USA > Iowa > Jackson County > Annals of Jackson county, Iowa, Vol 1-2 > Part 4
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lost track of, but I think that they are also dead. .
The Ashouse family, to which I have already referred in a former article, con- sisted of Johnathan, the eldest, who I think came in the spring of 1849 or '50, together with his family and sister, Miss Dianua, who afterward became the wife of the late Whashington Simpson in 1857. She is still living and for the last . 20 years has been a resident of Maquo- keta. I am indebted to her for much of the above information. Lebus Ashouse. who served from first to last in the Mex- ican war, came home at the end of that war to his fathers place, who kept a ho- - tel for a number of years in Willkius- burg, a suburb of Pittsburgh, Pa , and on account of the genial disposition of the landlord, Joe Alshouse already an old man, made his hotel a favorite place for travelers and teamsters to stop at. His house was always crowded with guests.
It was on one such occasion that I formed my first acquaintance with the recently returned soldier The hotel, as usual, was crowded with guests, and Lebus, the soldier, early became the cen- tral figure and was soon called on for a speech, but he felt disposed to decline the honor and after a unanimous sec- ond call from the audience, he consented to give a few reminiscences of his two years experience in Mexico, among which were vivid discriptions of the bombardment and capture of Montery and Vera Cruze, but he was much to modest ou that occasion to say that he was the first mau that got inside when the walls were scaled at Chaupultopec. After the war the government issued land warrants to the returned soldiers. which gave the holder free choice of any government land in Uncle Sam's do- main. And now armed with such war- rant, he came to Jowa in 1845 or '49 and located his warrant near Zwingle on the Jackson county side of the line, and here began life as a bachlor for two years
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more or le.s. In 1850 his sister, Dianna, came from the east aud kept house for her brother, Leb , for a year or more. Later on he made a visit to the land of his nativity but soon returned bringing with him a wife of his own. Soon after- wards he sold his now improved farm to Washington Simpson, who also became the husband of the aforesaid Dianna Alshouse in 1857. Acd Lebencus, the soldier, with his family, removed to. Illinois a year or two previous to the war of the rebellion. And now the great war was on and Mr. Alshouse, true to the government cul, again enlisted at Macomb, Ill., as a private and was soon promoted to the rank of Lieutenant. Mr Alshouse was a man of more than ordi- mary courage and intelligence. But it fell to his lot through the vicissitudes of war to find his way to Libby prison where he died toward the close of the war. It is now but natural that we should inquire of the whereabouts of the family of so brave a soldier. These we now find well stakeddown in North Da- kota. His son, a chipoff the old block, a prominent citizen and a member of the state legislature for two consecutive terms
I will now name as many of the old settlers as I can recall to memory, who settled in the vicinity of Zwingle prior to 1855: Daniel Court, Albert Court, Jacob Buckman, Johnathan Alshouse, Lebens Alshouse, John Kemerer, Dan Kemerer, Chris Denlinger, Dr. J Big- low, Mr. Kenedy, Phillip Miller, Tob Miller, John McClarg, Jacob Koons, David Koons, Matthias Scholian, John L. Saver, Geo. Siner, Michal Beck, Sr., James Simpson Sr., James Simpson Jr., Wm. C. Simpson and Washington Simp- son. The remainder of the Simpson family all being minors, I will not give their names here. This settlement all before 1855 was composed almost ex- lnsively of former Pennsylvanians and nearly all from the same neighborhood. But I must here add the names of Oliver
Bossard and Dan Bossard These were the pioneers who settled in Dubuque and Jackson counties around the present Zwinger, prior to 1855. But rheie off- spring are so numerous that I will uot attempt to follow them but will leave the account to some future histori in.
Zwingle, being the first plic- I visited after coming to Iowa in 1850 where I felt at home among my old friends, was not my abiding home, I was still foot loose And in search of land suitable for a home which according to my idea at that time, must be timber land, which I found in the eastern part of Jones and the western part of Jackson counties, some of it east and some of it west of of Cantou.
From here I will begin my next letter L. W.
P. S. Of the above named early set- tlers, there are only three that are now known to be living, to-wit: Wm. (. Simpson, Mrs. Dianna Simpson and the Rev. F. Bowman.
A History of the Walker Family.
A short history of the Walker family, who came to Iowa 50 years ago. The head of the family was Truman N. A. Walker. He was born in Massachus- etts, January 11, 1803, and while a boy emigrated with his parents to the state of New York. In 1524 he took as wife, Miss Eliza Lyon of Oppenheim, New York. She was a sister of the wife of Rev C. E. Brown, who came as a missionary to the forks of the Ma- quoketa in 1841, and also a sister of Mrs. J O Degrush, a pioneer of Jacksou county.
In June 1853 Truman Walker came to Jackson county, Iowa, with his family except two sons, who had preceeded him here. The first year after his ar- rival he spent in Maquoketa. In 15Ml ho moved onto a piece of land in sec- tions 29 and 32, South Fork township, where he continually resided until his
death January 23, 1884, thirteen years after the death of his wife, who died the 28th day of December, 1871. Mr. Wal- ker was a thorough man, a good carpen- ter and joiner and a first-class farmer. Mr. Walker was a master mason and a member of Helion Lodge No. 36, that was chartered at Maquoketa in May of 1851.
He came from New York to Chicago by way of the great lakes and fiom Chi- cago to Jackson county, by few horse team. The first four years after coming here he lived in a log house until he built the house now occupied by his son, E. N. Walker. In his family were the following nine children all of whom came to Iowa: Nelson H, Julia A., Charlotte L., Geo. B., Benjamin L., Frances E., Stephen D., Mary J. and Eben N. Walker.
Nelson H. Walker, son of Truman N., came from Utica, N. Y., to Jackson county in 1848, five years be'ore his father did. He brought with him a stock of dry goods and opened up a store in Maquoketa. He only lived one year after coming here, dieing December 18, 1849. He was a member of the Baptist church.
Benjamin E .. another son of Truman Walker was born Feb. 5, 1836, and came with his parents to Iowa in 1853, resid- ing near Buckhorn until 1869, when he emigrated to Nebraska and entered gov- ernment land, living there until 1880, when he and his family went to Denver, Colorado, where he has been employed in the car factories of the Deuver and Rio Grand Railroad as a painter.
Stephen D. Also came here with his parents, being born in New York, Dec. 8, 1844, and has lived in Jackson coun- ty until the present time, 1905. He has followed the carpenters trade the most of his life though farming for a few years. He married Miss Ada Atheton, a daughter of Schuyler Athertou of near Buckhorn, a musician in the Civil war and had a son, Loyal, who was also a
musician in Co. M. Iowa National Guard, that was enlisted for the Span- ish American war. Loyal died at Jack- sonville, Florida, of typhoid fever.
Eben N. was born in the state of New York, Nov. 7, 1850, and was brought to Jackson county when three years old, where he has since lived, with the ex - ception of a short period when he was in the state of Nebraska. He married Miss Eva Hall, sister of Charles Hall of Maquoketa, Lyman Hall of Buckhorn, and Byron Hall of Onslow. Her father was a civil war veteran .. . Eben N Walker owns, and lives on the old home- stead of his father, and like his father before him, is an A No. 1 farmer, and an all around good fellow.
George B. Walker, was born in York State, March 8th 1832. He came to Jackson County Iowa, previous to his father Truman Walker, but for some reason was not satisfied here, and in 1853 on the same day his father's family got here, he left Iowa for the Pacific coast, by way of New York City and the ocean route crossing the Isthmus of Panama the year following. He followed mine- ing, and won quite a large fortune, but loosing much of it by being too good to his friends. He served in the Washing- ton legislature and had the honor of naming Idaho. We quote will a little of his obituary, printed in the Seattle Inte ligencer, after his death at Seattle, May 29, 1879. "He was born at Russia Corners, Herkimer county, N. Y. He was one of the best mining experts in the country and was known by all the pioneers of nearly all the great mining camps in the west. Among his personal friends was the United States S-nator Lealand Stanford of California. The State of Idaho was named by Mr. Wal- ker at a consultation in 1861 with W. H. Wallace, Salucius Garfeld and Judge Leander, whose names are intimately connected with the early history of the Pacific Northwest. The name was sng- gested to Mr. Walker by the stemmer
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Idaho, that plies on the Puget Sound."
Though George Walker's life in the west was mostly spent in "the far west, he visited Jackson county several times, and was married to a daughter of Win. Vosburg, who settled here in 1887, and was Captain of Co. F, 31st I N. Inf, that went from Maquoketa in 1862.
Of the four Walker girls, three mar- ried early settlers of this county. Char- lotte married Charles Dunbir, an at- torney at law of Maquoketa and quite a prominent mason and Master of Helion Lodge for five years, honored thus from 1861 to 1864 and also again in 1866.
Frances married Isaac Northrop, quite an early settler and a farmer here, and some time after his death married a Mr. Niles of Anamosa, who was a man very much liked by those who knew him.
Mary J. Walker married DeWitt French of near Buckhorn, who some 35 years ago went to Nebraska and from there to the Pacific coast, where he per- fected and had pattented a device for ex- cavating irrigation and flume ditches, and also dredging channels. It is now in practical operation and in a fair way of bringing a large return to the patten- tee and to the firm backing the venture, by manufacturing and putting the excavator ou the market. On ac- count of being an invalid a part of her life, Julia A. Walker never married.
Perhaps a little incident in connection with this narative is not amiss. When the Walkers came to Jackson county, wolves were quite numerous. One day one of the little Walker girls, Frances, or as she is best known, Fauny, then a young child, visited at a neighbors aud played with the neighbors children un. till dark before starting home, some half a mile distant. When part way home she became aware of some animal fol- lowing her as she could hear the patter of feet behind her. She didn't know whether it was a dog or what it was, but hurried home as fast as she could walk, too brave to run and too fearful
to stop to investigate, which was per- haps lucky for ber. As she reached home her father was our waiting for her and remarked, "My lady, do you know there is a wolf following you ?"
FARMER BUCKHORN.
Recollections of Early Days.
Recollections of early days, written by J. W Ellis for the Jackson County Historical Society.
My letter lest week on "Business men of Maquoketa in 1857," has been the sneject of considerable criticism from various old settlers.
Ist: Mr. J. W. Gates, claims that the Chicago, Iowa and Nebraska R R. was runnind trains to Wheatland in the winter of 1856 and ?. To show that I had good grounds for my statement. that the road was only completed 17 miles west of the river, I copy a paid ad- vertisement of the road which appeared in No. 29 of Nol. 2 of the Weekly Ma- quokera Excelsior, date of Sept 23 1851.
Under a fairly good cut of the quaint looking trains of fifty years ago was the following :
Chicago Iowa and Nebraska R R. open to Ames Creek, 17 miles west of the Miss- issippi river. On aud after Monday, Apr 27th and until further notice pass- enger trains will run as follows: Leave Clinton at 9 o'clock a.m , arrive at Ames Creek 10:40 a m. Leave Ames creek, at 4 p. m., arrive at Clinton 5: 40, p m.
Passengers taking the 9a m. train connect direct with stages for De Witt, Maquoketa, Davenport, Tipton and To- routo.
. Passengers wishing to go to De Witt on business, can have three hours at De Witt and return the same day.
All baggage destined for Clinton or the road will be received at Furton, and delivered free of charge Freight trains run daily. M. Smith, Engineer and su- perintendent. Clinton, Apr at IST.
Others say there were other business men in Maquoketa in 1857. Well. that is why I wrote the article. We want to know who was in business, and will ap. preciate the information. J. W.
Around Canton in 1850
In my last letter I promised to make Canton my next point to start from. It was in the winter of 1850 that I found this place. It was a small village of perhaps 150 inhabitants. There was here an excellent water power with a flouring mill, a saw mill and a woolen factory, together with other machinery for cuting plastering lath and also turning lathes, in fact anything in the line of wooden supplies could be ob- tained bere. Canton had the only grist mill in a circuit of 20 miles, and saw mills were also very few and far be- tween. Clinton also had two fairly good country stores. The proprietor of all these industries was J. J. Tomilson, formerly a Virginian, who also owned about 700 acres of timber land and near- ly all the town lots. Canton thus equip- ped became the center of trade for many miles around, It was then a brisk vil- lage and did more business in a day than it now does in two months. The proprietor was a man of great energy and with all, a genial disposition, easily approached and a man of more than ordinary intelligence.
Mr. E. M. Franks, formerly of Ohio, was also here and in the mercantile bus- iness, and a trader in live stock, having at this time 300 steers and cows in one feed lot, together with three or four hundred shoats as gleaners.
Canton was already about 20 years old and was among the first settlements west of the Mississippi, and at that time I thought it was destined to be one of the best inland points in the state. Be. ing surrounded by a dense body of tim - ber and as good water power as could be fonud anywhere in the state, I felt that I had found the right spot at last.
Among the residents were some that the reader will doubtless remember. John Reynor, an Englishman, who had recently come over to operate the wool- en mills. Dr T. Gracy, who also was county surveyor, and his two deputies. C. Vincout and J. Woods. Garvis
Smith, a merchant, J. Brenamau, a jus- tice and notary, Dr. Johnson, then a practicing physician, who on one oc- casion was returning from a visit to a patient fell from his baggy into a mud hole, while under the infinence, but he succeeded in gaining his seat after some struggle. His clothing now in a sad plight, on his arrival at his home he found a man waiting with a forthwith call seven miles away. He now faced about to immediately obey the call, but here his wife interferred and said doctor you can't go in such a plight, come in and change your clo hes, but he refused and said he had not the time. His wife still protesting the doctor now turned to the messenger and said, did they sond for my clothes or for me, to which he replied, for yon, all right here I go. There was also at this time an old gen- tleman stopping at the only hotel in the village, Fulton by name, always well dressed and plenty funds to pay his way, he had already been here over a year. Some of the citizens once asked him when he had imbib d a bit too freely, why he did not seek a more desirable place to spend the evening of his life, to which he replied, I am all right here, I am under a salary. I am hired to stay here by parties in York state, who are defendants in a suit pending iu court [ am the only important witness and I must stay here until I am found out by the plaintiff in the case, and then I must hide again.
Having now completed my recent laud purchase I decided to return to my home in Pennsylvania till such time when the remainder of my father's family could be got ready to emigrate. It was now mid winter, and their being no rail. roads farther west than Pittsburgh, Pi., I must needs go by steamer down the Mississippi River and up the Ohio, but the upper river being now ice-bound, 1 must make my way to St. Louis over- land. I now started for Bellevue wlire I bad some unsettled business to attend
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TO. On may way night overtook me about 15 miles west of that town where J found a Joue settler, who had ev dent- ly been a very early sertler from the ap- pearance of his buildings and other sur- roundings, and here I staid over night. The man was apparently fully 65 years of age and had a family of five or six children, all of them far up, past their teens. The old man told me that his former home was in old Virginia, which he had left more than 40 years ago, and that he had stopped a few years in In- diana aud later on in Illinois, and now in Jackson county, Iowa. On my arriv- al the old man sent one of the boys to the post office to see if there was any mail, the distance to Lamotte, where the post office was kept, was five miles, dur- ing the evening the man gave me an in- teresting history of his life up to the then present time. About 9 o'clock the boy returned bringing a letter postmarked Virginia, the whole family now gath- ered around all anxiety, the old man now torned to me and said, stranger can you read writing, which I answered in the affirmative, he then handed me the letter to read, but I told him it might contain something not suitable for a stranger to hear. He said, none of my folks can read and we must depend on others. I then read the letter, which was from a brother, and was throughout very religious and emotional in tone. I had not read half the letter till the old mau was on his feet clapping his hands aud shouting, Glory to God, in this his wife also joined, after quiet was re- samed, I finished the reading, when an- other outburst occurred, in true old Vir- ginia style. My entertainment by the family throughout was of the hospitable kind for which the southern people are famous.
In all my experience before and since, I never met with a family so thoroughly illiterate and so thoroughly christain and emotional and I began to study the cause. Good mammy wit was not want- ing with any member of the family. The
letter of the evening was well composed and showed the emotional christain thruout aud carried with it the spirit of southern hospitality and sociability. And the kind treatment, simple and onpre- teutious as it was, and the emotional out burst of the evening before, and the hearty benediction at my starting out in the morning showed plainly that good people with fertil brain can bare their origin in the mountains of Vir- ginia. Altogether it had the effect to command respect instead of amusement and contempt, and I was constrained to bow the head in reverence.
But I must now hasten to Bellevue - and from their to St. Louis and secure a passage to Pittsburgh. On this trip nothing occurred and 12 days afterward I found myself once more among my father's family and among my old neigh- bors and friends.
My next letter will . begin with my second departure for the far west as it was then called.
LEVI WAGONER.
Recollections of Early Days by A. J. Phillips.
My father, William Phillips, came to the Territory of Iowa in 1837. aud set- tled near the Maquoketa River north of the city and made the farm, now known as the Sears farm. At that time this part of Iowa was almost a tractless wild- erness, there was not a road of any kind where the city now is located, except an Indian trail which came from Dunham's grove crossed Mill Creek where McCloy's mill since stood.
There were three cther families who came to Iowa in company with my fath- er. Joho Clark, who settled on the 160 acres which is now the southeast part of the city ; Isane Mitchell and family, who settled on the 180 acres since known as the William Current farm, where Will- iam Current, Jr .. the present editor of the Maquoko's Record was born ; the
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third family was John Barnett. Mr. Barnett did not stop here very long, he went south and settled near Burlington. John Clark sold his land to Mr. Marshall, who also owned at that time the mill which afterwards became the property of Joseph McCloy.
When we came here in 1837, there were a good many Winnebago Indians here. living near the forks of the Ma- quoketa River. The year before we came here a good many of them died with the small pox, some of them were burried on the sand ridge east of Hurstville. They died off so rapidly that they quit burrying and laid their dead on the ground with their head at the base of a large tree, wrapped in their blankets and such other clothing as they wore, also their guns, bows and arrows, hatch- ets and whatever they happened to own was laid by their side. The women were laid out with their clothing wrap- ped tightly around them, decked with long strings of beads, ear jewels, brace- lets and such things as they used to orn- ament with, camp kettles and knives by their side, and a small pen built around to protect them from wild animals.
Some of the early settlers robbed the dead of their guns, ?jewelry, camp ket- tles, etc., and carried off some of the bones for relics. I used to go and visit the bleaching bones some years after the flesh had all gone.
Daniel Livermore came from Ohio I think in 1845, he drove a good team of bay horses. When a call for volunteers was made for cavalry soldiers for the war with Mexico, he sold his team to Erastus Gordon and Alonzo Livermore some other young men voluntered for the war, but they were sent up to the north of lowa, on Turkey River, to pro- tect the settlements from the Indians, who were hostile at the time.
Mr. William Current came with some other men on foot from Canada in 1839. They were unsafe in Canada as they were friendly to the rebellion. Quite a
number came here about that time from Canada and became good citizens, took up land, broke up the wild prairie sod. endured the hardships of pioneer hic, reared families of honor and have gone to their reward, of such .I love to cherish their memory. Surely at times when I think of the early days and the few who were at that time neighbors, although living twenty miles apart, friends, yes, such ouly as death can part. I can only find at the present time, who came here before 1850, now living : Anson Wilson, Rosal Goodenow, Mrs J. E. Goodenow, Miles Eaton, Geo. and Benjamin Sears, and James R. Wright.
My father entered the first land in Maquoketa township on Nov. 1, 1838. the land was not surveyed by the gov- ernment until 1838. My father was or e of the commissioners who organized Jackson county, and was one of the grand jurors of the first court held at Bellevue.
I neglected to mention Charlie and Frank Burleson, they were here before 1840. I was so young when we came to Iowa that I did not take very much to the scenes of manhood. I,enjoyed hunt- ing and fishing, there was an abundance of game in that line. As I grew up I learned to handle a spear with such skill that a large fish was nearly always my game if I had a clear chance to throw my spear, often a distance of 30 feet. Wild deer and turkey used to come into our cornfield. the turkeys af- ter corn and the deer after green fall wheat.
My father built the first saw mill in this part of the county on Mill Creek. two miles northeast of the city, it was of short life, after he had spent one thousand dollars, be sold it to Elijah Eaton, who soon abandoned it as un- profitable because the soul was so loose that a dani would not hold the mill pond. A. J. PHILLIPS.
Jacques Charpiot.
The following interesting sketch of one of Jackson county's pioneers was clipped from a letter written by J. W. Ellis, for the Clinton Advertiser in July 1897. Mr. Ellis, who was well acquaint- ed with Jacques Charpiot, says that as an explorer, scout and guide, as well as his adventerons life on the plains and in the mountains would entitle him to rank with Kit Carson. Since this letter was written, both Jacques and Barbara have crossed the dark river and joined their kindred on the other shore.
"We had a pleasant visit one day last week with our old friend Jacques Char- piot, of the Tete des Morts Valley Jacques is a quaint charmer and has had a won- derfully eventful career. He was born in France in 1839; desiring to come to America when about 14 years old and being refused a passport, he had some friends nail him up in a cracker box and carry him aboard an American bound vessel, whereby he escaped the vigilant eve of the inspector, and was enable to join his friends in Philadelphia. At the breaking out of the civil war he was liv- ing in St. Louis and enlisted in the first Missouri, and served through the war. In 1866 he fitted out 12 teams with a yoke of cattle to each wagon and went to freighting across the plains to Denver and other points, accumulating a vast amount of wealth.
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