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.t
Con 3
WASHINGTON COUNTY
1880
CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY
UNA
EZRA
BOUGHT WITH THE INCOME OF THE SAGE ENDOWMENT FUND GIVEN IN 1891 BY HENRY WILLIAMS SAGE
Cornell University Library F 627W26 H67 History of Washington County, Iowa, its
olin 3 1924 028 872 864
UNI
R
SITY
$981
N
DE
A.D
Cornell University Library
The original of this book is in the Cornell University Library.
There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text.
http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924028872864
THE
HISTORY
OF
WASHINGTON COUNTY,
IOWA,
CONTAINING
A History of the County, its Cities, Towns, &c.,
A Biographical Directory 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 Washington County, Constitution of the United States, Miscellan- eous Matters, &c.
-
ILLUSTRATED.
DES MOINES: UNION HISTORICAL COMPANY. 1880. 4C ! !
1
A733865
Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1880, by
THE UNION HISTORICAL COMPANY, In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. O.
MILLE & COMPANY, PRINTERS AND STEREOTYPERS, DES MOINES, IOWA.
-
PREFACE.
THE American people are much given to reading, but the character of the matter read is such that in regard to a large proportion of them it may indeed be said that "truth is stranger than fiction." Especially is this the case with respect to those facts of local history belonging to their own immediate county and neighborhood. This is, perhaps, not so much the fault of the people as a neglect on the part of book publishers. Books, as a rule, are made to sell, and in order that a book may have a large sale its matter must be of such general character as to be applicable to general rather than special conditions-to the Na- tion or State rather than to the county or township. Thus it is that no histories heretofore published pertain to matters relating to county and neighborhood affairs, for such books, in order to have a sale over a large section of country, must necessarily be very voluminous and contain much matter of no interest to the reader. The publishers, having received a liberal patronage from the people of Washington county, have endeavored to prepare a work con- taining a full and minute account of the local affairs of the county.
The following pages constitute a history of the Northwest, and a detailed account of the. early settlement, natural resources, and subsequent development of Washington county, together with reminiscences, narratives, and biographies of the leading citizens of the county.
The work may not meet the expectation of some, and this is all the more probable, seeing that it falls far short of our own standard of perfection; however, in size, quality of material and typographical appearance it is such a book as we designed to make, and fills the con- ditions guaranteed in our prospectus.'
To the early settler who braved the dangers, endured the hardships and experienced the joys of pioneer life, it will be the means of recalling some of the most grateful memories of the past; while those who are younger, or who have become citizens of the county in more recent times, will here find collected, in a narrow compass, an accurate and succinct account of the beginning, progress and changes incident to municipal as well as individual life.
The old pioneer, in reviewing the history of the county, all of which he saw and part of which he was, will find this work a valuable compendium of facts arranged in analytical order, and thus will events which are gradually vanishing into the mists and confusion of forgetfulness be rescued from oblivion.
The rising generation which is just entering upon the goodly heritage bequeathed to them by a noble and hardy ancestry, will find in this work much to encourage them in days of despondency, and intensify the value of success when contrasted with the trials and compared with the triumphs of those who have gone before.
In the preparation of this work we have been materially aided by numerous persons in sympathy with the enterprise and solicitous for its success. To all such persons we feel ourselves under great obligations and take this method of acknowledging the same. In this connection it is but proper to mention the names of those who have rendered the most important assistance: Hon. N. Everson, A. R. Dewey, Esq., and the newspaper men of Washington, especially H. A. Burrell, whose material aid in the preparation of the work, and whose words of sympathy and encouragement have contributed much in making this
iv
PREFACE.
book what it is. We are also indebted to J. A. Keck, Esq., for the use of valuable papers and manuscripts.
In presenting this work to our many hundred readers we have the satisfaction of knowing that they are of sufficient intelligence to appreciate merit when it is found, and errors will be criticised with the understanding that book-making, like all other kinds of labor, has its peculiar vicissitudes.
Whatever of interest, or of profit, or of recreation the reader will find in perusing the fol- lowing pages, will be a source of satisfaction, gratitude and happiness to the
PUBLISHERS.
CONTENTS.
PAOE.
The Northwest Territory : Early French Explorationa in tha Mississippi Vellay 7
Early Settlemanta in the
Northwest 14
The Northwestern Tarritory 22 The Louisiana Purchase 28
Indian Wers in the Northwest 34
Sketches of Bleck Hewk end other Chiefa - 42
Early Navigation of Western Rivare 56
Archæology of the Northwest 59
Sketches of Wastern end North western Statea 67
Expedition of Lewia end
Clerke.
86
Farries -
348
Sketch of Chicago
History of Iowa :
Descriptiva and Geographicel Sketch 105
Gaology of Iowe 117
Economia Geology 125
How tha Title to Iowa Lende is derived - 130
Eerly Settlements and Terri-
torial Organization - 141
Territory of Iowa -
153
Stete Organizetion 158
Educationel 162
State Institutions 169
Reilroade
. 172
Official Record 174
The Judiciary 176
Congresstonel Representation 177 Stete Agricniturel Society - 178
Oentenniel Awerds 191 History of Washington County :
Location and neme 257
Geography
- 258
Physical Features - 259
Geology
261
Economic Geology
283
Tudieus and Indian Affaire 264 Keokuk and Wapello 268 Indian Incidenta and Remin-
iaoences 275
Early Settlemente - 279
Pioneer Life 308
Cleim Oluhe and Cinb Lawe - 314
PAGE.
A Border Skatch - 316
Surveye end Land Salea 319
Firat Real Estate Record - 326
Firat Mortgage 326
First Reel Eetete Trenefer . 328
Trading Pointe 329
Trapping and Hunting 333
Growth of tha County
- 334
Table of Evente
· 336
County Organization 337
Location of the County-sest - 345 Proceeadirige of Commission- er's Court 347
Firat Court-house 347
Road Diatricta
347
Voting Precincte 348
96 First Jail 349
Township Organization - 349
Second Court-house 350
County Judge -
351
The Board of Fiftaan 352
Early County Officara and Fi-
nences
352
First Tex Liet - 357
Firat Billa Allowed 365
Old Records -
366
Tha Firat Court
367
Sacond Court -
368
Third Court
369
First Divorce 370
First Criminal Case - 371
Grand Jury for 1840 - 371
Petit Jury for 1840 . 371
The First District Judge
372
Riverside
582
Seventy-six Township
583
Cedar Township - 585
County Officers 381 Town of Lexington 586
Public Buildings
384
Franklin Townahlp
587
Court-houses
-
384
Grace Hill
587
West Chester
588
Highland Township 588
388 Herrisburg 589
English River Township 590
Richmond
592
593
408
Jackson Township
593
The Washington Prese
412
Lime Creek Township
594
Wasaonville
· 595
Wellmen
596
ILLUSTRATIONS.
PAGE.
Westward the Ster of Empire
takes its Way
An Indien Cemp 33 Chicago in 1820
97
A Prairia Home - 129
Breaking Prairie
- 145
LITHOGRAPHIC PORTRAITS.
PAGE.
Nat. Boden -
- 805
- 323
8. D. Miller
341
-
PAOK.
The Brighton Press - - 418
Carrier's Addrase 419
Educationel -
- 422
Higher Education
426
Washington Academy
427
Religioua
- 431
Gold Excitement -
- 435
Old Sattlera' Association . 442
Wer History - 449
Shermen's March to the Sea - 518
Soldiers' Reunion
519
522
Were Nearer Home
-
The Washington County Cem- paign - 522
Tha Skunk Rivar War
523
Accident end Crime
527
The Great Tornado
-
537
Towns and Townshipe: Washington Township - 540
City of Washington 542
Brighton Townahip 565
Town of Brighton
· 568
Clay Townehtp -
589
Marion Township - 571
Towa of Euraka
. 573
Dragon Township 573
Astorie
- 574
Aineworth 574
Crewford Township
576
Crewfordeville
577
Dutch Creek Township Paris -
578
Iowa Township
580
Town of Yatton
582
Thet Jail -
387
Asylum for the Poor and In- 88ne -
Refiroade
395
The Preas of County 407 Washington Kalone
The Argus
Lincoln Monument, Springfield,
17 Illinois
72
The "Old Kinzie House" - 103
S. Y. Wickham
- 449
Robert W. Griffith
.
477
BIOGRAPHICAL TOWNSHIP DIRECTORY.
PAGE.
Brighton
- 622
English River -
- - 684
Lime Creek
- 876
Frenklin
651
Marion
501
Olay
616
Highlend
- 673
Oregon
Seventy-six
- 862
Dutch Creek
- 657 Jackson
PAGE.
PAGE.
Frenk Critz
- 375
J. H. Hull, M. D. - 409
FAOE.
PAGE,
Ceder
Crawford
- 833
Iowe -
- 690
- 870 Washington
. 697
PAOE.
Indiens Trying a Prisoner - 49
A Pioneer Winter -
65
Prasent Site Leke Street Bridge, Chicago, 1833 97
The Washington Democrat - 416
The Gezatte 417
PAGE.
Old Fort Dearhorn, 1830 - 103
John Bryson
667
640
HISTORICAL.
-
579
Territorial and County Roade 374 Political 378
vi
CONTENTS.
ABSTRACT OF IOWA STATE LAWS.
PAGE.
PAGE.
PAGE.
Adoption of Children - - 203
Forme:
Jurors
- 199
Bills of Exchange and Promis- eory Notee
- 195
Lease - 214
Limitation of Actione 199
Capital Punishment - 199
Mortgagee 212, 213
Married Women - 200
Commercial -Terme - 208
Damages from Treepese
. 201
Notes 207, 215
Mechanics' Liene
204
Descent
- 195
Orders .
- 207
Hetrays
201
Exemption from Executione - 200
Fences
- 202
Forme:
Article of Agreement - 209
Game Lawe:
Birde and Quadrupede - 217
Bond for Deed
- 217 Fish and Fish Ways -
- 218
Bille of Purchase
- 207
Intereet -
- 195
Wolf Scelpe
- 201
Chattel Mortgage
- 215 . Jurisdiction of Courte - 198
MISCELLANEOUS.
PAGE.
PAGE.
PAGE.
Map of Washington County - Front. Statistics - 183
Constitution of the United
Population of Iowa Cities - - 255
Statee -
- 240 The Pioneer -
- 256
Constitution of the State of
Iowa - - 220
Practical Rulee for every-day use
- 252
tion 219
Roads and Bridges - 204
Surveyore and Surveys - 204
Support of Poor - 205
Taxee - - 197
Wille and Estates
- 196
Weighte and Meseures - 207
201
Notice to Quit - 210
Marke and Brands
Purchasing Booke by Subscrip-
Quitclaim Deed - 216
Receipts - 208
Wille and Codicile 211, 212
Warranty Deed - 216
Bills of Sale
- 210
Confession of Judgment - 208
Landlord and Tenant
206
1
IOWA
MAP OF WASHINGTON COUNTY, IOWA. CO. JOHNSON CO.
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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 Indians 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 jonrney, 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 men. 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 conld 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. IIe 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 earth 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 tagamnity 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.
The stream on whose banks took place this first interview between the explorers and the untutored Indians, after parting with their guides, was the Des Moines river, and the place of their landing was probably about where the town of Montrose is now located, in Lee county, Iowa. One of our sweetest American poets has rendered Marquette's narrative in verse, as follows:
" Came a people
From the distant land of Wabun;
From the farthest realms of morning Came the Black Robe Chief, the Prophet, He the Priest of Prayer, the Pale-face, With his guides and his companions. And the noble Hiawatha,
With his hand aloft extended,
Held aloft in sign of welcome, Cried aloud and spoke in this wise:
Beautiful is the sun. O strangers, When you come so far to see us;
All our town in peace awaits you; All our doors stand open for you; You shall enter all our wigwams;
For the heart's right hand we give you.
Never bloomed the earth so gayly,
Never shone the sun so brightly, As to-day they shine and blossom When you came so far to see us.' And the Black Robe Chief made answer,
Stammered in his speech a little,
Speaking words yet unfamiliar:
' Peace be with you, Hiawatha, Peace be with you and your people, Peace of prayer, and peace of pardon, Peace of Christ, and joy of Mary! ' Then the generous Hiawatha, Led the strangers to his wigwam,
Seated them on skins of bison,
Seated them on skins of ermine,
Brought them food in bowls of bass-wood, Water brought in birchen dippers, And the calumet, the peace-pipe, Filled and lighted for their smoking. All the warriors of the nation, Came to bid the strangers welcome;
' It is well,' they said, 'O brother, That you came so far to see us.' "
Marquette and Joliet remained at the Indian villages six days, and were then accompanied to their canoes by an escort of six hundred Indians. In- vitations were extended to the strangers to renew their visit, after which the explorers embarked in their boats and floated on down the stream, passing the sites of future great cities of the valley, and passing the mouths of the Missouri and Ohio rivers, and as far down as the mouth of the Arkansas.
11.
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
Marquette named the Missouri river Pekitanoui, or " Muddy Water," on. account of the now well-known character of that stream.
After extending their voyage to the mouth of the Arkansas, where they found a village of the Arkansas tribe, they ascended the Mississippi to the mouth of the Illinois. They ascended the latter river to its source. Along this stream they found many villages of the Illinois, or Illini, a large and powerful tribe, who were subdivided into five smaller tribes-the Tamaroas,: Michigamies, Kalıokias, Kaskaskias, and Peorias. The country between the Illinois and Mississippi rivers was inhabited by the three last named tribes. The Michigamies resided in the country bordering on Lake Michigan, and the Tamaroas occupied the territory now included in the counties of Jersey, Madison and St. Clair, Illinois. Kaskaskia-also designated by the early explorers as "La Vantum " and "Great Illinois Town "-was the largest of the villages, containing, according to Marquette, seventy-five lodges. With- out the loss of a man, or any serious accident, the party reached Green Bay in September, and reported their discoveries. Marquette made a faithful record of what they had seen and the incidents of the voyage. That record has been preserved. The report of Joliet was unfortunately lost by the upsetting of his canoe while on the way to Quebec.
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