History of Davenport and Scott County Iowa, Volume I, Part 31

Author: Downer, Harry E
Publication date: 1910
Publisher: Chicago : S. J. Clarke
Number of Pages: 1042

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to add that in the later '6os Allen Pinkerton, of Chicago, a member of the famous detective firm bearing that name, published a pamphlet in New York city in which Timothy Webster is given the credit of discovering and making known to the authorities the plot to assassinate Abraham Lincoln while on his way from Springfield to Washington for his inauguration as president of the United States, which was to take place on the 4th of March, 1861. Letters from Hon. N. B. Judd, Governor Curtin and others plainly indicated that the plot was discovered and frustrated by members of the Pin- kerton force and not by persons in New York, who have claimed the credit. In the pamphlet above referred to Mr. Pinkerton gives credit to Timothy Web- ster in the words following: "Timothy Webster, one of my detective force, ac- companied me upon this eventful occasion. He served faithfully as a detective among the secessionists of Maryland and acquired many valuable and important secrets. He, among all the force who went with me, deserves the credit of sav- ing the life of Mr. Lincoln, even more than I do. He was a native of Princeton, New Jersey, a life-long democrat, but he felt and realized with Jackson that the Union must and should be preserved. He continued in important detective service and after I assumed charge of the secret service of the army of the Potomac under Major General McClellan, Mr. Webster was most of the time within the rebel lines. True, he was called a spy and martial law says that a spy, when con- victed, must die. Yet, spies are necessary in war, ever have been and ever will be. Timothy Webster was arrested in Richmond and upon the testimony of members of the 'secesh' army in Washington, named Levi, for whom I had done some acts of kindness, he was convicted as a spy and executed by Jefferson Davis, April 30, 1862. His name is unknown to fame but few were braver or more devoted to the Union cause than was Timothy Webster." While in Davenport Timothy Webster secured appointment as bridge superintendent, succeeding Seth Gurney, the first incumbent.

GEO. E. HUBBELL LINCOLN'S ASSOCIATE COUNSEL.

Associated with Abraham Lincoln in the bridge cases was George E. Hub- bell of the Davenport bar. He was engaged for several months in taking dep- ositions in this vicinity and up and down the river, and this evidence was in Mr. Lincoln's possession when the cases came up for trial. Mr. Hubbell tells of seeing Mr. Lincoln and his eldest son, then a boy, in a hotel at Dubuque, where Mr. Lincoln had journeyed on legal business. The martyred president never visited Davenport, although that statement is often made. The only presidents who have been in this city are Millard Fillmore, who accompanied the party on the first train over the Rock Island road and was given a hearty reception here, Theodore Roosevelt who spoke here during the Mckinley campaign and Presi- dent Taylor, who was met by a reception committee of British and Indians at Credit island in the war of 1812. President Taft, while secretary of war, was one of a distinguished company entertained by the Tri-City Press club at a banquet at the Commercial club, and in 1900, Theodore Roosevelt also made Davenport a stopping place while on a campaigning tour in the west. While attorney in the bridge cases Abraham Lincoln came to the bridge to study the location of draw pier and direction of currents. He was within a few hundred feet of Davenport but did not cross the bridge.

W. L. CLARK

CHAPTER IX.

IOWA'S EARLIEST LIVING RESIDENT

CAPT. WARNER L. CLARK AND HIS VARIED EXPERIENCES-ACQUAINTED WITH MANY MEN OF PROMINENCE-HAS REMARKABLE MEMORY-PIONEER CUSTOMS-CAPT. CLARK'S HOME TOWN THE FIRST TO BE PLATTED IN SCOTT COUNTY-DESCRIP- TION OF THE PIONEER CABIN-INDIAN NEIGHBORS-INCIDENTS OF INDIAN LIFE -WHY BUFFALO FELL BEHIND IN THE RACE.

On the morning of a beautiful sunshiny day in the early part of March, 1910, the writer and an expert stenographer reached the quiet little village of Buffalo and upon inquiry, learned the location of Captain Clark's home, which proved to be quite a half mile distant from the depot and commanding a promi- nent and most desirable position overlooking the "father of waters." The visitors were early ones, it being but a few minutes past 8 o'clock, yet when ushered into the cottage, which was built in 1845 but is in a splendid state of preservation, they found the old pioneer in his sitting room, ready to receive his callers. Cap- tain Clark was soon in possession of the reason for being called on to enter- tain strangers and soon the reminiscent muse impelled him to gratify the de- sire to obtain, at first hand, his recollections of the primitive times, scenes and people of this locality. We were told by him that his memory, although almost eighty-eight years had passed over his head, was practically as good as when he was in his prime, and he made the statement an emphatic one when he said he never permitted himself to assert the truth or falsity of a thing unless he knew he was right. His rule of action has probably been that attributed to Davy Crockett-"Be sure you're right, then go ahead." And the kindly, inter- esting old gentleman opened up his Pandora's box of precious tales of the early days in Scott county and after handing over the copy of an article he had writ- ten for another publication, he let his memory carry him hither and yon, first on this subject and then on that, always, let it be understood, keeping in view the main object-the past and its relation to Scott county.

Captain Warner Lewis Clark will be eighty-eight years old in November and is now living on the claim taken up for him by his father seventy-seven years ago. Today he is the oldest living pioneer and settler not only of Scott

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county but also of the state of Iowa. The relation of early times and events in this locality herein recorded is from the lips and pen of Captain Clark and is of much importance as a part of this work.

From 1847 until 1859, Captain Clark made his home in Davenport, but in the latter year returned to Buffalo, where for the past half century he has re- sided. Fifty years ago he put on the river a packet line, to connect with the railroad, and during the twelve years he resided in Davenport, his main busi- ness was that of steamboating. While retired from active business pursuits, he is still able to keep an eye on whatever concerns his financial affairs. The fol- lowing incident relates to his remarkable talent for remembering things: He was walking past the Democrat office one day when David N. Richardson (Dick) espied him and called him into the editorial den. "Dick" Richardson, thinking he had the captain on the hip and that the latter would have to step down from his pedestal of infallibility in the correctness of his historic data, opened up on the patriarch by asking him: "Captain, who was the first post- master of Davenport and of Buffalo?" "Why," immediately answered the cap- tain, "my father was the first postmaster of Buffalo and Antoine LeClaire was the first one of Davenport. I have told you that before." "I must confess to you, Captain Clark," returned the editor, "that in this you are wrong, and it is the first time in our long acquaintance that I have ever found you making a mistake of that kind. Now, to prove to you that you did make a mistake as to these postmasters, here is a letter from the postoffice department in Wash- ington, in which it is stated positively that Duncan C. Eldridge was Daven- port's first postmaster and the first in Buffalo to handle the mails was M. N. Bosworth. I am sorry, captain, but you'll have to admit your mistake in this instance," concluded Mr. Richardson. But Captain Clark stood his ground and reinstated himself on his pedestal. He proved to the satisfaction of Editor "Dick" Richardson that notwithstanding the postal officials in Washington had given Eldridge and Bosworth a place in Scott county history, that might have tickled the vanity of those gentlemen and given the postoffice historian at Wash- ington an abnormal assurance of his importance as a collector of statistics, still, he, Captain Clark, knew that Eldridge and Bosworth were not in Scott county for a year or more subsequent to the appointment of his father and Antoine LeClaire. And Mr. Clark was right.

KNEW ANTOINE LE CLAIRE. .

"I knew Antoine LeClaire very well," said Mr. Clark. "When I first met him, a young man, he was then five feet, seven inches in height, and weighed about 175 pounds. He was a compactly, well built man, and filled out later in life until he weighed over 300 pounds. I remember him well as a fiddler, and he was a good one, too! He would often be found at country dances, playing his fiddle to the delight of all in the merry crowd. He was also fond of danc- ing and was very spry on his feet. He was considered a good dancer and never wanted for a partner. He was a simple-minded man, a good neighbor and kind. to everybody. He was clever, but you could not say he was a good busi-

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ness man. Notwithstanding he met with business reverses, yet at his death he left a large property to be distributed among the claimants to his estate."

Captain Clark casually remarked that he could talk "Indian" and that when a child he had Indians for his playmates. He knew the noted Chief Keokuk very well, who was also one of his playmates, and a number of years after Keokuk had acquired wealth and joined the Methodist church he invited the chief to attend a meeting of the Scott County Old Settlers' association, which Keokuk accepted but for some reason never put in an appearance. Captain Clark also said: "Father had the first ferry on the Mississippi and the most noted above St. Louis. He established the ferry to reach the mining country in those days. He could have claimed his land in Davenport, below Harrison street, just as well as in Buffalo, but if he had gone to Davenport he would have had the two branches of the Rock river to ferry, as we didn't think of bridging rivers in those days. This (Buffalo) was far the prettier place. We had every advantage here and were ahead in everything."

KNEW STEPHEN A. DOUGLAS.

Continuing in a desultory way, Captain Clark told of having lived under every president from James Monroe to William Howard Taft, and that he joined the Old Settlers' association when it was organized in 1858, and had never missed but two or three of its meetings. "I knew quite a good deal of 'Abe' Lincoln, but never met him. Stephen A. Douglas I had met on more than one occasion. He was a brilliant man. I have no picture of my father -we didn't know much about pictures in those days-but my old acquaintances said that my father and Douglas were as nearly alike in appearance as two brothers could be. I was running the Jennie Lind, one of my packet boats, and went to Burlington one time when a convention was to be held there. On board my boat en route to the convention were John Wentworth, 'Long John,' of Chicago,, Stephen A. Douglas, Congressman Richards from Adams county General Jones and General A. C. Dodge. I took them all down in my boat and they had a rally at Burlington the next night. Here I might add that it was not a common thing to lay over with a steamboat twelve hours to pick up noted men."

WRITTEN BY CAPTAIN W. L. CLARK.

Benjamin W. Clark was born in Wyth county, Virginia, and came to Black Hawk's Purchase in June. 1833, where he took up claims and bought others two and one-fourth miles in length on the Mississippi river, above and below where the town of Buffalo is now situated. He built a log cabin at the lower end of W. L. Clark's present property, one near where the Dorman store and postoffice now stands, one at what is now the upper end of town and one on the river bank above where the public highway crosses the Rock Island railroad, on the Dodge farm, all embracing what are now the W. L. Clark. Springmeir, Kautz, Zerker, Erie Dodge, Henry Alford, and the south part of the Harsch, Stickle- berger and Dodge farms, or about 2,000 acres. In the spring of 1833 he

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planted corn, potatoes and a vegetable garden where Buffalo now stands. These were the first crops in the county. His nearest neighbor north, on the river, was at Dubuque, 135 miles. The nearest one south was at Flint Hills, now Burlington (Shacacon, the Indian name), ninety miles distant, and not a house to the Pacific coast.

The spot chosen by him was one of the most beautiful on the great river be- tween St. Louis and St. Paul. Here were low lying hills, set well back from the river and covered with a fine growth of valuable timber, with building stone and coal cropping out of the sides of many of the creeks, fine sulphur springs of clear, delicious, healthful water, and besides all these natural advantages that of being on a direct line between Monmouth, Illinois, forty miles south, and Dubuque by airline seventy-four miles north to the lead mines. The river here had beautiful pebbly, rocky shores, and here he established Clark's ferry, which, after emigration set in, became the most noted in the Black Hawk Pur- chase. It was the only ferry between Burlington and Dubuque; in other words, we were the first. Here it was the first house was built, the first ferry established, the first plowing done, the first crop planted, the first brickyard, the first blacksmith shop, where the mill-irons for the Green grist mill at Rochester, also the irons for the Whittlesy mill, both in Cedar county, were made; the first town between Flint Hill and Dubuque, the first barn, thirty by forty feet, now standing, the first coal mine opened, and the first white child born, David H. Clark, April 21, 1834; the second in schools-for Pleasant Valley was the first there. We were first and foremost in everything else, for we were here first and went to work with a will. The first girl born here was Harriet Mounts (Fridley) on September 2, 1835.

During the winter of 1833-34, Captain Benjamin W. Clark had several men making rails to fence four of his farms on the river.

EARLY HISTORY.

Having raised a crop of sod corn, in 1834, the manufacture of breadstuff became a vital subject. Wheaten flour was out of the question for daily use. Some means had to be provided for the making of corn meal, and this is the way we did it. We sawed off from a log thirty inches in diameter a piece three and one-half feet long, setting it on one end. With our crude tools we cut and burned out a hollow mortar to hold a peck or more of corn; then with two poles and a prop against a tree (not unlike the old well sweep) we rigged our mill. The end coming straight down had a hole bored in it, a pin driven through leaving an end on each side long enough for a man to take hold of. The lower end forming a pestle had a ring around it and an iron wedge driven in. Two men would then take hold and soon pound sufficient meal for the day. These articles were in use in the year 1834. Two years later, 1835-6, Messrs. Davis and Haskel built a little mill on Crow creek, and J. H. Sullivan and H. C. Morehead built a steam mill at Rockingham, which did away with the pestle and mortar and supplied not only the residents of the community but furnished breadstuffs to ship away.

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CUSTOMS OF THE PIONEERS.

For the first horseshoeing, done early in December, 1833, the writer went a long distance. He rode one horse and led another. The first day he made Monmouth, Illinois, forty miles; the next day, reached Macomb, Illinois, forty miles further ; the third day, by noon, twenty miles further; in all, 100 miles to Crooked Creek, where lived and worked one Elijah Bristow, a blacksmith. Bristow himself made all shoes and nails used by him, as all the smiths did at that time. The calks were of cast steel, the hind calks were made square where they joined the shoe, then drawn to a point. The smith must have been an unusually efficient workman, or took extra pains with my horses, since every shoe remained firm until the following spring. On the return trip I procured a wagon and harness and drove back, bringing with me John Bristow, Michael Shelly, William Shelly, Orian Moss and W. H. Gabbert to split rails for my father. Three of these men took up claims and settled near us, one taking the now H. C. Morehead farm, one the now Theodore Kautz farm and one the upper end of the now Miller farm.

BUFFALO FIRST TOWN PLATTED.

Buffalo was the first town platted in what is now Scott county, and was laid out in May, 1836, by Captain Benjamin W. Clark, Captain E. A. Mix and Dr. Pillsbury, of Buffalo, New York, and named in honor of the latter place. At the time of laying out it had the widely known Clark ferry which enjoyed the trade of a large extent of territory, being in a direct line with southern Illinois and Dubuque and the lead regions. Here all the first settlers with teams crossed the river into Black Hawk's Purchase, and on their way to Muscatine, Linn, Cedar and all the western portion of Scott countly. Buffalo, being situ- ated in a fine timbered section of country with coal creeping out of almost every creek, a flouring mill in process of erection (by Benjamin Nye), good roads to Moscow and Rochester, also to the groves, namely, Center, Hickory, Allen's, Big and Little Walnut, Poston's, Red Oak, Stuart Mason, and all the Cedar river valley, the whole western country was brought tributary to Buffalo, which was having a fine trade with all these western settlers.

Davenport was laid out later, also Rockingham, Montevideo, Iowa, Mont- pelier, Salem, Wyoming, Geneva, and Bloomington, being ten towns in twenty- nine miles, each clamoring for supremacy over the other. This was then Michigan territory ; our first delegates met at Detroit. The central position of Buffalo gave us advantages over all the other places, and how to override our natural advantages and give supremacy to some one of the rival towns, was the seemingly untiring object of our rivals. We had the most beautiful locality in the Black Hawk Purchase, where the river front was of gravel and stone with a gradual rise for 100 to 300 rods to very gently rising hills; on the second level was most fertile farm land, covered with a heavy growth of timber, white oaks predominating; coal underlying the whole country for many miles; fine springs and creeks with great quantities of limestone and fire clay gives only a partial description of Buffalo in 1836.

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BUFFALO'S FIRST POSTMASTER.

The first postmaster of Buffalo was Captain Benjamin W. Clark, in 1836-7. The office was kept in his residence; mail was carried on a line of hacks which ran from Dubuque to Burlington once a week. The contractor was Ansel Briggs, afterward the first governor of Iowa. Postage stamps were not then in use. The postmaster had to collect on each letter, prices varying. Less than three hundred miles the postage was twenty-five cents. No envelopes being in use, there was wrapped around each letter a printed slip containing address and price. To save postage and paper, it was the custom to write both ways on a page. Letters were infrequent and precious. A jubilee occurred when one was received in a family. Often a letter would remain in the office a long time, waiting for the recipient to raise enough money to pay the postage.

A BEAUTIFUL COUNTRY.

Everywhere near streams forest trees abounded, intermixed with crab-ap- ple and plum trees, vines, berry and hazlenut bushes. Walnut and hickory trees were numerous, also many large pecan trees which yielded hundreds of bushels of nuts, of which the Indians were very fond and which they traded or sold to the whites. These latter trees grew mostly upon the islands. The sloughs also produced an abundance of wild rice, which, when gathered by squaws (of course) and properly threshed and cleaned, made a palatable dish for them as well as for the whites. Without doubt many of the large forest trees could now be found growing from the corn hills described in another place. The large elms were utilized by the Indians in this way: the squaws in the springtime would cut through the bark to the wood, above and below, strip it off and use for siding and roofing their summer homes, at the town of Sau-ke-nuk.

The river abounded in fish ; we white people would eat only pike, pickerel, bass, salmon, sunfish or, if hard pushed, the bluecat of six or eight pounds. In my younger days it was our custom to cross the Mississippi to Rock river, where we easily caught in a short time all the fish we could use.

THE PIONEER CABIN.

My readers may wish to know how the pioneer homes or cabins were built. They were of logs cut about sixteen feet in length and of almost even size, then hauled to the number of eight or ten, to a side of the space where the building was to stand. Then the neighbors came to the "house raising," as it was called; four good choppers, with axes, would each take a corner where a log was rolled up, would cut a notch to fit the "saddle" previously cut, then two men would fit the saddle and notch together, continuing this until the walls were high enough ; then put the next log in three feet. then another end log. running each in three feet until the ends were topped off ; this leaves it ready to cover with clapboards, which are four feet long and made by cutting down a large straight grained tree, sawing in four-foot lengths, then split these logs into

TEDDY AND CARRIE. THE CINNAMON BEARS AT FEJERVARY PARK

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"bolts," take the heart out, then with a "frow" and mallet drive them into boards a half inch thick and ten inches wide, laying them on the cross logs above de- scribed, breaking joints until a course is laid; over these lay a small log or pole to hold the boards firmly down; continuing this until the roof is completed. These roofs were fairly good for turning rain, but many a time when sleep- ing in the loft. as the upper floor was called, we would feel the snow blowing be- tween the boards of the roof. We boys would cover our heads and sleep soundly, but in the morning our beds would be covered with snow. The stairs were pins of wood driven into the logs which we ascended through a hole cut in the floor. Talk of hardships-we did not consider them so; it was real fun for the youngsters.

The doors were made of clapboards fastened to a frame with wooden pins. The hinges were made of wood, the latch and fixtures of wood, a strong buck- skin string was fastened to the latch, then passed up through a hole in the door, to open which one pulled the string, which was seldom done; hence the saying "the latch string is always out to you." Genuine hospitality was the order of the day. The windows were made by cutting out half of two logs, and putting in small sticks which were covered with oiled paper; this was before glass could be obtained, which was not until as late as 1834-and about the same time we were able to procure nails, both brought from St. Louis, the nearest shipping point of any importance. The inside finish of these houses was called "chink- ing and daubing." The chinking was done by driving cordwood sticks in the spaces left by the round of the logs; the daubing was made of clay, wet to proper consistency and put on as nearly like plaster now is as the rough sur- face would permit. This combination made a house warm in winter and cool in summer. To beautify we whitewashed inside and outside with a pipe clay, such as Indians used to make their pipes; this added greatly to the neatness and beauty of the building. The chimney was an opening of about eight feet wide on one side of the log house, walled part way with stone and mud, then topped out with split sticks like laths, only thicker; these were laid up with mud and thoroughly plastered inside with the mud, using the hands, thus preventing the danger of fire inside. A hearth was laid with stone, if possible, if not, it was filled in with clay well pounded down. All cooking was done in these "fire- places." The floor was made by hewing one side of small straight logs laid one way for sleepers on joists, then split puncheons from straight grained logs six' to eight feet long, hewed with a broad ax as smooth as possible, straight with ax and chalk line, then laid down; this made a very solid floor. No cellars were used. In the place of these we used "root houses," which were made by dig- ging into the side of a bank, covering with poles, then with coarse slough grass, then dirt on top of that, when it was ready for use. We had no matches thus early, but later were able to buy Lucifer matches. We started fires with a flint and steel, holding a piece of "punk," a tough kind of rotten wood, or else we rubbed tow (refuse flax) thoroughly with gun powder, then primed a flint lock musket and got a flash of powder in the pan, which would ignite the powder and tow, which put to dry hay, would soon be a flame. At night we carefully ar-

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History of Davenport and Scott County Iowa, Volume I, Part 31

Author: Downer, Harry E Publication date: 1910 Publisher: Chicago : S. J. Clarke Number of Pages: 1042

Author: Downer, Harry E
Publication date: 1910
Publisher: Chicago : S. J. Clarke
Number of Pages: 1042