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 25
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[Signed] L. D. COLLINS, Chairman."
On Thursday March II, '58, on motion of Mr. Mahony, from the special committee, the report of the committee on relocation was referred to the com- mittee on the judiciary, with instruction to examine the questions as to their relevancy, and to report to the House.
Mr. Seevers from that committee reported that in the opinion of a majority of the committee the witnesses could not be legally compelled to answer the in- terrogations.
From this report W. H. Seevers and Lincoln Clark dissented.
Upon the question of concurring in the report of the committee, the vote was IO yeas and 38 nays.
March 20, '58, Mr. Seevers from the judiciary committee presented a majority report to the effect that the committee was of the opinion "that it would be clearly unconstitutional for the General Assembly to pass a law removing the Capitol from the point fixed by law as aforesaid, and ratified, adopted and fixed by the Constitution."
The report was concurred in and so the incident closed.
CHAPTER VII.
CAPITOL AND CAPITAL CITY IN 1860-PREMONITIONS OF THE COMING CONFLICT.
The notable Iowa campaign of 1859, so important as to enlist the services of Abraham Lincoln, of Illinois,1 closed with the election of Samuel J. Kirkwood, Governor of Iowa. On the IIth day of January, 1860, Governor Kirkwood, in the presence of a large audience-chiefly from Des Moines and Polk county, deliv- ered an inaugural address which was a surprise to many because of its rare force and natural eloquence. It breathed a cheerful optimism which at that time of un- certainty as to the near future did much to head the people of Iowa in the right direction. "Passion will subside," said the Governor, "reason will resume its sway, and then our southern brethren will discover that they have been deceived and misled, as to our feelings and purposes ; that the people of the north, while hoping and praying for the day when no slave shall press our soil, yet do neither claim nor desire any power to interfere with slavery in any of the states where it exists."
Events soon convinced the optimistic Kirkwood that his hope was without foundation in fact-that the Union could not be preserved except by a contest,- one which would draw heavily upon the courage and financial resources of its defenders.
While the coming of the Seventh General Assembly, in 1858, strongly marked the new era which had dawned upon Des Moines, and was therefore invested with peculiar interest, the advent of subsequent legislatures has never been de- void of interest to the Capital City. The inauguration of the governor, with the organization of the Senate and House has never failed to interest the towns- people, as witness the thousands who biennially throng the opening exercises and the Governor's reception in the State House.
The approaches to Des Moines in midwinter in 1860 were described by Hon. J. H. Powers, of Chickasaw, before the Pioneer Lawmakers in 1894.2 Mr. Powers was a member of the Eighth General Assembly. Following are the most interesting paragraphs in his "Trip to Des Moines in 1860:"
"Without public conveyance from my home in Chickasaw, to Des Moines, only by stage to McGregor, thence via Chicago to a point at the terminus of the railroad west of Davenport, thence by stage to the law-making city, it appeared to be too much of a swing around the circle to be inviting and it was decided that we take private conveyance across the State.
"Having married a young wife, after my nomination to the Senate, and, as it did not seem fitting to leave her on the bleak prairies in the north part of the. State, provision had to be made for the transportation of more than one, and as there was but one covered carriage in the county, and I had hired that to bring my new wife to her new home, and as it would carry only two persons without baggage, other means than riding in style of a wedding trip had to be provided.
"In the emergency Wm. Tucker, since a member of the House of Representa- tives, consented to take his democrat wagon and convey us to the scene of my new duties.
1 Lincoln supported Kirkwood for Governor in a speech at Council Bluffs, August 13, 1859.
2 Pioneer Lawmakers' Association, 1894, p. 13.
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"As we had exhausted the hotel's supplies for supper we were obliged to go to Eldora for breakfast. The next morning my wife learned a lesson that may well be heeded by weary travelers, for going through the hotel kitchen the ap- pearance was such that it destroyed her appetite for breakfast. Another day of weary travel and cold brought us to Nevada, Story county, where we passed a comfortable night. Starting the next morning with the prospect of reaching our destination that evening, and having our company increased by the addition of several teams carrying members and Senators, we were in good spirits. About sundown we began to feel uneasy, as we saw no symptoms of the town, and seeing a smoke in the distance we turned our teams to the little house on the prairie and on reaching it found that we had taken the wrong road and were then eleven miles from Des Moines.
"It was now growing dark and we were assured by the owner that we could not stay all night. At this 'Old Blackhawk' jumped out and told us to unload, as there was plenty of room for both man and beast. The cattle were turned out of the straw barns and the horses put in and we took down the beds so as to make room for all to get into the house. In a short time another lost load came up and 'Old Blackhawk' told them to put out their horses and come in as there was plenty of room. The robes and blankets were laid in a shed and myself and wife were thus provided with sleeping apartments while the balance of the guests improved their time in baking biscuits. We reached Des Moines the next day about II o'clock and stopped at the Grout House on the East side and at the foot of Capitol hill."
The initial number of the Iowa State Register publishes the hotel arrivals on January 5 and 6, from which it is apparent that the political headquarters in 1860 were at the Demoine House. In number of arrivals the Grout was a good second, the Collins third, the Everett fourth, the American fifth.
A Burns banquet was held at the Demoine House on the 25th, with D. O. Finch, toastmaster. Two original poems were read and toasts galore were of- fered. M. M. Crocker-with all his military glory then before him- responded to "The Army and Navy." Without drawing on history he ""called to mind, in his humorous way, the deeds of valor done by the generals present, who had figured in "the Boonsboro war," "the Marshall county war" and "the Poweshiek rescue."
"Amid roars of laughter Finch and Hepburn were called out to justify their generalship which was conclusively done as was proven by repeated explosions of laughter and applause of the side-splitting, table-shaking, hall-trembling order."
The Barclay Coppoc incident in January, 1860, thoroughly aroused large num- bers of people in the Capital city.3 On the 23d an agent of Governor Letcher, of Virginia, called on Governor Kirkwood at the State House with a requisition for Barclay Coppoc, of Springdale, who had escaped the fate of his brother Edwin, and other followers of John Brown, at Harper's Ferry. The Governor saw tech- nical flaws in the requisition. As he regarded it, no indictment had been found, and consequently no crime was charged. Turning to the Code of Iowa the Gov- ernor remarked that there was a law under which Coppoc could be arrested and held until the defect in the requisition could be cured. Two prominent members of the legislature, Ed Wright and B. F. Gue, happening to be present, and, noting the significant look given them by the Governor, started at once for a con- ference with their brother abolitionists. A hasty conference was held, a liberal purse was made up for expenses, and Isaac Brandt, of Des Moines, was delegated to find a man of nerve and endurance who would ride horseback across-country, -in midwinter, a distance of 165 miles to warn Coppoc of the possibility of his arrest and detention. Brandt found his man-a small, wiry young man named
3 Gue-History of Iowa, v. II, pp. 17-22.
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Williams, as tough 'as a mustang. Then he found a fast long-distance running horse, and the messenger started. He made the journey without rest or sleep, and thus was averted a conflict between Coppoc's armed sympathizers at Spring- dale and a posse from Iowa City. When certain pro-slavery members of the lower House heard that the Governor had turned down the requisition on "a mere technicality," they pushed through that body a resolution of inquiry as to the Governor's knowledge of the message sent to Coppoc, etc. The Governor gave four reasons for refusing to order Coppoc's arrest, and denied any knowl- edge of the message sent. The resolution of inquiry, offered by M. V. Bennett, of Marion, added greatly to the indignation of local sympathizers with Coppoc.
When Governor Letcher's revised warrant returned to Des Moines, Coppoc was beyond reach of the law. There are those still living in Des Moines who are sure, if not certain, that Governor Kirkwood never, before or since, got quite as much satisfaction out of his slender knowledge of legal technicalities, as on that day in January, 1860, when he turned down the representative of Virginia jus- tice, and so saved Barclay Coppoc's life !
An early mention of Coker F. Clarkson, the father of the Clarkson brothers of Iowa State Register fame, occurs in the Register of February 2. The Grundy county republicans, with Clarkson at their head, resolved "in favor of the Union," and agreed to "stay in it," and "make all others stay in it, or do as General Jackson would have done, hang all who attempt to get out of it!"
Dr. Durant, a large stockholder in and contractor for the Mississippi and Missouri Railroad, was in Des Moines early in February, and reported about six hundred hands employed pushing westward. An early completion of the road to Marengo was assured, and then on to Grinnell.
On February 18, the discontinuance of the postoffice on the East side was announced, the department having decided that it was inexpedient to continue two offices in one city. The same day the toll on Court avenue bridge was dis- continued as to "foot-passengers residing in this county."
A rise in the 'Coon late in February carried off the floating bridge across the river, raising a demand for a permanent bridge to be built by the city and county. Lack of funds for a time prevented the city council from acting in the matter.
A Democratic State Convention held in Des Moines on Washington's birthday gave Polk county eleven delegates, whereas Des Moines, Dubuque, Jackson, Jefferson, Johnson, Jones, Lee, Linn, Marion, Muscatine and Van Buren, each outvoted Polk. The county delegation was made up chiefly of pioneer demo- crats of the county, namely: Curtis Bates, D. O. Finch, J. H. Dykeman, W. H. McHenry, J. A. Williamson, Alexander Shaw, F. R. Prentice, J. H. Mather, J. M. Walker, C. C. Mann and Barlow Granger.
Here is a far-off suggestion of conditions which culminated nearly fifty years afterward in a local revolution, a reorganization of the government of the city upon a commission basis. The Register, February 9, 1860, declares the city is "in the hands of the Philistines." The new city council had doubled taxation that it might wipe out the city's debt; but the debt had not been wiped out, and the money had been expended. Where had it gone? "We have a city govern- ment in' name only. The burthens are ours, but the benefits are reaped by a lazzaroni who draw their pay from the city treasury for work that it were nearly as well to leave undone until the city enters upon systematic, permanent works of improvement."
The school district of Des Moines February 12, elected W. H. Leas, presi- dent; J. N. Dewey, vice president; C. C. Dawson, secretary ; L. P. Sherman, treasurer. David Norris and W. H. Dickinson were hold-over directors. Power to levy tax was delegated to the board of directors.
Several groups of men passed through Des Moines in March on their way to Pike's Peak.
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A large "organ melodeon" imported for the Episcopal church in Des Moines was an item of much interest on the 17th of March.
A Young Men's Republican Club was holding meetings in the spring of 1860, with oratory by Gray, Stevens, Hoxie, Cleveland, Nourse and others. John Mitchell was president and J. Bausman, secretary. .
Scott's bridge across the Des Moines, which was carried away by the freshet in '59, was reconstructed in March, 1860.
The ladies of Des Moines gave a farewell supper to the General Assembly in the Supreme Court room, April 2.
The Eighth General Assembly closed with extreme good feeling. Party lines were for the time obliterated, and visiting ladies from town were highly amused at the absence of legislative gravity in the closing session.
Far different were the circumstances under which these same legislators convened in extra session in the spring of '61 ! Jollity was soon to give way to a tragic calm in which men would be forced to face new conditions of momentous gravity-and under those conditions would be compelled to act, without precedent to guide them and without the mixed motives usually entering into legislative action.
BOOK III. DES MOINES.
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PART II. THE HEROIC PERIOD OF DES MOINES HISTORY.
1861-1865.
CHAPTER I.
THE GREAT UPRISING IN '61.
At Des Moines on January 8, 1861, a mass meeting was held at the suggestion of Hon. H. M. Hoxie to express the opinion of Iowa on the national situation. "Leading men attended from all over the State and their names deserve recalling as among the first to publicly declare in Iowa that the government of the United States was worth fighting for." 1 Elijah Sells was chairman. The committee on resolutions was : Governor Kirkwood, John Teesdale, John A. Kasson and M. L. Morris. Among those who took prominent part were Thomas Mitchell, Stewart Goodrell, W. P. Davis, N. W. Mills, John A. Kasson, F. M. Mills, Thomas F. Withrow, George G. Wright, Lewis Kinsey, Amos B. Miller, J. W. Jones, J. W. Cattell and F. W. Palmer.
The remoteness of Des Moines from "the front," with the consequent em- barrassment to the administration of affairs at the Capital is illustrated by a Burlington Hawkeye advertisement announcing that its "pony express" would carry papers from Eddyville to Des Moines, a distance of seventy-five miles, in eight hours. It required from three to five days to send a letter from Keokuk, the center of the state's activities, to the State Capital.
On the 12th of April, the day Sumter was fired upon, Stilson Hutchins, the editor of the State Journal, Des Moines, aroused no little indignation at the Capital by uttering this sentiment :
"If he [the president] has determined to send troops to the South to pro- voke a conflict, and then, calling an extra session of Congress, throwing himself upon it for support and aid, the Democracy of the North must act promptly in the premises. They have the balance of power in that body, and have only to absent themselves to leave the Republican members without a quorum and totally incapable of transacting business. Let them resign, go before the people on the question of peace or war, and they will be returned by majorities un- precedented in history."
When, several days afterwards, the news from Charleston Harbor reached Des Moines by mail, there was grave talk of violence; but cool heads counseled endurance. What the Journal lacked in sympathy with the President's policy of organized resistance to secession was more than made up by the Register, under Frank Palmer's vigorous and patriotic editorship.
Hon. Isaac Brandt, in his memories of the old Methodist church-the upper part of which was long known as Ingham's hall-published long afterwards in the State Register, re-tells with a vivid local setting the thrilling story of the quick response of northern patriotism to the assault upon the flag at Fort Sumter on the 12th and 13th of April, 1861.
When the news of the bombardment and surrender reached Des Moines there was general consternation. That evening, the men who had voted for Lincoln assembled in the office of H. M. Hoxie in the Sherman building, and the Douglas men, in the office of Finch, Rice & Cavanagh, over B. F. Allen's bank. Mr. Brandt in his report of the meeting of the Democrats admitted his inability to do justice to the "burning words of patriotism" which fell from the lips of M. M. Crocker, afterwards the celebrated major general in the Union
1 Byers-Iowa in War Times, p. 36.
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army, whom Grant so highly commended in his Memoirs. He was followed by N. W. Mills, I. W. Griffith, D. O. Finch, J. S. Polk, H. M. Hoxie, Isaac Whicher, T. E. Settle, Elijah Sells, G. L. Godfrey, and. others. They adjourned to meet at Ingham's hall the next morning at 9 o'clock. Long before the hour, the hall was filled. Crocker, standing upon a chair said: "We have not called this meeting for speech-making. We are now here for business. The American flag has been insulted, has been fired upon by our own people, but, by the Eternal, it must be maintained !" He said he wanted "now-just now," to raise a com- pany to join the first regiment from Iowa. "I want a hundred men to come right up here and give their names to 'Hub' Hoxie, to go with me to Dixie," said he. Mr. Brandt adds: "His words were hardly finished until there were more men offered than were needed. Read the first roll-call,2 and see how many could respond to their names to-day. Many of them gave their lives for their country and sleep in Woodland Cemetery. Among them are Gen. M. M. Crocker and Col. N. W. Mills, whose remains lie so near each other in death as they were so near each other in life."
Crocker was by common consent made captain of the company, N. L. Dyke- man was chosen first lieutenant and N. W. Mills second lieutenant. Captain Crocker, "a natural disciplinarian," soon placed his company in excellent condi- tion for service.
ยท Friends of Crocker early in May ordered from New York an entire military suit and equipments for presentation to the captain. He had already been presented with a noble horse. These acts reveal the estimation in which he was held by those who best knew him.
On the morning of May 4, 1861, the home company was to depart for Keokuk to be mustered into the service. The community assembled in and around the old church to see the boys off. With tears and hearty handshakes and many a "God bless you," the company took its departure.
"I doubt not," said Mr. Brandt, "if there was ever a time within the walls of that old church that every heart beat perfectly in unison as it did that morn- ing for the safety and return of those men. The hall above was vacated, but in the church below there were mothers and sisters that remained for a few hours for special prayers for our boys in blue."
A union pole-raising occurred in Courthouse square May 9. Its height was 125 feet. The Capital Guards were entrusted with the raising. In due time the flag was hauled up and was roundly cheered.
On May 15, 1861, was convened the historic Extra Session called by Gov- ernor Kirkwood for the purpose of providing means for the emergency- the raising and equipment of troops to aid in putting down the rebellion. Des Moines was alive with enthusiasm over the occasion of the assemblng. The
2 The list, as given by Mr. Brandt and revised at the author's request by D. B. Fleming (who during the war was in Adjutant-General Baker's office), is as follows: M. M. Crocker, N. W. Mills, N. L. Dykeman, G. L. Godfrey, S. H. Lunt, E. T. Ensign, E. L. Marsh, John Lynde, Edwin Mitchell, N. W. Doty, W. E. Houston, P. D. Gillette, W. L. Davis, Wm. Ragan, J. H. Looby, J. A. Warner, J. A. Dickerson. D. M. Sells, Philetus Phales, Robert Allen, H. O. Ayres, Hiram C. Cook, Edward C. Tunis, Samuel Whitmer, James G. Duncan, J. M. Moles, Andrew Slatten, S. A. Ayres, John Gordnier, L. B. Houston, John Barnett, R. D. Bennett, George F. Batchelder, Phillip J. Becker, W. H. Bitting, Wm. K. Bird, W. H. Brenton, J. H. Browne, Harvey Brown, W. H. Baine, J. W. Burbridge, W. L. Cady, William Callender, George H. Childs, Wm. D. Christy, Joseph Cooper, E. P. Davis, George R. Davis, James Davis, Peter Dreher, William Estle, Dwight E. Fenn, John N. Ferguson, John A. Fleming, Arthur Goodrich, John B. Gross, George W. Green, J. S. Havden, Joseph Haskell, D. S. Houghton, W. H. Hoxie, Asbury C. Jones, Tarpley T. Jones, William A. Kinsey, C. H. Lamoreaux, Carlton Lowe, George W. Lyon, Andrew Lynch, Jacob H. Matteern, John McElroughe, Isaac McCullom, W. B. Mason, Jacob M. Moles, Jacob Moorehead, John Nagle, Albert H. Nims, J. C. Painter, John Price, J. L. Richardson, A. B. Rush, James Robbins, Wm. Riddle, Erastus Scott, Philander Smith, C. C. Stewart, R. C. Stephens, W. A. Snow, Newton Warnock, J. H. Watson, C. E. Walker, John Wheeler, G. M. Wohlgemuth, W. D. Wylie, Theodore G. Weeks, David Yant, Enoch J. Yount, Armin Young, T. H. Yarnall, Godfrey Zelle.
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hotels were crowded, and many private houses were thrown open to legislators. The flag of the Union floated from Capitol Hill, from the Courthouse, from the Demoine House, from Shepherd's Mill, and from many private buildings throughout the city. The sound of martial music heard on the streets from time to time stirred the war spirit to the utmost.
The stirring scenes to which the Eighth General Assembly was introduced, in the spring of 1861, were portrayed long afterward by ex-Senator William H. M. Pusey, of Council Bluffs. Referring to the firing upon Fort Sumter which, like a fire-bell at night, aroused the people of the North, quickly fol- lowed by the hurried call from Governor Kirkwood, for an extra session, he adds: "A militia law was immediately enacted placing the volunteer com- panies of the State under the control of the governor. The credit of Iowa was placed in the hands of the governor and a commission. When the gavel fell that beautiful May morning, in the old Capitol building, announc- ing that the labors of the Eighth General Assembly had passed into history, it was with the benedictions of our people upon our citizen soldiers hurrying to the front, where soon they placed Iowa as one of the Trinity of western states." 3
Among the notable members of that body, Mr. Pusey mentions Carpenter, Wright, Gue, Cattell, Belknap, McCreary, Baker, Merrill and Grinnell.
Replying to the Journal's statement that the war feeling was "dying out gradually" and that some of the Capital Guards were not willing to enlist for three years, the Register of May 16, demanded that the Journal interrogate the boys-"from their gallant, noble-hearted captain down to the humblest private"- and then publish their responses,
Nearly a score of men from different parts of the state were reported, May 22, as in the city, their mission being to urge Governor Kirkwood to take the several military companies they represented into the service of the state. .
An election of officers for the Second Iowa, which occurred in Keokuk, May 31, made a change in the organization of the Capital Guards. Samuel R. Curtis, of Keokuk, prominent in the early Des Moines river surveys, was elected colonel, James M. Tuttle, lieutenant colonel, and M. M. Crocker, major. On the promotion of Captain Crocker, Lieut. N. W. Mills was elected Captain of Company D. Edgar Ensign was elected second lieutenant.
A Keokuk correspondent, June 4, reported the Second Iowa "comfortable." Major Crocker was "becoming deservedly popular." He bore his honors meekly, promising never to disgrace his regimentals.
June 13, the First and Second Iowa regiments invaded Missouri. On that day, Capt. N. W. Mills wrote home that he was "still sick in bed," unable to sit up, without pillows at his back. His strength was "all gone." His regi- ment had left him behind, with John Watson to take care of him. Captain Mills, soon as he was able to leave, hastened to rejoin his command.
The Ellsworth Zouaves, organized in Des Moines, had, June 19, about thirty- five members, their ages ranging from 17 to 25 years. Its officers were M. Zorger, captain; John W. Gill, first lieutenant; Gus Newton, second lieutenant; and C. Bausman, orderly sergeant.
The ladies of Des Moines were, June 28, reported as busily engaged in the Savery hall making clothing for the volunteers at the front.
M. B. Hoxie was in June appointed deputy U. S. Marshal for the district of Iowa.
There was an excited rush on the streets at 10 p.m. on the 23d when an extra stage brought from Grinnell its Fourth Regiment band on its way to Council Bluffs.
The Fourth of July was celebrated at Capitol square, with basket picnic, toasts and oratory. William Duane Wilson presided. Dr. Bennett, of Polk
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