USA > Iowa > Delaware County > History of Delaware County, Iowa, and its people, Volume I > Part 7
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Residual chert alone is used to a large extent in Delaware, Oneida and Delhi townships. Some stretches of road in the central part of the county are provided by nature with a macadam of residual chert in place, and beds of fragmentary chert, grading down into beds of partially deeayed chert and limestone, are coextensive almost with the outerops of indurated rocks.
In the Pleistocene formation the most important road materials are the Buchanan gravels. These have been already described. The pit near Earl- ville, on the land of M. V. Newcomb, furnished a great amount of material for use on wagon roads but there are other deposits equally good that will have been developed and the material used on the loamy and clayey roads that at certain seasons of the year were impassable for loaded teams. The great pit in section 25, Bremen Township, was one of the largest in the county. The product has been used for ballast on the line of the Chicago Great West- ern Railway. The gravel deposits here occupy an area of several hundred acres in sections 25 and 26, and could supply material enough to improve the larger part of all the roads needing improvement in the entire county. A bed almost as extensive as that in Bremen occurs in sections 18 and 19, Riehland Township. The townships of Honey Creek, Colony, Delaware, Oneida, Milo, Delhi and South Fork are also well supplied with gravels. Beds are also noted in Coffin's Grove and Prairie townships. There is no county better supplied with easily worked materials for the improvement of the ordinary prairie roads.
WATER SUPPLY
Delaware County is well watered by streams which are in the main per- manent even in seasons of drouth. Springs are numerous and bountiful, the permanence of the streams being due largely to the volume of water which the springs supply. Along Elk Creek and its numerous tributaries there are many copious springs along the outerop of the transition beds between the Maquoketa shales and the Niagara limestone. Springs also abound at the same horizon along Little Turkey River and its branches in Colony Township. At the Backbone in Riehland Township there are a score or more of springs issuing from crevices in the shattered limestone below the horizon of Pentamerus oblongus. The same horizon is marked by springs, some of large volume, in Honey Creek and
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HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY
Delaware townships, near Millheim, and in South Fork Township, near Hop- kinton. The splendid springs that supply Spring Creek, in section 35 of Dela- ware Township and in sections 2, 3 and 10, Milo Township, come from about the same geological level. The bountiful supply of pure spring water poured out from the rocks along the valley of this creek has afforded the opportunity for establishing here one of the largest and best equipped fish hateheries under the control of the United States Fish Commission. Springs, in short, occur at intervals along all streams that cut their channels through the superficial doposits down into the indurated rocks.
Wewy water is obtained in streaks of sand and gravel in the Pleistocene deposits. Formerly wells twenty to forty feet in depth afforded an unfailing supply of water throughout all the prairie portion of the county; but lately it has been necessary ltr most cases to bore through the drift and for some distance into the underlying rock, in order to get the volume of water needed on the ordinary farm. In the southern part of Prairie Township, for example, the drift series is from 80 to 120 feet in thickness, and the farm wells are bored from 70 to 100 feet, or even more, in the Niagara limestone underlying the drift. The well on the old Barry place is -285 feet deep, and on land of S. M. Shofner, near the northeast corner of section _27, a well was bored to a depth of 300 feet. On other farms in the same neighborhood the wells ranged in depth from 150 to 200 feet.
While supplies of water for farm and isolated mhousehold purposes may be obtained in the drift, in the Niagara limestone or in the Maquoketa shales, are depths ranging from 20 to 300 feet, supplies for, cities must be drawn either from permanent streams or from the great wate rs bearing sandstones that, throughout the county, lie at depths of 1,500 or 2, 000 feet beneath the surface. Manchester obtained its water supply from a deep well reaching to the basal portion of the Saint Croix sandstone, or 1.870 feet.
WATER POWERS
1
Water powers with head varying from eight to fourteen feret have been developed along the Maquoketa River at the following points: . Forestville, Richland Township; Quaker Mills, Delaware Township; Mancheste r. Delaware Township; Hartwick, Delhi Township; Fleming's Mills, Delhi Town ship ; Hop- kinton, South Fork Township.
Mill sites on Honey Creek were found at Millheim, in section 3, and at two points in section 20, near Manchester, Delaware Township. The Foun- tain Spring Mills were built on Odell's branch of Elk Creek, in section 16, Elk Township. There is an abandoned site on Elk Creek about a mile soutgh of the Clayton County line. A sawmill was onee operated near the mouth sof Plum Creek, and there was another on Buek Creek, in section 10, Union Township.
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CHAPTER HI
DELAWARE COUNTY CARVED OUT OF DUBUQUE
In the month of August. 1832, soon after the close of the Black Hawk war, a treaty was consummated between the Sae and Fox Indians and the United States, by which the Government acquired title to a strip of country extending westward from the banks of the Mississippi River fifty miles. The western boundary of the eeded territory ran parallel with the Father of Waters and ineluded the present County of Delaware. The treaty went into effect in the month of June. 1833, and in the same month of the following year, the Black Hawk Purchase became a part of Michigan Territory. The Territorial Legis- lature. in September, then erected two counties west of the Mississippi-Dubuque and Des Moines-the dividing line being drawn westward from the foot of Rock Island, and the above named counties were, in a measure, organized.
Michigan attained statehood and on July 4, 1836, Wisconsin Territory was organized, in which were included the counties of Dubuque and Des Moines. The first named county was divided, in 1837, into Dubuque, Delaware, Clayton, Fayette, Buchanan, Jackson, Jones, Linn, Benton, Clinton and Cedar, with definite boundaries. . To Dubuque the County of Delaware was attached for practically all purposes of a political unit. It contained sixteen congressional townships and had the following boundaries: Commencing at the northwest corner of township 90 north, range 2 west of the fifth principal meridian, thence west to the northwest corner of township 90 north, range 6 west, thence south on the west line of the sixth range of townships west to the southwest corner of township 87 north, range 6 west, thence east to the southwest corner of town- ship 87 north. range 6 west, thence north to place of beginning. On the north lay Clayton County ; on the east, Dubuque County; on the south, Linn and Jones counties, and on the west, Buchanan County.
By order of the county commissioners of Dubuque County, an election precinet for Delaware County was created, July 29, 1837, and known as Schwartz preeinet. An election was ordered to be held that year, but no record of such an event at the time and place is now extant, to guide the his- torian. It appears of record, however, as shown by the minute-book kept by the clerk of the Dubuque County Commissioners' Court, for August of the year 1837. that provision was made for the payment of election officials of Schwartz precinct : John W. Penn, Ineius Kibbee and Jacob Schwartz. judges. $1 each : G. D. Dillon, elerk, $1 : William H. Morning, elerk and messenger, $4.50. The record also remains silent as to the number of votes east at this first election in Delaware county, but the officers chosen were for Dubuque County and mem- bers of the Territorial Legislature.
Vol. 1-4
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HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY
DELAWARE COUNTY ORGANIZED
The winter of 1839-40 found seareely enough settlers in Delaware County to make a full school district and the locality was not represented in the Leg- islature, then sitting for the Territory of lowa. Dubuque and Delaware coun- ties were not in harmony on internal affairs, owing to difficulties arising relat- ing to improvements, such as the laying out of territorial roads and the like. Dubuque County knew that in time Delaware would have a separate existence and for that reason the parent organization was loathe to expend its means, or any part thereof, to the advantage of the other county. Therefore, it is said, the Dubuque people, taking time by the forelock and without consulting their neighbor, caused to be passed by the Territorial Legislature the following measure :
"An act to provide for the organization of the County of Delaware, and to loeate the seat of justice thereof.
"Section 1. Be it enacted by the Council and House of Representatives of the Territory of Iowa: That the County of Delaware shall be organized for county purposes as other counties of this territory have heretofore been or- ganized.
"See. 2. The seat of justice of said county shall be located by three com- missioners, non-residents of said county, which said commissioners shall meet together on or before the first day of May next, 1840, and forthwith proceed to examine into and determine upon the most eligible point for the county seat of said county, having referenee as far as practicable to a central situation, and also to the convenience of the present and prospective population.
"Sec. 3. The said commissioners shall, before they enter upon the perform- anee of their said duties, take and subscribe before some district judge or jus- tice of the peace, the following oath, to-wit: 'I, , one of the commissioners appointed to locate the seat of justice in and for the County of Delaware, do hereby swear by Almighty God, the seareher of all hearts, that I will perform the duty imposed by said appointment honestly and faithfully, according to the best of my understanding and abilities, and according to the law relative to locating said county seat; and I do further swear, as aforesaid, that I am not interested in said location in any manner whatever, present or in expectancy, but that in locating said county seat, I will be actuated only by a desire for the best interests of said county, without the slightest partiality toward any person or persons, and without any bias from fear, favor or reeom- pense, or the hope of gain or advantage to myself in any respect whatever.'
"See. 4. So soon as convenient, not exceeding fifteen days after the loca- tion shall have been made, the said commissioners, or a majority of them, shall make out and return to the governor a full statement or report of the place selected, describing the same as fully as practicable, which report, together with the foregoing affidavits, shall be filed in the office of the secretary of the ter- ritory, to remain of public record.
"Sec. 5. The county shall, so soon as said report shall be filed, be con- sidered as a separate county, and shall have all the privileges and be subject to all laws and provisions now in force, or that may be hereafter in foree, in regard to the counties of this territory, and shall proceed hereafter to elect their
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HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY
county officers at the same time and in the same manner as in other organized counties.
"Sec. 6. The first general election shall be held, for the whole county, at the houses of William Eads, J. Schwartz and David Moreland; and thereafter, the county shall be divided, by the county commissioners-elect, into precincts, at the first regular meeting of their board after said first general election, so as to suit the convenience of the inhabitants generally. And the judges of said election shall seal up and direct the returns to the elerk of the Commissioners' Court of Dubuque County; and the said commissioners shall proceed to open and canvass the said returns, and enter the same upon their records; and shall issue certificates, notifying the persons having a majority of votes for the differ- ent offices.
"See. 7. The commissioners appointed to locate the seat of justice as afore- said. shall receive $3 per diem for the time they shall be actually engaged in locating the same, not exceeding ten days, together with $3 for every twenty miles' travel in going and returning to and from said county.
"Sec. 8. S. B. Olmstead, of Clayton County, Shadrach Burliston, of Jack- son County, and Paul Cain, of Dubuque County shall (be) and they are hereby appointed commissioners to locate said county seat, under the provisions of this act.
"Approved December 20, 1839."
The first intimation that the inhabitants of the sparsely settled County of Delaware had that the Legislature acted for them in giving the county a sepa- rate government from Dubuque County, was after the bill for its organization was passed and approved. However, the commissioners selected by the Legis- lature to locate the seat of justice did not meet on May 1, 1840, the day appointed for the purpose, and it is probable that their failure so to do was actuated by the strenuous opposition to the contemplated organization on the part of the settlers. The way was now open for those most interested to take a hand in the proceedings and, at the extra session of the Legislature in July, an act was passed through their efforts, a copy of which is given below :
"An aet to amend an act entitled 'An act to provide for the organiza- tion of the County of Delaware, and to locate the county seat thereof.'
"Whereas, The commissioners appointed by 'An act to provide for the organization of the County of Delaware, and to locate the seat of justice there- of.' approved December 20, 1839, did wholly fail to meet on the first day of May. 1840, be it enacted, ete., that William Smith, Sr., of Dubuque County; William Jones, of Jackson County, and Thomas Denson, of Jones County, are hereby appointed commissioners, to meet at the house of William Eads, in said county, on the first Monday of October, in the year of our Lord, 1840, or within ten days thereafter, and proceed to permanently locate the county seat in and for said county, according to the provisions and requirements of the act to which this is amendatory.
"Sec. 2. That the eighth seetion of the aet to which this is amendatory is hereby repealed.
"Approved July 24, 1840."
Following the directions laid down by the amended act of the Legislature, two of the three commissioners appointed to locate the county seat, William
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HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY
Smith, Sr., of Dubuque County, and Thomas Denson, of Jones County, met at the house of William Eads, at Eads' Grove, now in Honey Creek township, to attend to the duties for which they were selected. After some deliberation the commissioners, as a matter of form, visited certain localities, among which was Bailey's Ford, where Joel Bailey had settled, and determined it to be a very desirable point for the county seat. Here three essential prerequisites were in evidence: Wood, water and healthful surroundings. The site for a town was excellent and the Maquoketa afforded splendid water privileges. None of these blessings was to be had nearer the geographical center of the county. But the chances for Bailey's Ford were not very encouraging. William Eads, a close friend, had the ear of Commissioner Smith, in favor of his choice and Judge Bailey was so informed by Commissioner Denson. The latter suggested to Judge Bailey that if he would give to the county forty acres on section 9, at a mill site on the Maquoketa River, he would not be averse to Bailey's Ford becoming the seat of justice. The reply to this plan was that Eads' Grove would not be satisfactory to the people and that section 9 (in Milo) was not a good location. Judge Bailey thereupon suggested that the commissioners would do well to take into consideration Penn's Grove and the Lake section of country.
Bailey's Ford being out of the running. so to speak. "The Lake" was visited and carefully examined. The locality strongly appealed to Denson as being a likely place for the county seat and he so expressed himself. Not so Conmis- sioner Smith. The latter, still under the influence of Eads, favored Eads' Grove. This brought on an issue between the two commissioners, in which Jones, of Jackson County, took no part, as he was not present at the time, nor does it appear that he was consulted in the matter. A trivial circumstance decided the contention. History has it that the commissioners, after return- ing to their homes, became alive to the fact that if they failed in consummat- ing their purpose they would not be entitled to any pay for the two weeks' time spent. Thereupon, so says Charles W. Hobbs, Smith suggested to Denson that they had taken up considerable time in their ardnous efforts to fix the location. It therefore was incumbent upon them, in order to draw their pay, to finish the work set before them. "Now," continued Smith, "I think Eads' Grove the best place; you think 'The Lake' the most eligible. We can't agree, and Jones isn't here. Suppose we flip a dollar!" "Agreed," said Denson, and Smith won. At once Smith chose the south part of Eads' Grove, on section 3, in Delaware Township, later the site of Millheim, or "Dutch Town." Thus, the first county seat of Delaware was selected, and named by Commissioner Smith. Elizabeth, after Mrs. Elizabeth Bennett, the first white female settler in the county.
The action of the county seat commissioners and its results were far from meeting the views and wishes of the greatest portion of the settlers, and they were determined that the work should be undone, if there was any possibility to do so. At a mass meeting held in the southern part of the county, resolutions were unanimously adopted, protesting against the Smith selection for a county seat and denouncing the commissioners for the part they played in the trans- action. It was also settled at this meeting that a petition should be sent to the Legislature, praying for permission to re-locate the county seat by a vote
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HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY
of the people, as they had every faith in their ability to make a suitable selee- tion-one that would far better meet the wishes and conveniences of the actual settlers than that arbitrarily and "flip"-antly won for a bosom friend, by a commissioner prejudiced in favor of one against the many. The result of this agitation appeared in petitions signed by almost every settler in the county except those living at Eads' Grove and vicinity.
Upon presentation of the petition to the Legislature a bill was drafted and reported from the committee, to which the matter was referred, providing that the county seat should be located by the electorate of Delaware County, at the general election in August following. There was no opposition to the measure except from Dr. Timothy Mason, of Dubuque, who took the position that from the importance of locating a county seat the question could not safely be en- trusted to the people most interested. As the organization of the County of Delaware had been partially accomplished by outside influences (chiefly on the part of Dubuque County), the sapient doctor contended that outsiders should have full charge in selecting the seat of justice. The bill passed, notwithstanding Mason's interested efforts, and became a law Jannary 13, 1841. On the same day that the above named measure was approved, the Legislature also passed and approved an act to establish a territorial road from the Town of Dubuque to Camp Atkinson, and Calvert Roberts, Samuel L. Clifton and Joseph Hewitt were appointed locating commissioners thereof. That part of the act relating to Dubuque County was subsequently repealed, but on July 11, 1845, the repeal was reconsidered and Peter S. Sharp, David Moreland and William A. Ander- son were appointed by the Legislature to re-locate the road through Dubuque County and, by way of the "Colony" and Eads' Grove, to Camp Atkinson.
DELIII BECOMES THE COUNTY SEAT
The settlers, by virtue of the law, were now enabled to choose for themselves the place most desirable and convenient for the county seat. In order that all might take part in its selection, a mass meeting was held, under call, at Pem's Grove, where pertinent matters were discussed in a harmonious manner, after which a committee was appointed to select a location for the county seat. This committee was composed of Joel Bailey, Leroy Jackson, William H. Whiteside, Roland Aubrey, S. P. Whitaker, Jolm W. Penn and Cyrus Keeler. Shortly thereafter, four members of this committee, Bailey, Aubrey, Whiteside and Jackson, met at Penn's Grove, and from thence proceeded to the geographical center of the county, near the present Town of Delaware. Upon actual view of the locality the sub-committee reached the conclusion that the spot was not available for the purpose and the same decision was reached upon view of the region in the timber southwest on Spring Branch. Following the stream from here to its confluence with the Maqnoketa River, two miles west and two miles south of the geographical center, one or two members of the committee were favorably impressed with the surroundings, but all were not satisfied and the determination was reached to examine "The Lake," or Silver Lake, bordering on the future Town of Delhi. Here the viewers found a beautiful body of water, surrounded by burr-oak groves, in which was a large spring of pure and limpid water. Having an abundance of the essentials, wood, water, altitude and a pure
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HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY
atmosphere, the site was selected and the first great struggle for popular rights in Delaware County ended in a vietory for the people.
DELAWARE COUNTY HOLDS ITS FIRST ELECTION
As the records of the county commissioners of Dubuque County show, the election for county officers and the location of a seat of justice in Delaware County took place August 2, 1841, and thirty-six ballots were east. The returns were made to the clerk of the board of county commissioners for Dubuque County and were carried to Dubuque, a distance of forty-five miles, by Charles WV. Hobbs, who walked all the way to his destination and back, arriving in Dubuque about nine o'clock of the last day on which the returns legally could be filed. The county commissioners of Dubuque County met on the 4th day of October, 1841, and canvassed the Delaware County ballots, upon which they declared the following named persons elected to the several offices provided for : Commissioners, William II. Whiteside, William Eads, Daniel Brown; sheriff, Leroy Jackson; treasurer, Robert B. Hutson ; recorder, John Padelford; sur- veyor, Joel Bailey ; probate judge, Roland Aubrey; assessor, Fayette Phillips; coroner, William L. Woods; publie administrator, Theodore Marks; constable for Schwartz precinet, Hawley Lowe ; Eads' precinct, William Evans.
There were thirty-one votes cast at this election for the location of the eounty seat, of which township (Delhi) 88 north, range 4 west, southeast quarter of section 17, received twenty-five votes, and the abortive capital of the county, Elizabeth, six votes.
DELAWARE COUNTY DECLARED FULLY ORGANIZED
Chapter 87 of the Territorial Laws of 1844. approved February 8, 1844, provided that "the County of Delaware be and the same is hereby organized; and the inhabitants of said county are entitled to all the rights and privileges to which, by law, the inhabitants of other organized counties in the territory are entitled; and said county shall be a part of the Third Judicial District, and the District Court shall be held at Delhi, the county seat of said county, on the first Monday after the fourth Monday in September, in each year." By this act, Buchanan and Black Hawk counties were attached to Delaware.
Soon after the passage of this aet, Charles W. Ilobbs was appointed clerk, pro tem, of the United States District Court for the County of Delaware, by Judge T. S. Wilson.
COUNTY GOVERNMENT SYSTEMS
In the act to divide the Territory of Wisconsin and to establish the Terri- torial Government of Iowa, Congress (June 12, 1838), extended over to the new territory the existing laws of Wisconsin, "so far as the same are not incompatible with the provisions of the act of separation." This measure was but a provi- sional one, however, subject to be altered, modified or repealed by the governor and legislative assembly of Iowa. A law of Wisconsin Territory, approved December 20, 1837, had established a board of county commissioners in each
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HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY
county and this was the law of Iowa Territory until December 14, 1838, when our Territorial Legislature passed a similar law. This was a statute of twenty- two sections, in which the powers and duties of county commissioners were clearly defined. This law, amended in some particulars, was reenacted in 1843.
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