USA > Iowa > Black Hawk County > Historical and biographical record of Black Hawk County, Iowa > Part 14
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Tenth Infantry ; Nicholas Persczel, of Davenport, Colonel. Fought mainly in Mississippi; losing half its number at the battle of Champion Hills alone !
Eleventh Infantry ; A. M. Hare, of Mus- catine, Colonel. Served mainly in the in- terior of the South, doing as valiant service as any other regiment.
Twelfth Infantry ; J. J. Wood, of Maquo- keta, Colonel. In rebel prisons eight months. Veteranized January 4, 1864, a larger proportion of the men re-enlisting than from any other Iowa regiment. Served for several months after the close of the war.
Thirteenth Infantry ; M. M. Crocker, of Des Moines, Colonel. Fought in the South- ern interior and made the famous round with Sherman to the sea, being the first to enter Columbia, South Carolina, where se- cession had its rise.
Fourteenth Infantry; William T. Shaw, of Anamosa, Colonel. Nearly all captured at Shiloh, but were released after a few months. Engaged in some of the severest contests.
Fifteenth Infantry; Hugh T. Reid, of Keokuk, Colonel. Served three and a half years in the heart of the Rebellion.
Sixteenth Infantry ; Alex. Chambers, of the regular army, Colonel. Bravely served throughout the South.
Seventeenth Infantry; John W. Rankin, of Keokuk, Colonel. Served in the in- terior of the South.
Eighteenth Infantry ; John Edwards, of Chariton, Colonel. Much of its time was spent in garrison duty.
Nineteenth Infantry ; Benjamin Crabb, of Washington, Colonel. Served mainly in Mississippi. Were prisoners of war about ten months.
Twentieth Infantry, comprising five com- panies each from Scott and Linn counties, who vied with each other in patriotism; William M. Dye, of Marion, Colonel. En- gaged mainly on the Gulf coast.
Twenty-first Infantry ; ex-Governor Sam- uel Merrill, Colonel. Distinguished in val- iant service throughout the South. See Twenty-third Regiment.
Twenty-second Infantry ; William M. Stone, of Knoxville, since Governor of the State, was Colonel. Did excellent service, all the way from Mississippi to old Virginia.
Twenty-third Infantry ; William Dewey, of Fremont County, Colonel. Its services were mainly in Mississippi. At Black River but a few minutes were required in carry- ing the rebel works, but those few minutes were fought with fearful loss to the troops. The Twenty-first also participated in this daring assault, and immediately after the victory was gained General Lawler passed down the line and joyfully seized every man by the hand, so great was his emotion.
Twenty-fourth Infantry ; the "Iowa Temperance Regiment," was raised by Eber C. Byam, of Linn County. Engaged mainly in the Lower Mississippi Valley.
Twenty-fifth Infantry ; George A. Stone, of Mt. Pleasant, Colonel. " To the sea."
Twenty-sixth Infantry; Milo Smith, of Clinton, Colonel. Took part in many great battles.
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Twenty-seventh Infantry ; James I. Gil- bert, of Lansing, Colonel. On duty all the way from Minnesota to the Gulf of Mexico.
Twenty-eighth Infantry ; William E. Miller, of Iowa City, Colonel. Service, in the region of the Lower Mississippi.
Twenty-ninth Infantry ; Thomas H. Ben- ton, Jr., of Council Bluffs, Colonel. Sta- tioned in Arkansas.
Thirtieth Infantry ; Charles B. Abbott, of Louisa County, Colonel. In the thickest of the war, coming home loaded with honors.
Thirty-first Infantry ; William Smyth, of Marion, Colonel. Returned from its many hard-fought battles in the interior of the South with only 370 men out of 1,000 en- listed.
Thirty-second Infantry; John Scott, of Nevada, Colonel. Engaged in a number of battles.
Thirty-third Infantry ; Samuel A. Rice, a popular politician of Central Iowa, Colo- nel. Served from Arkansas to Alabama.
Thirty-fourth Infantry; George W.Clark, of Indianola, Colonel. Traveled 15,000 miles in its service !
Thirty-fifth Infantry ; S. G. Hill, of Mus- catine, Colonel. Served bravely in a dozen battles, and traveled 10,000 miles.
Thirty-sixth Infantry ; Charles W. Kitt- redge, of Ottumwa, Colonel. Suffered a great deal from sickness -- small-pox, measles, malaria, etc.
Thirty-seventh Infantry, the "Gray- Beard Regiment," being composed of men over forty-five years of age, and was the only one of its kind in the war. Garrison and post duty.
Thirty-eighth Infantry ; D. H. Hughes, of Decorah, Colonel. Most unfortunate of all in respect of sickness, 300 dying during the first two years.
Thirty-ninth Infantry; H. J. B. Cum- mings, of Winterset, Colonel. One of the most distinguished regiments in the field.
Fortieth Infantry ; John A. Garrett, of Newton, Colonel.
Forty-first Infantry was not completed, and the three companies raised for it were attached to the Seventh Cavalry.
There were no regiments numbered Forty-second or Forty-third.
Forty-fourth Infantry for 100 days; Stephen H. Henderson, Colonel. Garrison duty in Tennessee.
Forty-fifth Infantry, for 100 days; A. H. Bereman, of Mt. Pleasant, Colonel. Garri- son duty in Tennessee.
Forty-sixth Infantry, for 100 days; D. B. Henderson, of Clermont, Colonel. Garri- son duty in Tennessee.
Forty-seventh Infantry, for 100 days; James P. Sanford, of Oskaloosa, Colonel. Stationed at the sickly place of Helena, Arkansas.
Forty-eighth Infantry (battalion), for 100 days; O. H. P. Scott, of Farmington, Lieu- tenant-Colonel. Guarded prisoners on Rock Island.
First Cavalry ; Fitz Henry Warren, of Burlington, Colonel. Served for three years, mainly along the Lower Mississippi.
Second Cavalry; W. L. Elliott, a Cap- tain in the Third Cavalry of the regular army, Colonel. Fought faithfully in many important battles in Tennessee and Missis- sippi.
Third Cavalry ; Cyrus Busscy, of Broom- field, Colonel. Distinguished in war.
Fourth Cavalry ; A. B. Porter, of Mt. Pleasant, Colonel. Participated with zeal and judgment in the hottest of battles in Tennessee and Mississippi.
Fifth Cavalry, only in part an Iowa regi- ment; William W. Lowe, of the regular army, Colonel. Distinguished in the hotly contested battles of Tennessee and vicinity.
Sixth Cavalry ; D. S. Wilson, of Du- buque, Colonel. Served against the In- dians.
Seventh Cavalry; S. W. Summers, of
IOWA STATE HOUSE AT DES MOINES
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Ottumwa, Colonel. Served against the Indians.
Eighth Cavalry ; Joseph B. Dorr, of Du- buque, Colonel. Served faithfully in guard- ing Sherman's communications, etc.
Ninth Cavalry; M. M. Trumbull, of Cedar Falls, Colonel. Scouting, guard and garrison duties in Arkansas.
First Battery of Light Artillery ; C. H. Fletcher, of Burlington, Captain. Served in Arkansas and Tennessee.
Second Battery ; Nelson I. Spoor, of Council Bluffs, Captain. Engaged at Farm- ington, Corinth and other places.
Third Battery ; M. M. Hayden, of Du- buque, Captain. Engaged at Pea Ridge, and in other important battles.
Fourth Battery ; on duty most of the time in Louisiana.
Iowa Regiment of Colored Troops ; John G. Hudson, of Missouri, Colonel. Garrison duty at St. Louis and elsewhere.
Northern Border Brigade; James A. Sawyer, of Sioux City, Colonel. Protected the Northwestern frontier.
Southern Border Brigade ; protected the southern border of the State.
The following promotions were made by the United States Government from Iowa regiments: To the rank of Major-General -Samuel R.Curtis, Frederick Steele, Frank J. Herron and Grenville M. Dodge ; to that of Brigadier-General-Jacob G. Lauman, James M. Tuttle, W. L. Elliott, Fitz Henry Warren, Charles L. Matthies, William Van- dever, M. M. Crocker, Hugh T. Reid, Samuel A. Rice, John M. Corse, Cyrus Bussey, Edward Hatch, Elliott W. Rice, William W. Belknap, John Edwards, James A. Williamson, James I. Gilbert and Thomas J. McKean ; Corse, Hatch, Belknap, Elliott and Vandever were brevetted Major- Generals; brevetted Brigadier-Generals- William T. Clark, Edward F. Winslow, S. G. Hill, Thomas H. Benton, S. S. Glasgow, Clark R. Weaver, Francis M. Drake,
George A. Stone, Datus E. Coon, George W. Clark, Herman H. Heath, J. M. Hed- rick and W. W. Lowe.
IOWA SINCE THE WAR.
The two principal events of political in- terest in this State since the war have been the popular contests concerning woman suffrage and the liquor traffic. In the popular elections the people gave a ma- jority against the former measure, but in favor of prohibiting the sale or manufact- ure of intoxicating liquors.
A list of State officers to date is given on a subsequent page. The last vote for Governor, October 9, 1883, stood as fol- lows: For Buren R. Sherman, Republican, 164,141; L. G. Kinne, Democrat, 140,032, and James B. Weaver, National Green- back, 23,093.
STATE INSTITUTIONS.
The present capitol building is a beauti- ful specimen of modern architecture. Its dimensions are, in general, 246 x 364 feet, with a dome and spire extending up to a height of 275 feet. In 1870 the General Assembly made an appropriation, and pro- vided for the appointment of a board of com- missioners to commence the work of build- ing. They were duly appointed and pro- ceeded to work, laying the corner-stone with appropriate ceremonies, November 23, 1871. The structure is not yet completed. When finished it will have cost about $3,500,000.
The State University, at Iowa City, was established there in 1858, immediately after the removal of the capital to Des Moines. As had already been planned, it occupied the old capitol building. As early as Janu- ary, 1849, two branches of the university were established-one at Fairfield and one at Dubuque. At Fairfield, the board of directors organized and erected a building at a cost of $2,500. This was nearly de- stroyed by a hurricane the following year,
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but was rebuilt more substantially by the citizens of Fairfield. This branch never received any aid from the State, and Janu- ary 24, 1853, at the request of the board, the General Assembly terminated its rela- tion to the State. The branch at Dubuque had only a nominal existence
By act of Congress, approved July 20, 1840, two entire townships of land were set apart in this State for the support of a university. The Legislature of this State placed the management of this institution in the hands of a board of fifteen trustees, five to be chosen (by the Legislature) every two years, the superintendent of public instruction to be president of the board. This board was also to appoint seven trus- tees for each of the three normal schools, to be simultaneously established-one each at Andrew, Oskaloosa and Mt. Pleasant. One was never started at the last-named place, and after a fecble existence for a short time the other two were discontin- ued. The university itself was closed dur- ing 1859-'60, for want of funds.
The law department was established in June, 1868, and soon afterward the Iowa Law School at Des Moines, which had been in successful operation for three years, was transferred to Iowa City and merged in the department. The medical department was established in 1869; and in 1874 a chair of military instruction was added.
Since April 11, 1870, the government of the university has been in the hands of a board of regents. The present faculty comprises forty-two professors, and the attendance 560 students.
The State Normal School is located at Cedar Falls, and was opened in 1876. It has now a faculty of nine members, with an attendance of 301 pupils.
The State Agricultural College is located at Ames, in Story County, being established by the legislative act of March 23, 1858. In 1862 Congress granted to Iowa 240,000
acres of land for the endowment of schools of agriculture and the mechanic arts. The main building was completed in 1868, and the institution opened the following year. Tuition is free to pupils from the State over sixteen years of age. The college farm comprises 860 acres, of which a major portion is in cultivation. Professors, twen- ty-two; scholars, 319.
The Deaf and Dumb Institute was estab- lished in 1855, at Iowa City, but was after- ward removed to Council Bluffs, to a tract of ninety acres of land two miles south of that city. In October, 1870, the main build- ing and one wing were completed and occupied. In February, 1877, fire destroyed the main building and east wing, and dur- ing the summer following a tornado par- tially demolished the west wing. It is at present (1885) manned with fifteen teachers, and attended by 292 pupils.
The College for the Blind has been at Vin- ton since 1862. Prof. Samuel Bacon, himself blind, a fine scholar, who had founded the Institution for the Blind, at Jacksonville, Illinois, commenced as early as 1852 a school of instruction at Keokuk. The next year the institution was adopted by the State and moved to Iowa City, with Prof. Bacon as principal. It was moved thence, in 1862, to Vinton. The building was erected and the college manned at vast expenditure of money. It is said that $282,000 were ex- pended upon the building alone, and that it required an outlay of $5,000 a year to heat it, while it had accommodations for 130 in- mates. At present, however, they have accommodations for more pupils, with an attendance of 132. There are eleven teach- ers. The annual legislative appropriation is $8,000, besides $128 per year for each pupil.
The first Iowa Hospital for the Insane was established by an act of the Legislature approved January 24, 1855. It is located at Mt. Pleasant, where the building was com-
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pleted in 1861, at a cost of $258,555. Within the first three months 100 patients were ad- mitted, and before the close of October, 1877, an aggregate of 3,684 had been ad- mitted. In April, 1876, a portion of the building was destroyed by fire. At this in- stitution there are now ninety-four superin- tendents and assistants, in charge of 472 patients.
Another Hospital for the Insane, at Inde- pendence, was opened May I, 1873, in a building which cost $88,114. The present number of inmates is 580, in the care of II I superintendents and employes.
The Soldiers' Orphans' Home is located at Davenport. It was originated by Mrs. Annie Wittenmeyer, during the late war, who called a convention for the purpose at Mus- catine, September 7, 1863, and uly 13 fol- lowing the institution was opened in a brick building at Lawrence, Van Buren County. It was sustained by voluntary contributions until 1866, when the State took charge of it. The Legislature provided at first for three "homes." The one in Cedar Falls was organized in 1865, an old hotel build- ing being fitted up for it, and by the follow- ing January there were ninety-six inmates. In October, 1869, the Home was removed to a large brick building about two miles west of Cedar Falls, and was very prosper- ous for several years ; but in 1876 the Leg- islature devoted this building to the State Normal School, and the buildings and grounds of the Soldiers' Orphans' Home at Glenwood, Mills County, to an institution for the support of feeble-minded children, and also provided for the removal of the soldiers' orphans at the Glenwood and Cedar Falls homes to the institution at Davenport. The latter has now in charge 169 orphans.
The Asylum for Feeble-Minded Children, referred to above, is at Glenwood, estab- lished by the Legislature in March, 1876. The institution was opened September I,
following, with a few pupils; but now the attendance is 215, in the care of four teach- ers. This asylum is managed by three trus- tees, one of whom must be a resident of that county, Mills.
The first penitentiary was established in 1841, near Fort Madison, its present loca- tion. The cost of the original building was $55,934, and its capacity was sufficient for 138 convicts. At present there are at this prison 364 convicts, in charge of forty-three employes.
The penitentiary at Anamosa was estab- lished in 1872-'3. It now has 239 convicts and thirty-four employes.
The boys' reform school was permanently located at Eldora, Hardin County, in 1872. For the three years previous it was kept at the building of the Iowa Manual Labor In- stitute at Salem, Henry County. Only boys between seven and sixteen years of age are admitted. Credit of time for good conduct is given, so that occasionally one is discharged before he is of age. There are now (1885) 201 pupils here.
The "girls' department" is at Mitchell- ville, similarly managed. Inmates, eighty- three.
The State Historical Society is in part supported by the State, the Governor ap- pointing nine of the eighteen curators. This society was provided for in connection with the University, by legislative act of January 28, 1857, and it has published a series of valuable collections, and a large number of finely engraved portraits of prominent and early settlers.
The State Agricultural Society is con- ducted under the auspices of the State, and is one of the greatest promoters of the welfare of the people among all the State organizations. It holds an annual fair at Des Moines, and its proceedings are also published annually, at the expense of the State.
The Fish-Hatching House has been suc-
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cessfully carrying on its good work since its establishment in 1874, near Anamosa. Three fish commissioners are appointed, one for each of the three districts into which the State is for the purpose divided.
The State Board of Health, established in ISSo, has an advisory supervision, and to a limited extent also a police supervision, over the health of the people,-especially with reference to the abatement of those nuisances that are most calculated to pro- mulgate dangerous and contagious diseases. Their publications, which are made at the expense of the State, should be studied by every citizen
EDUCATIONAL.
The germ of the free public school sys- tem of Iowa, which now ranks second to none in the United States, was planted by the first settlers, and in no other public measure have the people ever since taken so deep an interest. They have expanded and improved their original system until now it is justly considered one of the most complete, comprehensive and liberal in the country.
Nor is this to be wondered at when it is remembered that humble log school-houses were built almost as soon as the log cabins of the earliest settlers were occupied, and school teachers were among the first im- migrants to Iowa. Schools, therefore, the people have had everywhere from the start, and the school-houses, in their character and accommodations, have kept fully abreast with the times.
The first school-house within the limits of Iowa was a log cabin at Dubuque, built by J. L. Langworthy and a few other miners, in the autumn of 1833. When it was com- pleted George Cabbage was employed as teacher during the winter of 1833-'4, thirty- five pupils attending his school. Barrett Whittemore taught the next school term, with twenty-five pupils in attendance. Mrs. Caroline Dexter commenced teaching in
Dubuque in March, 1836. She was the first female teacher there, and probably the first in Iowa. In 1839 Thomas H. Benton, Jr., afterward for ten years Superintendent of Public Instruction, opened an English and classical school in Dubuque. The first tax for the support of schools at Dubuque was levied in 1840.
At Burlington a commodious log school- house, built in 1834, was among the first buildings erected. A Mr. Johnson taught the first school in the winter of 1834-'5.
In Muscatine County, the first school was taught by George Bumgardner, in the spring of 1837. In 1839 a log school-house was erected in Muscatine, which served for a long time as school-house, church and public hall.
The first school in Davenport was taught in 1838. In Fairfield, Miss Clarissa Sawyer, James F. Chambers and Mrs. Reed taught school in 1839.
Johnson County was an entire wilderness when Iowa City was located as the capital of the Territory of Iowa, in May, 1839. The first sale of lots took place August 18, 1839, and before January I, 1840, about twenty families had settled within the limits of the town. During the same year Jesse Berry opened a school in a small frame building he had erected on what is now College street.
In Monroe County, the first settlement was made in 1843, by Mr. John R. Gray, about two miles from the present site of Eddyville ; and in the summer of 1844 a log school-house was built by Gray, William V. Beedle, C. Renfro, Joseph McMullen and Willoughby Randolph, and the first school was opened by Miss Urania Adams. The building was occupied for school pur- poses for nearly ten years.
About a year after the first cabin was built at Oskaloosa, a log school-house was built, in which school was opened by Sam- uel W. Caldwell, in 1844.
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At Fort Des Moines, now the capital of the State, the first school was taught by Lewis Whitten, Clerk of the District Court, in the winter of 1846-'7, in one of the rooms on " Coon Row," built for barracks.
The first school in Pottawattamie County was opened by George Green, a Mormon, at Council Point, prior to 1849; and until about 1854 nearly all the teachers in that vicinity were Mormons.
The first school in Decorah was taught in 1855, by Cyrus C. Carpenter, since Gov. ernor of the State. In Crawford County the first school-house was built in Mason's Grove, in 1856, and Morris McHenry first occupied it as teacher.
During the first twenty years of the his- tory of Iowa, the log school-house pre- vailed, and in 1861 there were 893 of these primitive structures in use for school pur- poses in the State. Since that time they have been gradually disappearing. In 1865 there were 796; in 1870, 336; and in 1875, I2I.
In 1846, the year of Iowa's admission as a State, there were 20,000 scholars out of 100,000 inhabitants. About 400 school dis- tricts had been organized. In 1850 there were 1,200, and in 1857 the number had in- creased to 3,265.
In March, 1858, upon the recommenda- tion of Hon. M. L. Fisher, then Superin- tendent of Public Instruction, the seventh General Assembly enacted that " each civil township is declared a school district," and provided that these should be divided into sub-districts. This law went into force March 20, 1858, and reduced the number of school districts from about 3,500 to less than 900. This change of school organization resulted in a very material reduction of the expenditures for the compensation of dis- trict secretaries and treasurers. An effort was made for several years, from 1867 to 1872, to abolish the sub-district system. Mr. Kissell, Superintendent, recommended
this in his report of January 1, 1872, and Governor Merrill forcibly endorsed his views in his annual message. But the Legislature of that year provided for the formation of independent districts from the sub-districts of district townships.
The system of graded schools was in- augurated in 1849, and new schools, in which more than one teacher is employed, are universally graded.
Teachers' institutes were organized early in the history of the State. The first offi- cial mention of them occurs in the annual report of Hon. Thomas H. Benton, Jr., made December 2, 1850, who said : “ An institution of this character was organized a few years ago, composed of the teachers of the mineral regions of Illinois, Wisconsin and Iowa. An association of teachers has also been formed in the county of Henry, and an effort was made in October last to organize a regular institute in the county of Jones."
No legislation, however, was held until March, 1858, when an act was passed au- thorizing the holding of teachers' institutes for periods not less than six working days, whenever not less than thirty teachers should desire. The superintendent was authorized to expend not exceeding $100 for any one institute, to be paid out by the county superintendent, as the institute may direct, for teachers and lecturers, and $1,- 000 was appropriated to defray the expenses of these institutes. Mr. Fisher at once pushed the matter of holding institutes, and December 6, 1858, he reported to the Board of Education that institutes had been ap- pointed in twenty counties within the pre- ceding six months, and more would have been held but the appropriation had been exhausted. At the first session of the Board of Education, commencing December 6, 1858, a code of school laws was enacted, which retained the existing provisions for teachers' institutes. In March, 1860, the
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General Assembly amended the act of the board by appropriating "a sum not ex- ceeding $50 annually for one such institute, held as provided by law in each county." In 1865 the superintendent, Mr. Faville, re- ported that "the provision made by the State for the benefit of teachers' institutes has never been so fully appreciated, both by the people and the teachers, as during the last two years." Under this law an in- stitute is held annually in each county, under the direction of the county superin- tendent.
By an act approved March 19, 1874, nor- mal institutes were established in each county, to be held annually by the county superintendent. This was regarded as a very decided step in advance by Mr. Aber- nethy, and in 1876 the General Assembly established the first permanent State Nor- mal School at Cedar Falls, Black Hawk County, appropriating the building and property of the Soldiers' Orphans Home at that place for that purpose. This school is now "in the full tide of successful ex- periment."
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