USA > Iowa > Chickasaw County > History of Chickasaw and Howard counties, Iowa, Volume I > Part 36
USA > Iowa > Howard County > History of Chickasaw and Howard counties, Iowa, Volume I > Part 36
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Again, at the June session, the board directed the county officers "to remove their offices to the building now being constructed by the Howard County Court- house Association in the Village of Cresco, whenever the committee shall decide to accept it as a safe and suitable place for the same."
This was done, but legally the old courthouse between Vernon Springs and New Oregon was still considered the county seat. The board thereupon, at the September session, 1876, issued the following proclamation :
"To the Legal Voters of Howard County, Iowa:
"You are hereby notified that at the regular session of the board of super- visors of the County of Howard, Iowa, held at the courthouse in said county commencing on the first day of September, 1867, a petition of over one thousand of the qualified electors of said county was presented to the said board of super- visors, asking that the said board order that at the next general election, to be held in said county, on November 7. 1876, a vote be taken in said county by the qualified electors thereof, upon the question of relocating the county seat of said
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county, which said petition designates Cresco, in said county, as the point at which the said commissioners desire to have the said county seat relocated, and it appear- ing to the said board that due notice of the presentation of such petition to the board of supervisors had been given by three insertions in the Iowa Plaindealer, a weekly newspaper, published in said county, the last of which was more than sixty days before the said September meeting of the said board of supervisors, and it appearing to the board of supervisors by the affidavits accompanying the said petition, that the signers thereof were all legal and their signatures genuine, and that at least one-half the legal voters of the said county, as shown by the last preceding census, had signed said petition, it was therefore ordered by the said board of supervisors that at the next general election to be held in said county. on November 7, 1876, the question of relocating the county seat of said county be submitted to the qualified electors of said county, and that said vote be taken. between Cresco, in said county, and the present existing county seat, and that the form of the ballot thereof be as follows :
"For the county seat at Cresco; For the county seat at the place designated by the commissioners in 1858, about half way between the villages of New Oregon and Vernon Springs ; of all of which you will take due notice, and govern your- selves accordingly.
"THOMAS GRIFFIN, "JAMES OAKLEY, "A. G. HUBBARD, "Supervisors."
In the face of the fact that over one thousand people signed the petition, the vote of November 7. 1876, stood 969 to 800 in favor of retaining the county seat in "no man's land" between Vernon Springs and New Oregon. Here resulted a situation difficult of solution. The courthouse at Pike's Peak was utterly impos- sible as a home for the county records and offices. . Many plans were devised. but none was acted upon. The courthouse at Cresco burned in the meantime and then came the question of rebuilding it, which logically enough, brought the solution of the problem. The location of the old courthouse in the country was within two miles of Cresco and an act was passed by the Legislature whereby towns were given authority to take any adjacent territory within a radius of two miles and exercise control over such territory when in its corporate limits. Also. another act followed, whereby the right was given to remove a courthouse within the corporate limits in which it was situated. Cresco took advantage of these acts and in 1877 located the courthouse in the center of the town. In 1880 the present courthouse was finished, having been started in 1879, and the board ordered all records, etc., moved from the home of A. D. Wright to the new build- ing. Wright's home had been utilized after the fire which destroyed the first structure. This closed all further controversy as to the location of the county seat of Howard County.
In June, 1882, the board instructed the auditor to advertise for bids for the building of a jail, to be erected of brick, with steel cells, and also for the erection of a sheriff's residence to be attached thereto. The bids were not deemed satis- factory and the officials decided to erect the building themselves, and A. G. Hub- bard was appointed as building supervisor.
The first effort of Howard County citizens to provide for the poor and desti-
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tute is not definitely recorded, but upon the books of the early county judges may be found many items relative to the payment of small sums to the needy. In 1866 the first effort was made to purchase a farm and erect buildings for the keeping of paupers and aged people. The committee appointed for the purpose of buying a suitable place did nothing of permanent character. Several methods were tried then for the securing of a farm, but none was successful. However, in 1881, the board of supervisors became the owners of a farm on the northeast quarter of section II, township 99, range II. This land was originally known as school land, was purchased by some people on contract, but was never deeded. It was covered by mortgages and judgments, so the county bought up all claims against it, foreclosed the mortgages and bought it at sale.
ROSTER OF COUNTY OFFICIALS
Howard County officials from the beginning to the present time (1917) are shown by the following roster, compiled from the election returns of the county. The dates given are those of election.
COUNTY JUDGES
James G. Upton. 1855-60
C. E. Berry 1862-64
Edmund Gillett (acting) 1857
S. W. Seeley. 1864-65
Darius Seeley
1860-61
D. O. Preston 1865-69
D. W. Owen
1861-62
CLERKS
Edmund Gillett
1855-60
Jacob Welsh 1886-90
James H. B. Harris
1860-61
J. L. Bowman. 1890-92
E. W. Allen
1861-62
S. S. Culver. . 1892-96
C. F. Webster. 1862-64
C. A. Loomis 1896-1900
Aaron Kimball 1864-68
George L. Hatter . 1900-04
S. A. Stone.
1868-74
Eugene Irvine
. 1904-08
C. F. Webster
1874-82
F. C. Blandin. . 1908-14
William Theophilus
1882-86
J. W. Platt 1914-
RECORDER AND TREASURER
William Woodward
1855-56 H. A. Cook. 1858-60
F. N. Jewett
1856-58 A. M. Cowan 1 860-64
TREASURERS
J. F. Webster 1865-67
P. T. Searles 1885-89
M. M. Moon.
1867-73
H. C. Salisbury . 1889-93
Frank Kyte
1873-77
L. H. Sisco . 1893-97
Patrick Griffin
1877-80
George R. Story 1897-1903
E. H. Conger.
1880-81
John Kakac 1903-10
Charles I. White.
1881-85
A. L. White. 1910-
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CHICKASAW AND HOWARD COUNTIES
RECORDERS
S. W. Seeley I864-66
E. A. Watson.
1898-1902
William H. Patterson. I866-82
Fred Salisbury
I902-08
Carl K. Berg 1882-86
W. F. Scholz. 1908-10
P. C. Howe
1886-90
Ed L. Weaklen
1910-16
John Mulholland 1890-94
Will B. Davis
. 1916-
E. J. Thomas
1894-98
AUDITORS
C. S. Thurber 1869-73
E. J. Williams.
1 896-1900
Jerry Barker 1873-77
George L. Champlin. 1900-04
John E. Peck
1877-83
C. L. Terry . 1904-08
B. F. Davis.
1883-87
John H. Jones . 1908-12
E. R. Thompson
. 1887-92
E. A. Hoopman.
. 1912-
William G. Fish.
1892-96
SHERIFFS
John Harlow
. 1855-59
Jacob J. Lowry 1879-83
James Carpenter 1859-60
H. A. Axtell.
1883-87
P. T. Searles
1860-65
J. A. Hall. 1887-91
J. F. Powell I865-69
F. P. Howlett 1891-95
J. T. Hall.
1869-73
A. C. Campbell
1895-1906
C. B. Ashley
1873-75
S. S. Culver 1906-12
Samuel L. Thompson . 1875-79
D. J. Ferrie.
. 1912-
SURVEYORS
John C. Miles 1856-60
P. N. Glathart 1877-81
Laban Hassett
I860-65
W. W. Williams 1881-83
P. N. Glathart.
1865-73
Laban Hassett 1883-91
Laban Hassett
1873-77
W. L. Richards 1891-1912
The office of county surveyor has been abolished and that of county engineer substituted.
CORONERS
John F. Mitchell I856-61
J J. Clemmer. 1885-89
J. W. Baird.
1861-63
E. E. Overfield. 1889-91
J. J. Clemmer. 1863-73
J. J. Clemmer 1891-95
H. C. Price.
1873-75
Devillo P. Simonds 1895-99
James McCollum 1875-79
T. S. Carpenter 1899-1906
H. C. Price. 1879-81
G. A. Plummer . 1906-10
O. N. Hoyt.
1881-83
H. W. Plummer 1910-16
F. Freemire
1883-85
F. J. Epenter 1916
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CHICKASAW AND HOWARD COUNTIES
ATTORNEYS
M. V. Burdick.
1855- ?
C. T. Granger 1869-74
G. L. Faust ..
1874-78
Clark C. Upton 1902-06
Cyrus Wellington
1878-86
D. L. Grannis.
1906-08
W. K. Barker
1886-90
Joseph Griffin
1908-14
Frank Sayre
1890-92
C. W. Reed.
. 1914-
SUPERVISORS
J. W. Barrel
1860
G. W. Ostrander 1860
P. T. Searles 1866
T. R. Perry 1860
I. C. Chamberlain 1866
T. Griffin 1860
Thomas Griffin
1866
S. W. Seeley.
1860
William Burleigh 1866
J. H. Boggess 1860
S Radford 1860
Thomas Sullivan 1869
M. Niles 1860
C. M. Munson
1860
N. Lydon
I869
W. Strother
1860
C. A. Salmon 1860
S. L. Cary 1860
E. V. White 1861
H. D. Noble.
1861
W. D. Darrow
1861
J. T. Mitchell 1861
J. E. Bennett. 1861
J. F. Webster 1861
Gardner Howe
1861
G. W. Ostrander 1861
C. W. Fields. 1861
A. G. Hubbard. 1861
W. D. Darrrow
1863
A. M. Van Leuvan
1863
Darius Seeley
1863
H. A. Goodrich 1863
Thomas Griffin
1863
Charles Keefe
1882
James Oakley
1883
A. G. Hubbard.
1884
James Irvin
1885
J. H. St. John
1865
H. A. Goodrich .
1865
E. I. Isabell. 1865
ยท L. A. Russell. 1865
A. N. Harris. 1866
William Woodward 1889
Truman Robinson 1866
James Oakley 1874
Alonzo G. Hubbard 1875
D. T. Emmons 1876
James Oakley
1877
A. G. Hubbard.
1878
Thomas McCook
1879
A. G. Hubbard
1881
L. A. Russell. 1863
C. E. Ashley 1865 C. T. Thurber 1865
H. C. Cunningham 1886
H. H. Bither.
1887
William Woodward
1887
James Irvin
1888
John A. Cray
1890
P. T. Searles 1869
Joseph Burgess
1869
Aaron Kimball
1870
Charles H. Wood 1870
D. E. Potter
1870
A. B. Smedley . 1871
P. T. Searles. 1872
S. S. Lambert 1873
Thomas Griffin
1873
James Oakley
1869
H. W. Partch 1 869
John Shaw 1869
S A. Stone. 866
Clark C. Upton 1892-94
William Wilbraham 1894-98
W. L. Converse. 1898-1902
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CHICKASAW AND HOWARD COUNTIES
George Hooper 1891
Hans Jacobson 1892
Walter C. Fox 1906
George Merrill 1893
WV. H. Kenne. 1906
James Irvin .1894
J. H. Watson 1908
Charles H. Wallace. 1908
J. F. Pecinovsky . 1910
James Irvin 1897
Albert Wallace 1898
J. F. Pecinovsky 1912
Rufus Seavey 1899
J. W. Conway
1912
George Dell 1900
J. W. Conway.
1914
W. H. Kenne . 190I
Charles H. Wallace 1914
Rufus Seavey
. 1902
J. W. Wells
1916
George Dell
1903
John F. Hale
1916
WV. H. Kenne.
1904
STATE SENATORS
The following named received the majority of votes in Howard County at the elections noted :
J. G. Patterson. 1863
S. A. Converse.
1887
J. G. Patterson 1867
A. K. Bailey 1889
John E. Burke 1871
Clark C. Upton. 1893
Hiram Bailey
1873
D. A. Lyons
1897
Aaron Kimball
1877
H. C. Burgess
1906
C. A. Marshall 1881
P. M. Jewell
1910
J. H. Sweeney 1883
Herman Kull
1914
REPRESENTATIVES
As in the case of the state senators, the names of those obtaining the majority of votes in Howard County are given :
D. G. Frisbee. 1861
C. D. Cutting 1889
W. W. Williams 1891
D. W. Poindexter 1865
W. W. Williams. 1893
J. H. Brown 1867
A. S. Faville.
1869
E. E. Overfield.
1897
W. W. Blackman. 1871
E. E. Overfield.
1899
W. K. Barker
190I
Henry T. Reed 1875
H. L. Spaulding
. 1903
Herman Kull
1906
Herman Kull
1908
Herman Kull 1910
Lee W. Elwood.
. 1912
S. A. Converse 1885
Lee W. Elwood 1914
William Theophilus 1887
Lee W. Elwood. 1916
C. E. Brown 1877
S. S. Lambert. 1879
W. R. Jones 1881
S. A. Converse 1883
J. J. Lowry. 1895
H. A. Goodrich 1873
Thomas R. Perry. 1863
John Watson 1906
Hans Jacobson
. 1895
George Merrill 1896
Charles H. Wallace 1910
CHAPTER III
HOWARD COUNTY TOWNSHIPS
ORIGIN OF TOWNSHIP GOVERNMENT-IOWA TOWNSHIPS-FIRST HOWARD COUNTY TOWNSHIPS-VERNON SPRINGS TOWNSHIP-FOREST CITY TOWNSHIP-OLD TOWN OF LIME SPRINGS-SARATOGA TOWNSHIP-PARIS TOWNSHIP-AFTON TOWNSHIP HOWARD TOWNSHIP-JAMESTOWN TOWNSHIP -- HOWARD CENTER TOWNSHIP- ALBION TOWNSHIP-NEW OREGON TOWNSHIP-VILLAGE OF NEW OREGON-CHES- TER AND OAKDALE TOWNSHIPS.
Before describing the formation and early settlement of the various townships. in Howard County, something must be said of the origin and history of town- ships in the United States. Townships in this country are divided into two classes- -congressional and civil.
Theoretically, the congressional township is six miles square, divided into thirty-six sections, bounded by township and range lines, each section a mile square, and the whole comprising a total of 640 acres of land. The congressional township is used as the basis for all land descriptions and county records of lands. and land dealings. However, in some cases the converging meridians of longi- tude, or an error on the part of the surveyor, results in a township of this kind being smaller or larger than the specified six miles square, thus causing fractional sections to be entered upon the records.
The civil township is a political subdivision. Although it frequently corre- sponds in extent to the congressional township, its boundaries are not confined to the lines of the Government survey. Natural features, such as rivers and streams, also land ridges, often form the boundaries of this type of township. Another difference is that the civil township is generally distinguished by a certain name, while the congressional township is always described by the number of the township and range lines.
The civil township is the older of the two types. The Pilgrims, soon after their arrival at Plymouth, Mass., in 1620, began to develop a form of local government, modeled after the Anglo-Saxon "tunscipe," which had been copied from the Teu- tonic "mark." The "tunmoot," or town meeting, of the Anglo-Saxon gave every citizen an opportunity to express his views, and the "tunreeve," or head man, was required to carry out the wishes of the people. The tunmoot was transplanted to New England soon after the first settlements were founded in that section.
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CHICKASAW AND HOWARD COUNTIES
The first town meetings in this country were held in the settlements of Plymouth, Boston and Salem, Mass. Other settlements imitated the system, and during the colonial period of American history the town meeting, or "folk-moot," as it was often called, was a feature of New England. Some authorities, among them Fiske, have stated that this form of local government was the nearest to a pure democracy ever known.
At first the township meant simply a "tract of land granted to persons who intended there to settle a town and gather a church." After the beginning of the settlement it was called a town and the outlying and unsettled portions of the grant were called the township, but after a time the two terms were used synonymously. These grants or townships were incorporated by the colonial authorities and given certain specified powers. In the town meeting the people were authorized to elect officers, called selectmen, to manage the affairs of the township : a field-reeve, whose duty was to impound stray animals until the owner could be found; the hog-reeve, who was empowered to see that every hog at large should have a ring in its nose; and a constable, who was to obey the orders of the selectmen. In some settlements the selectmen made it the duty of the constable to "tickle the noses of those who were inclined to go to sleep during church services and keep them awake for the good of their souls." The town meeting also levied taxes, made appropriations for the support of the schools and the building of roads, etc. The famous military organization known as the Minute Men had its origin in the town meeting.
Some of the resolutions adopted by the town meetings of New England con- tained clauses the sentiment of which was afterward embodied in the Declaration of Independence. Thomas Jefferson said of the town meeting in 1807: "How powerfully did we feel the energy of this organization in the cause of the Embargo. I felt the foundations of government shaken under my feet by the New England townships. There was not an individual in their states whose body was not thrown with all its momentum into action, and although the whole of the other states were known to be in favor of the measure, yet the organization of this selfish community enabled it to overrule the Union." Notwithstanding this defeat of the purposes of the Embargo Act, and finally of the act itself. Jefferson repeated : "They have proved themselves the wisest invention ever devised by the wit of man for the perfect exercise of self-government and for its preservation."
In establishing the township system in New England, town meetings were at first held quite frequently. Some of the settlers who were busily engaged in the work of developing the resources of the new country complained that this took too much of their time, so the annual meeting was ordered, with the pro- vision that special meetings could be called whenever necessary. Boston did not abandon this form of local government until 1820, when the 7,000 voters of the city made the town meeting so unwieldy that representative government was introduced.
The principle of representative township, county and municipal government was first worked out and applied in the State of New York. From that state it spread westward and southward. In the southern states the county is the unit of local government and the township is practically unknown. In the states of the Mississippi Valley the township system is a combination of the New England and New York ideas. .
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CHICKASAW AND HOWARD COUNTIES
IOWA TOWNSHIPS
Township government was first established in Iowa while the state was attached to Michigan Territory. The Legislature of that territory, in September, 1834, created the Township of Julien, which included the entire County of Dubuque- that is, all that part of Iowa lying north of a line drawn due west from the foot of Rock Island. Howard County was therefore a part of Julien Township, Du- buque County. South of the line was Flint Hill Township, which embraced all of Des Moines County. When Iowa was made a part of Wisconsin by the act of April 20, 1836, the First Legislature of that territory set about amending the laws, and the act of December 6, 1836, provided that "Each county within this territory now organized, or that may be hereafter organized, shall constitute one township for the purpose of carrying into effect the provisions of the amended laws."
In the act of Congress organizing the Territory of Iowa, approved by Presi- dent Van Buren on June 12, 1838, was a provision that all township officers should be elected by the people. In his message of November 12, 1838, to the first Legislature that was ever convened in Iowa, Governor Robert Lucas said : "The subject of providing by law for the organization of townships and the elec- tion of township officers, and defining their powers and duties, I consider to be of the first importance and almost indispensable in the local organization of the government. Without proper township regulations it will be extremely difficult. if not impracticable, to establish a regular school system. In most of the states, where a common school system has been established by law, the trustees of town- ships are important agents in executing the provisions of its laws."
The Legislature to which this message was submitted did nothing toward the establishment of civil townships, but on January 10, 1840, Governor Lucas approved an act providing for township organization. Under this act the question of form- ing a new township was to be submitted to the voters residing within the territory it was proposed to include in said township, and if a majority expressed themselves in favor of the proposition, the township should be organized. This system, with some supplementary legislation, continued in force until after the admission of the state in 1846. In the case of the counties created by the act of January 15, 1851, each was declared to be a single township until such time as the local author- ities deemed it advisable to create others.
When the office of county judge was abolished by the act of March 2, 1860, the township system assumed greater importance in Iowa than ever before. The act became effective on July 4, 1860, and required the voters of each township in the county to elect one member of the county board of supervisors at the next general election, the supervisors so elected to take office January 1, 1861, and to discharge all the duties formerly performed by the county judge. In 1862 the supervisors were given power to create new townships and to regulate the number of members of the board, an authority which has been retained until the present day.
In 1859 there were five regularly organized townships in Howard County. These were: Vernon Springs, Jamestown, Osborne, Howard Center and Iowa River. In 1858 New Oregon, Forest City and Howard townships were added. At the February term of the court, 1860, a petition was received, signed by J. W. Baird and others, asking that the name of Osborne Township be changed to Albion
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CHICKASAW AND HOWARD COUNTIES
Township. . By order of the court, May 5, 1860, the prayer was granted. At the June session of 1862 the board changed Iowa River Township to Oakdale Town- ship. Some time prior to this date the other four townships-Chester, Saratoga, Afton and Paris-were added, as these townships were represented by a super- visor at the board meeting of January 7, 1861. The early records of many of the meetings have been destroyed, so it is impossible to obtain the exact date of the organization of the four last-named civil divisions.
VERNON SPRINGS TOWNSHIP
The Township of Vernon Springs is located in the eastern part of the county, and is bounded on the north by Albion Township, on the east by Winneshiek County, on the south by New Oregon Township and on the west by Howard Center Township. It was one of the first townships in the county to be officially organized by the County Court.
In the Cresco Times of July 6, 1876, is printed an article by H. D. Noble, treating of the early settlement. Portions of this follow :
"The first settlement was made by Oren Sprague, who built the first sawmill in Howard County, at the head of the grove on Turkey River, near what was later the Town of Vernon Springs, in the year 1853. William Harlow, Noonan, Thomas Fitzgerald and Thomas Granathan also took up claims about the same time in this precinct. The year after, James G. Upton, first county judge; E. Gillett, first county clerk ; M. G. Goss, M. L. Shook (on a claim taken first by Woodworth, alias 'Old Frosty,' of Decorah)."
In August. 1854, H. Blodgett and J. M. Fields came into the township as per- manent settlers. J. F. Thayer and C. S. Thurber were the first justices of the peace elected in the township.
The Village of Vernon Springs once aspired to the honor of being the county seat, an account of which action is contained in the Government Chapter. Here there was a good water power, and the Sprague mill was built early. In 1854 Henry Wilder erected a store at this point, which bore the name of the "Blue Store." A. H. Harris later erected a grist and saw mill on the site of the old . Sprague mill and transacted a large business with the settlers for miles around, some of them even coming from a distance of 100 miles to get their corn ground. By the year 1859 a considerable village had grown at. Vernon Springs ; there were two stores, a distillery and brewery, mills run by steam and by water power, a tannery, two blacksmith shops, a shoe shop, wagon shop, hotel and a small school- house. However, the next two decades brought ruin to the hopes of the people in this vicinity. Cresco came into prominence, secured the county seat, and from that time Vernon Springs gradually deteriorated as a village, until now it is only a memory.
Other pioneers of Vernon Springs Township were: Sylvester Barnes, Thomas P. Davies, B. D. Ervingham, J. M. Field. William Kellow, G. W. Halstead, J. J. Lowry. A. Rivers, James Barnes and Alexis White.
FOREST CITY TOWNSHIP
Forest City Township was once known as Foreston Township. The township comprises township 100, range 12 west ; is located in the northern tier of town- ships, and is bounded on the north by the State of Minnesota, on the east by
OLD MILL, LIME SPRING
During the high water of 1917
HIGH SCHOOL BUILDING, LIME SPRING
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CHICKASAW AND HOWARD COUNTIES
Albion Township, on the south by Howard Center Township and on the west by Chester Township. An early account speaks of this civil division as follows : "The first settlers that claimed the vacant lands and homes of the red men were R. S. Buckminster, J. Knowlton, John Adam and R. E. Bassett, Ben and George Gardner, Oscar Chesebro, the three Mortimers and others, all of whom came in the year 1854. The precinct was organized from Vernon Springs in the fall of 1856; C. S. Thurber was elected justice of the peace, and Edward Bassett, town clerk. . There were forty votes cast at this election. * * The first postoffice was established at Lime Spring in 1855, A. D. C. Knowlton being appointed postmaster."
The first death in the township was that of John Mortimer, in the winter of 1854-55.
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