USA > Iowa > Polk County > Centennial history of Polk County, Iowa > Part 2
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OF POLK COUNTY.
a wound received from a member of Hard-Fish's band, the fatal result of a quarrel.
Poweshiek was not tall, but heavy in person, possessing great popularity among the whites. The grave of this chieftain, who belonged to a race which, amid the vicissi- tudes of nations, conquered, ruled, and passed away, cannot now be identified. Nineveh and Babylon left their ruins as monuments of their ancient splendor, but the villages, or rude cities, as they may be styled, of Keokuk and his cotem- porary chieftains, have scarcely left a vestige or ruin to in- dicate the influence which they once exercised among the red dwellers in the great wilderness of the West.
U. S. SOLDIERS.
The Indians inhabiting the reservation were in constant danger of forays and incursions from the Sioux, a cunning, warlike, and merciless tribe, whose prowess in war has been recognized throughout the Northwest. As a measure of protection, the Government, early in 1843, sent a detach- ment of soldiers, under command of Captain James Allen, to a point on the Upper Des Moines which was then known in border language as the Raccoon Forks, but which was subsequently designated as Fort Des Moines. The little steamer Ione, whose prow was the first to penetrate by steam the waters of our river so far up, landed at the foot of what is now known as Court Avenue, on the 9th day of May, 1843, and there disembarked her cargo of live troopers, after hav- ing made the woods re-echo with her resonant whistle. The detachment, consisting of 120 men, including officers, was divided into infantry and cavalry, as the service seemed to demand.
Work was immediately commenced on the fortification. The buildings, constructed for military purposes, composed of logs, were about forty in number, a portion of them ex- tending from the confluence of the rivers Des Moines and
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CENTENNIAL HISTORY
Raccoon, northward along the bank of the Des Moines, and another portion extending westward parallel with the other, forming a triangle opening out on the West and North.
Among the officers and attaches of the two companies, one of which was cavalry and the other infantry, were Cap- tains James Allen and Gardiner, Lieutenants Grier, Potter, and King; Surgeon Griffin, and Sergeant Haley. James Drake was gunsmith and blacksmith, and J. M. Thrift was tailor. Major Beach was Indian Agent, occupying his quarters on Agency prairie, with Joseph Smart as interpreter. Messrs. Baker and Charles Worthington were blacksmiths.
Among the arrivals of 1843 were those of Robert Kinzie, Benjamin Bryant, Charles Weatherford, and John Sturte- vant. Among the settlers who arrived the same and the following year, were William Lamb, Alexander Turner, John B. and W. A. Scott, (Indian traders,) Peter New- comer, and James Campbell.
INDIAN TRADERS, ETC.
During the period last mentioned, Phelps & Co., from Fulton, Illinois, traders in furs, were permitted to establish a depot on the East Side, near the place where General Tuttle's packing-house now stands. Two traders, with transposed initials, viz: G. W. and W. G. Ewing, landed a keel-boat, at the Fort, East Side, on the 3d of May, 1843, as we understand from a jubilant memorandum jotted down by our late fellow-citizen, Benjamin Bryant, Esq. The Ewings were men of rare energy, shrewdness, and courage; and in their respective capacities of sutler and Indian trader, they were eminently successful. Aside from the barracks, Robert Kinzie, pioneer merchant, erected a building on the site of the Sherman block, in which he kept a lot of mer- chandise for the benefit of the garrison and other parties.
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OF POLK COUNTY.
This trade, however, was engrossed to a great extent by the regular sutler.
The first building for residence purposes, was constructed of logs by the Ewings, forming a stupendous contrast, were it still in existence, with the palatial mansion, worth a quan ter of a million, erected on Terrace Hill in these later times by the banker, B. F. Allen.
CLAIMS AND PIONEERS.
No claims, as a rule, were permitted to be made by .the immigrants until the Indians should vacate the lands ac- cording to treaty; but exceptions were made by the agents of the government in favor of Benjamin Bryant, Peter Newcomer, and several others, whose names have already been mentioned. Dr. T. K. Brooks, one of the grand old pioneers of those times, settled originally at the old agency east of the river Des Moines. He afterwards bought the Phelps claim, and blended farming with the practice of medicine. The house to which he first removed, was built in part by a brother of Senator Wright, of this city.
FIRST WEDDINGS.
Benjamin Bryant, the first white man wedded within the limits of our County, after its organization, filled for many years after his arrival here, many important offices to the general acceptance of the people. In the summer of 1846, while Treasurer of the new County, Mr. Bryant led to the altar Miss Elvira Birge; and the festivities which followed, including the infair and a genial supper at the Mitchell Tavern, were of the most lively and suggestive description. Christopher Birge, father of the bride, died a few months after this event. The parties to the first marriage within our borders in Territorial times, were John Baird and Nancy Jane Wellman, Rev. Mr. Post officiating. The mar- riage of Mr. Bryant was solemnized by Addison Michael,
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CENTENNIAL HISTORY
Justice of the Peace, a gentleman who figured largely in those primeval days.
FIRST BIRTHS AND DEATHS.
Early in 1845, an infant daughter born to Lieut. Grier and his lady, signalized the first event of this kind at Fort Des Moines; but a little while afterward, this child of promise as well as of history, was transplanted by death from its western home to its native skies. Rev. Ezra Rathburn, a gifted and exemplary minister of the M. E. Church, who still remains with us in the grace and excellence of a strong and unblemished character, preached the funeral discourse. A few weeks before the birth of this child, J. M. Thrift, the company's tailor, living East of the river, experienced an unusual elation of spirits, on account of the gift of an infant son, graciously conferred by the wife of his bosom,
COUNTY SEAT LOCATION.
In 1846, four townships in the northern part of what was afterwards Warren county, were attached to Polk, through the intervention of Thomas Mitchell, Dr. Fagan, and two other gentlemen, who were solicitous that Fort Des Moines should become the county seat. With the four townships annexed, the Fort would become more central in the County. An ambitious village by the name of Brooklyn, now known in history only, was inaugurated on paper by Dr. Brooks, Jerry Church, and William Lamb, who intended it to orna- ment the soil two miles east of the Fort, as a competitor of Fort Des Moines. The result was, however, that the latter place secured the ascendancy, and Brooklyn went houseless to its solitary grave. The object having been achieved in the location of the county seat at the Fort, the four disputed townships were returned in 1853 to the county from which they had been taken. The commissioners of location, ap- pointed by the Legislature, were Thomas Hughes, of John-
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OF POLK COUNTY.
son, M. L. Williams, of Mahaska, and Giles M. Pinneo, of Scott county. In this county seat contest a gentleman named A. D. Jones, who from that time became conspicu- ous in our local annals, was an earnest champion of the Fort. He arrived February 13th, 1846, and was the first County Surveyor, although a rival candidate by the name of Woodward, nominated by the Brooklyn party, appeared to have a majority of the votes.
FIRST ELECTION.
The first election in the county occurred on the 6th day of April, 1846, one of the old dragoon buildings being used for that purpose. The number of votes polled on that occa- sion was 175, the population of the county being at that time about 500. John Saylor was elected Probate Judge; Thomas Mitchell, Sheriff; James Phillips, Coroner; A. D. Jones, Surveyor; Thomas McMullen, now at Denver, Re- corder; Wm. F. Ayers, Treasurer; G. B. Clark, Assessor; Addison Michael, Collector; and Benjamin Saylor, Wm. H. Meacham, and E. W. Fouts, Commissioners. The officers were elected to serve until the next election, which took place the following August. 1
There is no existing record, as far as we have been able to ascertain, of several elections which occurred after the 6th day of April, 1846. Hours, and even days, have been em- ployed in a patient and persistent search for such records, but without success. The only evidence we have been able to obtain on this subject will be found as incidental matter, under the heads of "County Government," "District Court," and "Election Record." It is to be regretted that the pioneers of our county, or at least the officers of those times, were so remiss and negligent in regard to the public records
At the following August election, Addison Michael, and
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CENTENNIAL HISTORY
Sanford Starr were chosen Justices of the Peace, the first elected in the County.
PRIMITIVE JUSTICE.
Prior to this time all disputes or matters of litigation were decided by the military code. April 28th, 1846, the first civil case wherein the United States was plaintiff, and Campbell Reeves, defendant, was tried before Addison Michael. It was a complaint for a search warrant. The Sheriff made return that neither goods nor defendant were to be found.
FORT DES MOINES.
Fort Des Moines as a town, was laid out June 4th, 1846, by A. D. Jones, surveyor, assisted by Dr. Fagan. A rope, instead of a chain, was employed for the purpose.
After the Dragoons had vacated the military post, which occurred not long after the expiration of the time stipulated by treaty, the barracks which they had tenanted were occu- pied by the settlers who came pouring in from the East and South. In this way, accommodations were supplied to many families which otherwise would have suffered, for a time at least, for the comforts of a home. As late even as 1853, when the population of the town was about 500, a portion of the people inhabited the garrison buildings. There were cabins, however, which had been hastily constructed for the exigencies of the occasion. There was but one church building in the place, and this belonged to the Methodists.
THE OUTLOOK FROM 1846, TO 1850.
P. M. Casady, one of the most prominent pioneers of the County, has by request, given us certain historic informa- tion which we take pleasure in transferring to these pages. Judge Casady, in company with Dr. P. B. Fagan, and W.
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OF POLK COUNTY.
D. Frazee, an attorney, entered the County, June 11th, 1846, on which day they took dinner at the residence of Thomas Mitchell, at Apple Grove. Two events worthy of note oc- curred on that day, one of which was the marriage of Ben- jamin Bryant and Miss Elvira Birge, and the other was the infliction of a snake bite on the person of Orrin F. Mitchell, son of the landlord at Apple Grove.
It was soon ascertained that one of the three gentlemen stopping for dinner was a physician, whereupon Dr. Fagan on invitation, made up a prescription for the boy, consisting of tobacco and whiskey. The bite was cured; and the boy on whom it was inflicted, lost his life afterwards in the mili_ tary service of his country.
The brothers Ewing-George Washington, and Washing- ton George-established their trading post at a place not far distant from the site of Shepard & Perrier's Mill. J B. & W. A. Scott had their trading post near the place where now stands the eastern extremity of the Keokuk & Des Moines railroad bridge. The trading post of Phelps & Co. stood at a point near the site of Tuttle's Packing House At this last post, after its vacation by the Traders, R. W. Sypher sold goods; and at the same place, too, the original Post Office of Raccoon River was kept. The reader is referred here to the article under the head of Post Masters of Des Moines. The several Trading Posts, or Agencies, which have just been reported, were established in 1842-3.
In the Spring of 1846, the garrison buildings were vacated by the soldiers, at which time Col. Tom Baker was made the accredited agent of the Government in leasing the Federal buildings. The immigrants who had settled on the East side of the river, and at other available points, waiting for the auspicious time to come, were now permitted, by paying for it, to occupy the deserted houses. But little time elapsed before all the Government cabins were filled to their utmost capacity by the on-coming volume of immigration. 4
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CENTENNIAL HISTORY
B. T. Hoxie, in 1845, kept store at the Ewing Agency. In the Spring of 1846, when the prohibition in regard to settling on the west side was removed, he transferred his goods and business to the sutler's cabin on the other side of the river. R. W. Sypher, and other business men, fol- lowed his example. In the Fall of 1843, the first Govern- ment Annuity in what was afterward called Polk County, was paid to the Indians. Every year thereafter, until the Indians were removed from their reservation, the annuity was paid, bringing to the Fort a large number of visitors to witness the festivities of such an occasion. To the In- dians, these were grand gala days, in which their distinctive traits of character were fully exemplified; and the white spectators either looked on, or participated in the varied and fantastic amusements.
It is worthy of historic mention here, as one event in a very eventful year, that. in 1846, as a response to local peti. tions, the Congress of the United States passed a special act, authorizing the agents of Polk County to pre-empt 160 acres of land in legal subdivisions, for the plat of the County Seat. If Fort Des Moines had failed to secure the County Seat, this special act would have been inoperative and void, so far at least as it applied to Fort Des Moines. About 140 of the 160 acres thus pre-empted, were secured for the County Seat.
Among the business men of Fort Des Moines between 1846, and 1850, were the following: W. W. Clapp, Pro- vision Grocer near the junction of the Des Moines and 'Coon rivers; L. D. Winchester & Co., Grocery and Dry. goods, near foot of Second street; A. J. Davis, Drygoods, Second and Market; James Campbell, Grocery and Dry- goods, corner Second and Vine; Joseph Crews, Liquor Saloon, Second and Market; R. W. Sypher, Drygoods and Grocery, Second street; Lyon & Allen, Drygoods, Second street; C. Good, Drugs, Second and Elm; Benjamin Cof-
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OF POLK COUNTY.
feen, Drygoods, Second and Market; Wm. Kraus, Clothing, Second street; B. T. Hoxie, Drygoods, Second and Market.
Cole and Winchester commenced business in 1847, on Second street; and later in the season James Sherman was included among the business men of that locality. Chap- lin & Thompson and Campbell & McMullen were also on Second street.
William Lamb has the reputation of building one of the first dwelling houses in the county, near Allen's old packing house; and history gives B. T. Hoxie the credit of keeping the first regular citizens' store. Mr. Hoxie was a good and true man, and was summoned to his reward many years since. His son, H. M. Hoxie, was the popular Clerk of the District Court twenty years ago, and was, during the war, U. S. Marshal for the State. He is now a railroad officer in Texas
The first frame house was built by Addison Michæl in 1847, and the first brick by L. D. Winchester. This latter gentleman, who afterward removed to California, was & relative by marriage of Dr. D. V. Cole, now of this place, and for thirty years closely identified with our progress. To him we have been largely indebted for many of these reminiscences of early times. His cousin, I. J. Cole, who also went to California, was engaged in business on Second street in 1848. The same year, 1848, Alfred M. Lyon and B. F. Allen sold goods in one of the barracks buildings; Allen afterwards built on the corner of Second and Vine and continued to sell goods until he ultimately went into the banking business. For more than a score of years, B. F. Allen maintained a financial reputation of which any man ought to be proud. He grew from year to year in wealth and prosperity, until he was recognized as the rich- est and most influential banker in Iowa. During the mone- tary crisis of 1857, when men everywhere in the West who had achieved high business reputations, were swept into
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CENTENNIAL HISTORY
forlorn and hopeless bankruptcy, he stood unshaken amid the storm, not only preserving his own great credit, but furnish- ing a currency for our local business when all other helps had failed, and at the same time stretching out a strong hand to save men from sinking, who to-day, because of this timely assistance in their hour of peril and threatened ruin are riding on the topmost wave of commercial prosperity,
Alfred M., Jonathan, and Harrison Lyon, were associated in those days with the growth of our city. Two of them are still living among us; but the third, Alfred M. Lyon, as noble a patriot as ever gave his life to his country, went into the battle at Black River Bridge, when his position as sutler demanded no such service, and lost his life while fighting gallantly for the Union. J. M. Griffiths & Co. started a store on Second street, in 1848. One of the first houses in town was built by David Solenberger, July, 1846. The dimensions were 18x20, one story high. A man by the name of Vanatta, had a turning lathe in those times em- ployed in manufacturing chairs and other articles. There was an Apothecary's shop also, dispensing medicines to the public.
Hoyt and L. P. Sherman, Isaac Cooper, and R. L. Tidrick, were at an early period embraced among the business men of Ft. Des Moines.
W. W. Jones came to this county, April 27th, 1847, from Jefferson County, Indiana. He bought a lot on the corner of Third and Vine streets, Fort Des Moines; and he claims that he erected on it the first frame dwelling house in the town. This old building forms a part of the present Mon- itor House, and the lot on which Mr. Jones' house was built was a part of the original plat of the town, purchased by him of the County authorities.
W. W. Jones states that, in 1848, he gathered blackberries in the vicinity of the site of the Jones House, in East Des Moines.
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OF POLK COUNTY.
It is claimed by James Holcomb, that Lewis Whitton built in 1846, in the rear of the barracks on Coon River, the first frame house in Fort Des Moines.
The following list embraces the attorneys of the same period: P. M. Casady, J. M. Perry, Wm. McKay, R. L. Tidrick, Col. Tom Baker, C. Ben. Darwin, W. W. William- son, A. T. Reynolds, A. D. Jones, Barlow Granger, W. D. Frazee, John Howe, W. H. McHenry, and O. R. Jones.
The physicians were: Drs. F. C. Grimmel, P. B. Fagan, H. H. Saylor, Wesley Kirkbride, D. V. Cole, T. K. Brooks, Henry Grimmel, and Wm. Baker.
The garrison buildings were supplied with brick chim- neys, and were whitewashed inside and out. A spectator standing on Capitol Hill, and looking westward over the face of the country, would, in 1847, have estimated the ap- parent population of Fort Des Moines at 300 or 400. The two rows of cabins, stretching along the rivers, and the strag- gling buildings in the vicinity, had a picturesque appear- ance to the beholder.
OUTLOOK FROM 1846 TO 1850-CONTINUED.
Reuben W. Sypher came to Fort Des Moines from Indiana, in September, 1846. His first employment was to sell goods at the trading post of Phelps & Co. The cabin occupied by the sutler while the soldiers were here, was located near where the Rock Island passenger depot now stands. B. T. Hoxie sold goods at this cabin in 1847. He sold out to Ben- jamin Coffeen; and but a short time afterwards, Mr. Sypher sold goods at the same place.
The old Government Agency, as distinguished from the trading posts of Phelps & Co., J. B. and W. A. Scott, and the Ewings, was situated on Agency Prairie, as mentioned in another place. Here from the year 1842, to the year 1845, Major Beach acted as Indian Agent, recognizing the services of Joseph Smart as Interpreter.
In the Fall of 1847, Mr. Sypher transferred his business
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CENTENNIAL HISTORY;
to his new store building on the northeast corner of Second and Vine streets. It will be remembered that at the time specified, the business of the new town was confined almost exclusively to the Barracks, and to the southern part of Sec- ond street. When, therefore, Mr. Sypher proposed to build a business house as far north as Vine street, which, by the way, was but one square from Market street, the citizens laughed at him for his supposed folly; but time proved the wisdom of his new enterprise.
The office of the Regimental Surgeon was on the East side of Second street, between Market and Elm. After the removal of the Surgeon, the cabin was occupied by Dr. P. B. Fagan. Near this office was the shop of J. M. Thrift, the company's tailor. The barns in which the horses of the dragoons were kept, were built of frame, and located a little west of what is known as Fifth street. One of these barns was subsequently removed to the rear of the Marvin House on Third street, and was used there as a stable. In 1846, W. A. Scott, a whole souled and public spirited man, cultivated a large farm on the prairies south of the Railroad lines, east of the river, within the present city limits.
Between the dates given at the head of this article, the different settlements in the County were popularly known as follows: Apple Grove, in Beaver township; Wallace's Prairie, in Camp township, where Lafayette stands; Trul- linger's Grove, in Franklin township; Four Mile Settlement, Mud Creek, Saylor's Grove, and Hopkins' Grove; the last of which is in the Northern part of the County. These settlements were all East of the Des Moines river. On the West were Ayers' Grove, Walnut Creek and McClain's Set- tlements, Keokuk Prairie, and Linn Grove; the last, though now in Warren, was formerly in Polk County.
There is a little indefiniteness in regard to the recognized boundaries of Keokuk Prairie. From all the information we have received on this subject, we would say that this
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OF POLK COUNTY.
noted Prairie, which was the former abode of the dusky warrior and chieftain, Keokuk, embraces all the bottom lands between the Des Moines and North rivers.
Mr. Sypher bought where he now lives, on Fourth street, between Walnut and Court Avenue, in 1847, paying for two lots the enormous sum of thirty dollars-just fifteen dollars a lot !
THE SITUATION IN 1849.
In a conversation with Judge Byron Rice, who came from New York to Fort Des Moines, September, 1849, we obtained some valuable information, which will help the reader to form a more accurate conception of the town and county in the year specified. The Judge informed us that the Government Agency was located on Agency Prairie, a region of country lying between the timber of Capitol Hill and that of Four Mile Creek. The Post indicated was but a short distance from the present residence of Wesley Red- head. By way of distinction, we have called it the Old Agency.
The Trading Posts were all composed of logs, and were still visible in 1849. An old building, just south of the Keokuk & Des Moines railroad bridge over the Des Moines river, comes down to these times as a relic, in part at least, of the old Trading Posts, the log part having been con- structed at a very early period.
In 1849, W. A. Scott was living in a one- story double log cabin, just south of Capitol Hill. The hill itself, and in fact nearly the whole face of the country between the hill and the Des Moines river, were covered with forest trees, with but here and there any signs of habitation.
In the same year, a small island, embracing an area of about two acres, was one of the distinctive features of the Des Moines river, extending from where Court Avenue bridge stands, to a point just below the confluence of the
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CENTENNIAL HISTORY
two rivers. Another island, somewhat larger than this, was to be seen about a quarter of a mile further down. Both of these islands were covered by a dense growth of trees, principally cottonwood and elm. On the upper island, a large cottonwood tree, the growth perhaps of a century, was repeatedly struck by lightning during the series of ter- rific storms in 1851; but shattered though it was, it did not go down with the current for two or three years afterwards. The two islands, being constantly washed by the river, be came less and less as time passed away; and after the great freshet of 1851, there was but little left to show that they had ever existed.
Most of the garrison buildings were still remaining in 1849. It has been stated elsewhere that the barracks ex- tended from a point near the confluence of the two rivers -one row of cabins reaching westward to what is now called Fifth street, and the other row extending to a point near the western extremity of what is now called Court Avenue bridge. The two rows lay at right angles with each other, one of which, because of its proximity to Rac- coon river, was called 'Coon Row, and the other, on ac- count of its nearness to the Des Moines river, was called the Des Moines Row.
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