USA > Iowa > Buchanan County > History of Buchanan County, Iowa, with illustrations and biographical sketches > Part 112
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STATE OF IOWA. Iss. BUCHANAN COUNTY. S
In the County Court of said County.
Be it known that, on the petition of James D. Phillips, Eli Norton, and others, the court aforesaid, this twenty-ninth day of July, 1858, constitutes and forms a new township in said county, as follows: The whole thirty-six sections of the Congressional township eighty-seven, range nine, in said county. And it is also ordered that the new town- ship, thus formed, be called by the name of Homer, in accordance with the wishes of the voters thereof.
STEPHEN J. W. TABOR, County Judge.
Prior to the above order, that is, from May 22, 1852, this township was a part of Jefferson. But, previous to 1857, there were but few settlers in what is now Homer ; the newcomers preferring to settle along the creeks, where they found the best supplies of timber. Consequently the first settlements in the original township of Jefferson were along Lime creek, near the place where Brandon is now located.
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ELECTION.
The first election in Homer township was held in Sep- tember, 1858, at the house of Nathan Norton. Twelve votes were cast, eight of which were Democratic and four Republican ; and the persons named, as follows, had the honor of being elected as the first officers:
L. S. Allen, Joseph L. Norton, and Eli Norton, trus- tees; Eli Norton and L. S. Norton, justices; I. S. Allen, county supervisor; James Norton and D. O. Sweet, con- stables; Joseph L. Norton, assessor; Dyer Shealy, town- ship clerk ; John Sites and James Norton, road supervis- ors.
The present township officers are as follows: Nelson Rodgers and E. A. North, justices; A. Pike, J. A. Adams, and A. G. Beatty, trustees; A. K. Stanford, clerk; George H. Norton, assessor; and Henry Barnhalt and W. H. Potter, constables.
SETTLEMENTS.
Thomas Kendrick and family settled in this township, on Bear creek, in the fall of 1853. For the previous two years they had lived in Jefferson, near Able Cox's. At this time the Kendrick family consisted of himself and wife and two children. He made a rude shanty of poles and boards, scarcely sufficient to protect them from the cold weather. It had no floor but the cold ground, and no door except a buffalo skin or blanket. They had thirteen children, all of whom are dead. l'en of them died in 1868, within eight weeks of each other ; some of diphtheria and some of scarlet fever-both of those fear- ful diseases prevailing at the same time. Provisions were very scarce ; and for some time after coming into the township they lived on corn bread and potatoes-the corn of which the bread was made being ground by members of the family in a common coffee-mill. Mr. Kendrick's mind was so wrought upon by the death of his children that he became insane, and survived them only about a year. Mrs. Kendrick subsequently married Charles Kountz, of Independence, where she is still liv- ing. And it may be mentioned, as the culmination of a most remarkable series of domestic afflictions, that she has for several years been suffering from an incurable cancer.
Price Kendrick, a brother of Thomas, settled here next, in 1854; and with him came his two sisters, Mrs. Holland and Mrs. Robinson, both widows ; but, becoming dissatisfied, they remained only about four years. About the same time with these, George Boone settled here, in the fall of 1854, on the farm now oc- cupied by his son, Colonel Boone. He was a native of Ohio. At the time of his settlement here there were but one or two settlers in the southwestern part, where he was, and none in the eastern. He lived but a short time after migrating to this township-dying in 1856. He raised the first wheat in the township in 1855. His wife carried on the farm, thereafter, for some time. They had eleven children, named as follows : Colonel (that was the name of the eldest and not his title), William, Martin E., James M., George C., Lucinda L., Lavina, Mary A., Elizabeth, Laura and Sarah. Colonel Boone, now living on the old homestead, has nine children-all girls but one.
D. O. Sweet settled here in 1855, coming from Essex
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county, New York. He was present at the first election in the township, and was honored with the responsible, if not remunerative, office of constable. He has four children, two boys and two girls. One of his sons is a member of the well-known firm of Post & Sweet, dry goods merchants, at Independence. He lived in Homer about four years. then moved into Jefferson, where he still resides. He is now seventy-four years of age, yet hale and hearty.
Joseph L. Norton, a native of Pennsylvania, settled here in 1855 ; and, not long after his arrival, married, as his second wife, Sarah Kessler, who had come to Quas- queton, with her parents, among the first settlers of the county, in 1842. Mr. Norton is now living in Kansas.
Joseph McGary, a native of Ireland, came from Ver- mont, and purchased a farm in this township, in 1858. He erected a shanty on his land, where he and his brother-in-law, Murphy, who came with him, kept " bachelor's hall " for some time, until the arrival of his two sisters-one of whom was the wife of Murphy. He ยท still owns his fine farm of six hundred and ten acres ; but he has retired from active business, and is now living (yet unmarried) with his sister, Mrs. Joel Allen, of In- dependence.
Lyman S. Allen, one of the earliest settlers in the township, was born at Ticonderoga, Essex county, New York, October 28, 1806. He was married April 5, 1833, to Angelina Whitford. They lived in New York till 1854, when they came to Iowa, and settled in Homer township. He was one of its first magistrates; and, for several years, a member of the board of county supervisors. While living in New York he was captain of a military company. He was a descendant of James Ethan Allen, of Vermont, partaking largely of the sterl- ing qualities of his distinguished ancestor. He died in this township, November 18, 1877, leaving a widow (still living there) and nine children. The following are the names and a brief domestic history of the children : Melissa A. married Jeremiah Bissel, and lives in Bran- don ; Marion B. married Bowen B. Brown, and also lives in Brandon; Joel O. married a sister of Joseph Mc- Gary ; he is now dead and his widow and children are living at Independence; Stephen M. is married, and lives near the old homestead ; Emma married John Lizer and lives in Jefferson township ; Eunice married Dr. John Jenks, and now lives in the State of Arkansas ; Evelyn married L. Cobb, who took her to the State of Texas ; Lizzie married Eugene Crum, and removed to Nebraska ; Kate is unmarried, and lives with her sister in Texas. The children of Mr. Allen have all filled the responsible position of teacher.
Nathan Norton immigrated to the township in 1855, from McHenry county, Illinois. He was somewhat ad- vanced in life at the time of his coming, and he has been dead several years. His children were: Hester, married and settled in Kansas; Hosea, who settled in Liberty township, and died in 1876, leaving four children; James, married and living in Kansas; Justus, still living with his family at Homer; Joseph, in Kansas; Selvina, married and living in Butler county; and Nathan, the youngest,
who lives on the old homestead, and is a successful farmer and stock raiser. Nathan Norton was a pioneer Methodist and one of the founders of the township, the first election having been held at his house.
John Bain settled in the township in July, 1858, on Bear Creek, having immigrated from Indiana. The next winter he taught school in the house of George Boone-the first school in the west part of the town- ship-the number of scholars being thirteen. Mr. Bain was a native of Scotland, and came to the United States in 1831. He stopped for a time in New York, and there Elizabeth Yule, the lady to whom he was affianced, came to him from Scotland in 1832. Upon her arrival from the " land o' cakes" they were immediately mar- ried, and went to Indiana, where they lived till they came to Iowa. They had nine children: Daniel, who died quite young; Ellen, now the wife of Conrad Stites, and living in Independence; Robert, who gave his life to his country in our late war; John, now a physician in Brandon; Ebenezer, engaged in a spoke and hub manu- factory in Glenn Falls, New York; Harris, an attorney in the same place; Nettie, now Mrs. E. E. Hasner, liv- ing in Independence, and one of the teachers in the pub- lic schools of that city; Amelia, married to Robert Elli- ott, and living in Jefferson township; and Charles W., the youngest, a dentist in Seward, Nebraska, and yet unmarried. John Bain, sr., died on Christmas day, 1871. After his death his widow moved to Independ- dence, where she now lives, but she yet owns the old family homestead in Homer. In religious belief and connection Mr. and Mrs. Bain were Scotch Presbyteri- ans.
Eli Norton migrated to Iowa in 1854, He first came to Liberty township, but moved to Homer in 1855, where he has ever since resided, and upon the farm he first purchased. He has had ten children, two boys and eight girls. One of his sons, W. W. Norton, lives in Sumner township, and the other, N. F. Norton, is now a member of the Iowa State university. His daughters are all married. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and one of its most earnest support- ers.
ROWLEY,
This is the only village in the township. It sprungup in the fall of 1873, when the Burlington, Cedar Rapids & Northern railroad was built to this place. It was named for D. W. C. Rowley, who was secretary of the company when the road reached here.
The business of the place is in the hands of a num- ber of wide-awake business men. J. I. Prentiss handles all kinds of grain and seeds, cattle and hogs-in fact, almost anything the farmer has to sell. He is running an elevator, and buys annually large quantities of corn from the farmers in the south part of the county. He has been in business here since the railroad was built, and has done on an average business to the amount of one hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars per year. His arrangements for handling hogs are the most con- venient and humane that we have ever seen-an immense house, one hundred and seventy-six feet long by twenty-
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HISTORY OF BUCHANAN COUNTY, IOWA
four wide, divided into thirty-six commodious pens, being provided for their comfort. He has a steam engine by which he shells his corn and grinds feed for his hogs. Mr. Prentiss is a thorough business man and a great benefit to the place.
J. W. Cooper opened the first store here in 1873.
The dry goods and grocery trade is now represented by C. E. Hawley & Co .; groceries alone, by J. B. Edgell; dealers in lumber, William J. Miller, and D. C. Tuttle ; hotel keeper ("Rowley House"), George H. Norton; blacksmith and wagon shop, by Slater & Wilson, who have in their shop an eight-horse-power engine, by which they are doing a large amount of work, especially in the manufacture of wagons ; shoemaker, Mr. Oessmer; drug- gist and physician, Dr. O. G. McCauley.
There is one saloon in the place, kept by "a jolly Ger- man," who, it is believed, dispenses nothing but the fa- vorite beverage of his countrymen.
The Presbyterians and Methodists have each a house of worship here.
The railroad station agent and telegraph operator is A. Allen ; postmistress, Mrs. J. W. Cooper.
A creamery was established here in September, 1879, by R. I. Jakway, upon the plan of procuring the cream from the farmers, instead of the milk, as is the usual custom. He buys the cream by the inch, sending teams around among the farmers to collect it. It has thus far proved a success, profitable alike to the proprietors and to the farmers.
RELIGIOUS.
The Methodists were the pioneer church of the township. A class was formed here in 1858 by the Rev. John Fawcet, who was their first preacher. Among the early members were Eli Norton and wife, Nathan Nor- ton, sr., and wife, and John 1). Price and wife. For a time they held services in private houses. They built a meeting-house in 1868 or 1869. about half a mile from the present site of Rowley. This building was blown down in the summer in 1875. The railroad company then gave them a lot in Kowley, provided they would place their church upon it, which they did, and there it now stands. The church property is valued at two thou- sand dollars. They have a membership of sixty, and a good Sunday-school. Their present pastor is R. V. Norton.
The first Presbyterian church was organized here in 1873, after the building of the railroad. The Rev. George Carroll was the first preacher, who held services in the railroad depot building, where, with seven mem- bers, he organized the church. They built and still own a house of worship here, but have now no regular ser- vices.
A cemetery was established here in 1870, about half a mile northwest of Rowley. It is the property of private parties.
MISCELLANEOUS NOTES.
The Burlington, Cedar Rapids & Northern railroad passes through the township, at the northeast corner, having been built to this point in the fall of 1873.
Before the railroad was built there was no post office
in the township, the inhabitants getting their mail at several neighboring offices. In 1873 a post office was established at Rowley, and J. W. Cooper was appointed postmaster. After him, D. S. Marcy served for a time; then Mr. Cooper was again appointed, retaining the of- fice till his death, in 1879. Soon after this his wife re- ceived the appointment, and still remains in charge of the office.
There is but a very small amount of timber in this township-probably not to exceed three hundred acres in the southwest part, along Bear creek, where the first set- tlements were made. This scarcity of timber (which, owing to the supply of fuel in not very remote localities, has seldom been felt as a very serious privation) is, of course, due to the small number of streams-the one just mentioned, which passes through almost the entire length of the township, in a southwesterly direction, be- ing the only one that has been thought worthy of a name. There is, however, another small stream in the northwestern part.
The first wedding, of which we can find any account, was that of Don F. Bissel and Aurelius Bishop, in the fall of 1856. But about the same time Reuben Crum was married to Wealthy Allen.
The first death was that of one of the earliest pioneers, George Boone, in 1858.
SCHOOLS.
The first school in the township was opened in 1856, by Mrs. Sarah C. Price, in her own house (situated in the eastern part), where twelve scholars assembled for daily instruction. Mrs. Price still lives in the same house in which she taught this first school.
The next winter a school was kept by John Bain, sr., in the west part of the township (as already stated), at the house of George Boone. Some of the thirteen pupils that attended, living from two to three miles away.
The first school house was built near the present vil- lage of Rowley; the second on land donated to the dis- trict by Joseph McGary; and the next in the Boone district.
Among the early teachers (besides those just men- tioned) were Mary McGary, Betsy L. Patterson, Oscar 1. Luckey, who is now dead, and Lizzie Taylor, after- wards married to Dr. Griffin. There are now eight school houses in the township.
A LYNX STORY.
The mere killing of a lynx is not, even now, a very rare thing in any part of Buchanan county. But one was killed in this township, in the fall of 1867, under circum- stances which give the event a romantic, if not a historic interest.
Lizzie Mitchell, the heroine of the story, had gone out one morning, like a true daughter of a pioneer, to cut up corn, accompanied only by a couple of house dogs. She had been at her work but a short time when she heard some terrible outcries, only a short distance away. Run- ning to the place, she found the dogs in a life and death struggle with a ferocious animal, such as she had never seen before, and whose size and fiercencss far exceeded
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HISTORY OF BUCHANAN COUNTY, IOWA.
anything she had ever heard of, wild-cat or lynx. But she had no time for queries concerning the monster's identity, for she saw at a glance that her canine friends were getting the worst of the conflict. Rushing forward, therefore, to their assistance, she speedily put an end to the fight-actually splitting open the head of their foe, with one well-directed blow of her corn knife.
The animal proved to be one of the largest specimens of the genus lynx ever seen in this part of the country, and, as a reward for the bravery of the girl, who dis- patched him thus heroically, the board of county super- visors voted her a special bounty of ten dollars. She is still living in the township-the wife of Mr. Free.
ORCHARDS.
There are in the township a number of small orchards. William McDonald has the largest one, from which he annually gathers a large quantity of good apples.
PERSONAL MENTION.
Mr. J. I. Prentiss was born in Madison county, New York, November 6, 1839. At the age of sixteen, in company with his parents, he came west, and settled in Dresden, Illinois, where, after a stay of one year, his pa- rents moved to Geneva Lake, Wisconsin, remained but about one year, when they moved to Marshall, Michigan, where his mother died in 1860, at the age of fifty years. In 1863 his father moved to Branch county, Michigan, where he still resides, at the age of seventy-six, enjoying very good health. The subject of this sketch left his home for a soldier's hardships in August, 1862-First Michigan engineers and mechanics-remaining with his regiment a period of three years and one month. The hardships of a soldier's life have ofttimes been printed, and as Mr. Prentiss' experience was no exception to the rule, we leave this part of his life with only an honorable mention due a faithful soldier boy and patriotic lover of one of the best governments on the face of the globe. In October, 1865, he was mustered out of the service, and spent the winter in Nashville, Tennessee. In the spring of 1866 he returned to Hastings, Michigan ; built a sash, blind and door factory, and engaged in that business, the firm being Dickey & Prentiss. In June, 1868, he married Miss Ellen Hawley, daughter of Mr. D. C. Hawley, of Hastings, Michigan. In the summer of 1866 Mr. Pren- tiss sold his interest in the factory at Hastings, and moved to Decatur, Michigan, and built another factory of the same nature as that at Hastings, the firm at the latter place being Prentiss & Rawson. Here he remained until 1869, when he sold his interest to his partner, Mr. L. T. Rawson, and moved to Cedar Rapids, Linn county, Iowa, where, in company with two others, he again embarked in the sash, door and blind factory. This was a joint stock company, and was called the Cedar Rapids Planing Mill company. Here Mr. Prentiss remained until the Mil- waukee division of the B., C. R. & N. railroad was built, when he engaged in the lumber and grain trade in Bu- chanan county, where we now find him, doing business on a very extensive scale at Rowley, a small village on the above-mentioned road, some ten miles south of Inde- pendence. Mr. Prentiss is one of the live business men
of the county, perhaps does the largest business in his line in the county. He is a genial, straightforward man, and is held in high esteem by all who associate with him, either in a business or social way. At this writing he has in cribs, near the railroad station at Rowley, over seventy- five thousand bushels of corn. His family, which con- sists of wife and three children, live in Independence, where he spends his Sundays. Mr. and Mrs. Prentiss are members of the Presbyterian church at Rowley. Mr. Prentiss is and always has been a staunch Republican, having cast his first vote on his twenty-first birthday for one of America's best Presidents-Abraham Lincoln.
Mr. Eli Norton was born in Stanford, Delaware county, New York, September 7, 1812. At the age of three he moved with his parents to Courtland county, New York, where he remained till he was sixteen years old, and then went to Tompkins county, working here in a saw-mill for two years. At the close of this time his father, Amos Norton, moved with his family to Erie county, Pennsylvania. Mr. Norton, the subject of this sketch, remained here upon his father's farm till he was of age, and then went to Chautauqua county, New York, and commenced to work for himself on a farm taken on shares. He resided here two or three years, when he returned to his old home in Pennsylvania, where he re- mained till 1855, being engaged in farming in the mean- time. He then came west, first stopping in Liberty township, though staying but a few months, before going to Homer township, where he had previously purchased two hundred and twenty acres of land. He built the house he now lives in the next fall, to which he has since made several additions, making now a very pleasant home, it being finely situated and well surrounded with shade trees, besides having a nice orchard, supplying him with plenty of fruit of all kinds. Mr. Norton is a man who does not live for self entirely, as is seen by the interest taken in the coming generation, in setting out trees now in his old age. Mr. Norton was married, in 1835, to Miss Louisa Baird, of Chautauqua county, New York. Mrs. Norton lived about six years. Mr. Norton married his second wife, Miss Mary E. Shepard, October 5, 1843, of Erie county, Pennsylvania. Mr. Norton has had a family of twelve children, two by his first wife and ten by his second. Their names are as follows: Washington W., born December 15, 1836; Louisa P., November 8, 1842; Harriet E., January 12, 1846; Minerva E., September 17, 1847; Caroline C., September 11, 1849, died when about two years of age; Alice E., September 13, 1851 ; Hiram F., July 24, 1853; Eliza A., January 24, 1856; Emma A., May 14, 1859; Amos D., October 3, 1861, died when three years old; Clara E., December 20, 1863. Mr. Norton lost an in- fant son between Louisa and Harriet who was not named. Mr. and Mrs. Norton are members of the Methodist church, and are cheerful and consistent Chris- tians. The Methodist Episcopal church at Rowley owes its existence largely to the efforts and generosity of Mr. Norton, who contributed much for repairing it after it had been wrecked by the wind, besides giving liberally when it was first built. Mr. Norton has been justice of the
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peace in Homer township for seven years, and in the meantime has won the esteem and confidence of his fellow-townsmen, as is shown by his repeated reelection.
A. C. Blakeley, one of the oldest and most respected residents of Homer township, was born in Green county, New York, September 18, 1814. Mr. Blakeley re- mained at home till he was of age, working upon his father's farm, but on arriving at his majority, he began life for himself in the town of Grove, Allegany county, New York, engaging in farming at this place till 1844. He then went to Boone county, Illinois, where he resi- ded till 1850, when he moved to Cook county, Illinois, and after a stay of four years here, removed to Indepen- dence, Buchanan county, Iowa, and entered eighty acres of Government land in Washington township. Mrs. Blake- ley being taken ill and unable to endure the hardships and labors of early pioneer life, Mr. Blakeley decided to move back to Independence, and resided here four years, where he was engaged in different occupations. At the close of this time he exchanged his property in Indepen- dence for a farm in Sumner township, containing eighty acres, besides some out land, making in all one hundred and twenty acres, this affording one of the most pleasant homes in the township. Mr. Blakeley resided here till 1878, when, becoming involved in debt he sold the beautiful home he had made. Though hard as it was to part with his old homestead, he now has the satisfaction of knowing, that every man whom he owed, has received all that was due him. Mr. Blakeley at the present time lives upon his son's farm in Homer township, but a few rods from his former home. He is now pleasantly situa- ted and is evidently enjoying life. His house is well surrounded with a splendid grove of maple and cotton- wood, which adds much to the beauty of the place, and he has also one of the best orchards in the township, if
not the best. The farm he now resides upon contains eighty-eight acres, good soil and well watered. Mr. Blakeley was married January 5, 1837, to Miss Betsy Luckey, of Schoharie county, New York. Miss Luckey was born August 30, 1818. Mr. and Mrs. Blakeley have had six children, three of whom are living : James H. Blakeley, born May 8, 1839, and resides in Indepen- dence; Nancy S. Blakeley, born August 10, 1841, mar- ried and lives in Nebraska; Orrissa. L. Blakeley, born May 6, 1851, married and is the nearest neighbor of her parents. The deceased are : Samuel L. Blakeley, born January 22, 1845, and lived only seventeen days; Ar- minta M. Blakeley, born October 13, 1853, died Octo- ber 10, 1861; Edgar C. Blakeley, born February 13, 1848, died June 3, 1874. James H. has held several offices; has been deputy sheriff four years, also township assessor and treasurer of school district. Mr. and Mrs. Blakeley are members of the Methodist Episcopal church, and are sincere and devoted Christians. Mr. Blakeley is a sound Republican and is considered a highly respected citizen. Has held several township of- fices, was first, township clerk, and was afterward chosen a member of the board of supervisors, was also justice of the peace two terms.
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