USA > Iowa > An illustrated history of the state of Iowa, being a complete civil, political, and military history of the state, from its first exploration down to 1875; > Part 50
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The soil on the prairies is usually deep and productive. There are cx- ceptions to this rule in some parts, but they are few and far between. The productions of this county are pretty much the same as have been mentioned in the larger proportion of all the prairie and wooded sections in this state, therefore, they do not call for special mention. Stock raising, of course, will become a general, as it is now a very profitable, pursuit.
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estimating the salaries paid to teach- ers ; and there are one hundred twenty- six buildings available for tuition in different parts of the district. The permanent school fund is larger here than in any other county in the state, with only one exception, the amount being $81,000, and the annual expendi- ture necessary to maintain the schools in operation is about $60,009. The fact that expenditures so great, and endow- ments so liberal have been provided, tells a good tale for Iowa county.
There are water powers available on the banks of the Iowa river, which will some day add materially to the wealth of this section of the country. Bear creek and north English river will also give their quota to like effect.
Near Amana there are some good quarries, from which limestone and sandstone, which have been very ex- tensively used in building. The sand- stone, when quarried, is quite soft, and remains so for a time, but exposure to the atmosphere renders it exception- ally hard and durable. This peculi- arity makes the stone very valuable to builders. Good lime can be manu- factured from the limestone. The brickmaker finds clay well suited to his handicraft in nearly every section of the county.
When white settlers first came to this county, the indians of the Potta- watomie and Musquaka tribes were still here, they arc a peaceful people as a rule, and no trouble worth nam- ing arose from their presence. The first settlement is supposed to have been made in 1844, and organization followed in 1847, when the county seat was located at Marengo the name being given in remembrance of the wonderful victory which was won on that bloodstained field in Europe by the first Napoleon.
There is a society of German col- onists which occupies Amana town- ship, who carried out a series of works for the common good on a basis of rational cooperation. There are some few residents in the township who are not of the society, but the society rules.
They have saw mills, woolen mills, flouring mills, and other such works, which are prosecuted with skill and energy. Great expense has been in- curred in providing first class machin-
ery, and the people who are engrossed in this movement are capable of any amount of intellectual, moral and physical exertion. Not only the seven settlements of which the colony at Amana is composed, but many con- sumers of first class productions else- where obtain their supplies from this vigorous body of associated workers. The people seem to have a conscience in their daily avocations, and in con- sequence there is no difficulty at any time in selling all their goods as soon as they are ready for the market. The operations at Amana have the advan- tage of being presided over by first- class scientific men, specialists in their several vocations, who achieve results seldom aimed at among our more driv- ing, bargain loving countrymen.
The German colonists at Amana are a peculiar people; not as the Mor- mons are, in the matter of a plurality of wives, nor as the Shakers are in the matter of no wife at all, but in the views which they hold as to inspira- tion and prophecy, claiming that these gifts remain in the present day as viv- idly present and active as they were of old. Their elders expound the Scrip- tures and lead their devotional ser- vices, there being no regular ministers. Each of the recognized elders takes his turn in conducting the services, and at the close of his share in the ex- ercise, those who are present are in- vited to speak as they are moved by the spirit. In many respects the col- onists resemble the Quakers, but there is a nearer approach to communism in some of their movements.
Inspired men and prophets they hold to be rare phenomena in this era of their history, as they have only one man answering to that designation. The Bible is their accustomed guide, and if one of their prophets should de- clare anything incompatible there- with, they would turn their backs on the seer immediately.
Changes in that respect may come, but there is no sign of an intention to wander from the great authority. They agree with the Quakers as to war, and they are peace men all the time; but they are good citizens and good neigh- bors, wronging no man willfully, and seeming to devote their talents to wise purposes. Although they have much in common, individual rights and the rights of families are scrupulously
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maintained. This community works the sandstone quarries which have been already mentioned, and most of the residences and works in use among the colonists are built of material from , the quarries.
The sect originated in Germany . about half a century, or rather more, : after Fox and his followers originated the society of Friends in England, but it is not known whether the two bodies . had at that time any movement in com- mon, or any interest in each other's proceedings. Their first coming to . this country dates from 1842, when they settled for a time in New York state, near Buffalo; but after only one year in that locality they concluded to emigrate to their present site. Ten years were employed in making the desired change, but everything seems to have been well done.
MARENGO, the county seat of Iowa county, has been already mentioned, and the site which it occupies in part described. It is the principal town in every sense, in Iowa county, and is built on the line of the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific railroad. The river Iowa flows past the town, and will be made valuable to its manufacturing interests in a considerable degree be- fore long. The first care of the men that platted the town was to secure good lungs for the increasing settle- ment, and in accordance with that de- sign, the county seat is built on the four sides of a public square, three hundred feet on each side. The in- closure, well fenced, has been planted with shrubs and evergreens, which have a very fine effect on the beholder. The depot for the railroad is about a mile from this spot, and with the ex- ception of the business incidental to shipments, nearly all the commercial affairs of the little capital are transact- ed on the lines of the square. Doing business on the square is thought the correct thing in other places besides Marengo. It seems curious that with such a warlike appellation for the town, the first care of the settlers should have been to form a square. It is not probable that they dreamed of repelling cavalry by that operation.
The Chicago and North western rail- road and the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific do not join here, but the two lines are only eight miles apart, and considerable traffic occurs between the
two lines, the depot for one being at Blairstown, and the depot for the other here in Marengo. Manufactures have been entered upon here with great spirit, and the amount of shipping business transacted at this point ne- cessitates a large amount of retail trade. Some money changes hands in the lumber trade at this point.
The earliest white settler at Marengo of whom anything is known, came to this spot in 1848, and the town ex- pauded very gradually until 1859, when the railroad was constructed and the locomotive came thundering along, waking the echoes with a clangor of commerce more thrilling than the tramp of armed men. For some time this was the terminal station, but the citizens refused to believe in the per- manence of their prosperity, the ideas of many seeming to be that the wealth giving faculty in a railroad line must consist in the money it causes to be spent by its workmen and officials in the locality, rather than in the good markets which may thereby be secured for produce, which otherwise would remain valueless, or nearly so, at home. The city did not see its opportunity until long after the farming commun- ity had mastered the situation, and the business men were surprised in the midst of their gloomy forebodings as to the consequences which might come when the terminus was located elsewhere; by demands for increased accommodation, more tact, enterprise, capital, and it became apparent that there was to be a long reign of plenty and profit from the slowly awakening county seat.
Population came in rapidly from all quarters, and the town heard the sounds of building tools and imple- ments in every direction. The census showed an increase of cent. per cent. in population within two years, and the surrounding country continued to quicken daily with new efforts to come up to the occasion. The natural advantages of the site compelled the old identities to move on or be eclipsed by new comers; and they were wise enough in the long run to en- deavor to make up for lost time by re- doubling their exertions. For once old Father Time consented to be reached after his scalp lock had been neglected.
Marengo has newspapers enough to
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enable it to deserve the name of an en- terprising town. Its streets are broad, well graded and, therefore, drained. There are shade trees in some good positions, and beautiful residences. Water supply has latterly attracted some notice, and works have been erected which will supply the business area of the town. The school accom- modation of the town is ample and truly creditable to teachers, pupils and managers of the several institutions.
VICTOR is a young town or village built up by the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific railroad, on the west side of the county. There are about five hundred inhabitants in Victor, but the business of the place is rapidly in- creasing, as the resources of the sur- rounding country are multiplied for shipment. The retail trade at this point is already considerable, and must go on increasing with the im- proved prospects of the agricultural community.
MILLERSBURG is in the southwest- ern part of Iowa county, surrounded by good farming lands and excellent timber. The local trade transacted here is considerable, but the district wants a more immediate outlet than it now possesses.
CHESTER is a small town on Old Man's creek, ten miles from Marengo and near the center of the county, surrounded by some of the finest land in the state. The place was once known as Williamsburg, and the post- office, with starry aspirations, was called Stellapolis. This town was once a candidate to be the county seat.
Kostza, Genoa Bluffs, North Eng- lish, Lyth City and Nevada are all pleasant little villages, surrounded by prosperous bodies of agriculturists, whose wants create a steady local trade.
Jackson County is the link between the counties of Dubuque and Clinton, on the Mississippi river. This county was organized in 1838, and owed its early settlement, beyond doubt, to its contiguity to the famous lead mines at Dubuque, added to its commanding position on the highway of waters.
The surface of this region is rolling prairie for the largest part, but more broken up by various causes than any other county in this section of the state. Farmers do not shun the terri-
tory, and those who remain thrive in their vocations, so that it may be pre- sumed that the soil answers their pur- poses very well.
One of the most attractive localities in this county has been saddled with a very repulsive name: T'etes des Mort Valley, but in spite of the death's head appellation, the locality is beautiful. The curious and delightful effects pro- duced by the vast cliffs of Galena limestone which, in this locality, rise from forty to sixty feet almost perpen- dicularly, until they appear to be capped with living emerald which rolls back toward cloud land or is lost in the towering bluffs at their back may be imagined by an artist, but can- not easily be reproduced by the pen of a ready writer.
The Maquoketa creek runs through somewhat similar formations, and there are places where the cliffs rise up nearly one hundred feet from the water level. This rock constitutes the only kind, or nearly the only kind, of rock exposed in the interior of the county; but along the course of the great river there are formations of a different character which must be treated of hereafter when dealing with the mineral resources of the state.
The value of Niagara limestone as found in some sections of this county for building purposes is much impair- ed by the prevalence of nodules of flint. This is especially noticeable at Brush creek, where the buff colored bluffs ascend to the height of one hun- dred feet at many points. Some iron ore has been found in various parts of this county, but not in paying quanti- ties. Clay for making bricks, good building stone, excellent sand and the materials for quick lime in abundance, added to the vast water powers which only wait to be employed, offer a good showing for the future of Jackson county, when to all these are added the qualities of the soil and situation which specially qualify this county to be the home of agriculture, dairy farming and stock raising.
There is a considerable area of tim ber in the county, but it will be neces- sary for farmers to plant groves in some situations for shelter as well as for profit in other directions. In the Maquoketa valley there is a very exten- sive body of timber, almost a forest.
Burt's cave about eight miles from
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the county seat is a great natural curi- osity, and numbers come from great distances to explore its recesses. When the population has become more set- tled in this part of the state, and the railroad facilities offered shall have become better understood at a distance, Burt's cave will be spoken of on the other side of the Atlantic, as " one of the things which every fellow must see, you know."
This county was organized by the Wisconsin territorial legislature in 1837, when in common with two other counties at that time joined for pur- poses of administration, this county had its seat at Bellevue. From that place to Andrew and from An- drew back to Bellevue the county seat was removed several times, finally reposing at Andrew for sev- eral years after 1861. Maquoketa became the county seat in 1873, when the people of that city contributed a very handsome little court house as the price of the coveted honor. Andrew still enjoys the honor of being the seat of the county jail, and the de- sire for congenial company may some day cause the location of the county seat to be changed back again to its old quarters.
In 1837 the population of the county was two hundred and forty-four, which number had increased in 1874 to twen- ty-two thousand, two hundred and eighty-four. In the preceding year, the school districts found necessary to provide for this population, amounted to one hundred and seventy-nine, with a total value of school houses of near- ly one hundred and ten thousand dol- lars, not including apparatus worth four thousand more. For this work of tuition over three hundred teachers were employed, about three-fifths of the whole being ladies, and the results of the system generally is such as to give satifaction.
MAQUOKETA, now the county seat, is built on the river of that name, in the southern part of Jackson county. When the Mississippi is at its best, small streams could ascend the Maquo- keta to the county seat, but such an ambition as to prepare the way for a Maquoketa navy has not yet been man- ifested. Under certain circumstances this possibility will certainly be im- proved. A system of canal locks not very costly would make this advantage |
1 permanent all the year round, but the world was not built in a day, and per- haps it will be better for the town to realize its own wants before we theo- rize upon the best way to supply them.
The river gives unexceptional water powers to the city, and it is not easy to believe that such mechanical force, capable of going on unwearied, day and night for centuries together, will re- main only partially and inconsiderahly improved. There are now withiu a compass of scarcely twelve miles of Maquoketa about sixty water powers, which have never been turned to ac- count in proportion to their unmistak- able quality. When the manufaturers of the eastern states find their old positions becoming too narrow for them, or desire to give their sons a start in life, they cannot do better than invest a tithe of their resources in de- veloping the natural forces here avail- able.
The growth of timber in this por- tion of the county is very large and already considerable profit has been reaped from lumber in various forms, but Maquoketa is, as yet, only play- ing with possibilities. which will eventually give to that city and its sur- roundings, the importance of a nation, and the riches of Golconda.
The agricultural resources of this immediate neighborhood would suf- fice alone to make the town prosper- ous in the profit to be derived from the shipments of the vast aggregate of produce. The best class of farmers came here thirty years ago, with means ample to subdue the wilderness, and as their properties have increased in value year by year, they have sur- rounded themselves and their children with the advantages of the present day, the incentives to high culture and vig- orous thought which have resulted in giving to agriculturists in that county a special character and repute, while developing all the best features of the country which they radically improve. The German element in the population of the district around Maquoketa City is well calculated for the present needs of that territory.
There was a small village on the site of the city prior to 1850, the place being known within a limited radius as Springfield; but in the year men- tioned, this city was platted, and the present more descriptive name was
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adopted. Seven years after that event, the city was incorporated under a charter. The site occupied by the county seat is commanding and beau- tiful. When the city was first resolved upon, the founders displayed good taste, and the manner in which their plans have been improved by the lib- erality of the residents has added ma- terially to the original charms of the location. The poet was very senti- mental when he said: "God made the country, man made the town; " but if he had travelled far and seen some country and some towns which could be specified, he would want to rewrite that line to claim due credit for the great author of all good in every im- provement made on the surface of this planet, by the human powers to which He alone could give initial force and direction. Man has no cause to be ashamed of his share of the work in making towns in this brave north- western country, where the free air of hcaven has unbounded scope through wide streets and well ventilated houses, surrounded by the charms of rural: scenery.
Maquoketa would not be the pros- perous and busy town that it is, but for the fact that there are two railroads competing for the profit of conveying to the greater centers the vast surplus of produce of various kinds with which the granaries and storehouses of the farming population teem. The Davenport and St. Paul Railroad Com- pany have a branch connecting this town with their main line, and the Midland Railroad also made good its connections here at the same time, in the year 1870. The population of Maquoketa is variously stated, but we are safe in assuming two thousand five hundred as a sound basis.
Shade trees, handsome residences, with grounds tastily laid out, and graceful looking substantial business houses, are mute evidences but toler- ably conclusive as to the progress which is being made by Maquoketa.
Maquoketa has a graded school sys- tem which embraces every public school in the city. The high school is of course the culminating depart- ment in the four grades, and the ad- vantages which accrue are largely par- ticipated in by the younger branches of the well-to-do farmers in this re- gion.
Arising out of the facilities for pub- lic instruction to which attention has been called, there is an excellent liter- ary association in Maquoketa, which cannot fail to do good among the young men by and for whom it has been established.
There are several manufactories in the city, but we have written at such length of the city and county, that we are constrained to be silent as to these claims upon our respect. There are several newspapers well conducted and well sustained, which do credit to the tone pervading Maquoketa.
BELLEVUE is on the Mississippi river, twenty-two miles below Du- buque. The town stands on a plateau with an amphitheatre of hills forming a beautiful background, and serving as a defense against the cold winds of winter. The scenery visible from the highest points in the background of Bellevue are very imposing. Bellevue is connected with the Illinois bank of the great river by steamers, which fer- ry the traveling public to and fro, and convey large cargoes of merchandise. The Chicago, Dubuque and Minnesota Railroad has a station just north of the limits of the town, and a very large business is effected there.
For many years prior to 1840, Belle- vue was known as the rendezvous of many gangs of horse thieves and gen- eral depredators, who made their raids on several states, transferring the prop- erty stolen in one state to one of the others in which their agents could safely offer them for sale. The advan- tages offered by Bellevue for carrying on a traffic of that kind were great. The plunder had only to be sent across the river, and the ends of justice were practically defeated, while the well wooded, sparsely settled country along the Maquoketa gave to the robbers a safe refuge when pursuit grew hot. Sometimes the honest settlers showed a desire to put down the system of spoliation which they saw going on continually, but they were nowhere in a contest with the criminal class, whose union and absence of scruple gave them great power, while their less united and scrupulous neighbors did not know whom to trust. If in- formation was given against the thieves there was danger always that the in- formant would be driven out of the county or possibly murdered by the
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rascals with whom he had dared to | solved to fight to the last. After a con- meddle. Many lost their lives in that way.
At last a citizen's association was formed, and, to make a long story short, the pioneers who wished to see hon- esty win concluded to weed out the thieves, even though it should be neces- sary to resort to the jurisdiction of Judge Lynch. Before the time came when honest men knew each other, it was ascertained that some persons of very high respectability, to all ap- pearances, were connected with the party and had been their accomplices for years. These fellows were spies upon the movements of anti-horse thieves, they were agents in the sale of stolen property, and, when any of the desperadoes fell into the hands of justice, unless the trick was rapidly played out with a rope's end over the limb of a tree, they were useful as bail for a reappearance that was never con- templated, or they were witnesses of unimpeachable character as to the presence of the thief at some point many miles distant from the scene of the crime for hours before and hours after its committal. When,
sometimes, a troublesome honest neighbor could not in any other way be disposed of, these fellows knew how to direct suspicion against the disturber, and, if necessary, even how to secure the conviction of innocent men by perjury.
The Bellevue war commenced in an attempt on the part of the scoundrels to assassinate a man who had denounced them publicly. The scheme missed its aim in consequence of the absence of the man whose life was sought. Meeting some of the would-be mur- derers shortly after, an attack was com- menced upon him, but he was fortu- nately able to shoot an assailant whose pistol had burnt priming. For that act the thieves proposed to lynch him, but he made his escape, went home, barricaded himself in his own house, 'and remained there until he could sur- render to the sheriff. From that time it became evident that nothing but a war of extermination could be relied upon. An attempt made to arrest the horse thieves in a body was met by their assembling in a building, the property of one of the party, and the desperadocs, armed with weapons of all kinds, barricaded the house and re-
test, which was full of hairbreadth escapes and some bloodshed, it was re- solved to burn the building as the only available means to get at the mis- creants. That step caused the thieves to rush from the building in the hope of making their escape; but many prisoners were taken. The trial ac- corded to the rascals determined, by a novel ballot, that flogging should be their doom, and, after the lash had been vigorously applied to their backs, they were set afloat on the river, with orders never to return, on pain of death. So ended the famous Bellevue war.
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