USA > Iowa > Polk County > The history of Polk County, Iowa : containing a history of the county, its cities, towns, &c., biographical sketches of its citizens, war record of its volunteers in the late rebellion, general and local statistics, portraits of early settlers and prominent men > Part 1
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GENEALOGY COLLECTION
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ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01081 5014
Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2018
https://archive.org/details/historyofpolkcou00unio_0
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Post Office,
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FIRST POST-OFFICE BUILDING IN DES MOINES. BUILT IN 1850, BY , HOYT SHERMAN . POST MASTER .
THE
HISTORY
OF
POLK COUNTY,
IOWA ,
8
CONTAINING
A History of the County, its Cities, Towns, &c.,
Biographical Sketches of its Citizens, War Record of its Volunteers in the late Re- bellion, General and Local Statistics, Portraits of Early Settlers and Prom- inent Men, History of the Northwest, History of Iowa, Map of Polk County, Constitution of Iowa, Miscellaneous Matters, &c., &c.
ILLUSTRATED.
DES MOINES: UNION HISTORICAL COMPANY, BIRDSALL, WILLIAMS & CO. 1880.
-
1
Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1880, by
THE UNION HISTORICAL COMPANY, 1
In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C.
MILLS & COMPANY, PRINTERS AND STEREOTYPERS, DES MOINES, IOWA.
1142756
PREFACE.
AFTER months of persevering effort we have at last completed the history of Polk county ; the result proves that we did not overestimate the importance and difficulty of the task. The importance and difficulty of the work result from the same cause, viz: the almost total lack of reliable data. This difficulty has, in a measure, been overcome by a systematic canvass of the whole county whereby we have been enabled to gather together, glean and compile into comprehensible and permanent form, what, until now, has floated about in the changing mists of tradition; the reader will readily realize how difficult has been this task, and how important, that the work is done at this comparatively early date. The first settlers who acted so important a part in the history of the county, and who heretofore. have been the sole custodians of much material essential for such a work as this, are rapidly disappearing from among us, and those who remain become less and less reliable as year by year the memory of early times grows indistinct.
The importance of the work is enhanced by the fact that Polk county, owing to its location, is the center of the agricultural resources of the State, and further, by the recently developed fact that it contains the metropolis of the State. In order to devote that attention to the various interests of the county which its central import- ance seemed to demand, we supposed it would be necessary to make a book of from nine hundred to one thousand pages. The publication of such a book for a patronage limited to a single county, was a hazardous undertaking, viewed from a business stand-point. Much solicitude was felt on this account during the first stages of the enterprise; but what misgivings we may have felt have been dispelled by the generous patronage afforded by the people of the county. We have been so far encouraged by the patronage vouchsafed that the work has been extended far beyond the scope orig- inally intended, and instead of a book of from nine hundred to one thousand pages, as promised in our prospectus, the book approximates eleven hundred pages. Our solic- itude for the success of the enterprise in a business sense was natural, but it has not been our sole solicitude; we have likewise intensely desired to make the work reli- able, full and attractive, and thereby to merit the public favor which the people of the county have extended to us. In presenting the work to our many hundred readers we have the satisfaction of knowing that they are of sufficient intelligence to appre- ciate merit when found, and of further believing that errors will be criticised with the understanding that book-making, like all other kinds of labor, has its peculiar vicissitudes.
We have been materially aided in the preparation of the work by many persons in the county who made no claim for compensation, and who expect no reward, except that which comes from consciousness of having aided in a worthy enterprise. Such persons deserve the thanks of their fellow-citizens in the county and different townships where they reside; as for the publishers, they avail themselves of this opportunity to thank all who have aided them in the preparation of the book; what-
,
iv
PREFACE.
ever of merit the history of Polk county may contain is due, in a large measure, to their assistance; without their friendly words of encouragement the enterprise would not have been entered upon, and it having been begun, could not have been completed without their valuable assistance. Among others to whom we are thus indebted we name the following: P. M. Casady, Hoyt Sherman, R. L. Tidrick, Bar- low Granger, Thomas Mitchell, and Leonard Brown; these are all Polk county pio- neers; and in reference to the history of the county, each one can truthfully say, " All which I saw and part of which I was."
To each and all of our patrons we come with the satisfaction of knowing that we bring what we guaranteed, and in the belief that should any of them not appreciate the work, the time will come when their children will.
THE PUBLISHERS.
CONTENTS.
HISTORICAL.
PAGE.
Archæology of the Northwest. 59
Sketches of Western and
Northwestern States 67 Expedition of Lewis and Clarke 86 Sketch of Chicago ... 96
History of Iowa: 169
Descriptive and Geographical
Geology of Iowa ..
.117
The Judiciary
176
Congressional Representation. 177
State Agricultural Society.
.178
Centennial Awards
191
HISTORY OF POLK COUNTY.
PAGE.
CHAPTER I -PREFATORY. The
County -- its Location and Name -- Plan and Scope of this Work -The War with Mexico-Its Battles Commemorated and Warriors Honored in the Or- ganization of Iowa Counties- President Polk .. .. 241-249 CHAPTER II .- PHYSICAL FEA- TURES. Situation-Extent- Surface-Rivers-Timber -- Cli- mate-Prairies-Soils-Geolo- gy-Coal-Mineral Springs.249-276 CHAPTER III .-- INDIAN AF- FAIRS-Policy of the Govern- ment-Treaties -- Annuities - Sac and Fox Indians -Keokuk -Wapello -- Poweshiek-Inci- dents-Neutral Strip-The Pot- tawattamies -- Johnny Greene- The Sioux --- The Lott Atrocity, The Revenge and Retalia-
tion .. . 276-302
CHAPTER IV .- EARLY SETTLE- MENT. First beginnings -- First Settlers-Ft. DesMoines -- Capt. Allen-The Dragoons-Indian Traders-Government Attach- ees-Thrift, the Tailor -- Peter Newcomer-Thomas Mitchell -John Saylor-J. D. Parmelee -Benj. Bryant -- Settlements at Fort Des Moines-South of Des
PAGE.
Moines- North of Des Moines -- Big Creek-Four Mile-Camp Creek-Skunk River -- Indian Creek-Beaver Creek-Walnut Creek -- General Summary.303-358 CHAPTER V .-- PIONEER LIFE. Pioneer Peculiarities-Conven- iences and Inconveniences- The Historical Log Cabin-Im- plements -- Furniture -- Corn- bread-Hand Mills and Homi- ny Blocks -- Mills -- Trading Points -- The Pioneer Stock Dealer-Hunting -- Gold Excite- ment -- Western Stage Com- pany --- Claim Clubs -- Border Sketch-Surveys -- First Rec- ords-Growth of County-Ta- ble of Events .... ... 359-416
CHAPTER VI .-- ORGANIZATION OF COUNTY. Origin of County and Township Organization- Condition before Organization -Act Organizing Polk and Jas- per Counties --- Subsequent Change of Boundaries -- Ap- pointment of Commissioners to Locate County Seat-First Election -- Proceedings of Coun- ty Commissioners-License- Ferries-Roads-Election Pre- cincts-County Judge System -Township System-Board of
PAGE.
Supervisors --- First
Courts --
Publie Buildings .... ... . . 416-457
CHAPTER VII .--- ADDITIONAL COUNTY AFFAIRS. First Courts -- The Early Bar of Polk County
-- Finances -- Political --- Official Directory .457-495
CHAPTER
VIII .--- Schools --
Churches -- Old Settlers' Asso- ciation. .496 -- 515
CHAPTER IX .-- INCIDENTS-AC- CIDENTS AND CRIMES ..... 515-535
CHAPTER X .- POLK COUNTY IN THE WAR .536 -- 601
CHAPTER XI .- LAND GRANTS- Des Moines --- Improvement --- Leonard Brown's Recollections of Men and Things. .... 602 -- 619
CHAPTER XII .-. TOWNSHIPS- CITIES AND TOWNS. Des
Moines, its organization- Churches-Schools -- Newspa- pers-Civic Societies-Corpo- rations for Pecuniary Benefit -- Fire Department-Railroads- Private Banks-Public Build- ings -- Hotels -- Coal Mining- Manufactures -- Wholesale Houses-The City-A History in Rhyme -- Early Reminis- cences -- Population of the County. 619
ILLUSTRATIONS.
PAGE.
PAGE.
Westward the Star of Empire
takes its Way. 17
Chicago, in 1820 97
Present Site Lake Street Bridge,
Breaking Prairie .. 145
Lincoln School Building
.683
First P. O. in Des Moines.
Front
LITHOGRAPHIC PORTRAITS.
PAGE.
PAGE.
PAGE.
Isaac Brandt.
615
J. K. Hobaugh
. 648
J. A. Nash 351
P. M. Casady
283
J. C. Jordan .411
Peter Newcomer 479
Isaac Cooper.
385
Daniel Justice 513
Hoyt Sherman .317
E. M. Ford. .581
W. H. Merritt. .547
Barlow Granger. .445 Thomas Mitchell .257
PAGE.
Early Settlements and Territo- rial Organization. 141
Territory of Iowa.
153
State Organization
158
Educational.
162
State Institutions.
Railroads 172
The Louisiana Purchase. 28 Sketch. . 105 Official Record 174
Economic Geology 125
How the Title to Iowa Lands is
derived. 130 Rivers 56
PAGE.
The Northwest Territory :
Early French Explorations in the Mississippi Valley. 7 Early Settlements in the North- west :... 14 The Northwestern Territory .. 22
Indian Wars in the Northwest 34 Sketches of Black Hawk and other Chiefs 42 Early Navigation of Western
Indians Trying a Prisoner. 49 Chicago, 1833. 97
Old Fort Dearborn, 1830. . .103
The " Old Kinzie House " .103
A Prairie Home 129
An Indian Camp. 33
A Pioneer Winter 65
PAGE.
Lincoln Mon., Springfield, Ill ... 72
vi
CONTENTS.
BIOGRAPHICAL TOWNSHIP DIRECTORY.
PAGE.
Allen
921
Des Moines (Des Moines and
Madison 1025
Beaver. 931
Lee Townships) 761
Saylor
960
Bloomfield 902 Elkhart 1017
Camp
926
Four Mile 918
Walnut 891
Clay
941
Franklin 1003
Crocker. 987 Grant. 912
Delaware
954
Jefferson 975
Douglas
993
Lincoln 1021
ABSTRACT OF IOWA STATE LAWS.
PAGE.
PAGE.
PAGE.
Adoption of Children .. . 203
Forms :
Confession of Judgment .. 208
Landlord and Tenant . .206
Lease .214
Capital Punishment. .199
Mortgages .212, 213
Commercial Terms .. 208
Notice to Quit. 210
Damages from Trespass. 201
Descent. 195
Estray's .201
Quit-claim Deed. 216
Receipts .. 208
Roads and Bridges 204
Surveyors and Surveys .204
Support of Poor. 205
Taxes
.197
Bills of Sale 210
Bond for Deed .217
Bills of Purchase. . 207
Chattel Mortgage.
215
Jurisdiction of Courts
198
MISCELLANEOUS.
PAGE.
PAGE.
Map of Polk County
Front.
Constitution of State of Iowa .. 220
Map of Original Town of Fort
Statistics. .183
The Pioneer
. 256
Des Moines .666
. 204
Purchasing Books by Subscrip-
tion .
.219
Exemption from Executions .. .200
Fences.
.202
Forms :
Article of Agreement 209
Game Laws:
Birds and Quadrupeds 217
Wills and Estates. .196
Fish and Fish Ways 218
Weights and Measures
.207
Interest
.195
Wolf Scalps
201
Jurors. 199
Bills of Exchange and Promis- sory Notes 195
Limitation of Actions. .199
Married Women. . 200
Marks and Brands .201
Mechanics' Liens.
Notes. . .
207-215
Orders .207
Wills and Codicils .211, 212
Warranty Deed 216
PAGE.
Valley 965
Washington 1012
Webster 970
PAGE.
PAGE.
B
PEORIA CITY
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-
vi
CONTENTS.
BIOGRAPHICAL TOWNSHIP DIRECTORY.
PAGE.
PAGE.
PAGE.
Allen
921
Des Moines (Des Moines and
Madison 1025
Beaver
931
Lee Townships) 761
Saylor
960
Bloomfield
902
Elkhart 1017
Valley 965
Camp.
926
Four Mile. 918
Walnut
891
Clay
941 |
Franklin .1003
912
Delaware
954
Jefferson 975
Douglas
993
Lincoln 1021
ABSTRACT OF IOWA STATE LAWS.
PAGE.
PAGE.
PAGE.
Adoption of Children ... .. 203
Forms :
Confession of Judgment. .208
Lease
.. 214
Limitation of Actions 199
Capital Punishment.
.199
Mortgages . .212, 213
Commercial Terms. .208
Notice to Quit. .210
Notes. . . . 207-215
Mechanics' Liens.
. 204
Descent 195
Orders 207
Quit-claim Deed. 216
Receipts . 208
Roads and Bridges 204
Surveyors and Surveys . 204
Support of Poor 205
Taxes
197
Bills of Sale 210
Bond for Deed .217
Bills of Purchase .207
Chattel Mortgage.
.. 215
Jurisdiction of Courts
198
MISCELLANEOUS.
PAGE.
PAGE.
Map of Polk County.
Front.
Constitution of State of Iowa .. 220
Map of Original Town of Fort
Statistics.
.183
The Pioneer
.256
Des Moines .... ... 666
Married Women. 200
Marks and Brands .201
Damages from Trespass. 201
Estrays .201
Exemption from Executions. .200
Fences. .202
Forms :
Article of Agreement. .209
Game Laws:
Birds and Quadrupeds 217
Wills and Estates
196
Fish and Fish Ways
.218
Weights and Measures
207
Interest
195
Wolf Scalps
201
Washington 1012
Crocker 987
Grant ..
Webster
970
Jurors. .199
Bills of Exchange and Promis- sory Notes .195
Landlord and Tenant . .206
Purchasing Books by Subscrip- tion . .219
Wills and Codicils .211, 212
Warranty Deed 216
PAGE.
MAP OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA.
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WHITE OAK CR.
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ANDREWS
BEAVER
DES MOINES
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
EARLY FRENCH EXPLORATIONS IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY.
De Soto-Le Caron-Samuel de Champlain-French Adventurers-James Marquette-Louis Joliet - Embarkation to Explore New Countries - Lake Michigan and Green Bay -The "Quisconsin " - Indian Accounts of the Country - Discovering the Great River - Indian Name of the River -- Joy of the Explorers-Interview with Indians on Iowa Soil-Feast- Speech of an Indian Chief-The Des Moines River-" Muddy Water " - The Arkansas- Return-Indian Nations - Marquette's Record - His Subsequent Voyage-La Vantum- Marquette's Death -- Removal of His Remains-Joliet's Subsequent Explorations-Robert La Salle-Louis Hennepin-Chevalier de Tonti-De La Motte-Fort Crevecoeur -- Henne- pin's Voyage-Falls of St. Anthony-Seur de Luth-Hennepin's Claims as an Explorer- Colonization of Louisiana-Dissensions-Murder of La Salle.
THE three great colonizing powers of the Old World first to raise the standard of civilization within the limits of North America were France, England, and Spain. The French made their earliest settlements in the cold and inhospitable regions of Quebec; the English at Jamestown, Vir- ginia, and at Plymouth, Massachusetts; and the Spaniards on the barren sands of Florida. To the French belongs the honor of discovering and colo- nizing that portion of our country known as the Valley of the Mississippi, including all that magnificent region watered by the tributaries of the Grea, River. It is true that more than one hundred years earlier (1538-41) tht Spanish explorer, De Soto, had landed on the coast of Florida, penetrated the everglades and unbroken forests of the south, finally reaching the banks of the Great River, probably near where the city of Memphis now stands. Crossing the river, he and his companions pursued their journey for some distance along the west bank, thence to the Ozark Mountains and the Hot Springs of Arkansas, and returning to the place of his death on the banks of the Mississippi. It was a perilous expedition indeed, characterized by all the splendor, romance and valor which usually attended Spanish adventurers of that age. De Soto and his companions were the first Europeans to behold the waters of the Mississippi, but the expedition was a failure so far as related to colonization. The requiem chanted by his companions as his remains were committed to the waters of the great river he had discovered, died away with the solemn murmurs of the stream, and the white man's voice was not heard again in the valley for more than ahundred years. De Soto had landed at Tampa Bay, on the coast of Florida, with a fleet of nine ves- sels and seven hundred men. More than half of them died, and the remainder made their way to Cuba, and finally back to Spain.
Four years before the pilgrims "moored their bark on the wild New Eng- land shore," a French Franciscan, named Le Caron, penetrated the region of
8
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
the great lakes of the north, then the home of the Iroquois and the Hurons, but a French settlement had been established at Quebec by Samuel de Champlain in 1608. This was followed by the establishment of various colonies in Canada, and the hardy French adventurers penetrated the coun- try by the way of the St. Lawrence and the lakes. In 1625 a number of missionaries of the Society of Jesus arrived in Canada from France, and during the succeeding forty years extended their missions all along the shores of Lake Superior.
In 1637 a child was born at the little city of Laon, in France, whose destiny it was in the fullness of time to be instrumental in the hands of Providence in giving to the world a definite knowledge of the grandest and most fertile region ever opened up to civilization. That child was James Marquette, the descendant of a family of Celtic nobles. He entered the Society of Jesus when seventeen years of age, and soon conceived a desire to engage in the labors of a missionary among the Indians. He sailed for Quebec in 1666, and two years later founded the mission of Sault Ste. Marie at the Falls of St. Mary. The winter of 1669-70 he spent at Point St. . Ignatius, where he established another mission. Here the old town of Michillimackinac, afterward called Mackinaw, was founded. It was from Indian's of the different tribes who came to this mission that he received some vague intimations of the great river-the father of all the rivers. He at once conceived a desire to penetrate to the banks of the wonderful river, and carry his missionary work to the tribes which he had learned inhabited its borders. He applied to his Superior, Claude Dablon, for permission to "seek new nations toward the Southern sea." The authorities at Quebec were equally desirous of having new regions explored, and therefore appointed Louis Joliet to embark upon a voyage of discovery. Joliet was a native of Quebec and had been educated in a Jesuit College. He had at the age of eighteen taken minor orders, but had abandoned all thoughts of the priest- hood and engaged in the fur trade. He was now twenty-seven years of age, with a mind ripe for adventure. He left Quebec, and arriving at Mackinaw found Father Marquette highly delighted with the information that they were to be companions in a voyage which was to extend the domain of the King of France, as well as to carry the Gospel to new nations of people. The explorers, accompanied by five assistants, who were French Canadians, started on their journey, May 13, 1673. Marquette has himself recorded in the fol- lowing simple language their feelings on this occasion: "We were embark- ing on a voyage the character of which we could not foresee. Indian corn, with some dried meat, was our whole stock of provisions. With this we set out in two bark canoes, M. Joliet, myself and five men, firmly resolved to do all and suffer all for so glorious an enterprise." They coasted along the northern shore of Lake Michigan, entered Green Bay, and passed up the Fox river, carrying their canoes across the Portage to the "Ouisconsin," now called Wisconsin. At Lake Winnebago, before crossing the Portage, they stopped at an Indian village, which was the furthest outpost to which Dab- lon and Allouez had extended their missionary work. Here they assembled the chiefs and old men of the village and told them of the objects of the voyage. Pointing to Joliet, Father Marquette said: "My friend is an envoy of France to discover new countries, and I am an ambassador from God to enlighten them with the truths of the Gospel." The Indians furnished two guides to conduct them to the Wisconsin river. It is related that a tribe of Indians endeavored to dissuade them from pursuing their perilous journey
9
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
by telling of desperate and savage tribes that they would meet; that the forests and the rivers were infested with frightful monsters; that there were great fish in the rivers that would swallow up men and canoes together, and of a demon who could be heard from a great distance, and who destroyed all who approached. Unmoved by these frightful stories, Marquette, Joliet, and their five brave assistants, launched their little canoes on the waters of the Wisconsin, and moved slowly down the current. After a lapse of seven days, June 17th, 1673, they reached the mouth of the Wisconsin and glided into the current of the Mississippi, a few miles below the place now known as Prairie du Chien. Here, and on this day, the eye of the white man for the first time looked upon the waters of the Upper Mississippi. Marquette called the river "The Broad River of the Conception." The Indian name is derived from the Algonquin language, one of the original tongues of the continent. It is a compound of the words Missi, signifying great, and Sepe, a river.
The explorers felt the most intense joy on beholding the scene presented to their enraptured vision. Here was the great river whose waters somewhere thousands of miles away flowed into a Southern sea, and whose broad valley was the fairest and richest in the world, but unknown to civilized man, save as an almost forgotten dream or a vague romance. They had solved one of the great mysteries of the age in which they lived. As they glided down the stream the bold bluffs reminded Marquette of the "castled shores of his own beautiful rivers in France." The far stretching prairies alternating with forests, on either side, were adorned in all the wild glories of June. Birds sang the same notes that they had sung for ages amid those "forests prime- val," while herds of buffalo, deer and elk were alarmed and fled to the dense retreats of the forest or the broad prairies beyond. Not until the 25th June did they discover any signs of human habitation. Then, about sixty leagues, as they thought, below the mouth of the Wisconsin, at a place where they landed on the west bank of the river, they found in the sand the foot-prints of man. Marquette and Joliet left their five companions in charge of the canoes and journeyed away from the river, knowing that they must be near the habitation of inen. They followed a trail leading across a prairie clothed in the wild luxuriance of summer for a distance of about six miles, when they beheld another river and on its banks an Indian village, with other vil- lages on higher land a mile and a half from the first. The Indians greeted the two white strangers, as far as their ability permitted, with a splendid ovation. They appointed four of their old men to meet the strangers in council. Marquette could speak their language. They informed him that they were "Illini" (meaning "we are men"), and presenting the calumet of peace, invited them to share the hospitalities of their village. Marquette told them of the object of their visit, and that they had been sent by the French, who were their friends. He told them of the great God that the white man worshiped who was the same Great Spirit that they adored. In answer, one of the chiefs addressed them as follows:
"I thank the Black Gown Chief (Marquette) and the Frenchman (Joliet) for taking so much pains to come and visit us; never has the eartlı been so beautiful, nor the sun so bright as now; never has the river been so calm, nor so free from rocks, which your canoes have removed as they passed; never has our tobacco had so fine a flavor, nor our corn appeared so beautiful as we behold it to-day. Ask the Great Spirit to give us life and health, and come ye and dwell with us."
After these ceremonies the strangers were invited to a feast, an account of
10
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
which is given by Marquette. It consisted of four courses. First, there was a large wooden bowel filled with tagamity, or Indian meal, boiled in water and seasoned with oil. The master of ceremonies, with a wooden spoon, fed the tagamity to their guests as children are fed. The second course con- sisted of fish, which, after the bones were taken out, was presented to the mouths of the strangers as food may be fed to a bird. The third course was a preparation of dog meat, but learning that the strangers did not eat that it was at once removed. The fourth and final course was a piece of buffalo meat, the fattest portions of which were put into the mouths of the guests.
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