USA > Iowa > Boone County > History of Boone County, Iowa, Volume I > Part 5
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Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47
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HISTORY OF BOONE COUNTY
conducted so vigorously that July 13th following the executive com- mittee announced it was ready to receive children. Within three weeks twenty-one were admitted and in a little more than six months seventy were in the home. The home was sustained by voluntary contributions until 1866, when it was taken charge of by the state. The Legislature appropriated ten dollars per month for each orphan actually supported and provided for the establishment of three homes. The one in Cedar Falls was organized in 1865. An old hotel building was fitted up for it and by the following January there were ninety-six inmates. In October, 1869, the home was re- moved to a large brick building about two miles west of Cedar Falls and was very prosperous for several years, but in 1876 the Legislature devoted this building to the State Normal School. The same year the Legislature also devoted the buildings and grounds of the Soldiers' Orphans' Home at Glenwood, Mills County, to an institution for the support of feeble minded children. It also provided for the removal of the soldiers' orphans at Glenwood and Cedar Falls homes to the one located at Davenport. There is in connection with this institu- tion a school building, pleasant, commodious and well lighted, and it is the policy of the board to have the course of instruction of a high standard. A kindergarten is operated for the very young pupils. The age limit to which children are kept in the home is sixteen years. Fewer than twenty per cent remain to the age limit. A library of well selected juvenile literature is a source of pleasure and profitable entertainment to the children, as from necessity their pleasures and pastimes are somewhat limited. It is the aim to pro- vide the children with plenty of good, comfortable clothing and to teach them to take good care of the same. Their clothing is all manufactured at the home, the large girls assisting in the work. The table is well supplied with a good variety of plain, wholesome food and a reasonable amount of luxuries. The home is now supported by a regular appropriation of twelve dollars per month for each inmate and the actual transportation charges of the inmates to and from the institution. Each county is liable to the state for the support of its children to the extent of six dollars per month, except soldiers' orphans, who are cared for at the expense of the state.
FEEBLE MINDED CHILDREN
An act of the General Assembly, approved March 17, 1878, provided for the establishment of an asylum for feeble minded
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children at Glenwood, Mills County, and the buildings and grounds of the Soldiers' Orphans' Home were taken for that purpose. The asylum was placed under the management of three trustees, one of whom should be a resident of Mills County. The institution was opened September 1, 1876. By November, 1877, the number of pupils was eighty-seven. The purpose of this institution is to pro- vide special methods of training for that class of children deficient in mind or marked with such peculiarities as to deprive them of the benefits and privileges provided for children with normal faculties. The object is to make the child as nearly self-supporting as practicable and to approach as nearly as possible the movements and actions of normal people. It further aims to provide a home for those who are not susceptible of mental culture, relying wholly on others to supply their simple wants.
INDUSTRIAL SCHOOL FOR BOYS AND GIRLS
The Industrial School for Boys is established at Eldora. Bv act approved March 31, 1868, the General Assembly established a reform school at Salem, Henry County, and provided for a board of trustees from each congressional district. The trustees immediately leased the property of the Towa Manual Labor Institute, and October 7th following the school received its first inmate. The law at first provided for the admission of both sexes under eighteen years of age. The trustees were directed to organize a separate school for girls. In 1872 the school for boys was permanently located at Eldora, Hardin County, and some time later the one for girls was established at Mitchellville. There is appropriated for these schools and their support the sum of thirteen dollars monthly for each boy, and sixteen dollars monthly for each girl inmate. The object of the institution is the reformation of juvenile delinquents. It is not a prison. It is a compulsory educational institution. It is a school where wayward and criminal boys and girls are brought under the influence of Christian instructors and taught by example as well as precept the better ways of life. It is a training school, where the moral, intellectual and industrial education of the child is carried on at one and the same time.
PENAL INSTITUTIONS
The governor, by an act approved January 25, 1839. was author- ized to draw the sum of $20,000, appropriated by an act of
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Congress in 1838, for public buildings in the Territory of Iowa and establish a state penal institution. The act provided for a board of directors, consisting of three persons, to be elected by the Legislature, who should superintend the building of a penitentiary to be located within a mile of the public square in the Town of Fort Madison, Lee County, provided that the latter deeded a suitable tract of land for the purpose, also a spring or stream of water for the use of the penitentiary. The citizens of Fort Madison executed a deed of ten acres of land for the building. The work was soon entered upon and the main building and the warden's house were completed in the fall of 1841. It continued to meet with additions and improve- ments until the arrangements were all completed according to the designs of the directors. The labor of the convicts is let out to con- tractors, who pay the state a stipulated sum for services rendered, the state furnishing shops and necessary supervision in preserving order. The Iowa Farming Tool Company and the Fort Madison Chair Company are the present contractors.
PENITENTIARY AT ANAMOSA
The first steps toward the erection of a penitentiary at Anamosa, Jones County, were taken in 1872, and by an act of the General Assembly, approved April 23, 1884, when three commissioners were selected to construct and control prison buildings. They met on the 4th of June following and chose a site donated by the citizens of Anamosa. Work on the building was commenced September 28, 1872. In 1873 a number of prisoners were transferred from the Fort Madison prison to Anamosa. The labor of the convicts at this penitentiary is employed in the erection and completion of the build- ings. The labor of a small number is let to the American Cooperage Company. This institution has a well equipped department for female prisoners, also a department for the care of the criminal insane.
STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY
A state historical society in connection with the university was provided for by act of the General Assembly, January 25, 1857. At the commencement an appropriation of $250 was made, to be expended in collecting and preserving a library of books, pamphlets, papers, paintings and other materials illustrative of the history of
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Iowa. There was appropriated $500 per annum to maintain this society. Since its organization the society has published three dif- ferent quarterly magazines. From 1863 to 1874 it published the Annals of Iowa, twelve volumes, now called the first series. From 1885 to 1902 it published the Iowa Historical Record, eighteen volumes. From 1903 to 1907 the society has published the Iowa Journal of History and Politics, now in its fifth volume. Numerous special publications have been issued by the society, the most im- portant of which are the Messages and Proclamations of the Gover- nors of Iowa, in seven volumes; the Executive Journal of Iowa, 1838-1843, and the Lucas Journal of the War of 1812.
IOWA SOLDIERS' HOME
The Iowa Soldiers' Home was built and occupied in 1888, at Marshalltown. The first year it had 140 inmates. In 1907 there were 794 inmates, including 112 women. The United States Govern- ment pays to the state of Iowa the sum of $100 per year for each inmate of the Soldiers' Home who served in any war in which the United States was engaged, which amount is used as part of the sup- port fund of the institution. Persons who have property or means for their support, or who draw a pension sufficient therefor, will not be admitted to the home, and if after admission an inmate of the home shall receive a pension or other means sufficient for his support, or shall recover his health so as to enable him to support himself, he will be discharged from the home. Regular appropria- tion by the state is fourteen dollars per month for each member and ten dollars per month for each employe not a member of the home.
OTHER STATE INSTITUTIONS
There are at Clarinda and Cherokee state hospitals for the insane and one at Knoxville for the inebriate.
It is strange but true that in the great state of Iowa, with more than sixty per cent of her population engaged in agricultural pursuits and stock-raising, it was not until the year 1900 that a department of the state government was created in the interests of and for the promotion of agriculture, animal industry, horticulture, manufac- tures, etc. The Iowa department of agriculture was created by an act of the twenty-eighth General Assembly. In 1892 the Iowa Geological Survey was established and the law which provided
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therefor outlined its work to be that of making "a complete survey of the natural resources of the state in the natural and scientific aspects, including the determination of the characteristics of the various formations and the investigation of the different ores, coal, clays, building stones and other useful materials." It is intended to cooperate with the United States Geological Survey in the making of topographical maps and those parts of the state whose coal re- sources make such maps particularly desirable and useful. The State Agricultural Society is one of the great promoters of the welfare of the people. The society holds an annual fair which has occurred at Des Moines since 1878. At its meetings subjects of the highest interest and value are discussed and these proceedings are published at the expense of the state.
THE CELEBRATION OF THE FIFTIETH ANNIVER- SARY OF THE CONSTITUTION OF IOWA
BY JOHN C. PARRISH
In the year 1907 the State of Iowa closed the first half century of existence under the Constitution of 1857. In April, 1906, the General Assembly, looking forward to the suitable celebration of so important an anniversary, passed an act appropriating $750 to be used by the State Historical Society of Iowa, in a commemoration of the fiftieth anniversary of the Constitution of 1857. It was eminently desirable that the celebration should occur at Iowa City, for it was at that place, then the capital of the state, that the consti- tutional convention of 1857 was held. And it was particularly fitting that the exercises should be placed under the auspices of the State Historical Society of Iowa, for the same year, 1857, marks the birth of the society. While the convention was drafting the fundamental law of the state in a room on the lower floor of the Old Stone Capitol, the sixth General Assembly in the legislative halls upstairs in the same building passed an act providing for the organization of a State Historical Society. Thus the event of 1907 became a celebra- tion of the fiftieth anniversary of the State Historical Society as well as a commemoration of the semi-centennial of the Constitution of 1857.
In due time plans were matured for a program covering four days, beginning on Tuesday, March 19, and closing on Friday, March
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22, 1907. It consisted of addresses by men of prominent reputation in constitutional and historical lines, together with conferences on state historical subjects. On Tuesday evening Prof. Andrew C. McLaughlin, of Chicago University, delivered an address upon "A Written Constitution in Some of its Historical Aspects." He dwelt in a scholarly way upon the growth of written constitutions, showing the lines along which their historical development has progressed.
The speaker of Wednesday was Prof. Eugene Wambaugh, of the Harvard Law School, one of the leading authorities in the country upon questions of constitutional law and formerly a member of the faculty of the college of law of the University of Iowa. Professor Wambaugh, taking for his subject, "The Relation Between General History and the History of Law," outlined the history of the long rivalry between the civil law of Rome and the common law in their struggle for supremacy, both in the old world and the new. In clos- ing, he referred to the constitution of lowa as typical of the efforts of the American people to embody in fixed form the principles of right and justice.
Thursday morning was given over to a conference on the teaching of history. Prof. Isaac A. Loos, of the State University of lowa, presided, and members of the faculties of a number of the colleges and high schools of the state were present and participated in the program. In the afternoon the conference of historical societies convened, Dr. F. E. Horack, of the State Historical Society of Iowa, presiding. Reports were read from the historical department at Des Moines and from nearly all of the local historical societies of the state. Methods and policies were discussed and much enthusiasm was aroused looking toward the better preservation of the valuable materials of local history.
The history of the Mississippi valley is replete with events of romantic interest. From the time of the early French voyagers and explorers, who paddled down the waters of the tributaries from the North, down to the days of the sturdy pioneers of Anglo-Saxon blood, who squatted upon the fertile soil and staked out their claims on the prairies, there attaches an interest that is scarcely equaled in the annals of America. On Thursday evening. Dr. Reuben Gold- thwaites, superintendent of the State Historical Society of Wiscon- sin, now deceased, delivered an address upon "The Romance of Mississippi Valley History." He traced the lines of exploration and immigration from the Northeast and East and drew interesting
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pictures of the activities in the great river valley when the land was young and the ways full of wonder to the pioneer adventurer.
Friday's program closed the session. On this day Gov. Albert B. Cummins attended and participated in the celebration. At the university armory, before a large gathering, he spoke briefly on the constitution of the United States, paying it high tribute and at the same time showing the need of amendment to fit present day needs. He then introduced Judge Emlin McClain, of the Supreme Court of Iowa, who delivered the principal address of the day. Judge McClain took for his subject "The Constitutional Convention and the Issues Before It." He told of that memorable gathering at the Old Stone Capitol in Iowa City fifty years ago when thirty-six men met in the supreme court room to draft the fundamental law for the commonwealth.
The members of the convention of 1857 were from various occu- pations. The representatives of the legal profession led in numbers with fourteen members, among whom were many men of prominence. William Penn Clarke, Edward Johnstone and J. C. Hall were there. James F. Wilson, afterward so prominent in national politics, was a member, then only twenty-eight years of age. J. C. Hall was the only delegate who had served in either of the preceding constitu- tional conventions of the state, having represented Henry County in the convention of 1844. There were twelve farmers in the conven- tion of 1857-rugged types of those men who settled upon land and built into the early history of the state its elements of enduring strength. Among the remaining members were merchants, bankers, and various other tradesmen. They were a representative group of men and they attacked the problems before them with characteristic pioneer vigor.
The convention of 1857 chose for its presiding officer Francis Springer, an able farmer and lawyer from Louisa County. Many were the discussions that stirred the convention. One of the first was over the proposition to move the convention bodily to Dubuque or to Davenport. The Town of Iowa City it seems had not provided satisfactory accommodations for the delegates and for hours the mem- bers gave vent to their displeasure and argued the question of a removal. But inertia won and the convention finally decided to remain in Iowa City and settled down to the discussion of more serious matters.
The Constitution of 1846 had prohibited banking corporations in the state. But there was strong agitation for a change in this
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respect, and so the convention of 1857 provided for both a state bank and for a system of free banks. The matter of corporations was a prominent one before the convention. So also was the question of the status of the negro. The issues were taken up with fairness and argued upon their merits. The convention was republican in pro- portion of twenty-one to fifteen. The delegates had been elected upon a party basis. Yet they did not allow partisanship to control their actions as members of a constituent assembly. On the 19th of January they had come together and for a month and a half they remained in session. They adjourned March 5th and dispersed to their homes.
That the members of the convention did their work well is evidenced by the fact that in the fifty years that have followed only four times has the Constitution of 1857 been amended. Nor did these amendments embody changes, the need of which the men of 1857 could have well foreseen. The first two changes in the funda- mental law were due to the changed status of the negro as a result of the Civil war. In 1882 the prohibitory amendment was passed but it was soon declared null by the Supreme Court of Iowa because of technicalities in its submission to the people and so did not become a part of the constitution. The amendments of 1884 were concerned largely with judicial matters and those of 1904 provided for biennial election and increased the number of members of the House of Representatives.
With these changes the work of the constitutional convention of 1857 has come down to us. Fifty years have passed and twice has the convention been the subject of a celebration. In 1882, after a quarter of a century, the surviving members met at Des Moines. Francis Springer, then an old man, was present and presided at the meeting. Out of the original thirty-six members, only twenty responded to the roll call. Eight other members were alive but were unable to attend. The remainder had given way to the inevitable reaper. This was in 1882. In 1907 occurred the second celebra- tion. This time it was not a reunion of the members of the con- vention, for only one survivor appeared on the scene. It was rather a commemoration of the fiftieth birthday of the constitution of the state. Only one member of the convention, John H. Peters, of Manchester, Iowa, is reported to be now living.
The celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of the adoption of our fundamental law was marked by a unique feature. There were present and participated in the program three aged pioneers of the
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state, a survivor of each of the three constitutional conventions. These three conventions met in 1857, in 1846 and 1844 respectively, fifty, sixty-one and sixty-three years ago. On the opening day of the cele- bration, J. Scott Richman appeared upon the scene. Sixty-one years ago he had come to Iowa City as a delegate of the convention of 1846. Eighty-eight years old, with patriarchal beard and slow step, he came as the only living member of the convention that framed the constitution under which Iowa entered the Union. On Thursday there came from Marion, Samuel Durham, a tall pioneer ninety years of age, the sole survivor of Iowa's first constitutional convention -that of 1844. His memory ran back to the days of Iowa's first governor, Robert Lucas, for he had reached Iowa from Indiana in the year 1840. On the last day of the program these two old consti- tution makers of 1844 and 1846 were joined by a third, John H. Peters, who had come from Delaware County as a member of the last constitutional convention of fifty years ago. They sat down together at the luncheon on Friday noon and responded to toasts with words that took the hearers back to the days when Iowa was the last stopping place of the immigrant.
Thus the celebration was brought to an end. From every point of view it was a success. Probably never again will the state see the reunion of representatives of all three constitutional conventions. Time must soon take away these lingering pioneers of two generations ago, but the state will not soon forget their services, for they have left their monument in the fundamental law of the commonwealth.
Vol. 1-4
CHAPTER III
A PREHISTORIC RACE
That there was at some time in the ages gone by, a prehistoric race called the Mound Builders, there is no doubt. That they were far in advance of the Indian races, which succeeded them in the occupancy of the country, in the manufacture of tools, vessels and pottery, and in the erection of fortifications for their defense, is plainly manifest.
From the evidence obtained by those who have made excavations in these mounds, they had four kinds of mounds. One kind was used for dwelling purposes, one for burial purposes, one for devotional purposes and the fourth for defense.
There are unmistakable evidences of their ancient works in many parts of our state. Some of these have been excavated, and human skeletons, pottery and quaint kinds of tools and vessels have been found.
It is not the purpose of this article to speak in particular of the traces of the Mound Builders, except those found in Boone County.
The largest mound to be found within the bounds of Boone County is Pilot Mound, in Pilot Mound Township. Some scientific men have called this mound the western terminus of the Mineral Ridge, but it bears such a close resemblance to the mounds of the prehistoric race, which are found elsewhere, that it should be classed with them. This mound stands out, singly and alone, on the prairie about three miles west of the Des Moines River. In the times of the first settlers of the country, and before any groves were planted near, it presented a majestic appearance, and attracted the attention of all persons pass- ing that way. The mound is now owned by the Minneapolis & St Louis Railroad Company, which has already used a part of it in gravelling their road bed, but it will require a long time to move all of it away, as it is a very large mound. It was rightly named Pilot Mound, for it was a prominent landmark in the early days.
South of Moingona, in Marcy Township, there are nine mounds in a row running north and south, all about the same size and but a
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little distance apart. From the first settlement of the county they have attracted the attention of every one passing near them. They are all small mounds and so far none of them have been opened. They are classed by all as the work of the Mound Builders.
West of Madrid there is a string of mounds two miles in length, which give plain traces of having been the abode of a colony of this prehistoric race. On the west side of the river, a little south of the Elk Rapids bridge, are two very remarkable mounds. One of them is round in shape, about twenty rods in circumference, and twenty- five feet high. The probabilities are that originally it was twice that high. The other one is of elongated shape, being about five hundred feet long, two hundred and fifty feet wide and fifty feet high. The presumption is that these mounds were built as fortifications, or de- fenses. Neither of these mounds has ever been opened. They are in a very public place, as a public thoroughfare runs between them.
One of the most practical demonstrations of the contents of these mounds in Central lowa was furnished by the excavation of the mound near the Boone viaduct. This was opened in the spring of 1910, by the historical department of the state. Persons who saw the contents of this mound could have no doubt of it being a mound of a race of people who preceded the Indians. This was made plain by the bones and pottery found in the mound, as well as by the arrangement of the interior of the mound. The stone floor in the center, and the stones which lay in a zigzag manner about two feet above the floor and around the sides, presented a problem which was difficult to solve. The stone floor referred to was about fourteen feet square, and was laid with flat stones of various sizes, from a foot square to a very small size. They were laid down unskilfully, some overlapping, and at other places showing large crevices. On top of the floor it appears that a layer of sandy soil was spread, and then four logs were placed upon this, forming a square about twelve feet each way. Within this square the dead bodies were laid, with many of their personal effects. Then another layer of sandy soil, about two feet deep, was placed over the bodies. Then the upper stones, to which we have already referred, were laid in a desultory way.
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