USA > Iowa > Boone County > History of Boone County, Iowa, Volume I > Part 20
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HISTORY OF BOONE COUNTY
The winter of 1856-57 tried the patience of the few settlers of Jackson Township. It was a winter of very deep snow and exces- sively cold weather. All the settlers in the township, except those who lived near the little belt of timber on the Squaw Fork, had to haul their firewood from five to ten miles through the deep and drifted snow. There were no coal mines developed in this part of the state at that time and no transportation system to bring coal to them from other parts, and for these reasons the settlers had to use wood for fuel. The houses were crudely built and it took much fuel to keep them warm. It took the work of a man and a team to keep a house supplied with firewood during that long, cold winter. There were many cases of frozen feet, hands, ears and noses. It was a winter that none of the settlers in the township, or for that matter any of the townships, ever became forgetful of. One morning before daylight during that awful winter, John Dinwiddie heard a man at his cabin door piteously begging for admission. He arose from his bed, opened the door and let the man in. Fuel was placed upon the fire and soon the little cabin was warm. The man sat down in front of the fire and soon was fast asleep. It took him about four hours to again return to consciousness. He had started on the day before to walk across the prairie from the Squaw Fork to Boones- boro. The traveling was so bad that he became belated and lost and wandered around until his strength was exhausted and his limbs and body were benumbed with the cold. It was very fortunate that he succeeded in reaching Mr. Dinwiddie's house as soon as he did, for if he had remained out another hour his doom would have been sealed. It took him until noon to get fully warmed up and then, with the aid of a hearty meal, he went on his way rejoicing. Mr. Dinwiddie's house was located in Section 31, in the southeast corner of Jackson Township, and at that time was the farthest house east on the line running into Ontario.
According to the census of 1910 the population of Jackson Town- ship was 874; in 1900, 928; and in 1890, 1,041. This decrease was caused by the decline of the mining population at Zenorville, of which more will be said farther on.
In 1857 an effort was made to establish an agricultural society in Boone County. A meeting was held at the courthouse in Boones- boro, at which a committee of five persons was appointed from each township to perfect the organization. The names of those appointed for Jackson Township were as follows: John Mitchell, Andrew Haughton, R. M. Madden, Milan Zenor and William Blunk.
HISTORY OF BOONE COUNTY
Jackson Township never had a town platted within its borders. None of its citizens ever became enthused with the belief that a town could be made to grow and prosper within its borders. Not- withstanding this, two villages have grown up of their own accord in the township. One of these is Jordan, on the Chicago & North- western Railroad, and located on Section 32, Township 84, Range 25, about midway between Boone and Ontario. The place was first called Midway, then llarmon's Switch, but was finally changed to Jordan. It contains a postoffice, one store, one blacksmith shop, a grain elevator, a number of residences and a population of about one hundred. Much grain and stock are bought and shipped from this point to Chicago. Jordan is situated in a country unsurpassed in beauty and fertility. It was never platted. The land on which it is situated is a part of the William Harmon Farm, which that gentle- man settled upon in the spring of 1855.
The other village above mentioned was Zenorville, situated on Section 12, Township 84, Range 25. About midway in the 'zos it was discovered that coal in considerable quantity was deposited under the surface of the section above mentioned. Mining operations soon started, so that from 1876 to 1890 considerable coal was mined. In 1880 the report of the inspector of mines stated that there were three mines in operation at Zenorville. The J. Clemens Mine employed 50 men; the Hutchinson Brothers Mine, 35; and the Joseph York Mine, 8 men, making 93 men employed. The same report says that the vein of coal at each of these mines was four feet, two inches thick. The houses it took for these men and their families to live in made up a village of about four hundred people. There were at one time a store, a postoffice, a blacksmith shop, a meat market and a few other little places of business, one church and a school- house. Finally the coal was worked out, the mining ceased, the miners left for other places of employment and Zenorville was no more. Gradually the houses and shanties were sold and moved away until they were all gone. Where the village stood and where the mines were operated the ground is now under cultivation, leaving no trace of the village that once stood there. Verily the change is wonderful. The Zenorville church and schoolhouse have been moved out to the west upon a public highway and are still in a flourishing condition. The church is of the Evangelical order. It has a good number of members and a well attended Sunday school. The minister who has charge of the work at this place lives at Story City. This is the only church in Jackson Township.
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HISTORY OF BOONE COUNTY
Jackson Township has been rather fortunate in the number of her citizens who have held county offices. These are as follows: Charles Weston held the office of county supervisor from 1861 to 1865, and the office of clerk of the District Court from 1866 to 1868. Mr. Criswell held the office of county supervisor one or two terms. V. O. Holcomb held the same office two terms. S. P. Zenor held the office of sheriff one term. Archie Patterson held the office of county auditor two terms. Mr. Jones held the same office two terms, and R. R. Cobb held the office of county superintendent three terms. This is enough to satisfy the aspirations of any township.
The present township officers are as follows: Assessor, S. H. Sadoris; clerk, George L. Dix; trustees, Fred Pohl, M. Schlegel and Arthur Wills.
CHAPTER XVIII
DOUGLAS TOWNSHIP
Douglas Township officially received its present name March 8, 1858. It contains about one-half of a civil township. Elk Rapids and Madrid, the two oldest towns in the county, were laid out within its boundaries. The first of these has passed out of existence, but the latter is in a flourishing condition. Charles W. Gaston was the first settler in Douglas Township and also the first one in the county. This is a distinction which no other township in the county can claim.
Charles W. Gaston was a native of the State of Pennsylvania, and in 1833, when the call was made for volunteers to make up the First Regiment of United States Dragoons, he enlisted and became a member of Company I of that regiment, under command of Capt. Jesse B. Browne. In 1834 Companies B, H and I were sent from Fort Gibson with orders to occupy a new fort, built that year, in Lee County, Iowa, where the Town of Montrose now stands. This was named Fort Des Moines and was the first one of the three forts of that name built in Iowa. Mr. Gaston was with Company I in the famous expedition to Wabasha's Village in 1835. One of the camps of this company, on that famous march, was about six miles south- west of Colfax, in Jasper County. This camp was named Camp Gaston in honor of our first settler. When his term of service ex- pired, he located at Hannibal, Missouri, where he was married. His wife died about five years after their marriage. The next thing we hear of him is on January 12, 1846, when he became the first settler of Boone County. In the year 1849 Mr. Gaston was married to Anna C. Dalander, his second venture on the sea of matrimony, and to them was born a son, who died before reaching the age of man- hood. Later in life, after the death of his second wife, Mr. Gaston was married to Mrs. Charmichel, who survived him a few years.
Mr. Gaston had much to do with the platting and sale of the lots in the Town of Swede Point, now Madrid, in its early days, which will appear further on. He was successful in accumulating
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HISTORY OF BOONE COUNTY
property, but was careless and odd in his expressions and at times sarcastic. The following deed and bill of sale is a specimen of his carelessness in spelling and extravagance in expression. It ap- pears on the records of Polk County, because it was written before Boone County was organized and while it was yet a part of Polk County.
Deed and Bill of Sale
"May 3rd, 1847.
Boone County, Iowa.
"Now" all men by these "presence" that I, C. W. Gaston, of the county of Boone and State of fowa, of the first "parte dwo" hereby sell, "convay" and deliver unto the said Joseph Harden of the second "parte," the following described property to-wit: Commencing to "discribe" the property, one "clame" being on the Des Moines River in "Boon" and "Dalls County," split by the supposed county line; "boundreys" of said "Clame;" bounded on the east by a "clame" that was "maid" by a man named Ivins, on the south by the Des Moins River on the west by a "clame" that Alexander Caton sold in the "faul" of 1846 to a man by the name of Williams, on the north by the "Sweads." This claim containing 220 "acars" more or less; two horses, one "sorl" horse seven years old with a "blase" in the "fase," one bay horse, age not "nowen," blind with both "evs;" "harns" and gears "fur" both horses; one small two horse "wigan" with box bed on it painted "rhead," one "slead maid fur holin railh," one cow and sucking calf, one yearling "heffer," calf marked with a slit in the right "year." "oilso" the sucking calf marked with slit in the right "year," sixteen head of "hoges, sewes, burrows and peges," marked with slit in the "righte year" one "bea gum of beas" all the corn and hay on the "claime," one "bead and beading" consisting of one straw tick, one feather tick, two "sheats," two "blankites," two quilts, one spread, three "pillau slipes," eight "barles," one small "cag" one extra horse collar, two blankets and riding bridle, martingales, and old saddle "trea," one hundred pounds of bacon, one whip saw, one "craidlen sith," 3 broad hoes, one "buffalow robae," one side of upper, "lather" one side of harness "lather," one broad "axe," one small "loaking" glass, one log chain, four clevises, two "axes," two iron wedges, one gallon jug one bell, one "grine" stone, "fier shovel" and tongs, two trunks, one "chist," and all therein, two skillets, one pot, one tea "cittle," two buckets, two "coffey" pots, two sets of plates, two tin "panes" one "shugar" box, one tea "pott," two cream "ptchers,"
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HISTORY OF BOONE COUNTY
one set of tea cups and "sasers," one paper box, two "boules," three glass tumblers, two glass butter plates, two pint "flaskes," one tin jar, nine table spoons, six teaspoons, nine "nives" and nine forks, one tin cup, one "coffey" mill, one "han" saw one claw hammer, two "argers," three chisels, one "twol chist," and all the "twols" that is in it to the amount of two hundred "dolers" with this "chist" the said Hardin takes it on "fox" River at "moser meners" one other chain, every thing that ever belonged to the said C. W. Gaston on the "clame" now belonging to the said Joseph Hardin. All this property I "dwo" sell, "convay" and deliver unto the presents of and for in consideration of the sum of five hundred and fifty dollars in hand paid, "therefour" I set "mi" hand and fix "mi" seal this third day of May A. D. 1847.
CHARLES W. GASTON.
Witness ;
S. K. SCOVELL.
The witness to this remarkable document, S. K. Scovell, was clerk of Dallas County at that time, and later was one of the commis- sioners who located the county seat of Boone County. Mr. Gaston died in the spring of 1892, and his remains repose in the Dalander Cemetery.
The next settler to locate in Douglas Township was Benjamin Williams, who came in June, 1846, and located on a claim adjoining that of C. W. Gaston, the first settler. The Pottawattamie Indians, under Johnnie Green, camped upon Mr. Williams' claim the winter and spring prior to his arrival and manufactured maple sugar. Mr. Williams fell heir to their sap troughs, which he used for a number of years. Mr. Williams was a man of push and energy and he soon began to prosper. In 1847, the year after locating here, he had the misfortune to lose his wife, her's being the first death among the white settlers of what is now Douglas Township. She was buried on his claim, and from this first burial originated the Elk Rapids Cemetery. Thus we see that Mr. Williams was the first citizen in the township to donate ground for a cemetery.
The first store for the sale of dry goods and groceries was opened in Mr. Williams' smokehouse by a man named Dawson. This was in the year 1850. Mr. Dawson was the first merchant, not only in what is now Douglas Township, but the first also in the county. About this time a water mill was completed just across the Des Moines River. This brought the settlers from far and near for
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HISTORY OF BOONE COUNTY
breadstuffs. Both cornmeal and flour were made in this mill. It was the first mill in the county and the first on the Des Moines River north of the Raccoon Fork. In 1851 Mr. Williams laid out the Town of Elk Rapids, and in about four years it developed into a fair-sized pioneer village. In the year 1855 it had three stores and dwellings for 150 people. A postoffice was established in 1850. and the people for miles in all directions came here for their mail. In 1857 a freshet carried the mill away, and from that time the Town of Elk Rapids began to decline. It is now among the things that were. Dr. Jonathan Rice, one of the first physicians to practic: his profession in the county, was located in Elk Rapids while it was in the zenith of its glory, later removing to Boonesboro. This first town laid out in the county has passed and gone, being now only a memory.
The town stood on the east bank of the Des Moines River, in Section 34, Township 82, Range 26. It derived its name from the rapids in the river at that point. The elk, which were plentiful at the time the settlements were made, were in the habit of crossing the river at the rapids, because the water was shallow there, and from this fact originated the name of the rapids. The village school- house stood at the foot of the hill in the east part of the town, and it remained there until the year 1870. The early teachers were H. R. Wilson, Phillip Eversoll, J. Madison, Williams and John A. Keys. No one could now tell by looking at the site of Elk Rapids that a village ever stood there. The pioneer schoolhouse has disappeared and a better one has been built about a mile northeast of where the old one stood. The district and the schoolhouse are still known under the name of Elk Rapids. There is a county bridge across the river where the village once stood which is also called the Elk Rapids Bridge.
We come now to the first people of foreign birth to settle in Boone County. These were Swedish people, consisting of Mrs. Anna Dalander, a prominent lady in the history of Douglas Township. and her four sons, Eric, Peter, Swaim and John Dalander, and her two daughters, Ulla and Anna C. Dalander. The first of these daughters married C. J. Cassel and the second married Charles W. Gaston, the first settler. They came in September, 1846, and settled on Section 36, Township 82, Range 26. By reason of the fact that the Dalander family were all natives of Sweden, the point of timber which projected out upon the prairie in the section referred to, was
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HISTORY OF BOONE COUNTY
called Swede Point, where Madrid now stands, and it was known by that name for many years.
The first deed placed on record in Boone County was made by Henry Everly to Eric, Peter and Swaim Dalander. It conveyed the northeast quarter of Section 35, Township 82, Range 26, and is dated March 29, 1849. This deed is now in possession of the Madrid Historical Society. The descendants of the pioneer Dalander family are quite numerous in Douglas Township, there being not less than twenty-five of them now within its borders. Jesse Hull was the third settler in Douglas Township. He came with his family from Missouri in the spring of 1847, and located at what is now Belle Point, five miles north of Madrid. He was the forerunner of the numerous Hull family which shortly after- wards located in Boone County. There were no settlers nearer than Swede Point at that time. Jesse Hull was an enterprising man. In a few years he had made a farm, had erected good buildings, and kept the first house in the county where travelers and prospectors could find lodging without intruding upon some of the settlers. In 1849 Mr. Hull was elected county commissioner, being the first man honored with a county office whose residence was within the present limits of Douglas Township.
November 27, 1849, a postoffice was established in his house, and it was named Belle Point. Up to that time the point of timber at this place was called Hull's Point, but by reason of the fact that Mrs. Elizabeth Hull, wife of Jesse Hull, was appointed post- mistress, the Government named the office Belle Point, in her honor. For a number of years the elections in Pleasant Township were held at Belle Point. It is claimed that the first schoolhouse erected in the county was at Belle Point. This may be true, but it cannot be definitely stated. The first teachers there were: Thomas Sparks, Z. J. Vontress, Clark Luther and V. B. Crooks. Belle Point still has a schoolhouse which perpetuates the original name.
In 1848 C. J. Cassel, a son-in-law of Mrs. Anna Dalander, ar- rived and also located in Section 36, Township 82, Range 26. As Mr. Cassel will come in for a prominent mention in the section on Madrid, no further mention will be made of him here. In this same year of 1848, Richard Green, James Carrel and his three sons, Wil- liam, Wesley and John Carrel; William Holston, John Dobkins, John Hull, Henry Holcomb, William Sawyer, Adam Messmore and Albert Williams, all located in Douglas Township. This made a good addition to the number already here. They were all honest
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HHISTORY OF BOONE COUNTY
homeseekers, who made good citizens and good neighbors. In 1849 Samuel Luther, Henry Graves, John Dawson, Jacob Nelson, A. P. Anderson, John Anderson, Nimrod Rule, Z. J. Vontress and others settled in the township. This brings us up to the time of the organi- zation of the county, when neighbors were numerous enough to associate together, to begin building schoolhouses, to meet together for devotional purposes and to hold elections for county and town- ship officers.
After the first election in the county, settlers came rapidly. Among these were: Fred Bolle, William and Lewis Bolle, Joshua Wheeler and his sons, William, Isaac, B. J. and L. L. Wheeler; Fred Johnson, R. Rissler, Isaac Murphy, S. Underhill, John Kieg- ley, J. F. Hopkins, John Bilsland and others, who located in Douglas Township. It will be impossible to mention in detail all. The township continued to fill up with settlers until all the land was purchased and occupied.
It must be remembered that when these settlements were being made all the supplies, such as dry goods, groceries and tools with which to work, had to be hauled on wagons from the Mississippi River, a distance of 200 miles. Add to this the fact that for the first five or six years the pioneer settlers had to go fifty miles to find a mill which manufactured breadstuff. It often happened that fami- lies were out of both meal and flour and had to subsist upon potatoes and hominy for days, and even weeks, when the weather was bad and the roads were so teams could not travel. In such times as these the hominy mortar was used to much advantage. These were times that tried the patience of men and women. But they lived over them and came out victorious. They lived to see better times and better facilities for securing the necessaries of life.
The first land entry in Douglas Township was in October, 1848, by William Sawyer and Jesse Hull, each of whom entered 160 acres in Section 1, Township 82, Range 26.
By 1850 three postoffices were established in the county. Two of these were in Douglas Township, one at Elk Rapids, another at Belle Point, and the third at the house of Samuel H. Bowers, which was named Booneville. This office was less than a mile due south from the hospital in Boone. The first mail carrier was Solomon McCall. He commenced work in the spring of 1850. Leaving the Booneville postoffice on horseback in the morning, he went to Belle Point, then to Elk Rapids, and from there through the timber south- east, the nearest and best route to the Twenty Mile House, and from
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HISTORY OF BOONE COUNTY
thence by way of Polk City and Saylorville to Fort Des Moines, returning next day. Mr. McCall was at that time but fourteen years old, but performed the duties assigned him faithfully and well. He is still a citizen of the county. In 1852 the contract for carrying the mail over this route was let to Hinton & Son, and in 1855 it passed to the Western Stage Company.
Every acre of land in Douglas Township is now utilized. Good homes have been built and the people are happy and prosperous. Although it is the smallest township in the county, its population, outside of Madrid, is 453. The township has four school districts and four good school buildings outside of Madrid. The schools are as prosperous as any in the community. The streams of the town- ship are Hull's Creek and the Murphy Branch. On the former, a mill was built in 1854, by Richard Green and John Dickerson. It lasted about a year, and during that time manufactured much corn- meal. Two lines of railroad enter the borders of Douglas Township, the main line of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway passes through the southeast corner, and the Des Moines and Boone branch line of this road runs through it north and south. Two county bridges unite Douglas and Cass townships. By far the greatest im- provement in the township is the Elk Rapids Viaduct. This great steel bridge is 2,380 feet long and 146 feet high. The fill east of the viaduct contains 1,250,000 cubic yards of dirt. This is a wonderful piece of work.
The following is the list of county offices held by citizens of Douglas Township :
County Commissioner-Jesse Hull, from 1849 to 1852.
Clerk of the District Court-James Chapman, from 1860 to 1864.
County Supervisor-C. J. Cassel, from 1860 to 1863.
County Supervisor-William Patterson, from 1863 to 1866.
Clerk of the District Court-H. R. Wilson, from 1866 to 1870. County Supervisor-J. F. Hopkins, from 1866 to 1868. Representative-J. F. Hopkins, from 1869 to 1871.
County Recorder-Watt Webb, from 1876 to 1878. Clerk of the District Court-R. J. Hopkins, from 1884 to 1888. County Treasurer-W. D. Moore, from 1894 to 1898. County Supervisor-John Anderson, from 1895 to 1905.
County Treasurer-S. A. Bengston, from 1900 to 1906. County Supervisor-J. M. Carlson, from 1908 to 1915.
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IHISTORY OF BOONE COUNTY
MADRID
Madrid has on file four town plats. The first plat was surveyed by Thomas Sparks, May 20, 1857, and filed for record February 25, 1852. The second plat was surveyed by S. C. Wood, June 6, 1853, and filed for record December 9, 1853. The third plat was surveyed by S. Underhill, May 25, 1855, and filed for record July 16, 1855. The fourth plat was surveyed by L. Regan, September 14, 1857, and filed for record the same day.
The two first plats were filed under the name of Swede Point, but between the dates of filing the second and third plats Mrs. Anna Dalander died intestate, and Charles W. Gaston was appointed administrator of her estate. When he had the third plat surveyed he changed the name of the town from Swede Point to Madrid. The question has often been asked why this change of name was made. Postmaster E. P. Dalander, a grandson of Mrs. Anna Dalander, says that a difference of opinion arose between the sons of Mrs. Anna Dalander and Mr. Gaston, the administrator, and out of resent- ment to them he changed the name of the town to Madrid. About the time of this change Mr. Gaston had in his employ a Spaniard, who often spoke of Madrid, the capital of his native country. He held the Spaniard, his country and capital, all in contempt; so to get even with his Swedish brothers, he took from the town its Swed- ish name and substituted for it the Spanish name. This much platted town was located on the west half of the northeast quarter of Section 36, Township 82, Range 26, on the claim on which Mrs. Anna Dalander and her sons and daughters settled in September, 1846. There is no pioneer woman whose name is more prominent in the early history of Douglas Township than that of Mrs. Anna Dalander. She died November 28, 1854, after a residence of seven years here in her pioneer home. This was the first death among the Swedish people in Boone County.
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