USA > Iowa > Clayton County > History of Clayton County, Iowa : from the earliest historical times down to the present : including a genealogical and biographical record of many representative families, prepared from data obtained from original sources of information, Volume I > Part 53
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A short distance below the mouth of Turkey river, Panther creek
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unites its waters with the Mississippi. This stream received its name from the following hunting incident. Addison Sherill, who resided in Dubuque county near Sherill's mounds, having discovered in his barn- yard one morning in the fall of 1835, the track of a panther in the snow that had fallen during the night, he immediately mounted his horse and putting his dogs upon the trail gave pursuit. The dogs, after a chase of several miles, came up with the animal on this stream, where Sherill shot and killed him. Sherill, who is now dead, was known to the early settlers of Dubuque county, not only as a great hunter, but as a master marksman with the rifle. In the spring of 1834, we saw him at the town of Peru, in Dubuque county, agree to shoot with his rifle at a grain of coffee thirty times at the distance of twenty yards, and was to receive a dollar as often as he hit it, and pay one as often as he missed it. In the thirty shots he hit the coffee grain twenty- seven times consecutively. The loss of the three last shots was attributed by his friends to some liquor at the bottom of a jug.
We now approach Plumb creek, the last and the most southern of all the streams flowing into the Mississippi from the county of Clay- ton. This stream received its name from John Plumb, who, in 1836, purchased out the claimants to an extensive tract of timber land, through which it flows, and commenced the building of a sawmill, which he soon after abandoned, owing to an insufficiency of water in the stream. We had some acquaintance with Mr. Plumb, and as we knew him to be the originator of the great idea of a Pacific railroad, we will venture, as an expression of respect for his memory, to briefly speak of him here in connection with that great idea. Mr. Plumb was born in Wales, in the kingdom of Great Britain, and emigrated to this country in 1821, at the age of 12 years. In the spring of 1835 he became a resident of Dubuque, and in 1837 conceived the idea of a railroad from the lakes to the Pacific ocean, and immediately com- menced advocating his project through the medium of the New York and Boston press. Being in the enjoyment of a pecuniary competency, and a ready writer, possessing a high order of educational attainment, together with a fluent command of language, which enabled him to present from the public rostrum this great national theme with a dis- play of argumentative power, convincing, pleasing and captivating, he, in the summer of 1838, convened a large public meeting at Dubuque, where, for the first time in public, he submitted his project of a rail- road from the lakes to the Pacific ocean, urging upon the people of the West the importance of securing from the National Government, in aid of this work, a grant of land extending from the lakes to the Pacific ocean, before the public domain was otherwise appropriated by the government. Soon after this meeting Mr. Plumb commenced lecturing in different parts of the Union upon this subject. In the cities of Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore. Washington and through- out the West, he drew around him the mind and capital of the country, and while for a time it stood timidly aloof, startled by the gigantic character of the work, gradually it drew nearer to listen to the feasi- bility of his plans and the great national benefits that would result from its consummation. The public press throughout the Union began to drift cautiously into the channel of his thoughts, when the discovery
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of the gold fields of California almost immediately caused his great project to burst upon the national mind as a reality to be consummated at the earliest moment. In 1849 he visited California by the overland route, leisurely viewing the country by way of the South Pass. Upon reaching the gold mines, he again resumed lecturing and writing upon this subject, giving to it the largest portion of his time, during a resi- dence there of four years. In 1855 he returned to Dubuque, dis- heartened and discouraged. He had exhausted a liberal fortune in his efforts to impress the national mind with the importance of taking speedy action upon this great project ; pecuniary embarrassments began to loom up and weave around him their enthrallments, when his mind, yielding to the throes of despondency, reeled from its once brilliant pathway, and sinking to the gloomy haunts of despair, with his own hand he terminated his career among men, at the city of Dubuque, in May, 1857. Such is our remembrance of John Plumb, one of Iowa's earliest pioneers and while his name is fast passing away from a national remembrance, it may live in the babbling murmurs of the little stream we have recorded, as long as its rippling waters shall abide in its forest solitude by the drooping foliage of the elm, the linden and the mountain ash.
Having given the origin and interpretation of the names of those streams which empty into the Mississippi along the eastern boundary of the county, we now approach the tributaries of Turkey river, which are more numerous and which permeate a larger area of the county. About one mile from the mouth of Turkey river, a small but beautiful stream empties into it, after winding its way for the distance of four miles among the rugged timbered hills that recede away towards the south. Upon reaching the river bottom, its waters become silent, deep and of a bluish color, and in winding its clear, cold and sluggish course through the river bottom, it forms almost a circle, from which circumstance it is known by the name of "Blue Belt;" having received this name from Colonel William W. Wayman, who was the first white man that settled in the county, having erected a cabin near the mouth of this stream in the fall of 1833. Colonel Wayman, who died a number of years since, we shall refer to more fully when we reach the stream that preserves his name.
About a mile further up the river, there is a small stream also flowing from the south and named in honor of Joseph B. Quigley, who in 1836 made a claim location upon the river bottom through which it winds. Mr. Quigley is still a resident of the county, being numbered among the most prosperous and affluent farmers in High- land township, on the western boundary of the county. We have never met with a person whose mechanical genius was more versatile and variable than his. During his early years as a resident of the county, he was a millwright, a tailor, a cabinetmaker ; milliner, shoe- maker, carpenter, cooper, blacksmith, boat builder, weaver, wagon- maker, and we have seen him cut and make a calico dress for a woman. In all these varied arts he was recognized as a master workman. Soon after he married and became a father, he undertook to invent a new and more convenient diaper for a child, and failed; since then his mind has been almost wholly given to agricultural and horticultural
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pursuits. Like the few remaining early settlers of the county, time has touched his locks, and they are fast whitening under its influence.
A short distance farther up the river, Little Turkey empties its waters into the parent stream, after flowing from the south through a timbered country for the distance of eight miles-its source being in the county of Delaware. The towns of Millville and Jefferson are situated upon this stream, together with several flour and saw mills. It received its name from Arthur Rowen, who erected a sawmill at Millville in 1835, being the first mill in the county. Mr. Rowen, while exploring the country in search of a mill site, came upon this stream at a time when its banks were overflowing by rains, giving it a width and impetuosity almost equal to the parent stream, from which cir- cumstance he called it "Little Turkey River."
A mile further up the river, a small stream empties into it from the south, known as "Redman's Branch." This stream took its name from Henry Redman, who settled upon the river bottom near its mouth in 1834. He was the first white man who brought his wife and family into the county ; being about forty years of age, he was the oldest resident of the county at that time. His cabin door stood always open to the unfortunate and the stranger, who were greeted with a kindly welcome and liberal hospitality. He was a thin wiry man, of great muscular powers, and was regarded during his earlier years as the best fighting man in the lead mines. The fingers of his hands were crooked by mastication, while his arms, face and shoulders showed many scars made by the lacerating teeth of his opponents. In later years he became an active and zealous member of the Methodist church, and often at class meetings, while recounting the scenes of his early life with expressions of sorrow and regret, he would straighten up his bent form, shake his silvery locks, and con- clude by saying: "But, brothers and sisters, thank God I was never whipped." The day before he died, at his request, many of the early settlers convened at his residence. It was a Sabbath morn in early autumn; the crimson leaf of the maple was fast eddying its way to the ground, and rustled in the forest pathway that led up the little eminence to his home that overlooked the waters of Turkey river; Doctor Griffith, one of the number, offered up an excellent and appro- priate prayer ; a psalm was sung; the scenes of other days talked over. At length the parting hour came, when each approached his bed, took him by the hand and bid him farewell, and as each turned away from the scene, tears could be seen coursing along the pathways that time had furrowed upon the cheeks of Clayton's pioneers.
Upon the north side of the river, a short distance above the last named stream, may be seen a small rivulet known as "Park's Branch." This stream takes its name from Thomas P. Park, who settled here in 1838. Captain Park was one of the early sheriffs of the county-a man of fine personal appearance and gentlemanly address; he was kind hearted, benevolent and hospitable, officiating occasionally as a preacher of the Baptist persuasion. In 1840, we saw him at Coulie-de-Sue, on the Mississippi, in an unfinished building, which was being erected by Messrs. Jones and Bass, win the entire funds of a faro bank, which was being operated under the financial manage-
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ment of a professional banker from Galena, and on the following Sabbath we heard him deliver an able and excellent sermon upon the vice and evils of gambling, to a congregation of his neighbors con- vened at the house of Henry Redman, on Turkey river, distant some thirty miles from the scene of the bank disaster. He was a man of fluent address and varied attainments, and was much respected by his neighbors as well as greeted with kindly feelings by all who knew him. He died a number of years since upon the stream that preserves his name.
About two miles further up the river, a small stream empties into it from the south, known as the "Henderson Branch." This stream takes its name from Cyrus Henderson, who, in 1836, erected a black- smith shop upon the river bottom near its mouth. There being but a few settlers in the neighborhood to give him employment, he soon abandoned the place. He was a boy when he started this enterprise, but now his locks have whitened, and the ring of his anvil may still be heard among the echoes of the high hills in Millville township, that overlook the sequestered valley and the winding .stream that ripples by his home.
A short distance above this stream Peck's Branch unites its waters with the Turkey, after flowing in a northerly direction a distance of eight miles, through high mountainous hills covered with a dense and heavy growth of timber. This stream takes its name from Dudley Peck, who located upon the river bottom near its mouth in 1835. He was a young man from western New York, and as a hunter had no superior in the country. Up to the period of his death, he persistently refused to hunt with a gun having a percussion lock, always using the old fashioned flintlock rifle, whose superior qualities he would often defend by referring to the achievements of Cooper's heroes, Hawkeye, Leatherstocking and the Trapper. No argument could subdue his aversion to a shotgun; on one occasion, while dining with him at his bachelor cabin, a person from Cassville came in with a double barrel shotgun, which he stood up against the chimney jamb. Peck immediately arose from the table and observed, "Stranger, if you have no objections I will place your gun outside of my cabin;" which he did without wait- ing for a reply, and then invited the stranger to "sit up and eat." Towards the close of his days, he was afflicted with a painful, lingering disease, which he knew was to terminate his life, and on one occasion, while brooding over the certainty of his never again being able to hunt, he expressed to us with much feeling his regret at never having killed a panther ; he seemed unwilling to die before he had added this achievement to the many victories he had obtained over the animals of the forest. He was our earliest, nearest neighbor, and many have been the pleasant wintry evenings that we have sat by the huge log fire of his cabin and listened to the thrilling details of his hunting adventures.
Directly opposite Peck's Branch, flowing from the north, is a small stream known as "Price's Branch." This stream takes its name from the writer of this article, who settled here in 1835 and who afterwards located at the source of the stream upon the highland prairie. As there is nothing in the history of this person that is not
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common to other men, we pass on to the Carlin creek, distant about one mile further up the river. This stream, flowing from the south, takes its name from William Carlin, who located here in 1836, and soon after abandoned the place. Mr. Carlin was born and raised upon the frontier, and was a hunter by profession; he could neither read nor write, and was a nephew of Governor Carlin, of Illinois. He died a number of years since.
Our last communication having closed with the origin of the name of Carlin creek, we find upon resuming the subject that we have now reached the waters of Cedar creek, a stream rising on the highland prairie in the vicinity of the town of Garnavillo, and flowing southward until it reaches the waters of the Turkey, distant about ten miles from the source of the creek. For several miles this stream flows through a narrow valley bounded upon each side by high mountainous hills, covered with a dense growth of timber. It received its name from John Finley, who in the summer of 1834, made an exploration of the stream with a view to a discovery of its manufacturing powers ; finding the sides and craggy summits of its high hills canopied by a luxuriant growth of the red cedar he gave to the stream the name of Cedar creek. There is a tributary of this stream known by the name of Read's branch ; this stream received its name from Robert R. Read, who settled upon the prairie at the head waters of the branch in 1839. Captain Read will long be remembered as the popular clerk (for many years) of the Board of County Commissioners, when that power was in existence, and subsequently for many years clerk of the District Court. In consideration of his many years of faithful official service, the Hon. Judge Williams, when defining the boundaries of the civil townships of the county, bestowed upon the most central one of them the name of "Read Township." Captain Read was an English- man by birth and for many years a resident of the frontier; he had seen the march of civilization approach him from the east, and heard the first echoes of the woodman's axe reverberate among the forest solitudes of Iowa "as westward it took its way." He died a few years since at Garnavillo and was honored with Masonic rites of burial, being a member of that fraternity.
About three miles above the mouth of Cedar creek, the Wayman branch coming from the south unites its waters with the Turkey. This stream received its name from Colonel William W. Wayman, who was the first white man that settled in the county of Clayton. He was a native of New Hampshire, a man of liberal education and polished manners; in his habits and in the expression of his face, it was easy to detect one of those freaks of human nature that occasionally appears among the descendants of the Pilgrims of New England disturbing the purity of the Saxon blood by portraying in every lineament the American characteristics of the Nar-agan-set of the Wam-pa-noag. Among white men he was reticent, watchful and restless. . In the society of the Indian, he was authoritative, stern and commanding. He never performed any manual labor other than that which pertained to the indoor affairs of his house. The Indian, the half-breed and the hunter, regarded him as a mysterious being ; they would toil and labor for him without any other reward than the pleasure of being near his
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person. The largest portion of his lifetime had been spent upon the frontier in the society of the Indian and the hunter, and yet he could never be prevailed to give any information concerning the Indians, their manners and customs, or traditions. The intimacy and social intercourse that we had with him for a number of years on the border, only seemed to render more impenetrable the shield of mystery that he had woven around the events of his life. He was the father of a half- breed daughter, whom he educated.
To detail the discoveries that we made in after years concerning the history of this person, would be too voluminous and romantic for the historical columns of the annals.
In the fall of 1845, about the midnight hour of a dreary day, we received from the hands of an Indian runner, the following com- munication : "Come quick, I am dying. Ann will give you my keys .- W. W. Wayman."
We hastened to him, but he was dead when we reached his resi- dence. The keys unlocked, in part, the history of a strange adventurous life, and told us that his name was "William Wallace Hutcherson," a descendant of the Mayflower. Above the Wayman branch the waters of Elk creek after flowing in a northerly direction about eight miles, empty into the Turkey. This stream received its name from Louis Reynolds, who in the summer of 1834, while exploring the creek in search of a mill site, came upon a herd of elk that were mossing in its waters, from which circumstance he named the stream Elk creek. Reynolds was a bachelor of a romantic turn of mind, who manifested on all social occasions, the most extravagant politeness. His educational attainments seemed to center in a knowledge of Goethe's "Sorrows of Werter," a small volume of which he constantly carried about his person, and which had been so liberally saturated with coon's oil and deer's tallow, that much of its contents had become wholly obliterated. Enough, however, remained to enable him, as he believed, to triumph in discussion, no matter what the subject might be. In the fall of 1835, near the close of a day's hunt, we came upon his cabin situated upon the Blue Belt, and was invited to place our rifle on the gun rack. During the early part of the evening an Indian came in with a ham of venison which he wished to exchange for corn meal. Reynolds had just succeeded in extracting a splinter from beneath the nail of one of his fingers, which had become located there while in the act of scraping from the bottom of his meal barrel material sufficient to make a dodger for two, and accordingly the Indian could not be accommodated. But as Reynolds stood in need of the venison, it occurred to him that he could satisfy the Indian by reading to him a page or two from his inexhaustible book, "The Sorrows of Werter." Accordingly he took the ham, hung it up, and after seating the Indian upon a keg, squatted himself down in the chimney corner, where, by leaning in a sideling manner towards the blaze of the fire, he was enabled to read from the Teutonic volume, occasionally pausing to explain and gesticulate away the difficulties that seemed to obscure the latent beauties of some flowing passage. The Indian who could under- stand nothing, had fixed his eyes intently upon the fire, while his mind seemingly in its efforts to grasp the subject, had plunged into the most
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profound thought upon some other theme. Reynolds after having amply paid for the ham, as he believed, arose, and taking the Indian by the arm led him to the door, where with profuse display of polite- ness, he thanked him for the venison. The Indian after casting a sor- rowful glance back in the direction of the meat, departed.
Now Reynolds had but one shirt in the world, a calico garment with an ample display of ruffles running perpendicularly through the center of its bosom, and having learned that a family would locate in his neighborhood in a few days, among which there was a female of an attractive character, he at once determined to be ready to receive them; accordingly he had just completed the washing of his shirt in the creek and had hung it upon a bush to dry. In the morning the garment was gone. The few moccasin tracks in the vicinity of the bush, bespoke the visitation of an Indian, incapable of appreciating the "Sorrows of Werter." Reynolds soon after left the country.
There is a tributary of the Elk known as Wolf creek. It received its name from Dennis Quigley, who was the first settler upon the stream. During the first evening of his residence here, a surprise party of wolves called upon the few sheep that he had brought with him, and welcomed them to their new home .. From which circumstance he honored the creek with the name of its inhabitants.
About a mile above the Elk, Volga river unites its waters with the Turkey. This stream which is about thirty-five miles in length, rises in the center of Fayette county. During the early settlement of the country it was known by the name of the South Fork of Turkey. In 1836 when M. Lyon established by survey the township lines of north- ern Iowa, he bestowed upon it the name of Volga river, which was adopted by the settlers of the county. It is one of the most beautiful streams of northern Iowa. There are a number of towns and villages situated upon its banks, among which none more prominent than the town of Fayette in Fayette county. It is here that the North Iowa University is situated. The stream is sometimes called Classic Volga, from the following literary incident. A student from Wisconsin attending the university, had prepared a poem to be delivered at the closing exhibition of the institute. His fellow students who had mani- fested some skepticism as to the arcadian qualities of the people of Wisconsin, stood all on envious tip-toe, eager to hear its sentiment and delivery, while Professor Brush who had just been inaugurated, felt that the moaning pine forests of Wisconsin, pausing for a time to recuperate among the ample fisheries of the state, that it might take its way with wider, loftier flight through town and hamlet-westward, ho! The Badger Boy proud of his native state, self-poised and con- fident, ascended the rostrum and commenced his poetic essay as fol- lows :
"There where the classic Volga goes With logs and sticks and overflows, And in the farmhouse runs its nose-
Here the professor commenced coughing so loud and incessant that nothing more of the poem could be heard. Sufficient, however,
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was preserved to secure for our beautiful Volga the proud literary prefix, "Classic."
A short distance from the mouth of the Volga, there is a tributary known as Bear creek; it received its name from the following hunting incident. Missouri Dixon and his brother Samuel having started a large bear in the timber of Turkey river in the winter of 1838, followed its footprints in the snow until they reached the vicinity of this stream, where they separated, Missouri following the trail and his brother mak- ing a circuit in the hope of meeting the bear. Soon after they parted Missouri came up with the animal, which had coiled down to sleep beneath an overhanging ledge of rock. He fired and wounding the bear, it immediately turned upon him, when he fled in the direction of the creek. Dixon was wont to tell the adventure thus: "For a half mile there was something more than daylight between us, and if Sam hadn't fired just as I was crossing the creek, there would have been an old bear hunter spoilt."
A short distance above Bear creek, Doe creek unites its waters with the Volga. This stream received its name from Benjamin Smith, an experienced hunter, who during his first hunting visit to the stream, killed a doe while in the act of leaping across it; this incident gave to the creek the name it bears.
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