USA > Iowa > Chickasaw County > History of Chickasaw and Howard counties, Iowa, Volume I > Part 37
USA > Iowa > Howard County > History of Chickasaw and Howard counties, Iowa, Volume I > Part 37
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Others prominent as firstcomers to Forest City Township were: L. H. Van Niman, P. C. Howe, James McGregor, Charles H. Hurley, the Hawkins family, P. C. Sanborn, William Conery, Ira Eldridge, Thomas Grellier, David C. Garver, Mr. Wanless, Lawrence Shields, William H. Thayer, Benjamin Offen, C. C. Hewett, M. M. Marsh, Harvey H. Wells and George Tibbals.
Here W. F. Daniels erected the first mill in the county, selling out in 1871. M. M. Marsh began the operation of stone flouring mills at the old Town of Lime Spring in 1857. He sold out to George R. Drake & Company.
OLD TOWN OF LIME SPRING
The old Town of Lime Spring was first settled by Oscar Chesebro, also Joseph Knowlton, in the year 1854. Chesebro was a New Yorker by nativity and came here from Illinois, pre-empting 160 acres of land. He opened the first farm in the township, and at the time there was no town west nearer than LeRoy, Minn. Most of the land in the vicinity belonged to land speculators, O. and W. O. Wood by name, and in 1857 these men laid out a town plat. Very quickly settle- ment started, and in 1859 there were two stores, a blacksmith shop, a wagon maker. tavern, schoolhouse and about a dozen dwellings. Some of these early settlers were: A. D. C. Knowlton, Joseph Knowlton, M. M. Marsh, C. C. Hewett, W. O. Chesebro, H. H. Wells, Oliver Chesebro and G. M. Van Leuvan. A. M. Van Leuvan was an early settler of this district, first a farmer, then merchant and attorney. Napoleon Bonaparte Moulton came to the old town in 1861 and opened a general merchandise store, having purchased the stock of A. D. C. Knowlton. However, the old Town of Lime Spring suffered by the construc- tion of the railroad in 1868 and the establishment of the new station. The new location gradually drew the business houses away from the old site. and with them went the population.
SARATOGA TOWNSHIP
From the writings of H. D. Noble the following facts relative to Saratoga Township are taken:
"Saratoga Township consists of congressional township 99. range 13, and belonged before its organization to Jamestown.
"The first settler that pitched his tent therein was Jared Sigler, who settled on Crane Creek in July, 1854. In the winter following. Charles Salmon claimed
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the southwest quarter of section 20, and laid out the village plat of Saratoga. The town first organized in the summer of 1858 and the first election was held in October of that year. Thomas J. Gibbons was elected justice of the peace and John R. Buckbee town clerk. The whole number of votes cast at that election was but fourteen."
Saratoga Township has never had the good fortune. to have a railroad within its borders, so has no village or town. The country embraced within the civil division is occupied by prosperous farms and inhabited by an equally prosperous class of people. At one time the township was marshy in many places, but the subsequent drainage systems established over the greater part of the county have changed these conditions. Crane Creek provides a natural drainage system and is directly accountable for much of the excellent farm land in Saratoga Township.
PARIS TOWNSHIP
Paris Township is located in the lower tier of Howard County townships and is bounded on the north by Howard Center Township, on the east by New Orcgon Township, on the south by Chickasaw County and on the west by Howard Township. The township comprises congressional township 98, range 12 and the north half of township 97, range 12, consisting of fifty-four sections instead of the regular thirty-six.
Drawing from all accounts, it is thought that the first settlers were Thomas Griffin and Patrick Richards, who located in the year 1855. In 1856 they were followed by J. I. Sturgis and others. For many years afterward the point where these 'latter settlers located was known as Sturgis Point. The township was organized from New Oregon in 1858 and at the first election P. Smith was chosen justice of the peace and P. Griffin was given the office of town clerk. Twenty-two votes were cast. In 1857 a postoffice was established at Sturgis Point, with J. I. Sturgis occupying the position of postmaster. The coming of the rural free delivery obviated the necessity of a local postoffice in Paris Town- ship, as in several other of the Howard County townships.
AFTON TOWNSHIP
The civil Township of Afton comprises congressional township 98, range 14, and the north half of township 97, range 14, having fifty-four sections. The township is located in the southwestern corner of the county and is bounded on the north by Jamestown Township, on the east by Howard Township, on the south by Chickasaw County and on the west by Mitchell County.
The first settlement was made by A. Pooler in the fall of 1854.
In 1858 the township was set off from Howard Township, of which it had been previously a part. After the organization an election was held, at which forty- eight votes were cast. A. M. Cowan and R. Wooten were chosen justices of the peace.
HOWARD TOWNSHIP
Howard Township is another of the larger civil divisions of the county, com- prising congressional township 98, range 13, and the north half of township 97,
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range 13. It was first organized as a township with Afton in 1856, but in the spring of 1858 it was divided into two precincts-the eastern one taking the name of Howard and the western Afton. Under the new organization, F. E. Dayton and W. S. Pettibone were elected justices of the peace and James Hall town clerk. Only eight votes were cast at this election.
The township was first settled by W. S. Pettibone in August, 1854. The nearest approach to a postoffice was at Busti, where a settlement was made during the early days by a colony from Erie, Pa.
JAMESTOWN TOWNSHIP
In an early issue of the Cresco Times occurs an article on this township by E. V. Bennett, excerpts of which follow :
"Township 99 north and range 14 west of the fifth principal meridian was first settled by whites in 1854. That year Messrs. Van Houghton, Niles, Shaw and son broke a few acres of ground and started their log cabins in Round Grove. Before that date the surveyor's foot alone had trod its section lines. The Teeple brothers came from Canada in the spring of 1855 and located on section 6, which the four brothers-George, Edward, Stephen and Albert-preempted."
Shortly after this there came Ed Irish and Samuel Hallett, transients, who sold out soon and moved on. Willis Spencer was the next, with his three sons- in-law, David Patterson, Thomas DeMoss and Lucius Fassett, who all came in June of the same year. Then followed William and Dennis Rice, James E. Ben- nett and others; one of the Bennett party erected a steam sawmill, which had been carried with the party, and in February, 1856, supplied lumber for a number of the pre-emption houses. The mill was not profitable, though, and was after- ward sold and moved away. James A. Cutting, D. P. Bradford, John Moffitt and Lyman Southard constituted the mill party, coming in the fall and winter of 1855. Before the coming of the new year Milo S. Torsey, Charles D. Cutting, Hazen Ricker and John Fiefield joined the little colony, also Asel Wilmot and Luther Titeum. In 1856 quite a number of settlers from the New England states came in and located in Jamestown Township. Among them were Darius and Smith W. Seeley. It is said that in the spring of 1858 there were sixty-three pre-emptors in this township. Mr. Bennett writes further :
"A meeting was called January 1, 1856, to name the township, and after some discussion it was named for the two persons who were then supposed to be the equal owners of the steam mill-Bennett and Cutting.
"The first birth was that of Marcus DeMoss, April 12. 1856. The first death and burial was that of Mrs. D. Patterson in June, 1857. The first marriage was that of Martha Cassety and Ralph Watson, in December. 1858, Elder Griffin, a Baptist minister, officiating."
The first election ever held in Jamestown Township was that of 1856, and in the following spring, April 7th, another election was held for county and town- ship officers, with the following result: W. E. Thayer and D. Patterson, con- stables : H. Ricker, Asel Fassett and Smith W. Seeley, town trustees; Willis Spencer and Darius Seeley, justices of the peace.
The first postoffice was established in 1856 at the steam mill, with D. P. Brad- ford as postmaster. This office was moved to the house of Erastus Leache, where Vol. 1-26
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it was burned. It was not re-established in this township, but moved into the part of Riceville lying within the boundaries of Mitchell County.
HOWARD CENTER TOWNSHIP
Settlement was first made in the eastern part of the township in 1855 by Royal O. Thayer, who arrived in April. Immediately following him came Alfred Eld- ridge and Willard E. Thayer. In 1855 also came Ira Eldridge, who at once opened a store, using a stock of general merchandise which he had brought with him. His chief difficulty was the securing of lumber for the construction of the building ; he brought part of it from the Harlows Hill at New Oregon and the balance from the Mississippi River. Studs and rafters were hewn from poles cut in a nearby grove. The roof was made of shingles chopped from oak timber. Besides opening his stock for sale, in September he preëmpted the northeast quarter of section 36.
Michael Creamer and Patrick Mullen were also among the pioneers of that year. In 1856 there came William Conery, John F. Thayer, William A. and Calvin F. Webster, Henry A. Cook, Laban Hassett and Lawrence Long. In the spring of 1856 John F. Thayer commenced the erection of a hotel where Howard Center stood. five miles west of Cresco. The Town of Howard Center was laid out, platted and put upon record. The plat is dated December 1, 1856, and was signed by Calvin F. Webster, John F. Thayer and wife, Thomas R. Perry and wife. W. E. Thayer and wife, and Royal O. Thayer and wife. A hack was driven to Decorah for the accommodation of passengers and to bring supplies to the settle- ment.
That the new settlement had many things to experience is shown by the prevalence of prairie fires in the fall of 1856, which caused much loss to the people. The subsequent winter is remembered as one of great severity. The settlers, some of whom had not sufficient shelter, suffered much, and several cases of death by freezing were reported. In the blizzard of December 13th William Niles was frozen to death. Thayer's Hotel was burned on February 5, 1857. during one of the most intense snow storms. Laban Hassett wrote of this: "A school was in session in the hall. taught by W. B. Stone, and the fire caught from the stove pipe. Mr. Thayer was absent in the grove after tim- ber to build a barn, and when he reached home, took in the situation; he com- menced humming a tune in the manner peculiar to John F. and said, 'Well, I may as well draw this stick up here; I shall need a shanty to live in,' and accordingly left the timber by the burning coals. He had the hotel rebuilt, larger than ever, and in readiness for occupation by the 4th of July next."
The first postoffice was established in March, 1857. and Henry A. Cook was the first postmaster. He soon resigned and was succeeded by A. M. Pettit.
The order for the organization of Howard Center Township was dated March 13, 1857, and was issued to John F. Thayer by Judge Upton. The first election was held at Thayer's house on April 6. 1857. and twenty-three votes were cast. The following officers were chosen: Frank S. True, justice of the peace; Ira Eldridge, Charles H. Wood and Calvin F. Webster, trustees : T. R. Perry, clerk ; R. O. Thayer and O. A. Bunker, constables. C. H. Wood, J. Webster, and John
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F. Thayer were judges of the election; T. R. Perry and William A. Webster, clerks.
The first child born in the township was C. F. Bunker, on October 1, 1856. The first girl born was Irene E. Eldridge, May 17, 1857. The first death was that of William Niles, who was frozen to death on December 13, 1856. The first mar- riage ceremony occurred May 11, 1859, and united in wedlock B. F. Benson and Melissa Halsted.
The Howard Center Cemetery was laid out in June, 1863, and the first person there interred was Mrs. Harriett N. Talmage, who had drowned herself in the Turkey River on the night of November 1, 1862.
Howard Center was for a time the county seat of Howard County, but relin- quished the honor after a few weeks. An account of this is given in a preceding chapter.
ALBION TOWNSHIP
This township was known as Osborne Township until 1860, when the name was changed to the present style. It comprises congressional township 100, range Il west, and is located in the extreme northeast corner of Howard County.
Perhaps the first settler within the bounds of this township was Daniel Crowell, who located here as early as the spring of 1853. About the same time Andrew Nelson located his claim on section 10, and in 1854 C. S. Thurber came. In 1855 the first tide of emigration came, the spring bringing Oliver Arnold, Thomas Osborne, H. D. Lapham and W. D. Darrow, among others.
The township was a part of the precinct of Vernon Springs until 1857, when it formed a separate organization. Forty-eight votes were cast at the first election ; James Nichols and James Oakley were elected justices of the peace and Josiah Kelly was chosen town clerk.
The first postoffice was established in 1855 at Arnoldsville. It was of short duration at this point, then moved to Osborne, A. Allen being the postmaster. In the extreme northern part of the township, in an early day, there was established the postoffice known as Florenceville.
It is said that the first death in the township was that of Robert Gilchrist, who froze to death during the winter of 1854-55.
NEW OREGON TOWNSHIP
New Oregon Township, situated in the extreme southeast corner of Howard County, was one of the first locations chosen by the pioneers of the county. Oregon Grove became a popular rendezvous for the new arrivals and was con- sidered a landmark in the early days for hunters and travelers over this section of the country.
The first settlement was made in 1851 by Hiram Johnson. In 1853 William Cottrell, H. Shuttleworth, and William Brown first made their claims near the Grove. S. M. Cole, George Schofield. J. F. Mitchell and others soon followed, and in 1855 the township was first organized, the territory now included in Paris Township then being a part. Daniel Mills was chosen as the first justice of the peace and Samuel Coyl the first town clerk.
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"Uncle" George Schofield constructed the first house in the Village of New Oregon and in the same year C. M. Munson opened a store nearby. By 1859 the business portion of the village consisted of six stores, one wagon shop, plow shop, three shoe shops, two blacksmith shops and a steam sawmill. The village was laid out on both sides of the Turkey River on the north edge of Oregon Grove. The village was doomed, however, by the construction of the railroad and the birth of the fast-growing Cresco. New Oregon struggled manfully against her rival, especially in county seat matters, but was finally defeated. New Oregon still remains one of the garden spots of Howard County, but commercially has passed out of existence. So it has been with countless other town in the State of Iowa.
CHESTER AND OAKDALE TOWNSHIPS
The early settlement and history of these two townships is practically identical, so they are treated as one. In fact, until October II, 1859, they were united in one township known as Iowa River Township. Chester Township comprises congressional township 100 north, range 13 west, and Oakdale congressional town- ship Ico, range 14.
Henry Brown made the first settlement in Oakdale in May, 1853, and occupied the vicinity alone until the following year. In the summer of 1854 there came Robert Jerod, Josiah Laws, O. M. Thayer and M. Gates. These men were fol- lowed shortly by A. W. Kingsley, Norman Freeman, C. M. Sawyer and others. After the settlers had formed a colony of sufficient size the precinct was sepa- rated from that of Jamestown, of which it had been a part previously. An elec- tion was held in the new civil division in April, 1857, which resulted in the election of John Adams and W. Y. Wells for justices of the peace, and C. M. Sawyer clerk of the town. Forty-nine votes were polled.
The Village of Chester, located upon the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad, was laid out in March. 1858, by A. Eaton. The first postoffice was started here in January. 1858, Mr. Eaton being the first postmaster appointed.
CHAPTER IV
MILITARY HISTORY OF HOWARD COUNTY
THE SLAVERY QUESTION-BEGINNING OF SECESSION-FORT SUMTER-FALL OF FORT SUMTER-PROCLAMATION-SENTIMENT IN IOWA-RESPONSE IN HOWARD COUNTY -ROSTER-THIRD IOWA INFANTRY-SEVENTH IOWA INFANTRY-NINTH IOWA INFANTRY-TWELFTH IOWA INFANTRY-THIRTEENTH IOWA INFANTRY-TWEN- TY-FIRST JOWA INFANTRY-THIRTY-EIGHTH IOWA INFANTRY-FORTY-SIXTH INFANTRY-SIXTH IOWA CAVALRY-THIRD IOWA BATTERY-THE SPIRIT OF 1917.
One of the greatest wars in history was the Civil war of 1861-65, between the northern and southern states, commonly known as the War of the Rebellion. In this war the South fought to dissolve and the North to preserve the Union of states. Almost from the very beginning of the American Republic, the slavery question became a bone of contention between the free states on one side and the slave states on the other. Slavery was introduced into America in 1619, when a Dutch trader sold a few negroes to the planters of the Jamestown colony. The custom of owning negro slaves gradually spread to the other colonies, but by 1819 seven of the original thirteen states had made provisions for the eman- cipation of the slaves within their borders.
The first clause of section 9 article I, of the Federal Constitution, provides that "The migration or importation of such persons as any of the states now existing shall think proper to admit shall not be prohibited by the Congress prior to the year 1808."
The adoption of this clause was regarded as a victory for the slave-holding element, as under it Congress had no power to interfere with the foreign slave trade until 1808. But in that year an act was passed prohibiting any further traffic in or importation of negro slaves. In 1819 slavery existed in six of the original thirteen states, the other seven having abolished it, as already stated. In the meantime Kentucky, Tennessee, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama had been admitted with constitutions permitting slavery, and Vermont, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois as free states, so that the country was evenly divided-eleven free and eleven slave states. Maine was admitted as a free state in 1820, and the advocates of slavery sought to have Missouri admitted as a slave state to main- tain the equilibrium in the United States Senate. After a long and somewhat acrimonious debate, that state was admitted under the act known as the Missouri
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Compromise, which provided for the admission of Missouri without any restric- tions as to slavery, but expressly stipulated that in all the remaining portion of the Louisiana Purchase north of the line 36° 30' slavery should be prohibited forever.
During the next twenty-five years the slavery question remained compara- tively quiet, owing to the admission of free and slave states in equal number. Arkansas came into the Union in 1836 and Michigan in 1837; the slave State of Florida, admitted in 1845, was offset by the admission of Iowa as a free state in 1846. At the conclusion of the Mexican war in 1847 the United States came into possession of a large expanse of territory in the Southwest, to which the advocates of slavery laid claim, and again the question came up as a subject for legislation, resulting in the compromise acts of 1850, commonly called the Omnibus Bill. The opponents of slavery took the view that the act was a viola- tion of the provisions of the Missouri Compromise, because it sought to carry slavery north of the determined line. Four years later the Kansas-Nebraska Bill was passed, which added fresh fuel to the already raging flames. Its passage was one of the causes that led to the organization of the republican party, which opposed the extension of slavery to any new territory of the United States whatever.
BEGINNING OF SECESSION
In the political campaign of 1860 the issues were clearly defined and some of the slave states declared their intention to withdrawn from the Union in the event of Abraham Lincoln's election to the presidency. The people of the North regarded these declarations as so many idle threats, made merely for political effect. Through a division in the democratic party, Mr. Lincoln was elected, and on December 20, 1860, South Carolina carried her threat into effect, when a state convention passed an ordinance of secession, declaring the state's connection with the Union was severed and that all allegiance to the Government of the United States was at an end. Mississippi followed with a similar ordinance on January ·9, 1861 ; Florida seceded on January 10th : Georgia, January 19th; Louisiana, Jan- uary 26th ; and Texas, February Ist. All these states except Texas sent delegates to a convention at Montgomery, Ala., February 4, 1861, when a tentative consti- tution was adopted ; Jefferson Davis was elected provisional president and Alex- ander H. Stephens provisional vice president of the Confederate States of Amer- ica. They were inaugurated on February 22, 1861, the anniversary of the birth of George Washington. Consequently, when Mr. Lincoln was inaugurated on March 4. 1861, he found seven states in open rebellion and with an organized government in opposition to his administration. However, the President, his advisers and the people of the North generally, clung to the hope that a reconciliation could be effected and that the citizens of the seceded states could be induced to return to their allegiance. Vain hope!
FORT SUMTER
Relations between the North and South were still further strained early in the year 1861, when Major Robert Anderson, then in command of all the defenses
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of the harbor of Charleston, S. C., secretly removed his garrison and supplies from Fort Moultrie to Fort Sumter, because the latter could be more easily defended in case of an assault. The people of the South claimed that this move was a direct violation of an agreement with President Buchanan, and the feeling was intensified when it was discovered that Major Anderson, prior to his removal, had spiked all the guns at Fort Moultrie. On the other hand, the press of the North was practically unanimous in justifying Anderson's course and in demand- ing that additional supplies and reinforcements be sent to him at Fort Sumter. The persistent hammering of the northern press caused the war department to despatch the steamer Star of the West, with 250 men and a stock of ammunition, provisions, etc., to Fort Sumter, but on January 9. 1861, while passing Morris Island, the vessel was fired upon by a masked battery and forced to turn back. In the official records this incident is regarded as the beginning of the Civil war, though the popular awakening of the North did not come until some three months later.
FALL OF FORT SUMTER
Not long after President Lincoln was inaugurated, General Beauregard, who was in command of the Confederate forces at Charleston, made a demand upon Major Anderson for the evacuation of Fort Sumter. Anderson refused, but on April 11, 1861, seeing his stock of provisions in the fort running low and having no hope of obtaining a new supply, he informed General Beauregard that he would vacate the fort on the 15th "unless ordered to remain and the needed supplies are received." This reply was not satisfactory to the Confederate commander, who feared that the new administration might find some way of sending reinforcements and supplies to Sumter that would enable Anderson to hold the fort indefinitely. In that case, Fort Sumter would be a constant menace to one of the southern strongholds. After a conference with his officers Beauregard decided upon an assault. Accordingly, at twenty minutes past 3 o'clock on the morning of April 12, 1861, he sent word to Anderson that fire would be opened upon the fort. At 4:30 A. M. Capt. George Janes fired the signal gun from Fort Johnson, the shell bursting almost directly over the fort. A few seconds later a solid shot from the battery on Cummings Point went crashing against the walls of the fort. The war had begun.
Anderson's little band responded promptly to the fire and the bombardments continued all day. Late in the afternoon fire broke out in one of the casements of the fort and the Confederates increased their fire, hoping to force the surrender of Anderson. That was on Friday. Anderson held out against desperate odds until Sunday, the 14th, when he was permitted to evacuate the fort with all the honors of war, even to saulting his flag with fifty guns before hauling it down.
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