social intercourse was difficult. Log-rollings, husking-bees, barbecues, cabin-buildings and other enter- tainments significant to the pioneers supplied the only opportunities for the people to congregate together and these periods were often months apart. So the pioneer lived alone with his family in the silent and mighty forest and on the monotonous level of the prairie, sally- ing out before dawn to shoot the game for the day's food and to cast a line in the nearby stream. The clothes were manufactured by the good housewife, who sat for days before the loom and spinning wheel, patiently working; linsey-woolsey and homespun, adorned with the skins of wild animals, were the popular fabrics.
Vol. I-1
1
2
HISTORY OF ADAIR COUNTY
An extreme hardiness of body and soul resulted from this life; men were cast in steel. Writers of today lament the deterioration of the twentieth century civilization, praying for the spirit of the pioneer days. This may be true, but the effect of money and lux- uries are too familiar to merit discussion in a work such as this volume. It is to the first men of the county and their influence in building up the community and to the men of the present generation who are stolidly retaining this standard that this work must be dedicated.
Every authority will agree with the statement that the sole motive of early settlement in any land or locality is an economic one. It is when living conditions become difficult in larger settlements, when competition becomes strong, and when the desire for larger space becomes uppermost, that an exodus to a new land occurs. So it was in the early settlement of Adair County. The emigrants came here with the purpose of building new homes, raising crops and opening up a new country for their children's happiness. They were but following the law of existence and the survival of the fittest.
FIRST SETTLERS
The identity of the first settler in Adair County has been dis- puted for many years, even since the first settlements were made. It is impossible to state exactly who made the first home in this county.
Thomas Johnson, a native of Indiana, came from Page County, Ia., in the spring of 1849 and settled on section 4 in Washington Township. He had gone to Page County as early as 1841. He constructed a log cabin, probably the first in the county, and cleared a small patch of ground in order to raise sufficient grain and vege- tables to supply himself and small family. His trips to mill were made over long distances, and he soon grew tired, so in 1850 built a small grist mill upon his farm and four years later added a sawmill. In 1853 a mail route was established through Washington Township on the road from Afton to Lewis, and the house of Thomas Johnson was made a postoffice, he acting as postmaster. There is no doubt but that he was the first gentleman in the county to act in this capacity. After living here for about twelve years Johnson removed to the State of Oregon, where he lived until his death.
It is a notable fact that the first school in Adair County was taught in Johnson's house in the winter of 1851-52 by Miss Dianthe Richardson.
In the month of April, 1850, James R. Campbell built a cabin on section 3 in what is now Washington Township, and on May 11th
3
HISTORY OF ADAIR COUNTY
of the same year he moved into the crude home with his family. He afterwards moved to section 33. Until he had closer trading points he bartered his goods at Savannah, the county seat of Andrews County, Mo., 120 miles from here, and he also took some of his goods to St. Joseph, Mo., even farther away from home. He had his grinding done at Cox's mills, on River One Hundred and Two, so called, it was said, because it was the one hundred and second stream crossed from the Mississippi when traveling westward. This mill was seventy-five miles from the Campbell home.
James R. Campbell was born in Bourbon County, Ky., on March 28, 1822, and was the son of James and Polly (Lock) Campbell, natives of Kentucky. He remained in the Blue Grass State until he was seventeen years of age, then went to Lawrence County, Ind., and thence in one year to Putnam County, where he stayed until 1841, when he settled in Page County, Ia. He was married on March 14, 1850, to Susanna Johnson, of Lawrence County, Ind., and to this felicitous union there were born four children: Emily, Horant, James H. and Robert.
In the autumn of 1849 William ( Uncle Billy) McDonald came to this county from Missouri. His first trip was to search for a com- fortable site for a home, which he evidently discovered, for in the fol- lowing spring he moved here and settled upon section 26 in Harrison Township. He was a native of Pike County, Ohio, and was born April 20, 1809, the son of Charles and Nancy (Tubbs) McDonald. His first removal was to Peoria, Ill., and that place not proving a satisfactory location, he returned to Ohio, but again went to Illinois and made a trial of Sangamon County. From there he went to Missouri and, as above stated, came to Adair County in 1849.
After the organization of the county McDonald was chosen as the first recorder and was also one of the first trustees of his home town- ship. For a time he served as a school director. Mr. McDonald was married three times. On April 2, 1829, he was wedded to Maria Kirkendall, a daughter of George and Mary Kirkendall; no children were born of this union. On November 5, 1836, he was married to Mary Dixon, daughter of John Dixon; two children, Emily and Elizabeth, were born. In 1869 he was married to Letitia McAferty.
In the spring of 1850 William Alcorn made a claim on section 27 in Jefferson Township and constructed a cabin home. He lived here until 1852, when he sold his property to John Febus, and took up another claim on section 33. In 1854 he left the county.
4
HISTORY OF ADAIR COUNTY
With Alcorn came John Gilson and he made a settlement in the same township. He was chosen as the first county clerk in Adair.
Daniel Vancil came to Adair County about the same time and settled in Jefferson Township. He made no legal claim, but was reputed to be a claim-jumper. Not finding himself in good standing in this community, he left in 1853 and returned to his native state of Illinois, where he was afterward lynched.
Among the first settlers of Jefferson Township was George M. Holaday, who made a settlement on section 26 in 1853. Here he built his cabin and resided for a time. Upon the organization of the county he succeeded in obtaining the office of county judge and served the full time with little credit to himself or the community. At the expiration of his term he left the county.
Azariah Root, afterward county judge, was one of the early set- tlers of the county, together with his son, Abner. In 1853 he made a settlement upon section 11, in Jackson Township, where he resided for some time; then he removed to section 12, and later to the Village of Fontanelle.
Charles Wilson, in the spring of 1853, made the first settlement in what is now Union Township, on section 12, where he resided for many years.
Christian Gerkin, a native of Germany, made a settlement on sec- tion 2 in Union Township in the latter part of July, 1853. He came here directly from the Vaterland.
Charles Wilson, a native of England, was born in 1816, the son of Robert and Sarah Wilson. He resided in his native land until eighteen years of age, when he came to America, first settling in Rochester, N. Y., and a year later he moved to Allegany County. He then moved to Genesee County, Ind., and then to Lake County. He remained there until the fall of 1852, when he came to Iowa, spending the winter in Mahaska County on the Des Moines River. In the spring following he brought his family to Madison County and began work on a claim, his family occupying a tent. He came to Adair County soon afterward and began the cultivation of. his farm. He was obliged to travel ninety miles to a mill. There were but few houses between his home and the Town of Winterset. He was married in October, 1838, to Sarah Brough, a native of England. Eight children were born to them. namely: Thomas K .. George, William, Lewis K., John, Mary, Lizzie and Harriott. He held at different times the offices of township assessor and justice of the peace.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.