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 52
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There is a Presbyterian college lo- cated here, and it is very well sustained by the showing of the first year of ac- tive work. The institution is expected to take very high rank among such institutions. The college is very well endowed, $70,000 in money aud lands having been given from different sources.
There are mills of several kinds in full work here, several foundaries and machine shops, and a number of man- ufactories, which employ a large num- ber of hands, adding greatly to the prosperity of Fairfield.
ABINGDON is situated in the north- west of the county, and is a pretty vil- lage in a good site, containing a pros- perous and busy population.
BATAVIA is a shipping station on the Burlington and Minnesota Rail-
road, doing a fair average of business. There is an elevator and a flouring mill here, and the town has good pros- pects as it stands in good farming Îand.
GLASGOW is not so great as its flourishing namesake, but it was the first village laid out in the county. It is situated in the northeastern part of Jefferson county.
GERMANVILLE is a little village in the midst of a fine farming country in Walnut township.
PERLEE owes its existence to the Southwestern Railroad, and it stands seven miles from Fairfield. There are four shafts sunk here for coal mining, and the district is rapidly becoming famous for the coal which is raised here.
PLEASANT PLAIN is a station on the same railroad, and the business of the place depends almost entirely on ship- ments of various produce for the farm- ers.
LIBERTYVILLE stands in the same category.
LOCKRIDGE is a station town on the Burlington and Missouri River Rail- road, doing a good shipping business.
ATCHISON and COAL POINT are sta- tions on the Burlington and Missouri River Railroad, doing a large share of business and rapidly increasing in im- portance.
BRONKVILLE is a post office village, with a few residences and one store.
GLENDALE is a post office, and little more.
Johnson County contains six hun- dred and eighteen square miles of su- perficial area of well timbered land, diversified with fertile prairie, the whole being excellently watered and drained. The surface of the county undulates considerably, and the groves which adorn the prairie lands, added to the belts of timber which follow the water courses, make the scene from every commanding point very beauti- ful.
Iowa river runs through cight con- gressional townships in this county, bending round in a remarkable man- ner, and in its course there are numer- ous very valuable sites for the location of mills and other such works. Many of the powers are great enough for the heaviest machinery. The tributaries of this river are also prolific in water
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powers, the Buttermilk Falls, as they are called, being very singular indica- tions of the work which these com- paratively small strcams are capable of effecting. Other tributaries, some of which are fed by springs at their sources and along the course of each stream, furnish excellent powers, ca- pable of any amount of milling. Rapid Creek, Old Man's, Single, Clear and Sells' or Mill creeks may be men- tioned as among the more considera- ble, but some of the others could also be improved. The Iowa river used to be navigated to some extent, but rail- roads have diminished the necessity for, or the value of, such slow means of transit.
The Cedar river assists to drain the northeastern extremity of Johnson county. The river valleys are broad and not very deep, rising into undulat- ing uplands, save where the rock for- mations jut out from the soil and vary the outline, sometimes by presenting a wall of rock against the stream, and in others by protrusion from the em- erald slope. Turkey and Rapid creeks are the more noticeable sites of such formations; but some are also found along the course of the Iowa river. Some beautiful geological specimens of "bird's eye marble" are found in this locality. There are five quarries, about eight miles above Iowa City, pronounced by competent authorities to be of extraordinary durability. Af- ter thirty years exposure in buildings, this limestone has been found scarcely changed by the atmosphere which, with its hungry oxygen, can eat into almost every kind of mineral.
In this county, also, there are uu- merous relics of the race or races of mound builders, strange masses of earth, rudely and yet fancifully shaped, grouped together in a way doubtless significant enough when the mounds were built. Below Iowa City the wild Indian once delighted to meet his red- skinned brethren, to whom he would boast of his prowess after the manner of the noble savage in whom Fenni- more Cooper took delight. Since the first white settlers came to this county, such gatherings have been frequently noted, and many of the curious mounds referred to are scattered and grouped in this area among the bluffs of the river. There is a singular looking peak or peculiarly rounded hill in this
locality which has been named " Indi- an Lookout," but whether that title describes the use to which it was really put, or is merely due to the lively fancies of the new coming white men, cannot be determined.
The drift formation often mentioned, with its rich upper soil and fertile porous subsoil of great depth, are characteristic of this vast area of country, and it is hardly necessary to say that the land is very productive.
Johnson county is the chosen resi- dence of a various and prosperous people, who came to a country favored by nature, bringing the ripe results of valuable experiences gained elsewhere. There is nearly a quarter of a million of acres of this very fruitful country already under cultivation, and the area broadens every year. The manu- facturing interests of this county are already considerable, not, perhaps, hardly a tithe of the works which will be in progress here before another decade has passed has as yet been initiated.
Railroad communication has done much for Johnson county as will ap- pear when we have glanced at the principal towns and cities in our cur- sory review, and side by side with that portion of the machinery of pro- gress, schools have been extending their influence upon the minds of all classes, and even upon the physical aspects of the county itself. Iowa City, and its university and educa- tional establishments, have truly done more to make the country in which they flourish, great, than even the iron horse which brings to our aid the profits and the intercourse of com- merce.
The first white settler, of whom there is any record or remembrance, was an old Indian trader who built his cabin in Pleasant Valley township. The trader was the pioneer to a more ex- tended settlement, as he served as guide to others who were seeking locations, and the hut in which he lived became the center of a little colony. There were many Indian villages and towns within easy reach of the rude habita- tions then erected, but the Red men were not troublesome, and, happily, the new comers lived in peace, injur- ing none nor being injured. This settlement dates from 1836, and after that time there were arrivals from
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time to time, sometimes at long inter- | vals, until the Indians were crowded out and the hunting grounds upon which they had obtained a precarious livelihood knew them no more for- ever. Timber, water and fertile land, these were the prime requisites of the early comers, and where these could be found in close proximity to each other, the pioneers camped, sometimes alone, occasionally in company, but always with so much work before them that solitude had no terrors for their hardy bodies and intrepid minds. Rude as these men were in their simple dress and accoutrements, many of them were seeking homes, not for themselves alone, but for generations then unborn, in whose welfare they took a living interest. These scouts and videttes of civilization have passed now to the silent land, nearly all of them; but in their day they were heroes, widening the domain of their race by beneficent conquests.
Organization was effected in John- son county in 1838, and in the follow- ing year the county seat was located at Iowa city. The site once chosen, there was no delay in the attempt to render the city worthy of its destiny. Ou the fourth of July of that year, the first celebration of the declaration of independence occurred on the site of the present capitol, and, beyond doubt, there was earnestness and eloquence among the celebrants.
IOWA CITY, the county seat of John- son county, came at once into import- ance; but few could have imagined, when the first public assemblage was convened there, that the new location would rise into the eminence it now occupies, with its surrounding of one hundred and sixty public schools, valued at $130,000, and an annual ex- penditure of $75,000 for the education of seven thousand pupils.
From the very first outset there was much anxiety for the maintenance of educational establishments. Most of the settlers brought with them to this county settled ideas as to the value of school training, and the less they had been favored in that line themselves, the more determined were they that their children should not fall short of the best tuition their means and oppor- tunities would allow.
The immigration into Iowa, which had been very slow and gradual at
first, became quite active and continu- ous soon after the county seat had been located. Meu came bringing their families with them, some brought herds of cattle, and all came to stay. None doubted that the new city would be a permanent location. Brickyards were set agoing, lumber was procured from Muscatine, timber rudely pre- pared with ax and wedge, served many purposes, and before there was time to look around, a considerable village was made ready by and for this army of in- dustry. Iowa City was not only the county seat; it was, and it remained the capitol of the state until 1857. The amount of money expended upon the state capitol employed much labor, but there was so much difficulty and delay in procuring building stone that the edifice commenced in 1840 was not completed until two years after- wards. The settlement increased rapid- ly, and its importance was fed from numerous sources.
In 1840, a private school was opened in Iowa City, and two years later an academy was founded by the Mechan- ics' Mutual Aid Association. Other such efforts followed in rapid succes- sion until the Iowa public school sys- tem was established. In 1847, the state University came to cap the climax, and the capitol buildings and grounds served as an admirable endowment. The value of that institution would re- quire a volume to set forth its merits ; certainly it is the greatest honor that has been achieved by a state or city since the Indian trader first volunteered his services to show the earliest settlers where they might best locate their homes. There are now several private academies of much importance in the city, but the chief work of training the youth of the city and the immediately surrounding agricultural community, is discharged by the ward schools, each graded and well organized under most efficient teachers and an accom- plished superintendent.
The other features of the city ad- ministration are such as might be au- ticipated where education is the first great need provided for. Church or- ganizations and church buildings are there sufficient for the whole popula- tion. Literary associations are many and active, newspapers of high tone, well managed, command support, and the agricultural association for the
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county sets up a high standard for the the farmer and stock raisers of Iowa, while offering reasonable inducements for the attainment of excellence.
Jones County suggests the idea of the ocean which perturbed by strong and conflicting winds being suddenly stayed in its troubled aspect by con- version into dry land. The greater waves have been worn down by the action of wind and rain, frost and snow, and some of the outlines other- wisc softened, but in the main there are the broken waves still visible in the surface of Jones county. Else- where the prairie resembles the long swell of a summer sea, or the peculiar roll of the ocean in the tropics during a calm of days or weeks duration, but in this county the picture presented is a troubled sea suddenly changed to dry land before the waves could sub- side into quiescence. Heaps of low hills are found upon the prairies, round which the streams must wind on their way to the valleys, and there also the same features prevail, deflecting the rivers from the courses they would have sought. Along all these devious river beds there is timber in considera- ble plenty, not enough to make Jones county a region for lumbermen, but sufficient to give a character to the scenery. The soil thus ministered to Dy streams and groves is, of course, fertile, producing the accustomed crops with which the reader is famil- lar. The Maquoketa and the Wapsi- pinicon both run in a southeasterly course, obeying the trend of the county, and the main streams with their num- erous tributaries, keep the soil mag- nificently drained and watered. Those who have lived long in Jones county pronounce the climate salubrious, but there are times when the winds come somewhat cold and harsh upon the un- accustomed stranger within these gates which are seldom inhospitably closed.
The cereals are principally cared for in the way of surplus to be sent to dis- tant markets. Stock raising also com- mands much attention, and dairy farm- ing will soon become a specialty in Jones county. Cheese factories, in which the work heretofore done in detail by unskillful hands, sometimes, comes now to be done by specialists in that vocation, in such quantity as that it becomes easy to observe the
minutest precautions to ensure success and as a consequence the cheese which is sent into the market procurcs, not only the best prices ever paid in this country, but commands a premium in Europe. Latterly this county has dis- tinguished itself by importations of blooded stock which will not fail to affect the prices, and the profits per- taining to that occupation. Sporting clergymen and others may come in the course of a few years to reckon up- on obtaining their 2:40 trotting horses from this rapidly advancing county.
The first settlers came into the coun- ty in 1836, and from that time until the latter part of 1838, detached families came to different locations finding spots of unusual beauty, and some convenience upon which they con- cluded to make their homes. Some selected the sides of rivers, near which they found a location for mills ; others went into the groves, like the Druids of old, but looking for something more valuable than even the sacred mistle- toe. All according to their own views, made their homes upon the spots most likely to give them happiness and for- tune.
BOWEN'S PRAIRIE was first settled by white men in 1836, and the survey was made in the following year. The falls near Cascade were soon after this taken possession of, and the first grist mill in the county was afterwards lo- cated at this spot. The work of settle- ment went on in this desultory and unsystematic way for some years, but probably it was the only system that could have been devised under the cir- cumstances, and they only way that could have met with success.
The territorial legislature was elect- ed while these changes were going on, and the opportunity for county organ- ization found the people slowly attract- ing their friends to their sides from all parts of the Union, to take part in de- veloping the riches of this portion of the state. The first school house was opened in 1840, and considering the age of the settlement, it was a credita- ble basis on which to raise the super- structure of education, which now gives good training to a much larger population.
MONTICELLO dates its first settlement from about the same time as Bowen's Prairie. There was a mail coach route
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passing this little settlement in 1839, but the arrivals were few and far be- tween. In 1841 a postoffice was estab- lished that seemed a great step toward recognition by the world at large. The following year saw a military road laid out through the place, then after an interval of eight years, the township of Monticello was laid out, at first much larger than now, but soon afterwards reduced to the limits now subsisting. In 1855 there was a talk about rail- roads, and in the following year the Dubuque and Southwestern Railroad passed through the township, giving a promise of new life, which has since heen fulfilled. The school building which was erected that year, provided for proper grading, and good teachers became a desideratum. In 1867, Mon- ticello became a city by incorporation, and in 1868, among other valuable movements, one of the best seems to have been the establishment of a foun- dry and machine shop, which proved the starting point for many large estab- lishments, giving employment to hun- dreds, and suggesting the combination of labors by which nations become great.
SCOTCH GROVE was settled in 1837, some thirty persons coming in one party to found a colony. Two years later a further instalment of about sim- ilar numbers, came to join the first settlers, and the families thus making homes for themselves in the wilder- ness, have done fully as well as their imaginations could have induced them to expect. The town of Scotch Grove was platted in 1872.
FARM CREEK, in Washington town- ship, attracted a little colony in 1836, and their cabins adorned the banks of the Maquoketa, forming the nucleus of a prosperous settlement, which has since been largely increased.
CLAY TOWNSHIP attracted the re- gards of an old hunter who made his home here on the south bank of the river, in 1837, and his cabin proved a commencement of the large and pros- perous community now flourishing in that region.
ROME found settlers in and after 1837, and numerous cabins, somewhat primitive but substantial, were erected as the colonists came to their work. During 1840, there were many arrivals, and the advance since then has been steady.
WYOMING, not the Wyoming in which Gertrude, famous in the annals of poesy, lived and suffered, but Wy- oming, Jones county, was first settled by white men in 1839, and those to whom the selection is due, deserve credit for good taste.
LANGWORTHY was settled in 1838, but the town was not laid out until af. ter a lapse of twenty years. The banks of the Wapsipinicon fully justify the choice of the new comers.
CASTLE GROVE was not abandoned by the Indians until 1847, but settle- ment had been commenced long be- fore that date, and the scarcity of game consequent upon settlement must have made the red men very anxious to em- igrate. It is said that the last elk seen in this region was killed in 1842, but other game has been found in the dis- trict since the Indians went away. The township has a cheese factory in full operation and the settlers are mak- ing dairy business a very profitable pursuit.
Jones County formed a part of this famous Black Hawk purchase after the abortive attempt of that great war- rior to repossess his tribe of the lands they had parted with by treaty. The county was organized in 1835, by act of the territorial legislature, and in the following year public schools were similarly established. The location of the county seat gave much trouble, and caused some little amusement. The town of Edenburgh was laid out at Scotch Grove as the first location; then a change was made to Newport after a lapse of a few years, the trans- fer to Lexington being effected in 1847. The town last mentioned has since changed its name to Anamosa, and is still the seat of Jones County. The county is well supplied with newspapers, some of them being very well conducted.
ANAMOSA, the county seat, is better known to many persons as a spot where a society has been established for the better prosecution of fish cul- ture. Probably the time will come when the rivers and the smaller seas will be farmed as industriously, and with as much skill as the land, and whenever that time comes, the furrows of the waves will give a better profit on less toil than the furrows of the plow, but for the present we have only made a beginning.
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The society at Anamosa is only a | though of course, there are many of branch of a much larger association greater extent. interested in pisciculture, but it is do- ing a very valuable work, and will eventually stock every lake and stream with the best varieties of fish food, for the advantage of the county and the state. Such enterprises give to the whole public an immense return upon the outlay of individuals.
The name of Lexington, the original appellation of the county seat, was changed to Anamosa as a compliment to a beautiful Indian girl, a child of eleven years, whose grace won the admiration of some of the settlers. The White Fawn, described by the Indian name is inscribed on the seal of the corporation. The first settlers on, or near the site of the city were described as residing at the Buffalo Forks of the Wapsipinicon, and they were there in 1838, possibly somewhat earlier. The desire of the new comers was to secure a first class site for milling purposes, and they claimed some sections in Fairview township, but before they could carry out their intentions, sickness carried off three of this little colony, and the others, disheartened, sold out on the first opportunity. The struggle only changed hands, and after many re- verses the battle was won at last.
The first settlers on the site of Ana- mosa built a dwelling in 1840, and af- ter many changes of appellation, the pretty name now in use was adopted. The village was incorporated in 1856, and in 1872, the charter was amended making Anamosa a city. There are many flourishing mills and factories in the city, giving employment to a large population. The schools in this town are well managed and in every sense creditable establishments worthy of the attention of some eastern cities.
Works are now being prosecuted to supply the town with water for do- mestic use and as a precaution against fire, supplies being obtained from the Wapsipinicon river, which can give an ample store for all purposes.
There is a new state penitentiary being built in Anamosa, the citizens having given seventy-six acres of land, part of it in the town itself, for the purposes of the prison to be built upon and used by the state. The building now in progress will be one of the best of its kind in the union, al-
Excellent quarries, the property of the state, are opened and partly worked in the vicinity of Anamosa, sufficient for every building purpose likely to be required during this cen- tury, and the quality of stone obtained could hardly be excelled in the state. The stone which is soft and very easy to work when first quarried, becomes very hard afterwards and will bear very great pressure. The stone there ob- tainable is used in building the peni- tentiary, from which it is distant only three miles. Prison labor is being employed in the erection, and the men appear to take a very great inter- est in the progress of their abode.
Railroads have favored Jones coun- ty, as the Dubuque and Southeast- ern passes through Fairview, Cass, Wayne and Monticello townships, go- ing northwest, the Labula, Ackley, and Dakota traverses the southern townships east and west, the Iowa Midland runs through the center of the county from east to west, and the St. Paul and Davenport travels south- east through six townships with nu- merous stations on each line.
Keokuk County takes it name in honor of an Indian chief who took part in the treaty under which the land included in this organization, with much besides, was thrown open to settlement by the whites in 1843. The Sac and Fox tribes of Indians had given part of this territory to the government, by treaty in 1838. Some few claims were taken up before the red men were removed, but settlement in the better sense only began about and after that time. There was a set- tlement in Richland in 1838. In Clear Creek township, agricultural opera- tions were commenced in 1837. Such operations went on slowly, until the whole of the territory became fairly eligible for settlement, but there was a saw mill erected and operated at South Skunk, near the confluence with North Skunk river, in 1843.
The organization of Keokuk county was effected in 1844, by an act of the territorial legislature, and the county seat was located pursuant to arrange- ments then ordered, at Sigourney, a spot near the center of the county, ap- proved by commissioners. Most of
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the settlements were in the southeast of Keokuk county, and in consequence the central location was not generally approved by the people at the time. The towns left out in the cold, more especially Newton, a place that never became a town, and Richland, a more : promising place of business, resolved that the decision of the commission- ers should be overruled, but au ener- getic county officer assumed the re- sponsibility of carrying out the law, and Sigourney, a place in the woods, without one habitation until he built it, became the county seat.
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