USA > Iowa > Taylor County > History of Taylor County, Iowa; from the earliest historic times to 1910, biographical sketches of some prominent citizens > 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 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70
.
Gc 977.701 T21c 1200021
M. L.
GENEALOGY COLLECTION
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 00878 0998
Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2018
https://archive.org/details/historyoftaylorc00cros
Frank E. Crossou
HISTORY
OF
TAYLOR COUNTY,
IOWA
FROM THE EARLIEST HISTORIC TIMES TO 1910
By FRANK E. CROSSON
ILLUSTRATED WITH PORTRAITS AND VIEWS
Also Biographical Sketches of Some Prominent Citizens of the County
Chicago THE S. J. CLARKE PUBLISHING CO.
1910
Towel to Hage Miller
Haltom
elma 238 Myrtle SL Creation 9 nom
laurfier Ce
PREFACE
1200021
Within the memory of a few pioneer residents still living in Iowa, our home land was in as wild and primitive condition as are now the unexplored regions of Africa or Thibet. No civilized man had ever settled down to subdue its acres and call it home. It was inhabited by savages, without history and with meager tradition. In less than a century Iowa has been made the greatest in material pro- ductions of all the states of the great Union, as it is one of the fairest in natural beauty. The pioneers who have made the history are rapidly passing away and with them all opportunity to get the genuine first history of the state, free from error and fiction. What is true of the state is true of each county. Our own county of Taylor ranks high in political influence and is among the first in the intelligence of its people and its jealous regard for education.
Its material resources are practically unlimited, and the promises for its future grow ever brighter. To fully understand its glories and its opportunities, it is necessary to look back to their sources ; we shall find that the seeds that have so auspiciously borne fruit in this present generation were sown by men, "tried and true ;" men who deserve to be remembered, not merely as historic names, but as men in whose breasts beat the noblest hearts, and within whose rustic homes were to be found the very bone and sinew of the western world : men whose sterling worth and integrity have contributed very largely to the present high position of the county.
The whole history of the county is one of surpassing interest, and the more it is studied the more apparent does it became that underlying its records are certain truths which afford a clew to the causes that have contributed so powerfully to the county to its present prominence. To search out and bring to light these causes has been the earnest desire of the writer in the preparation of this work. To learn and present the truth, without favor or prejudice, has been our constant aim. The sources of information and the time to study them are not at the com- mand of most of those who are intelligently interested in local history.
There are many unpublished facts to be rescued from the failing memories of the oldest residents, who will soon have carried their information with them to
5
1
6
PREFACE
the grave. Still other important facts are obtained from citizens best informed regarding the various present interests and institutions of the county, which should be treated in giving its history. Authenticity is always difficult in history. Much passes for history that is mere anecdote. Again, other facts come to us through the prejudice and color of personal narration. Great care has, therefore, been necessary to prevent publishing misconceptions as history. No statement of fact has been admitted without ample authority, and not even the slightest inci- dent mentioned without the support of creditable testimony.
Attention is called to one feature of special value-the introducing of the original records of transactions directly affecting the interests of the county. Concerning the first records and the facts they teach, nothing need be said. Of this period in the county's history there has been explored for evidence every known early document, and when not mutilated, they have been presented in full.
Much time has been devoted to early settlers and settlements, and while the method of treatment may appear faulty to the reader, it must be borne in mind that the nature of the data renders any other method of presentment impossible ; accuracy, rather than finish, has been the object held steadily in view.
In the compilation of this work, the oldest residents, and many others, have cheerfully volunteered their services, adding largely to the value of the results obtained. Special thanks are due the several officers of the county, the editors of the various papers, pastors of churches and church officers, and the officers of the various civic societies, who have been very obliging in placing at our command the needed statistics, and have themselves devoted time in searching the records, and afforded every opportunity in their power to perfect the chronological sequence of the data used.
Historic events cannot stand alone. They form an unbroken chain. This history of so limited a territory as a county in Iowa, has its roots not only in remote times, but in distant lands, and cannot be justly written without consulting the influence of such foreign element ; nor can such a county history be understood in all its relations without a historic review of at least the state of which the county is a part ; hence, we feel that in giving such an outline we have been more faithful to the main purpose of the work, while we have added an element of independent interest and value.
In conclusion we would say that the first motive for writing these pages has been a humble desire to rescue and record the essentials of the history of Taylor county.
The second motive was to re-awaken an interest among our people in the re- establishment of their lines of family ancestry, and to put such genealogies as can be secured in permanent record form for the benefit of succeeding generations.
In such a multitude of details, no doubt there may be some unimportant mis- takes, despite the care exercised in the production of this work, yet we hope it will be welcomed by the inhabitants of the county, for all take a just pride in whatever calls to mind the scenes and incidents of other days. It is presented in the belief that the work done will meet with the heartiest approval of the readers; and if it awakens an earnest spirit of enterprise and emulation among the younger citi- zens of the county, it will be a source of pleasure and congratulation to the writer,
FRANK E. CROSSON.
HISTORY OF TAYLOR COUNTY IOWA
HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE STATE.
Bounded on the east and west by the two greatest rivers of the North Ameri- can continent, Iowa and her people are closely identified with the interests and history of the great Mississippi valley. The mighty river which flows along our eastern border, drains the most fertile agricultural region in the world. This great river was discovered by De Soto, the bold, but rapacious and unprincipled Spanish soldier, who obtained from his king the governorship of Cuba and a grant of land in eastern Florida, which Spain claimed, and in addition he was authorized to explore the country of the "far west."
From reports received from the Ponce de Leon expedition, the people of Spain had long thought that somewhere in the interior of the unexplored land were rich mines of gold and silver, so when it became known that De Soto was fitting out an expedition to explore and conquer this supposedly rich region, men of wealth, nobles of high rank and ambitious cavaliers flocked to his standard, and on the 12th of May, 1539, gaily as a pleasure party, little dreaming of the fate that awaited them, the expedition of nearly one thousand, five hundred men embarked from Havana. We will not attempt to trace them in their wanderings through the vast swamps and dense forests of what is now the states of Florida, Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi ; plundering and destroying the Indians, leaving a bloody trail behind them. But this constant fighting, sickness and exposure, dec- imated their ranks, so that when they reached the banks of the mighty Mississippi in April, 1541, after nearly two years of wandering, and almost constant fight- ing, they were but a remnant of the grand expedition that had sailed from Havana in May, 1539.
So far their search for gold had been in vain and with the hope of still find- ing the precious metal, they crossed the river and pushed on farther west. Finally, disheartened, and despairing of finding gold, they retraced their steps to the great river they had discovered. Here the indomitable De Soto resolved to plant a colony and at once set about making vessels to send to Cuba for supplies and reinforcements, but before the expedition was ready to start De Soto was stricken with fever from which he died, and his companions, to conceal his death from the Indians, who feared him, took his body at night and sunk it in the great river
7
S
HISTORY OF TAYLOR COUNTY
he had discovered. On the 2d of July, 1543, having completed their vessels, his surviving comrades embarked and sailed down the Mississippi to its mouth, being the first white men to sail upon its placid waters.
The next white men to see the Mississippi were some French gold seekers from a colony in Florida, but they attempted no settlement in the region of the river.
More than one hundred and thirty years now elapsed after the discovery of the river by De Soto, before an effort was made by any white man to explore the valley. In the meantime the French had been gradually extending a chain of settlements along the St. Lawrence river and westward around the great lakes. The pioneers in these westward movements, were Jesuit priests, who led the way into remote regions, among the most war-like tribes of Indians. These priests learned from Indians they met of a great river in the "far west," called by them, Mis-sis-se-pe or "Great River." The river was described as flowing through dense forests and vast meadows covered with tall grass. The Indian name Mis- sis- signified meadow and the word se-pe- means river, hence Mis-sis-se-pe, as the early French writers spelled it, signifies "River of the Meadows."
Father Marquette, a French Jesuit missionary, among the Huron Indians, determined to explore the far west to the great river, and in 1673, in company with Joliet, a trader of Quebec, and five other Frenchmen, he started on the voyage of exploration. The party sailed on Green bay to the mouth of Fox river, thence up that stream some distance, where they found a village of Miami and Kickapoo Indians, where they engaged guides to pilot them to the Wisconsin river. Floating down the Wisconsin many days, they finally emerged into the great river they sought. It was a majestic stream at this point, the western shore of which arose in high abrupt bluffs, covered with forests.
It was on the 17th day of June, 1673, when they looked out upon the rugged shores of the Iowa of the future. They were the discoverers, as no white man had ever before seen the upper Mississippi river and its shores. The point first seen was a few miles below McGregor, in the present county of Clayton. The party floated down the river, for many days, or until June 25, when they landed. The exact location of the landing is not known, but from the brief description given, writers agree that it must have been near where Montrose now stands in Lee county.
After a few days' visit with the Indians of the vicinity, they continued their voyage down the river as far as the mouth of the Arkansas. From Indians here they learned that the great river upon which they had sailed more than eleven hundred miles, emptied into the Gulf of Mexico, and as the survivors of the ill- fated De Soto expedition had sailed from here to its mouth, the whole course of the river from Wisconsin to the gulf had been explored.
Hennepin next explored the river from the mouth of the Illinois up as far as the Falls of St. Anthony in 1680. La Salle, another French explorer, finished the exploration of the lower Mississippi to its mouth in 1682.
In 1702 Lesuer with a party ascended the Mississippi, sailing along the entire eastern border of Iowa, and up the St. Peters river, where he erected a fort and took formal possession of the vast region now embraced in the states of Iowa. Minnesota and the Dakotas.
9
HISTORY OF TAYLOR COUNTY
After the war between England and France, which prevailed from 1756 to 1763, France ceded to England all of her possessions in America, east of the Mis- sissippi, except a portion of Louisiana, but Iowa still remained a French pos- session. It is one portion of the United States which never passed under the government of England. Soon after the close of the seven years' war, between England and France, the king of the latter country, by secret treaty, ceded all of the remainder of the French possessions in America, to Spain, in 1763, and Iowa passed under the dominion of the Spanish government. During the eighty years that the territory embraced in Iowa belonged to France, no permanent settlement had been made. French hunters and trappers had explored its rivers in search of furs and game, and had given names to some of them, but no other mark of their occupation remained. In 1788 the first white man settled within the present limits of the state of Iowa. Julien Dubuque, the first white settler, was a Frenchman, a native of Canada, and had been a resident of Prairie du Chien. Dubuque pur- chased from the Fox Indians the right to occupy the tract of land covering the site of the present city of Dubuque. In 1796 the Spanish governor confirmed the grant and thus established the title in a civilized way. Dubuque married an In- dian squaw, and with white miners operated the lead mines in the vicinity until his death in 1810.
In 1795 Girard, a Frenchman, obtained a grant of a tract of land in what is now Clayton county, which he occupied with a few other settlers.
Louis Honore Tesson obtained a grant in what is now Lee county in 1799. It will be seen that there were really no settlements of importance in this territory until it came under the control of the United States.
In our treaty with Great Britain at the close of the Revolutionary war, 1783, the United States came into possession of all British territory east of the Missis- sippi river. Spanish control and authority prevailed in all the vast domain west of the Mississippi until 1800, when it was ceded by Spain back to France, thus coming under the power of Napoleon, who was at war with almost all Europe.
Napoleon, following the plan of La Salle, proposed to found a new France in America, but in 1803, needing money badly, and fearing that the territory might fall into the hands of his great enemy, England, he sold the entire territory to the United States for fifteen million dollars.
March 20, 1804, congress provided that upper Louisiana, that part of the whole province north of the 33d parallel, consisting of what is now Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa and southern Minnesota, should be organized into a court district and attached to the territory of Indiana for governmental purposes. From this comes the term "District of Louisiana," that occurs in the early history of all this part of the United States.
July 4, 1805, Iowa was included as a part of the territory of Louisiana with the capital at New Orleans.
In 1807, for a brief period, Iowa was attached to the territory of Illinois, for judicial purposes.
June 4, 1812, it was embraced in what was then organized as the territory of Missouri. July, 1820, Missouri became a state, and 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
10
HISTORY OF TAYLOR COUNTY
became so prominent and so serious, that as a means of redress and correction, it was included in the territory of Michigan. July 3, 1836, Iowa became a part of the newly organized territory of Wisconsin, composed of the present states of Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, and the eastern part of North and South Dakota.
July 12. 1838, the territory of Iowa was organized, including, also, the present state of Minnesota and parts of North and South Dakota.
Application for admission as a state was refused by congress until December 28, 1846, when Iowa became a state. The population of the state at this time was one hundred and two thousand, three hundred and eighty-eight.
Iowa had three territorial governors: Robert Lucas, appointed by President Van Buren in 1838; John Chambers, appointed by President Harrison in 1840, who in turn was removed by President Polk in 1845, and James Clark, appointed, who served until a successor was elected in 1846. After the admission of the territory as a state the first governor elected was Ansel Briggs, a democrat.
The state continued solidly democratic until 1854, since which the republicans have controlled the state, with the exception of 1889, when Horace Boies, the democratic nominee for governor, was elected.
For several years after achieving statehood the constitution was a bone of con- tention. Finally, in 1857, the third constitutional convention, by changes and amendments, brought out a constitution, which has stood the test down to the present time. Some of the changes are worthy of note, among them was changing the period of taking the state census to every ten years, instead of every two years. Changing the selection of supreme court judges from the general assembly to the people at the regular election.
It changed the length of the term of governor from four years to two, and located the permanent seat of state government at Des Moines, and the State University at Iowa City. The boundaries were described as follows :
Beginning in the middle of the main channel of the Mississippi river, at a point due east of the middle of the mouth of the main channel of the Des Moines river ; thence up the middle of the main channel of the said Des Moines river, to a point on said river where the northern boundary line of the state of Missouri- as established by the constitution of that state, adopted June 12, 1820 -- crosses the said middle of the main channel of the said Des Moines river; thence west- wardly along the said northern boundary line of the state of Missouri, as estab- lished at the time aforesaid, until an extension of said line intersects the middle of the main channel of the Missouri river, thence up the middle of the main channel of the said Missouri river to a point opposite the middle of the main chan- nel of the Big Sioux river, according to Nicolett's map; thence up the main chan- nel of the said Big Sioux river according to the said map, until it is intersected by the parallel of forty-three degrees and thirty minutes north latitude; thence east along said parallel of forty-three degrees and thirty minutes, until said parallel intersects the middle of the main channel of the Mississippi river, thence down the middle of the main channel of the said Mississippi river to the place of beginning.
The constitution was submitted to the people and was adopted by popular vote, August 3, 1857.
It may be of interest to mention the various capital cities the state has had. When the bill providing for the creation of Iowa territory had passed both
11
HISTORY OF TAYLOR COUNTY
branches of congress and had been approved by the president and the territorial officers had been appointed, the territorial governor, Robert Lucas, selected Bur- lington as the capital of the new territory. The territorial legislature elected met at Burlington, November 12, 1838, and among other acts appointed commis- sioners to relocate the capital, and they chose a site on the Iowa river in Johnson county, where they platted a town and named it Iowa City, which was the capital city, until the selection of Des Moines as the permanent seat of government, by the convention of 1857.
ORIGINAL INHABITANTS.
We have spoken but indirectly of the original inhabitants, the Indians. When we speak of the Indians as the original inhabitants, we mean that they were the only people here when the territory was first discovered by white men, and they are the first inhabitants so far as we are able to ascertain by either history or tradition.
That a race of people inhabited this state before the advent of the Indian, we have ample evidence in the numerous mounds along the Des Moines river and in other parts of the state. There is no doubt but that the mythical people, the mound builders, at one time possessed this soil. But our government had to deal with the Indians, who, according to the laws and usages of nations were the owners, because they were in actual possession. At the coming of the white man, the Indians found here, were known in history by the tribal names of Sioux, Sac, Fox and Iowa. There were other minor tribes but these were the strongest, the most contentious over their rights of ownership, and therefore in history the best known.
By repeated treaties the United States extinguished their titles to the lands and removed them further west, until in 1905, there were but three hundred and forty-six Indians remaining in the state.
The sum total paid the Indians for the various cessions was two million, eight hundred and seventy-seven thousand, five hundred and forty-seven dollars, a little more than eight cents per acre.
While but a few Indians remain with us, the more prominent of the chiefs of the several tribes have left their names on the map of the state, as Black Hawk, Keokuk, Tama, Mahaska, Waukon, Osceola, Decorah, Winneshiek, Wapello, Appanoose, and Poweshiek.
The tribal names are represented by Sioux, Winnebago, Sac, Iowa, Fox, Osage, Pottawattamie, Cherokee and Chickasaw. Other names derived from the Indians are: Anamosa, Monona, Okoboji, Pocahontas, Oskaloosa, and Ottumwa.
DISPOSITION OF IOWA LAND FOR PUBLIC PURPOSES.
The area of Iowa, according to latest official reports is fifty-five thousand, four hundred and seventy-five square miles or thirty-five million, five hundred and four thousand acres. From time to time disposition has been made of portions of this for the public good. Altogether there has been set aside for the support of the public schools, one million, five hundred and thirty-nine thousand, two
12
HISTORY OF TAYLOR COUNTY
hundred and fourteen acres. For the State University eighty-nine thousand, four hundred and thirty-seven acres. For the State Agricultural College two hundred and twenty-two thousand, one hundred and twenty-three acres. For the purpose of draining swamp lands, improving rivers, etc., one million, one hundred and ninety-two thousand and forty-four acres, and for railroads, four million, eight hundred and eighty-one thousand and thirty-six acres, making a total of seven million, nine hundred and twenty-three thousand, eight hundred and fifty- eight acres, of which it will be seen the railroads got the lion's share, but this liberality on the part of the state is undoubtedly responsible for the rapid progress lowa has made in material growth, in population, and in all that contributes to greatness in statehood.
SIXTY-TWO YEARS A STATE.
It was sixty-two years last December since Iowa was admitted as a state in the union. At the time of admission the population was one hundred and two thousand, three hundred and eighty-eight. The 1905 census gives the pop- ulation for that year, two million, two hundred and ten thousand and fifty. During this sixty-two years more than twenty-five million acres of wild prairie land has been brought under cultivation. From this land has been made two hun- dred and nine thousand, one hundred and sixty-three farms valued at one bil- lion, five hundred and fifty-two million, one hundred and six thousand, four hundred and forty-nine dollars. The buildings on these farms are valued at three hundred and three million, seven hundred and fifty thousand, nine hundred and seventy-five dollars. Provision for the education of children has been carefully looked after by the owners of these farms.
The little white school house is in evidence everywhere, with an attendance of five hundred and twenty-nine thousand, six hundred and forty-four. Un- exceptional facilities for higher education are found in the State University, the State Normal School, the College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts, and the numerous private colleges and academies over the state.
The last census disclosed that the total number of illiterates of school age or over, was twenty-eight thousand, nine hundred and seventy-seven or one and one-half per cent and the majority of illiterate persons are forty-five years of age or over.
Further illustrating the high standard of educational and moral sentiment. are the churches, whose spires may be seen in every city and village, and in many rural communities.
The church buildings of the state number three thousand, six hundred and nine, valued at twenty million, nine hundred and eighteen thousand, nine hun- dred and sixty dollars, with two hundred and eleven congregations worshiping in halls and other places. There are one thousand, nine hundred and sixty-six parsonages, valued at three million, nine hundred and three thousand, six hundred and thirty-nine dollars, which makes the total value of church property in the state, twenty-four million, eight hundred and twenty-two thousand, five hundred and ninety-nine dollars. The church membership is given as five hun-
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.