Biographical history of Cherokoe County, Iowa : Containing portraits of all the presidents of the United States from Washington to Harrison, with accompanying biographies of each ; a condensed history of Iowa, with portraits and biographies of the governors of the state ; engravings of prominent citizens in Cherokee County, with personal histories of many of the early settlers and leading families. A concise history of the county, the cities, and townships, Part 20

Author:
Publication date: 1889
Publisher: Chicago : W.S. Dunbar
Number of Pages: 654

USA > Iowa > Cherokee County > Biographical history of Cherokoe County, Iowa : Containing portraits of all the presidents of the United States from Washington to Harrison, with accompanying biographies of each ; a condensed history of Iowa, with portraits and biographies of the governors of the state ; engravings of prominent citizens in Cherokee County, with personal histories of many of the early settlers and leading families. A concise history of the county, the cities, and townships > Part 20

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Governor Sherman's term of office con- tinued until January 14, 1886, when he was succeeded by William Larrabee, and he is now, temporarily, perhaps, enjoying a well- earned rest. He has been a Republican since the organization of that party, and his services as a campaign speaker have been for many years in great demand. As an officer he has been able to make an enviable record. Himself honorable and thorough, his management of public business has been of the same character, and such as has com- mended him to the hearty approval of the citizens of the State.

He was married August 20, 1862, to Miss Lena Kendall, of Vinton, Iowa, a young lady of rare accomplishments and strength of character. The union has been happy in every respect. They have two children -Lena Kendall and Oscar Eugene.

223

WILLIAM LARRABEE.

ILLIAM LARRABEE is the thirteenth Governor of this State, and the six- teenth Governor of Iowa, counting from the Territo- rial organization. His ancestors bore the name of d'Larrabee, and were among the French Hugue- nots who came to America early in the seventeenth century, set- tling in Connecticut. Adam Larrabee was born March 14, 1787, and was one of the early graduates of West Point Military Academy. He served with distinction in the war of 1812, having been made a Second Lieuten- ant March 1, 1811. He was promoted to be Captain February 1, 1814, and was soon after, March 30, of the same year, severely wounded at the battle of Lacole Mills, dur- ing General Wilkinson's campaign on the St. Lawrence. He recovered from this wound, which was in the lung, and was afterward married to Hannah Gallup Lester, who was born June 8, 1798, and died March 15, 1837. Captain Larrabee died in 1869, aged eighty-two.

The subject of this sketch was born at

Ledyard, Connecticut, January 20, 1832. and was the seventh of nine children. He passed his early life on a rugged New Eng- land farm, and received only moderate school advantages. He attended the dis- trict schools winters until nineteen years of age, and then taught school for two winters.

He was now of an age when it became necessary to form some plans for the future In this, however, he was embarrassed by a misfortune which befel him at the age of fourteen. In being trained to the use of fire-arms under his father's direction, an ac- cidental discharge resulted in the loss of sight in the right eye. This unfitted him for many employments usually sought by ambitious youths. The family lived two miles from the sea, and in that locality it was the custom for at least one son in each family to become a sailor. William's two eldest brothers chose this occupation, and the third remained in charge of the home farm.

Thus made free to choose for himself William decided to emigrate West. In 1853, accordingly, he came to Iowa. His elder sister, Hannah, wife of E. H. Williams, was then living at Garnavillo, Clayton County, and there he went first. In that way he selected Northeast lowa as his

224

GOVERNORS OF IOWA.

future home. After teaching one winter at Hardin, he was for three years employed as a sort of foreman on the Grand Meadow farm of his brother-in-law, Judge Williams.

In 1857 he bought a one-third interest in the Clermont Mills, and located at Cler- mont, Fayette County. He soon was able to buy the other two-thirds, and within a year found himself sole owner. He oper- ated this mill until 1874, when he sold to S. M. Leach. On the breaking out of the war he offered to enlist, but was rejected on ac- count of the loss of his right eye. Being informed he might possibly be admitted as a commissioned officer he raised a company and received a commission as First Lieu- tenant, but was again rejected for the same disability.

After selling the mill Mr. Larrabee de- voted himself to farming, and started a private bank at Clermont. He also, ex- perimentally, started a large nursery, but this resulted only in confirming the belief that Northern Iowa has too rigorous a cli- mate for fruit-raising.

Mr. Larrabee did not begin his political career until 1867. He was reared as a Whig, and became a Republican.on the or- ganization of that party. While interested in politics he generally refused local offices, serving only as treasurer of the School Board prior to 1867. In the autumn of that ycar, on the Republican ticket, he was elected to represent his county in the State Senate. To this high position he was re- elected from time to time, so that he served as Senator continuously for eighteen years before being promoted to the highest office in the State. He was so popular at home that he was generally re-nominated by ac- clamation, and for some years the Demo- crats did not even make nominations. During the whole eighteen years Senator Larrabee was a member of the principal committee, that on Ways and Means, of which he was generally chairman, and was

also a member of other committees. In the pursuit of the duties thus devolving upon him he was indefatigable. It is said that he never missed a committee meeting. Not alone in this, but in private and public business of all kinds his uniform habit is that of close application to work. Many of the important measures passed by the Legislature owe their existence or present form to him.

He was a candidate for the gubernatorial nomination in 1881, but entered the contest too late, as Governor Sherman's following had been successfully organized. In 1885 it was generally conceded before the meet- ing of the convention that he would be nominated, which he was, and his election followed as a matter of course. He was inaugurated January 14, 1886, and so far has made an excellent Governor. His position in regard to the liquor question, that on which political fortunes are made and lost in Iowa, is that the majority should rule. He was personally in favor of high license, but having been elected Governor, and sworn to uphold the Constitution and execute the laws, he proposes to do so.

A Senator who sat beside him in the Senate declares him to be "a man of the broadest comprehension and information, an extraordinarily clear reasoner, fair and conscientious in his conclusions, and of Spartan firmness in his matured judg. ment," and says that "he brings the prac- tical facts and philosophy of human nature, the science and history of law, to aid in his decisions, and adheres with the earnestness of Jefferson and Sumner to the fundamental principles of the people's rights in govern. ment and law."

Governor Larrabee was married Sep- tember 12, 1861, at Clermont, to Anna M. Appelman, daughter of Captain G. A. Appelman. Governor Larrabee has seven children-Charles, Augusta, Julia, Anna, William, Frederic and Helen.

HISTORY

CHEROKEE

COUNTY.

BAKER-CC

HISTORY OF CHEROKEE COUNTY.

229

INTRODUCTION.

CHAPTER I.

S the changes of less than half a century are contemplated, one can scarcely real- ize or comprehend that the wonderful results of Time's marvel-working hand are the achievements of a period so brief as to be within the remembrance, almost, of the present generation.

Let us turn back, as it were, the leaves of Time's great book to but a third of a century ago, and the stranger would have gazed upon a landscape of great beauty, selected by the Sioux and Dakotas as their camping ground, with that singular appreciation of the beauti- ful which Nature made an instinct in the savage. These vast rolling prairies were as green then as now; the prairie flowers bloomed as thickly and diffused their fragrance as bountifully. We are in the haunt of the red man, with scarcely a trace of civilization. But behold what a contrast! Then all was as Nature had formed it, with its variegated hues of vegetation; in winter a dreary snow- mantled desert, in summer a perfect paradise of flowers. Now all traces of the primitive are obliterated; in place of the tall, rank grass, or tangled underbrush, one beholds the rich waving fields of golden grain. In place of the dusky warriors' rude cabins are the substantial and often elegant dwellings of the 20

thrifty farmers; and the iron horse, swifter than the nimblest deer, treads the pathway so recently the trail of the Indian. Then the sickle of fire annually cut its swathe of wild herbage, and drove to death the stag; now it nourishes on its broad bosom thousands of tons of the staple products of the great Hawkeye State. Then the storm drove the elk and bison to their hiding places; now the blast drives the herd of the husbandman to a comfortable shelter. The transformation is indeed complete. Three decades ago no at- tempt had been made to cultivate these riclı prairie lands, and the native forests were undisturbed by the woodman's ax. Where once the wigwams of the Indian tribes were erected, prosperous towns and cities now ap- pear; where the red men passed slowly along the trail, the locomotive now whirls by.

It is the duty of the historian to record these changes; to show how they have been inade; to narrate the trials of early pioneers, and thus present a lesson to future genera- tions. From the experiences of the past we learn the lessons of to-day. He who writes of events to which eye-witnesses are numer- ous has no room for flights of imagination, and his fancy is confined between the walls of cold, naked facts.

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HISTORY OF CHEROKEE COUNTY.

But let us hasten on to the record of Cherokee County, and record the deeds of her early settlers before they shall have all passed away. As the years, one by one, glide by, none shall remain to bear testimony as to its early history, except it shall here be written.

Before entering into the work of making a suitable history of this county, it is well at first to look about over the surface of this rich soil and beautiful extent of territory, and see what the hand of Creation has done in tlie way of natural advantages. First learn something of the land, the topography, the streams and forests which lend so much to its charming magnificence. We therefore come to speak of the

LOCATION, TOPOGRAPHY AND GEOLOGY.

Cherokee is the second county from the western boundary of the State, which is the Missouri River, and it is the third county from the northern border, or the line between the States of Iowa and Minnesota. It com- prises a territory of twenty-four miles square. and contains 576 square miles, equal to 368,- 640 acres of land. It is divided into sixteen townships, each being the regular congres- sional township of six miles square.

The principal streams coursing their way through the connty are the Little Sioux River, entering near the northeast corner and passing out abont seven miles east of the southwest corner, thus flowing diagonally across the entire extent of the county's do- main. West Fork of Little Sioux is a tribu- tary, draining and watering several townships in the northwestern portion of the county. Other beautifnl prairie streams that add much to the value and appearance of the ter- ritory are what are known in geography as Willow, Rock, Pitcher, Perry, Fiddle and Fourteen-Mile creeks, with the Maple River

and its branches, which traverse the south- eastern portion of the county.

While Cherokee County is not abruptly rolling. as is the country farther to the south- west, yet it is uneven enough to drain itself thoroughly into the numerous streams, which have a general southern course. There is but a very small portion of the county which ever "washes " and which cannot be profit- ably cultivated.

The soil of the county is one peculiar to a belt through which runs the Missouri River, abont 100 x 200 miles in width. It differs from the soil in the eastern part of the State, east of the watershed; in the east it belongs to what in geology is known as the drift de- posit, while on the western slope it is of the bluff deposit. Here it closely resembles the loess deposit in the valley of the Rhine, fa- mons the world over for its richness. The celebrated geological writer, Owen, calls it " silicious marl," and refers to its origin as an accumulation of sediment in an ancient lake, which was afterward drained.

One of its peculiarities, due to its silicious composition, is its freedom from stagnant pools and ponds, and the advantages it pos- sesses of being constantly and completely underdrained. While it retains a sufficient moisture at the surface, and crops growing npon it suffer less than in ordinary soils from drought, the distinct granular form of silex, of which it is largely composed, enables water to pass through it as effectually, but not so quickly, as through ordinary sand. As a re- snlt of this peculiarity, the roads are uni- formly good, and plowing is not retarded by wet weather nearly so much as in less favored soils.

Cherokee contains more native timber land than any five Northwestern Iowa counties. The varieties were originally oak, ash, elm, soft maple, black walnut, cotton-wood, and

231

HISTORY OF CHEROKEE COUNTY.

linn. At an early day some of the finest black-walnut timber in Iowa was found along the larger streams of this county. As might very naturally be expected in a prairie country, the early settlers, from away back on the prairies, used all sorts of timber quite lav- ishly, and in many instances did not protect the forest lands as they ought, and as many of them now wish they had. The pioneers came from the East where wood was no lux- ury, and often it was ruthlessly slaughtered. However, the later settlers on the prairies set about planting and transplanting artificial groves, which here and there, almost every- where, at present beautify and add to the comfort as well as to the material value of the farmer. These groves stand now, with their towering branches, as so many living, growing monuments to the good sense and foresight of the hardy pioneers.

By the record given out in reports officially signed and published by the Anditor of State, there is no county in all Iowa that has planted and transplanted more forest and shade trees than Cherokee, except Buena Vista County. The causes which lead to the planting of so many forest trees are numerous, but mainly on account of wanting them for shade in the summer-time and as a protection against the wild winds and blizzards of winter.

The early county fathers (supervisors) saw this in its true light when they passed thie subjoined resolution:

An act of the Board of Supervisors to en- courage the planting of forest and fruit trees in Cherokee County:

WHEREAS, By virtue of discretionary power granted the Board of Supervisors at the Twelfth General Assembly, Chapter 92, Section 5,

Resolved, That the board exempt from taxes (except for State purposes) on the real or personal property of each tax payer wlio shall within the year plant one or more acres of forest trees for timber, or one mile of hedge,

for fence, or one-half inile of shade trees along the public highway, the sum of $500.

Provided, however, That at least 1,000 forest trees be on each acre claimed exempt; that shade trees shall not be to exceed twelve feet apart, and fruit trees not to exceed thirty- three feet apart, all to be in good growing condition.

By order of Board of Supervisors. HORATIO PITCHER, Chairman B. of S.

The minute book of the subsequent super- visors shows that great numbers of farmers took the advantage of this law and at once planted large groves upon their farms, which now have come to be immense trees, large enough for stove wood and posts.

In 1888 there were exempt from taxes property amounting to over $200,000, by reason of claims made and honestly carried ont under the above act, made many years ago. To-day there are 600 acres more of ar- tificial timber in the county than of natural, there being about 1,500 of native and 2,100 of planted timber.

Besides the abundance of pure running water found in swift falling currents in the goodly number of streams in the county, the finest well-water is obtainable, in almost any part of the territory, at an average depth of twenty-five feet. Good soil and pure water are the keys which unlock the secret of Chero- kee County's health, wealth and prosperity. Again, flowing wells are to be had by going down from 100 to 200 feet below the surface. Two such natural fountains gush forth within the city plat of Cherokee, the county seat, - the big magnetic well, discovered in 1881, and the one supplying the city water-works, obtained in June, 1889.

The landscape picture presented by the whole domain of this county is one scarcely surpassed in beauty and grandeur in any part of Iowa, especially of the western prairie belt.

232

HISTORY OF CHEROKEE COUNTY.

The most striking feature of the topography of the county, in common with most of the great West, is the predominance of prairies, a name first applied by the French settlers, and now universally adopted to designate natural grass-land, in contra-distinction to the wooded region, or as it is generally styled throughout the West, timber-land.

Probably nine-tenths of the eastern, and still a larger percentage of the western, half of the State of Iowa is prairie, the timber in general being found skirting the streams, while the prairie occupies the whole of the higher portion of the country, with the ex- ception of here and there an isolated group of trees standing like an island in mid-ocean.

233

HISTORY OF CHEROKEE COUNTY.

EARLY SETTLEMENTK

CHAPTER II.

EARLY SETTLEMENT-THE NEW ENGLAND COLONY.

O the reader of local history this chap- ter of all others is of greater interest than almost any other; especially is this true of the pioneer himself. Here he sees himself and friends, as in the dim past they first sought out these western wilds and fought for their very existence, in what was then one vast wilderness-even a green, glad solitude left as it came from the hand of a Creator! See the pioneer as he takes the book in his hands, slowly, critically pouring over every word, recalling in his mind the pictures of the vanished past at the mention of some well-known namne, or smiling as recollection brings back some ludicrous ad- venture of the early days. His old associa- tions, the trials and tribulations, the battle against hunger and cold, while the settlers were yet scattered almost a full day's journey apart-all these rise up before him as he reads. Even now, in memory, he hears the wind blow around his humble cabin home that first sheltered him from the wild wintry blasts, and he hears (or seems to hear) the prairie wolves howl about his door as they did in days of yore. The picture of the past rises before him, and he once inore re-

joices in the pride of his youth and young manhood.

Notwithstanding the cares and adventures that clustered around the humble cabin door of the pioneer, these first settlers of Chero- kee County took solid comfort. Here all were free and equal, and the absence of restrain- ing wealth and position were to him a source of comfort and satisfaction. The rough hos- pitality, the hearty, free feeling of common brotherhood among these early vanguards to civilization, were the spontaneous overflow of hearts full of regard for humanity, and was practiced more from this feeling than from the teachings of Christian duty.

Thirty years ago, my county, You were fair-yes, very fair; There were no furrows on your brow, No silver in your hair. The blush of early womanhood Was on your rounded cheek ;

The wild flowers on your bosom Exhaled their fragrance sweet.

Dear was the old log cabin, Down by the river side; 'Round it the children romped, In it the baby died. The cabin sleeps in ruins, The ivy from the roof has fled,

The mould is its only monument, All but memories sweet are dead.

-SELECTED. THE FIRST STAKE DRIVEN.

In most counties it is with much difficulty that the historian can fully and clearly es-

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HISTORY OF CHEROKEE COUNTY.

tablish the fact as to who was the first actual settler, but, fortunately, in Cherokee County, there can be no doubt or misunderstanding as to such honor-for an honor it is; it be- longs, beyond question, to Robert Perry and the party of New Englanders who came from Milford, Massachusetts, and were organized as the Milford Einigration Company, who effected settlement in the spring of 1856.

[The author is indebted to Carlton Corbett and George W. Lebourveau, two of the re- maining band of pioneers, for the facts con- cerning the early settlement, as hereafter follows.]

During the winter of 1855-'56 two doc- tors of an enterprising turn of mind, living in Milford, Massachusetts, were impressed with this great, new, northwestern country and frequently consulted such maps and de- scriptive matter as they could procure, down in their New England home, hard by the Atlantic Coast. These gentlemen were Dr. Dwight Russell and Dr. Slocum, who espied upon the maps, then recently published, several points in Western Iowa which ap- peared at that long range to be suitable for the founding of a town, or perhaps what might advance into a city.

Growing out of these deliberations there was formed the Milford Emigration Com- pany, which had for its object and central aim the planting of a colony of New Eng- landers, who sought to better their worldly surroundings by settling in the West. Among the number were many mechanics, especially boot and shoe makers, who had long since tired of laboring at the bench for the mere living they were enabled to earn for them- selves and families.

It was finally determined that the colony should first send two of their number on in advance for the purpose of " spying out the land," which, in the spring of 1856, flowed

with anything but milk and honey. The gentlemen chosen for such advance agents were pioneers Carlton Corbett and Lemuel Parkhurst, who left Milford, Massachusetts, February 11, 1856, coming by railroad to Chicago, then a small city. Mr. Parkhurst had his family with him and left them at a sisters, by the name of Crady, then living near Pecatonica. Messrs. Corbett and Park- hurst then went on west to Lyons, Iowa, on the Mississippi River, and thence they went down the river to Davenport, at which point they struck the only railroad then built on Iowa soil-the Chicago, Rock Island & Pa- cific, which then extended as far west as Iowa City, which was then the State capital, Des Moines then only being known as Fort Des Moines, a small trading post, with Govern- ment fortifications, as a defense against the Indians or other intruders. From Iowa City Corbett and Parkhurst traveled by stage coach to Council Bluffs, Iowa, a distance of 250 iniles, crossing scores of streams, none of which had at that time been spanned by even a foot bridge! Many travelers now who complain of late and slow railroad trains should remember that in 1856, right here in Iowa, these gentlemen had to carry rails and poles with which to pry the stages from out the muddy sloughs and creeks, en route from lowa City to Council Bluffs.

Upon arriving at Council Bluffs it was learned that the objective point for which they were headed, namely, the confluence of the Big Sioux and the Missouri rivers, had been already visited and a town platted, known now as Sioux City, Iowa! Hence vanished all the bright dreams of founding a city, as talked of by the little band of New Englanders while they were seated in their quiet, cozy homes. But the Northwest was a big territory, and our subjects were not by any means dismayed, though somewhat dis-

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HISTORY OF CHEROKEE COUNTY.

appointed at thus early being baffled in the plans already laid. Out came thie maps again and the eye traced out the streamns, sufficient to tell the home-seekers that other fields were open for their conqnest. They continued to the point where the new town of Sioux City was platted, and from there followed the Big Sioux River for a considerable distance; but the scarcity of timber in the region caused them to retrace their steps to Sergeant's Bluffs, eight miles below Sioux City, where they met with Robert Perry (now deceased), who had just returned from Cherokee County, and who informed them of the beanty and natural resources of the Little Sioux Valley -of its numerons meandering streams and heavy belts of timber. Corbett and Park- hurst talked the matter over and finally con- cluded to know more of the country described. Mr. Corbett and a man named Jolin Martin visited this county, while Parkhurst remained at Sergeant's Bluffs. They walked across the trackless prairies toward Correctionville, in Woodbury County, thience up the Little Sioux to a large grove situated in what is now Pilot Township. Here they remained over night in the grove, a portion of which belongs to tlie Perry estate. They were awakened in the early morning by the gobbling of wild turkeys. That day they proceeded to the present site of Old Cherokee, which they afterward platted. On their way up they stopped to view the big red rock, the largest in Iowa, now known as Pilot Rock, upon the top of which they found Indian relics and painted hieroglyphics, abundant proof of re- cent visits by the Indians.

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Author: Publication date: 1889 Publisher: Chicago : W.S. Dunbar Number of Pages: 654

Author:
Publication date: 1889
Publisher: Chicago : W.S. Dunbar
Number of Pages: 654