USA > Iowa > Monroe County > An illustrated history of Monroe County, Iowa > Part 2
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This same bill provided for the creation of ten other counties, and also made provision for their survey as soon as the Indian treaty could be ratified.
The first measure to conserve the peace in these newly organized counties was the appointment, by the Governor, of justices of the peace for the various precincts throughout the counties so created.
On the 1st of May, 1843, the Indian title became extinct, and immediately followed an influx of sturdy pioneers, a further account of whose incursion and pioneer life will be found elsewhere in this volume.
The name Kishkekosh seemed harsh to the ears of the white settlers, and the name was subsequently changed to that of Monroe County.
The name Kishkekosh was given to the county in honor of a minor chief of the Sac and Fox band, and the name, in the Indian tongue, is said to mean "a savage biter."
Kishkekosh was a member of Black Hawk's suite, who accompanied that redoubtable chieftain, after his capture, in his tour throughout the East, and by contact with civiliza- tion rapidly learned the manners and customs of the white race. It is said that, in a superficial way at least, he assumed the graces of a Chesterfield, and grew particularly gallant towards the squaws of his tribe, when he returned to his people to inculcate among them the customs of the whites. In sitting down to a meal, he would first assist the dusky lady guests to the food; and he carried this spirit of gallantry so far as to attempt to correct the state of slavery to which the squaws were subjected by their oppressive lords, by enjoining the latter to do the drudgery themselves.
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HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY, IOWA.
It is said that he entered into this reform with so much zeal that he actually set the example himself.
Black Hawk never made his predatory incursions as far west as Monroe County, when there was any white prey within its borders. He died in 1837, at Iowaville. Yet it is quite probable that many a fierce encounter has been waged on Monroe County soil between the Sacs and Foxes of eastern Iowa and western Illinois and the Iowas, Potta- wattamies, and other less powerful tribes west of the Mississippi River.
The very name of Black Hawk was sufficient to strike terror into the hearts of the pioneer settlers of eastern Iowa, Illinois, and Indiana.
Most writers, describing the personal appearance of Black Hawk, represent him as the very embodiment of all that is fiendish and terrible; but Joseph Hoskinson, one of the pioneer settlers of Iowa, who died at his home in Monroe County a few years ago, and who was present at the treaty between the Government and the Sacs and Foxes, where Burlington now stands, informed the writer that Black Hawk was the handsomest Indian he ever saw. He stood near him at the treaty and admired the imperial bearing of the chief.
While he showed the treachery and cunning of a fiend- like Red Jacket, he would "not bend the knee." No imperial crown ever sat upon a prouder head, and no mon- arch ever merited a coronet of higher token of fidelity to his people than Black Hawk. How strange it is that the hand of fiction has never woven about the harsh outlines of his memory the softening ganze of sentiment and romance!
Until the 13th of February, 1844, all the territory west of Wapello County, including Kishkekosh County, was attached to Wapello County for election and judicial pur- poses, and the first court whose jurisdiction included Kish- kekosh County was held in Ottumwa in September, 1844; but the character of the litigation was mainly disputes over claims to land.
At that time, the homestead laws were different from those of the present day, and were also more lax in their provisions. Every person entitled to the homestead privi- lege was allowed a half-section of land-160 acres in prairie and 160 acres of timber. The earliest settlers took their claims before the land was placed upon the market for home- steading, and for several years held them by virtue of "squat-
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HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY, IOWA.
ter sovereignty," intending to enter the land when placed upon the market. When the land was finally opened for filing, many of the settlers did not have the funds for making the homestead entry, but continued to hold their claims. There was always someone in the country who had a little spare money with which to contest claims occupied by the "squatter." While he had this lawful right, he seldom had the effrontery to exercise it.
Necessity, the mother of invention, devised a means of protecting the "squatter's" interests. Judicial proceedings were expensive, and, even if resorted to, would have afforded no relief to the "squatter." The "Club law" was accordingly instituted by the settlers to protect themselves and their neighbors from the "claim-jumper." While it was not in strict accord with the laws of the land or the equity of indiscriminating justice, the great body of the people, in whose interests all written laws should be framed as against the opposing few, construed it as "Vox populi, rox Dei"- "The voice of the people is the voice of God."
Some brave pioneer settler would select a claim, but, being unable to make a homestead filing on it at once, would erect a "claim-pen"-i. e., a log pen sixteen feet square and four rounds high; this would hold his claim for six months, at the end of which time it was presumed he would have completed a cabin. Frequently, however, owing to sickness or other unavoidable cause of delay, he failed to erect a domicile or make the necessary improvements on his claim. Then would the "claim-jumper" attempt to take possession by moving on to the land or into the vacant domi- cile, in case the "squatter" had temporarily abandoned it. The captain of the "Club" was at once notified, and the entire population-for everybody belonged to the "Club"-turned out, and, marching to the usurper's stronghold, would force him to depart. Sometimes the "jumper" became defiant, and was roughly handled by the "Club," but usually he quietly acquiesced in their verdict, and vacated without protest.
While at this day the "Club-law" may seem somewhat revolutionary, yet no rule for the regulation of society has ever been placed in the statutes by a higher tribunal than that of the sturdy pioneers of Monroe and other counties in their struggles in the wilderness to support and provide a home for themselves, their wives, and their little ones. .
The first election held in Kishkekosh County took place
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HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY, IOWA.
at the house of W. G. Clark in the autumn of 1844; and in the spring of 1845 the precinct was duly organized into an independent county by an act of the Council and House of Representatives of the Territory of Iowa. The act also provided for the location of a county seat, and following is the text of the bill:
"An Act to organize the County of Kishkekosh and to provide for the location of the seat of justice thereof.
"Section 1. Be it enacted by the Council and House of Representatives of the Territory of Iowa, That the county of Kishkekosh be, and the same is hereby, organized from and after the first day of July next; and that the inhabitants of said county shall be entitled to all the privileges to which by law the inhabitants of other organized counties of this Territory are entitled, and the said county shall constitute a part of the First Judicial District of this Territory.
"Section 2. That, for the purpose of organizing said county, it is hereby made the duty of the Clerk of the District Court of said county, and in case there should be no such Clerk appointed and qualified, or for any cause such office should become vacant on or before the tenth day of July next, then it shall be the duty of the Sheriff of Wapello County to proceed immediately after the tenth day of July to order an election in said county of Kishkekosh for the purpose of electing three County Commissioners, one Judge of Probate, one County Treasurer, one Clerk of the Board of County Commissioners, one Surveyor, one County Assessor, one Sheriff, one Coroner, one County Recorder, and such number of Justices of the Peace and Constables as may be directed by the officer ordering such election; the officer having due regard for the conveniences of the people; whichi election shall be on the first Monday in the month of August next. And that the officer ordering such election shall appoint as many places for holding elections in said county as the conveniences of the people may require, and shall appoint three Judges of Election for each place of holding elections in said county, and issue tickets to said Judges for their appointment; and the officer ordering said election shall give at least fifteen days' notice of the time and place of holding said election, by at least three printed or written advertisements, which shall be posted up at three or more of the most public places in the neighborhood where each of the polls shall be opened as aforesaid.
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UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA
HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY, IOWA.
"Section 3. That the officer ordering the election afore- said shall receive and canvass the polls and grant certificates to the persons selected to fill the several offices mentioned in this Act, and in all cases not provided for by this Act. The officer ordering said election shall perform the duties of a Clerk of the Board of County Commissioners until there shall be a Clerk of the Board of County Commissioners elected and qualified for said county under the provisions of this Act.
"Section 4. Said election shall, in all cases not pro- vided for by this Act, be conducted according to the laws of this Territory regulating general elections.
"Section 5. The officers elected under the provisions of this Act shall hold their offices until the next general election, and until their successors are elected and qualified.
"Section 6. The officer ordering the election in said county shall return all books and papers which may come into his hands by virtue of this Act to the Clerk of the Board of County Commissioners of said county, forthwith after said Clerk shall be elected and qualified.
"Section 7. That the officer conducting said election shall be allowed the same fees for services rendered by him, under the provisions of this Act, that are allowed by law for similar services performed by the Sheriff in similar cases.
"Section S. That the Clerk of the District Court of said county of Kishkekosh may be appointed by the Judge of said court, and qualified at any time after the passage of this Act; but shall not enter upon the discharge of the duties of said office prior to the 1st day of July next.
"Section 9. That all actions at law in the District Court for the County of Wapello, commencing prior to the organ- ization of the said county of Kishkekosh, when the parties or either of them reside in said county of Kishkekosh, shall be prosecuted to final judgment, order, or decree, as freely and effectually as if this Act had not been passed.
"Section 10. That it shall be the duty of all Justices of the Peace residing within said county to return all books and papers in their hands, appertaining to said office, to the nearest Justice of the Peace which may be elected and qualified for said county under the provisions of this Act. And all suits at law or any official business which may be in the hands of such Justice of the Peace, and unfinished, shall
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HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY, IOWA.
be completed or prosecuted to final judgment by the Justices of the Peace to whom such business or papers may have been returned, as aforesaid.
"Section 11. That the County Assessor elected under the provisions of this Act, for said county, shall assess the county and in the same manner and be under the same obligations and liabilities as now are or may hereafter be provided by law, in relation to Township Assessors.
"Section 12. That James A. Galliher, of the county of Jefferson, E. S. Rand, of the county of Van Buren, and Israel Kister, of the county of Davis, be, and they are hereby, appointed Commissioners; or any two of them shall meet at the house of W. G. Clark, Esquire, in said county, on the first day of July next, or at any other such time within a month thereafter as a majority of said Commissioners may agree upon, in pursuance of their duties under this Act.
"Section 13. Said Commissioners shall first take and subscribe the following oath, to-wit: 'We do solemnly swear (or affirm) that we (or either of us) have no personal interest, either directly or indirectly, in the location of the seat of justice in the county of Kishkekosh, and that we will faithfully and impartially examine the situation of said county, taking into consideration the future as well as the present population ; also to pay strict regard to the geograph- ical center of said county and locate the seat of justice as near the center as an eligible situation can be obtained;' which oath shall be administered by the Clerk of the Dis- trict Court or Justice of the Peace of the county of Kishke- kosh; and the officer administering the same shall certify and file the same in the office of the Clerk of the Board of County Commissioners of said county, whose duty it shall be to receive the same.
"Section 14. Said Commissioners, when met and quali- fied under the provisions of this Act, shall proceed to locate the seat of justice of said county; and as soon as they shall have come to a determination, they shall commit to writing the place so selected, with such name as they may see proper, and a particular description thereof, signed by the said Commission and filed with the Clerk of the Board of County Commissioners in which such seat of justice is located, whose duty it shall be to record the same and forever keep it on file in his office, and the place thus designated shall be the seat of justice of said county.
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HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY, IOWA.
"Section 15. Said Commissioners shall each receive the sum of two dollars per day, while necessarily employed in the duties enjoined on them by this Act, which shall be paid by the county, out of the first fund arising out of the sale of town lots in the said seat of justice.
"Section 16. That the territory west of said county be, and the same is hereby, attached to the county of Kishke- kosh for election, revenue, and judicial purposes.
"Section 17. The judge of the First Judicial District may appoint such time for holding court in said county as he may deem proper and convenient.
"Section 18. This Act to take effect and to be in force from and after its passage.
"Approved June 11, 1845."
On the fifth day of August, 1815, the committee named to select the location for a county seat chose the spot where Albia now stands, and named the place Princeton.
At the same time an election was held throughout the county to elect the various county officers, as provided in the bill. Wareham G. Clark was elected Probate Judge; James Hilton, Clerk of the District Court; Jeremiah Miller, Clerk of the Board of County Commissioners; T. Templeton, Treasurer; John Clark, Sheriff; and Joseph McMullen, Moses H. Clark, and J. S. Bradley for County Commissioners.
John Massey, who still resides on his farm a couple of miles south of Albia, surveyed the county seat in the summer of 1845. When the survey was made, it was found that one John Stephenson owned a part of the site selected by the committee, but, after some wrangling over the matter, the dispute was finally settled by arbitration.
In the original survey of Princeton, the streets were run due east and west, and north and south. Each street was made sixty feet wide, and each block contained eight lots, except the four blocks fronting on the public square, whose lots were but half the size of the others. This original plat of the town has long since been lost, with the record book in which it was placed, and it is not definitely known whether the plat was over recorded.
Scarcely had Princeton been selected as the county seat when she found herself confronted by a rival. A post- office had been established at Clarksville in January, 1846. with Levi Dungan as postmaster. While Princeton was
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HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY, IOWA.
but a hamlet, Clarksville was no larger, and the claims which the latter presented for consideration were embodied in the following:
"PETITION.
"To the Honorable Council and House of Representatives of the Territory of Iowa:
"Your petitioners, citizens of Kishkekosh County, Iowa, ask of your honorable body the adoption of a bill referring the re-location of the seat of justice of the county to the people, at the coming election in April, 1846.
"Your petitioners ask of your hororable body that the citizens of said county may be privileged to vote for Prince- ton or Clarksville as the future seat of justice of said county.
"Your petitioners would respectfully represent to your honorable body that the location of the seat of justice of said county by Commissioners appointed by your honorable body has resulted much to the dissatisfaction of a large majority of the inhabitants of said county.
"Your petitioners believe that it is for the interest of the present, and will also be for the interest of the future population of said county, that its seat of justice should be re-located.
"Your petitioners would respectfully represent to your honorable body that the quarter-section on which the town of Princeton is located is three miles east of the geographical center of said county, to its nearest point; that it is fifteen miles from the west line of said county, and eight and one- half miles from the east line of said county; that the geographical section upon which the town of Clarksville is located is one mile north and one and one-half miles east of the geographical center of said county ; that it is a hand- some, eligible town-site, and is situated upon the main divide running diagonally through the county from the southeast corner to the northwest corner of the county. And it is far superior as a central point for natural divide roads, and is one and one-half miles from two good mill- sites, on Cedar River, with good ridge roads running to the same, and good bodies of building timber convenient to said mill-sites; that the town of Princeton is situated four and one-half miles from a good mill-site, and a road cannot be obtained nearer on suitable ground.
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HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY, IOWA.
"Your petitioners would respectfully say to your honor- able body that two, only, of the Commissioners officiated in the selection of the present town-site (Princeton), and that they commenced their labors on Tuesday evening at about four o'clock on the fifth day of August, ultimo, and finished on Friday following, examining the county as such not to exceed two and one-half days, mainly without roads and when the exuberance of vegetation would necessarily retard their examination.
"Now your petitioners firmly believe that no Commis- sioners can, in so short a time, sufficiently examine this county, and that in this hasty examination great injustice has been done our county.
"Your petitioners would respectfully represent to your honorable body that there were polled at the present August election in said county one hundred and thirty-two votes for Congressional Representative, and the same number for and against the Constitution, and that the number of voters within the county will not materially swell the above number at the present time; and that while the population is small, and before any expense shall have been incurred by the improvement of the said town of Princeton, the question of selection should be referred to the people.
"Your petitioners fully believe that if the town of Princeton is suffered to remain the seat of justice in said county, that it will ever be a subject of contention between the citizens of the county, and that an inland county like the present Kishkekosh should have as central a location as could be selected.
"Your petitioners would further say that that portion of the county lying west of the geographical center is not settled as fully and as thickly as it is east of said center, and for this reason, that the east part of the county lies the most convenient to the Old Purchase, on which most of the settlers are at first dependent for the common neces- sities of life; but that the west portion of the county will compare favorably with any other portion of the county; that it has fine bodies of timber and good prairie, and will, in all probability, very soon be as densely settled and im- proved as any other portion of Iowa."
To this petition were attached the following signatures: Robert Husted, H. W. Brown, Geo. Root, Elijah John- son, Henry Barnes, N. E. Hendrix, Wm. Hendrix, Amos
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HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY, IOWA.
Strickland, R. O. Strickland, Joshua Flecheart, Geo. Weaver, Daniel McIntosh, Daniel Chance, John Chance, John Sap- penfield, John Hammer, Nathaniel P. Jackson, Michael Hittle, James Findley, Orlando Myers, Solomon Robinson, Peter Cain, M. H. Clark, Henry H. Harrison, Geo. Bougher, Wm. H. H. Davis, Jacob Hammer, Daniel Cone, David Ramsey, Matthias Hogg, Allen C. Phinney, Christopher K. Wilson, Andrew Gillespie, Wmn. Records, Joseph McMullen, T. G. Templeton, Jonas Wescoatt, James McCarroll, H. Runnels, Eliphalet Johnson, Samuel Tyrrell, John Miller, Job Rogers, Madison Anderson, Nelson Wescoatt, Wm. Bailey, Michael Blair, John Bougher, J. G. Epperson, Wm. Stewart, Oliver Tyrrell, John Clark, N. B. Preston, Levi Dungan, James Stephenson, Roland Inghan, John Stephen- son, Harden Searcy, John Bailey, H. F. Bailey, Wm. Garland, Nelson Cain, E. H. Brandon, Geo. Cain, I. C. Layton, A. Wilson, Reuben D. Mckinney, Wm. Murphy, Wm. Miller. Jeremiah Miller, Orrin Miller, Aaron Pickerell, Wm. V. Beadle, Chas. Anderson, Jas. Anderson, Orrin Wilson, B. F. B. Bates, Harry Miller, Daniel Judson, Philander L. Tyrrell, Josiah Edmonds, Marshall S. Tyrrell, Elam Judson, Smith Judson, Chas. Bates, Homer J. Tyrrell, James O. Render, Lewis M. Bentley, Nathaniel Newman, Andrew De Koven, Thos. E. Forest, John Copple, Willis Stephens, Ezra P. Cone, Leonard Copple, Jesse Combs, Samuel Cane, Joseph H. P. Stewart, John H. Wilson, James Stewart, Nathan H. Wilson, Wm. Clodfelter, Solomon Byerley, W. G. Clark, Thos. Coppedge, Isaac Hopper, Ivan Beebe, Peter Wells, James Hilton, John Stephenson, S. J. Warden, Otho Williams, Jesse Walker, Allan Williams, Joseph Kerns, Marvin Williams, Walter H. Cross, Harry Cross, Thos. H. Brock, Jacob M. Davis, Samuel Davis, Jonathan Mason, John Davis, Wesley Cain, C. H. Brandon, Willoughby Randolph, Geo. H. MeLaughlin, Geo. Cain, Thos. Williamson, Abner Barbour, Jackson Scott, William Bisland, John M. McIntyre, John McGinnis, Peter Johnson, Jas. Brandon, Robert Finley, Robert Henderson, Perry Runnells, Abram Williams, Geo. Cline, James Pomeroy, Anson Wiseman, John M. Wallace, James R. Bruce, Levi Hagan, David Cooper.
Notwithstanding that the foregoing petition was ac- companied by an indorsement from one John Bailey, who certified among other things that he had lived on the creek
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HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY, IOWA.
for about nine months, and had explored the stream both ways, and had found elegant timber, good rock, and fine spring water in abundance, etc., for a verification of which statements he invites the public to visit his residence, about five miles southwest of Clark's Point; and notwithstanding the averments in the foregoing petition, to the effect that there were "two good mill-sites" on the lordly "Cedar River," within one and one-half miles of Clarksville, the county seat remained at Princeton.
The patrons of the town of Princeton, however, retorted by a
"REMONSTRANCE.
"To the Honorable Council and House of Representatives of the Territory of lowa in Legislature assembled:
"Whereas, A petition is gotten up for an Act to be passed by your honorable body for an election to decide whether our county seat shall remain at Princeton, or be removed to Clarksville;
"We, the undersigned citizens of said county, feel it our duty to oppose the same, believing your Honors will see the propriety of this opposition in the following reasons. to-wit:
"We, as a county, petitioned your honorable Legislature for Commissioners to be appointed by them to locate our county seat, which was granted, and according to law they have acted. Although the petition aforesaid is said to contain evidence that said Commissioners traveled and labored but two and a half days, it is well known to us to be a misrepre- sentation. We know they commenced operations on Tues- day in said county, and stuck the stake on Saturday follow- ing, on the northwest quarter of section 22, range 17, west.
"We oppose said petition from the fact that at least two- thirds of their signers have never seen the location of either Princeton or Clarksville, and know nothing of the propriety or impropriety of removing it.
"Again. many of the names on the petition were under the age of 21.
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