USA > Iowa > Jackson County > Annals of Jackson county, Iowa, Vol 1-6 > Part 5
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At one time he was engaged in the mercantile business in Denver and oper- ated a mine, working a large force of men for three years. At one time a fire iu Central City cleaned him out. He handled hundreds of thousands of dol- lars and spent money as lavish as a prince. After spending tens of thous- Ruds of dollars on his mines, they proved nothing better than a sink hole to him. On one occasion he sold a mine to an eastern broker for $100,000. The papers were made out and the broker came on to Denver with the funds to pay for it,. arriving on the stage in the evening,and notified Jacques to meet hin: at his bo- tel the next morning. During the night
the man died. A son enme ou from the east for the body of his father. Ou be- ing told of the business of his father in Denver he said that he had not lost a mine, and didn't want to find one, so took the $100,000 back with him.
On oue occasion while freighting, he passed a rauch where a butcher lived and saw thousands of hides drying in the sun. He hunted up the butcher and asked what he intended todo with them. The butcher didn't know ". What will you take for them?" asked the Freuch- man. "What will you give?" Char- piot offered fifty dollars and was told to take them. He had the hides stacked on his wagons and bound them with poles like hay, and started cast with them. When he got to Omaha, a pass- ing empty vessel took the hides to St. Louis for a nominal sum, and the as- tute Frenchman cleaned up over $1,000. On his return trip, which he was accus- tomed to make empty, after several years of varying fortunes, sometimes al most a millionaire, and at other times freighting with oxen, he fooud hinself in 1872 with very little of his great for- tune left, except the farm he had bought in Prairie Springs township before che war.
Being brave and resolute aud fond of adventure, he was easily persuaded to join a U. S. Geological survey party, in "1872, and was in the employ of the gov. erument in that capacity for several years. His tales of adventure are more entertaining than Cooper's novels. He led the surveying party into the cliff dwellers country in the southwest cor- ner of Colorado, and thinks that he was the first white man that eyer gazed on the ruins of this prehistoric people; while exploring the roughest portion of the mountainous country of Colorado, they were attacked by a party of rene- gade Utes, who surrounded them on the side of the mountain and kept them cor- raled in a place where they could not obtain water for several days ; they had
to lay concealed through the day, as ans movement in their camp would bring a a volley of bullets from the concealed foe. One morning after the party had been three days without water, Char. piot put a piece of loaf sugar in his mouth and ground it up and blew it out as dry as powder, remarking that they had stayed long enough in that place. He told his companions that in another day they would all die without water and they must fight their way out ; that if any of them fell the others should pay no attention to them but keep right on.
I will take the lead, if I fall keep on in the way I was going. He led the lead mule and kept the bell ringing to at- tract the fire of the indians to himself, and although severely wounded in the head, he emerged from the trap, with the party entire, but with the loss of seven mules killed ; they were 500 miles from a settlement or camp and had but 15 pounds of flour. This, when they got to water, they mixed up and baked on hot stones. A thin cake, half the size of a man's hand, was the ration for oue duy They made the journey of 500 miles in 10 days, living ou such small birds and game as they could shoot with their pistols. After they reached Den- ver Charpiot received a present from the government in recognition of his ser- vices, which he was very proud of, it being a silver mounted pistol with the following inscription: "Presented to Jacques Charpiot for bravery and fidel- ity in the battle with the Renegade Utes, Aug. 15 and 16, 18:5." After that expedition Charpiot left the survey and started a restaurant in Denver. He was prospering, when a fire cleaned him out, and he returned to his Iowa bome to spond his remaining days in peace, far from the exciting scenes through which he had passed.
The old hero has all the comforts of life, a good productive farm, a thrifty orchard and good buildings. | The cel- lar of their stone mansion is hewn out
of solid rek, from which Mrs Charpiot brought forth last year's apples, which were as sound on the 2Sth day of July as in the previous October. Mrs. Char- piot is a worthy partner for her adven- turous husband. Although 64 years of age, her losorant hair is black as a rav- en, and she has afine figure. She beats a striking resemblance to the Empress Josephine, first wife of the great Na- poleon.
Discovery of the Counterfeiters.
Fifty years ago lowa had no herd laws and cattle, hogs and horses were allowed to run at large and often strayed two or three miles from home. On one occas- sion Orren Sinkey and James Cooley had some cattle in the woods that they had not seen for a mouth, so the two men started out to search for the cattle, which they oxnected to find down on the south fork of the . Maquoketa River. They followed Pine Creek about 218 miles where the bluffs ou either side rise from 15 to 100 feet. But here they con- cluded to change their course and looked for a place where they might scale the bluffs toger onto the table laud. Af- ter doing this they discovered a thin column of smoke rising out of a crevise of the ledge of rocks, and here they were puzzled to know from whence it came
They now began a search to see where access might bo had to the smouldering fire, And after a close search they found a dim path that led by a circuitoas route among the rocks to a cave entirely hid- den frota view, either from above or be- low, this they entered and found aying embers that still gave forth a little smoke. They also found some frag. ments of metal lying around that rest m. bled silver, and they also found a nnm. ber of isuperfect coins sticking in crev . ices in the sides of the cave. But they Saw no man and no saint, They gath. cred some of the imperfect coins anl made their escape, believing that the
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cave dwellers might be concealed in the . the murder nutil the said Barger was brush somewhere nearby, and that that - was not a healthy plac- to look for cat- tle, so they got away as soon as they could. But they told everybody what they had found
At that time Nesboa Alden lived at Emeline, who came from Ohio several years before He was somewhat out spoken and frequently said that there was a nest of counterfiters in the big woods and that they must be ferret- ed out and dealt with according to law. It was soon after that Mr. Alden was doing some work in his timber that he had a hole shot through his hat, but did no damage more than cutting a little whisp of hair. He quickly looked around to see from whence the shot came, and saw a man running in the opposite di- rection with a gun in his hand. Mr. Aldea immediately reported to his neighbors and this circumstance and the finding of the cave is what gave rise to the vigilance committee that formed two days after And what followed I will relate in my next letter.
Vigilance Committee of 1853
There are doubtless many yet living in Jackson county who remember that there lived a Mr. Barger in the neigh- borhood of the mouth of Little's creek 1853 or '51, who, on account of some family trouble separated from his wife. and that his wife found refuge.with some of her friends in the town of Bellevue.
After some time the said Barger found out her whereabouts, so he followed her upand laid in wait for her behind a board fence, the cracks being close enough so that a man could hide behind it without being seen. Here he whittled a hole sufficiently large to to Jet the muzzle of his rifle through and here he watched until she made her appear- ance in the yard early in the mounas, and then he shot her dead.
I cacot not now tell how long after
arrested. But he was houted down and brought to preliminary trial and com - mitted to jail and in due time was tried in the district court, but ou account of some irregularities in the proceedings he was again committed And these im- perfect trials courinued from time to time until nearly 3 years had elap-ed.
At his last trial in Jackson county he took a change of venne to Clinton conn- ty and the prisoner was removed to De- Witt jail for safe keeping, until court would again convene. By this time the whole community was thoroughly aroused at the thought that one of the most cold blooded murderers was now in a fair way of escaping the penalty of the law, and while the excitement was still high, still another foul murder was committed near East Iron Hill.
- In the neighborhood lived a man whose name I cannot now recall, but he had formerly lived in York State and had settled some where east of Iron Hi !! a year or two before. This man, it was said, had a charge hanging over him of some crime he had committed in York State and had fled to his present hiding place to evade a trial in court. There was also a neighbor of his found his way sometime afterwards to Jackson county and settled in the same locality nana Ingle or Engle, who soon found out that his former old neighbor was not known here by the same name that he was known by in the east. It was also said that Mr. Engle would become an impor. tant witness against the criminal in case he was apprehended. And it now be came necessary to get Mr. Engle out of of the way, or get away himself. And here Mr. Criminal formed a plan. There being a young man in the neighborhood who lacked considerable of being sound of mind, Grifford by name, who the criminal hired, for 8100, to deroy Mr. Engle into the woods under the pretex! of hunting squirrels, and as soon as the opportunity was good, he shot him in
the back of the head. The two men were seen going towards the timber to- Fether, both armed with titles, but no one suspected foul play After a while Grifford returned alone, but when Mr. Engle did not put in his appearance on time, some of the interested parties be- gan questioning Grifford as to Engles whereabouts, and as he gave very nn- satisfactory answers. it at once aroused suspicion. Soon searchers were in the wood and found Eagle shot, the ball entering the back part of the head. Grifford was so n after arrested and at a preliminary trial confessed substan- tially to the above stated facts and was committed to jail to await a trial in the district court. This circumstance added to the already high temperture of the people of Jackson county and the talk of lynching became general. Before anything definite was decided on, there was still another horror in store for the people.
There lived a man on the corner of the. present Emeline, named Nesbet Alden, who had moved in' from Ohio several years before. He was in good circum- stances and was supposed to have con- siderable money and owned about 300 acres of land. One day he was in his woods pasture doing some work, and hearing the crack of a rifle and at the ' same time feeling a slight smart under the hair of his head, he quickly turned in the direction from which the report of the rifle came. To his Horror he saw a man running his best with rifle in hand. He now took off his hat to ex- amine his scalp, but found no blood, he then examined his hat and found two bullet holes where the ball had passed in and out. By this time he was thouroughly alarmed and immediately began a hasty retreat homeward and re- ported to bis neighbors what had hop- pened. This news spread like wild fire, and at Iron Hill the citizens had already taken steps to form themselves into a vigilance committee. "This organization
was quickly completed, and consisted - of nearly the whole community. In the meantime the aforesaid criminal of York State bad disappeared and this created ho small stir among the recently formed committee. But the criminal had gone and nobody knew when or where. I don't know now, whether he was ever heard from afterward.
The committee adopted a constitution and by-laws, they provided that the assassin, the thief and the counterfeiter would be dealt with alike.
One Jacob Landis was elected their president and leader. This placed the right man in the right place for business. I had bar little acquaintance about Irou Hills and therefore caunot here give the names except the two Landis boys, with these two I had some acquaintance. In the mean time a similiar committee was forming at Emeline where the excite- ment was now at a boiling point.
I will here say that the committees ar either of the points. were composed by a large majority of the best class of the citizens. All members were required by the constitution to subscribe an oath, before being admitted to membership, that they had not at any time previous, len in anyway connected with count. e-feiring gangs, theiving, or any other unlawful pursuits. Tlas oath was so stiff that it was impossible for a bogus to get in without perjury. At Ensine on the appointed day for organization there assembled at least 75 of the citi- zens with some minors in the crowd. but no miners could be admitted. The constitution was then read and adopted with a rash by a rising vote aud was now ready for signatures. The first min to subscribe was the Rev. Eldad Cooly. followed by Rov. A. McDonald, Nesbed Alden, Loyd Alden Clark Cooly, Jehiel Craven, Decatur Craven, O. Sinky, Shep Craven, James Cooly, Harvey Me. Donald etc., till over so names were ol- tained.
It was now necessary that permanent
officers be chosen, which resulted as tuuity to make a statement, and here follows: Rev. Eldad Cools, president, -Grifford made a full confession, sub- J. Craven, secretary and Rev. A. stantially in line with the first state. ment at his preliminary hearing. After this the executioners placed the noose over his head and led him to a nearby tree having a large projecting limb about 15 feet from the ground, oyer which the rope was thrown. The lead- er now placed his men in line along the rope, which was of sufficient length to give all who felt so disposed a free chance to pull. And then came the or- der from the leader, all ready, now pull, and in less time than it takes to tell it, Grifford was seen in the air. And here the curtain must drop. Mr.Donald, treasurer. This completed the organization and the committee was now ready for business, and every mem- ber of said committee was placed under obligation to respond to the call of ine chairman forthwith, whenever his ser. vices were required to pursue and run down any miscreaat who violated the laws to the detriment of the public weal, and the offender when so arrested was made subject to a fair and impartial trial. His guilt or innocence was deter. mined by a vote of the courmittee . But it must bere be admitted that this com- mittee was itself an unlawful combine. But was brought into existance to do what the administors of the law had hitherto failed to do.
There were now two committeesfin existAnce, but entirely independent of each other-
Now let the reader follow me to Iron Hilis to enquire of the senior committee as to their plans for the future. But we find them not here. We are told they are gone, they left this morning in a body with Jacob Landis in the lead. We next hear of their arrival in the town of Andrew and hastily surrounding the jail they demanded of the keeper a cer. tain prisoner, Grifford by name. Being informed by the jailor that the prisoner was in his custody and that he must hold him until the district court cou- vened. The leader of the committee in- formed the jailer that the court had been in session, and the prisoner had already convicted himself of murder in the first degreeand our committee is here to exe- cute the penalty. The jafler still protested, whereupon the leader sent a depota. tion to bring out the prisoner. This or- der was quickly obey, d and Girfford soon found himself surrounded by the com. mittee, whose ranks had been increased during their march to 20 or more. Mr. Landis now gave the prisoner an oppor-
But the committee had still another performance on the program. After a short conucil the committee resumed their line of march, this time they were heading in the direction of De Witt, "their number increasing as they marched. After their arrival at the then county seat of Clinton county, the committee surrounded the jail as at An- drew, and demanded of the jailer the prisoner Barger. Against this demand the jafler vigorously protested. The protest was soou overcome. The sledge and the crowbar were brought to the front and the depaties soon gained an entrance and the prisoner was brought forth and placed on a wagon, surround. ed by a strong gaard. The leader now commanded the committee to fall into line and face about in the direction of Andrew, where business required their presete.
The committee now set off at a good pace. being reinforced as they journeyed until they arrived at their destination. Here they lost no time but quickly put the noise over the prisoner's hond and processed as they did in the Grifford case. I was not an eye witness to the above Hated facts, but got my informa- from Ambruge Robins, who accompanied the expedition and who was an eye-wit- nous fron beginning to ond. I got the
statements trom Mr. Robinsons own lips shortly after the occurrence and bav . every reason to believe them cor- rect
I have no disposition to make com- ments either good or bad, but leave the reader to judge for himself. But one thing I will do. I will endeavor to show the people of lowa and elsewhere. that this committee was not composed of the rong, s and toughs of the community in which it was formed, but of the very best material at command. To say that there were no toughs in the community would be denying the truth Too many for the public weal. And it was to get rid of them that these committees were formed. But this is not the interpreta- tion that was placed on the so called mob. One might go in almost any direc- tion outside of Jackson county aud some inside and hear the committee de- nonuced as cut throa's and theives, and the farther, the more odious was the brand, and in fact the brand is not en- tirely obliterated vet.
It is not very many years that the writer stayed over night in a hotel in Dubuque where a goodly number of guests, among them a man from Des Moines and another from the neighbor- hood of Andrew. both of them strangers to :ue, and I did not learn their names, bu' they entered into conversation and talked in a sort of a fontine way for a while. The Audrew man finally said something that brought Jackson county to view and here the Des Moines man quickly replied, yes, yes, I have heard of that place, the' is one of the dark places of earth. There is where the Bellevue war wa- inaugurated and is the place, where years after,a set of cut- throats hung toro men of one tree. Yes, Jackson county must be a tough place. But here the Andrew man spoke aud said, I live abont midway between . Bellevne and the place where the vi ;. ilance committee, or gut-throats as you call them, had their headpuisteri, I have
a better opinion of themu than you seeri to have. It was that committee that rid onr county of the toughs that you think composed the committee. They have done us a great deal of good, and they were a dread and terror to evil doers as long as the organization was in existence In fact it so cleaned out the counterfeiters, horse theives and would be murderers, that the committee broke - up for want of business
I might follow this narrative down to more recent date, but will concinde by saying that the committee at Emeline were never called out for want of occas- sion. In this part of the country the marked suspect, all suddenly disappeared and nobody know from whence they came or where they went and have nev- er been heard from since so far as the writer knows.
Let me here relate one more incident. It was a few days after the Emeline committee had organized, and the han . - . ing of Rogers and Grifford still fresh on the minds of the people far and near (for the news spread like wild-fire) and it was at a store in the town of Mon- mouth, that a goodly number of custom- ers were collected, some on business and some loafing. Among them was a man from the vicinity of Millrock, who was a suspect, in fact he was known to deal in counterfeit money, and wasalso believed to harbor and assist horse thieves.
And while the Barger and Grifford cases were under discussion, some ap- proving and some denouncing, the afore- said suspect, whose name I have forgot- ten, piped in and said: Yes, I heard of the cut throats at Iron Hills, and I also heard that a similar gang had been or- ganized at Emeline, and that it is dan- gerous for a stranger to go that way. Here Rev. Eldad Cooley, who was also in the store up to now unobserved by the suspect, came to the front and squared himself as he was wont when he preached, and said to the man, "You have now said crough, we are not a !!
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cut throats. Of the last committee you spoke, I have the honor of being its chairman, and I can assure you that for all well behaved and well disposed pro- ple there is no danger whatever. they may go and come as they please. Yes, I have heard of you before, and for you it would be dangerous, very dangerous. Our constitution provides for and makes every member a detective. And it would be well for everybody to acquaint themselves with some of the other pro- visious. The sole purpose of our com- nittee is to rid the community of evil- Boers, and we will not be contented un- il every murderer. counterfeiter and horse theif has been disposed of."
This little speech brought down the house, and the proprietor immediately ordered three cheers for Uncle Eldad, as he was famililarly called. The cheers vere given with a veugence, and the aspect was already leaving in the di- ection of Millrock, and soon afterward lisappeared without telling anybody where he was going. Some say that he with others were, after a long while lo- ated in California
LEVI WAGONER
I. Cooley of Maquoketa, a pioneer of jackson county, who came to Iowa in SH1, brought to the Ellisonian Justitute ecently a fax hackle that is more han 100 years old, and a tar bucket thit is father brought to Jowa. It was Mr. . Cooley that discovered the counter- eiters' cave on Pine Run in Brandon ownship, in 1856 . r 57. Mr. Cooley re- alis the tradition of the strange disap- jearance of a man who lived at the four forners, now known as Emehne. in 1>19 A mian by the name of Taylor lived at the corners and a man whose name he annot now recall, catue there and took p a claim, which is known as the Swing Gilmore place, and boarded with de Taylor family while making propa. itions to build a cabin on his claim. le got out Joga for his calin and invit .
ed the neighbors to come on a certain day to help him raise his house. The neighbors came at the appointed time, but the man did not show up and was never seen in the locality again. The neighbors believed that he was mur- dered by the people with whom he boarded, for the money he was supposed to have.
Anson H. Wilson, the last of the old pioneer's who came to Mapuoketa Val- ley as a man in the thirties, sent me the following names of old friends and neighbors of his who were born in 1816. -J. W. Ellis.
William Cundill who died the 28th of March was born in 1816. also the fol- lowing : A. H. Wilson, Eleaser Mann, Lewis Wood, Daniel Stephens, Lyman Bates, R Perham, S. D. Lyman, S. L. Eddy, Wiu. Vusburg, Mrs. Dunlap, Mrs. N. Hatfield, and Mis. H. Mallard. Of the thirteen named, but three are left, viz., A. H. Wilson Lewis wood, and Daniel Stephens.
Life of Col. Joseph J. Woods.
MR. EDITOR: By the favor of Mr. Oscar E Woods of O. wego, Kansas, I have obtained the loin of a manuscript sketch of the life of Co !. Joseph Jack- son Woods, who went from Maquaketa in 1861, as Colonel of the 12th. Iowa Infantry. It contains many incidents of the military career of that distin- guished officer in hisservice in the rogu- Jar army after graduation from West Point that have never been published, and, in behalf of the Jackson County Historical Society, I would therefore ask you to give it place in your communs.
HARVEY REID.
Col. Joseph Jackson Woods was born January 11, 1523, on a farm in Brown county, Ohio. His ancestors came from Ireland bat were not of the Irish race. Some of them were in Londonderry dur- ing the famous siege of that place in 1659, ITis grandfather, Jas. Wools, come to America in 19 and settled in Pennsylvania, where the father of the
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subject of this sketch, Samuel Woods, was born in the same year, 1773. Jas. Woods was engaged during a part of the Revolution in furnishing supplies to the army.
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