USA > Iowa > Polk County > Des Moines > Des Moines, the pioneer of municipal progress and reform of the middle West, together with the history of Polk County, Iowa, the largest, most populous and most prosperous county in the state of Iowa; Volume I > Part 21
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Mr. Clark, of Allamakee, was opposed to the whole matter. He thought it had no place in the constitution. "Gentlemen claim that the legislature has al- ready settled this question, and located the Capitol at Fort Des Moines. Is not that sufficient?" It had been pretty strongly intimated that log-rolling had pro- cured the location at Fort Des Moines. "And now," exclaimed Clark, "the gen- tlemen who are endeavoring to get this put in the Constitution are in favor of cutting off the right arm that carried the Capitol to Fort Des Moines for fear it may carry it away again !" Both the localities named were south of the geo- graphical center of the State, and yet the combination would make Fort Des Moines "left at the wheel" for Iowa City and Iowa City for Fort Des Moines.
Mr. Clark pictured the inconvenience to the northern part of the State-the
CONRAD YOUNGERMAN Pioneer Builder and Con- tractor
CHARLES WEITZ Pioneer Builder
EVAN MORGAN BOLTON Pioneer Lumber Dealer of East Des Moines
COL. J. N. DEWEY Pioneer Civil Engineer
PETER A. DEY Pioneer Civil Engineer and Member of the New Cap- itol Committee
DAVID NORRIS At the time of his death the oldest man in Polk County
DANIEL O. FINCH Pioneer Lawyer and Demo- cratic Orator
JOHN TEESDALE Pioneer Editor
CAPT. F. R. WEST Pioneer Banker
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picture to be verified by the experiences of members of the next General Assem- bly. "In order to get to Fort Des Moines, we must go first to Dubuque, . and from that place we must come here. Or, with the weather as it has been this winter, we will be compelled to go over into Illinois, and around that way." With the mileage of legislators computed "by the nearest traveled route, the sit- uation would be open to objections.".
. Mr. Edwards, of Lucas, deemed it desirable to locate the Capitol perma- nently. This constitutional convention had the power to put a quietus upon the question and should exercise that power. This question should be decided at an early day, in order that improvements and buildings may be planned with refer- ence to the Capital of the State. Hence the desirability of the original measure. With a covert threat, he informed Mr. Clarke, of Johnson, that if he was not ' satisfied with the proposition to locate the university permanently at Iowa City and to turn over the State's buildings to the university, the members from the southern part of the State were prepared to remove the university to some point in northern Iowa.
Mr. Hall, of Des Moines, (county) thought the speeches made on this ques- tion would "read badly hereafter." Motives were impugned; history was per- verted. He, himself, "might show that the seat of government was originally located in this city [Iowa City] by a species of management that might not be very creditable to some gentlemen." Continuing in the same vein he said: "We know who gave the casting vote, and how he was induced to give it, that brought the seat of government to this place." The people wanted a change. Public sentiment had already pointed out the place and the legislature had responded to that sentiment. He was not afraid of these imputations of bribery and corrup- tion. He had generally found that "those persons who are so ready to assail and denounce others for being governed by improper influences are themselves the most accessible to that kind of management. Is there a better time and place to close this controversy than the present? I believe that Des Moines has three institutions of learning, either of which is as high in respect to character and standing as the University of Iowa. The State univer- . sity is but an idea yet. Now, locate that institution. . You gain one year by the establishment of this university by a constitutional provision." Mr. Hall thought it unwise to reopen the question by submission. There would be at least a half-dozen contestants for each institution. Politics would enter, and the pop- ular will be thwarted.
On the previous question, moved by Mr. Skiff, the yeas and nays were called by Mr. Clarke of Johnson, and the resolution permanently locating the State Capitol at Des Moines and the State University at Iowa City carried by a vote of 19 to 15.
It is interesting to note the personal and locality division on the question. The yeas were: Ayres of Van Buren, Clarke of Henry, Day of Van Buren, Ed- wards of Lucas, Gibson of Marion, Gillaspy of Wapello, Hall of Des Moines, Harris of Appanoose, Hollingsworth of Keokuk, Johnston of Lee, Palmer of Davis. Parvin of Muscatine, Patterson of Lee, Price of Pottawattamie, Robin- son of . Des Moines, Seely of Guthrie, Skiff of Jasper, Soloman of Mills, Tod- hunter of Warren.
The nays were: The President (Springer) of Louisa, Bunker of Washington, Clark of Allamakee, Clarke of Johnson, Ells of Scott, Emerson of Dubuque, Gower of Cedar, Gray of Linn, Marvin of Jones, Peters of Delaware, Scott of Clayton, Traer of Benton, Warren of Jackson, Wilson of Jefferson, Young of Mahaska.
Analyzing the thirty-five votes cast in the convention, by counties and sec- tions, it becomes evident that the sectional issue was dominant at the last. Of the nineteen votes cast in favor of the resolution, sixteen were cast by represen- tatives of counties in or near the valley of the Des Moines river and its tribu- taries, in southeastern Iowa, namely, Van Buren (two votes), Henry, Lucas, Vol. 1-10
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Marion, Wapello, Des Moines (two votes), Appanoose, Keokuk, Lee (two votes ), Davis, Muscatine, Jasper and Warren. The remaining three votes came from Pottawattamie, Guthrie and Mills, all west of Polk county. Of the sixteen votes in the negative, nine were from northeastern Iowa, namely: Allamakee, Dubuque, Cedar, Linn, Jones, Delaware, Clayton, Benton and Jackson,-four of these bordering on the Mississippi river, and the remaining five with trade relations with Mississippi cities. Of the remaining five, three bordered on the Mississippi, namely : Louisa, Scott and Dubuque; one-Johnson-naturally voted to retain the Capital within its borders, and the other-Mahaska-hadn't gotten over its defeat in the last General Assembly.
It thus becomes apparent that the permanent location of the Capital was not wholly determined by the geographical superiority of Fort Des Moines. The social, commercial and political relations early established between Fort Des Moines and the river towns as far to the southeast as Keokuk, these strengthened by stage lines and the common interest in the prospective line of railroad from Keokuk to Fort Des Moines, had much to do with the success of the movement.
CHAPTER XIX.
THE ACTUAL REMOVAL OF THE CAPITOL.
To comply with the condition that a suitable Capitol building must be erected without cost to the State on the grounds selected by the commissioners, Thomas K. Brooks, W. A. Scott, James A. Williamson, Joseph M. Griffiths, Harry H. Griffiths, Alexander Shaw, J. D. Cavenor, Thomas A. Walker, and other public- spirited citizens of Des Moines organized themselves into a building committee, purchased lots eleven and twelve in block six, Scott's addition to the town of Demoine, and during the years 1856 and 1857 erected thereupon a three-story brick building 60x100 feet and donated it to the state of Iowa. On July 4, 1857, the building was so nearly completed that a Fourth of July celebration was held in the hall of the House of Representatives, where speeches were made by Dr. Brooks, Colonel Walker, and others.
The ten-acre site selected for the Capitol grounds and donated by Harrison Lyon and W. A. Scott was covered with timber and underbrush. The trees on the tract were oak, ash, elm, walnut, hickory, cherry and linn. A few of these trees of native growth may still be seen on the present Capitol grounds. Mr. Lyon turned over to the State his residence, erected two years before, then sit- uated about where the Supreme Court room is now located.
In May, 1856, the land was platted and the streets and alleys on the east side were made to correspond with the Capitol grounds. Walnut and Locust streets were extensions of the west side streets of the same name. Grand avenue on the north side of the State house, leading up from the old floating bridge across the river, was first named Keokuk street, after the old Indian chief. Fifteen years later, it was named Sycamore street. In '86, Sycamore street, both east and west was named Grand avenue.
In 1857, Stewart Goodrell, the local member of the locating commission, su- pervised the grubbing of the trees and brush on Capitol Square. In '58, the square was surrounded by a substantial board fence, with stiles at the corners and half-way between. There was a deep well on the north side, near the cen- ter. Elijah Sells, then Secretary of State, provided a number of walnut benches for the grounds, and public-spirited citizens erected a large pavilion near the center. This served on occasion as a speaker's stand. Here political meetings and church and Sunday-school gatherings were frequently held.
The removal of the physical property of the State from the old to the new Capitol is well described by Isaac Brandt. He says :1
"There were no railroads in the state, and the public highways were but dimly outlined in our wide extended prairies. Skunk river had to be crossed to reach
Des Moines. Several of the small streams had no bridges. Therefore, teamsters and contractors were not anxious to undertake the job of removal. The citizens and teamsters of Des Moines, however, solved the problem by send- ing men and teams from Des Moines to assist in the removal. Among the men sent was the Rev. Ezra Rathburn, one of Des Moines' pioneer ministers.
"The removal of the four safes, consisting of one each for the secretary of state, the treasurer of state, the auditor of state, and the superintendent of pub- lic instruction, was let to Dr. Jesse Bowen of Iowa City, who delivered them
1 Pioneer Law-makers' Association, 1902, pp. 79-81.
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safely in the new Capitol after many days of hard and tedious work. The state treasurer's safe was much the largest and very heavy. During the journey it was left in the open prairie near Little Four Mile creek in Polk county for several days and nights, until the storm abated and the ground was frozen sufficient so that it could be hauled on a large bob-sled. When it arrived in Des Moines it was drawn by ten yoke of oxen. Its arrival was hailed with great delight, not ' only by the citizens of Des Moines, but by the state officers and their deputies, for in it was the gold and silver coin that was to pay them their last months' salary. Jesse Bowen, Jr., nephew of Dr. Jesse Bowen, was one of the young men who had charge of the teams and drove one himself. He is now a door- keeper in the Senate of the Twenty-ninth General Assembly. The packing of the archives in the secretary of state's office was done under the direction of John M. Davis,2 then deputy secretary of state and now an honored member of our Pioneer Lawmakers' Association.
. "The vote of the several counties had to be sent to the secretary of state to be held and safely kept until the convening of the Legislature in January, 1858, then to be turned over to the speaker of the House of Representatives. They were all received from the several counties while the office was still at Iowa City. Mr. John M. Davis, the deputy, was much concerned about the safety of these important documents. Therefore, he had them securely and carefully packed and placed them in his own trunk with his clothing and personal effects, brought them safely through to Des Moines, and placed them in the vault of the new state building.
"The transportation of the state officers was provided for by Col. E. F. Hooker, superintendent of the Great Western Stage company, free of charge. The officers left Iowa City on the morning of November 6, 1857, in one of the best of the Great Western stage coaches, drawn by four first-class roadsters and driven by Joseph Baggs, one of the noted stage-drivers of Iowa City. Every ten or fifteen miles, at each stage station, fresh horses were supplied, and on Friday, November 7th, at noon, the state officers were safely landed in Des Moines, at the Des Moines House, then one of our best hotels, situated on West Walnut and First streets.
"The deputy state officers were not so fortunate as to have free transportation tendered them by the stage company; but Martin L. Morris, treasurer of state, was a free and generous-hearted man. He chartered a hack of Mr. Aylesworth, one of the leading livery men of Iowa City, to take the deputies to Des Moines at his expense. John M. Davis, Geo. Mathews, Dan'l S. Warren, David M. Sells, Thomas Kinsey, and Wm. A. Kinsey, with a driver, left Iowa City in a first-class hack Friday morning, November 6th. It was a beautiful November morning, clear, cool, and with but little frost. The young men were in a happy, jolly mood, and left the old state house and friends with a pleasant good-bye. The first day's journey was one of pleasure. The first night out they stopped at Brooklyn. The morning of the second day gave signs of a storm, and by noon it. was sleeting and raining; by sundown it was snowing and blowing. They stopped the second night at Mr. Piper's, in Jasper county, twenty-five miles east of Des Moines. Sunday morning, the 8th, the snow was from twelve to sixteen inches deep, and the driver of the hack refused to go any further; said he did not know the road to Fort Des Moines, and all the signs of the road were covered with snow. The deputies were in a bad dilemma; however, they em- ployed a farmer with a lumber wagon, who said he knew the road to Fort Des Moines. They placed their trunks in his wagon for seats, started on their jour- ney, and were safely landed at the Shaw House, just across the street from the new State Capitol, about four o'clock in the afternoon.
"On Monday, November 10th, the state officers and their deputies took charge of their respective offices in the new Capitol. On January II, 1858. the Seventh
2 Still a resident of Des Moines.
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General Assembly convened at the new state house, and the state government was fully established in the city of Des Moines, within two miles of the junc- tion of the Des Moines and Raccoon rivers, in accordance with an act passed January 25, 1855, by the Fifth General Assembly."
The sequel to the story of the removal of the Capitol may as well be added here.
The Seventh General Assembly was petitioned-by J. A. Williamson and others-to purchase the Capitol building, which had been erected with money borrowed from the School Fund of the State by six citizens of East Des Moines. The money was borrowed on the indefinite assumption that the city, or county, or both, would come to the borrowers' relief, inasmuch as the entire city, and county, would be benefited by the location of the Capitol. The borrowers were all more or less interested in East side real estate, and hoped to "make good" in any event, by the increase in land values in the vicinity of the Capitol.
The Seventh General Assembly turned the petitioners over to the Eighth- and the Eighth to the Ninth.
On the assembling of the Eighth General Assembly, in 1860, Governor Lowe well presented in a brief paragraph, the claims of the school fund, the duty of the State and the necessities of the borrowers. On the 7th of March there- after, Mr. Baker, from a select committee to whom the question raised by the Governor had been referred, reported to the House, in committee of the whole, recommending the passage of a bill embodying the Governor's views which were, in substance that the Capitol building "was erected at the expense of the school fund, borrowed by six gentlemen of Des Moines City for that purpose, for the repayment of which, with ten per cent interest, they have mortgages on their individual property." The amount, with unpaid interest to date, was $52,130. The building cost, including lots and interest, $53,733.61. Divided public sentiment in regard to site precluded the fulfillment of the local pledge-to provide a suitable building and grounds-at the common expense of the town or county. The six men were unable to donate the building. The State ought not to become a pensioner on their bounty. It should own the building. It was worth the money. The State had occupied it two years, had made changes and improvements on the building, "inconsistent, perhaps, with the legal rights of the proprietors." In view of these facts the Governor gravely asked whether the interest and honor of the State would not be quite as well sub- served by directing that the mortgages against these men be cancelled, by as- suming the liabilities to the school fund, and by paying to them the difference between this fund and the cost of the building.
The bill did not come to a vote in the House, and was not even introduced in the Senate. The Ninth General Assembly, with war measures on its hands, had troubles of its own which overshadowed everything else.
Not until April 16, 1864, was the question settled. By an act of the Tenth General Assembly, approved on that date, the Census Board and the Attorney General were constituted a Board for the purpose of releasing the obligors to the notes in question which had been given for money loaned from the school fund, also to obtain from them in turn a release of all claims to the Capitol Building. With the many details of the transaction the public is not interested. The fact remains that the State finally paid for the Capitol Building with in- terest at ten per cent., thus making good the diverted school fund, saving the State the humiliation of driving a hard bargain, and saving Messrs. W. A. Scott, J. D. Cavenor, J. M. and H. H. Griffiths, Alexander Shaw and T. K. Brooks from the heavy loss into which their excessive public spirit had led them.
BOOK III. FROM AN OBSCURE WESTERN CAPITAL TO THE FOREMOST CITY IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY MOVEMENT FOR MUNICIPAL REFORM.
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PART I. THE CAPITAL CITY BEFORE THE WAR.
1857-1860.
CHAPTER I.
THE REORGANIZED CAPITAL CITY-A FORERUNNER OF THE COMMISSION-GOVERNED CITY OF TODAY.
The student of social and political evolution can well afford to stop at this point and re-examine the construction and trend of the municipal government which in 1856 commended itself to those who had Des Moines' welfare most at heart, and to the General Assembly that, presumably having the interests of good government in mind, was influenced also by ambition to make the State's. Capital city what it should be.
On the 28th day of January, 1857, the signature of Governor Grimes was attached to a law putting an end to the town of Fort Des Moines and creating the city of Des Moines.1 The boundary lines will be found to have been ma- terially enlarged since 1853, when the town of Fort Des Moines was incorpor- ated. The description reads :
"Beginning at the northeast corner of section two, township seventy-eight, range twenty-four west fifth P. M., Iowa; thence west to the northwest corner of section five, township and range aforesaid; thence south to the southwest corner of section eight in said township; thence east to the southeast corner of section eleven in said township; thence north to the place of beginning."
The city was created with seven wards; three of which were on the east, and four on the west side of the Des Moines. The council was empowered to change the limits of the wards, provided only that for two years the ratio of three to four should be retained as between the east and the west side of the Des Moines river.
The first city election was to be held on the first Monday in the following March. At this election, the west side was to elect eight and the east side six aldermen, on a general ticket,-and not by wards as afterwards provided. A mayor was also to be chosen on a general ticket. The mayor and aldermen so elected were to hold office one year.
The election on the west side was to be held at the courthouse; on the east side at the Capitol building.
The returns of the first election were to be made by the mayor of Fort Des Moines, and the succession was to continue as provided by the charter and ordinances of the town.
The new council was directed to meet on the second Monday in May, and when convened was directed to elect a recorder, marshal, treasurer, assessor, two street commissioners, a city engineer, and such other subordinate officers as the council should deem necessary, regulating their duties and compensation, and requiring of each of them a bond for the faithful discharge of the duties of their several offices.
For any proposition involving an appropriation for any general purpose, or for the granting of the right of way to any railroad north of Elm street, a two- thirds vote of the council was required.
On the petition of twenty-five property holders asking any grade of streets, or other improvement or work of special interest, the construction of which would require the raising of funds by special tax, the council was directed to
1 In the act referred to the name is invariably spelled "Desmoines."
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call an election in the ward, or wards, interested at which election the tax should be voted on, an affirmative two-thirds vote being necessary to carry the propo- sition.
No member of the council was eligible to any office within the gift of that body, nor could any member be lawfully interested, directly or indirectly, in the profit of any contract or job of work or services to be rendered for the city
The council was given authority to pass such by-laws and ordinances as were necessary to the health and safety of the city and its citizens, and to tax all property within corporate limits, the only proviso being that measures to this end be not more stringent and summary than those used for the collection of State and county taxes.
The list of powers voted the council is in a measure historical, presenting a series of pictures of the occupations, amusements and other activities of the men, women and children of the embryo city of Des Moines in 1856. It will be noted that the framers of these prohibitions closely followed the trend of the old town incorporation law, thus indicating that the customs and habits, the vocations and amusements of the town had not materially changed in five years.
The council was empowered to establish grades, to regulate and improve sidewalks, streets and alleys, to prevent or regulate the rolling of hoops, the playing of ball, the flying of kites, or any other amusement or practice tending to annoy persons or frighten horses. It could compel people to keep their side- walks clear of snow, ice or dirt.
It empowered the council to build market houses, public halls and schools ; to provide drains, sewers, public wells, wharves and landing places; to regulate the sale of gunpowder; to regulate market-places for farm products, wood and coal ; to license, regulate and prohibit all theatrical exhibitions, shows, showmen, auctioneers, keepers of billiard tables, ball and ten-pin alleys; to license and regulate livery stables, carts, wagons, porters, draymen, and all two and four- wheel carriages, and to limit their compensation; to organize fire companies, regulate chimneys and flues ; to prohibit hogs, cattle, horses and other animals from running at large; to provide against gambling, disorderly and indecent houses and conduct, and to make all other suitable police regulations ; to estab- lish and keep up free ferries across the "Desmoines" and Raccoon rivers; to require paving whenever the owners of two-thirds of the lots on a street or part of a street should petition therefor; to borrow money for any object in its dis- cretion, provided the citizens at a regularly called election, by a two-thirds vote, should approve the loan; to prohibit-as a preventive measure against fire-the erection of any buildings in any square, "except the outer walls shall be com- posed entirely of brick, stone or mortar," when three-fourths of the owners of property in the square unite in requesting such prohibition, and to remove any such building erected contrary to the intent of the section; to direct the abate- ment and removal of nuisances; to tax for the establishment and maintenance of public schools.
The council was compelled to publish annually, for the information of the public, a detailed statement of receipts and expenditures, and of all debts due and owing to and from the city ; to require every male resident of the city, be- tween 21 and 50 years of age, to work two days on the streets, or to pay $2 as an equivalent therefor.
The law created two road districts in the city, one on each side of the river, each with its own street commissioner. It also provided that free ferries should be continued.
The mayor was given no vote in council except in case of a tie. The mayor's duties as defined, were to see that the laws and ordinances were enforced and their violators punished; to keep the common seal, and to perform all other duties which the city council might prescribe. He was invested with the powers
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