USA > Iowa > Dickinson County > History of Emmet County and Dickinson County, Iowa, a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement, Volume I > Part 13
USA > Iowa > Emmet County > History of Emmet County and Dickinson County, Iowa, a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement, Volume I > Part 13
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45
The "small territorial subdivision" of King Alfred was called the "tunscipe." It wa's the political unit of popular expression, which took the form of mass convention or assembly called the "tun moot." The chief executive of the tunscipe was the "tun reeve," who, with the parish priest and four lay delegates, represented the tunscipe in the shire meeting.
In the settlement of New England, the colonies were at first governed by a general court, which also had legislative powers. The court was composed of the governor and a small council, generally made up of the most influential citizens. In March, 1635, the General Court of Massa- chusetts passed the following ordinance relating to local government in certain districts :
"Whereas, particular towns have many things that concern only themselves, and the ordering of their own affairs and disposing of business in their own town, therefore, the freemen of every town, or a majority of them, shall have power to dispose of their own lands and woods, and all appurtenances of said towns; to grant lots, and to make such orders as may concern the well ordering of their own towns, not repugnant to the laws and orders established by the General Court.
"Said freemen, or a majority of them, shall also have power to choose their own particular officers, such as constables, petty magistrates, sur-
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veyors for the highways, and may impose fines for violation of rules estab- lished by the freemen of the town-provided that such fines shall in no single case exceed twenty shillings."
That was the beginning of the township system in the United States. Connecticut followed Massachusetts with a similar provision regarding local self-government, and from New England the system was carried to the new states of the Middle West. In the southern colonies the county was made the principal political united for the government of local affairs. Eight counties were organized in Virginia in 1634 and the system spread to other colonies, except in South Carolina the units corresponding to coun- ties are called districts and in Louisiana they are known as parishes. The Illinos country .was made a county of Virginia after Gen. George Rogers Clark's campaign of 1778.
The first provision for the establishment of civil townships northwest of the Ohio River was made by Governor St. Clair and the judges of the Northwest Territory in 1790. The term "civil township" is here used to distinguish it from the Congressional township of the official Government survey. The latter is always six miles square (except in certain cases of fractional townships), while the civil township varies in size and shape, and is marked by a local government. Even yet in New England the township is of more importance in the settlement of local questions of a political character, or the administration of local affairs, than is the county. The town meetings are still held regularly and through them most of the business of the local government is transacted. Every propo- sition to expend a considerable sum of money, for any public purpose what- ever, is first submitted to the people at a town meeting. In the South the township is little more than a name, all the local business being trans- acted by the county authorities. Throughout the great Middle West there is a well-balanced combination of the two systems, the schools and roads being usually in charge of the township officials, while business that affects .more than one civil township is controlled by the county. In nearly every state in the Mississippi Valley it is the custom to sumbit to the people at a general or special election the question of issuing bonds for township purposes, and this custom is a relic of the old town meeting system.
Township government was first established in Iowa while the state . was a part of Michigan Territory. The Legislature of that territory in September, 1834, created the Township of Julien, which included the entire County of Dubuque-that is, all that part of Iowa lying north of a line drawn due west from the foot of Rock Island. Emmet County was therefore a part of Julien Township, Dubuque County. South of the line was Des Moines County, which was erected into Flint Hill Township. When Iowa was made a part of Wisconsin by the act of April 20, 1836, the first Legislature of that territory set about amending the laws and
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the act of December 6, 1836, provided that "Each county within this terri- tory now organized, or that may be hereafter organized, shall constitute one township for the purpose of carrying into effect the provisions of the amended laws."
The act of Congress organizing the Territory of Iowa, approved by President Van Buren on June 12, 1838, contained a provision that all town- ship officers should be elected by the people. In his message of Novem- ber 12, 1838, to the first Legislature that was ever convened in Iowa, Gov. Robert Lucas said: "The subject of providing by law for the organi- zation of townships and the election of township officers, and defining their powers and duties, I consider to be of the first importance and almost indispensable in the local organization of the Government. Without proper township regulations it will be extremely difficult, if not imprac- ticable to establish a regular school system. In most of the states, where a common school system has been established by law, the trustees of townships are important agents in executing the provisions of its laws."
On January 10, 1840, Governor Lucas approved the act providing for township organization. Under this act the question of forming a new township was to be submitted to the voters residing within the territory it was proposed to include in said township, and if a majority of the votes were in favor of the proposition the township should be organized. With some supplementary legislation, this system remained in force until after the admission of the state in 1846. Most of the counties created by the act of January 15, 1851, were declared to be a single township until the local authorities saw fit to make more.
When the office of county judge was abolished the township system assumed greater importance in Iowa than ever before. The act became effective on July 4, 1860, and required the voters of each township in a county to elect one supervisor at the next general election, the super- visors so elected to take office on January 1, 1861, and the board of super- visors was to perform all the duties formerly performed by the county judge. In 1862 the supervisors were given power to create new town- ships, and it was under this authority that the twelve civil townships of Emmet County were called into existence.
Each civil township in Emmet County corresponds to a congressional township and is therefore six miles square, except those forming the northern tier, where the congressional townships are fractional, so far as Emmet County is concerned, and contained only thirty square miles. The twelve townships are: Armstrong Grove, Center, Denmark, Ells- worth, Emmet, Estherville, High Lake, Iowa Lake, Jack Creek, Lincoln, Swan Lake and Twelve Mile Lake. Eight of these townships-Arm- strong Grove, Center, Ellsworth, Emmet, Estherville, High Lake, Iowa Lake, Swan Lake and Twelve Mile Lake-were organized prior to the
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burning of the courthouse in the fall of 1876, and the date of their erection and organization cannot be learned on account of the destruc- tion of the supervisors' records.
ARMSTRONG GROVE TOWNSHIP
This township is the middle one of the eastern tier and includes Township 99, Range 31, of the Government survey. It is bounded on the north by the Township of Iowa Lake; on the east by Kossuth County; on the south by Denmark Township, and on the west by Swan Lake Town- ship. The east fork of the Des Moines River flows diagonally across the township from northwest to southeast, and the southwest corner is watered by the Black Cat Creek. The surface is generally level or gently rolling, except along the streams, where it is more broken, and the soil is usually fertile. Some of the finest farms in the county are in this township.
In March, 1856, a man named Armstrong made his way up the Des Moines River from Fort Dodge looking for a location. In the grove on Section 36, Township 99, Range 31, he selected 160 acres for his claim. No white men were living near, and worn out by his journey he became lonesome, homesick and discouraged and as soon as the weather settled in the spring he returned to Mitchell County. The place were he selected his claim is still known as Armstrong's Grove and when the township was organized the name was conferred upon it. The first permanent set- tlement in that part of the county was made in 1864, when George Dem- mon settled in Section 36, near the place where the man Armstrong located eight years before, and Daniel W. Perry took a claim in Section 25 adjoining on the north. They were soon followed by James Thompson, Samuel Thoburn (a Scotchman), John Carroll and the Parson, Dundas and Campbell families, most of whom settled along the Des Moines in the eastern part of the township. Edward Donovan, another early settler, located a claim on the Black Cat Creek, not far from the present village of Halfa. David Weir came in the fall of 1869 and bought George Dem- mon's farm in Section 36.
Settlement was slow for a time, but in the early '70s there were sev- eral families located in the township. In 1871 C. B. Mathews, W. Orcut and the Hurlbuts came from Racine, Wisconsin; William Jordan, from Jackson County, Iowa; Peter Conlan, Stephen Murphy, Patrick Harrity, Matthew McCormick and a few others from Minnesota. The next year the population was augmented by the arrival of David Canfield, who came from Illinois; Cornelius Canon and his father, James, settled on Section 12, a little northeast of the present town of Armstrong; Henry Brooks and S. B. and John Churchill came from Mitchell County, Iowa. James Canon and John Churchill were veterans of the War of 1812. The lat-
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ter died about 1878. His daughter, Ann Eliza, afterward became the nineteenth wife of Brigham Young, the Mormon prophet.
About three-fourths of a mile east of the town of Armstrong was formerly a pond of about sixty acres which was called "Lake Weller," for Miss Eliza Weller, who homesteaded the quarter section upon which it was located.
The first marriage in the township was that of John Dundas and Jane Gibbons. The first death was that of Mrs. James Thompson. Her coffin was made by Daniel W. Perry. The first school was taught by Miss Hannah Hawks in the winter of 1866-67. She was succeeded by Mrs. Jennie Cummings, a "comely widow," who at the close of her term became the wife of Stephen Demmon, their wedding being the second in the town- ship. In the summer of 1868 a school house was built by Daniel W. Perry and D. L. Bemis, of Estherville, at a cost of about seven hundred dollars, and Miss Emma Jillett taught the first term of school in the new building.
The Albert Lea & Estherville division of the Rock Island Railway system passed through the central portion of the township from east to west, and the Jewell & Sanborn division of the Chicago & Northwestern crosses the southwest corner. Armstrong on the former and Halfa on the latter are the railroad stations. The two railway lines afford good ship- ping facilities to all parts of the township.
In 1910 the population, including the incorporated town of Armstrong, was 1,038, and in 1915 the assessed valuation of the property, including that in the consolidated school district of Halfa, was $435,236.
CENTER TOWNSHIP
This township was erected by the board of supervisors prior to the burning of the court-house in the fall of 1876, and the destruction of the records renders it impossible to give the exact date of its establishment. It embraces Congressional Township 99, Range 33, and has an area of thirty-six square miles, nearly all of which is capable of being cultivated. Brown Creek, a tributary of the Des Moines River, flows in a south- westerly direction across the northwest corner, and the Des Moines River touches the southwest corner. The western part of Swan Lake extends into this township in the southeastern part, and about a mile west of it is Ryan Lake. The township was so named from its central location. It is bounded on the north by Ellsworth Township; on the east by Swan Lake; on the south by High Lake, and on the west by the Township of Estherville.
On January 10, 1878, upon petition of the citizens living in the eastern tier of sections of Center Township, those sections-1, 12, 13, 24, 25 and
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36-were detached from Center and attached to Swan Lake by the board of supervisors. The next day the board reconsidered the order, which was then rescinded, and Center was restored to its original boundaries.
Among the early settlers of Center were James, Eli and R. E. Bunt, Jeremiah Clark, the Lingenfelter, Moulton, West and Cousins families, some of whom, or their descendants, still live in Emmet County. During the Civil war and the Indian troubles on the frontier there were very few settlers came to the county and most of those above named located their claims between 1864 and 1869.
In 1892 the Albert Lea & Estherville division of the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad was built through the township, which stimu- lated its development. The western boundary is only one mile from the Estherville city limits and the village of Gruver is a station on the rail- road, one and a half miles west of the eastern boundary, so that the people of the township have ample shipping facilities for the products of their farms.
The population in 1910 was 532, and in 1915 the property was valued for tax purposes at $431,865. During the school year of 1915-16 ten teachers were employed in the public schools.
DENMARK TOWNSHIP
Denmark Township occupies the southeast corner of the county and embraces Congressional Township 98, Range 31. The surface is gen- erally rolling and is drained by the Black Cat Creek, which flows in a southeasterly direction across the township. Several ditches have been constructed, using the Black Cat Creek as an outlet, which makes Den- mark one of the best drained townships in the county. On the north this township is bounded by Armstrong Grove; on the east by Kossuth County ; on the south by Palo Alto County, and on the west by the Township of Jack Creek.
Prior to September 3, 1883, Denmark was a part of Armstrong Grove Township, but the minutes of the board of supervisors for that date contain the following entry: "The petition of H. Jensen and eleven others, resident electors of Township 98, Range 31, said territory being now a part of the civil township of Armstrong Grove, asking that said township No. 98 of Range No. 31 be set off as a civil township by itself to be known as Denmark Township, was taken up and on motion the prayer of said petition was granted." .
At the same time the board ordered that the voting place at the gen- eral election of October 9, 1883, should be at the house of C. L. Lund, and S. D. Bunt, Paul P. Bogh and Peter Schultz were appointed judges of said election.
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The first settlers were James Thompson and S. B. Bunt, who entered land in 1872, though the township was then a part of Armstrong Grove and both are mentioned as early settlers of that township. A few months before the organization a number of families came from Denmark and located in the southeastern part of Emmet County. Among them were Hans Jensen, whose name headed the petition for the erection of the township, Morten, James and John N. Petersen, A. N. Gaarde, Lauritz Lauritsen, Paul P. Bogh, Lars Hansen, Nels Nielsen and John Hendrick- sen. It was from these Danish families that the township derived its . name.
In January, 1884, the first election for township officers was held at the house of C. L. Lund. Morten Peterson, William Nelsen and Lauritz Lauritsen were elected trustees; Neiss Bonnicksen, clerk; S. D. Bunt, justice of the peace; Paul P. Bogh, road supervisor.
When the first settlements were made in the township the town of Algona was the nearest trading point. In 1882 the Chicago & North- western Railroad was extended north from Algona and the village of Bancroft was started. It was not much of a town, but the general store there kept most of the goods needed by the early settlers and brought the opportunity to obtain supplies much nearer to the people of what is now Denmark Township. The first postoffice was established in 1885, with John Larsen as postmaster. It was located on his farm, about two miles east of the present village of Ringsted. William Grey carried the mail from Seneca for about a year, after which Morten Petersen was the mail carrier for four years.
John H. Thompson, a son of James Thompson, was the first white child born in the township. The first school house was built in 1884. There are now seven school buildings, and during the school year of 1915-16 ten teachers were employed. In 1910 the population was 907 and in 1915 the assessed value of the property was $448,598, which was the second highest valuation in the county.
ELLSWORTH TOWNSHIP
This is one of the fractional townships of the northern tier. It includes all that part of Congressional Township 100, Range 33, lying in Emmet County ; is five miles in extent from north to south and six miles from east to west, having an area of thirty square miles. Birge Lake lies on the eastern border and is drained by Soldier Creek, a tributary of the east fork of the Des Moines River. Grass Lake, in the north- western portion, is drained by Brown Creek, and another small stream flows in a southeasterly direction through the central part, so that the township is well watered. Ellsworth is bounded on the north by the State
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of Minnesota; on the east by Lincoln Township; on the south by Center, and on the west by the Township of Emmet.
Not much was done toward the settlement of this township until after the close of the Civil war. One of the pioneers was Capt. Lyman S. Williams, who located in what is now Ellsworth in 1867, and whose widow now lives at Cedar Rapids, Iowa. A sketch of Captain Williams is given in Chapter VI. About a year after Captain Williams came the Mattson family, several members of which became prominent in the affairs of Emmet County. Lois Mattson became the wife of Charles W. Dillman and removed to Blue Earth, Minnesota. S. A. Prosser was also an early settler in this township.
Ellsworth Township is one of those erected prior to the destruction of the court-house by fire, and the records pertaining to its creation and organization are lost. In its industrial and educational development it has kept pace with the other townships of the county. There are seven public schools buildings, and during the school year of 1915-16 twelve teachers were employed. The population in 1910 was 481, and the assessed valuation of property in 1915 was $323,195. Huntington, a station of the Minneapolis & St. Louis Railroad, near the northwest cor- ner, is the only village and postoffice in the township.
EMMET TOWNSHIP
In the northwest corner of the county lies the Township of Emmet. It embraces that part of Congressional Township 100, Range 34, lying in Iowa and has an area of thirty square miles. On the north it is bounded by the State of Minnesota; on the east by Ellsworth Township; on the south by Estherville Township, and on the west by Dickinson . County. The west fork of the Des Moines River enters the township from Minnesota about three-fourths of a mile east of the northwest corner and flows in a southeasterly direction into Estherville Township. Along the river there are some bluffs, but the greater part of the township is fertile, tillable land.
Emmet Township derives its name from the county. It was created prior to 1876 and the records of its erection and organization were lost in the court-house fire of that year.
To Emmet Township belongs the distinction of being the site of the first settlement made in the county. As narrated in one of the preceding chapters, Jesse Coverdale, George C. Granger, William Granger, Henry and Adolphus Jenkins and D. W. Hoyt located claims in this township in the summer of 1856. The neighborhood where they settled was near the Des Moines River, in a tract of timber afterward known as "Emmet Grove" sometimes called "Granger's Grove." Here the first postoffice
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was established under the name of Emmet, with George C. Granger as the first postmaster. Mr. Granger was also the first merchant in the county. Jesse Coverdale served as second lieutenant of Company A, Northern Border Brigade, at the time of the Civil war, and was after- ward elected one of the county board of supervisors, in which capacity he served for one term of three years.
The Minneapolis & St. Louis Railroad runs through the southeastern portion, but there is no station within the township limits. Estherville, which is only one mile from the southern boundary, and Huntington, in the northwest corner of Ellsworth Township, are the most convenient trading and shipping points.
There are five public schools in the township and during the school year of 1915-16 six teachers were employed. The population in 1910 was 375 and in 1915 the property was assessed for taxation at $284,120.
ESTHERVILLE TOWNSHIP.
This is the middle township of the western tier and includes Congres- sional Township 99, Range 34. Its area is therefore thirty-six square ยท miles and it is bounded as follows: On the north by Emmet Township; on the east by Center; on the south by Twelve Mile Lake, and on the west by Dickinson County. The west fork of the Des Moines River crosses the northern boundary near the northwest corner of Section 2 and from that point it flows almost south for a distance of two miles, when it turns more to the southeast and crosses the eastern boundary about two miles north of the southeast corner. Along the west side of the river are the largest hills in the county. East of the Des Moines the surface is a rolling plain, which is also the character of the surface in the western portion, near the Dickinson County line. . On the western border, in Section 18, is a small body of water called Four Mile Lake. Its outlet falls into the Des Moines at Estherville.
Estherville was one of the first civil townships to be established in Emmet County, and takes its name from the county seat, which is situ- ated within its limits. As in the case of all the early townships, the records relating to the erection and organization of Estherville were destroyed by the burning of the court-house: in October, 1876, and the exact date of its establishment cannot be ascertained.
Among the first settlers in this township were Robert E. Ridley and his wife, A. H. Ridley, and the Graves family, the former coming from the State of Maine in the spring of 1857, and the Graves family from Winneshiek County, Iowa, a little later. Robert E. Ridley, the pioneer settler of the township, is still living in Estherville. Most of the history of this township centers about the county seat and is told in connection with the City of Estherville in another chapter.
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HOWARD GRAVES
The first banker of Emmet County. Came to Estherville in 1860. (Photo taken in middle life.)
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THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY
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No other township in the county is as well provided with transpor- tation facilities. The Chicago & Sioux Falls division of the great Rock Island Railway system and the Minneapolis & St. Louis Railroad both pass through Estherville, and a branch of the former runs from Esther- ville to Albert Lea, Minnesota, where it connects with a main line running between. Minneapolis and Des Moines.
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In 1910 the population, exclusive of the City of Estherville, was 454. Outside of the city there are four public schools that in the school year of 1915-16 employed four teachers. In 1915 the assessed valuation of the property, not including that within the city, was $449,306, or nearly one thousand dollars for each man, woman and child living in the rural districts.
HIGH LAKE TOWNSHIP
High Lake Township, which takes its name from a lake situated within its borders, is one of the southern tier. It includes Congressional Township 98, Range 33, and has an area of thirty-six square miles, about two of which are water-High and Mud lakes. The west fork of the Des Moines River flows southwardly through the western part and is the only stream in the township. The boundaries of the township are formed as follow: Center Township on the north; Jack Creek Township on the east; Palo Alto County on the south, and the Township of Twelve Mile Lake on the west.
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