USA > Iowa > Black Hawk County > History of Black Hawk County, Iowa, and its people, Volume I > Part 9
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By an act approved April 14, 1870, the board of township supervisors was abolished and a board of county supervisors, consisting of three members, was
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HISTORY OF BLACK HAWK COUNTY
established in the former's place. The new board assumed charge on the first Monday in January, 1871. Cicero Close, George B. Van Saun and A. T. Weath- erwax composed the first board. Close being chairman. At the November elec- tion, 1872, the voters decided that the number of supervisors should be increased from three to seven. The four additional members were elected in October, 1873. and took their seats the following January.
COUNTY POOR
There has been ample provision made by Black Hawk County for the care of its poor and destitute. In 1880 the first poor farmhouse was built and since that time the building has been raised and improved several times. There is now in process of completion a magnificent building for the reception of the insane. The building will cost about thirty-two thousand dollars, the money being raised by a 2-mill tax levy voted at an election held in the fall of 1912. There were purchased 200 acres of land four years ago and later an additional forty acres. at a cost of from one hundred and ten dollars to one hundred and fifty dollars per acre. The poor farm is run on a large scale and the farming facilities are excellent. A large number of horses, cows and hogs are raised, also nearly six hundred chickens. There are at present thirty inmates under the charge of Supt. Glenn W. Morris.
The dates given in the following summary of county officers are the dates of election.
COUNTY JUDGES
Jonathan R. Pratt, 1853-55 (died June, 1855) : John Randall, 1855-57 ; George W. Couch, 1857-59: S. D. Shaw, 1861-66; James Burt, 1866-67; Daniel W. Foote, 1867-69. This office was abolished January 1. 1870.
CIRCUIT AND DISTRICT JUDGES
Sylvester Bagg, 1868-70: John M. Bryaton, 1870-72; Sylvester Bagg, 1872- 74; D. S. Wilson, 1874-76; Sylvester Bagg, 1876-79; Benjamin W. Lacy (to fill vacancy ), 1879-82; Carl F. Couch, 1882-84; W. H. Utt, 1884-86; A. S. Blair, 1886-90: Charles E. Ransier, 1906-13; M. M. Cady, 1892-94; A. S. Blair, 1894- 98; Franklin C. Platt, 1898-1914; G. W. Dunham, 1913: C. W. Mullan, 1914; H. B. Boies, 1914.
In 1913 the Tenth Judicial Circuit, comprising the counties of Delaware, Buchanan, Grundy and Black Hawk, showed such a volume of District Court business that the necessity for another judge became apparent. Charles W. Mullan, perhaps the leading attorney in Black Hawk County and one of the most representative figures in the history of the county, was appointed to the position of extra judge.
PROSECUTING ATTORNEYS
William L. Christie, 1853; R. P. Speer, 1854: A. F. Brown, 1854; John Randall, 1855-56: William M. Newton, 1856; William Haddock, 1856: William
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HISTORY OF BLACK HAWK COUNTY
H. McClure, 1856; S. W. Rawson, 1857. At this time the office was succeeded by that of district attorney.
DISTRICT ATTORNEYS
Sylvester Bagg, 1858-62 ; George Watson, 1862-66; M. M. Trumbull, 1866-69, resigned, and J. B. Powers appointed to vacancy; Joseph B. Powers, 1870-82; Daniel W. Bruckart, 1882 -. At this juncture the office became known as that of county attorney.
COUNTY ATTORNEYS
Charles W. Mullan, 1886-92 ; George W. Dawson, 1892-96; S. B. Reed, 1896- 1902; Sherman T. Mears, 1902-08; W. P. Hoxie, 1908-14; E. J. Wenner, 1914.
TREASURERS AND RECORDERS
Aaron Dow, 1853-55; O. E. Hardy, 1855-56, but office became vacant and Judge Randall appointed Francis B. Davison January 17, 1856; A. C. Bunnell, 1857-65.
TREASURERS
John Elwell, 1865-67; R. A. Whitaker, 1867-75; David B. Washburn, 1875- 81; Frank M. Shoemaker, 1881-99; Herbert B. Cropper, 1899-1903; C. W. Illingworth, 1903-08; Frank T. Bentley, 1908-14; W. J. Burbank, 1914.
RECORDERS
James W. McClure, 1865-72; C. B. Stilson, 1872-84; Charles D. Becker, 1884-94; Charles B. Santee, 1894, resigned in September, 1900, and Frank F. Knapp appointed to the position; Frank F. Knapp, 1900-06; C. H. Plummer, 1906, Mr. Plummer died and his widow, Mrs. Sarah E. Plummer, was appointed to the vacancy ; Miss Jennie L. Bird, 1914.
AUDITORS
Daniel W. Foote, 1869-87; Benjamin J. Rodamar, 1887-96; Daniel W. Foote, 1896-1902; J. J. Rainbow, 1902-14.
CLERKS OF DISTRICT COURT
John H. Brooks, 1853, resigned April 4, 1854; Luther L. Peas, 1854; Martin Bailey, 1854-55; Morrison Bailey, 1855-56; J. B. Severance, 1856-60; Dempster J. Coleman, 1860-66; G. A. Eberhart, 1866-72; J. C. Gates, 1872-80; Albert J. Edwards, 1880-92; Henry D. Williams, 1892-1902; S. M. Bentley, 1902-12; Fred S. Pettit, 1912-14. Vol. I-5
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HISTORY OF BLACK HAWK COUNTY
SUPERINTENDENTS OF SCHOOLS
Truman Steed. 1857-61 : M. H. Moore, 1861-63; George Ordway. 1863-65 : J. C. Gates, 1865-07 : Seymour Gookins, 1867-60; E. G. Miller, 1869-70; A. H. Nye. 1870-71: William 11. Brinkerhoff, 1871-73: A. F. Townsend, 1873-75: James S. George, 1875-79: Wilford M. Smith, 1879-81 : Loren E. Churchill, 1881-85: Jacob L. Buechele, 1885-05: W. W. Brittain, 1895-99: C. E. Moore, 1899-1903 : Charles Elliott, 1903-08: Ilarry A. Moore, 1908-12 : Margaret Myers, 1912 -.
SHERIFFS
Jolın Virden, 1853-55 : Benjamin F. Thomas, 1855-57; John Elwell, 1857-61; W. Il. Brown, 1861-73: George W. Hayzlett, 1873-83; William W. Edgington, 1883-87: Hiram B. Hoxie, 1887-95; W. M. Law, 1895-1903; J. D. Caldwell. 1903-08: F. M. Shores, 1908-14: David B. Henderson, 1914.
CORONERS
John Switzer, 1855-57: Jesse Wasson, 1857-61 : W. O. Richards, 1861-65; S. Pierce, 1865-67; G. W. Dickenson, 1867-69; W. O. Richards, 1869-73; G. J. Mack, 1873-75; W. O. Richards, 1875-79; J. M. Ball, 1879-81 ; Henry W. Brown. 1881-83: James M. Ball, 1883-87; C. S. Shephard, 1887-89; Charles S. Chase, 1889-97: F. J. Waddey, 1897-1901; F. W. McManus, 1901-06; E. L. Rohlf. 1906-08: C. A. Waterbury, 1908-12 : E. F. Kistner, 1912; Sidney Smith, 1914.
SURVEYORS
Charles Mullan, 1853-55; George W. Miller, 1855-57; J. W. Holmes, 1857- 61 : M. L. Tracy, 1861-63; George W. Miller, 1863-65; J. Ball, 1865-67 ; E. A. Snyder, 1867-69: John Ball, 1869-73; E. Rodenberger, 1873-81 ; Martin L. New- ton, 1881-83: John Ball, 1883-89 : Edwin Rodenberger, 1889-90: John Ball, 1890- 91 : George R. Crittenden, 1891-93: M. L. Newton, 1893-1903; J. P. Keiffer. 1903-08; Nathan R. Barber, 1908-14.
STATE REPRESENTATIVES
Morrison Bailey, 1856-57 : Zimri Streeter, 1858-61; W. H. Curtis, 1861-63; Cicero Close, 1863-67: George Ordway, 1867-68; Charles Pomeroy, 1868-69; Jesse Wasson and T. B. Carpenter, 1869-71 ; George B. Van Saun and Cicero Close, 1871-73: Charles B. Campbell and Robert P. Speer, 1873-75; Herman C. Hemenway and Harlan P. Homer, 1875-77 ; Jeremiah L. Gay and Lore Alford .. 1877-79-81 ; Charles A. Bishop and Thomas Welstead, 1881-83 : George W. Hayz- lett. 1883-87; Edward Townsend, 1887-91; David F. Hoover, 1891-95; W. E. Hauger, 1895-99; Charles A. Wise, 1899-1901-04 ; Guy A. Feeley, 1906-10; Henry W. Grout. 1910-14. 2. W. McFarlane and C. E. Bronson, 1914.
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HISTORY OF BLACK HAWK COUNTY
STATE SENATORS
A. F. Brown, 1860-63; Coker F. Clarkson, 1864-65; J. B. Powers, 1865-69; George W. Couch, 1869-71; John H. Leavitt, 1871-73; Edward G. Miller, 1873- 77; Herman C. Hemenway, 1877-81-85; Matt Parrott, 1885-89-93; J. M. Rea, 1893-95; E. M. Sargeant, 1895-97; Charles W. Mullan, 1897-1900; O. B. Court- right, 1900-06; Sherman DeWolf, 1906-14; Henry W. Grout, 1914.
CHAPTER IV
EARLY TOWNSHIP HISTORIES
The following historical sketches of the different townships in Black Hawk County present as much of the early history as present day records permit. In some cases two or three versions of one point are secured and instead of giving the most probable for the perusal of the reader, it is intended to present all and leave the verification of one or the other to the reader's conception. Again, de- tails such as the church histories, educational, fraternal, financial, industrial and agricultural progress, are delineated in other chapters of the work, following the respective subject.
One and all of the townships were settled by an extraordinary type of man, a sturdy home-seeker, invariably poor in the world's goods, but anxious to locate himself and family so that he might have a home and build his fortune from the soil. He was actuated by commercial reasons, there is no doubt, notwithstanding the glamour of romance thrown around him by the pages of literature. There was hardship, sickness, deprivation and even unwarranted death and these have made the figure of the pioneer a heroic one in our eyes and the eyes of genera- tions to come. Too much cannot be said in extolation of his virtues, for it is his never-ending toil that the cities and towns exist in their growing prosperity now and improvements are coming so rapidly. Black Hawk County is comparatively a new country, but even so, it strongly rivals the country farther east, where the work of settlement has been going on a century instead of a bare sixty years.
The families of most of the pioneers are represented in the county in 1914, some by large followings. In most localities they are still the leaders, both in moral influence and wealth, thus proving that their fathers builded well. There are even some of the first-comers living, in health and happiness, but the laws of Nature are such that they will not be here many years, hence the purpose of history, to preserve their words and their deeds.
BLACK HAWK TOWNSHIP
Black Hawk Township was formed by virtue of a petition, dated March 2, 1855, signed by John Virden and other residents, of townships 87 and 88 N. These two townships were set apart as a civil division by the County Court.
The first settler of this township was John D. Ferris. He came here in the autumn of the year 1852. He and his wife came from Knox County, Illinois, driving two yoke of oxen and one yoke of cows, by way of Rock Island and Davenport. During July of this same year his father-in-law, Norman Jackson, had driven over this section of the country, accompanied by Ferris himself, and
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they fell in love with the appearance of the country and resolved to enter land somewhere Mr. Ferris entered a portion of timber and a portion of prairie in sections 13 and 14. this township, in 1852. A fourteen-foot square log house was constructed : winter came on, however, with the home unfinished, so the first winter was passed without floors, either above or below. The fall, until the mid- dle of November, was very warm and comfortable, but on the 15th of this month the snow began to fall and soon the landscape was a sea of white. Mr. Ferris threw a sled together and started for Cedar Falls with a log which he desired to have sawed for flooring. The heavy drifts prevented his journey to any great distance and he was compelled to unload the log and return to his home, to wait for more favorable weather.
"We would have probably starved to death that first year." remarked Mr. Ferris, "if By Sargeant had not boarded with us and paid $1.50. That sum kept the whole family. Of course, we did not have any swell menus. At that time our principal dishes were beans, corn bread. buffalo, elk, deer or other wild meat."
AAN ELK HUNT
Mr. Ferris told of an exciting hunt for elk during the winter of 1857-58. The animal was spied in Mr. Ferris' field and, in company with several of his neigh- bors, with guns and dogs. they gave chase. Near the present site of Hudson, this county, they had the elk very well cornered. The dogs had compelled it to take refuge on the ice and Ferris crept up within a few rods. He raised his gun, pulled the trigger, but the charge refused to fire. While he was trying to get the gun to explode the animal escaped and the party had to take up the chase anew. After going a few miles farther southwest the animal was coralled and killed with a sled stake. It was thrown onto a sleigh and brought to Byron Sargeant's resi- dence, where the carcass was skinned and divided into eight equal shares. Mr. Sargeant was given the hide and his choice of pieces, because he had permitted the carving of the carcass in his front parlor. Mr. Ferris said he presumed it was the parlor : at least. it was one of the two rooms in the house. In the hunt- ing party was a man named William Brooks who lived a short distance east of the Ferris home. When the hunting party came along Brooks, who was driving home with a load of wood, left his ox team and joined the hunters. The oxen went home, but in crossing the creek they had become wet and the water froze on them. To see the sled and team return without her husband aroused the fear of Mrs. Brooks and after admonishing her two children, one ten and the other five, to stay close at home, she started out across the country to Mr. Ferris' home, hoping to learn of the whereabouts of her husband. The cold was so intense that the woman was badly frozen while making the journey. Mr. Brooks returned to his home the same night and while on the way met his two little children following their mother. They, too, were badly frozen about the face and feet and would no doubt have perished had not their father found them at the time he did.
The difficulty of getting a doctor in short time was one of the greatest handi- caps of pioneering. The settlers were, however, eager to care for one another in time of illness and it was not unusual for the women to go many miles to sit up with a neighbor. On the west side of the creek lived a family named Osman.
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HISTORY OF BLACK HAWK COUNTY
The mother and little child were alone, when the little one was taken sick. The doctor, after he had visited a patient, stopped at Mr. Ferris' place and told him that there was a very sick child across the river with no one but the mother to take care of it. Mr. and Mrs. Ferris, acting upon this advice, hitched up their oxen the next day and drove to the stricken home. They found Mrs. Osman lay- ing out the cold, stiff form of her child; while watching during the night she was the only one present when death came to her child. The body was buried in the dooryard of the Osman home.
The first house ever built in Hudson was constructed by Mr. Ferris and Hiram Luddington, a brother-in-law.
The daughter of Hiram Luddington was the first child born in Black Hawk Township. About a month later, A. N. Ferris, the first male child in the town- ship, was born.
OLDEST RESIDENT OF TOWNSHIP
The oldest settler in the township was Byron Sargeant, who died in October, 1914. He came to this county in 1853, from Pennsylvania. He took up land and always lived upon the same farm. He came by train to Marengo, Illinois, and made the balance of the journey principally by foot. He came by way of McGregor and visited all of the country between here and there. He encountered the Cedar River at what is now called Orchard and came down in a boat as far as the present site of Waverly. He held an option for a time on a piece of land where Waverly is now located. There was nothing there then. A man had been there to survey for a mill site, but the stakes he had left were the only signs of civilization. Mr. Sargeant thought the outlook so gloomy that he gave up the option and came to Cedar Falls and later to the J. D. Ferris home. who was at that time the only resident of what afterwards became Black Hawk Township. On the west side of the river lived John and Oscar Virden and where Jacob Mosher's place later was located resided Robert Jones, the father of Charles Jones of Waterloo. Norman Jackson lived a little way distant. Those were the only houses between Mr. Ferris' and Cedar Falls.
Mr. Sargeant entered his farm in the spring of 1853, but did not build until the year following, when he was married in a little brick building on Com- mercial Street, in Waterloo, to Maria Crane, who had driven a horse through from Galesburg, Illinois, to Black Hawk County. The first year Mr. Sargeant boarded with Mr. Ferris. Few Indians were seen in this part, but there were lots of deer and elk, also buffalo, which facts Mr. Sargeant in his time heartily verified. One of the favorite recitals of Mr. Sargeant to his interviewer of today was of how near a family in Lincoln Township came to starving to death in the cold winter of - 1857-58. Horace Beckwith, a pioneer, came from Kentucky in the early '50s look- ing for a place where he might keep cattle and not be molested by the encroach- ment of neighbors. He is reported to have said, "I want range for my cattle while I am living and for the cattle owned by my children and grandchildren after I am dead." In order to be thus relieved from the restraints of civilization's relent- less march, Mr. Beckwith did not wish to settle in Orange or Black Hawk town- ships, where there were a few settlers, but pushed his way into the center of Lincoln Township, where he entered land and where for years he did have range
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HISTORY OF BLACK HAWK COUNTY
for his cattle : but the time came even while he was living that other settlers came. entered land in the same community and their presence thwarted him in his fond anticipations of having a free and untrammeled privilege of the prairies for his stock. Mr. Beckwith built a little cabin on his premises, but when the deep snow and intense cold and almost impassable ice of the winter of 1857-58 came, he found himself six miles from the nearest neighbor and thrice that many miles to some of the surrounding towns. Getting out of provisions, he hitched up his oxen and started for Waterloo one winter day, but the ice which coated the snow banks proved such an obstacle to his journey that he was obliged to turn back before he had covered half of his trip to Mr. Sargeant's place. The inability to reach the outside world and the feeling of complete isolation almost discouraged these hardy pioneers. Provisions were getting low and soon the family would be out of both fuel and food. Something desperate had to be done. Mr. Beckwith walked on top of the drifts to his neighbor, Sargeant, and there told of his plight. Mr. Sargeant gave him a hand-sled, loaded it with provisions and started him towards home a great deal more happy and hopeful than when he came. By mak- ing frequent trips with the hand-sled the family's wants were supplied in a cul- inary way. Neighbors also clubbed together and managed to get a quantity of firewood to the snow-bound and ice-bound Lincoln home. Mr. Beckwith moved away years ago and it has not been many years since he passed to his reward.
Mr. Sargeant helped to build the first frame schoolhouse in the county, except the one which had previously been built at Cedar Falls. It was called schoolhouse No. I and afterwards the name was changed to Jockeytown. The origin of this peculiar name is somewhat shrouded in mystery, but there is a well-founded rumor that the name was given by Mr. Bonesteel, father of Phil Bonesteel of Waterloo, who came to that locality to trade horses for cattle and who was not successful in making a deal and he said they were too much jockey for him, that it was a sort of Jockeytown. Another report is to the effect that one of the early circuit riders, while endeavoring to drive a sharp trade with one of the settlers, gave it its name. This latter report was denied by Mr. Sargeant, who said that the elder Bonesteel should be given the honor of naming the place.
Mr. Sargeant was cighty-four years old at the time of his death. He was married about fifty-nine years ago in Waterloo. Four children blessed his home, namely : Mrs. George Mastain, Marilla H., George C., and Mrs. L. D. Fearer.
Mr. Sargeant said that there was a one-story frame house on Mill Square in Waterloo when he came here in 1853. It was 14 by 16 feet in dimensions and contained two families, one being that of George W. Hanna. In the early days it was possible for a great many people to be sheltered in the same building. At Mr. Sargeant's, who built a house 15 by 22 feet, with attic, there were as many as twenty-two people at once, consisting of two or three families, who kept two cook stoves going and who set two different tables. Mr. Sargeant told how when he was a young man he had a humorous accident in the only log cabin which was then located in Charles City. The family had sent him up in the dark to go to bed and while walking over the bark floor after he had undressed one foot broke through and he was precipitated into the room occupied by the family below.
The Sargeant home is located a mile northeast of Iludson and is the same farm which he entered from the Government when he came to the township.
J. M. OVERMAN Cedar Falls pioneer.
BYRON SARGEANT Early settler of Black Hawk Township.
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HISTORY OF BLACK HAWK COUNTY
Besides the frame house mentioned above there were three log houses in Waterloo when Mr. Sargeant came. George W. Hanna has been mentioned as liv- ing in the frame, and the other families in the other houses were those of Hiram Luddington, John Brooks, Adam Shigley and Edward Butterfield. In June, 1853, Goonda Osman, his wife and her father, came to the township, built a sod and board house, and made a claim on section 28-88-14. During the spring months of 1854 there was quite an amount of land entered in the township. E. H. Potter from Crawford County, Pennsylvania, entered eighty acres of land in section 24 and 120 acres in section 23. D. M. Ward entered in section 34 and George Ward entered in section 28 and a little in 34. Charles Sargeant entered the northeast quarter of section 26. William Seeley in sections 26 and 27 and he moved here with his brother, Jesse, bought an old house of James Newell and moved it to the west half of the northwest quarter of section 26-88-14, where a portion of the Town of Hudson is now located. In the winter of 1854 Samuel Gibson came here from New York and settled on lands in section 5-87-14. D. M. Ward afterward came with his family. A. J. Tapp also came with his wife and children. He constructed a small frame house in the northeast quarter of section 13. This was the first frame building in the township. Oliver Hughes was the next to come and entered in the southeast quarter of section 13. Asa B. Rowe soon arrived and took the southwest quarter of section 24. He bought the Ferris log house and moved it to his place. William Rice settled on section 27. It is known as the Shaffner property. H. H. DeWitt entered ground in section I and put up a log house. N. L. Pratt entered land in section II and resided in the DeWitt home until he was able to build. Henry Kenitzer took land in section 12 and built a home thereon. Several other families arrived late in the fall of that year. Among them were those of Warren Baldwin, Albert Sargeant and Charles Sargeant. The latter bought the Seeley property on the site of Hudson. Shortly afterward both of the Seeleys died, first Jesse and then William a few days later. Both were buried at Cedar Falls. The widow of Jesse, with her one child, went back to Michigan the next spring and soon married D. W. Suiter and came back to this township and bought the west half of the southeast quarter of sec- tion 26-88-14. Harvey Washburn came from New York in 1855 and settled in section 15. His two sons, D. B. and J. H., came soon after, also John Worth- ington came from the same place and entered land in sections 14 and 15. Joseph Boice entered land in southeast section 21.
The first death in the township was that of the little Osman child, narrated on preceding pages. Then followed the deaths of Mr. and Mrs. John Mc- Culrigh of New York at the home of Samuel Gibson. They had been here but a short time. They came here with Gibson's parents and brothers, Robert, William and John in August, 1854. The neighbors were told of the death and they contributed to the buying of a burial ground of Eli Rice on section 27. This is the present cemetery in the township. The man and wife were buried in the same grave. The Gibsons were sick at this time and it was not very long until John Gibson died and was buried in the township graveyard. In 1855 nearly all of the land in the township was entered, some by settlers, but the most of it by speculators.
The first marriage of a couple residing in the township was that of Byron Sargeant and Maria Crane, Judge Randall officiating. The date was February
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HISTORY OF BLACK HAWK COUNTY
18, 1856, in a small brick tavern kept by Frank Thomas at Waterloo, which was located on Fifth Street between the river and Commercial. This building was destroyed in the spring of 1909.
CEDAR TOWNSHIP
This township was ordered set aside as a civic division by the County Court on March 12, 1856. The first election was held on April 7th of the same year, when Bradford W. Clark, N. P. Clark, and John P. Romack were judges and J. H. Mead and T. R. Points were clerks. B. L .. Doxey was elected township clerk : J. H. Mead, justice of the peace : C. K. White and N. P. Clark, constables.
At first the township included part of Poyner, being more nearly square than it is now. Later that portion of the township northeast of the Cedar River was added to East Waterloo Township. The records show that David Baker entered a part of section 3 and Samuel Warner a part of section 15. July 2, 1852; O. F. Hayden entered a part of section 2, July 10, 1852.
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