USA > Iowa > Story County > Biographical and historical memoirs of Story County, Iowa > Part 15
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In June and July, 1853, S. P. O'Brien assessed the taxable property of the county, including that of the immigrants of that year, and listed 109 families. Many of these were camping in shanties or wagons, and busy turn- ing prairie sod for future bread. The lists were made on loose sheets instead of a perma- nent book, and these have doubtless long since been destroyed. The lists of the following, year, 1854, are well preserved and safely stored among the county treasures.
In the spring of 1852 Robert Bracken, Sam- uel Smith, Jesse Smith and Daniel Prime selected lands near Skunk River, in the north- west part of Howard Township. John Smith and Daniel Prime were their close neighbors, but were west of the township line, and there- fore in Lafayette Township. These were fol- lowed the next year by the father and brothers of the Smiths, and by Jonah Griffith, H. L. Boyes and Joseph Broughard.
The assessment rolls for 1854 show the names of many others, some of whom may have come in as early as the fall of 1852, but most of them in 1853 and the early part of 1854. All are entitled to mention as early settlers. Among those not heretofore mentioned who set- tled on East Indian Creek might be named William L. Birge, Barnet, John and James Broughard, John C. Belcher, Ephraim Bowen, Joseph Brubaker, Jeremiah Cory, Sr. and Jr., T. C. Davis, I. S. French, Robert John Harmon, Nelson S. and Marion Harmon, Will- iam R., Arthur A., Mathias and Noah Hand, H. J. Hackathorn, Jeremiah and A. J. King, Abner Lewis, George Livingston, James Mitchell, Hiram Mitchell, S. A. Marler, James N. Moore, Zimri Pearson, Austin Prouty, Adol- phus Prouty, Frederic Pearce, John G. Sellers, Nathan Webb, John G., John S. and Christo- pher C. Wood. The names of Anderson Deter, J. W. Logson, C. P. McCord, Benton Warner and Robert Warner appear as citizens of the present Collins Township. Deter was in the southeast corner of the county, and attempted to start a town to which he boldly challenged competition by naming it "Defiance." The others were his neighbors, except Mr. McCord, who was on Section 3, and nearer to the set- tlers on Indian Creek.
Among the settlers of the summer of 1853 were William Dunahoo and a Mr. Johnson. The latter settled at Johnson's Grove, the most northerly timber on East Indian Creek. His memory is perpetuated in the beautiful grove that bears his name. He built the first cabin therein, in which he was assisted by his neighbors, as was the universal custom. Isaac and Samuel Hague were among those who gave him assistance.
Also on the rolls of 1854 is the earliest au- thentic record, and not subject to dispute or subtraction, of a poll tax assessed to citizens in
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the western part of the county, as follows: Will- iam, Wesley and Massey Arrasmith, Henry Burham, Joseph Broughard, James Briley, Robert and William Bracken, Mormon, Dan, Joel and William Ballard, Noah Berry, Henry Cameron, Presley R., Isaac and Elisha Craig, S. M. Cory, I. W. Cory, Josiah, Jairus and Sereno Chandler, Michael Deal, E. C. and William D. Evans, Moses and Fred Echard, Eli H. and Otho French, Alexander Favre, Jonah Griffith, Robert and William Hawks, Almon Hughes, John Hand, Samuel Heistand, John Hussong, Nathaniel Jennings, John H. Keigley, Samuel Kelley, Thomas Lowe, Peter McNernay, Jerry Marks, Ed. S. Mckenzie, S. P. O'Brien, George and D. W. Prime, Jere- miah Pressnell, James C. Smith, Jesse, James A., Samuel, Isaac and John W. Smith, Warren Shaw, Frank Thompson, William Thompson, Thomas and John Vest, Shadrach Worrall, John Warren, Jacob Wheeler, and John, George B., Reuben J., John J. and Michael Zenor. While the absence of the name of any citizen from these rolls does not prove that he was not in the county in 1854, it must be con- ceded that the presence of the name on the roll is fair proof that at that time his residence was in Story. County. Among the many citi- zens who can give the exact date of their ar- rival, and thus approximate claims of priority of settlement in the several townships, as they now exist, it would scarcely be practicable to settle this question in every instance. When the Ballards settled at their grove there were no townships defined. They were first in Story Precinct, afterward in Washington Township, then in Union, and finally in Pales- tine Township. They were really the pioneers, not only in the county, but in each one of these other several political organizations. Similar conditions existed in the case of Will- iam Parker, who in the final arrangement
found himself the pioneer of the township of Collins.
There had also settled in the county, in addi- tion to those already named, and prior to the assessment of polls for 1855, in the eastern part of the county, Henry J. and Joseph Bru- baker, Milton Cochran, R. C. Casebolt, William Dunahoo, J. W. Dawson, Jacob Emery, Samuel Floyd, Thomas Fitzgerald, William Fatish, M. Holtsclaw, Thomas Hall, Noah Kirkman, Zeno Lamb, Robert Lusk, Josephus Lowe, John Lane, Mathew McPherson, Thomas Monahan, Daniel Maxwell, Elias Modlin, William McPherson, Elkanah Pearson, Oliver Pearson, Jolın Parker, Jacob Ray, N. B. Tucker, John Wells, Shelby Baker, William W. Brown, Andrew Bales, Fred Casner, James A. Fry, James A. Ferguson, H. C. French, C. A. Gregory, D. M. Hame, Levi Hunter, Harris Hull, John Habbitt, Amariah Mullen, W. C. Murphy, S. A. Martin, Peter P. Martin, William McGuire, Presly P. Pool, George H. Richardson, William H. Richardson, William Robinson, George D. Stoneking, John S. Thomas, and Allan Wheatley.
In Washington Township were William Al- len, Samuel Allen, John Bracken, Reuben Baldock, S. J. Booker, William Barnett, J. W. Batterson, G. S. Barks, W. C. Beedle, John Ball, John Cook, John Delawyer, John Doty, Mathew Elliott, George C. Estlake, A. F. East- wood, John C. Elliott, William J. Freed, Will- iam H. Jones, T. J. Groseclose, William Illings- worth, Isaac Jones, Samuel Kelley, George Kintzley, Amos Kelley, Morgan Keltner, M. Livingston, Harvey Lewellen, Hugh McKee, Calvary Ross, Sebastian Rubar, J. C. Sladden, Amos Simmons and Henry Simmons. In Franklin Township were Sam. Eaglebarger, Adam L. Groves, I. T. Miller, Elias Pocock and William Ross. In Lafayette Township were Thomas Anderson, Hiram Boyes, George W. Sowers and Thomas Miller.
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The western pioneer, coming from a land of plenty farther east, and never having been compelled to resort to whole grain, parched or boiled, nor even to the black breads that still form so much of the daily food of the peasan- try of Europe, truly believed that fine flour was one of the necessaries of life. Appli- ances for grinding which are now common on stock farms, and may be had at any implement depot, were not known when the ax of the Story County pioneer began to fell trees for his cabin. There was then not a mill in Jas- per, Marshall, Boone nor Polk Counties. Mahaska County and the eastern part of Mar- ion County had been settled to a certain ex- tent as early as 1843-45. The country far- ther to the southeast had corn to spare, and presumably mills on which it could be ground. In that direction the early settler turned for bread, often leaving the women and children in dread of his absence, and watching im- patiently for his return. This state of affairs was not confined to a single family at one time with neighbors from whom one could borrow. It was more frequently the case that borrow- ing had progressed until all were alike scant as to supplies, and the long and weary trip had been postponed to the last day possible. Then would two or more men start together for the Egypt that had corn and flour to spare. In some cases such were the emergencies that there was but an old quilt hung up for a door to the cabin, and the timid wife and children took turns in keeping up the fire as a safeguard against the unknown perils concealed by sur- rounding darkness.
Among the mills visited for custom work in those times were the two Parmlee mills, on Middle River, in Warren County. Each ar- rival with grain waited his turn, and carried home what the miller left him after taking substantial toll. Root's mill at Oskaloosa
furnished flour for cash, or in exchange for grain. This method enabled the seeker of food to save time. Similar business was done at Iowa City. Thus it seems that a trip to mill meant a journey of from fifty to 120 miles. The unbridged streams were a serious factor in this bread problem. Rain-storms were liable to come when the meal-sack was light, and if that should happen it might be that before a new supply could be had the sack had been turned and dusted, and parched corn, salt and potatoes for luck, were the only visi- ble foods.
Even as late as 1856, during the sickness and death of Dr. Kellogg, the supply of flour failed in the house, and there was none for sale at the then thriving county seat, with a population of 500 souls. This was a time for the exercise of that practicable form of piety for which the pioneer was noted, lending and dividing family supplies. Mr. Alderman car- ried his entire supply of flour (about twenty- five pounds) to the house of mourning, and his large family subsisted on corn bread till wheaten flour could be obtained.
It often required from four to eight days, according to the season, whether the team was of oxen or horses, to make the round trip to the mill and return. There were mills at Oskaloosa and Red Rock, but it was not always certain that flour and meal could be had. Thomas Fitzgerald tells that on one occasion William K. Wood and himself went to the Red Rock Mill and got the entire supply on hand for half a dollar; and as if this were not hard enough luck, one of his horses died on the trip. Under such circumstances the securing of a mill that would crack corn when turned by hand, as in the case of Mr. Parker, was a not- able event, and "turns" were awaited with in- terest. The patient labor of Thomas Vest, near New Philadelphia (Ontario). working bowlders
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into mill-stones for James C. Smith's mill on Long Dick Creek, comes near akin to patriotism. These things were the fulfilling of the law: "I was an hungered and ye gave me meat."
Although the time of the construction of James C. Smith's mill is given as the summer of 1856, such was its importance that a town was laid off, and hopes were entertained that the locality would become a seat of commercial enterprise. It was patronized by people from the south part of the county, at least fifteen or twenty miles distant, and probably from a much greater distance to the northward. The facil- ities which it offered were not equal to its early popularity, nor to the hopes it inspired. From the frequent repairs to the dam which were necessary to keep the power in form, it is probable that the civil engineering skill em- ployed in its construction was not of a high order. It is told by R. M. Ballard that one of the tolls exacted was that the customer and his team should work at repairing the dam while the grist was being ground. Thomas Fitzgerald says that the mill would grind " about as fast as a coffee mill, but not so fine." If both statements are without exaggeration the popularity of the institution would naturally have an early decline.
About the same time, or soon after, Dr. W. H. Grafton and Jairus Chandler erected a mill at Cambridge, and Nathan Webb built one at Webb's Point, just north of Iowa Center. These mills were on quite a liberal scale, and should have rewarded the enterprising and sanguine builders by the return of a fortune. It is to be feared their hopes were not real- ized. The expense of purchasing the furnish- ings, and the transportation of heavy machinery for long distances over the unbridged and miry roads of the early times, the price of labor and the want of skill in those employed, were costly beyond expectation. It is said not less
than $13,000 was invested in the mill at Cam- bridge-an amount which invested in unim- proved real estate should have yielded a princely fortune. Webb's mill was used for sawing as well as grinding, and was a conven- ience to many in improving their farms. Sub- sequently mills were built on Skunk River, one of them in Franklin Township, west of Bloomington, and the other in Milford Town- ship, near the mouth of Keigley's Branch. These were respectively known for many years as "Hannum's " and "Soper's " mills, and did much custom and merchant milling in their days of prosperity. Other mills were in time erected at points on the railways -- that at Nevada about 1868, one at Ames in 1873, others at Sheldahl, Ontario, Iowa Center and Story City still later. Meantime as the "wheat belt " moved north and west, and railway trans- portation became convenient in every locality, custom milling was neglected, and the people 'began to rely more on the grocer and less on the miller for their daily bread.
In the present days of easy access to the lumber yards at every railway station, where are piled high the contributions of the pine forests of the North and the South and Canada, and the treasures of the cedar and cypress swamps, it may be a surprise to some to recall the time when the buzz of the saw and the sound of the steam whistle was heard in nearly every grove in Story County. When settlers were rolling in on every trail, in 1855-56-57, the demand for lumber was such, and the expense of hauling it from points on the Mis- sissippi River so great, that it really seemed that a saw-mill would soon cut its way into a fortune for its possessor. As told elsewhere, George Childs hauled the lumber from the first log cut on the Jairus Chandler saw-mill, just above the bridge, at Cambridge, for his dwelling in Nevada, now occupied by Mr. War-
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rick. This was oak lumber, and was used for flooring in his dwelling. The saw was run by water-power. Samuel McDaniel built a water power saw-mill on East Indian Creek, near the fine oak and walnut timber on his farm. Cory had a mill on Squaw Creek, near the mouth. A man named Brown set up a mill on Skunk River, near Story City. T. McNaughton is said to have had a water-power saw on Onion Creek, northwest of Ontario. There was also a combination power, water and a treadwheel, at the Heistand place, northwest of the Indus- trial College, for sawing and carding wool. These mills all attempted to use water power.
Webb's saw-mill, near Iowa Center, was run by steam power. This, later, passed into the hands of the Ayres Brothers, and did much business. The Hughes mill, in Milford Town- ship, was built and operated for a time as a saw-mill. John Parker and R. D. Coldren had a steam-power saw-mill in 1856, and later, on Block 49, in Nevada. It is said this was afterward run by W. B. Womack on the west side of Skunk River. It also passed into the hands of Jesse H. Talbott, and was run by him. A steam-power saw-mill was built at Fairview (Story City) in 1855 or 1856 by a man named House. It passed into the hands of George Prime, Noah Harding and Henry McCarthy, and was moved to the stream half a mile south of Ontario, where it was run at different times by the Mccarthys, Thurmans, Rosses and Lathams. A man named Guy had a mill for a time in the southeastern part of Collins Township. In 1857 Robert, John and Nelson S. Harmon, brothers, set up a saw-mill near the east line of Section 14 in Nevada Township. It was operated at different times by the Harmons, Jonathan and Earl Lee, John W. Dawson, Bar Scott and David L. Stephens, and was removed by Scott and Stephens to a point just south of Ames.
Joseph P. Robinson & Sons had for a time a mill near their residence in Section 29 of Nevada Township. Most of these mills could be traced through a troubled existence and peculiar history by patient investigation of the court records, if that were worth while. The means by which they were secured generally came from a sale or mortgage of the home- stead. They were sometimes foreclosed for balances due on the purchase money, and were often in litigation. They were prominent factors in the improvement of the country, and a common cause of financial embarrassment if not bankruptcy of the owners. There was a saw-mill in Ballard's Grove in 1856-57, owned and operated by J. C. Sladden. There must have been, from time to time, others in the county not known or remembered by this historian. They were known as " portable ". mills, transferred as personal property, and had some of the characteristics of the prophet's gourd in the matter of growth and disappear- ance. One of the few mills which survived the pressure of the times and the exhaustion of timber for profitable sawing, was that of MeCowan, at Iowa Center, which was removed to another county some years since. The only saw-mill in the county now capable of doing business is the Nellis mill, on Skunk River, just below Cambridge. This mill may be looked upon as a relic from the days when those of its kind were potent factors in the county's progress.
The native timber on Skunk River and in adjacent groves, as well as on East and West Indian Creeks, was of fair quality, and in furnishing the early population with fuel, fencing and building material, was of great value. Very few of the trees that were suit- able for sawing now remain. A large portion of the best timbered lands was sold off in small tracts to those who lived on the adjacent prairie.
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HISTORY OF IOWA.
The best trees were taken as logs to the saw- mills; others were cut and split into posts and rails for fencing ; others were dressed down for framing timbers for dwellings and barns; and from the tops of these, and from standing and fallen trees in the timber there was obtained most of the fuel used for the first fifteen or twenty years of occupation. It was then thought that a farm on the prairie was not de- sirable unless some acres of timber were also to be had for the uses above named. The com- mercial value of these plats of timber, in tracts of from one to twenty acres, would range from $15 to $100 per acre, according to quality. The consequence was that during the period of most rapid settlement on the prairie and in villages, the best native timber rapidly disap- peared. In some instances the surface was so completely cleared of the timber that it was found practicable to put the land in cultivation, or to keep down the new growth and use it for pasturage. The building of the first railways also made a demand for such trees as would make ties, piles and bridge timber, as well as fuel for the locomotives, and in some instances contractors purchased considerable tracts of timber of which they soon left nothing but the soil and the stumps. And, as if these causes were not sufficient, many of the owners of these groves were wasteful in their habits, while others robbed the lands they did not own.
As may be imagined, in 1864-65, when the first railway entered the county, the demand for lumber was such that yards for its supply were opened at every station. Coal was soon found to be a practicable fuel. It was dis- covered that the farm might be improved and conducted without the timber-lot. This idea spread, and in a few years even those who owned wood-lots ceased to visit them during wintry storms for fuel, finding that coal could be earned with less and lighter labor than the
mere cutting and hauling of wood for that pur- pose. The destruction of the native groves and the consequent scarcity of lumber and fuel on the prairie gave an impetus to tree-planting. This was encouraged by legislation. Exemp- tion from taxes was allowed by the State for groves and lines of trees bordering the high- way. The State agricultural and horti- cultural societies offered premiums for groves and orchards. Although it was found that Story County was nearly, if not quite, north of the line of safety for the osage-orange and some other hedge plants, the introduction of the white willows seemed to offer a substitute. The ease with which it is propagated and its rapid growth combined to cause it to be very largely planted. And whatever may be the diversity of opinion as to its merits and de- merits as a barrier for live-stock and as a border for highways, one need only visit the treeless plains to discover that as a modifier of wind-currents alone it is worth in Story County many times its cost of land and labor. Thus its value for fuel and the variety and beauty its lines and groves give to the landscape are much more than clear profit.
It is pleasant to believe that each year is re- placing the native groves with new growth, and that this, with artificial plantings, will more than restore the original value and acreage of timber. Groves and shelter-belts upon the farms add much to the comfort and pleasure of their occupants. If the patience and courage necessary to the successful planting of groves and awaiting slow returns indicate valuable traits of character, surely the citizens of both town and country in Story County have already earned commendation. The early wasting of the fine black walnut timber in the groves was a serious mistake. It was regarded as of no more value than other woods, and was cut and wastefully used for fence rails and the most
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common purposes in buildings. When the de- mand came for it from abroad for choice furni- ture and finishing lumber, and it might have been sold for remunerative prices, there was little remaining.
As the first building in the town of Nevada was occupied as a general store, as well as for many other purposes, it follows that Mr. Alder- man, the first resident, was also the first mer- chant. The fact that he has been nearly con- tinuously from that time in the same or other lines of business in the town, always identified with its interests, is peculiar and exceptional. Others, by dozens, came and went, but the name of Alderman alone has stood the test of time. He states that Hon. William K. Wood, of Iowa Center, brought the first pork to this market, while James Broughard marketed the first but- ter, exchanging it for tobacco. There was, of course, early competition in trade. J. C. Har- ris opened business near the present site of the Advent Church, and T. J. Adamson on the southeast corner of Block 31, the front on Sec- ond Street, and facing the northeast corner of the park. Linn Street was then, and for many years after, impassable, and this separation of the business interests did much to intensify local jealonsy. S. S. Webb and George Childs built a frame store-house on Fifth Street, front- ing the north square, and soon occupied it with merchandise. This they afterward transferred to Alderman. Childs afterward joined Adam- son in business in the frame building on the northwest corner of Block 41, facing west. About this time the northeast corner of Second and Linn was also occupied, thus concentrating business in that place. In a short time the three sides of the park, east, north and west, were occupied by small frame buildings, with stores and offices. Facing the east side of the park were the pretentious New York Store (Adamson & Childs), with the " Nevada Hall "
above (now standing northeast from the pub- lic well), the drug store of Drs. V. V. Ad- amson and J. W. Davidson, C. G. Smith's shoe shop, and the store of Ellis Armstrong. Facing the west side was Melvin Swift's store and the old hotel building of Israel Helphrey. Rob- bins and Downing, and other parties held forth there for a short time. William Margason had the old frame first occupied by Adamson, look- ing south. J. S. Frazier had a law office farther west, and J. H. Talbott, afterward Tal- bott & Hawthorne, had a two-story building for merchandise on the southwest corner of the block-No. 31. Moore & Bell, Aldredge & Prouty, O. D. Russell and Alderman & Rhoads were among the early merchants of Nevada.
Among the early incidents in trade it may be mentioned that when Mr. Alderman brought his stock of goods with him, in August, 1853, he and his wife stopped with Squire Robinson while the house at Nevada was in course of erection. The news of the new store was soon known throughout the neighborhood, and for such things as were in demand the boxes were opened by Mrs. Alderman, while the pioneer was house-building. Mr. Alderman at one time laid in quite a large supply of sugar at Keokuk, taking advantage of the market. It cost two cents per pound. The freight from Keokuk to Nevada was two cents per pound. Thus it is seen that he could have given one-half the sugar at Keokuk for de- livering the other half at Nevada.
The various locations chosen from time to time for business in Nevada, from an uncertainty as to where trade would finally settle, caused by the two public half-squares, were matters of much interest. Had there been but one square, all would have agreed as to the point at issue, and the town would soon have presented the forlorn appearance of many other western county seats. The
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