USA > Iowa > Butler County > History of Butler County, Iowa: a record of settlement., Volume 1 > Part 13
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At the regular annual meeting in 1871 the old fair grounds site was sold to Sylvester Rice outright and twenty acres south of the former site were leased from him for twenty years.
As early as 1867 a substantial premium was offered by the society for the best artificial grove planted and cultivated under conditions set forth in the premium list. In 1872 a committee of the board of directors was appointed to investigate the condition of groves planted in accordance with the requirements. There is, however, no record of a report by this committee until the annual meeting of 1874, at which time on recommendation of a committee
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the premium for the best artificial grove planted and cultivated under the premium offer of 1867 was awarded to Amos Ressler, of Shell Rock township. The grove for which this premium was awarded consisted largely of soft maple, with some black ash and white elm trees. The trees were said to average twelve feet in height and to be in excellent condition. There are records also of premium awards for the best acre of wheat, the best acre of oats and the best half acre of potatoes, showing clearly that the society was endeavoring to the best of its ability to carry out the aim and object of its organization-improvement of farm crops and production in Butler county.
At the annual meeting in 1877 the president reported that the grounds had been removed without expense, to a new site north- east of Shell Rock, on what was known as the Williams place. This is the location of the present race track southeast of the Great Western depot.
The original term of incorporation for twenty years expired in 1886. In preparation for reorganization, a meeting was called in August, 1885, at which general plans for reorganization were discussed. On Oct. 17, 1885, it was voted to renew the articles of incorporation for twenty years and new articles of incorporation were adopted.
The question of reorganization, however, was not yet settled. The location of Shell Rock at the extreme eastern side of the county was unsatisfactory to a large majority of the people of the county. So much dissatisfaction with the location had been expressed that even the people of Shell Rock reached a point where they were willing to consider a relocation of the site of the annual county fair. In the meantime, as will be noticed later, an agricultural organization had been formed at Clarksville which had been holding annual fairs for a number of years.
The question of reorganization and relocation was discussed at a number of adjourned meetings in the early part of 1886. Fin- ally at a meeting held in Shell Rock in May, J. R. Jones, Jeremiah Perrin and Cyrus Doty, representing the Clarksville Agricultural Association, appeared and proposed to consolidate the two socie- ties and to provide for annual fairs to be held in alternate years at Clarksville and Shell Rock. This proposition was first voted upon at a meeting in August, 1886, with the result that thirty- four votes were cast in the affirmative and thirty-two in the negative. Inasmuch, however, as this consolidation involved an
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amendment to the constitution and required a two-third vote of the members present, it was declared lost.
At a meeting held in October, the proposition of the Clarksville Society was again presented and again lost on the lack of a two- third vote, the vote this time being forty-one for to twenty-six against. At the same meeting the proposition to secure the removal of the fair to Allison was presented and was defeated for the same reason by a vote of twenty-one to seventeen, the Clarks- ville members of the association not voting.
It became evident, however, that it would be impossible to con- tinue the location of the fairs at Shell Rock and it was equally evident that the Clarksville location would not be any more satis- factory to the majority of the members. As a result, on the 30th of October, 1886, at a meeting of the stockholders, article 1 of the constitution was amended by substituting the name "Allison" for "Shell Rock" as the place of holding the fairs, the vote being sixty- five to nine-a decisive majority. It was voted to tear down the buildings on the Shell Rock fair grounds and pile the lumber pre- paratory to moving it to Allison.
A committee consisting of Jeremiah Perrin, S. Rice, R. Stanley, L. J. Rogers, I. M. Fisher, G. M. Craig, J. W. Wright, James Collar, S. M. Baldwin, S. B. Dumont and N. O. Olmstead was appointed to secure a new location near Allison. This committee secured twenty-three acres of ground, partly within and partly out of the corporate limits of the town of Allison, the land being purchased from H. L. Stout and the Allison Town Company, for a considera- tion of something over one thousand dollars.
The annual meeting of 1887 was held in the court room at Allison. At that time the by-laws were amended so as to have one director from each township and the date of the annual meeting changed from the first Saturday in June to the first Wednesday after the first Monday in January. The first board of directors representing the sixteen townships was: N. H. Larkin, Fremont; Levi Baker, Dayton; Samuel McRoberts, Coldwater; M. Wilson, Bennezette; W. R. Nichols, Pittsford; J. H. Neal, West Point; Cyrus Doty, Jackson; J. Perrin, Butler; G. W. Adair, Shell Rock; S. M. Baldwin, Jefferson; F. A. Randolph, Ripley; W. Watson, Sr., Madison; J. J. Burnham, Washington; Joseph Linn, Monroe; James Collar, Beaver.
The first fair at Allison was held in the fall of 1887, by which time a half mile track had been laid out and graded and a covered
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amphitheatre and floral hall completed, and barns for the accom- modation of horses and cattle constructed from the material hauled from the old site at Shell Rock. Senator William B. Allison was present on the dedication of the new grounds and delivered an address.
In 1895 the system of electing one director from each township in the county was abandoned and thereafter seven directors were chosen. As a rule these have been chosen, two from each super- visor district in the county and one elector at large. Before this date several of the townships had ceased to have representatives upon the board of directors, especially Fremont township, which is territorially contiguous to Nashua, where the Big Four fair is annually held; and Washington township, which is nearer to the Hardin county fair.
In June, 1895, a special meeting for the board of directors was held to arrange for repairing buildings on the fair grounds, which had been wrecked by a wind storm. It was found necessary to reconstruct the stalls, the amphitheatre and the floral hall, and an assessment upon the stockholders was made to cover the cost of repairs.
The changing character of the fair begins to be shown from the records as early as 1896. At that time apparently it had ceased to be so largely agricultural and horticultural as it was an amuse- ment proposition. At the annual meeting in 1896 provision was made for bicycle races, football games and a balloon ascension. The total amount appropriated for amusements at that time, however, did not exceed $200. The comparison with the amount paid for amusement purposes in recent fairs is a striking one. In 1899 the amount appropriated for amusements was $250. In 1900 an appropriation was made for building a hog house on the fair grounds. In 1901 the weather was so unfavorable the fair was held for only one day. In 1902 so rapidly had the character of the fair changed that we find record to the effect that the committee on amusements was to be limited to the expenditure of $1,000.
The second period of incorporation having expired in 1906, the articles were revised and the corporation renewed for another twenty-year period. Important changes in the articles were made at that time.
In 1907 the date of the annual meeting was changed to the second Saturday in October. In July, 1907, at a special meeting of the organization it was announced that the board of super-
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visors of Butler county had in accordance with the provision of section 1660 in the code of 1897, appropriated the sum of $1,000 for the use of the society. This appropriation was expended and the money used for building a new stock pavilion, the construc- tion of which was awarded to F. F. Junkins. The final cost of this building was $1,310. At the same time provision was made for the construction of a new tight board fence along the main road on the west side of the fair grounds and for the sale of advertising space thereon.
The progress of the times is indicated by the fact that in the fair of 1907, provision was made for automobile races. At the fair this year, Gov. Albert B. Cummins was present and addressed the people. In 1910 provision was made for holding a corn- growing and corn-judging contest for the boys and girls of But- ler county. Great interest was aroused in this contest in this and the succeeding year, large prizes being offered and a number of contestants competing. Sen. Jonathan P. Dolliver was present at the fair in 1911, only a few months before his death.
The fair has now maintained a continuous existence as a cor- poration for nearly a half century. Its maintenance has always been at the cost of a continued struggle. Mention has been made of the changing character of the fair in more recent years. While this is somewhat perhaps to be regretted, it is apparently unavoidable that the chief features of the fair should be of the amusement nature; yet it is difficult for a fair located near a small town to compete as an amusement proposition with the larger fairs and parks of nearby cities. Means of transporta- tion in these days when automobiles are so generally owned are so well adapted for covering long distances that the directors of the Butler County Fair Association are confronted by an eternal problem of securing the attendance, upon which the success of the fair in a financial way must always depend.
A list of the presidents and secretaries of the association from the beginning to the present time follows:
Presidents James Collar, 1866-73; M. Bailey, 1873-75; Rich- ard Hughes, 1875-78; James Collar, 1878-80; J. H. Carter, 1881- 85; M. Bailey, 1885-86; J. H. Carter, 1886-93; A. O. Strout, 1893-94; J. H. Carter, 1894-95; G. M. Craig, 1895-97; H. C. Brown, 1897-1901; K. S. Green, 1901-02; A. F. Yarcho, 1902-04; John Coster, 1904-12; Frank Fishel, 1912-13; John Coster, 1913 to date.
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Secretaries-M. Bailey, 1866-70; J. W. Davis, 1870-71; O. W. McIntosh, 1871-72; J. O. Stewart, 1872-75; J. W. Davis, 1875-76; M. Bailey, 1877-79; R. Hughes, 1879-85; E. Wilson, 1885-86; W. J. Hunt, 1886-87; G. M. Craig, 1887-88; C. W. Levis, 1888-90; H. F. Wild, 1890-91; R. Gonzales, 1891-92; H. F. Wild, 1892-93; S. E. Burroughs, 1893-96; G. Hazlet, 1896-97; L. J. Rogers, 1897- 1901; R. Gonzales, 1901-02; Garfield Merner, 1902-03, resigned, S. E. Burroughs appointed; H. F. Wild, 1903-04, resigned, Paul R. Burroughs appointed; J. W. Ray, 1904-05; L. J. Rogers, 1905-06; J. V. Gregory, 1906-07; M. B. Speedy, 1907-08; N. W. Scovel, 1908; W. C. Shepard, 1908-12; O. F. Missman, 1912-13; W. C. Shepard, 1913.
CLARKSVILLE AGRICULTURAL ASSOCIATION
The Clarksville Agricultural Association was organized in 1875, and during the same year the fair grounds were purchased of John Hicks and others, containing twenty-five acres. The incorporators were as follows: E. A. Glenn, G. R. Peet, Ike E. Lucas, L. Bartlett, George Barber, S. McRoberts, Jr., David Crosby, Benjamin Crosby, J. R. Fletcher and J. O. Stewart. The first officers were: Samuel McRoberts, Sr., president; Ike E. Lucas, secretary; Cyrus Doty, treasurer; J. R. Jones, James R. Fletcher, E. A. Glenn, Lorenzo Bartlett and George R. Peet, directors.
The first fair was held in October, 1876, and proved a splendid success.
This association continued to hold annual fairs for some years on its fair grounds situated just west of the Rock Island tracks. Later the annual fairs were abandoned for some time. Of recent years an annual summer fiesta has been held on the association grounds with considerable degree of success.
THE FARMERS INSTITUTE
The Butler County Farmers Institute was first organized about fifteen years ago and has held annual meetings since that time at different places in the county. The first officers of the Farmers Institute were George Adair, Shell Rock, president ; John Ressler, Shell Rock, secretary. The institutes have resulted in great benefit to the farmers and townspeople in Butler county. 1+1. 1-10
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The movement is one of increasing importance and is securing the substantial support of the more progressive citizens of the county.
OAK GLEN FARM
At the Iowa State Fair in 1913, Mrs. Fannie Klinck, of Clarks- ville, was awarded first premium for exhibit from a farm of forty acres or less. This farm, known as the Oak Glen Farm, is sit- uated about two and a half miles north of Clarksville. A photo- graph of this exhibit is given in connection with this article.
ASSESSED VALUATION OF REAL AND PERSONAL PROPERTY FOR TAX- ABLE PURPOSES, 1913
Number of acres
Value as equal- ized by state
Actual value real
Taxable value personal property
Fremont
23,451
$ 1,627,464 $ 1,597,204
$ 399,301
Dayton
23,100
1,522,076
1,385,240
346,310
Coldwater
22,460
1,558,576
1,438,852
359,703
Bennezette
22,204
1,535,652
1,623,076
405,769
Pittsford
21,904
1,457,312
1,318,292
329,573
West Point
21,788
1,508,408
1,403,364
350,841
Jackson
22,232
1,449,492
1,345,028
336,257
Butler
22,624
1,652,616
1,477,516
369,379
Shell Rock
22,140
1,533,828
1,428,572
357,143
Jefferson
23,019
1,414,076
1,322,684
330,671
Ripley
22,691
1,387,684
1,266,880
316,720
Madison
23,193
1,424,128
1,383,496
345,874
Washington
22,923
1,603,692
1,479,588
369,897
Monroe
22,366
1,449,996
1,288,956
322,239
Albion
22,471
1,516,212
1,390,080
347,520
Beaver
21,725
1,368,620
1,303,748
325,937
Greene
66
590,640
877,472
219,368
Dumont
878
227,488
323,632
80,908
Bristow
425
112,813
172,948
43,237
Allison
583
242,158
349,648
87,412
Clarksville
376
392,478
526,376
131.594
Shell Rock
368
330,476
435,544
108,886
property
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OAK GLEN FARM
INDIVIDUAL FARM COLLECTION RAISED AND EXHIBITED BY FANNIE M. KLINCK, CLARKSVILLE
Won first premium in 80-acre class and grand champion sweepstake over all classes at Iowa State Fair, Des Moines, 1913
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HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY
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Aplington
. 203,277
289,540
72,385
Parkersburg
474,595
773,960
193,490
New Hartford
97
158,320
262,692
65,673
Total
363,084
$26,742,077
$26,464,388
$6,511,287
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CHAPTER XV
BUTLER COUNTY IN THE CIVIL WAR
When the war between the states began in 1861, Butler county was yet in its infancy. Hardly ten years had elapsed since the first permanent settlement within the borders of the county. The increase of the population in these ten years had been relatively very rapid. The census of 1860 showed the presence of 3,724 people in the county. Of these it may be ascribed that not more than one-fifth were men of military age. The exact number of soldiers enlisted from Butler county cannot be definitely given. There were 293 volunteer enlistments during the years 1861 and 1862. During the entire period of the war there were some five hundred and four enlistments and reenlistments. These figures would indicate that practically all the able bodied male citizens of Butler county who were not exempt from military service at one time or another answered the call of their country and served in its armies in the war for the preservation of the Union.
The story of the Civil war, its causes, events and results need not be retold here. If we could, we would recreate that period for the benefit of the present generation, to most of whom those bitter days of warfare are but an abstraction. Such an achieve- ment is beyond our power. We must therefore be satisfied with a brief statement of the part which Butler county played in the war and a brief summary of some of the services rendered the common country by citizens of Butler county, and supplement this by as complete a list as is possible to secure of the volunteer soldiers who enlisted from Butler county. These lists will of necessity be inaccurate and incomplete. For years the adjutant general's office has been engaged in the revision and correction of the records of the soldiers of the War of the Rebellion. How- ever, unavoidable errors and omissions have been made. The records here given are as complete and as accurate as the time and material at our disposal will allow.
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BOUNTIES AND SOLDIERS' RELIEF
The first official reference to the Civil war occurs in the min- utes of the board of supervisors at a special session in April, 1862. At this meeting, W. A. Lathrop offered a resolution granting a bounty of $20 "to all volunteers under the call for 300,000 men, which shall be accepted and mustered into the service of the United States, upon sufficient evidence being lodged with the clerk." This resolution was laid over till the September term. In September, Supervisor Lathrop again moved the adoption of this resolution.
As a substitute for this resolution, W. R. Jamison offered the following: "Whereas, large numbers of our fellow citizens of this county have most probably volunteered their service in defense of the Constitution and the Union in order to crush this most unholy rebellion, and whereas, the time for recruiting for the volunteer service has now, for the present at least, expired, and whereas, some of the families of those persons who have vol- unteered and who are in the actual military service of the United States and whose families still continue to reside in this county, may be in destitute circumstances, therefore, be it resolved that we hereby pledge the faith of the county that those families left in destitute circumstances by the enlistment of the heads thereof, shall be looked after and properly cared for by the county dur- ing their absence. That the supervisors from the several town- ships act as a relief committee, each for the township he represents, which service shall be performed gratuitously by said committee, and we recommend to each member of said committee that they look well to the interests of the county and yet be faithful in attending to the necessities of those left behind by the brave men who have so nobly gone forth to fight the battles of their country in defense of the Union."
Supervisor J. R. Fletcher offered an amendment to the reso- lution of W. A. Lathrop, "offering a bounty of $25 to each single man and $50 to each married man who had volunteered from Butler county since the call for 300,000 men."
After several attempts further to amend or substitute these resolutions, the board by a vote of six to eight defeated both the resolution of W. R. Jamison and the substitute of W. A. Lathrop.
A committee consisting of Supervisors Fletcher, Lathrop, M. Wilson, Hoffman and Criswell, was appointed to report a resolu-
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tion providing ways and means to support the families of volun- teers in accordance with Chapter 38 of the Acts of the Extra Session of the Iowa Legislature of May, 1862. This committee reported that in order to carry out the true spirit and intent of this act of the Legislature, each township supervisor "be espe- cially charged that families of all volunteers that have gone, or may go, from his township, be supplied with necessary food, cloth- ing and fuel and to this end that they be empowered to have the clerk draw orders on the county treasury from time to time as they shall judge that causes may demand immediate relief, and in all cases to report at the succeeding meeting of the board." In accordance with this resolution, from time to time relief was furnished to the families of volunteers, as is shown by the records of the board.
At the first regular meeting of the board in 1864, Supervisor . Allen of Jefferson township, offered a resolution providing that a bounty of $100 be paid to each volunteer that had gone from Butler county under all the calls for volunteers made by the Presi- dent of the United States, or who might go under such calls, the same bounty to be paid to the families of those who have been killed or died of disease in the service. Provision was made for a separate fund for the payment of these sums to be known as the Volunteer Bounty Fund, to be raised by a levy upon the taxable property of the county. Persons who had deserted the service of the United States were not to be entitled to the benefits of this resolution. After full discussion and debate this resolution was adopted by a yea and nay vote, eleven members voting yea and four nay.
This resolution was later restricted at the June meeting by providing that bounties paid under it should be so construed as not to include commissioned officers or any volunteers dishonor- ably discharged from the service. Further, only those soldiers who had volunteered for a term of three years, or during the war, were to receive the benefit of this bounty. An attempt to provide a bounty of $100 for veterans who reenlisted was defeated.
In January, 1865, those volunteers who had enlisted under the call for one hundred days' service were made eligible to receive the $50 bounty from the county. At the same session Supervisor Allen proposed raising the bounty to be paid to three-year volun- teers to $300. This resolution was referred to a committee and reported back with the recommendation that the amount be raised
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to $500. The committee's report .was adopted by a vote of nine to seven. A bounty of $100 was unanimously voted in favor of all who had reenlisted in the service of the United States as veteran volunteers.
This summary of the official actions of the board of supervisors in relation to issuing bounties to volunteer soldiers of the county speaks for itself and indicates more plainly than could be shown in any other way how nobly Butler county did its part in sup- porting the families of the volunteers and in compensating the individual soldiers who had offered their lives in defense of the country. Under these various bounty acts something over forty thousand dollars was appropriated by the county. In addition to this, a sum of approximately thirteen thousand dollars was paid for the relief of the families of absent and deceased soldiers.
FIRST IOWA INFANTRY
The first hostile shot was fired from a Confederate battery upon Fort Sumter in Charleston harbor, on the morning of April 12, 1861. Three days later, President Lincoln issued his first procla- mation calling for 75,000 men for the suppression of armed rebel- lion against the Government of the United States. In response to this call the first regiment of Iowa Volunteers went forth as the vanguard of the mighty host that followed from the state under subsequent calls of the President. This regiment was made up of the organized military companies of the state, which had already offered their services to Governor Kirkwood. The ten companies which comprised this regiment were rendezvoused at Keokuk, in May, 1861, where they were soon afterward mustered into the service of the United States. The companies comprising this regiment were all from the eastern and central portions of the state, then much more thickly settled. The lack of means of transportation and communication, as well as the limited number of men needed to complete the Iowa quota prevented the organiza- tion of any companies in this section of the state, and equally the enlistment of any number of men from this section. So far as is known, Butler county was represented in this first regiment by one man only-George C. Miller, of Clarksville, who enlisted in Company K on the 24th of April, 1861. He later reenlisted in Company B of the Twentieth Infantry. To George C. Miller, therefore, is due the honor of being the first volunteer soldier from
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Butler county. The first regiment was enlisted for a term of three months. During that short time its service was utilized to the utmost. On the 13th of June the regiment left Keokuk, was trans- ported down the river by boat to Hannibal, Mo., thence by rail to Macon, Mo., and from this point marched across country to: Boonville-a distance of fifty-eight miles. This march is an extra- ordinary one for men fresh from civil life and not inured to the hardships of military service. At Boonville, the regiment joined General Lyon's command on the 21st of June, where it remained until July 13th. On the 10th of August, General Lyon gave up his life on the battlefield at Springfield, or Wilson's Creek. The First Iowa Infantry rendered important service on this occasion. Immediately thereafter the regiment was ordered to St. Louis, where it was mustered out on the 21st of August. Practically all of the members of this regiment reenlisted for three years under subsequent call.
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