USA > Iowa > Cedar County > A topical history of Cedar County, Iowa, Volume I > Part 2
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One day while searching in the old but still well-guarded cemetery at Roch- ester, pushing aside the grass from a low headstone, I read the barely legible
.
OLD HOTEL, ROCHESTER
UNION HOTEL
FLEMING HOTEL, TIPTON, 1859
MASONIC HALL, ROCHESTER
உமாதர்
Y
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HISTORY OF CEDAR COUNTY
name of Daniel Hare. He was an associate of Henry Hardman in church and state. He died in the midst of his labors in 1852. Those who met in daily walk the form of Henry D. Brown scarcely remembered him as one of the forerunners of civilization, of the historic band of 1836. Moses B. Church, the first secretary of the Board of County Commissioners, and the first school teacher who had been trained for the ministry, who came to brave the hardships of pioneer life in advanced years, met with misfortune and when he could get a hearing became an advocate of new doctrines or theories of life which left God and the Bible out of the argument.9
Long associated with the town and county was Jeremiah C. Betts. He was hotel keeper and successively filled almost every office in the gift of the county, a successful Sunday school teacher and superintendent and good citizen in his time. He retired to a farm in Inland township and ended his days in peace. Following the line of woods that rims the horizon on the west and north of the county seat were the homes of Joseph K. Snyder, Solomon Knott, Samuel Long, Solomon Aldrich, Benjamin Fraseur, Geo. Reeder, W. A. Rigby, John, James, and George Safley and Alexander Yule. The successive occupants of what is now known as Bunker Hill farm, are Captain Higginson, Mr. Wall, Moses Bunker and the present owner, a descendant of the Bunker family.
The Hammond family must be remembered in all that belongs to the early history of the county, being identified with both the farm and with business in- terests in different parts.
To Joshua Hall the town and county owed the stately pine trees that are found here so numerously and with the growth of a half century to give them majesty they furnish a constant reminder of the man. In some way these pioneers with their heroic wives have left their mark, and generally for good, upon the country. In the early days Abraham Lett was a well known character and Mr. Stuckenbruck with his mountainlike horse and little wagon sticks in memory as does the venerable Samuel Daniels who was always the bearer of the Book in Masonic processions.10
The first store in the county is said to have been in Centerville, in Sugar Creek township, and was conducted by John C. Higginson and John Sheller. The first things belong largely to Rochester, since it was laid out in 1836 and very soon after obtaining the postoffice and ferry could also boast of a store.
No aggregation of houses is a city or town without the merchant and his store, and largely as are the merchants so is the city or town. Let us look at the honored roll elsewhere. With the rise and growth of the county seat after 1840 came Addison Gillett. His appearance was gentlemanly. He had brown curly hair, a smooth, almost feminine, face. He was well adapted to his chosen work as salesman, but not it would seem to the surroundings of a new country under pioneer conditions. He cannot be numbered with those who, rising with the growing country, gained wealth and position. His modest monument may be seen in the Masonic cemetery bearing his name to guide the search of those interested and make its mute plea for remembrance by the passing generations. There is no remembrance of early days in Cedar county and its capital that can leave out the firm of Friend and Culbertson. The first came early to the county but for a time engaged in farming. The latter possessed of some capital became
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HISTORY OF CEDAR COUNTY
a prominent actor in public and business affairs, as the first hotel keeper, as county officer, but mainly and for a long period as. merchant. The firm of Friend and Culbertson was always solid, enlarging to meet demands. A branch store was established in Clarence and a competent manager put in charge. Dr. Richard Hall and Aaron Gilbert as druggists, Casad and Gilmore were among the early firms, the latter long associated as partners in the clothing business retired to enjoy their well-earned peace after useful business careers. Mr. Gilmore is still a familiar figure on our streets and the old business is continued in the same place by his son and partner, and this firm is one of two places in Tipton continued from father to son at this day. The other one is directly opposite on the other side of the square-the old harness shop of Austin Parsons, which is continued by his son at this time.
Alonzo Shaw, when not holding some public service office, was a business man from the first. As partner of Col. Lockwood Smith, as hotel keeper, as drug- gist and merchant, until now in his declining years he has gone from all these scenes and finds a home in the milder climate of California. He tells elsewhere of some of his early experiences. In those days the blacksmith was among the first comers. He was one of the prime necessities of a new country. Scattered all through the county and whenever a settlement sprang up the shop was one of the first needs since the plow must be kept in repair if the native sod was to be made productive. Among the first in Tipton and vicinity we name Peabody and Daniels, the Bosserts as carpenters, and Goddens as masons, Weaver and Dickin- son as shoemakers, Magee and McCurdy as tailors, Daniel W. Clapp as teamster, by length of time in service, miles traveled and fidelity to trust, has gained a place in county history. The steam mill with a large part of the capitalists of the town as stockholders, growing out of the needs of the time, was a great wonder to the boy. The top of its marvelous chimney seemed to be beyond his vision. There was the miller in all his glory and Taylor, the engineer, with his watchful eye on the power.
Break not the charm of early days that live like a song in memory. Rather. let us ask where are the mills that adorned Rock Creek and made it something more than a watering place for the pastured stock. I can name them; there was Miller's mill, in more recent times Dean's mill, just west of the present cemetery. This was chief of them all. Then Dwigan's mill and Friend's mill. Their ponds gave to boyish eyes all the charms of lakes. There lilies grew and fish swam and the great waterwheels spoke all the poetry that has ever been written about them. What a paradise they made for a boy. He would not give the memory of those days of pleasure for all the money that might have been earned or knowledge acquired in the time spent upon their banks.11
Late in the summer of 1836 my parents with several other families started from Indiana for a long journey westward. Two families, one mentioned above, and a congenial second had only one wagon between them. This was drawn by oxen and not much different from the common wagon of the day with the exception of a higher bed or box, the harness was made chiefly of chains. The only way to bring live stock was to lead them. Even the hogs were haltered and led but alas! the journey was too long, too tiresome and only one reached Iowa soil. They brought one cow this entire distance. Starting with considerable
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HISTORY OF CEDAR COUNTY
of a herd it was necessary to dispose of most of them before reaching the des- tination. At the great river which separated them from Iowa soil they loaded their belongings into a ferry boat and landed on the western side at Muscatine, then called by the name of Bloomington. This was the gateway to this part of the territory then under the jurisdiction of Wisconsin. At Muscatine these two families separated from the remainder of the party and continued their journey north and west from the place of landing in this new region. As they crossed the different creeks they named them, the first Otter, because they saw an otter there, the second Mosquito, because it swarmed with the insects, the third, because of its condition, Mud, the fourth Sugar because the water was clear and sparkling and to the fifth they gave the name Crooked because of its peculiar winding in and out. These streams are known by these names at the present time. Stopping not far from the present site of Wilton they at once proceeded to build a cabin from the native timber, plastering the logs with mud mortar to stop the openings. In this house some two weeks later the nar- rator of this sketch was born, the first white child born within the borders of the County of Cedar. The family arrived too late in the year to secure any crops and food was hard to obtain during the first winter. The father of the house drove his ox team to Illinois to secure corn and salt. The corn was made into meal with a coffee mill and some into hominy, the process of making the latter is probably unknown to the present generation. The hulls were removed from flint corn by means of strong lye made from wood ashes by means of a leach, or in plain language by passing water through them and catching the liquid in a tub. This strong alkali was removed from the corn by cleansing with much water and then the kernels were boiled for twelve hours or more until tender. This was home-made hominy, a kind in many ways superior to the medicated article found in the market. In those days salt was often hard to procure the demand being so great. One time as father was returning from the trading post he attempted to cross Sugar creek on the ice. His team of oxen and wagon broke through where the water was about six feet deep. Taking in the situation he unloaded his meal upon the ice and sprang into the water to aid his struggling oxen. After spending an hour in the attempt to rescue them and in an atmosphere of zero temperature he succeeded in unyoking them but they were unable to ascend the steep bank. He hastened for help at some dis- tance, a team of oxen was secured and by means of chain the helpless ones in the stream were helped up the bank. All this consumed time and the exposure to wind and cold had frozen the wet clothing of my father stiff, yet he never experienced any unpleasant effects of the adventure, due to the continuous exertion and protection secured when the frozen garments shut out the cold wind. The Indians disturbed these early settlers to an alarming extent. The stories are numberless concerning them and many are now living who can relate some experiences but mostly of a friendly nature.
A family residing near my father's cabin did not intend to deal kindly with the red men. One night three came to this house and asked for lodging. The man of the house ordered them away from his premises. Being somewhat obstinate, they were on the point of attacking him when my father happened along. He told them to spend the night at his home, and they hastily departed, surren-
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HISTORY OF CEDAR COUNTY
dering their weapons to the master as they entered. During the entire night they were restless and seemed fearful lest the whites should do them some injury. In the morning they mixed flour and water, and made their bread in the open fireplace. Ever after the Indians remembered this kindness and often brought gifts to the mother and two children, their bead baskets and other hand work. They did on some occasions attempt the life of the white settler, as others may relate. One evening a white woman, while alone, saw two Indians approaching. She immediately closed and locked her door. They demanded admittance. She refused and this only enraged them in their attempt to break down the door. The sudden sound of a bell told her of the arrival of her son, and when she shouted that the white men were coming they fled. The whites were in constant fear of the Indians, yet the red men seemed fully as fearful of them. The first spring found the entire family busy in planting the first crop. The plow and the hoe were the implements, hand work was the rule. The grain was harvested with a hook and tramped out by the feet of animals. A true threshing floor, but utilized in a new form.12
The first settler chose to make his farm from the woods by removing the timber, as he deemed the prairie land of no special value. There was nothing to fence it and it could never be used unless fenced. His fence, the only one he knew, was the old worm fence of his fathers, made from rails and stakes split from logs at great expense of labor and time. The fence of the future that was to make it possible to enclose miles of prairie in a few days was far from man's thought. The need evolved the supply, as it has so often since, and the rich prairie has responded to man's need far beyond his expectations when he looked out upon it from his wooded location. It was in this manner that the oldest farms and first improvements seemed to grow out from the edge of the timbered regions until inhabited sections met on the open land, completing the design of the Creator that the land should be made to support a multitude. There were other reasons for his remaining close by the water routes. An Iowa writer expresses it in an attractive form: "Iowa was originally a part of the territory which formed a grand hunting and trapping ground for the red man with his primitive weapons and traps, and later for the pale face with the modern weapons with which to kill and capture without though of the morrow all food or fur-bearing animals com- ing within range of his deadly rifle and the lure of the concealed trap. The fur and food animals in those days were the deer, wild turkey, pheasant, squirrel, wild goose, brant, duck, otter, beaver, wolf, mink, muskrat, raccoon, with an occasional black bear. Trappers usually had from forty to fifty steel traps of different sizes. To these were added the "medicine" used to put on the bait to attract the animal." 13 The common animals along the streams furnished the meat food of the pioneer, but if by misfortune he got no game he must survive without meat, he had no other resource. He must use art and skill in his methods unknown to the man trained only in prairie ways. Most of the new- comers had some sense of wood craft and felt safer when close to their original environment. "There are few boys or men living in a timbered country who have not spent an occasional night during the fall of the year in hunting the wary 'coon with a pack of well-trained dogs. A couple of axes, a gun, and good run- ning qualities are the only requisites. When the nocturnal prowler comes out of
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PASTORAL SCENE-CREEK PASTURE
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HISTORY OF CEDAR COUNTY
his hole in a hollow tree during the night, in search of food, the dogs cross his trail, and after a chase of a few miles he takes to a tree and in is either shot by moonlight, or the tree is cut down and the pack finishes him at once." 14 In early days the Iowa streams were well supplied on their borders with game which the gradual encroachment of improvements and civilized methods of preservation have about destroyed.
In 1836 a rude log cabin was erected about four and one-half miles east of the village of Rochester. This was the first home in Iowa of Col. Henry Hard- man. This house was located near the creek and served as a home for the Hardman family for many years. In this cabin the school was held (referred to elsewhere) ; here also church services, Sunday school and singing school were held as time went on. The early settlers thought that Cedar River would be navigable, and settlers made calculations on that event as furnishing means of transportation both up and down the river. Several attempts to carry out this idea soon gave a discouraging outlook to the matter.
During the winter of 1837 a band of Indians, Sacs and Foxes, about five hundred in number encamped near the mouth of Rock Creek, just above the present village of Rochester. No one was molested by them, as they were friendly to most of the whites.15
"A small boy of ten years came with his parents to this county in 1837 and settled west of Tipton, or what is now known as Tipton, then an open prairie with no indication of its future history as capital of the county. Their only neighbors were the Indians who made early calls for provisions.16
"In 1840 when I came to Cedar County there were but a dozen families in as many miles radius. They were of the best people, intelligent, and, for the time, well educated and being of the true, vigorous and hardy American race crossed hundreds of miles of trackless country to form a new home in a rich and inviting region. In those days the country was full of game (it is mentioned before), which furnished the natives and whites alike with their meat. In the swamps were countless numbers of muskrat houses and many deadly snakes. These swamps seemed to form a large part of the open country there, and were a fruitful source of the malaria and ague common among the first settlers. I well remember now the swamps that were formerly where good roads now pass, in my girl- hood days impassible, and one might remark in passing that some of the best land now was once a great and useless marsh improved by modern systems of drainage. The prairies were not settled until the later fifties, many declaring that they would never be settled, but would remain open pastures. They rea- soned thus: There was no timber to furnish fuel, and no running streams or springs to furnish water, and what would one do with the swamps. At this time in our history the land sale at Dubuque had not taken place. A man by the name of George Miller had previously pre-empted large tracts of land unlaw- fully and sold these tracts to early settlers until he was found out, when he left the country. When the land was entered a kind of duplicate deed was given to the settlers. These were government documents issued by order of the Presi- dent, John Tyler. These deeds were sent to Iowa City, then the capital of Iowa territory, where they were exchanged for the deeds we got at first."
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HISTORY OF CEDAR COUNTY
"The virgin soil was broken with five or six yoke of oxen and a great plow. These, yoked out in a long string, were hitched to the plow at a great disadvan- tage when compared to the present method of using the horse in close harness whether two or four. Then the newly-turned soil was harrowed and marked out with a shovel plow. In this furrow the corn was dropped by hand and covered with a hoe. The plow then used cultivated only one side of one row, while now two rows at a time are cultivated by one man. All grain was cut by a cradle and bound, after being raked into suitable bundle, by a band of straw such as many of the present generation do not know how to construct, even though raised in surroundings where such things were common in recent, com- paratively recent, years. The grain was threshed by means of a flail or by run- ning horses over it on a smooth floor. Hay was cut with a scythe and cured in the swath. Crops were bounteous and vegetables grew to great size. All produce had to be hauled to Bloomington, now Muscatine, and when it was there brought low prices, dressed pork selling for two cents or less a pound, wheat twenty-five cents a bushel, half the amount only in cash, the remainder in trade. Flax and sheep were raised to make clothes, and geese to make feather beds. The wool and flax were spun and made into clothes. Wool-picking was made a social diversion. They came for miles around on horseback, mothers carrying their babies with them in order to assist. Cook stoves came into use about 1850, but fireplaces continued to be used for heating purposes for a long time. Matches were unknown, fire being kindled with flint and steel and a bit of tow. If these were lacking the only resource was the fire of a neighbor. Yet, these people seemed fully as happy as those of this generation." 17
"In 1841 my father, Abraham Lett, moved from Ohio in covered wagons. It was spring and roads were almost impassable. While traveling through Indiana the horses seemed to go almost out of sight in the black swamps. After a long, tiresome journey we arrived at Tipton on the thirtieth of May. In addition to our family was that of Samuel Akers, and we made our home in an old log cabin which stood two blocks west of the court house, and which was used at one time as a clerk's office. The room was twelve by twelve feet and had an immense fireplace on one side. Before long our friends built a house of their own and we had the whole log house for ourselves. In the fall we moved into our new house of one room. The winter was very cold, and the house being unplas- tered we were obliged to put up quilts to keep out the penetrating cold. The one stove we had was so small that you could pick it up easily. After the first winter we raised a crop and food was plentiful. Game was abundant and we had our own corn meal and flour by going to Pett's Mills at Anamosa or Maquo- keta. Later on in our history we got our supply from Dwigan's mill, and better meal never was ground. The first yeast we had was brought from Virginia by water. About twice a year my father would take a load of wheat to Muscatine and get thirty-seven cents a bushel for it. In the winter dressed pork was hauled to the same market, and sugar and coffee brought on the return. In addi- tion to this, there was always a bolt of muslin and a bolt of calico, invariably blue. I was raised on blue calico, and these were our best, our every-day dresses being made of unbleached muslin dyed with hazel burrs or oak bark. In
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HISTORY OF CEDAR COUNTY
the autumn we gathered crab apples and made sauce, and such good sauce as it was. We made sorrel pies in the summer when fruit was scarce.
Great companies of Indians came along in those days traveling west. They were very friendly and were continually wanting to trade horses. Father brought out a horse and one old fellow said, 'Horse sick, heap sick,' after having given a careful examination of the animal. Wolves howled at night, and their mournful sounds used to frighten us very much. They came close to the cabins in those days and depredations were often committed.
Not all experiences of those days, however, were tragic. A few, very few, were comic. I remember one occasion that seemed vital to a hungry child. By some means mother had secured apples enough to make dumplings, one apiece all around, and just as they were done who should come in but Harvey Leech, and, of course, he remained to take dinner with us. At that time it was the fashion for children to wait when company came, and just imagine our feelings as we watched those long-cherished apple dumplings disappear until not one was left. When we came to this county we had no washboard and it was our custom to either pound our clothes on a block or in a barrel.
In 1843 a storm struck Tipton, carrying away several houses and the frame of the court house. Mrs. John P. Cook took her children and went to the cellar, but Mr. Cook declined to go, whereupon his wife expressed her opinion of a man who was not afraid of a storm like that. As years drew on times became better, and they were not considered as hard times then, since all were on the same footing, and poverty might have been called the prevailing fashion.18
"In the fall of 1842, after a journey of five weeks or more, a party, including my grandmother, Mrs. Lurenda Humphrey Casebeer, settled ten miles west of Iowa City, then a village of fifteen houses. In the following spring, attracted by the land sales in Cedar County they bought a farm and came here to live. The site of the old homestead is two and one-half miles south of Tipton, on the Mus- catine road. ' The only building on the place was a log cabin, eighteen feet square, no plaster, no ceiling to protect the dwellers from the first snow storm of the following winter, which sifted through the chinks in the wall and lay two inches deep upon their beds in the morning. But they were prepared for the next storm. The tent cover and wagon top were stretched over the ceiling and walls, and the snow and cold kept out to some degree. That winter food was hard to procure. No mills to grind wheat had there been any to grind. What little could be obtained must either be cooked whole or crushed by letting the horses tread upon it on the hard ground. Consequently the bread was rather hard and gritty. Corn bread was preferred to white put up in this fashion from this form of grinding. In the spring of 1844 grandmother and one of her broth- ers, accompanied by a minister, made the trip to Ohio. The minister had left his wife and family in Indiana, and was to bring them to Iowa. While he pre- pared for the return journey, grandmother and her brother drove on to Colum- bus, which she said was 'only one hundred miles farther on.' It shows how little the pioneer regarded a distance of a hundred miles overland in a wagon. The next year the house which still stands (1903) on the old homestead was built (1845). It is sadly in decay now, the haunt of bats and weasels, rats and snakes. Grandmother's father made the brick and manufactured the shingles
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