USA > Iowa > Butler County > History of Butler County, Iowa, a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement, Volume I > Part 31
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The township is without any town or village. Allison, Bris- tow, Kesley and Parkersburg are the market points which serve the interests of the people of the township. Rural mail routes from these points reach practically every farm home.
Thirty years ago a considerable portion of farming land of the township was held by non-resident owners and remained in its wild state without any improvements whatsoever. At the present time, however, practically all of the land is farmed by resident owners. The township plat shows a number of these lands of relatively small acreage along the West Fork, especially in sections 23 and 24.
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HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY
EARLY SETTLEMENTS
The first land entry in Ripley township was made by Hugh Mullarky, October 13, 1853. He made entries to sections 23 and 24 adjacent to his holdings in Jefferson township, already mentioned. The second entry on the records of the government land office of Ripley township indicate that on May 12, 1854, Richard Merrill entered land in sections 15, 23 and 24. D. H. MeCormack, June 26, 1854, also made an entry of land in section 15. - All these entries were within the 'timbered area. Other entries in 1854 were made by Samuel Harsh, May 13; George Mc- Conell, October 2; Henry Gray, J. C. and F. G. Walker, Novem- ber 3; and James Hunter, November 21. These entries likewise were located in close proximity to the river.
The honor of the first settlement in the township belongs to George MeConnell, who in the May previous to the entry men- tioned above staked out a claim on section 15. After living on his claim for some years he removed temporarily from the county but returned later. He died in 1862 of 1863 at the home of Nathan Linn, in Monroe township. The land which he entered was later a part of the Henry C. Mead estate. Mr. McConnell was unmar- ried and was known among his associates as the "old bach." His house was a sort of wayside inn, as it always furnished shelter for the traveler or the land seeker.
James Hunter, whose name is mentioned in the land entries above, was the second settler in the township. coming in Novem- ber, 1854. He spent the first winter with Mr. McConnell. In the following spring he took up his residence upon the land which he had previously entered.
J. C. and Christian ILites settled in the township in July, 1855, J. C. Ilites making a claim on section 20, and Christian on see- tion 28. These brothers were the founders of families that are still residents of Ripley township and have occupied a prominent place in its history and development. Other farms were chiefly located in the southwestern portion of the township around what afterwards came to be known as Hitesville.
Nathan Linn preceded the Hites by a short time and was the third settler in the township. He located on section 14 but later removed to Monroe township and still later to Jefferson township.
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HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY
Andrew Hesse came in August, 1855, and settled on section 20. About the same time Michacl Considine with his family came from Nova Scotia and settled in section 9. In the same year a Mr. Ulery came from Illinois and settled in the township. George W. Stoner also settled in the township in 1855.
Among the settlers of 1855 were John G. Moorchead, who settled on section 4, and George Monroe, Sr. About the same time Mr. Elmore sent a brother-in-law, Mr. Fortner, to develop a tract of land in the township. Fortner was the pioneer manu- facturer of the township, engaged in the production of a limited amount of limburger cheese. The factory did not prove to be wholly successful, whether due to the inferior strength of the product or not is unknown. However, Fortner proved to be a financier of some ability, as he sold his brother-in-law's team and pocketing the proceeds, departed for the far west.
In the following years the township settled up with compara- tive rapidity. Daniel Haynes, Edwin Kincaid, Henry Trotter, Joseph L. Santee, Jacob Yost and J. S. Margretz may be men- tioned as among the later settlers who by their ability and influ- ence helped the township to take its place among the corporate sub-divisions of Butler county.
OFFICIAL ORGANIZATION
As originally constituted, Ripley township was organized on the 5th of February, 1855, and inchided what is now comprised in Madison, Monroe, Washington, West Point, Pittsford and Ben- nezette townships-almost one-half of the county. In March, 1856, these limits were restricted by the formation from this ter- ritory of the townships of West Point and Monroe. At the same time Bennezette township was added to Coldwater. Ripley there- after included only what is now Madison township in addition to its own present limits. Madison was given separate organiza- tion in September, 1860, thus reducing the civil township of Rip- lev to the limits of the congressional township numbered 91 north, range 17 west of the fifth principal meridian.
A complete list of the first township officers cannot be given. In the April election of 1855, John Lash was elected clerk : Isaac Boylan, constable; and H. A. Early, justice of the peace. These men were all of them residents of the portion of the then township in the neighborhood of Boylan's grove. Vrl 1 -24
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HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY
Of the township with its present limits John Hites was the first clerk. The first election was held in a sod house owned and built by Moffatt and Mason, two factory men from New York. It is said that at the time of this election there were not enough settlers to fill all the offices and one man was required to bear the honors of two or three.
HITESVILLE
In 1871 a postoffice was established at Hitesville, with J. S. Margretz as the first postmaster, the office being located at his house on section 19. This office was served by a mail carrier on the route from Aplington to Bristow. Later the ronte was changed to run from Aplington to Hitesville. This office was later superseded by the office at Kesley.
GENERAL ITEMS
The first birth in the township was that of a son, Allen, to Mr. and Mrs. James Hunter, on the 2d of Angust, 1856.
The first death was a child of Samuel Kimmel, in the fall of 1855. The burial took place in a cemetery located on the north- west corner of the northeast quarter of section 29, being the first interment in this cemetery.
The first marriage was that of Richard Davenport and Miss Susanna Kimmel at the home of the bride's parents, the ceremony being performed by Justice J. J. Criswell. The marriage took place in the fall of 1859.
EDUCATIONAL
The first school in the township was taught by Miss Susanna Kimmel, in the summer of 1858, in a building erected for the pur- pose on section 20. The second school taught in the following simmer by Miss Charlotte Levis was in a building located on see- tion 15. James Hunter donated an acre of land for this school site.
After the township became more thickly settled it was organ- ized as a district township and divided into seven sub-districts. At that time distriet No. 1 ineInded six sections, Nos. 1. 2, 11 and 12, and 13 and 14, with schoolhouse in the eastern part of section
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HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY
11; district No. 2, composed of sections 3, 4, 9 and 10, 15 and 16, with its school building on the north side of section 10; district No. 3 consisted of section 5 and a portion of sections 6, 7 and 8, north of the river; No. 4 comprised sections 29, 30, 31 and 32 and the south half of sections 19 and 20; No. 5 comprised six sections, Nos. 21, 22, 27, 28, 33 and 34. The schoolhouse is located on sec- tion 28. No. 6 contained sections 23, 24, 25 and 26, 35 and 36, with its schoolhouse on section 36; district No. 7 embraced those por- tions of sections 7 and 8 south of the river and sections 17 and 18, and the north half of sections 19 and 20.
This form of organization was retained for some years. In 1874 the system was changed and the township was divided into independent districts, with the same boundaries as those pre- scribed for the sub-districts above, except that district No. 3 was made to include all of sections 7 and S. District No. 1 was there- after known as the McEachron district; No. 2, Fairview; No. 3, Fort Sumpter; No. 4, Melrose; No. 5, Glendale; No. 6, Excelsior ; No. 7, Spring Garden.
In 1911 a new district in the center of the township comprised of sections 15, 16, 21 and 22, known as the Mead independent dis- triet, was formed, and a new schoolhouse erected on the south side of section 15. The McEachron, Excelsior and Fairview districts all have erected new school buildings within the past few years.
POPULATION
1856, 86; 1860, 151; 1863, 121; 1865, 148; 1867, 200; 1869, 255; 1870, 299; 1873, 376; 1875; 377; 1880, 453: 1890, 493; 1900, 621; 1910, 602.
WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP
The township of Washington occupies a position at the ex- treme southwestern corner of the county. Its general character- istics are different in no essential respects from the neighboring townships in Butler county, its surface being rolling prairie, broken in the southern part by the valley of Beaver creek. The northern branch of Beaver creek flows through the central portion of the township, entering into the main stream near the east line of section 23. The Beaver in its course through this township has a considerably smaller flow than in its course further to the east.
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HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY
Except in extremely dry weather, however, its flow is constant. It is bordered by timber, much of which has been cut away. In the eastern part of the township there is a large natural grove, which originally covered an extent of approximately one thou- sand acres. Another grove in the southeastern part of sections 31 and 32 is called Island grove.
There are a number of natural springs in the township, the largest of these, known as Big Spring, in an early day being a favorite camping ground for emigrants in their way westward.
The settlement of Washington township, although it began at a date approximately as early as that of other townships similarly located in the county, progressed very slowly until some years after the war. This is explained chiefly by the fact that much of the land was taken up by speculators and was not put upon the market until a comparatively late date.
The real development of the township did not begin until after 1870. For fifteen years thereafter much of the land of the town- ship remained wild, unbroken prairie. Today, however, the land is all occupied by farmers and much of it is farmed by residents.
The quality of the soil is second to none in the county and the products of the farms are equal both in quality and in quantity to those of other farms in this garden spot of the great agricul- tural west. A study of the list of landowners in Washington township reveals the fact that by far the greater part of the farms of this township are owned by Germans. This to any one who is familiar with the history of rural communities which have been settled by the German people, indicates without necessity of further conment, that the land is being cultivated intensively and rapidly being brought to the highest degree of produetiveness. Land values in Washington township reach practically the highest limit received for farming land in Butler county. Rental prices. too, are higher here than in most other sections of the county. These facts also indicate the progressive character of the farming population in this section.
The Illinois Central Railroad traverses the township from east to west in its southern portion, having been constructed in 1865. For a quarter of a century thereafter, however, there was neither store, postoffice or railway station within the limits of the town- ship. Since then a railway station and postoffice have been estab- lished at Austinville, which now is the only village within the township limits. Kesley to the northeast, Aplington to the south-
.
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HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY
east and Ackley to the southwest, form the trading points for the farmers of Washington township.
EARLY SETTLEMENT
The first settlement in Washington township was made in the spring of 1853 by R. M. and E. Purcell, two brothers, who made a business of keeping just ahead of the line of settlement and selecting the most valuable claims in the new territory. When the pioneers in search of permanent homes reached them, they would sell these claims at a good figure and move on again to repeat the venture in other localities farther west. R. E. Purcell located a claim on section 24 and his brother Ellery on section 25. The latter erected a log house and broke about eight acres of prairie sod, on which he raised a first crop of corn. This was in the year 1853 and may be taken as the beginning of the agricultural devel- opment of Washington township.
In the spring of 1854 R. R. Parriott located in the township and purchased Ellery Purcell's land in section 25. Mr. Parriott's first visit to the township must have been not later than the fall of 1853, as on the 2d of Jannary, 1854, he made entry in the gen- eral land office of two claims in Washington township, located on sections 14 and 32. Renben Purcell made the second entry on the 22d of April, 1854. The early history of Washington township would be like Hamlet with Hamlet left out, if an attempt were to be made to write it without mention of R. R. Parriott.
Mr. Parriott was a native of Virginia and came to Washington township from Stephenson county, Illinois. He returned in June, 1854, to Illinois, and on the 4th of July started back for his new home, accompanied by his family. They came overland with seven yoke of oxen, three horses, three wagons and a carriage, and were one month on the way.
On his arrival he found that the log house previously built by- Ellery Pureell was too small to accommodate his family, which munbered thirteen. He therefore erected another log house 16x24 feet, with a lean-to 12x24 feet in dimensions. This was the first house in the township to be used as a hotel. After the establish- ment of the stage line from Cedar Falls to Fort Dodge, the Par- riott house became a regular stopping place for the stage.
Mr. Parriott was the first postmaster in this part of the county. He was the owner of the present site of the city of Ackley in
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HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY
Hardin comity and conveyed to the Dubuque & Sioux City Rail- road Company one-half of the town site, or every alternate town lot. The company conveyed their interest in turn to William J. Ackley, of Waterloo, from whom the town derived its name.
Mr. Parriott was at one time the owner of more than twenty- five hundred acres of land in this part of the county. He gave the Dubuque & Sioux City railroad a right of way through his tract of land and worked for its establishment. He was also liberal in contributing to the Illinois Central Company, which constructed a line north of Ackley through Hampton about this time. Of his family of nine sons and two daughters, six sons served their coun- try in the Union army during the Civil war. Two of these were killed in battle. Mr. Parriott lived on his land here until his death in 1871.
On the same date as the entry of land by Mr. Parriott, Sarah E. Craw entered a claim on the same section, 24, and on July 29, 1854. Lewis Craw entered a claim on section 25. "Doc" Craw, as he was generally called, sold the improvements on his claim in 1855 to Robert Howard, one of the company of settlers who came from Hardin county to lowa in company with J. M. Caldwell, of Monroe township. Land was also entered in 1854 by Nathan Pussy on October 2d, in section 24, and J. M. Caldwell, who is noticed at length in connection with the history of Monroe town- ship, in section 22. These were all of the land entries in the town- ship in the year 1854.
In 1855 William Stockdale built a log house, which he had taken up on section 23. In 1862 he enlisted in the army and died in the service. His remains were brought back and buried in Aplington cemetery. His father, Charles Stockdale, came to the township in 1856 and made his home with his son William until the time of his death, which occurred in December, 1859. Several other children were at various times residents of the township.
Jonathan Gee, one of the early township officers of Monroe township, when it inehided Washington within its limits, came also in the spring of 1855 from Henderson county, Illinois, with a company, most of whom settled in Monroe township. He located on sections 23 and 24 and erected a log house and made other im- provements. A year or so later he sold his claim and returned to Illinois.
Morris F. Whitney was another settler of 1855. He has been mentioned as an early school teacher in the old township of Mon-
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HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY
roe. His farm was on section 24. He divided his time between teaching and farming.
Wesley H. Long, a native of Ohio, settled on section 23. He was the man to whom was entrusted the organization of the town- ship when Washington was given a separate corporate existence. Long later enlisted in the volunteer army and died in the service in New Orleans, Louisiana, in April, 1864. Previous to the date of his enlistment he had served as a member of the board of super- visors of Washington township.
James Gray in 1856 came from Illinois and purchased the farm of Jonathan Gee. Mrs. Rachel Quinn settled in the township in 1856. Her husband, John Quinn, died of cholera while on his way to California during the gold fever of 1850. He was buried on the plains. In 1856 Mrs. Quinn took her family of ten children and started west to seek a new home, purchasing land in Washington township, where she lived until 1858, when she moved to Apling .. ton and built the first hotel.
Alfred Munson, a southerner, came to Washington township in 1858 and boarded for a time with R. R. Parriott. He purchased a large traet of land in the western part of the township and built a house on section 31. When the war broke out he returned to his old home and enlisted in the southern army. He never returned for residence to Washington township. This is the only record known at present of an enlistment from Butler county in the army of the Confederate states.
This practically completes the list of settlers in the township before the close of the Civil war. Among the representative set- tlers in the years immediately succeeding the war may be men- tioned Patrick Kenefick, Henry and William Austin and Hugh G. Scallon.
Patrick Kenefick settled in the township in 1868, coming from Wisconsin. His home was on section 19, where in 1869 he built a house. Mr. Kenefiek was supervisor from Washington town- ship during the latter period of the county government by a board of sixteen supervisors.
The Austin brothers, Henry and William, were natives of Eng- land. They emigrated to America with their parents when very young and settled in Michigan. Later they moved to Wisconsin. In 1868 they came to Iowa and purchased land in Washington township. Henry Austin located on section 21. In the spring of 1869 he broke ninety acres of land and planted his first erop. His
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HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY
brother William located on sections 21 and 22. Henry Austin was killed in 1912 in an automobile accident in Waterloo. William is still a resident of Washington township. A number of children of the two families are resident landowners of Butler county. As a family, the Austins unquestionably rank among the most exten- sive landowners in Butler county. The town of Austinville is named for these brothers.
Hugh C. Scallon was born in the Province of Quebec, Canada, came to the United States in 1855 with his parents, and settled in Wisconsin. Here he made his home until 1869, when he came to Washington township and settled on section 20.
Other settlers in the period following the Civil war, without regard to the date of settlement, were: Elisha Tobey, Thomas Clark, James Keenan, Daniel Beninga, J. Winne, Patrick Parker, J. J. Burnham, Samuel Croot, E. Wiechman, P. De Vries, Frank Parker, M. D. Eustis. Lafayette Le Valley, Harrison Combs and Robert Martin.
GENERAL ITEMS
Probably the first birth in the township was that of Geneva, a daughter of Anthony and Melinda Parriott, May 19, 1857.
The first marriage in the township was Anthony J. Parriott and Melinda Spangler, August 7, 1856.
The first death in the township was in 1853, when an infant child of Ellery Purcell died and was buried on his farm.
The first religious services in the township were held at the hotel of R. R. Parriott, in the winter of 1854-5, Elder Crippin, of Hardin county, being the presiding clergyman.
A Methodist Episcopal Society was organized in 1855 by Ekler Stewart, of Hazel Green, Hardin county. Robert Howard was class leader. They afterward held meetings in Anthony Howard's log stable. Later this organization was moved to Aplington.
The first postoffice established in the township was called Al- gonquin. R. R. Parriott was appointed postmaster here in 1855. The office was kept at his hotel until 1857, when it was moved to Aplington. In recent years an office was established at Austin- ville, now the only postoffice in the township. The residents of the township are now served by rural routes from Ackley and Aplington in addition to Austinville.
The first blacksmith shop in the township was opened by a man by the name of Shaw from Waterloo, in 1857. R. R. Parriott fur-
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HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY
nished hin the logs with which to build a shop and he erected it on the northwestern part of section 25. Mr. Shaw did not long remain. After his departure the building was used for school pur- poses.
OFFICIAL ORGANIZATION
Washington township was originally part of the civil township of Ripley according to the organization of the county into town- ships in 1855. In 1857 the county court redistricted the county into townships, making Washington township a part of the civil township of Monroe. The records of the county court during the September term of 1860 contain the following entry which is self- explanatory :
"September 3, 1860.
"Now on this 3d day of September, 1860, W. H. Long pre- sented a petition asking that congressional township No. 90 N., of range 18 West, be organized into a township for civil purposes. It is therefore ordered by the court that Washington township be and hereby is organized and bounded as follows, to-wit: By congressional lines of township 90 North, range 18 West of the fifthi principal meridian, in Butler county, Iowa, and a warrant issued permitting Win. H. Long to call the first election in said township on Tuesday, the 6th day of November, A. D., 1860, to be holden at the house of R. R. Parriott in said township for the purpose of electing the county and several township officers to be chosen at the election in 1860.
"Attest.
"A. CONVERSE, County Judge JAMES W. DAVIS, County Clerk."
Among the first officers elected at this election were Robert Howard, justice of the peace, and Silas Beebe. constable.
EDUCATIONAL
The first school in the township was taught by Mrs. Chiches- ter, at Morris Whitney's house, in the summer of 1857. It was a select school. In the winter of 1857-8 school was kept in Anthony Parriott's log stable. S. B. Decker was the teacher. After the departure of a blacksmith named Shaw, who is men- tioned above, the building which he used for a shop was used for school purposes, and Samuel Burke and August Arnold, of Iowa
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HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY
Falls, were among the first teachers in it. The first schoolhouse erected in the township was built in 1863 at the northwest corner of section 25. David Washburn was the first teacher in this schoolhouse.
In 1868 a board shanty was erected on section 7, which was used for school purposes until 1873. This stood on section 4 in what is now sub-district No. 2. The first school in the southwest- ern portion of the township was held in a private house on section 31. In 1869 a schoolhouse was erected in the same section. Mary McGill was the first teacher in this schoolhouse. In this same year the citizens of the northeastern part of the township built a small board shanty on the line of sections 11 and 12, where Miss Martha Clark taught the first term of school. In 1870 a school was organized in William Kenefick's granary, with his daughter Nellie as the first teacher.
A schoolhouse was erected on section 19, in 1872, with Miss Cynthia Bird as the first teacher. In 1876 a schoolhouse was erected on section 27, with Miss Emma Wright as the first instructor. In 1878 a board shanty was erected on the hill just south of the present location of the schoolhouse in district No. 2. Miss Anna Ford was the first teacher. A schoolhouse was erected on section 36 in 1880, with Bertha Brace as the first instructor.
At the present time the township is organized into nine sub- districts, numbered consecutively from the northeastern part. The schoolhouse in district No. 1 stands in the northwestern cor- ner of section 11. No. 2 is similarly located in section 9, and No. 3 in section 7. The residents of the western and central portions of the township are accommodated by school No. 4, situated on the south line of section 19, and No. 5 at the southwestern corner of section 15. Schoolhouse No. 6 is at the southwest corner of ser- tion 13; No. 1, the northwest corner of section 36.
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