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HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY IOWA
A Record of Settlement, Organization, Progress and Achievement
By IRVING H. HART -
VOLUME I
ILLUSTRATED
-
CHICAGO THE S. J. CLARKE PUBLISHING COMPANY 1914 chr
THE
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I
DESCRIPTIVE
LOCATION - BOUNDARIES - SURFACE - DRAINAGE - TIMBER - PRAIRIES-FRUIT AND CROPS-WILD LIFE-POPULATION . 9
CHAPTER II
GEOLOGICAL
PRIMARY PERIOD-TROPICAL IOWA-SECONDARY PERIOD-THE GLACIAL EPOCH-TERTIARY PERIOD-DRIFT DEPOSITS-THE WISCONSIN DRIFTS-THE IOWAN DRIFTS-GLACIAL BOWLD- ERS-"PILOT ROCK -AGENCIES OF SOIL FORMATION-THE SOIL OF BUTLER COUNTY 17
CHAPTER III
HISTORICAL-IOWA TO THE ADMISSION OF THE STATE
PRE-HISTORIC PERIOD ; FIRST INHABITANTS OF IOWA-THE MOUND BUILDERS-THE AMERICAN INDIANS. HISTORIC PERIOD ; DIS- COVERY-EXPLORATION AND COLONIZATION-THE STRUGGLE FOR NORTH AMERICA-THE FRENCH IN THE MISSISSIPPI VAL- LEY-MARQUETTE AND JOLIET-LA SALLE IN LOUISIANA- TREATY OF 1763-LOUISIANA UNDER SPANISH RULE-CON- QUEST OF THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY-NAPOLEON AND THE SECRET TREATY OF ST. ILDEFONSO THE LOUISIANA PURCHASE -GOVERNMENT OF THE NEW TERRITORY-MISSOURI TERRI- TORY-MICHIGAN TERRITORY-WISCONSIN TERRITORY-IOWA TERRITORY-ADMISSION AS A STATE.
23
3
4
CONTENTS
CHAPTER IV
HISTORICAL-STATE AND COUNTY
FIRST SETTLEMENT- JULIEN DUBUQUE-TREATIES OF PURCHASE AND CESSION-"THE NEUTRAL STRIP - FIRST PRICE OF BUT- LER COUNTY LAND-THE BLACK HAWK PURCHASE-THE FIRST COUNTIES ; DUBUQUE AND DES MOINES-BUCHANAN AND FAY- ETTE COUNTIES-BUTLER COUNTY ; NAME, ORGANIZATION AND FIRST ELECTION 35
CHAPTER V. EARLY DAYS
THE HUNTER'S PARADISE-EARLY SETTLEMENTS IN TIMBER LANDS -THE PIONEER LARDER-GOING TO MILL-DANGERS AND PRI- VATIONS-COMPENSATIONS 41
CHAPTER VI EARLY SETTLEMENT OF BUTLER COUNTY
CARPENTER'S GROVE-COON GROVE-THE HICKS AND WAMSLEY FAMILIES-OTHER EARLY SETTLERS-FIRST LAND ENTRIES- THE INDIANS IN BUTLER COUNTY -- INDIAN SCARE OF 1854 GENERAL ITEMS 53
CHAPTER VII COUNTY GOVERNMENT
THE COUNTY COURT-FIRST TRIAL-FIRST PLATTED TOWN-FIRST COURT HOUSE- EARLY ELECTIONS-GOVERNMENT BY A BOARD OF SUPERVISORS-OTHER COUNTY OFFICERS-LISTS OF COUNTY OFFICIALS 69
CHAPTER VIII LOCATION OF THE COUNTY SEAT
THE FIRST COUNTY SEAT CLARKSVILLE 1853 TO 1860-AGITATION FOR REMOVAL-GEORGETOWN, ELECTION OF 1858-BUTLER CENTER, ELECTIONS OF 1859 AND 1860-SECOND COUNTY SEAT BUTLER CENTER 1860 To 1881- FURTHER AGITATION-THIRD COUNTY SEAT ALLISON 1881
83
5
CONTENTS
CHAPTER IX
REPRESENTATION- STATE AND NATIONAL
CONGRESSIONAL REPRESENTATION-STATE OFFICERS FROM BUTLER COUNTY-REPRESENTATION IN THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. . 93
CHAPTER X
THE JUDICIARY AND THE BAR
THE DISTRICT COURT-COUNTY COURT-THE CIRCUIT COURT-THE
BAR
99
CHAPTER XI
MEDICAL PROFESSION 113
CHAPTER XII
THE PRESS 123
CHAPTER XIII
EDUCATIONAL
FORMS OF ORGANIZATION-RECENT SCHOOL LEGISLATION-THE SCHOOL FUND COMMISSIONER-COUNTY SUPERINTENDENT - EDUCATIONAL STATISTICS-PROMINENT EDUCATORS 131
CHAPTER XIV
AGRICULTURE AND AGRICULTURAL SOCIETIES
THIRTY YEARS AGO-IOWA'S PRIMACY IN AGRICULTURE-CLIMATE -METEOROLOGY OF BUTLER COUNTY-CROP PRODUCTION AND OTHER STATISTICS-AGRICULTURAL SOCIETIES-OAK GLEN FARM 141
CHAPTER XV
BUTLER COUNTY IN THE CIVIL WAR.
157
6
CONTENTS CHAPTER XVI
REMINISCENT
195
CHAPTER XVII
TOWNSHIP ORGANIZATION 205
CHAPTER XVIH
ALBION TOWNSHIP-TOWN OF PARKERSBURG. . 209
CHAPTER XIX
BEAVER TOWNSHIP-TOWNS OF BUTLER RAPIDS, WILLOUGHBY AND NEW HARTFORD 237
CHAPTER XX
BENNEZETTE TOWNSHIP-VILLAGE OF AREDALE. 253
CHAPTER XXI
BUTLER TOWNSHIP- TOWN OF CLARKSVILLE .263
CHAPTER XXII
COLDWATER TOWNSHIP-TOWN OF GREENE. 283
CHAPTER XXIII
DAYTON, FREMONT AND JACKSON TOWNSHIPS
CHAPTER XXIV 305
JEFFERSON TOWNSHIP-TOWNS OF BUTLER CENTER AND COSTER .. 319
1
CHAPTER XXV
MADISON TOWNSHIP-VILLAGE OF KESLEY 331
7
CONTENTS
CHAPTER XXVI
MONROE TOWNSHIP-TOWN OF APLINGTON. 341
CHAPTER XXVII
PITTSFORD TOWNSHIP- TOWN OF DUMONT. 355
CHAPTER XXVIII
RIPLEY AND WASHINGTON TOWNSHIPS 375
CHAPTER XXIX
SHELL ROCK TOWNSHIP-TOWN OF SHELL ROCK. 389
CHAPTER XXX
WEST POINT TOWNSHIP-TOWN OF BRISTOW. 409
CHAPTER XXXI
ALLISON, THE COUNTY SEAT 423
THE NEV. YORK PUBLI LTHE 0
Sving H. Nach
History of Butler County
CHAPTER I
DESCRIPTIVE
LOCATION AND BOUNDARIES
Butler county is situated a little to the east of the north cen- tral portion of the State of Iowa, in the third tier of counties south of the Minnesota line and the fourth tier west of the Mis- sissippi river. It is bounded on the north by Floyd county, on the east by Bremer and Blackhawk counties, on the south by Grundy county, and on the west by Franklin county. Cerro Gordo, Chickasaw and Hardin counties corner with Butler county on the northwest, northeast and southwest, respectively. The county is an exact square, twenty-four miles on a side, containing sixteen congressional townships, making its area 576 square miles.
SURFACE
The surface of the county is a rolling plain, broken by few conspicuous topographie forms. No detailed geological survey of the county has ever been made but from the data at hand it would appear that the highest point in the county is on the divide between the Shell Roek and West Fork valleys, probably the point of the location of the present county courthouse in Allison. The lowest point is in the extreme southeastern corner of the county where the Beaver creek crosses the county line into Black- hawk. The measure of range of elevation between these points does not exceed 250 feet, the altitude of Allison, as determined from the railway surveys, being 1,044 feet above the sea level and that of New Hartford, in the Beaver valley in the southeastern portion of the county, being 895 feet. In general the surface of ('nl 1-1
9
10
HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY
the county slopes to the south and east, following the direction of the streams.
DRAINAGE
The county is chiefly drained by three streams, the Shell Rock river, the west fork of the Cedar, and Beaver creek. A small portion of the extreme northeastern part of the county is drained by a series of streamlets flowing into the Cedar.
The Shell Rock river has its source in Silver lake in Worth county and flows southeastward through Cerro Gordo and Floyd counties, entering Butler county at a point a short distance north- west of Greene. It flows diagonally southeast through Coldwater, Dayton, Jackson, Butler and Shell Rock townships, and thence through Bremer county to its junction with the Cedar in the north- western part of Blackhawk. Its valley is broad, with gently sloping hills rising on either side. Practically all of the valley is capable of cultivation and forms one of the most fertile farm- ing districts of the county. The width of the stream proper aver- ages several hundred feet and its volume is sufficient to supply much more power than is now utilized. It is one of the most beautiful streams in the state, its crystal clear waters flowing over sand and limestone and winding placidly through groves of stately natural timber to join with the classic Cedar, which it rivals in all save romantic interest.
The west fork of the Cedar, or "The West Fork." as it is commonly called, rises in Cerro Gordo and Franklin counties, being formed by the confluence of Dathmann's creek, Mayne's creek, Kilson's creek and a number of other small streams. It flows in a sontheasterly direction through the county and fur- nishes an outflow for the surface water of the western and south central townships. Its bed is of a much more muddy nature than that of the Shell Rock and its flow more sluggish. Its broad flood plain was in an early day so frequently overflowed as to be prac- tically impassable at certain seasons of the year.
Beaver creek flows almost due east through the southern tier of townships and empties into the Cedar river some distance above Cedar Falls. Its volume of water is not so large as that of the streams mentioned above but it is sufficient to furnish some water-power were its power made available. Like the other streams it has a much broader valley than its size would appar-
11
HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY
ently justify. On the northern edge of this valley in the eastern part of its course rises Beaver ridge, a wooded bluff which extends westward for six or seven miles through Beaver and Albion townships. The eastern portion of the divide between the Beaver and the West Fork furnishes the most rugged section of the county, the region being one of sharply alternating ridges and ravines. Largely for this reason this section differs materially both in the character of its soil and of its people from the rest of the county.
THE PRAIRIES
Butler county lies in the heart of the prairie region of the state, although a portion of its area has always been covered with natural timber; but sixty years ago by far the greater part of its extent was open rolling prairie. It is difficult for one to realize now when on every hand the view is broken by stately groves and fruitful orchards around practically every farm home that then over most of the county the eye could sweep from horizon to horizon without sight of a tree, except in the valleys of the prin- cipal streams and their larger tributaries. The Shell Rock, the West Fork and the Beaver wound their courses through tracts of forest land that in some places compared well with the best virgin timber of the eastern states. Occasionally small groves, were found on the prairies away from the water courses.
TIMBER
The principal varieties of trees found in the early forests were hickories, walnut, oaks, maples, ash, elms, basswood, cottonwood, willow and others of less importance. Some red cedar trees were to be found when the first settlers came to the county but these as well as the best specimens of oak and walnut were cut and utilized for lumber alnost before the prairie sections were settled. That the forest growth did not extend farther up the streams and outward across the prairies was due to no lack of fertility of the prairie soil or of adaptability for the growth of trees as subsequent experience has demonstrated was rather due prin- cipally to the immense prairie fires which swept every year over the plains. As settlement extended outward upon the prairies most of the causes of fire were removed and in many instances
12
HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY
the forest growth began to extend farther up the streams and back to the uplands.
When the people learned that the prairie soil was as valuable for agricultural purposes as that of the forest regions and the settlements began to extend out upon the prairies, there arose a need for the protection of the new homes from the severity of the hot and cold winds of summer and winter. Since the need was immediate and the softwood trees were cheap, easily obtained and productive of early results, the first plantings of artificial timber were largely made up of such species as cottonwood, soft maple, box elder and willow. As the county grew older and more wealthy, better homes were built surrounded by slower-growing and longer-lived trees. So today we find the farm homes sur- rounded by groves of evergreen of various kinds with elms and hard maple and other hardy trees that in themselves bespeak a thought for the welfare of the future. Many of these artificial groves are of relatively large size and point the way by which the threatened timber famine due to the depletion of our natural forests may be avoided. Honey locust, ash, black walnut, catalpa, and Enropean larch are being grown for posts and lumber and wherever reasonable care has been given them they have given good results. One of the most remarkable of these artificial groves is that on the Iowa Central Stock Farm in West Point township. Here between twenty and thirty acres were planted to selected hardy varieties of trees some forty years ago and today they form what has been termed by an expert from the State Agricultural College at Ames as "probably the most remarkable growth of artificial timber in the state."
FRUITS AND CROPS
While somewhat north of the fruit belt, nearly every farm has an orchard and there are a number of successful fruit raisers in the county. Apples, cherries, phims, and grapes are grown in abundance and the smaller fruits, strawberries, currants, raspber- ries and blackberries are staple products of the farms. The soil. the quality of which is discussed in detail in a later chapter, is unsurpassed in fertility. Butler county has never known a gen- uine crop failure. Corn is king of the farm crops, but it is ably seconded by the crops of small grains, all of which may be grown with profit on this rich soil. In an early day much wheat was
13
HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY
grown. The experience of that day, however, was that other erops could be grown with equal profit and less drain upon the natural richness of the soil, so today comparatively little of this cereal is raised in the county. Oats rank next to corn as the most important crop with barley, rye, wheat and buckwheat fol- lowing in order. The forage crops, clover, timothy, and wild hay rank next in importance and value. A diversity of vegetables is produced on farms and in gardens, potatoes being practically the only vegetable produced in quantities sufficient to supply more than the local markets. In general it may be stated that in all farm and garden products that are raised in any sec- tion having similar climatic and geologie conditions, Butler county stands with the first in quantity of yield and quality and diversity of products.
WILD LIFE
Before the coming of the white man, the prairies and woods of Butler county were the homes of many forms of wild life. Deer, elk and buffalo grazed over the grassy hills and along the margins of the streams. The rifles of the pioneer hunters had driven most of these from their native range to the westward before the first settlements were made here; but for many years thereafter the county was a hunter's paradise. In season, count- less coveys of quail and prairie chickens were found on the prairies and along the water courses wild geese and ducks abounded. The former have almost disappeared, although in the last few years under the protection of the new game laws a few quail and prairie chickens are seen where thousands once were to be found. With the advance of civilization, too, the prairie wolf, once ubiquitous, has disappeared, being seen now only at rare intervals and in widely scattered localities. Today there is little or nothing left to remind one of the wild life that surrounded the pioneer settlers of these virgin acres.
POPULATION
In common with other essentially rural sections of the state. Butler county has made no growth in population in the last decade. On the contrary the census figures show a slight loss. In this the county does not stand alone. All over the Central West the
14
HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY
rural communities have suffered a loss in population. It is only the cities that have gained. Butler county has no towns of over 1,200 people and so has not shared in the general urban increase. Of the 17,119 persons reported as residing within the county limits by the census of 1910, 5,990, or less than 35 per cent, are reported as living in incorporated towns or villages. There are nine of these towns and villages, ranging in size from Greene with 1,150 people to Bristow with 291. Of the ninety-nine coun- ties of the state Butler ranks fifty-fifth in population.
Below are appended tables of the population of the county as shown by successive state and national censuses since its organ- ization and of the towns and villages since 1885.
POPULATION OF BUTLER COUNTY, 1852-1910
1852
73 1875
11,734
1854
420 1880
14,293
1856
2.141 1885
14,523
1860
3,724 1890
15,463
1863
4,142 1895
16,966
1865
5,006 1900
17,955
1867
6,542 1905
17,636
1870
9.951 1910
17.119
POPULATION OF TOWNS AND VILLAGES IN BUTLER COUNTY, 1870-1910
Town
1870
1875
1880
1885
1890
1895
1900
1905
1910
Allison
336
436
463
503
495
Aplington
. . .
379
427
503
427
441
418
Bristow
. .
...
198
218
257
355
317
348
291
Butler Center
152
149
Clarksville
699
818
735
830
849
957
895
Dumont
433
562
550
Greene
. .
711
780
845
1,168
1,192
1,224
1.150
New Hartford
244
277
452
570
574
482
Parkersburg
. .
652
796
760
999
1.164
1,114
938
Shell Rock.
. ..
719
780
733
828
839
848
741
POPULATION OF TOWNSHIPS, 1890-1910
1910
1900
1890
Albion township, including part of Parkersburg town .. 1.433
1.689
1,440
Beaver township, including New Hartford town.
1,223
1,349
1,074
Bennezette township.
681
689
580
Butler township, including part of Clarksville town.
1,471
1,527
761
. .
.. .
. .
.
. .
. . .
. . .
. . .
. ..
.. .
. .
.
15
Coldwater township, including Greene town.
1,836
1,967
1,608
Dayton township.
633
641
667
Fremont township
757
757
778
Jackson township, including parts of Allison and Clarks- ville towns.
781
811
704
Jefferson township
642
657
642
Madison township
755
679
604
Monroe township, including Aplington town and part of Parkersburg town
1.363
1,388
1,088
Pittsford township, including Dumont town and part of Bristow town
1,286
1,202
782
Ripley township.
602
621
493
Shell Rock township, including Shell Rock town.
1,461
1,547
1,482
Washington township
756
925
735
West Point township, including parts of Allison and
Bristow towns
1.439
1,506
1,033
Total
17,119
17,955
15,463
HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY
CHAPTER II GEOLOGICAL
We are indebted to geologists and their detailed study of the remains of the past ages for our knowledge of the periods that preceded history. These scientists tell us and the unimpeachable geologie records sustain their statements that for ages what is now Iowa and the greater part of the Mississippi Valley lay beneath the waters of the sea. During this period by a process incom- prehensibly slow the sedimentary strata of Iowa were formed. Gradually the sea receded to the southward until the whole sur- face of the state was exposed. Later, forests and other forms of vegetation came to cover the land surface. Before, however, Iowa was raised permanently above the surface of the waters, another long period passed during which the greater portion of the state was again sunk beneath the level of the sea. Finally some unknown change of the surface of the earth took place as a result of which Iowa was finally elevated to a level above that of the ocean.
TROPICAL IOWA
From this time on for uncounted centuries, the climate of this section of North America was tropical. Tropical trees such as the cypress, magnolia, cinnamon, fig and palm flourished here and tropical animals were found in the forests and swamps." "Iowa and all the adjacent regions far north and westward reveled in the luxuriance of a tropical climate. The air was balmy and laden with the odors of flowers and fruits. The bright summer days seemed never ending. A listless languor sent the birds and beasts into the shade at midday. Tropical vegetation grew spon- taneously ; brilliant foliage and flowers, luxuriant ferns and eling- ing vines mingled with the forests and open vistas in landscapes of surpassing beauty.
* B. F. Gue: History of lowa.
17
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HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY
THE GLACIAL PERIOD
"But in the course of time a change was perceptible. The intense heat of the long summer days was tempered by refreshing breezes and the nights became delightfully cool. The winters were slowly growing colder. Snow storms came and piercing winds swept over plain and forest. Tropical plants were stricken with early frosts; ice formed in lakes and streams where it had never before appeared. The more hardy animals sought the shelter of wooded ravines and deep gorges. Snow fell to imusnal depths; year after year it came earlier, and winter continued later. The earth became frozen to great depths; fruit and trees disappeared. As the snow piled higher each succeeding year, and the summers were too short and cold to melt it, all animal life perished. The pressure of mountains of snow and the percolating rains con- verted the mass into a solid sheet of glacial ice that not only covered nearly all of Towa, but reached out over the northern half of North America.
"The ice sheet of this period had its southern margin south of the latitude of St. Lonis. The ice was slowly moving outward from the center of accumulation, grinding over the underlying rocks and crushing them to the finest powder. Fragments of enormous size were frequently caught in the lower portion of the flowing ice and carried forward bodily, grinding the rock strata into rock flour, and being themselves planed and grooved on the lower surface. All boulders of crystalline roek which we find strewn over the state were carried from their native ledges in British America by these ice sheets during this period."
* "Glaciers and glacial action have contributed in a very large degree to the making of our magnificent state. What Iowa would have been had it never suffered from the effects of the ponderous ice sheets that successively overflowed its surface. is illustrated in the driftless area of northeastern Towa. Before the glacial drift was deposited, the surface of Towa was carved into an intri- cate system of hills and valleys. There were narrow gorges hundreds of feet in depth and there were rugged, rocky cliffs and isolated buttes corresponding in height with the depth of the valleys.
"In such a region a quarter section of level land would be a curiosity. This is a fair sample of what Towa would have been
* Condensed from Samuel Calvin: Geology of Iowa.
19
HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY
had it not been planed down by the leveling effect of the glaciers. Soils of uniform excellence would have been impossible. The soils of Iowa have a value equal to that of all the silver and gold mines in the world combined. And for this rich heritage of soils we are indebted to the great rivers of ice that overflowed Iowa from the north and northwest. The materials which they depos- ited are in places hundreds of feet in depth. They are not oxydized or leached, but retain the carbonates and other soluble constituents that contribute so largely to the growth of plants. The physical condition of the materials is ideal, rendering the soil porous, facilitating the distribution of moisture, and offering unmatched opportunities for the employment of improved machinery in all of the processes connected with civilization."
In all, four great ice sheets, each making a corresponding deposit of glacial drift, invaded Iowa at different times. These sheets did not come from exactly the same direction and there is some difference in the character of the material which they brought. The first and the greatest of these ice sheets that pushed their way into Iowa from the frozen regions of the north is known as the Kansan Ice Sheet, from the fact that it extended as far south and west as the present State of Kansas. This sheet cov- ered the whole surface of Iowa except the extreme northeastern corner, which, as was said above, was never affected by glacial action. The drift deposited by this glacier is now hidden from view, covered deep below the surface of the later drift deposits.
DRIFT AREAS
The other three areas of glacial drift are known as the Illi- noisan, the Wisconsin and the Iowan drifts. The Illinoisan which covered a small portion of the southeastern part of the state and the Wisconsin which covered the part of the state from Osceola to Winnebago counties on the north and south to Polk county, had no direct effect upon the soil condition in Butler county. The Iowan glacial ice sheet, however, was the direct agent of the formation of the soil in this section of the state. Roughly speak- ing the area of this Towan glacial drift covered a territory from Worth county south to Marshall. cast to Linn and north to Howard county, including all the territory within these boundaries. But- ler county lies entirely within this drift area.
20
HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY
It is estimated that from one hundred thousand to one hilln- dred and seventy thousand years have elapsed since this invasion of Iowa by the glaciers. Subsequently another climatic change came slowly and the ice began to melt. When the ice of this last great glacial sheet which may have been ten thousand feet in thickness melted away, there was left upon the surface of the earth an accumulation of rock flour, sand, gravel and boulders from two hundred to five hundred feet thick. The surface of this mass was not smooth to begin with. There was no natural drain- age. The sediment of the turbid waters formed from the melting ice was deposited in layers of yellow clay. Gradually as time passed the lower places were filled up by deposits of this sediment and by washing from the higher levels and streams began to carve their channels over the surface of the drift. With the establish- ment of natural drainage lines the surface assumed the most favorable condition for agricultural operations.
This condition has been reached in the region covered by the Towan drift but in the area of the Wisconsin drift to the west of ns the earlier stage of development is still evident. Here the land surface is practically in the same condition in which it was left after the enormous mass of ice melted away, except, of course, that it is now covered with vegetation. A few large streams, such as the Des Moines, flow across it but for the most part they have not had time to extend their tributaries very far back from their main channels. Nearly the whole territory is as yet a monotonous stretch of prairie, dotted with undrained ponds, sloughs and lakes. In consequence of this absence of a natural system of drainage, the surface is frequently so marshy and waterlogged that agrienlture can be carried on only at a great disadvantage and with frequent loss in seasons of heavy rainfall. The chief problem of this region is to secure adequate drainage.
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