The history of Clinton County, Iowa, containing a history of the county, its cities, towns &c., biographical sketches of citizens, Part 1

Author: Western Historical Co
Publication date: 1879
Publisher: Chicago : Western historical company
Number of Pages: 812


USA > Iowa > Clinton County > The history of Clinton County, Iowa, containing a history of the county, its cities, towns &c., biographical sketches of citizens > Part 1


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THE


HISTORY


OF


CLINTON COUNTY,


IOWA.


CONTAINING


A history of the County, its Cities, Gowns,


Biographical Sketches of Citizens, War Record of its Volunteers in the late Rebellion, General and Local Statistics, Portraits of Early Settlers and Prominent Men, History of the Northwest, History of Iowa, Map of Clinton County, Constitution of the United States, Miscellaneous Matters, &c., &c.


ILLUSTRATED.


.


1


,


CHICAGO : WESTERN HISTORICAL COMPANY,


1879.


ulver pagenjoyne PRINTERS 118 &120 JALONROE ST CHICAGO C G


THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY Astor, Lencx and Tiden Found tips. 1996


809


PREFACE.


F ORTY-FOUR years have passed since civilization's advance guard, in the persons of MR. ELIJAH BUELL and family, first commenced the work of developing the rich agricultural lands now embraced within the boundaries of Clinton County. Had these pioneers, or those who soon followed them, directed their attention to keeping a diary of events, or a chronological journal, to write a history of the county at this date would be comparatively an easy task. In the absence of all such records, the difficulties of such a work were greatly increased, and still further by the death or removal of the larger pro- portion of the original settlers. More than this, the official records, many of which are altogether lost, are meager in the extreme. It must be further borne in mind that it was twenty years before the first newspaper was published in the county, and the files of that one were destroyed by fire. The struggles, changes and vicissitudes of forty-four years have made their marks upon the minds as well as bodies of those men who first "awoke the echoes " in the wilderness, and the memory of names, dates and events becomes lost in the confusion which seems to overtake them as they endeavor to bring up the scenes and events of their early manhood and womanhood, and the recollections of these events, which transpired nearly fifty years ago, come dimly and in shadowy outline. But enough has been written to show to the thoughtful reader the wonderful progress that has been made during those years, and to place before him a pict- ure of the "hundred-fold" harvest that has followed the first seedings of civilization-in the cultivated farms, schoolhouses, churches, cities, villages, rail- ways, telegraphs and manfacturing establishments-that are scattered throughout the whole county. The geology of the county was prepared by DR. P. J. FARNSWORTH, and also other valuable scientific assistance rendered to the


iii


PREFACE.


compiler in the succeeding chapters. The complete and exhaustive history of De Witt was prepared by R. J. CROUCH, EsQ., who also rendered other valuable assistance.


Acknowledgments are due to COL. J. VANDEVENTER, to MESSRS. ALLEN SLACK and B. B. HART for much valuable information ; to the county officials for courtesy in extending all possible aid during the examination of the rec- ords ; to the newspaper publishers for the use of files; to J. D. FEGAN for his patience " under fire" during a multitude of interviews; to DR. CHARLES H. LOTHROP for medical data, and HON. A. R. COTTON for the list of early attorneys; to City Clerks for access to city records; to the clergy of all denominations for church statistics; to the Secretaries of the various Orders and Societies; to SUPERINTENDENT J. S. OLIVER and other railway officials for statistical information ; to ELIJAHI BUELL, J. D. BOURNE, FRANKLIN K. PECK, DAVID and DANIEL HESS, LEVI DECKER, MRS. DANIEL H. PEARCE, E. M. OSBORN, THOMAS WATTS, JOHN PREFFER, S. N. BEDFORD, L. T. SLOAN, and scores of others of old settlers, as well as new, who have cheerfully assisted in furnishing items of interest for this work. To these parties is due, in a great measure. whatever of merit may be ascribed to this work. The compiler also acknowledges the valuable labors of MR. E. L. MOSES, who has assisted in the preparation of the work.


We would acknowledge our obligations to MR. LUCIUS P. ALLEN, the compiler of the history, who has labored with conscientious fidelity to make it thoroughly accurate. We have no doubt his energy and zeal in the prosecution of his duty have won for him not alone the approbation of his employers, but, also. of all with whom he has come in contact.


September, 1879.


THE PUBLISHERS.


CONTENTS.


HISTORY NORTHWEST AND STATE OF IOWA.


PAGE.


History Northwest Territory. 19


Geographical Position .. 19 Early Explorations. 20 Discovery of the Ohio. 32


English Explorations and Set- tlements .. 34 American Settlements. 59


Division of the Northwest Ter-


ritory .. 65


Tecumseh and the War of 1812 69


Black Hawk and the Black Hawk War. 73


Other Indian Troubles.


79


Present Condition of the North- west 79


Illinois 88


Illinois. 257


Iowa ....


260


Michigan


263


Wisconsin.


264


Minnesota.


266


Nebraska.


267


History of Iowa :


Geographical Situation 109 Topography .. 109


Drainage System.


110


PAGE.


History of Iowa:


Rivers 111


Lakes


.118


Springs


119


Prairies.


120


Geology


120


Climatology 137


Discovery and Occupation .139


Territory


147


Indians


147


Pike's Expedition 151


Indian Wars.


.152


Black Hawk War. 157


Indian Purchase, Reserves and Treaties ... 159


Spanish Grants 163


Early Settlements.


166


Territorial History.


173


Boundary Question


177


State Organization. 181


Growth and Progress


185


Agricultural College aud Farm.186


State University. .187


State Historical Society


193


Penitentiaries.


.194


History of Iowa:


PAGE.


Insane Hospitals .. .195


College for the Blind


.197


Deaf and Dumb Institution ..... 199


Soldiers' Orphans' Homes


.199


State Normal School


201


Asylum for Feeble Minded Children 201


Reform School 202


Fish latching Establishment .. 203


Public Lands


204


Public Schools. 218


Political Record 223


War Record.


229


Infantry


233


Cavalry ..


244


Artillery


247


Miscellaneous.


.248


Promotions from Iowa Reg-


iments.


249


Number Casualties-Officers.250


Number Casualties-Enlist-


ed Men


252


Number Volunteers .....


254


Population


255


Agricultural Statistics


320


ABSTRACT OF IOWA STATE LAWS.


PAGE.


Adoption of Children. .303


Bills of Exchange and Promissory Notes .. 293 Commercial Terms. 305


Capital Punishment. 298


Charitable, Scientific and Religious Associations 316


Descent 293 Damages from Trespass .. 300 Exemptions from Execution 298


Receipts. .306 Warranty Deed. .314 Wills and Codicils. 309 Estrays .. 299 Forms : Articles of Agreement ... 307 Fences .. 300 Bills of Sale .308 Bond for Deed. 315


Bills of Purchase.


.306


ILLUSTRATIONS.


PAGE.


Old Fort Dearborn, 1830


79


Lincoln Monument SO


A Pioneer School House. 81


A Pioneer Dwelling .. 6( Chicago in 1833. 82


Lake Bluff 62


Tecumseh, the Shawanoe Chieftain 68 Indians Attacking a Stockade. 71


Black Hawk, the Sac Chieftain ...


MISCELLANEOUS.


PAGE.


Surveyor's Measure .288


How to Keep Accounts . .... .. 288 Interest Table. .289


Miscellaneous Table 239 Congressmen ... 283


Names of the States of the Union


and their Significations. 290 United States Government Land


Measure .. 287


PAGE.


Map of Clinton County. Front. Constitution of United States. .. 269 Vote for President, Governor and


24


Trapping 28


Mouth of the Mississippi ..... 31


High Bridge.


33


Pontiac, the Ottawa Chieftain 42


Forms:


Chattel Mortgage .. ,314


Confession of Judgment. .. 306


Lease


312


Married Women.


.298


Mortgages.


310


Notice to Quit .. 309


Notes. 306, 313


Orders .. 306


Quit Claim Deed 315


Mechanics' Liens.


.301


Roads and Bridges


302


Surveyors and Surveys .. .303


Suggestions to Persons Purchasing Books by Subscription. 319


Support of Poor


303


Taxes.


.295


Wills and Estates


293


Weights and Measures


305


Wolf Scalps.


.300


PAGE.


PAGE.


Source of the Mississippi 22


La Salle Landing on the Shore of


Chicago, 1833. 58 Buffalo Hunt 26


Hunting Prairie Wolves. 8.5


Kinzie House


87


Starved Rock


89


74 | An Early Settlement 108


Interest. 293 Intoxicating Liquors .. .317


Jurisdiction of Courts 297


PAGE.


PAGE.


Jurors.


.297


Limitation of Actions .297 Landlord and Tenant. .304


Marks and Brands ..


300


Indians Attacking Frontiersmen .. 55 Present Site Lake Street Bridge,


PAGE.


Population of the United States ..... 291


Population of Fifty Principal Cities of the United States .. .. 291 Population and Area of the United States .292 Population of the Principal Coun- tries in the World. .202


Practical Rules for Every-Day Use .. 284


Green Bay


Half-Breed Tract ...


164


Indiana


259


vi


CONTENTS.


HISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTY.


PAGE.


Prefatory .323


Name. .. 324


Descriptive Geography. 324


Geology, 324


City Government. .. 503 Masonic. 593


Educational. 505 Odd Fellows. 596


Public Libraries. .508


Post Office .... .509


Water Works. 509


Mythical .334 Gas Works. .511 Female College 601 Our Lady of Angels Seminary ... 601 Early Settlement ... 337 Religious .511 Riverside Institute


General Summary


346


rganization. 349


Board of County Commissioners .... 350 Resumé 352


Change of Township Boundaries ... 366


372


First Courts 373


R. C. T. A. & B. S .523 District Court. 377 Clinton Bridge Co. County Judges. 377


Circuit Court. 377


District Attorneys. 377


Clerks of the Court. 378


Sheriffs. 378


County Officers 378


Legislative .. 379


Territorial Legislation 379


State Legislation .. 379


Political Economy. 380


Sociological 382


Domestic Life 384 Summary 535


Security 386


Roads and Traveling. 387


Mail Routes. 388


Early Religious Ilistory. 391


Tornadoes 395


Court House Controversy. 406


The Underground Railroad 413


Churches .557


Center Township ...


639


Welton Township


641


Orange Township. 643


Liberty Township.


645 Sharon Township. 646


Berlin Township.


6.17


Hampshire Township 648


Miscellaneous 649


River Reminiscences 65I


Railroads vs. Rivers 652 Envoy C55


Dubuque Melee. 657 Early Statistics. 658


Miscellaneous Incidents. 659


Population 661


Vote, 1878 662-663


Land and Field Crops, 1875. 664 County Expenses, 1878 665


Taxes, 1878


665


Valuation


666


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.


PAGE.


Berlin


806


De Witt


.736


Olive


,808


Brookfield


.725


Eden


754


Orange


758


Bloomfield. 708


Camanche 768


Center 775


Lincoln .. .751


Washington 814


Waterford 716


Welton 764


LITHOGRAPHIC PORTRAITS.


PAGE.


N. Boardman


411


A. P. Hosford


.375


J. Stine 393


P. S. Towle


.... .... .519


Elijah Buell


.323


A. R. Cotton .339


Samuel Sadoris .483


A. E. Winchell 465


PAGF.


Errata


817


PAGE.


Chicago, Iowa & Nebraska R. R.493


Railroad Property and Officials 495


City Government. 585 Clinton Bridge. .. 497


Knights of Pythias. 596 Knights of Honor. 596 Public Schools .. 597


Young Men's Library Associa- tion .. 602


Street Railway 603


Water Works. 604 Paper Mill 604 Municipal Matters. 605


Finances. 605


Lumber Interests. 606


Paper Company .525 Banks. 607


Lumber Interest 525 Other Industries. 608


C. Lamb & Sons. 526 Telephonic .. 608


Clinton Lumber Company


527


Sash Factory .528


Banks 529


Press. 530


Business Statistics .531


Finances .. 532


Deep Creek Township


612


Elk River Township


Waterford Township. 617


.621


Brookfield and Bloomfield Town- ships .. 636


Olive Township


631


Calamus


.633


Eden Township.


+36


Washington Township. 638


Press


.561


Medical. 424 Societies .565


Attorneys 433 Camanche .. 567


Insane and Poor 436


Pioneer Detectives 437


Hanging of Warren. 439


Hanging of Barger 442


Hanging of Iliner 443


Beaver Island " War " 4.14


Claim Business. 444


Lost Child 446


A Pioneer Woman's Expedient 419


Legend of Jakey Lepper. 450


War History .453 Camanche Township. 576 Roster 460 Spring Rock .576


Clinton 488


Wheatland .577


Churches 578


Lodges .579


Press .579


Lyons. .580


Chronicles.


583


Churches. 589


Meteorology 326


Botany 328


Zoology .330


Ethnology and Archeology. 332


Masonic .. 517


A. O U. W .521


Odd Fellows. 521


Knights of Maccabees. .522


Iowa Legion ot Honor. .522


German Society .. 523


Union Iron Works.


.524


Newspapers.


508


.610 Old-fashioned Fourth of July .. 609 Order, etc.


Summary Ringwood 612


611


Clinton Institute .533


De Witt Township .. 540


Early Ilistory .540


Incidents, etc. 545


Town of De Witt. .548


Incorporation. .550


Town Officers


First Schools. .57I


Newspapers ... .571


Churches .. 571


Societies. 572


Incorporation .573


City Officers


573


Early Business Men. 574


Burglaries, .575


An Eccentric Character. .575


Business Directory .. .575 Sanitary 658


Iowa Land Co .488 Original Plat and Additions .... 490


Calico and other Chimerical


Clinton 669


Deep Creek 784


Lyons .697


PAGE.


PAGE.


James D. Bourne. .....


.3.57


W. McQuigg. ... 50I


H. A. Merrill. .. 429


G. W. Thorn .. .. 447


Spring Rock 790


Sharon


Elk River. .. 789


Hamp-hire .. 722


Liberty 804


PAGE.


PAGE.


Railways 491


PAGE.


Board of Supervisors.


.. 523


.550


Old Settlers' Meeting 4IG


THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.


GEOGRAPHICAL POSITION.


When the Northwestern Territory was ceded to the United States by Virginia in 1784, it embraced only the territory lying between the Ohio and the Mississippi Rivers, and north to the northern limits of the United States. It coincided with the area now embraced in the States of Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, and that portion of Minnesota lying on the east side of the Mississippi River. The United States itself at that period extended no farther west than the Mississippi River ; but by the purchase of Louisiana in 1803, the western boundary of the United States was extended to the Rocky Mountains and the Northern Pacific Ocean. The new territory thus added to the National domain, and subsequently opened to settlement, has been called the "New Northwest," in contradistinction from the old "Northwestern Territory."


In comparison with the old Northwest this is a territory of vast magnitude. It includes an area of 1,887,850 square miles ; being greater in extent than the united areas of all the Middle and Southern States, including Texas. Out of this magnificent territory have been erected eleven sovereign States and eight Territories, with an aggregate popula- tion, at the present time, of 13,000.000 inhabitants, or nearly one third of the entire population of the United States.


Its lakes are fresh-water seas, and the larger rivers of the continent flow for a thousand miles through its rich alluvial valleys and far- stretching prairies, more acres of which are arable and productive of the highest percentage of the cereals than of any other area of like extent on the globe.


For the last twenty years the increase of population in the North- west has been about as three to one in any other portion of the United States.


(19)


20


THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.


EARLY EXPLORATIONS.


In the year 1541, DeSoto first saw the Great West in the New World. He, however, penetrated no farther north than the 35th parallel of latitude. The expedition resulted in his death and that of more than half his army, the remainder of whom found their way to Cuba, thence to Spain, in a famished and demoralized condition. DeSoto founded no settlements, produced no results, and left no traces, unless it were that he awakened the hostility of the red man against the white man, and disheartened such as might desire to follow up the career of discovery for better purposes. The French nation were eager and ready to seize upon any news from this extensive domain, and were the first to profit by DeSoto's defeat. Yet it was more than a century before any adventurer took advantage of these discoveries.


In 1616, four years before the pilgrims "moored their bark on the wild New England shore," Le Caron, a French Franciscan, had pene- trated through the Iroquois and Wyandots (Hurons) to the streams which run into Lake Huron ; and in 1634, two Jesuit missionaries founded the first mission among the lake tribes. It was just one hundred years from the discovery of the Mississippi by DeSoto (1541) until the Canadian envoys met the savage nations of the Northwest at the Falls of St. Mary, below the outlet of Lake Superior. This visit led to no permanent result ; yet it was not until 1659 that any of the adventurous fur traders attempted to spend a Winter in the frozen wilds about the great lakes, nor was it until 1660 that a station was established upon their borders by Mesnard, who perished in the woods a few months after. In 1665, Claude Allouez built the earliest lasting habitation of the white .man among the Indians of the Northwest. In 1668, Claude Dablon and James Marquette founded the mission of Sault Ste. Marie at the Falls of St. Mary, and two years afterward, Nicholas Perrot, as agent for M. Talon, Governor Gen- eral of Canada, explored Lake Illinois (Michigan) as far south as the present City of Chicago, and invited the Indian nations to meet him at a grand council at Sault Ste. Marie the following Spring, where they were taken under the protection of the king, and formal possession was taken of the Northwest. This same year Marquette established a mission at Point St. Ignatius, where was founded the old town of Michillimackinac.


During M. Talon's explorations and Marquette's residence at St. Ignatius, they learned of a great river away to the west, and fancied -as all others did then-that upon its fertile banks whole tribes of God's children resided, to whom the sound of the Gospel had never come. Filled with a wish to go and preach to them, and in compliance with a


21


THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.


request of M. Talon, who earnestly desired to extend the domain of his king, and to ascertain whether the river flowed into the Gulf of Mexico or the Pacific Ocean, Marquette with Joliet, as commander of the expe- dition, prepared for the undertaking.


On the 13th of May, 1673, the explorers, accompanied by five assist- ant French Canadians, set out from Mackinaw on their daring voyage of discovery. The Indians, who gathered to witness their departure, were astonished at the boldness of the undertaking, and endeavored to dissuade them from their purpose by representing the tribes on the Mississippi as exceedingly savage and cruel, and the river itself as full of all sorts of frightful monsters ready to swallow them and their canoes together. But, nothing daunted by these terrific descriptions, Marquette told them he was willing not only to encounter all the perils of the unknown region they were about to explore, but to lay down his life in a cause in which the salvation of souls was involved ; and having prayed together they separated. Coasting along the northern shore of Lake Michigan, the adventurers entered Green Bay, and passed thence up the Fox River and Lake Winnebago to a village of the Miamis and Kickapoos. Here Mar- quette was delighted to find a beautiful cross planted in the middle of the town ornamented with white skins, red girdles and bows and arrows, which these good people had offered to the Great Manitou, or God, to thank him for the pity he had bestowed on them during the Winter in giving them an abundant " chase." This was the farthest outpost to which Dablon and Allouez had extended their missionary labors the year previous. Here Marquette drank mineral waters and was instructed in the secret of a root which cures the bite of the venomous rattlesnake. He assembled the chiefs and old men of the village, and, pointing to Joliet, said : "My friend is an envoy of France, to discover new coun- tries, and I am an ambassador from God to enlighten them with the truths of the Gospel." Two Miami guides were here furnished to conduct them to the Wisconsin River, and they set out from the Indian village on the 10th of June, amidst a great crowd of natives who had assembled to witness their departure into a region where no white man had ever yet ventured. The guides, having conducted them across the portage, returned. The explorers launched their canoes upon the Wisconsin, which they descended to the Mississippi and proceeded down its unknown waters. What emotions must have swelled their breasts as they struck out into the broadening current and became conscious that they were now upon the bosom of the Father of Waters. The mystery was about to be lifted from the long-sought river. The scenery in that locality is beautiful, and on that delightful seventeenth of June must have been clad in all its primeval loveliness as it had been adorned by the hand of


22


THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.


Nature. Drifting rapidly, it is said that the bold bluffs on either hand "reminded them of the castled shores of their own beautiful rivers of France." By-and-by, as they drifted along, great herds of buffalo appeared on the banks. On going to the heads of the valley they could see a country of the greatest beauty and fertility, apparently destitute of inhab- itants yet presenting the appearance of extensive manors, under the fas- tidious cultivation of lordly proprietors.


SOURCE OF TIIE MISSISSIPPI.


On June 25, they went ashore and found some fresh traces of men upon the sand, and a path which led to the prairie. The men remained in the boat, and Marquette and Joliet followed the path till they discovered a village on the banks of a river, and two other villages on a hill, within a half league of the first, inhabited by Indians. They were received most hospitably by these natives, who had never before seen a white person. After remaining a few days they re-embarked and descended the river to about latitude 33°, where they found a village of the Arkansas, and being satisfied that the river flowed into the Gulf of Mexico, turned their course


23


THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.


up the river, and ascending the stream to the mouth of the Illinois, rowed up that stream to its source, and procured guides from that point to the lakes. " Nowhere on this journey," says Marquette, "did we see such grounds, meadows, woods, stags, buffaloes, deer, wildcats, bustards, swans, ducks, parroquets, and even beavers, as on the Illinois River." The party, without loss or injury, reached Green Bay in September, and reported their discovery-one of the most important of the age, but of which no record was preserved save Marquette's, Joliet losing his by the upsetting of his canoe on his way to Quebec. Afterward Marquette returned to the Illinois Indians by their request, and ministered to them until 1675. On the 18th of May, in that year, as he was passing the mouth of a stream-going with his boatmen up Lake Michigan-he asked to land at its mouth and celebrate Mass. Leaving his men with the canoe, he retired a short distance and began his devotions. As much time passed and he did not return, his men went in search of him, and found him upon his knees, dead. He had peacefully passed away while at prayer. He was buried at this spot. Charlevoix, who visited the place fifty years after, found the waters had retreated from the grave, leaving the beloved missionary to repose in peace. The river has since been called Marquette.


While Marquette and his companions were pursuing their labors in the West, two men, differing widely from him and each other, were pre- paring to follow in his footsteps and perfect the discoveries so well begun by him. These were Robert de La Salle and Louis Hennepin.


After La Salle's return from the discovery of the Ohio River (see the narrative elsewhere), he established himself again among the French trading posts in Canada. Here he mused long upon the pet project of those ages-a short way to China and the East, and was busily planning an expedition up the great lakes, and so across the continent to the Pacific, when Marquette returned from the Mississippi. At once the vigorous mind of LaSalle received from his and his companions' stories the idea that by fol- lowing the Great River northward, or by turning up some of the numerous western tributaries, the object could easily be gained. He applied to Frontenac, Governor General of Canada, and laid before him the plan, dim but gigantic. Frontenac entered warmly into his plans, and saw that. LaSalle's idea to connect the great lakes by a chain of forts with the Gulf of Mexico would bind the country so wonderfully together, give un- measured power to France, and glory to himself, under whose adminis- tration he earnestly hoped all would be realized.


LaSalle now repaired to France, laid his plans before the King, who warmly approved of them, and made him a Chevalier. He also received from all the noblemen the warmest wishes for his success. The Chev-


24


THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.


alier returned to Canada, and busily entered upon his work. He at once rebuilt Fort Frontenac and constructed the first ship to sail on these fresh-water seas. On the 7th of August, 1679, having been joined by Hennepin, he began his voyage in the Griffin up Lake Erie. He passed over this lake, through the straits beyond, up Lake St. Clair and into IIuron. In this lake they encountered heavy storms. They were some time at Michillimackinac, where LaSalle founded a fort, and passed on to Green Bay, the " Baie des Puans " of the French, where he found a large quantity of furs collected for him. He loaded the Griffin with these, and placing her under the care of a pilot and fourteen sailors,


LA SALLE LANDING ON THE SHORE OF GREEN BAY.


started her on her return voyage. The vessel was never afterward heard of. He remained about these parts until early in the Winter, when, hear- ing nothing from the Griffin, he collected all the men-thirty working men and three monks-and started again upon his great undertaking.




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