USA > Iowa > Jackson County > Annals of Jackson county, Iowa, Vol 1-6 > Part 40
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The Democratic party held a convention at Iowa City on the 24th day of September, 1846, to place in nomination a candidate for Governor and other officers for the new State of Iowa. The extensive acquaintance of Mr. Briggs coupled with the broad statesman-like work he performed as a mem- ber of the 5th territorial legislature made him a very prominent candidate for this much coveted position. There were three candidates for the nomi- nation, Jesse Williams, William Thompson and Ansel Briggs. Mr. Briggs received 62 votes to 31 and 32 of the other candidates respectively, on the first ballot, whereupon the other candidates withdrew and Briggs was nomi- nated on the second ballot by acclamation. He was elected over the Whig candidate by a majority of 247.
One of the principal issues between the Whig and Democratic party at this time was the banking system, all banking institutions being opposed by the Democratic party.
A short time before the convention was held to nominate State officers, Gov. Briggs at a banquet in response to a toast in defining his position on this question, uttered the following epigram: "No banks but earth, and they well tilled." This seemed to sound the key note to the position of his party and made him the popular man of the day and did much towards se. curing his nomination for Governor.
He was inaugurated as Governor on the 3rd day of December, 1846. He delivered an inaugural address, but in view of the fact that he was at the threshold of a new state requiring principally original, constructive legis- lation, his natural modesty prompted him to make no recommendations.
The legislature had convened on the 30th day of November, so with the inauguration of the Governor the work of legislation was entered upon. We can only speak of those acts which became the law of the state that were of an original and constructive nature and we note that at the first session of the legislature an act was passed constituting a complete system of state government, also for the organization of the public schools of the State. That law or the nucleus of the law, which has given us one of the best common school systems in the United States. Also an act providing for a State University at Iowa City. Also an act for the estab- lishment and organization of three Normal schools, one of which was lo- cated at Andrew in Jackson County, but never completed.
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At the next session of the legislature and during the administration of Gov. Briggs, the first act was passed known as the Homestead law, providing for the exemption of the home of the head of the family from judicial sale. At that time nearly all of the people were very poor and struggling to secure homes. The rate of interest was very high-40 per cent .- and those who were unable to pay their indebtedness promptly had found themselves and their families homeless and in destitution and want. This law has been amended and improved from time to time; but the im- portant and vital features remain the settled policy of the State.
Thus it will be seen that the hand of our citizen, neighbor and friend, Ansel Briggs, guided the pen and affixed his signature to some of the most
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important acts of original, constructive legislation, that have become the laws of this great State for the protection of the home and for educational purposes. If the writing of the poem "Home. Sweet Home. " by John How- ard Payne has immortalized his name, surely the names of Gov. Briggs and the members of the legislature, who passed those acts should be held in grateful remembrance by the people of this State.
At the time of the election of Gov. Briggs the population of the State was but one hundred thousand and there were but 27 organized counties in the State; the money per capita was $1.11. To-day our population is over two millions with 99 counties fully organized and the per capita is $34.68.
Gov. Cummins in his last inaugural address in referring to present con- ditions and extending bis felicitations to the legislature, expressed himself
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in the following beautiful language: "But first I must congratulate you upon the character of the people you represent. A kind Providence has be- stowed upon them unequalled opportunities for the truest happiness and most enduring prosperity that mortals can enjoy. Our sources of wealth, while prolific and inexhaustible will not create fortunes so vast as to excite discontent, or become a menace to the public good. Our civilization is of the highest type known to the world, for it blends, in perfect proportion, the best qualities of the mind and the noblest virtues of the heart If our people cannot reach the summit of true greatness, it may well be concluded that the top of the mountain is to be forever inaccessible. There is not an- other community of two millions of human beings upon the face of the earth so well fitted to accomplish the mighty purposes of the Ruler of all things as is the community which we call the State of Iowa. It is a distin- guished honor to represent these people. As the chief executive, I acknowl- edge the honor, and I extend to you the heartiest felicitations upon the ad- mirable constituency in whose service you are engaged."
The controversy as to the boundary line between Iowa and Missouri was settled during the administration of Gov. Briggs, but at times this matter required firm, positive and quick intelligent action, for all of which Gov. Briggs seemed qualitied and the controversy was finally settled in the courts to the satisfaction of the citizens of this State.
Gov Briggs practically retired from leadership and active work in poli- tics at the close of his term of office. He continued to make Jackson Coun- ty his home for some time, then went to Nebraska and became one of the founders of the town of Florence, a short distance north of Omaha, which for a time was quite a vigorous rival of Omaha.
He went to Colorado during the mining excitement of 1860 and three years later made a trip to Montana, where he remained until the year 1865. He then returned to the scenes of his early manhood and made Jackson County his home until the year 1870, when he took up his residence with his son John at Omaha.
Gov Briggs was married three times, his first wife living but a very short time. His second wife bore him eight children, all of whom died in infancy, except two. and one of the latter died at the age of 21 in the year 1867 leaving bis son John the only survivor. His second wife died in the year 1817 while he was the Governor of the State. He was subsequently married to Mrs. Francis Carpenter, a widow lady of the town of Andrew, who departed this life sometime prior to the year 1865, the exact date I am unable to ascertain.
Prior to his removal to Omaha he resided with Nathaniel Butterworth near Audrew, mingled freely with the people with whom he was always in touch, and by whom he was admired and loved for the able public services he renderedi in pioneer days. He died at the home of his son John after a brief illness on the 5th day of May, 1881 Governor Gear issued a pro- clamation reciting his services as the first Governor of the State, and the national flag was floated at half mast from the State House on the day of his funeral, but sad to relate, his remains were buried in the State of Ne- braska and still repose in the soil of our neighbor State, his grave marked only by an ordinary slab.
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It would seem most befitting for this Society to take the preliminary steps towards having his remains removed to, and interred in Jackson Coun- ty, the home of his early manhood, where he spent so many years of his public active life, and where he loved to dwell when the shadows of the ap- proaching sunset of his life commenced crossing his pathway. The State he served so honorably and so well should make an appropriation for the re- moval of his remains and for the erection of a suitable monument at his grave commemorative of his services.
He was a man of noble and perfect mould physically, dignified and com- manding, without austerity; sociable, but not garrulous; friendly, but not sycophantic; modest, but not bashful; loyal to his party, but not dogmatic; true to his family, loyal to his friends, kind to his neighbors and an honest man.
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OF INTEREST TO ALL IOWA
A Letter From Mrs Briggs Concerning a Monument to Our First Governor.
Omaha, Nebr., Feb. 12th, 1907. J. W. Ellis, Sec. Jackson Co. Historical Ass'n, Maquoketa, Iowa.
Dear Sir: Your letter of the 6th inst. to my daughter, Mrs. Alex. D. Robertson of Washta, Iowa, was forwarded to me for perusal. I was greatly pleased to learn of this contemplated move on the part of Jackson County Historical Society, to honor Governor Briggs. This matter has been discuss- ed aud written about for many years, and the old friends of the Governor, I am sure, will be heartily glad to see this measure go through. The press has repeatedly stated openly that it belonged to Iowa to do something to honor her first Governor. The measure has been affirmatively passed on by Pioneer Associations. County and State Bar Associations, The Pioneer Law- makers Ass'n of Iowa, and a number of the prominent men in the Annals of Iowa, have written indorsements and letters saying the great state of Iowa should make a generous appropriation, specifying in sums from $5,000 to $25,000.
The last visit my husband, the late John S. Briggs, made from home just prior to his death was by urgent request to meet with the Pottawatta- mie County Bar Association. At that time a resolution was passed by this body, to the effect, that if the descendants of Governor Briggs would con- sent to the removal of the remains within the state, that it was the sense of that body that the people, through the Governor and General Assembly, should provide for the same and a suitable memorial to his memory. My husband gave his consent to the removal. In their estimation the statue or monument, or whatever should be decided on, should be placed in Capitol grounds at Des Moines. I have two sons and one daughter, lineal descend- ants of Ansel Briggs, who will be very glad, I am sure, to sanction this move on the part of Jackson county.
I saw Senator C. G. Saunders in Council Bluffs the 10th inst., and men- tioned this matter to him, and he said for me to write to your people imme- diately and to say to you to draft your bill and get it before the legislature as quick as possible, and he would do all that he possibly could to further it. Senator Saunders is on the appropriation committee.
In an interview with Governor Cummins the day after his election he told me he would do all in his power for this, and thought it the right thing for the state of Iowa to do to honor her first Governor in some suita- ble manner. In fact, he thought it had been left too long undone.
. We have a great many things in connection with the life and acts of Governor Briggs, and if there is any service that these may do you, I pray you bid me. Will say for Mrs. Robertson that an answer to your letter will be forthcoming at an early date. I am,
Very truly yours. MRS. JOIIN S. BRIGGS. 2809 Bristol St., Omaha.
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Review of Our Historical Society.
By Hon Geo. L. Mitchell, President Jackson County Historical Society.
The Jackson County Historical Society was organized April 25th, 1903, but not much was accomplished by it uutil it was reorganized and incorpor- ated under the laws of Iowa, June 20th, 1905. Its object, of course, is to gather together and place upon record all that it can in regard to the his- tory of the County and the community in which we live, a portion of Iowa rich in historic interest, but incident, fact and story were rapidly passing into the unknown as of then there was little of record, and as each pioneer crossed the great river there also passed away and out of human knowledge, some fact or story that would have been to us of keenest interest, and per- haps,' of priceless value. And it is that, as much of this matter as possible, may be recorded in our Annals and preserved, that this society has been formed.
It appeals, especially it seems to me, to the descendants of those hardy pioneers who, in the early days, crossed the great "Father of Waters " settled in these villages, and upon these beautiful prairies of eastern Iowa, builded their cabin homes and first turned the furrows of this virgin soil, that it is now contributing so bountifully, so magnificently to the wealth of the world.
I remember as a boy sitting almost entranced by the stories told by Ly- man Bates, as seated in the store by the stove his mind went back to the days of 1838 and '39, when he and John E. Goodenow settled here, where is now our beautiful city of Maquoketa. Incident after incident he mention- ed, and story after story he told, but incident and story are now gone for- ever, and it is that such matter as this may be preserved that this society has been organized.
We congratulate ourselves that our efforts have not been in vain, for a stimulus has been given to research and investigation, and much that is valuable has been written and personal error has been corrected, and the truth has been recorded. And in addition to the historical matter which has been collected by the Society, it has acquired the nucleus of a library of about 150 volumes of rare historical value.
During the last year we have issued three numbers of a publication en- titled "Annals of Jackson County, " pamphlets full of facts in regard to by- gone days and as interesting as a romance of Scott, or the popular historical novel of the day. On the fourth day of July, 1905, under the auspices of the Society was unveiled a monument to the memory of a Jackson County pio- neer lawmaker, the Hon. Thos. Cox, with fitting and appropriate exercises which attracted more than state-wide interest.
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That our efforts may be successful, however, in an imminent degree we need the support and the cooperation of each and every citizen who is inter- ested in preserving the history of our community, but to-night I feel that I can say that much has been accomplished and that our efforts have met with ample reward, that future generations, at least, will appreciate our humble efforts in preserving what we may of the fact and story of this land in which we live.
To it there may not attach the interest, or the importance that clusters around the shores of New England, for that was ushered in the dawn of a new civilization, but around these scenes there gathers the memory of fath- er and mother and that halo that clusters around the sacred name of home, your home and my home.
I honor the pioneer, his life, his trials, his joys have for me a peculiar charm, and my thoughts are best expressed in lines which I have used be- fore, but which I trust I may use again.
God bless those noble heroes, The West's brave pioneers; All honor to their courage, To their memory our tears.
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They bore the toil and hardship, They gave their noblest powers; To build in matchless beauty This glorious state of ours.
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And may angels keep their vigils Above their sacred dust.
High on the roll of glory Will their sacred names be seen:
And love in song and story, Will keep their memory green.
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(Compiled for the Jackson County Historical Society by J. W Ellis. Curator )
According to the best recolletction of A. J. Phillips, George Earl, A. H. Wilson and others still living here, the first term of school taught in the vil- lage of Springfield, as it was then called, was in a sod covered, log school- house, that had been built by J. E. Goodenow and Alfonso Gowan for a blacksmith shop in 1838 The first teacher was Miss Eunice Dennison who taught the spring term in 1842. Miss Catherine Earl taught the next or summer term and Mr. Ebeneezer Dorr, who later married Miss Earl, taught the winter term. The building stood on East side of Main street, and there is some contention as to exact location. A J. Phillips says about where the Nelson buliding stands on southeast corner Pleasant and Main, but Mr. A. H. Wilson says it stood about where Servatius' store is, and he is corrobor- ated by Mrs. Susan Usher Forbes, who in a letter to the writer dated at Ida Grove, June 30th, 1901, says: "When I came to Springfield, now Maqnoke- ta, in 1842, the houses as I remember them, was a log house occupied by J. E. Goodenow for hotel and postoffice, a log house occupied by John Shaw for store and dwelling, and just across the road was a sod covered, log house in which my aunt, Miss Dennison, taught the first school taught in Spring- field. George Earl also thinks the school-house was about opposite Shaw's store. N. O. Rhodes, who says he attended school in the sod covered school- house in 1846, thinks the school-house stood about where Servatius' store is.
The building was made of rough, unhewed logs chinked up and plaster- ed between the logs with mud: was first covered with slabs split out of oak timber and covered with sod. out of which grass and weeds grew profusely. In the spring of 1842, there was 18 or 20 children in the village and vicinity of school age, and the people began to cast about for a teacher and a place to teach in. About that time or prior. two men, John and William Abbey, had come to the village and built a blacksmith shop. and in consequence there was no further use for Mr. Goodenow's building for a shop and he of- ered to donate it for a school-house if those interested would fit it up, which proposition was accepted, and a floor was put in and windows, one on each side, made by cutting out a couple of logs and setting in the two parts or sash of a 12 light, 6 by 8 window side ways, instead of one above the other in the ordinary manner. There was but one door and it was in the end facing the road which is now Main street, and near the southwest corner. The seats were made by splitting logs in halves, boring holes in the bark side and inserting pegs for legs, leaving the flat surface up. These seats were 8 or 10 feet long without back or foot rest; would accommodate from 6 to 10 pupils according to size, if it could be called an accommodation. The desks on which the scholars practiced writing were made by boring
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holes in a log the proper height, and driving pegs into the logs, and fasten- ing a smooth plank on the pegs. The seats were arranged lengthwise about the room. When the pupils were studying their lessons they faced inward, and when time came for practicing writing they reversed their positions and faced outward.
The pupils of the first school taught in Maquoketa were two daughters and a son of John Shaw, Sophia. Laura and John; Nancy, Serena, Bolivar, Margaret and A. J. Phillips, Mary, Julia and Phoebe McCloy, Mary, Sarah and Herbert Pangborn, Sarah Wright, a half sister to Mrs J. E. Goodenow, Columbus Billups, Henry and Charley Hall, Frank and Matilda Battles, Rhoda Effner. George, Lizzie and Hattie Earl.
Mary McCloy married Pierce Mitchell. Sarah Panbgorn married Horace Salter; Mary Pangborn married Fred DeGrush; Herbert Pangborn died be- fore reaching maturity ; Sophia Shaw married Judge Joseph Kelso: Laura married John Broeksmit, and the son, John, I think his name was. died when about 17. Julia McCloy died young. Phebe McCloy married Fred Dunham, Helen Wright married Columbus Billups, Henry Hall married a Miss Smith, Nancy Phillips married Joel Higgins, Serena married Alfred Clark, Boliver married a lady in California and A. J. married Elizabeth Springer. There might have been other pupils attending the first school taught here as Mr. Phillips says some of the first families that came to the Valley only remained a short time and then moved on to other parts further West,. Of the pupils of 1842 named above, there are 9 or 10 known to be living at this writing, but they are scattered through many states several being on the Pacific coast.
The first cabin built in what is now the business part of Maquoketa. was built in the fall of 1837 by a Mr. Parmeter, and this cabin and the claim it was built upon became the property of J. E. Goodenow in the spring of 1838. The next cabin was built by Nelson Brown, and the next was a small frame building erected by James Sherman, a carpenter, on lands which he later sold to John Shaw.
The first store in the village was owned and operated by a man by the name of S. M. Marr, who came up from Nauvoo, and after looking over the situation said that if he had a building he would put in a stock of goods here. Goodenow told Marr to go after his goods and there would be a building ready by the time he got back. Goodenow had a new crib which had not been used, and this crib he proceeded to remodel and put shelves in and when Marr came back with his stock of goods the store room was ready for him. Mr. A. H. Wilson, who came here in the spring of 1839 and remained, is positive that this was the first store started in the village of Maquoketa, or Springfield as it was then called. Mr. Wilson is also posi- tive that the cabin occupied by J. E. Goodenow, and the Nels Brown cabin, and the sod covered cabin that Goodenow had built for a blacksmith shop were the only cabins in the village in 1839.
An item of history of which I had been entirely ignorant came out in a conversation with A. H. Wilson on the 4th of November, 1906, when Mr. Wilson informed me that the first town site in the Maquoketa Valley was
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made by Nels Brown prior to 1839. That Brown had platted and laid out a town site about where Dostal's brewrey now stands, and had offered town lots for sale in the East before Goodenow had done any surveying for the present site of Maquoketa. Mr. Wilson recalls a visit he had with Nels Brown in 1839. Brown had invited Wilson to stay over night wtih him in his cabin in which he bached, and of course he, Brown, was general house- keeper. Wilson says when Brown started to get supper he put some cold water in a kettle and hung over the fire and put in some corn meal, and sat down to visit while the mush cooked. Wilson says it was the first time he ever saw mush made by putting the meal in cold water, but says it tasted pretty good with sweetened water.
A. H. Wilson says the first preacher that he remembers in the Maquoke- ta Valley was Simeon Clark. Other early day preachers were Jenkins, Rob- erts, Weed and a man from near Sabula whose name he cannot recall, who occasionally preached here. Amasa Nims and wife thought so well of Rev. Weed that they named a son for him. Rev. William Jenkins who settled in Perry township in 1839 preached here occasionally. He usually came on horseback with a sheep-skin for a saddle.
The first cabin, the one occupied by J. E. Goodenow, stood about where Trout and Mathias store is. The second cabin built by Nels Brown was where Stephens' Bank is, and the frame building put up by James Sherman stood about where the First National Bank is. The crib which Goodenow converted into a store room stood where D. H. Anderson's building is on East side of Main street.
The well dug by Mr. Wilson for J. E. Goodenow in 1839, which was the first well in the village, was dug about where the gutter now is di- rectly in front of Trout & Matthias hardware store. As early as 1842 John Shaw had erected a two story log building not far from where Com- stock's store is on West side of Main street. The lowers tory was used for a general store and the family lived up stairs.
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Mrs. S. F. Kelso's Reminiscence of the Old Sod Covered School-House.
The following reminiscence of the old, sod covered school-house was fur- nished by Mrs. S. F. Kelso at the request of J. W. Ellis for the Jackson County Historical Society.
The building used as the first school-house in Maquoketa was put up for a blacksmith shop, but by whom I do not remember of ever hearing. The first blacksmith shop I remember was Mr. Charles Gordon on or near the corner of Main and Platt streets The school-house was of unhewed logs facing the west, on or very near the northeast corner of what is now Main and Pleasant streets. It was just thrown out of Mr. Goodenow's field. I remember one school day in winter we saw a deer standing outside the win- dow
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