USA > Iowa > Cedar County > A topical history of Cedar County, Iowa, Volume I > Part 25
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The time of holding the court, as given by Judge Tuthill, is as the book gives it and the names of the bondsmen of Robert G. Roberts are found on the first page of the record as rebound since it was found. David Irwin, the pre- siding judge, signed the proceedings on page five.225
The next session of the court was held at Rochester on the first day of Octo- ber, 1838. The presiding judge not appearing the court was adjourned by Harvey B. Burnap, the coroner, the very first coroner of the county and perhaps his first official act. The grand and petit jurors appeared and claimed their at- tendance and the record says "their travel" (mileage). The Judge did not appear the next morning and the coroner adjourned again. Only part of the grand jury appeared and not a full attendance of the trial jury. The coroner returned the venire facias ishued (issued) by the clerk of the county commissioners for a grand jury and a petit jury, endorsed, served as commanded, and for serving ten dollars each. This writing is evidently in the hand of Robert G. Roberts, the clerk of the court. It does not quite come up to the standard set by Wm. K. Whittlesey. The court kept adjourning until Friday of the week in which they began on Monday, when court was adjourned until the next regular term. The judge did not appear. The clerk's fees for the month of May amounted to $19.75.
The official oath of Elisha E. Edwards as sheriff of the county appears on page 13, dated the first day of October, 1838. His commission is copied on the opposite page as issued by Gov. Lucas. A note at the bottom of the page says that "the public seal is not yet forwarded."
The bond of the sheriff is signed by Elisha Edwards, Richard Knott, and Geo. McCoy. The commission of Henry Hardman as Justice of the Peace, issued by Gov. Dodge, is recorded on page seventeen. This must have been delayed in the matter of recording, for it appears after the commission of Edwards issued by Gov. Lucas. It is dated the 26th of June, 1838, before Iowa was independent of Wisconsin territory. The same commission in character is issued to Geo. McCoy the same date and recorded on page 19.
The session of the court commencing in May, 1839, was presided over by Judge Joseph Williams. T. S. Parvin was appointed District Attorney for the Territory. The record says: "A disturbance having occurred by noise and
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profanity in the immediate vicinity of the court and to the disturbance of the same, His Honor, the Judge, ordered the sheriff to bring the offender into court, who thereupon reappeared, having in custody John S. Miller. Ordered that John S. Miller be fined three dollars and remain in custody until the same be paid with costs."
The oath of allegiance of Charles Dallas appears at the session of May. 21, 1839, page 29. It was on account of a request for this particular record that the book from which this record is taken was found by the clerk at that time.
The grand jury returned one indictment at this session of the court against three persons for gaming, Wm. and James Stockton and Philip Wilkinson. This is the first indictment recorded. The first case to come up for trial was that of Allen Scott vs. Jacob Fought and Daniel Hare. The case was continued. Thomas Lingle sued Clemon 'Squires for slander and this was also continued. The latter character will be heard from under another title.
The gaming case came up for trial on the 22nd and the parties were allowed to go "without day" after the counsel had been heard.
The last case in this May term was an amicable suit between O. Bowling and Moses B. Church. The court took the case under advisement and it was con- tinued. Court then adjourned to the September term, 1839.
At the session in September Francis Springer was appointed as attorney for the territory. The amicable suit was settled in favor of the defendant and that the said defendant recover his cost, $2.311/4.
This man Squires begins to feel the arm of the law at this time and the grand jury indicted him for selling liquor contrary to law. They also at this time brought the indictment against H. E. Switzer for assault upon an officer. He was tried and acquitted. Henry Nicholson was indicted for betting on a horse race. On page 54 of this first book of court records appears the long lost report of the locating commissioners of the county seat. Since it could not be found for so long it is placed in the proper connection in the chapter on county organi- zation and government.226
The history of '78 quotes Judge Tuthill as saying that in the court of Judge Williams there were as high as twelve cases of contempt. It is not stated what session, but presumably the September term, 1839. However, the number is wrong for there are fifteen cases by actual count.
Beginning on page fifty-two of this first book (1) the remainder, with the exception of four pages for marriage licenses, is given to the recording of com- missions issued to the county officers by the governor of the territory. Wm. K. Whittlesey was appointed clerk of the courts pro tem since the permanent ap- pointment could not be made until the next session of the legislature. This is dated Nov. 24, 1838. He must have succeeded Robert G. Roberts contrary to the statement made by the compiler in the auditor's office who made up the list of the clerks of the court. Twenty commissions issued by Robert Lucas are copied here verbatim. For Cedar County the commissions were issued to John Whit- tlesey, E. E. Edwards, William Green, Washington Rigby, David Burns, Henry Hardman, Jehu Kenworthy, William Mason, Joseph Crane, as Justices of the Peace for Cedar County. Israel Mitchell was appointed Probate Judge for the county of Lynn (Linn), James Tallman Probate Judge for the county of Cedar,
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George McCoy, Sheriff of Cedar County; William Abbe, John McAfferty, Jus- tices of the Peace for the county of Lynn (Linn) ; Calvin C. Read, John G. Josslin, Moses Garrison, Orvil Cronkhite, Justice of the Peace for the county of Jones also Thomas S. Denson for the same office in Jones county. The last one on the list after all these are searched through is the appointment of Hugh Bowan as Sheriff of Jones County.
On January 5, 1839, a marriage license was issued to Charles M. Swetland and Eliza Morgan, daughter of Jonathan Morgan, returned by the Rev. Martin Baker. Jonathan Morgan was married himself the eighth of the same month. Feb. 23 a marriage license was issued to William Walton and Thyrza Davis, returned by John Whittlesey, Justice of the Peace. May 4, 1839, Allison I. Willets was an applicant for a permit to marry Miss Lucy Abbe. This took place in Lynn County before John McAfferty, J. P. Here is the date of the issue of the license to Samuel Gilliland and Martha Comstock, July 13, 1839, re- turned by William Mason. Martin Baker and Isaac Gray filed copies of cer- tificates that they were ministers of the Gospel in January, 1841.
There were only three judicial districts in Iowa when it first became a terri- tory, and Judge Williams was appointed to this district the second. He will be mentioned in the discussion of the legal profession in the proper place.
He heard all the early cases in this county up to the time of his appoint- ment to a higher position. The temptation is very great to enlarge here upon his characteristics. In a single case three men who afterwards became prominent in the territory and state were concerned. These were the Judge, and S. C. Hastings for the defendant and Francis Springer for the plaintiff. The case that of Scott vs. Fought and Hare. It involved $150 dollars on a section of land, and the claim was contested on the point of the land being of insufficient value and want of consideration. This was the section where the town of Centreville was after- wards located.
The territorial laws were evidently enforced in the case of prairies set on fire without authority. Harvey G. Whitlock was indicted for this as well as that good man, Moses B. Church.
Selling liquor to the Indians was a cause of indictment in several instances. In the case of U. S. vs. Howard for larceny he got one year in the penitentiary. That is the first criminal sentence recorded, in which the penalty was imprison- ment.
In the matter of recording instruments Stephen Toney had the honor to give the first mortgage on record. It was for $262 and given to Capt. Higginson. Toney got two hundred dollars in cash for the consideration, and the time was twelve months only. It is signed by S. Toney and Evelina Toney. It was satis- fied on page 155, book O, of mortgage record. The description is S. E. one-fourth, section seven and it is in township seventy-nine, range two, hence in Rochester Township. Several people own fractions of that quarter now.
In the administrator's report concerning the estate of Robert G. Roberts, the items amount to $13,79, Wm. Hoch, Administrator.
The county judge administered affairs under the law of the state in place of the commissioners from the latter part of 1851 until 1861. The first of these in the report was S. A. Bissell, 1851-55; Wells Spicer followed him for a little
OLD JAIL OF 1857
CEDAR COUNTY'S FIRST COURT HOUSE, ROCHESTER
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more than one year, and then Geo. S. Smith served for the same time, W. P. Cowan closing the "period of the judges" in 1861.
In book B of the court records of the county an illustration of the method . of "binding out" is of interest, since the present has no custom that will exactly compare with it. The language explains the purpose of the indenture and it is only one of many found in running over these books.
"And now on the seventh day of August in vacation comes Isaac Stonebrun- ner, a minor over the age of twelve years and having no father or mother or legal guardian, makes application to be bound by letters of apprenticeship to Thos. Dawson, which, being considered, it is ordered to be done." Articles of indenture follow: This indenture made this seventh day of August, A. D. 1856, between the said Isaac Stonebrunner, a minor, of the county of Cedar, State of Iowa, son of Isaac Stonebrunner, deceased, late of Muscatine County, said minor hav- ing no father nor mother or legal guardian, does of his own free will and with the consent of Wells Spicer, judge of Cedar County, signifies by his signature and seal who does place and bind him, the said Isaac Stonebrunner, as a servant or apprentice to the said Thomas Dawson from date hereof until said minor shall have attained the age of twenty-one years, which will be on the fifteenth day of May, in the year 1863, during all of which time the said Isaac Stonebrunner will well and truly serve and obey the said Thos. Dawson as a good and faithful servant in all such lawful business as the said Isaac shall be put to concerning and pertaining to the art of farming and the other matters concerning said Dawson and honestly and decently behave himself towards the same Dawson and toward the remainder of the family. The said Dawson agrees on his part to furnish meat, drink, washing, lodging, and apparel for summer and winter and to instruct in reading, writing, arithmetic or accounts and in morality, and in all respects treat the said minor the same as his own children. At the expiration of said time the said Dawson is to give the minor a suit of clothes, one hundred dollars in money or enter eighty acres of land for him, as he chooses." The agreement is signed by the parties and approved by the judge.
his Isaac X Stonebrunner mark Thos. Dawson. 19-B
The region that includes Cedar County was not exempt from those experi- ences of outlawry due to a new and in some respects "lawless" country. Law- less in the sense of not yet being provided with police protection sufficiently strong to make thievery dangerous enough to deter the unprincipled from com- mitting crimes against the law abiding. To find cases of marked character in the earliest days of settlement it is necessary to draw largely from a few sources. Details are wanting in the very early times but some things illustrating the period are used to begin this chapter. The history of the "regulators" and their doings of fifty or more years ago are fairly set forth in the papers of the time-much more fully there than in any other place-and this source has been freely drawn upon. Not in remote, but in recent times, the unprincipled man has always found his way into the first settlements of a productive country. He is forced to go on from his old haunts when he becomes known and when "law" is able to en-
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force its penalties. The pioneer of honest purpose had more to contend with than the elements and his want of food and shelter for thieves of various kinds and of apparent honest countenance, besides defrauders met him frequently where he might expect fair treatment.
It is not fair treatment for the lone settlers to be held in contempt by the desperado who can for the time muster more weapons or allies of his kind than the honest man he opposes. It is farther than this, as one sees it at this distant day, a most discouraging thing to be in possession of what one calls money, only to find at last that it is the counterfeit article-a common occurrence for twenty years of the early history of this county and its neighboring territory.
It was about 1837, or a year after the settlement of the county, that counterfeit money became so frequent that it is said to have been as common or more com- mon than the genuine article. To find the source of such manufacture became well nigh impossible, since settlers were far apart and government officers not numerous. It may have been sent into the county from some distance and the ones who furnished the distributing point were but agents working on commis- sion. A few men were powerless to trace the matter to a conclusion. It was fortunate that the people of that time had little use for money or it would have been worse for the trader than in later days when he must carry a book to learn his discounts on the wildcat bank currency.
Certain signs and carriage of person often indicated to the skillful observer the occupation, or lack of occupation, of the professional thief or counterfeiter. If he showed plenty of cash in a country usually a little short or if his apparel indicated prosperity it was well to be suspicious or at least careful in all business transactions. A common method of dealing in an apparently honest way was to buy a horse and pay some cash, probably in good money, but getting possession to ride the animal away to some safe place of concealment or some market, never to return with the remainder of the purchase money.
It was not always easy to tell who might be the confederates or who might harbor the real thief after his booty was secured. Some settler, from outward appearances, strictly up to standard of honesty, frequently was found as black as any known outlaw, and worse from a social point of view, since he did his deeds under the garb of respectability. To illustrate this point it is only neces- sary to study the cases of robbery referred to in 1856 to '60.
"One-thumbed Thompson" was an individual that was well known to the early settlers of Jackson, Jones, Linn and Cedar Counties. He was a man about twenty-eight years of age, rather above medium size, well formed, good looking, and of pleasing address. So different in appearance and manner from those of his associates was he that one could hardly believe that he was one of the leaders of the banditti that infected these counties.
His first appearance in Bellevue was in the spring of 1837 under the assumed name Burton. I (Capt. Warren) was introduced to him by Lyman Wells, a man of suspicious character and who in fact was known as "one of the gang." Bur- ton left for the West after some days, leaving his wife at the house of Wells. . Some two weeks later I received a letter from Linn County signed by Israel Mitchell, Mr. Scott and others, requesting me to come and to bring some of the citizens with me and to meet at Mitchell's, who lived on the Cedar some distance
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below where Cedar Rapids is now located. They said that the country was in- fested by a band of outlaws and that their depredations had become so frequent and of so serious a nature that something must be done at once. I was then sheriff of the three counties.
Accompanied by three other citizens I set out in January for the appointed place of meeting. A winter's day or more brought us to the Wapsie river, and after a night spent here we proceeded to the end of our journey. The delegates from Cedar County were Messrs. Whittlesey, Culbertson, Roberts and others. Mr. Roberts will be remembered as our member of the territorial legislature, who is always recalled by the expression, "Is Cedar in that ar bill?" But he was true to his constituents. The object for which we met was to devise ways and means for concerted action against the thieves and desperadoes that were preying upon honest settlers. As one said, "You cannot reach them with the law, for when one of the band is arrested there is always one of their number ready to prove an alibi for him." 227
These few lines in the beginning indicated the first steps taken to control the lawless element and also the territory included in the organization. No one county as now understood by county lines was able to make any progress in the matter of matching the cunning of the thief or worse than thief.
Severe measures were applied by the outraged settlers when a man was caught in the game of robbery. Mercy was not common, judging from what can be learned, because the time for mercy had passed. It is related that about 1839 the citizens first organized for protection and forced the crowd known as the "Brodie brood" to leave the county. This family, consisting of father and four sons, came to Linn County from Illinois, and their career is traced as far as Ohio, always of the same nature. This family and their associates are connected with the story of outlawry in this entire region. Their record is in Linn County, but from this side of the line they drew some of their associates. Horse stealing was their favorite form of obtaining property unlawfully. Among the early settlers at Gower's Ferry, at one time called Washington's Ferry, now Cedar Bluffs, there were several who proved themselves renegades of the baser type. There were Squires and Gove, Conlogue and Stoutenburg, who lived either in this county or near its borders operating in several directions either as counter- feiters or burglars. Under the strain of so many outrages the people became insecure, feeling perhaps an unnecessary uneasiness because of these, and one must be charitable in judging if they seemed cruel in administering punishment when opportunity offered.
During the time of the county seat contest and for some time, when caucuses or conventions were called for political or other purposes, they met at some set- tler's home, presumably for want of any public place. We read of these meetings being held at Goudy's or Gilbert's in Linn County because that county was in a district which included Cedar.
This man Goudy was reported to have some means and, as was customary in those days of no banks, the only place for money or securities was in some concealment about the premises of the owner. While this was unsafe so far as the property was concerned, it was still more unsafe for the possessor if any
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would-be thief found it out, since in emergencies such a character does not hesi- tate to shoot.
There is a character in Cedar County history whose name appears among the first on record in the office of the county clerk of the courts. His name is Switzer and his case as recorded refers to an assault upon an officer of the law. This was in territorial days and the United States was the prosecutor in those days. But this man was not silenced then, for his name became a synonym for boldness in thievery. He was concerned in the attempt to steal nine thousand dollars which the elder Goudy possessed or at least was supposed to possess. This was a deal of money in those days and one doubts the possibility of any man tempting the loose citizenship by such a quantity of wealth. At any rate Switzer, whose place of residence was in the opposite direction from the present county seat, made an excuse of a loan to find out the truth concerning the Goudy money. It is inferred from this that loans were made under somewhat free con- ditions and, if we may judge by the later habits of men who did business under the name of banks, more depended upon the man personally than upon any secur- ity he might furnish.
Switzer's loan being refused he failed to find out the true situation, but the gang did not hesitate, and on the chosen night after all had become quiet the raid was made upon the household. The demand for the money being made all the money was turned over that was likely to be discovered. No nine thousand dol- lars could be found and some was overlooked that even passed through the hands of the searchers.
A daughter of Mr. Goudy, Mrs. Shane, wife of Judge Shane, has related the events as they occurred and states that strict search was made for the large amount, during which search some hundred twenty dollars was found, besides the small amount surrendered by Mr. Goudy. While searching the premises one member of the family recognized Switzer as the one who had been there to borrow the money before.
From this attempt they left for the house of William Gilbert, referred to as the popular place on the border of the two counties, and made a second at- tempt at robbery in the same night. Disguised, as they were, recognition was not supposed to be possible, but here an incident occurred that revealed the character of one neighbor of the Gilberts. The drawer of a secretary was opened by a secret spring and was supposed to be known only to members of the family, but a member of the gang of three concerned in this attack seemed fa- miliar with the surroundings and was able to find the supposed secret opening. He was afterwards found to be a neighbor who heretofore had not been sus- pected. Sheep's clothing had up to this time concealed the wolf, who only waited an opportunity to reveal himself. This suggests the statement made in the beginning that apparently faultless people were often the most untrust- worthy and it was not easy to select one's confidential friends.
When news of these events became known the county at once became alarmed for the future and took steps to find the guilty ones.
Capt. Thomas Goudy, who lived near his father, and had some experience in military affairs headed a group who endeavored to apprehend a man by the name of Wallace, one of the suspected parties. Col. Prior Scott, of Pioneer
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Grove, who came to that place in 1837, as related by his daughter, Mrs. Albaugh, now of Mechanicsville, was asked for his counsel in this case, as was Mr. J. W. Tallman, of Antwerp, a town then an aspirant for the county seat but no longer on the map. Col. Scott went about organizing a protection association, and this, so far as records go, is the first mention of any organized movement for mutual assistance against repeated outrages.
The man Wallace was finally captured over in Illinois, above Muscatine. One is reminded here of the freedom of arrest in any place outside the county or state or this territory without any preliminary arrangements or formality. Per- haps the pursuers felt that the pursued were very informal in their thieving and they had some right to be informal in the pursuit and even arrest if nothing further was anticipated.
Switzer was arrested and after preliminary examination both were held under bonds to the district court to be held in Tipton in October, 1841. Some appre- hensions were felt by the authorities in the attempt to arrest Switzer and James Tallman, mentioned before, and secured assistance in making this capture as the suspected party was known as a desperate and powerful man. During the night the house of Switzer was surrounded and a demand made for his sur- render, when, as expected, it was refused. The posse waited until morning, when he gave up in spite of the fact that he was prepared to resist if the inside of his cabin indicated the true state of affairs. Many suspicious circumstances sur- round the cases of summary arrest and floggings mentioned by those who have now passed from the scenes of these occurrences. It is probably impossible to establish the facts in such cases, and while they may not be of any value as facts, in a narrative they serve only to show the tendency of the times to come to some law-abiding standard that should be lived up to by all persons no matter what their former training or experience.
The Conlogue and Stoutenburg mentioned in the beginning were punished severely and made to confess their accomplices and then to leave the country. The particulars are not entertaining if true and it only serves to illustrate the earnestness or determination of the prosecutors or persecutors to say they were flogged almost to death if not quite.
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