Biographical and historical memoirs of Story County, Iowa, Part 8

Author:
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: Chicago : Goodspeed
Number of Pages: 484

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At the close of the Black Hawk War, par- ties who had been impatiently looking across upon "Flint Hills," now Burlington, came over from Illinois and made claims. The first was Samuel S. White, in the fall of 1832, who erected a cabin on the site of the city of Bur- lington. About the same time, David Tothero made a claim on the prairie about three miles back from the river, at a place since known as the farm of Judge Morgan. In the winter of that year they were driven off by the military from Rock Island, as intruders upon the rights of the Indians, and White's cabin was burned

HISTORY OF IOWA.

by the soldiers. He retired to Illinois, where he spent the winter, and in the summer, as soon as the Indian title was extinguished, returned and rebuilt his cabin. White was joined by his brother-in-law, Doolittle, and they laid out the original town of Burlington in 1834.

All along the river borders of the Black Hawk Purchase settlers were flocking into Iowa. Immediately after the treaty with the Sacs and Foxes, in September, 1832, Col. George Davenport made the first claim on the spot where the thriving city of Davenport now stands. As early as 1827, Col. Davenport had established a flat-boat ferry, which ran be- tween the island and the main shore of Iowa, by which he carried on a trade with the In- dians west of the Mississippi. In 1833 Capt. Benjamin W. Clark moved across from Illi- nois, and laid the foundation of the town of Buffalo, in Scott County, which was the first actual settlement within the limits of that county. Among other early settlers in this part of the Territory were Adrian H. Davenport, Col. John Sullivan, Mulligan and Franklin Easly, Capt. John Coleman, J. M. Camp, William White, H. W. Higgins, Cornelius Harrold, Richard Harrison, E. H. Shepherd and Dr. E. S. Barrows.

The first settlers of Davenport were Antoine Le Claire, Col. George Davenport, Maj. Thom- as Smith, Maj. William Gordon, Philip Ham- bough, Alexander W. McGregor, Levi S. Col- ton, Capt. James May and others. Of Antoine Le Claire, as the representative of the two races of men who at this time occupied Iowa, Hon. C. C. Nourse, in his admirable Centennial ad- dress, says: "Antoine Le Claire was born at St. Joseph, Michigan, in 1797. His father was French, his mother a grand-daughter of a Pot- tawattamie chief. In 1818 he acted as official interpreter to Col. Davenport, at Fort Arm- strong (now Rock Island). He was well ac-

quainted with a dozen Indian dialects, and was a man of strict integrity and great energy. In 1820 he married the grand-daughter of a Sac chief. The Sac and Fox Indians reserved for him and his wife two sections of land in the treaty of 1833, one at the town of Le Claire and one at Davenport. The Pottawattamies, in the treaty of Prairie du Chien, also re- served for him two sections of land at the present site of Moline, Ill. He received the appointment of postmaster and justice of the peace in the Black Hawk Purchase at an early day. In 1833 he bought for $100 a claim on the land upon which the original town of Davenport was surveyed and platted in 1836. In 1836 Le Claire built the hotel, known since, with its valuable addition, as the Le Claire House. He died September 25, 1861.

In Clayton County the first settlement was made in the spring of 1832, on Turkey River, by Robert Hatfield and William W. Wayman. No further settlement was made in this part of the State till the beginning of 1836.

In that portion now known as Muscatine County, settlements were made in 1834, by Ben- jamin Nye, John Vanater and G. W. Kasey, who were the first settlers. E. E. Fay, William St. John, N. Fullington, H. Reece, Jona Pettibone, R. P. Lowe, Stephen Whicher, Abijah Whit- ing, J. E. Fletcher, W. D. Abernethy and Alexis Smith were early settlers of Muscatine.

During the summer of 1835 William Ben- nett and his family, from Galena, built the first cabin within the present limits of Delaware County, in some timber since known as Eads' Grove.

The first post-office in Iowa was established at Dubuque in 1833. Milo H. Prentice was appointed postmaster.

The first justice of the peace was Antoine Le Claire, appointed in 1833, as " a very suita- ble person to adjust the difficulties between the

HISTORY OF IOWA.

white settlers and the Indians still remaining there."

The first Methodist society in the Territory was formed at Dubuque on the 18th of May, 1834, and the first class meeting was held June 1st of that year.

The first church bell brought into Iowa was in March, 1834.

The first mass of the Roman Catholic Church in the Territory was celebrated at Du- buque, in the house of Patrick Quigley, in the fall of 1833.

The first school-house in the Territory was erected by the Dubuque miners in 1833.

The first Sabbath-school was organized at Dubuque early in the summer of 1834.

The first woman who came to this part of the Territory, with a view to permanent residence, was Mrs. Noble F. Dean, in the fall of 1832.

The first family that lived in this part of Iowa, was that of Hosea T. Camp, in 1832.

The first meeting-house was built by the Methodist Episcopal Church, at Dubuque, in 1834.

The first newspaper in Iowa was the Du- buque Visitor, issued May 11, 1836. John King, afterward Judge King, was editor, and William C. Jones, printer.

The pioneers of Iowa, as a class, were brave, hardy, intelligent and enterprising people.

As early as 1824, a French trader named Hart had established a trading post, and built a cabin on the bluffs above the large spring now known as "Mynster Spring," within the limits of the present city of Council Bluffs, and had probably been there some time, as the post was known to the employes of the Ameri- can Fur Company as Lacote de Hart, or Hart's Bluff. In 1827 an agent of the American Fur Company, Francis Guittar, with others, en- camped in the timber at the foot of the bluffs, about on the present location of Broadway, and

afterward settled there. In 1839 a block- house was built on the bluff in the east part of the city. The Pottawattamie Indians occupied this part of the State until 1846-47, when they relinquished the territory and moved to Kan- sas. Billy Caldwell was then principal chief. There were no white settlers in that part of the State except Indian traders, until the arrival of the Mormons under the lead of Brigham Young. These people on their way westward halted for the winter of 1846-47 on the west bank of the Missouri River, about five miles above Omaha, at a place now called Florence. Some of them had reached the eastern bank of the river the spring before, in season to plant a crop. In the spring of 1847 Young and a portion of the colony pursued their journey to Salt Lake, but a large portion of them returned to the Iowa side and settled mainly within the limits of Pottawattamie County. The princi- pal settlement of this strange community was at a place first called "Miller's Hollow," on Indian Creek, and afterward named Kanesville, in honor of Col. Kane, of Pennsylvania, who visited them soon afterward. The Mormon settlement extended over the county and into neighboring counties, wherever timber and water furnished desirable locations. Orson Hyde, priest, lawyer and editor, was installed as president of the Quorum of Twelve, and all that part of the State remained under Mormon control for several years. In 1846 they raised a battalion, numbering some 500 men, for the Mexican War. In 1848 Hyde started a paper called the Frontier Guardian, at Kanesville. In 1849, after many of the faithful had left to join Brigham Young, at Salt Lake, the Mor- mons in this section of Iowa numbered 6,552, and in 1850, 7,828, but they were not all within the limits of Pottawattamie County. This county was organized in 1848, all the first offi- cials being Mormons. In 1852 the order was

HISTORY OF IOWA.

promulgated that all the true believers should gather together at Salt Lake. Gentiles flocked in, and in a few years nearly all the first settlers were gone.

May 9, 1843, Capt. James Allen, with a small detachment of troops on board the steamer Ione, arrived at the present site of the capital of the State-Des Moines. The Ione was the first steamer to ascend the Des Moines River to this point. The troops and stores were landed at what is now the foot of Court Avenue, Des Moines, and Capt. Allen returned in the steamer to Fort Sanford to arrange for bringing up more soldiers and supplies. In dne time they, too, arrived, and a fort was built near the mouth of Raccoon Fork, at its confluence with the Des Moines, and named Fort Des Moines. Soon after the arrival of the troops a trading post was established on the east side of the river, by two noted Indian traders named Ewing, from Ohio.

Among the first settlers in this part of Iowa were Benjamin Bryant, J. B. Scott, James Drake (gunsmith), John Sturtevant, Robert Kinzie, Alexander Turner, Peter Newcomer and others. The Western States have been settled by many of the best and most enter- prising men of the older States, and a large immigration of the best blood of the Old World,

who, removing to an arena of larger opportu- nities, in a more fertile soil and congenial climate, have developed a spirit and an energy peculiarly Western. In no country on the globe have enterprises of all kinds been pushed forward with such rapidity, or has there been such independence and freedom of competion. Among those who have pioneered the civiliza- tion of the West, and been the founders of great States, none have ranked higher in the scale of intelligence and moral worth than the pioneers of Iowa, who came to the Territory when it was an Indian country, and through hardship, privation and suffering, laid the foundations of the populous and prosperous commonwealth which to-day dispenses its blessings to 10,000,000 people. From her first settlement and from her first organization as a Territory to the present day, Iowa has had able men to manage her affairs, wise statesmen to shape her destiny and frame her laws, and intelligent and impartial jurists to administer justice to her citizens ;. her bar, pulpit and press have been able and widely influential; and in all the professions, arts, enterprises and industries which go to make up a great and prosperous commonwealth, she has taken and holds a front rank among her sister States of the West.

HISTORY OF IOWA.

CHAPTER VI.

ORGANIZATION OF THE STATE-PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTIONS-ELECTION AND SEATING OF THE FIRST STATE OFFICERS-MEETING OF THE FIRST GENERAL ASSEMBLY-CONSTRUCTION OF PUBLIC BUILDINGS-CHANGE OF LOCATION OF THE SEAT OF GOVERNMENT.

Men who their duties know, But know their rights, and knowing, dare maintain-Sir W. Jones.

N act of the Territorial | Legislature of Iowa, ap- proved on February 12, 1844, submitted to the people, to be voted upon at their township elec- tions in April following, the question of the formation of a State constitution, and provided for the election of delegates to a con- vention to be convened for that pur- pose. The vote was largely in favor of the measure, and the delegates elected assembled in convention at Iowa City, on the 7th of October, 1844. On the 1st of November following, the convention com- pleted its work and adopted the first State con- stitution.

The president of the convention, Hon. Shep- herd Leffler, was instructed to transmit a cer- tified copy of this constitution to the delegate in Congress, to be by him submitted to that body at the earliest practicable day. It was also provided that it should be submitted, together with any conditions or changes that might be made by Congress, to the people of

the Territory, for their approval or rejection, at the township election in April, 1845.

The boundaries of the State, as defined by this constitution, were as follows:

Beginning in the middle of the channel of the Missis- sippi River, opposite mouth of the Des Moines River; thence up the said river Des Moines, in the middle of the main channel thereof, to a point where it is intersected by the Old Indian Boundary line, or line run by John C. Sullivan, in the year 1816; thence westwardly along said line to the " old " northwest corner of Missouri; thence due west to the middle of the main channel of the Missouri River; thence up in the middle of the main channel of the river last mentioned to the mouth of the Sioux or Calumet River; thence in a direct line to the middle of the main channel of the St. Peters River, where the Watonwan River-according to Nicollet's map-enters the same; thence down the middle of the main channel of said river to the middle of the main channel of the Mississippi River; thence down the middle of the main channel of said river to the place of beginning.

These boundaries were rejected by Congress, but by act approved March 3, 1845, a State called Iowa was admitted into the Union, pro- vided the people accepted the act, bounded as follows:

Beginning at the mouth of the Des Moines River, at the middle of the Mississippi; thence by the middle of the chanuel of that river to a parallel of latitude passing through the month of the Mankato or Blue Earth River; thence west, along said parallel of latitude, to a point

HISTORY OF IOWA.

where it is intersected by a meridian line 17º and 30' west of the meridian of Washington City; thence due south, to the northern boundary line of the State of Missouri; thence eastwardly, following that boundary to the point at which the same intersects the Des Moines River; thence by the middle of the channel of that river to the place of begin- ning.

These boundaries, had they been accepted' would have placed the northern boundary of the State about thirty miles north of its present location, and would have deprived it of the Mis- souri slope and the boundary of that river. The western boundary would have been near the west line of what is now Kossuth County. But it was not so to be. In consequence of this radical and unwelcome change in the boundaries, the people refused to accept the act of Congress and rejected the constitution at the election, held August 4, 1845, by a vote of 7,656 to 7,235.

A second constitutional convention assem- bled at Iowa City on the 4th of May, 1846, and on the 18th of the same month another constitution for the new State with the present boundaries was adopted and submitted to the people for ratification on the 3d day of August following, when it was accepted; 9,492 votes were cast "for the constitution," and 9,036 "against the constitution." The constitution was approved by Congress, and by act of Con- gress, approved December 28, 1846, Iowa was admitted as a sovereign State in the American Union.

Prior to this action of Congress, however, the people of the new State held an election under the new constitution on the 26th of October, and elected Ansel Briggs, governor; Elisha Cutler, Jr., secretary of State; Joseph T. Fales, auditor; Morgan Reno, treasurer; and members of the Senate and House of Rep- resentatives.

At this time there were twenty-seven organ- ized counties in the State, with a population of nearly 100,000, and the frontier settlements

were rapidly pushing toward the Missouri River. The Mormons had already reached there.

The first General Assembly of the State of Iowa was composed of nineteen senators and forty representatives. It assembled at Iowa City, November 30, 1846, about a month before the State was admitted into the Union.

At the first session of the State Legislature the treasurer of State reported that the cap- itol building was in a very exposed condi- tion, liable to injury from storms, and ex- pressed the hope that some provision would be made to complete it, at least sufficiently to pro- tect it from the weather. The General As- sembly responded by appropriating $2,500 for the completion of the public buildings. At the first session also arose the question of the relocation of the capital. The western bound- ary of the State, as now determined, left Iowa City too far toward the eastern and southern boundary of the State; this was conceded. Congress had appropriated five sections of land for the erection of public buildings, and toward the close of the session a bill was introduced providing for the relocation of the seat of government, involving to some extent the loca- tion of the State University, which had already been discussed. This bill gave rise to a deal of discussion and parliamentary maneuvering, almost purely sectional in its character. It provided for the appointment of three commis- sioners, who were authorized to make a loca- tion as near the geographical center of the State as a healthy and eligible site could be obtained; to select the five sections of land do- nated by Congress; to survey and plat into town lots not exceeding one section of the land so selected; to sell lots at public sale, not to exceed two in each block. Having done this, they were then required to suspend further operations, and make a report of their pro-

HISTORY OF IOWA.

ceedings to the governor. The bill passed both houses by decisive votes, received the signature of the governor, and became a law. Soon after, by " An act to locate and establish a State University," approved February 25, 1847, the unfinished public buildings at Iowa City, together with the ten acres of land on which they were situated, were granted for the use of the University, reserving their use, how- ever, by the General Assembly and the State officers, until other provisions were made by law.

The commissioners forthwith entered upon their duties, and selected four sections and two half sections in Jasper County. Two of these sections are in what is now Des Moines Town- ship, and the others in Fairview Township, in the southern part of that county. These lands are situated between Prairie City and Monroe, on the Keokuk & Des Moines Railroad, which runs diagonally through them. Here a town was platted, called Monroe City, and a sale of lots took place. Four hundred and fifteen lots were sold, at prices that were not considered remarkably remunerative. The cash payments (one-fourth) amounted to $1,797.43, while the expenses of the sale and the claims of the com- missioners for services amounted to $2,206.57. The commissioners made a report of their pro- ceedings to the governor, as required by law, but the location was generally condemned.

When the report of the commissioners, show- ing this brilliant financial operation, had been read in the House of Representatives, at the next session, and while it was under considera- tion, an indignant member, afterward known as the eccentric Judge McFarland, moved to refer the report to a select committee of five, with instructions to report " how much of said city of Monroe was under water and how much was burned." The report was referred, with- out the instructions, however, but Monroe City never became the seat of government.

By an act approved January 15, 1849, the law by which the location had been made was re- pealed and the new town was vacated, the money paid by purchasers of lots being re- funded to them. This, of course, retained the seat of government at Iowa City, and pre- cluded, for the time, the occupation of the building and grounds by the university.

At the same session, $3,000 more was ap- propriated for completing the State building at Iowa City. In 1852 the further sum of $5,000, and in 1854 $4,000 more was appro- priated for the same purpose, making the whole cost $123,000, paid partly by the Gen- eral Government and partly by the State, but principally from the proceeds of the sale of lots in Iowa City.

But the question of the permanent location of the seat of government was not settled, and in 1851 bills were introduced for the removal of the capital to Pella and to Fort Des Moines. The latter appeared to have the support of the majority, but was finally lost in the House on the question of ordering it toits third reading.

At the next session, in 1853, a bill was in- troduced in the Senate, for the removal of the seat of government to Fort Des Moines, and, on final vote, was just barely defeated. At the next session, however, the effort was more suc- cessful, and on January 15, 1855, a bill relo- cating the capital within two miles of the Rac- coon Fork of the Des Moines, and for the ap- pointment of commissioners, was approved by Gov. Grimes. The site was selected in 1856, in accordance with the provisions of this act, the land being donated to the State by citizens and property holders of Des Moines. An association of citizens erected a building for a temporary capitol, and leased it to the State at a nominal rent.

The third constitutional convention to re- vise the constitution of the State assembled at

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Iowa City, January 19, 1857. The new con- stitution framed by this convention was sub- mitted to the people at an election held August 3, 1857, when it was approved and adopted by a vote of 40,311 " for" to 38,681 "against," and on September 3 following was declared by a proclamation of the governor to be the su- preme law of the State of Iowa.

Advised of the completion of the temporary State house at Des Moines, on October 19 following, Gov. Grimes issued another procla- mation, declaring the city of Des Moines to be the capital of the State of Iowa.

The removal of the archives and offices was commenced at once and continued through the fall. It was an undertaking of no small mag- nitude; there was not a mile of railroad to fa- cilitate the work, and the season was unusually disagreeable. Rain, snow and other accom- paniments increased the difficulties; and it was not until December that the last of the effects -the safe of the State treasurer, loaded on two large "bob-sleds "-drawn by ten yoke of oxen, was deposited in the new capitol. It is not imprudent now to remark that, during this passage over hills and prairies, across rivers, through bottom lands and timber, the safes belonging to the several departments con- tained large sums of money, mostly individual funds, however. Thus, Iowa City ceased to be the capital of the State, after four Territorial Legislatures, six State Legislatures and three constitutional conventions had held their ses- sions there. By the exchange, the old capitol at Iowa City became the seat of the university, and except the rooms occupied by the United States district court, passed under the imme- diate and direct control of the trustees of that institution.

Des Moines was now the permanent seat of government, made so by the fundamental law

of the State, and on the 11th of January, 1858, the Seventh General Assembly convened at the new capital. The building used for gov- ernmental purposes was purchased in 1864. It soon became inadequate for the purposes for which it was designed, and it became apparent that a new, large and permanent State house must be erected. In 1870 the General Assem- bly made an appropriation and provided for the appointment of a board of commissioners to commence the work. The board consisted of Gov. Samuel Merrill, ex-officio, president; Grenville M. Dodge, Council Bluffs; James F. Wilson, Fairfield; James Dawson, Washing- ton; Simon G. Stein, Muscatine; James O. Crosby, Gainsville; Charles Dudley, Agency City; John N. Dewey, Des Moines; William L. Joy, Sioux City; Alexander R. Fulton, Des Moines, secretary.

The act of 1870 provided that the building should be constructed of the best material and should be fire proof; to be heated and ventil- ated in the most approved manner; should contain suitable legislative halls, rooms for State officers, the judiciary, library, committees, archives and the collections of the State agri- cultural society, and for all purposes of State government, and should be erected on grounds held by the State for that purpose. The sum first appropriated was $150,000; and the law provided that no contract should be made, either for constructing or furnishing the build- ing, which should bind the State for larger sums than those at the time appropriated. A design was drawn and plans and specifications furnished by Cochrane & Piquenard, architects, which were accepted by the board, and on the 23d of November, 1871, the corner-stone was laid with appropriate ceremonies. The cost of the capitol is fixed, in round numbers in- cluding the grounds, at $3,000,000.

HISTORY OF IOWA.

CHAPTER VII.

MISCELLANEOUS MATTER-POPULATION OF THE STATE BY DECADES-MEMBERS OF THE FIRST. SECOND AND THIRD CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTIONS-GUBERNATORIAL VOTE OF THE STATE FROM 1846 TO 1887-ELEC- TORAL VOTE SINCE 1848-VOTE ON THE PROHIBITORY LAW AND THE PROHIBITORY AMENDMENT-TERRITORIAL AND STATE OFFICERS FROM 1838 TO 1890-FULL CATALOGUE OF CONGRESSMEN-STOCK- STATISTICS - COAL OUTPUT- LAND GRANTS, ETC.

His corn and cattle were his only care And his supreme delight a country fair .- Dryden.

HEN Wisconsin Territory was organized, in 1836, the entire population numbered 10,531. What is now Iowa then consisted of two counties, Dubuque and Des Moines, formed by the Territory of Michigan in 1834, of which they then constituted a part. From 1836 to 1838 the Territorial Legislature of Wisconsin increased the number of counties to sixteen, and the population had increased to 22,859. Since then, the counties have increased to nine- ty-nine, and the population, in 1880, was 1,624,615. The following table will show the population at different periods since the erec- tion of Iowa Territory :

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Biographical and historical memoirs of Story County, Iowa, Part 8

Author: Publication date: 1890 Publisher: Chicago : Goodspeed Number of Pages: 484

Author:
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: Chicago : Goodspeed
Number of Pages: 484