USA > Iowa > Butler County > History of Butler County, Iowa: a record of settlement., Volume 1 > Part 6
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).
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
-
---
-
Digitized by Google
,
1
65
HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY
and children! Brave hearts almost ceased to perform their proper functions! Timid women wrung their hands and fainted, while the children wept at beholding the fearful carnage! Quietude was at length restored; a hearty laugh indulged in; the war ended, and all returned to their peaceful homes. Thus closed the Indian massa- cre of 1854."
GENERAL ITEMS
The vital statistics of the county in the early days, were, as is not uncommon, more or less incomplete. It is commonly accepted that the first birth in the county was that of a son of Jeremiah and Elizabeth Perrin, who was born in March, 1852, on the Perrin farm east of what is now Clarksville. The child was named Wil- liam and died about six months later.
The first death recorded in the county occurred in the fall of 1851, when a man named Joseph Kirker, about forty years of age, died at the house of William S. Wamsley.
The first marriage license recorded in the county authorized Greenberry Luck and Susan Williams to be joined in the holy bonds of matrimony. This is dated Nov. 1, 1854. This mar- riage license is the first to be given on the books of the clerk's office, although two others bear earlier dates. These are Daniel W. Kinsley and Mary Farlow, dated Sept. 10, 1854, and Samuel E. Taylor and Julia E. Armstrong, on the 26th of Septem- ber, 1854. Both these marriages are recorded as having been cele- brated by a justice of the peace, Alfred M. Elam. The marriage of Greenberry Luck and Susan Williams took place at Clarksville on the same day that the license was issued. This marriage was cele- brated by Rev. W. P. Holbrook, a pioneer preacher of this section. The bride was the daughter of one Comfort Williams, who had come from Cedar Rapids in the summer of 1854 and settled in Pittsford township. Mr. Luck was also from Cedar Rapids and doubtless had been acquainted with the family before his arrival in the county. On the day of the wedding, Mr. Williams, the father of the bride, and a woman who had been living with him, doubtless considering the opportunity a favorable one, also pro- cured a marriage license and were joined in matrimony the same day and by the same preacher. Williams and his wife soon after- ward removed to Cedar Falls and Mr. and Mrs. Luck settled in Beaver township, where they resided for a number of years.
Digitized by Google
66
HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY
The first foreigner to be admitted to full American citizenship, in this county was William Gough, a native of England, who on the 6th of October, 1857, received his final papers of naturaliza- tion. Mr. Gough was a resident of Butler county from 1854, settling first on a farm in Dayton township and later on section 4, West Point township. He is the father of Thomas A. and Joseph J. Gough, at the present time well known and prominent citizens of the central part of the county.
The first school in the county was taught by Miss Malinda Searles, in a little log cabin in Clarksville, in 1855.
The first recorded transfer of land in Butler county was filed for record on Dec. 13, 1853, and is of a warranty deed issued by John F. Ballier, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, by his attor- ney, William J. Barney, to Alfred M. Elam, of Butler county, Iowa. It is of date Oct. 21, 1851. By this deed Mr. Elam came into possession of eighty acres, situated in section 28 of what is now Butler township. The consideration of this purchase was $200. This is the first warranty deed recorded but not the first instrument, the power of attorney from John F. Ballier to Wil- liam J. Barney, under which the latter negotiated the transfer referred to above, having been given on the 10th day of Septem- ber, 1851. This power of attorney was filed for record the same day as the warranty deed referred to above.
Several instruments bear earlier dates of filing than these two, the earliest of these being a deed from Barnett Grandon and wife, of Butler county, to Nathan Olmstead, of De Kalb county, Illinois, whereby forty acres in section 30, Beaver township, were transferred for the consideration of $150. This instrument is dated Sept. 10, 1853, and filed for record Sept. 21, 1853.
The first transfer of property by will in the county is that by which William Goheen, of Clinton county, Iowa, gives and devises to his two sons, James Wilson and Edward Rufus Goheen, his land in section 19, of Dayton township. This bequest is made with the following peculiar proviso, "provided they stay me until my death." It is concluded as follows:
"Signed, published and declared by the said William Goheen as and for his will in presents of us, who at his request have signed as witnesses to the same.
"Test.
"Delana McCain
"Frederick Hobbert.
Digitized by Google
67
HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY
"In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal this 20th day of February, 1852.
"William Goheen."
The date of filing of this instrument is Nov. 10, 1853.
These records were transcribed from the files in the office of the county recorder of Black Hawk county, to which at this time Butler county was joined for judicial purposes.
The first mortgage for land in Butler county was made on the 11th day of October, 1854, by John W. Sperring, of Oswego county, New York, to Reuben T. Davis, of Delaware county, Iowa, whereby the northeast quarter of the southwest quarter of sec- tion 10, in township 90 north, range 15 west, was mortgaged for the consideration of $432. This instrument bears the earliest date of any mortgage recorded on the records of Butler county, but is preceded on the books by several instruments bearing later dates. For this reason it has escaped the notice of previous writers.
The oldest living women in point of residence in the county at the date of writing this history are Mrs. M. M. Molsberry and Mrs. W. H. Moore, of Clarksville. Mrs. Molsberry was Sabra Jane Wamsley, a daughter of Malon B. Wamsley, who came to the county with her parents and settled near Clarksville in 1851. She has from that time to date been continuously a resident of the county-a period of sixty-three years.
Mrs. W. H. Moore, Mary Ann Perrin, was born in Pennsyl- vania in 1847, and came to Butler county with her parents, Jere- miah and Elizabeth Perrin, in the fall of 1851. Since coming to Iowa with her parents, Mrs. Moore has continuously resided in Butler county, except during the second year of her marriage, when they returned for a time to New York. About a year later they came again to Iowa and settled on a farm in Butler town- ship, on which they lived for many years. Mrs. Moore has been for more than six decades a witness of the growth and develop- ment of the county and state.
Henry Wamsley, oldest son of Malon B. Wamsley, was an infant, only a few months of age, when his parents first settled in Butler county, in the fall of 1851. Since that date he has been continuously a resident of the county and enjoys at the present time the distinction of the longest period of residence within the county limits of any man who is today living.
Digitized by Google
.
-
Digitized by
CHAPTER VII COUNTY GOVERNMENT
THE COUNTY COURT
As has been stated in a previous chapter, the permanent organ- ization of county government in Butler county was finally effected on Oct. 2, 1854. At that time the local government of coun- ties in Iowa was vested in a "county court," which consisted of county judge, county clerk and sheriff. In the first county elec- tion held in August, 1854, John Palmer was elected county judge, William E. Burton, clerk of the court, and R. T. Crowell, sheriff. The other officials elected at that time were: A. G. Clark, treas- urer and recorder; and James Griffith, school fund commissioner. The first term of the new county court was held in October, 1854, in Clarksville, then the county seat. The little log hut in which Mr. Clark sold groceries, was used as the first courthouse. The first entry in the records of this court is dated Oct. 2, 1854, and is as follows:
"Ordered that the following taxes be and are hereby levied: For state purposes, one and one-fourth mills on the dollar; for county purposes, five mills on the dollar ; for school purposes, one mill on the dollar; for road purposes, one mill on the dollar; poll for county purposes, 50 cents; poll for road purposes, $1.00.
"(Signed) John Palmer, "County Judge."
The first case tried before Judge Palmer was in connection with an application for writ of injunction made by Solomon W. Ingham against Daniel D. Myers, of Shell Rock, restraining him from selling a piece of land in section 2, Shell Rock township. Having filed his petition and given bond in the sum of $100, the writ was issued and placed in the hands of Sheriff Crowell for service. This took place on Oct. 12 and 13, 1854, and on the 19th the plaintiff was notified that on Jan. 1, 1855, a motion
69
Digitized by Google
70
HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY
would be made to dissolve the injunction. After further confer- ence between the parties this matter was deferred until early in February, 1855. On the date agreed upon the case was called up by the court, Attorneys M. M. Trumbull and A. Van Dorn appear- ing for Mr. Myers and Mr. Ingham, respectively. The motion to dissolve the injunction was sustained by the judge on the ground that the writ was not issued by a properly qualified offi- cer. Mr. Myers, by his attorney, moved to assess damages against the defendant in the amount of $100. This motion was over- ruled because no damages had been proven. A motion to allow evidence to prove damages was sustained. A jury of six was sum- moned, composed of T. T. Rawson, J. V. Hicks, D. C. Hilton, M. B. Wamsley, James Ford and R. W. Butler. After the exam- ination of a number of witnesses the jury brought in the follow- ing verdict: "We, the undersigned jurors, do agree that the said Solomon W. Ingham pay to the said Daniel D. Myers the sum of 25 cents, with costs." The costs were $5.90. Defendant gave notice of an appeal to the district court, but so far as the county court was concerned this first law suit ended here.
The third entry records the platting of the village of Clarks- ville. It is given below in its entirety :
"State of Iowa,
SS.
Butler County. S
"On this day, to-wit, October 27th, A. D., 1854, the plat of the village of Clarksville, with the acknowledgments of Thomas Clark, Elizabeth Clark, Jeremiah Clark, Maria Clark, D. C. Hil- ton, Seth Hilton, Elizabeth Hilton, Dan Mather and Roxana Mather, proprietors of the land upon which the above mentioned village is situated; that the same is with their free consent and in accordance with their desire. And the court being satisfied that the requirements of the law have been complied with, it is therefore ordered that the same be placed on the records of But- ler county, as the law requires.
"John Palmer,
"County Judge."
Thus Clarksville has the honor of being the oldest town in Butler county. At this same session of the court, H. F. L. Bur- ton was appointed clerk of the court and M. M. Trumbull, deputy treasurer and recorder. Harlan Baird, who had been elected prosecuting attorney in the August election, having failed to
Digitized by Google
i
71
HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY
qualify according to law, Aaron Van Dorn was appointed to fill the vacancy and thereafter served the county in this capacity. The first criminal case in the history of the county to be tried by the county court came up before a special term of court held Dec. 9, 1854. It was entitled
"The State of Iowa VS. William Casterline."
The entry on the minute book is as follows:
"Now, to-wit, December 9, 1854, comes Rufus L. Hardy, first being sworn, deposeth and saith on his oath that one William Casterline did threaten to beat, wound and murder the said Rufus L. Hardy, and further says that in consequence of said threats he, the said Hardy's life is in danger from the said Casterline and files an information to the above import, subscribed and sworn to as the law directs and producing Stephen L. Hardy as a witness verifying the above statement. A warrant issued directed to any sheriff or constable in the said county command- ing him to arrest and bring before the county court the said Casterline to answer according to law.
"Warrant returned served by arresting and bringing the said Casterline into court. When the court proceeded to try the case and upon hearing all the evidence in the case it is hereby ordered. by the court that the said defendant be held to bail in the sum of $100 to keep the peace and to answer at the next term of the district court of Butler county, in the state of Iowa.
"John Palmer, "County Judge."
"Bill of Costs.
"Sheriff's fees 55 cents
Witness 60 R. L. Hardy 50
S. L. Hardy. 50
66
Lucretia Hardy 50
66
66 James Mann 50
66
Mrs. Casterline 50
66
66 Daniel Clark 50
The further trial of this case is given in connection with the history of the district court of Butler county.
On the 29th of March, 1855, George W. and Elizabeth Adair presented to the court the plat of the town of Shell Rock. This
Digitized by Google
72
HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY
being in proper form, it was ordered recorded by the county judge.
In April, 1855, the second election was held, as a result of which Aaron Van Dorn was elected prosecuting attorney; W. H. Bishop, sheriff; and W. R. Jamison and Thomas Clark, justices of the peace. Appended to this chapter will be found a complete list of county officers from the beginning, it being deemed unnec- essary to devote more space to the consideration of the first elections.
THE FIRST COURTHOUSE
In an entry on the court records, dated June 4, 1855, the first steps toward providing a courthouse for Butler county are given. It is ordered "that sealed proposals (be received) for building a courthouse on the courthouse square, in the village of Clarks- ville, of the dimensions as follows: 40x40 feet, two stories high, the first to be 9 feet and the second 91/2 feet in height, to be made of good and durable material, either of wood or brick."
Nothing seems to have come of this effort to provide a home for the county officers, as on the 22d of April, 1856, the follow- ing record is found:
"In the Matter of Public Buildings.
"Whereas, great inconvenience is experienced by the county officers and other citizens in consequence of the want of room and accommodations for holding court and for the transaction of other public business, and whereas the county seat is entirely destitute of public buildings or of any other place in which the business of the county can be conveniently done or the public records safely and properly preserved, it is ordered by the county court of Butler county that advertisements be forthwith issued for sealed proposals for erecting a court house at Clarksville, the county seat of said county. Said court house to be 40 feet by 60 feet, two stories high, be of brick of good material and to be enclosed by the 1st of November, A. D., 1856. Said proposals to be received untill the first Monday of June next (1856). It is further ordered that a plan and specifications be procured and filed in the judge's office for reference.
"A. Van Dorn, "County Judge."
On Nov. 3, 1856, the court ordered that on account of insufficient means, want of time and material to complete or
Digitized by Google
present school house was built on its site
E
FIRST COURT HOUSE IN BUTLER COUNTY Built in 1856-7 at Clarksville and used as a school house from 1863 to 1903, when the
Digitized by
1
.
Digitized by
73
HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY
enclose it for protection against the weather, further progress of building the courthouse be postponed until the spring of 1857. This building was erected in the following year, and was used as a courthouse so long as Clarksville remained the county seat, and thereafter as a schoolhouse. It was finally torn down in 1903 to make room for the present commodious public school building.
From the first there was agitation for the removal of the county seat from Clarksville. It was recognized that while for the time being Clarksville was the center of population, its distance from the geographical center of the county would eventually ren- der it an unsatisfactory location for the county seat. The first petition looking toward the removal of the county seat from Clarksville was presented to the county court in June, 1856. It was eventually overruled by the judge.
EARLY ELECTIONS
On the first Monday of April, 1857, a special election was ordered to take place to fill a number of vacancies, which for one reason and another had occurred in the offices of drainage com- missioner, county clerk, surveyor and coroner.
At this same election a proposition for ratifying the courthouse loan was carried by a vote of 304 to 165. At this same election the question of borrowing $20,000 on five-year bonds for the purpose of building a number of bridges in the county was carried by a majority of 180. Eleven bridges were provided for by this propo- sition-one at Shell Rock, two near Clarksville, one at New Hart- ford, and the others in various other parts of the county.
Another special election was called for the 12th day of Septem- ber, 1857, for the purpose of determining whether or not the county should subscribe for $200,000 worth of stock, in bonds, payable in twenty years, in the Chicago, Iowa & Nebraska Railroad, with the proviso that the company should build its Cedar Valley branch through the county within one mile of Clarksville and Shell Rock. This proposition carried by a vote of 244 to 187. This railroad was never constructed. The Burlington, Cedar Rapids & Northern, however, fourteen years later constructed a line though the Shell Rock valley and gave to the county its first railroad service.
In this same special election, D. W. Miller was elected county judge by a majority of fifty-four votes over Alonzo Converse, the latter having made his campaign chiefly upon the removal of the Tel. I-B
Digitized by Google
74
HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY
county seat from Clarksville. The result of this election was con- tested by Mr. Converse, and although it appears from the record that Mr. Miller on the 29th of September, 1857, presented his bond and was duly qualified for the office of county judge, it appears from subsequent entry on October 5, 1857, that after a hearing before Judge J. D. Thompson, Miller was ordered to deliver the office and the books pertaining thereto to Converse. At the Novem- ber term of court this year Alonzo Converse was present and pre- sided as county judge.
THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
The Eighth General Assembly of Iowa in 1859 passed an act by which the county government thereafter was to be vested in a body termed the board of supervisors. By this act the old county court was abolished and a new body, consisting of one supervisor for each civil township, was vested with nearly all the authority formerly held by the county court. On the 7th day of January, 1861, the first meeting of the new board of supervisors chosen in accordance with this act was held at Butler Center, now become the seat of county government. This board, the membership of which is given below, effected an organization by the choice of Peter Coyle, of Madison township, as temporary chairman; James W. Davis as clerk; and Messrs. Milo Hard, of Beaver township, W. R. Jamison, of Pittsford, and Thomas Haggarty, of Dayton, as committee on credentials. The members then proceeded to draw lots to determine whether their terms should be one or two terms in length, according to law. As a result Messrs. Wilson, of Shell Rock, Haggarty, Stoner, Aldrich, Coyle, Long, Jamison and Taylor drew two-year terms, and the remaining members of the board one year.
At this first session of the board A. J. Thompkins presented himself for admission as supervisor from Butler township. After an examination of his credentials, the committee appointed for this purpose reported unfavorably. Mr. C. A. Bannon was seated as supervisor from this township. James W. Davis, who was chosen clerk of the board of supervisors at this first session, remained in this office throughout the entire period, during which the county government was in the hands of a board of sixteen supervisors. A complete list of the various members of this board from 1861 to 1870, with the chairman for each year, is given below.
Digitized by Google
75
HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY
MEMBERS OF THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
1861-Madison, Peter Coyle, chairman; Albion, S. H. Taylor; Beaver, Milo Hard; Bennezette, Milton Wilson; Butler, C. A. Bannon; Coldwater, Moses Aldrich; Dayton, Thomas Haggarty; Jackson, Jonathan Gilbert; Jefferson, O. Rice; Monroe, Wells A. Curtis; Pittsford, W. R. Jamison; Ripley, George W. Stoner; Shell Rock, James Wilson; Washington, W. H. Long; West Point, Julius Hoffman; Fremont, S. Bonwell.
1862-Madison, Peter Coyle, chairman; Albion, S. H. Taylor; Beaver, Milo Hard; Bennezette, Milton Wilson; Coldwater, Moses Aldrich; Dayton, Thomas Haggarty; Jackson, Jonathan Gilbert; Pittsford, W. R. Jamison; Washington, W. H. Long; West Point, Julius Hoffman; Fremont, S. Bonwell; Butler, James R. Fletcher; Shell Rock, James Wilson; Jefferson, W. A. Lathrop; Monroe, J. J. Criswell; Ripley, George W. Stone.
1863-Madison, Peter Coyle, chairman; Fremont, S. Bonwell; Jefferson, W. A. Lathrop; Monroe, J. J. Criswell; Beaver, Milo Hard; Jackson, J. Gilbert; West Point, J. Hoffman; Bennezette, Milton Wilson; Coldwater, William J. Nettleton; Pittsford, John M. Nichols; Ripley, John C. Hites; Shell Rock, M. Hollenbeck; Washington, H. A. Tucker; Dayton, C. Forney; Butler, J. R. Fletcher, resigned, A. J. Thompkins to fill vacancy; Albion, S. H. Taylor.
1864-Monroe, J. J. Criswell, chairman; Albion, S. H. Taylor; Coldwater, William J. Nettleton; Pittsford, John M. Nichols; Ripley, John C. Hites; Madison, Peter Coyle; Washington, H. A. Tucker; Dayton, C. Forney; Bennezette, I. Chamberlin; West: Point, Johnson Lawyer; Beaver, William Rosebrough; Jefferson,. E. B. Allen; Shell Rock, Thomas G. Copeland; Jackson, M. B .. Wamsley; Fremont, S. J. Boorom; Butler, H. F. L. Burton.
1865-Butler, H. F. L. Burton, chairman, resigned; Madison, Peter Coyle, chairman; Dayton, Thomas Haggarty; Fremont, S. J. Boorom; Monroe, J. J. Criswell; Jackson, M. B. Wamsley; West Point, J. Lawyer; Bennezette, I. Chamberlin; Coldwater, Joseph Miller; Pittsford, James Harlan; Shell Rock, W. S. Wilson, resigned, J. G. Scoby to fill vacancy; Jefferson, E. B. Allen, resigned, W. A. Lathrop to fill vacancy; Ripley, J. B. Bullis; Washington, R. R. Parriott; Albion, R. W. Shaw; Beaver, James Collar; Butler, E. Fowle to fill vacancy.
Digitized by Google
76
HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY
1866-Madison, Peter Coyle, chairman; Fremont, S. J. Boorom; West Point, J. Lawyer; Jackson, M. B. Wamsley; Butler, Edwin Fowle; Shell Rock, J. G. Scoby; Beaver, James Collar; Albion, R. W. Shaw; Coldwater, Joseph Miller; Pittsford, James Harlan; Ripley, James Bullis; Washington, R. R. Parriott; Dayton, Thomas Haggarty; Monroe, J. J. Criswell; Jefferson, Stephen Morse; Bennezette, Oliver Evans.
1867-Butler, Edwin Fowle, chairman; Fremont, S. J. Boorom; Bennezette, O. Evans; West Point, J. Lawyer; Jackson, M. B. Wamsley; Shell Rock, J. G. Scoby; Jefferson, S. Morse; Dayton, J. V. Boggs; Coldwater, James Griffith; Pittsford, S. B. Dumont; Ripley, Henry Trotter; Madison, T. W. Smith; Washington, M. F. Whitney; Monroe, Isaac Hall; Beaver, A. Converse; Albion, W. H. Hersey.
1868-Pittsford, S. B. Dumont, chairman; Dayton, J. V. Boggs; Bennezette, O. Evans; Jackson, M. B. Wamsley; Monroe, J. J. Criswell; Coldwater, James Griffith; Ripley, H. Trotter; Madison, T. W. Smith; Albion, W. H. Hersey; Fremont, S. Bonwell; West Point, B. F. Garrett; Butler, J. Lyle; Beaver, Amos Nettleton; Shell Rock, J. Preston; Jefferson, J. Palmer, removed, George Murphy, ad interim, James McEachron to fill vacancy; Washing- ton, M. F. Whitney.
1869 Pittsford, S. B. Dumont, chairman; Fremont, S. Bon- well; West Point, B. F. Garrett; Jackson, M. B. Wamsley; Ripley, H. Trotter; Monroe, J. J. Criswell; Madison, T. W. Smith; Beaver, A. Converse; Jefferson, James McEachron; Albion, W. H. Hersey; Bennezette, O. Evans; Butler, J. M. Lyle; Dayton, J. F. Newhard; Coldwater, J. M. Miller; Shell Rock, E. L. Thorp; Washington, William Kenefick.
1870-Pittsford, S. B. Dumont, chairman; Jefferson, James McEachron; Jackson, M. B. Wamsley; Albion, W. H. Hersey; Madison, T. W. Smith; Beaver, A. Converse; Ripley, H. Trotter; West Point, B. F. Garrett; Dayton, J. F. Newhard; Coldwater, James Griffith; Washington, William Kenefick; Fremont, E. P. Day; Monroe, Isaac Hall; Butler, J. R. Jones; Shell Rock, J. Preston; Bennezette, W. A. Keister.
The last meeting of the board of supervisors represented by a member from each township was held in the fall of 1870. Under the new law, still in force, the members of the board convened on
Digitized by Google
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.