History of Buchanan County, Iowa, with illustrations and biographical sketches, Part 9

Author: Williams bros., Cleveland, pub. [from old catalog]; Riddle, A. G. (Albert Gallatin), 1816-1902
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Cleveland, Williams brothers
Number of Pages: 574

USA > Iowa > Buchanan County > History of Buchanan County, Iowa, with illustrations and biographical sketches > Part 9

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

Cottonwood may be propagated either from the seed, from cuttings, or by transplanting the young trees. The seed, which is very light, and almost microscopic in size, is sometimes scraped up from the sandy surfaces along

HISTORY OF BUCHANAN COUNTY, IOWA.

the streams where it has fallen from the trees, the seed and sand mixed together and sown broadcast upon ground prepared for it, as small grain is sown. Sometimes the slender poles are cut front the dense growth that often springs up near the streams, trimmed of their branches and notched with the axe at intervals of a few feet along their entire length, then placed end to end in furrows at proper distances from each other, and covered with soil by the plow. Sprouts quickly start from the sides of the notches and rapidly beconie thrifty trees.

The most congenial habitat of the white maple is also upon the lowlands, but it thrives well upon the prairies. For rapidity of growth it ranks next to the cottonwood, and makes better and more durable fuel. It succeeds well upon all varieties of soil, and may be readily propa- gated from the seed, or by transplanting the young trees from the places of their natural growth. The seeds must be planted soon after ripening, as they will not germinate if allowed to become dry.

The black walnut has been found to succeed well upon the prairies by artificial propagation. It is raised from the seed with certainty and little labor.

These three kinds of trees are now most commonly used for the production of artificial groves and wood- lands throughout the State since the failure of the black locust, in consequence of its destruction by the borers. It is well known that all the other indigenous trees may be artificially cultivated, but these seem to have been wisely chosen for the rapidity of their growth and the small amount of labor required in their propagation and cultivation. These tests, which the people have made extensively in all parts of the State, prove beyond the possibility of doubt that a sufficient amount of material for fuel and fencing may be produced from the soil alone, in any portion of Iowa.

People have hitherto been in the habit of regarding the great proportion of prairie surface in our State as a calamity; but, with a knowledge of the facts just stated, it is evident that views directly opposite should be taken, because the labor and expense of procuring all necessary fuel by the means just explained is but a tithe of what would be necessary to prepare the land for cultivation, "if it had originally been covered with forests, such as formerly prevailed over a large part of the States of Ohio and Indiana. In a prairie region like ours, the farmer selects the finest lands for cultivation, every acre of which is ready for the plow, and sets aside the more broken and less tillable portions for his future woodlands. Thus he may not only choose the location of his fields and woodlands, but also the kinds of crops, whether of grains or trees, that shall be grown upon each.

The following catalogue of the principal indigenous forest trees of Iowa is here inserted as a matter of record, taken from the same Geological Report from which we have just made copious extracts :

Acer dasycarpum .- White maple. Acer saccharinum .- Sugar Maple. Aesculus glabra .- Buckeye. Betula nigra .- Water birch. Carya alba .- Hickory.

Carya amara .- Pig-nut hickory.

Carya olivaformis .- Pecan.

Celtis occidentalis .-- Hackberry.

Cerasus serotina .- Black wild cherry. Fraxinus Americana .- White ash. Gleditschia triacanthus .- Honey locust.

Gymnocladus Canadensis. - Kentucky coffee-tree.

Juglans cincrea .- Butternut or white walnut.

Juglans nigra .- Black walnut. Negundo aceroides .- Box elder.

Platanus occidentalis .- Button-ball or sycamore.

Populus monilifera .- Cottonwood. Populus tremuloides .- Aspen.

Quercus alba .- White oak. Quercus imbricaria .- Laurel oak.

Quercus macrocarpa .- Bur oak.

Quercus tinctoria .- Black oak.

Tila Americana .- Linden, or basswood.

Ulmus Americana .- Common elm ..

Ulmus fulva .- Slippery elm.

All but three or four of these species are found in Bu- chanan county. The list, however, does not profess to give a complete view of the arboreous flora of the State, and at least four species might be added that are also found in this county. They are the following-the first being found along Pine creek, the second in scattered localities on the Wapsie, and perhaps one or two other streams, and the second in the thickets or among other trees everywhere :

Pinus strobus. - White pine.

Juniperus Virginiana .- Red cedar.

Pryus coronaria .- American crabapple.

Prunus Americana .-- Wild yellow or red plum.

We close this chapter with a thought suggested by the presence of so many species of oak growing together in groves of this county, and of the State at large-a thought which seems to justify a strong statement in the Teachers' Institute address, inserted in another part of this volume, to the effect that "all nature fairly swarms with the most convincing arguments to disprove the truth of Mr. Dar- win's theory of development."

One of the fundamental principles of that theory is that species are not original and fixed creations, but that they have been developed from what we now call varieties --- in other words, that what we now call genera were once species, and what are now species, grouped together under the names of the several genera, were then only varieties which, in process of time, have become, so to speak, hardened into species. According to this theory the oak genus was originally a species, and all the kinds of oak now existing were only varieties of that one species. But we know that, at present, varieties mingle freely; and that, unless they are propagated separately, their varietal character is soon lost, and they revert to the original form of the species. As the laws of nature are confes- sedly uniform, there is no reason to suppose that this rule with regard to varieties was ever different from what it now is. But the four species of oak above mentioned now propagate themselves in close proximity, and never mingle; or, if hybrides are ever formed, they are sterile,

HISTORY OF BUCHANAN COUNTY, IOWA.

and never perpetuate themselves at all. That there was ever a time when these four species were not found in the same proximity as now is very improbable, if not in- conceivable. But if they had ever been mere varieties, propagating themselves as now, they must, according to the law above stated, have become mingled, thus losing ' their character as varieties, and hecoming absorbed into the original species.

In the nature of things, therefore, the different species of oak now growing together in Buchanan county could never have been varieties, and the Darwin theory of de- velopment cannot be true.

GEOLOGY.

We had made arrangements with a gentleman familiar with the subject, to prepare, for this chapter of our work, a section on the geology of Buchanan county. Circum. stances prevented him from fulfilling his engagement; and now, in the hurry of finishing up the general history, we are thrown largely upon our own resources (which are by no means extensive) for the collection of a few facts upon a subject which, if left untreated, would leave our chapter on the physical features of the county sadly de- ficient.

We have, however, been so fortunate as to obtain some valuable suggestions from two gentlemen, who have been long resident in the city of Independence; and who, though not professional scientists, have found time, in the midst of active business pursuits, to make them- selves familiar with the science of geology in general, and with the geology of Buchanan county in particular. We refer to Messrs. E. B. Olden and Dr. S. Deering, to the former of whom we are indebted for information in regard to the general geological features of the county, and to the latter for an account of the principal fossils found here. Mr. Deering has also placed in our hands a pamphlet, of which we have made copious use, con- sisting of an article extracted from the "United States Geological and Geographical Survey," and entitled as follows :

"On Some Dark Shale Recently Discovered Below the Devonian Limestones, at Independence, Iowa; With a Notice of its Fossils and Description of New Species. By S. Calvin, Professor of Geology, State University of Iowa."

This pamphlet, as will be seen, makes honorable men- tion of Mr. Deering as an original discoverer in the do- main of Paleontology.

The principal portion of Buchanan county is underlain (in many places somewhat too near the surface) by the rocks of the Devonian age. About one-fourth of the county, however, on the east and northeast, is underlaid by the Upper Silurian. Both of these groups of rocks are composed largely of different varieties of limestone, intermixed with shales. The different varieties receive different names, from the different localities where they were first observed-as the Hamilton and Chemung shales, in the Devonian; and the Clinton limestone, Niagara Group, and Trenton limestone, in the Upper Silurian. Of the latter, however, there are few, if any, 6

outcrops in the county; while of the former there are many, and some very striking ones, along the Wapsie river and Otter creek.

The Devonian rocks, in this county, though easily quarried, afford no valuable building stone-the most of them being too friable, and all of them too irregular in fracture.

The stone steps at the court-house in Independence are of this rock, quarried near Littleton; but after a few years use they are fast going to pieces, and will soon have to be replaced. The Upper Silurian abounds in excellent stone for building purposes-the celebrated Anamora stone (supposed to correspond with the Tren- ton limestone) occurring in that deposit. But if, as is possible, that same stone underlies the eastern part of the county, it is too far beneath the surface to be available.

Buchanan is one of the richest counties in the State, in the fossils of the Devonian age-the quarry about half a mile east of Independence having become quite noted for its rare fossil shells, and been visited by many distinguished paleontologists from abroad. D. S. Deering has probably the best collection of Buchanan fossils that has ever been made. The specimens in his cabinet em- brace eighteen genera, and twenty-six species, five of the latter being pronounced by Professor Calvin, "new to science." The following are the names of the genera, with the number of species here represented in each:

Spirifer, four species; Orthis, three; Atrypa, Acervu- laria, and Strophodonta, each two; Gypidnea, Produc- tus, Euomphalus, Zaphrentis, Rhynconella, Pleuroto- maria, Cyrtina, Conularia, Gomphoceras, Lituites, Cyrto- ceras, and orthoceras, each one species. The four last named are shells of very large size.

As the Devonian and Upper Silurian rocks are all geologically below the coal measures, and even below the sub-carboniferous group, it is as certain as anything in science, that no coal beds can ever be found in Bu- chanan county. But the dark, slaty shales that occur in the Devonian, have often been taken by the unscien- tific, as a sure indication that coal was near; and for- tunes have been spent in a vain search for it, when "a little knowledge" (not in this case "a dangerous thing") would have shown the explorers the futility of their efforts.

A similar misapprehension led to an attempt to dis- cover coal under the quarries near Independence, about the year 1877. No coal, except the merest trace, was found; but, as so often happens, the honest effort of ignorance led to valuable scientific results.

We will let Professor Calvin tell the story in an extract from the pamphlet above alluded to :

The Devonian deposits of Iowa as now known, may be roughly rep-

4 2

HISTORY OF BUCHANAN COUNTY, IOWA.

resented by the annexed diagram, in which i indicates the position of a member of the group recently discovered at Independence, consist- ing of a dark argillaceous, with some thin beds of impure, concretion- ary limestone. It has been explored to a depth of twenty or twenty- five feet. No. 2 represents all the beds of what have been termed Devonian limestones in Iowa, and is made up largely of limestones, with associated beds of light colored shales; estimated thickness, one hundred and fifty feet. No. 3 is a bed of argillaceous shales exposed at and near Rockford, Iowa, and is referred to in this paper as the Rockford shales. It abounds in fossils, and weathers, on exposure, into a stiff clay, that has been utilized in the manufacture of brick; observed thickness, seventy feet.

Until quite recently Nos, 2 and 3 of the above section were supposed to make up the entire thickness of Devonian rocks in Jowa. No. 2 not only varies, as already indicated, in lithological characters, but the grouping of fossils differs widely in different localities, so much so that competent geologists have referred certain exposures-for example, those at Waterloo-to the Corniferous, and others-as at Independ- ence and Waverly-to the Hamilton. Such references of the above- named exposures will be found in the Twenty-third Report on the State Cabinet of New York, pages 223-226; and in the same article Professors Hall and Whitfield declare the Rockford shales to be the equivalent of the New York Chemung. On the other hand, Dr. C. A. White -- Geology of Iowa, 1870, volume 1, page 187-is of opinion that all the Devonian strata of lowa belong to a single epoch.

Thus matters stood until a year or so ago, when D. S. Deering called attention to the interesting fact that a dark shale had been exposed in working out the layers in the bottom of one of the limestone quarries near Independence. The quarrymen penetrated the shale to a consid- erable depth in the hope of finding coal. The shale varies somewhat lithologically, but where it presents its most characteristic features it is argillaceous, fine grained, and highly charged with bituminous matter. In some of the beds there are numerous remains of plants-stems of loepidodendron and sigillaria that made up the forests of the Devonian. The plants, however, are very imperfect; the form only is partially pre- served, and that mainly by iron pyrite that replaced the original stem. The woody tissue of the plants has been converted into coal that occu- pies thin irregular seams among the laininæ of pyrite. The little bands of coal vary in thickness, but none of those observed exceed a quarter of an inch. None of the plants are perfect enough to render either generic or specific identification possible.

The discovery of shale charged with the carbonized stems of plants below the Devonian limestone of Iowa is a matter of much interest. Frequent reports have gained circulation of the discovery of coal in drilling wells in regions occupied by Devonian rocks.

From Jessup, Janesville, Marion, Davenport, and other places, such rumors have gone out. In one or two cases, shafts have been dug at considerable expense, necessarily ending in disappointment and failure.

The discovery at Independence accounts for these reports. In drill- ing through the limestones, the lower shales, with their carbonized plants, were reached, and the dark color of the borings, mixed with fragments of real coal, naturally enoughi gave rise to the impression that a veritable coal mine had been found.

It is to be noticed that all the places from which such reports have come, stand near the eastern outcrop of the Devonian, where its en- tire thickness could be pierced at a very moderate depth. The num- ber and position of such localities would show that the shale in ques- tion is not a mere local deposit, but is distributed all along the outcrop of Devonian rocks in Iowa.

The researches of Mr. Deering and myself have brought to light quite a number of finely preserved Brachiopods, representing fourteen species. Of these two are not determined and five are new to science. but the chief interest attaches to certain species that have hitherto been known only from the shales of bed No. 3. near Rockford. It will be convenient to arrange the specimens in three groups, as follows :

I. Species limited in Iowa, so far as is known, to the Independence Shales: Strophodonta variabilis, new species ; Gypidula munda, new species, Othis infera, new species; Rhynchonella ambigua, new spe- cies ; Spiripera subumbona, Hall?

II. Species ranging throughout the entire group, and so common to beds 1, 2, and 3: Atrypareticularis, Lime.

1I1. Species common to beds I and 3, but not known to occur in the intervening limestones : Strophodonta quadrata, new species; St arcuata, Hall; S. canace, Hall & Whitfield ; S. reversa, Hall ; Atryna hystrix, Hall ; Productus (Productella) dissimillis, Hall.

It is an interesting fact that of the twelve determinable species six occur only in the shaly deposits at the opening and close of the Devo- nian, notwithstanding these deposits are separated by one hundred and fifty feet of limestone. Only one species is known to pass from the lower shales into the limestones above, and even there it appears under a forin so altered that specimens from the two beds may be dis- tinguished as really as if they were distinct species. If we take form and surface markings into account, the Atrypa reticulacs of No. 1, also finds its nearest representative, not in the limestones immediately above, but in the shales at Rockford.

Obviously, then, the Independence shales are more nearly related to the Rockford beds than to any other formation in lowa. The species in group I, seem to have disappeared with the ushering in of conditions under which limestones were formed ; they maintained themselves in some locality which has not been discovered, or from which the shaly deposits have been entirely swept away, and returned with the condi- tions favorable to their existence during the deposition of the Rock- ford shales.

The intimate relation between the two extremes of the group, is certainly a most interesting one, and can but strengthen the conclusion of Dr. White, that all the Devonian strata of Iowa, belong to a single epoch.

Then follows a minute description of the individual fossils mentioned above, for which we have no space, and which would not have much interest for the general reader. We will therefore omit it, and call our brief sec- tion on Buchanan geology, finished.

CHAPTER III. HISTORICAL ADDRESS.+

[As the author of the following address was a promin- ent citizen of Buchanan county, and as the occasion of its delivery forms an important landmark in the history of the county, we have concluded to insert it entire; al- though some of the details, given in other parts of the work, will necessarily contain repetitions of many of the facts herein recorded.

That this sketch may be read and heard on such an occasion, without weariness beyond endurance, it is necessary to study brevity rather than rhetorical effect. With scant space for facts, there is still less for fancy, and many interesting incidents and individual experiences must of necessity be omitted.

Beginning with the advent of the first permanent settlement in the county, we are carried back about one-third of a century; for the pioneer was one William Bennett, who settled where now is the thriv- ing village of Quasqueton in the early spring of 1842. Mr. Bennett is said to have been the first settler in the county of Delaware also, and had probably chanced upon the site of Quasqueton in some hunting ex- pedition. The beauty of the locality captivated his fancy, and the rapid stream showed that its power could be utilized, He at once laid claim to the place, and proceeded to make his claim good by erecting a log cabin on the east bank of the river, and occupying it with his family.

It is almost as difficult for us to conceive the appearance which the county then presented to its first citizen, as it would have been for him to paint by aid of fancy, that which it now presents to us. Approach- ing his new home from the east, he had crossed many miles of prairie, stretching away to the north beyond the limits of vision; looking across the stream to the southwest, still the same undulating prairie; and if he passed the river a little to the west he beheld still the same gently swell- ing sea of treeless green extending toward the northwest to all appear- ance boundless.

He might have caught some floating canoe drifted from its mooring

* By Hon. O. H. P. Roszell. Read at the Centennial Celebration at Independence, July 4, 1876.

HISTORY OF BUCHANAN COUNTY, IOWA.

far up the stream, and following the timber-skirted river through the entire extent of the county, 10 other trace of art or industry would have met his gaze, save perhaps the lodge-poles of some deserted Indian camp. But though he would have found the country a wilderness, it was not a solitude. From every thicket on the river's bank, the dip of his paddles would have startled the deer, and its splash been echoed by the sudden plunge of the beaver and otter, while wild fowls,-ducks, geese and the majestic swan, rose at his approach in countless thou- sands, and mingled their screams with the cry of innumerable cranes wheeling their flight far up in the blue ether. The whole country was as if just completed-fresh and new and perfect from the hand of the Creator; an unpeopled paradise. Hardly had Bennett taken posses- sion of his cabin before he was joined by one Evans, and by Ezra Allen who settled about one and a half miles north of Quasqueton, and in April the settlement was increased by the arrival of Frederick Kessler and wife, Rufus B. Clark and family, S. G. and H. T. Sanford, a Mr. Daggett and Simmons and Lambert and Edward Brewer; the latter, who was then unmarried, made his home with Kessler. Clark and Kessler each made claims, and built cabins about one and one-half mile west of Quasqueton and near together, and as soon as possible com- menced breaking prairie, so that in June they had ten acres broken which they planted with corn and beans; but though frost did not appear that fall till October 10th, there was not sufficient time for the crop to ripen. They all, men and women, went to work the day after the frost, and gathered the crop so as to secure it in the best condition possible, for corn and beans were important articles. For provisions during the summer of 1842 it was necessary to go to the Maqnoketa-a distance of sixty miles. One person was sent with an ox team, and brought supplies for the whole community. The land was yet unsurveyed, and, of course, not in market. The government surveyors were engaged that summer in making the subdivisions, and were in camp for some time near Kessler's. The sight of these and an occasional squad of cavalry galloping across the prairie and fording the river at the rapids, served to remind the settlers that they were not alone in the world.

During that summer a man named Stiles settled at Quasqueton ; and to him belongs the honor of keeping the first whiskey shop in the coun- ty. He called his place a "tavern" and "grocery." Some addition was made to the settlers aside from emigration, for in May, 1842, was born Charles Kessler, the first white child born in this county. In the autumn of 1842 there arrived Nathaniel Hatch and family and Henry B. Hatch without family. Nathaniel built himself a house and Henry B. made his home at Kessler's. Mr. Bennett built a log dani across the river and raised the frame of a saw-mill that fall. There were several young men in his employ who never became permanent settlers. This same season also one Johnson made his appearance and located on the east side of the river, about half way between Quasqueton and Inde- pendence. He asserted that he was the notorious "Canadian Patriot," and that a young woman who accompanied him as his sole companion was his daughter, Kate, and the veritable "Queen of the Thousand Isles." His language and conduct excited the suspicion and hatred of the settlers and a party of them seized Johnson, administered a severe whipping and an admonition to leave the settlement, which he soon did. This episode was long referred to by the settlers as the "Patriot War."

The winter of 1842-3 proved a very severe one, and the settlers en- dured many privations. On the seventeenth of November a terrible snow storm commenced, accompanied with wind which caused im- mense drifts. Most of the houses having been hastily erected that spring, of logs, were imperfectly chinked and plastered, and it was impossible to keep out the drifting snow .- Kessler's was in this condi- tion, and his family took refuge at Clark's, which was better protected. On returning after the storm they found their house drifted completely full and buried-even to the chimney, and had to dig out their furniture piece by piece. They dug a regular stairway from the door to the top of the snow ; and the same to reach the water in the spring close by, through snow fourteen feet in depth. The storm ended in sleet, which left a hard crust on the surface, which would bear the weight of a man if not too heavy. It was almost impossible to get about except on foot, and in that way the mail was carried to and from the "('ol- ony," near "Edes' Grove," in Delaware county, by Kessler, he being selected for that service on account of being small and light. Deer were abundant and easily overtaken, as their sharp feet broke through the crust ; so venison was plenty. Bee trees also had been found in large numbers in the fall, and there was a plentiful supply of honey. Some families had three or four barrels of that commodity, but honey and venison, though each delicious, were found hardly adequate food for sole and constant use ; and grain there was none, nor other food of any kind to be had short of a journey to the "colony."

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

History of Buchanan County, Iowa, with illustrations and biographical sketches, Part 9

Author: Williams bros., Cleveland, pub. [from old catalog]; Riddle, A. G. (Albert Gallatin), 1816-1902 Publication date: 1881 Publisher: Cleveland, Williams brothers Number of Pages: 574

Author: Williams bros., Cleveland, pub. [from old catalog]; Riddle, A. G. (Albert Gallatin), 1816-1902
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Cleveland, Williams brothers
Number of Pages: 574