USA > Iowa > Jackson County > Annals of Jackson county, Iowa, Vol 1-2 > Part 17
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What gave the name of Buckhorn to this little cluster of houses was the sign of Burleson's tavern, which was a cedar post about twelve feet high literally covered with the antlers of the deer Burleson had killed in previ- ous days, when much of his living depended upon his fre, and what made Buckhorn famous and far known in other days was the Buckhorn tavern and Shade Burleson himself, who was ever ready to grant a favor to these who asked and stand up for his own rights and those whom he believed in
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under, any and all circumstances, and just as relentlessly follow those whom he believed was trying to wrong him.
Sometime in the fall of 1865 or there abouts, when his large barn was full to overflowing with hay, grain and farming machinery, it was set afire. about seven o'clock or half past in the evening where a clapboard was loose on the side hid from sight of the house and burned to the ground. (A barn built by him on the same foundation was also burned by accident since S. Burleson died and his son Frank came into possession. ) A man by the name of Rowley Waight, who in after years became an uncle of the writer by mar- riage, was known to have an ill will against S. Burleson and who took no pains to conceal it, was arrested as the most likely person to have committed the crime. There was claimed to have been some other circumstantial evi- ence against him, among the rest the fact that he was gone from home an bour or so at the time the barn was fired and could not account for his absence only by the statement of himself and family that he was at the creek after a barrel of water, having to haul their water from about half a mile from the house. On account of lack of sufficient evidence to convict and the help of Leffingwell, one of the best, if not the very best criminal lawyer, in the state, who later became judge of the courts of Clinton County, Waight was cleared, but it broke him up financially and compelled him to sell one of the best farms in this section, the one now occupied by August Luett. It was a stubborn legal contest, as it might be expected to have been with the interest of such a man as Shadrach Burleson supported by such a lawyer as Darling on the one side and a clients case defended by such a man as Judge Leflingwell on the other side. At the same time, it was being tried aud retried in the neighborhood where the crime was com- mitted and Burleson and Waight each came in for their share of condemna- tion or exoneration with the bulk of the sympathy in favor of Waight. In this narrative we are neither judge nor jury, only stenographer recording known history and opinion of early settlers for and against S. Burleson. It was the belief of many of this neighborhood that a certain woman, who aspired to the affections of one of the Burleson family and was then there, and whose passion was unrequitted, burned the barn out of revenge. But as be- lief is not proof and Waight was acquitted, the burning is still unsolved.
As Burleson was such a leading spirit in much of the history of this country, we have often wanted to write him up, as we and others have un- derstood him, but have been a little loath to undertake it, as some of it is bound to conflict with the opinion of others and much that has already been written on matter that implicates him indirectly. Shade Burleson was undoubtedly a man of great courage or he never would have undertaken to have settled the W. W. Brown estate; being known as it was that he. like many of Jackson County's best citizens, did not believe Brown was all or any where near what Cox and his friends painted him, and he, like such men as Ance Wilson, Wm. Current, J. E. Goodenow, Nathaniel Butter. worth and in fact many of the leading inen of this, as well as other parts of Jackson County, refused to go to help drive Brown out of the country. For all of that, after Brown was killed it was about all a man's life was worth to say a word in defense of Brown or against the manner of disposing of
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him and the hardest thing S. Burleson ever got up against was when he became the administrator of Brown's estate. The animosity that his con- nection with the settling of that estate, caused rumors to be circulated by those with whom he had to deal that he was a Brown sympathizer (which he was to a certain extent) and in league with murderers, horse thieves and counterfeiters, which was not slow to be more than half believed by many in this country, who were not strictly friendly to Mr. Burleson. The replies of Wm. Warren, "a pioneer" and of an anonymous writer to "old settlers" account of the Bellevue tragedy, which have become recorded history in the Jackson history published in 1879, so clearly fixed the belief that Shade Bur- leson was the old settler to whom they referred that it lent strength to those earlier rumors circulated at the time Burleson was administrator of Brown's estate. The belief is still in the minds of men, as is evident by remarks one may some time hear since the Jackson County Historical Socie- ty, through James Ellis, Harvey Reid and others caused the remains of Col Thomas Cox to be exhumed and with honor and ceremony laid to rest again in Mount Hope cemetery at Maquoketa, all of which was the proper thing to do, as Thomas Cox was a pioneer of five territories and very prominent in the carly affairs of Jackson County and the territory of what is now Iowa, but if there is anything in recorded history and the tradition of men. Cox, as an angel, was not completely feathered out. We would not give to Shade Burleson all the honors that have been showered upon Thomas Cox for we do not think he was entitled to it, or Cox either, but we would like to see all people have what is their due. The historian who undertakes to give it them and write history as history is made, must contract for his so- cial and political shroud and stand with pen in one hand and sword in the other. As heretofore intimated, we hate to touch some matters of history that will become necessary in clearing Shade Burleson from some of the stigma that has been cast upon him by the charges made against him by the Cox following. And we have no sword. though perhaps we may be able to borrow the one Calvin Teeple used at the hanging of Jackson for the mur- der of Perkins. In order not to let this narrative seem mystical we will have to tell about that sword before we can "pioneer" as the anonymous writ- ter before mentoned said "go back and settle up the Brown estate. "
When the territorial militia was organized in 1839 and Henry Mallard was commissioned captain by Gov. Lucas, Calvin Teeple was commissoned First Lieutenant. When Jackson was to be hung by Sheriff W. A. Warren, Mallard's company was called out as guard. Lieutenant Tęeple, to in,- press the importance of his official position upon the world at large and .\n- drew especially and his troop, borrowed of an old veteran of the war of 1812-14 what was perhaps then the only sword in lowa territory and receiv ed instructions from him as how to make a few passes and sword thrusts that would be very "fetching" in the eyes of the civilians in general, and his company in particular. Upon arrival at Andrew, Captain Mallard stopped in to irrigate his drouth and upon coming out saw Teeple with his con. pany drawn up in fine and going through his manual of arms. Captain Mal- lard watched him a moment and seemingly concluding it would not do to let a lieutenant dim the luster of the captain by thus carving out chunks of
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glory to be woven into garlands for some future hall of fame, approached 'Teeple with all the dignity of a superior officer and said: "Lieutenant Teeple give me that sword, " to which, without so much as a military salute or a cessation in the manual of arms, the valiant lieutenant replied "go to hell and get your own sword." This story of the sword only illustrates how little the pioneers cared for military discipline and has led us away from the subject of Cox and Brown and the Bellevue war and the connection Shade Burleson had with it in the selling of the W. W. Brown estate. To show what the feeling was (of the Warren and Cox party and their friends which still lives in their descendants) toward those who had faith in Brown as a useful citizen of Jackson County, we will mention what Nathaniel Butter- worth, Jr., recently told us, he being a boy at that time and remembering the circumstances connected therewith. (As we have before stated Na- thaniel Butterworth, Sr., as did such men as J. E. Goodenon, Ance Wilson, Wm. Current, Wm. Morden, Shade Burleson, Calvin Teeple and many others refused to go with Col. Cox and others to drive Brown out of the country. ) J. E. Goodenow said to them "What do I want to help drive Brown out of the country for? He is the best man for the country there is in it. Any man who needs help can get it from Brown. He will trust any man." These men might have been laboring under a delusion, but any man who knew them will not accuse them of being in sympathy with criminals, (es- pecially such men as J. E. Goodenow). But to get back to Butterworth's story, after the tragical April 1, 1840, when Brown and several others were killed and still others, who were taken prisoners. whipped and ordered out of the country never to return on pain of death by the Warren and Cox posse, or mob as you see fit to call it. A part of his heroes (as W. A. War- ren called them in his defense of the method of taking off of Brown) among whom was Col. Cox himself stopped in front of Butterworth's on their re- turn from Bellevue and called Butterworth out and producing a jug of whiskey ordered Butterworth to drink. Not caring to arouse their ill feel- ings he complied, whereupon some one of the party said. not Cox, he was in the bottom of the wagon bed too drunk to say anything: "Butterworth, the finger of suspicion is pointing at you and if you do not carry yourself mighty straight, we will" indicating what they would do by a move of the hand as though circling his neck with a rope. This will show what Shade Burleson undertook when he administered on W. W. Brown's estate, being as he was one of those who were friends of Brown. It also will show some- thing of the character and nerve of the man who would undertake it. inasmuch as it became necessary for him to commence action against several of the Cox party for money owed by them to W. W. Brown. Some say "why resurrect those things that happened so long ago, when the parties are all dead and the events nearly forgotten." There can be no resurrection of the events for they are still a live issue and while much of the recorded history is very much inclined to make heroes of Brown's slayers, it causes a stigma upon those past and present, who have been, or are now, skeptical and in writing up the biography of our old neighbor Shade Burleson, we cannot avoid touching upon the subject of the Bellevue war. We have before stated that in writing this narrative we were neither judge or jury, only stenographer, but we
1
SHADRACH BURLESON.
1
1
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must also to some extent be Burleson's attorney in a way, to defend him as the "Old Settler" from the attacks made upon him by W. A. Warren and the "anonymous writer" in the 1879 history of Jackson county. In our de- fense we will mostly use the account of the Bellevue war and events con- nected therewith as found in said 1879 history. All, nearly, with the ex- ception of old Settlers" letter, (which you will find tucked away in an ob- scure place in print, nearly to fine to read, and the letter written by the anonymous writer) was either the word for word writing of W. A. Warren or taken from his writing by the compilers-and is so stated by the publish- ers. In order to make our case clear we will have to quote from said history and will commence with old settler's letter of Sept. 6th, to the Maquoketa Excelsior.
"I saw in one of your papers that a company was getting up the early history of Jackson county, if there is anything to be said about the Bellevue tragedy or war that happened in the early days of the county, I wish it to come before the people in its true light ..
"I came to this country in April, 1837, the same summer, one Thomas Cox, had a contract to survey the county and as he was a great friend of Monongahela whisky, he procured a barrel for his outfit. His boss surveyor was a man named McDonald. Cox kept camp and entertained the callers while the others done the surveying, so he became acquainted with nearly every one in the country and when we organized into lowa territory Cox represented this county in the legislature, but never lost sight of his friend, Monongahela. The people, however, began to think they had better not trust him with so responsible a position any longer. Cox saw unless some- thing was done he must go down and that William Brown of Bellevue was bound to be the coming man of the county. This Brown was an off hand business man, he bought property on credit and turned it so as to make money with every change. He bought a hotel of Peter Dutell and ran it him- self. He also had a dry goods store, all bought on creidt no man or beast went away from his door hungry, money or no money, he trusted every body and was just the man for the country. The honest and industrious part of the community thought Brown was doing more for the country than any man in it.
"Cox, however, became politically jealous of Brown and raised a mob to drive Brown out of the country or kill him. To excite the mob, Cox told his friends, Brown was getting rich too fast to get it honestly and that he thought there was a gang of horse thieves and counterfeiters at Brown's and he proposed driving them out of the country, so with the aid of the Monon- gahela whiskey, he got his friends together at Bellevue and ordered Brown to surrender or leave the country. Brown told the comimttee he would not surrender to a mob, but would meet them before any tribunal they might name at any place or time and abide the decision. The mob was very drunk, yet they passed the whiskey around and then swore they would have blood. As every man in the crowd owed Brown more or less for clothing and living and being crazed with liquor and pleased with getting rid of paying their debts they proceeded at once in putting into effect their murderous intent. I do not remember the number, but think from seven to nine were killed,
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several more wounded, five or six whipped and ordered to leave the country. Wm. Fox was one of the number whipped. Soon after I met Fox and he swore he never would do another day's work while he lived, but would rob. murder or steal for a living. They had ruined his character and the sooner he was dead the better it would be for him. Brown's friends in Bellevue and throughout the country, were the industrious part of the community, while Cox's friends were those who minded everybody's business but their own.
We thought in those days the sheriff was not quite as strict iu perform- ing bis duties as he should have been and endeavored to please everyone he met, women not excepted-although he was a pretty clever fellow. "
OLD SETTLER. -
The sheriff and others have said that Old Settler was quite a haud to try to please the woman too-and chased after them a great deal, but as we never heard of one complaining of him, we take it as evidence that he never chased the poor dears very far. Old Settler's charge is pretty strong against the men led by Cox and Warren and too sweeping, seemingly, to be accepted in to-to but is no more so than W. A. Warren's reply to it in which he charges that Old Settler was a member of Brown's gang and a sympathizer with murder- ers, horse thieves nad counterfeiters, and intimates he was one of the parts who murdered Col. Geo. Davenport at his home on Rock Island the night of July 4th, 1845. True, Warren does not give cut anything to positively fix the identity of Old Settler (as one would expect him to do if he could prove what he charges), but the letter following Warren's, in the Jackson County History of 1879, and written by one who signs "Pioneer", does fix it on S. Burleson by alluding to Old Settler as Brown's administrator, al- though Warren and Pioneer make pretty serious charges against Old Settler, they both fail to point out where the proof can be found as to their charges of Old Settler's criminal record. Is there any proof for any of Old Settler's charges against Col. Cox or his co-operators? or any justification for the faith so many of the pioneers had in Brown as a man and useful citizen? Those pioneers, we mean, among them such men as J. E. Goodenow and Ance Wilson, the latter who yet lives at 90 years of age this coming May, the 5th, 1906, and, who. according to Win. Current's, (his nephew) state- ment to me, remarked no longer ago than a year that according to his abil- ity to judge men. W. W. Brown as a man stood head and shoulders above Thomas Cox. Is there any proof that Cox was an intemperate man and politically jealous of W. W. Brown, as Old Settler charges him with having been, if there is we can find it on page 361 of the 1879 history of Jackson County, in the article titled "A Sheriff Foiled, " and mentions a caucus held about six months and a half after Jackson County was organized The article in part refers to a span of horses stolen and claimed by a man named Jenkins, who described them to Sheriff Warren's satisfaction and gained posssession. We quote from the account of the caucus, which was furnished by Warren himself: "About ten days after the departure of Jenkins a cau- cus was held for the nomination of a democratic candidate for the legislature and Col. Thomas Cox, who was the democratic war-horse of Jackson County, was apparently the only man talked of. The balloting was regarded asa mere
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formality, when to the amazement of Cox and his supporters Brown was de- clared nominated by a vote of two to one. Cox was a very high tempered man and fond of whiskey, which frequently had the better of him. He arose then to denounce Brown and his clan. Just after the meeting two strangers ap- peared inquiring for the sheriff, the elder of whom was recognized as the · Hon. E. Brigham of Wisconsin, he was in search of a span of horses stolen from him which he believed to be the ones advertised from Bellevue. He gave the same marks Jenkins had given besides others. Cox and Brigham had served together in the legislature and when the former heard the truth in regard to his friend's loss he declared open war on Brown, previous to this time he had been one of his strongest allies and looked upon him as a persecuted man. But he no longer hesitated openly to declare him a base villain. nor did he ever relent his enmity toward him. And we find Cox one of the leaders at the time the thieves were exterminated. "Strange Cox should be one of Brown's strongest allies believing him to be a perse- cuted man and not find out the true character of him and his clan, until just after those ballots were counted and he was beaten two to one. Strange also Brigham should turn up just at the right moment with the ear marks of those horses to connect Brown with the theft. Such things have been done before now to help fix a political fence.
By quoting further it seems he didn't get the riders all on. "A decided majority was on the side of Brown, who did not then attempt to conceal his true character and the prospects were not pleasant for those who opposed him. Brigham and his friend left between sunset and sunrise and Cox was saved from injury by going to his home, having announced himself an inde- pendent candidate for the legislature to which he was subsequently elected." (Brown is said to have been dead before that election occurred. ) Does this prove that Cox was an intemperate man and politically jealous of Brown?
History does not state what was the true character of Brown. he no longer attempted to conceal, but it might have been his opposition to Cox and his fence builders. Is there any excuse to offer for the faith of Old Settler and others in Brown being representative man of the country and at least of average good citizenship. ?
If there is we will look for the proof of it in Captain Warren's own account of early affairs as written by him for the 1879 history of Jackson County, as that is all we have at hand now. Besides we had rather quote words of praise from a known enemy of Brown's
-- it is more apt to be reliable. At intervals all through W. A. Warren's write up of the Bellevue affair he pictures Brown as a villain of the blackest dye, which might or might not have been true for all we know. We are neith- er for nor against, but we are looking for the evidence. In one passage of Warren's writings in which he condemns Brown, we also find the following: "Brown was a man of fine personal appearance and had the semblance of / culture about him. He was possessed of an engaging manner, was hospita- ble, a good talker and well calculated as a leader of men. Mrs. Brown too, was a handsome and accomplished lady and won many friends by her wo- manly and kind ways. Brown himself was a charitable man, benevolent to those in want, ever pleasant and kind to children and really possessed of a humane and generous heart." Mr. Warren does not say Brown borrowed the
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JOHN O. SEELEY
well known to the readers of all of the Maquoketa newspapers under the pen name of "Farmer Buckhorn," resides in the Buckhorn settlement in South Fork township and thus de- rives bis non de plume. A short sketch of this popular writer's life and ancestors appears in number one of the annals of Jackson County, lowa, published by the Jackson Coun- ty Historical Society
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Jambs clothes for state occasions, but they were among his real possessions and I would like to ask for the benefit of the jury if Old Settler wasn't ex- cusable in seeing Brown with his "lamb skin" on and if there is any case on record, except in romance, where a man with all those fine characterist- ics and "really possessed of a humane and generous heart" was known to be a black hearted villain and a leader of murderers, counterfeiters, thieves and thugs? Warren must have been mistaken about those fine qualities. Many a man has been believed to have been such and some of them have been shot. Even Marie Antoinette, the hapless wife of Louis the 16th, of France, was beheaded by the terrorists of 1793 and according to an account given James Ellis by near relatives, whose people lived at Bellevue in 1840. Brown's wife the handsome and accomplished lady, who won many friends by her kind ways, was taken to the river after Brown was killed by some of the sheriff's posse, placed on a plank and threatened with being set adrift if she did not tell where Brown's money was.
But, that is only tradition and would not be admitted only as corrobora- tive evidence by any court. Now is there any evidence to prove that "Old Settler's" charge that all of those who participated in the tragedy of April 1st, 1840, against Brown and his clan owed Brown for clothes and liv- ing? Perhaps not, as "all" is a large majority, but there is evidence, and plenty of it. that some of them at least, were on W. W. Brown's book and that Shadrach Burleson, as administrator, had to commence suit to collect and had a rocky time of it. For that proof we will have to go to the territor- ial docket of Jackson County and will have to call names, which is not a pleasant duty for us, but we are pleading "Old Settler's"' case and owe as much to the feelings of the descendants of "Old Settler," who are my neighbors, as we do to the descendants of those whose naines we tind on the court records, in which instances, we will have to be personal.
Brown employed a great many wood choppers, rau a hotel, general store, a meat market and did a large credit business, consequently, at the time of his death, had a great many accounts on his book, as well as many prom- isory notes, of which many were against men who were with Warren's posse, under Cox's leadership, when Brown was killed.
While we are getting up courage to tackle the disagreeable task of un- earthing the records. we will place thoughts on paper that have often come to us while reading Warren's account of the Bellevue war. Why was it necessary for he, Cox, and others to scour the country to raise a posse to affect a legal arrest of Brown, and his men charged with conspiring to dis- turb the peace and welfare of the country, when there were two companies of territorial militia in Jackson County and organized for the express pur- pose of protecting the territorial peace and help enforce its laws: one of them commanded by Joseph S. Mallard, a prospective son-in-law of Col. Cox, and the other by Henry Mallard, brother of Joseph, with Calvin Tecple as his first lieutenant? As we find Henry Mallard's company supporting Sheriff Warren at the hanging of Jackson for the murder of Perkins, there is no doubt it would have been available for a legal arrest of Brown and his gang!, and that. Lieutenant Teeple with his sword would have completely subdued them without a drop of blood being shed. Now to the evidence of the
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