USA > Iowa > Shelby County > Biographical history of Shelby and Audubon counties, Iowa. Containing portraits of all the presidents of the United States from Washington to Harrison, with accompanying biographies of each; portraits and biographies of the governors of the state; engravings of prominent citizens in Shelby and Audubon counties, with personal histories of many of the early settlers and leading families. A concise history of the counties, and the cities and townships > Part 20
USA > Iowa > Audubon County > Biographical history of Shelby and Audubon counties, Iowa. Containing portraits of all the presidents of the United States from Washington to Harrison, with accompanying biographies of each; portraits and biographies of the governors of the state; engravings of prominent citizens in Shelby and Audubon counties, with personal histories of many of the early settlers and leading families. A concise history of the counties, and the cities and townships > Part 20
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Governor Gear is now in the sixty-first year of his age, and is in the full vigor of both his mental and physical faculties. He was married in 1852 to Harriet S. Foot, formerly of Middlebury, Vermont, by whom he has had four children, two of whom are living.
B. P. Sherman,
219
BUREN R. SHERMAN.
BUREN R. SHERMAN.
HE twelfth Governor of the State was Buren R. Sherman, who held office two termins, from 1882 to 1886. He was born in Phelps, Ontario County, New York, May 28, 1836, and is the third son of Phineas L. and Eve- line (Robinson) Sherman, both of whom were natives of the Empire State.
The subject of this sketch received his early educa- tion in the public schools of his native place, and con- cluded his studies at Elmira, New York, acquiring a thorough knowledge of the English branches. At the close of his studies, acting on the advice of his father, who was a mechanic (an ax maker), he ap- prenticed himself to Mr. S. Ayres, of El- mira, to learn the watchmaker's trade. In 1855, with his family, he removed to Iowa and settled upon an unbroken prairie, in what is now Geneseo Township, Tama County, where his father had purchased lands from the Government. There young Sherman labored on his father's farm, em- ploying his leisure hours in the study of law, which he had begun at Elmira. He also engaged as bookkeeper in a neighbor-
ing town, and with his wages assisted his parents in improving their farm. In the summer of 1859 he was admitted to the bar, and the following spring removed to Vin- ton, and began the practice of law with Hon. William Smyth, formerly District Judge, and J. C. Traer, conducting the business under the firm name of Smyth, Traer & Sherman.
They built up a flourishing practice and were prospering when, upon the opening of the war, in 1861, Mr. Sherman enlisted in Company G, Thirteenth lowa Volunteer Infantry, and immediately went to the front. He entered the service as Second Sergeant, and in February, 1862, was made Second Lieutenant of Company E. On the 6th of April following he was very severely wounded at the battle of Pittsburg Landing, and while in the hospital was promoted to the rank of Captain. He returned to his company while yet obliged to use crutches, and remained on duty till the summer of 1863, when, by reason of his wound, he was compelled to resign and return home. Soon after returning from the army he was elected County Judge of Benton County, and re-elected without opposition in 1865. In the autumn of 1866 he resigned his judge- ship and accepted the office of clerk of the District Court, to which he was re-elected in 1868, 1870 and 1872, and in® December, 1874, resigned in order to accept the office
19
220
GOVERNORS OF 10WA.
of Auditor of State, to which he had been elected by a majority of 28,425 over J. M. King, the "anti-monopoly" candidate. In 1876 he was re-nominated and received 50,- 272 more votes than W. Growneweg(Demo- crat) and Leonard Brown (Greenback) to- gether. In 1878 he was again chosen to represent the Republican party in that office, and this time received a majority of 7,164 over the combined votes of Colonel Eiboeck (Democrat) and G. V. Swearenger (Green- back). In the six years that he held this office, he was untiring in his faithful appli- cation to routine work and devotion to his especial share of the State's business. He retired with such an enviable record that it was with no surprise the people learned, June 27, ISSI, that he was the nominee of the Republican party for Governor
The campaign was an exciting one. The General Assembly had submitted to the people the prohibitory amendment to the Constitution. This, while not a partisan question, became uppermost in the mind of the public. Mr. Sherman received 133 .- 330 votes, against 83,244 for Kinne and 28,- 112 for D. M. Clark, or a plurality of 50,086 and a majority of 21,974. In 1883 he was re-nominated by the Republicans, as was L. G. Kinne by the Democrats. The National party offered J. B. Weaver. During the campaign these candidates held a number of joint discussions at different points in the State. At the election the vote was: Sher- man, 164,182 ; Kinne, 139,093 ; Weaver, 23,- os9; Sherman's plurality, 25,089 ; majority, 2,000. In his second inaugural Governor Sherman said :
" In assuming, for the second time, the office of Chief Magistrate of the State, I fully realize my grateful obligations to the people of Iowa, through whose generous confidence I am here. 1 am aware of the duties and grave responsibilities of this ex- alted position, and as well what is expected of me therein. As in the past I have given
my undivided time and serious attention thereto, so in the future I promise the most earnest devotion and untiring effort in the faithful performance of my official require- ments. I have seen the State grow from infancy to mature manhood, and each year one of substantial betterment of its previous position.
"With more railroads than any other State, save two; with a school interest the grandest and strongest, which commands the support and confidence of all the peo- ple, and a population, which in its entirety is superior to any other in the sisterhood, it is not strange the pride which attaches to our people. When we remember that the results of our efforts in the direction of good government have been crowned with such magnificent success, and to-day we have a State in most perfect physical and financial condition, no wonder our hearts swell in honest pride as we contemplate the past and so confidently hope for the future. What we may become depends on our own efforts, and to that future I look with earnest and abiding confidence."
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- carned 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.
«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 carly life on a rugged New Eng- laud farnı, 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 betel 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 Iowa 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 raise d 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 lowa 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 year, 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 lowa, 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
OF
¥SHELBY
COUNTY.
BAKER-CO
HISTORY OF
SHELBY COUNTY, IOWA.
CHAPTER I.
INTRODUCTORY.
ACH year, as it rolls its resistless way along the mighty pathway of time, is fast thinning the ranks of the hardy pioneers, who, in their adventurous way, first made the broad pathway of emigration into the bright valley and beautifully rolling prairie land of what is now Shelby County. The relentless hand of death, pursuing his remorseless and unceasing avocation, is cutting down, one by one, the hardy and brave men and women who first dared, into this western wilderness, to cope with the untried realities of a domain unknown to civilization, and un- inhabited, save by the savage, roaming tribes of Indians, who for an unknown period enjoyed their sort of life, even as we do onrs now. Within the memory of many now living in this county, the Indian chieftain, with his dusky maiden, was inspired by the scenes of nature on every hand. This to them was doubtless a sacred spot; here they had hunted and fished; here they had wor- shiped the Great Spirit; here they had lived and died, passing away to give place to a truer, better type of human creatures.
No tongue can tell, no pen portray, the hardships and cruel vicissitudes of fortune endured in those early days by the little 20
band of "apostate" Mormons, who, for the conscience within themselves, deserted Brig- liam Young and his polygamous devotees, npon reaching the Missouri River. The his- torian of to-day looks into the bedimmed eye of the Latter-Day Saints, observing their weather-beaten form, the furrowed brow, the prematurely hoary locks, and takes them all as evidence that these people have passed throngh "great tribulation."
Besides these Mormons (who formed the majority of Shelby County's first settlers), there were some others among the earliest settlement, who left the comforts of beautiful homes in the far-away East and volunteered here to plow the first fields and reap the first grain. These, too, often endured penury and want while trying to subdue and fully conquer Dame Nature and establish for their families comfortable homes in what, at that date, was a boundless wilderness.
Let us hasten, then, to put down the words as they fall from their quivering lips, of the grandly heroic deeds done in those pioneer times, that their actions may find the niche in history which they justly deserve. Let their words and deeds build for them a mon- ument that shall long outlast the stone or bronze which shall ere long mark their last
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HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY.
resting place. Let there an epitaph be in- scribed, "THEY HAVE BUILDED BETTER THAN THEY KNEW."
But before we take up the history of true, modern historic times, let us record a few of the facts concerning this county as it existed " down through the dim and misty vista of time before man was," and see what founda- tions were here builded by an all-wise Crea- tor, in the geological formation, the soil, the forests and the streams.
GEOLOGY, TOPOGRAPHY AND NATURAL HISTORY.
Shelby County is situated on the Missouri slope, in the fourth tier of counties from the southern boundary line of the State, and is the second east from the Missouri River. It is twenty-four miles square, and has an area of 576 square miles. It is bounded on the north by Crawford County, on the east by Audubon County, on the south by Cass and Pottawattamie counties, and on the west by Harrison County.
The general surface of the land within the borders of this county is very rolling, and in portions it is quite hilly prairie land, with a few good-sized native groves, of which Gal- land's is the largest. It may be said of the topography of nearly all this portion of Iowa, that its surface reminds one of an irregular checker-board of ridges and intervening val- leys, furrowed ont by the great plow of Nature. It is a prairie country, but does not have the usual characteristics of prairie land, as occasional groves and beautiful streamlets relieve the ordinary monotony of a stretch of prairie. Let one, to illustrate, imagine for a moment that at one time in its formation the whole county was in a liquid state, and by a violent wind had been thrown into billowy commotion, resembling the angry ocean when storin-driven. Imagine the whole to be cut up into great wave-furrowed sec-
tions, and then by some sudden process to be frozen, and this will show about the broken condition of the land in Shelby County. It is excellent for agriculture, as the hillsides have fine rich soil and are especially adapted to the growing of the various fruits cultivated in this latitude. The bottom lands generally slope toward the streams, and along the West Nishinabotna River is one of the finest valleys in all the broad domain of Iowa. All the various valleys in the county possess thie richest of soil, which is known as "bluff de- posit," washed from the hillsides, throughout the centuries long since passed. Unlike the northern and castern portion of Iowa, this county has no subsoil of clay to hold the water; hence it is that after a heavy rain storm one may resume the work of farming, never being bothered with plows not clear- ing, or with mnddy, impassable wagon-roads. In short, there is no finer soil to work in or travel upon than is found in sonthwestern Iowa. The principal crops grown are Indian corn and the common grains, all of which spring up quickly, grow rapidly and mature into profitable harvests.
The county is exceptionally well watered, for an Iowa county. The West Nishmabotna River flows nearly southwest, through the middle of the territory. receiving from the east the waters of the Middle Nishnabotna River, Whittede and Indian creeks, while the western part is drained by branches of the Missouri and Boyer rivers, including Silver, Mosquito, Pigeon and Picayune creeks. Mill Creek is a small stream in the northwest portion of the county, which flows into the Boyer River in Harrison County, and upon which is located one of Iowa's most charming tracts of woodland, known as Galland's Grove-named from one of the first white men who settled in that vicin- ity. It contains about 1,000 acres. There
231
HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY.
are other beautiful groves throughout the county, along the banks of the numerous streams, too small to call rivers and too large to term ereeks, in the common understanding · of the name. These natural groves, planted by Mother Nature, are made up, for the mnost part, of the different species of oak, elm, ash, hickory, black walnut and bass wood. There are also many thickets of sumach, hazel, thorn-apple, blackberry, gooseberry and kin- dred shrubs.
The entire county is supposed, by geolog- ical experts, to be underlaid with a coal de- posit, to a greater or less extent, but is
concealed by the post-tertiary deposit, not less than 200 feet beneath the surface. The only stone fit for building purposes is the boulder of the drift formation. Future pros- peeting and delving into the geological strata are quite likely to present a mineral wealth of great financial value.
One of the finest features of the natural resources of Shelby County is the excellent quality, as well as quantity, of pure, whole- some water found in its numerous water courses and at easy depth for wells, affording an abundance of living water for stock and domestie purposes.
232
HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY.
CHAPTER II.
EARLY SETTLEMENT-THE MORMONS. O fix locations correctly, names and dates concerning the first settlement of a county, is no small task for the local historian. From the most positive evidence it is now generally conceded that the honor of effeeting the first actual settlement in Shelby County belongs to Abraham Galland, who located in what is now Grove Township, in the autumn of 1848, building a log cabin in which his son-in-law, William Jordan, and family lived during the winter of 1848- '49, being the first white family to spend a winter within the county. During the fore part of 1849 came William Felshaw, Solo- mon and Joseph Hancock, Franklin, Rudd and Joseph Roberts. Felshaw removed to Utah Territory, Joseph Roberts moved to eastern Iowa, the two Hancock brothers are both dead, and Franklin Rudd now resides in Dow City, Iowa. Abraham Galland has been dead many years, but William Jordan, the son-in-law, who lived in the first cabin home built in the county, still survives. IIe lives at Deloit, Crawford County, Iowa, at the advanced age of eighty-seven years.
It should here be stated that the greater portion of the first settlement of the county was from among the vast throng of families who separated themselves from the Mormons, who, under the leadership of Brigham Young, stopped for the winter on the banks of the Missouri River at a point just north of the present city of Omaha, Nebraska. The place was therefore called " Winter Quarters." The Mormons had been driven from their
homes at and around the city of Nanvoo, Illinois, and were en route for Utah at the time above mentioned. Up to the time of Joseph Smith (Sr.) being killed in the jail at Carthage, Illinois, there had been no sueli thing as polygamy taught by that seet, but upon arriving at " Winter Quarters" it was made known by the president of the Mormon church (Brigham Young, who took Joseph Smith's place), that it would henceforth be a religions requirement, and upon this ques- tion alone many thousands separated them- selves, as they would not submit to what they believed to be a great evil. Hence it came about that we have what is known as the " Re-organized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints." The so-called " Mor- mons" of Shelby County, as well as many of its adjoining counties, are in no sense be- lievers in polygamy, and are as outspoken against its practice as any other religions denomination of people. It is for their posi- tion on this subject that they have been termed as " apostates " by the Utah Mormon church, with whom they have no affiliations.
A large number of this class, when Presi- dent Young proclaimed polygamy an article of faith, sought homes along the eastern banks of the Missouri River, in Iowa and Missouri. The first settlement in Potta- wattamie, Harrison, Crawford, Cass and Shelby counties was effected by this elass, commonly known as Latter Day Saints. The reason for their scattering was principally on account of wishing to build up homes in the most suitable location, and of course early
233
HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY.
settlers always select the land through which running water is found in abundance, as well as because along such streams the fine nat- ural groves are located, all of which go toward constituting excellent locations for the pioneers.
Galland's Grove, consisting of over 1,000 acres of timber land, situated in the extreme northwest part of Shelby County, presented charming features to that persecuted band, large numbers of whom entered lands long before any government survey had been made. Among the early settlers at Galland's Grove, including the Latter Day Saints, were Uriah Roundy, John McIntosh, Alex- ander McCord, Ralph Jenkins, William Vanausdall, John Hawley, Alfred Jackson, Milton Lynch, Benjamin Crandall, Robert Ford, Eli Clothier, Thomas Black.
One of the most noted pioneer characters in Galland's Grove, who is still living, at the advanced age of eighty-two years, is John A. McIntosh, who was born in Kentucky in 1806. Ile spent the first seventeen years of his life in his native State, then went to Illinois, and from that State to Tennessee, where he was married. But few men survive to relate the circumstances of voting at six- teen Presidential elections, beginning with Andrew Jackson and casting his ballot, this fall (November, 1888), the second time for Grover Cleveland.
In 1840 he removed to Lee County, Iowa, where he remained until 1849. He was among the Mormons who separated them- selves from the church on account of the evil practice of polygamy. He spent many years in the South, preaching the Mormon doc- trines, traveling on foot, from place to place. He first came to Shelby County in 1849, when but a few families had settled on Mill Creek within Galland's Grove. He located where he is now living. Being a man pos-
sessed of sterling qualities, generous and true to all his fellow beings, he made many friends, even among the Indian tribes, which at that time possessed all western Iowa. His pio- neer cabin was erected in a narrow valley, between two great ridges, and was indeed a secluded and out-of-the-way location. His first neighbors were the wild animals and the Indian tribes, including the Pottawatomics and Omahas, who called him " The Mormon Chief," and would never do an act to displease him, on account of his bravery and kindness to them. He relates that in all those carly years, living with warlike tribes on every hand, that he does not know of the Indians ever taking any of his property, except one pretty rooster, which was taken by an Indian boy, who was severely chastised by his father. One of the Indian chiefs was overtaken by a band of warriors from another tribe and wounded, so they supposed he would shortly die; however, he made out to crawl on his hands and knees to the cabin door of " Uncle McIntosh," to whomu he gave advice as to his burial. He wanted to be placed in a white man's coffin and buried on McIntosh's land, all of which was sacredly carried out. A daughter of the hardy old pioneer died and was buried near the grave of the Indian chief, who had such implicit confidence in her father, who was a great peace-maker between the Indians themselves, as well as between the white race and the Indians. Mr. McIntosh relates many a thrilling incident of frontier life. When he first settled in Shelby County all was new; everything had to be made from the state in which wild nature had fashioned it. Kanesville (Council Bluffs) was the nearest point at which any family supplies could be obtained, such as flour, groceries, meat and clothing. The streams were much larger in their average flow of water than now, and none of them were
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