USA > Iowa > Franklin County > History of Franklin County, Iowa, a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement, Volume I > Part 23
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William J. Shroyer settled in Reeve in 1856 and on October 21, 1858, was married to Maria Rucker, at the home of her father, Squire James Rucker, who came to the township in 1855 and died March 17, 1906. In 1865 Mr. Shroyer moved to Hampton, where he celebrated his golden wedding in 1908.
E. Caldwell, a native of New Hampshire, emigrated to Wis- consin, and in 1858 came to Maysville, Reeve township, and opened a blacksmith shop. He enlisted in Company H, Thirty-second Iowa, in 1862, and served until July 22, 1863. Returning to Maysville, he followed his trade for a time and then went to Illinois.
John Imlay arrived in Reeve township in the fall of 1860 and located on section 15; O. D. Andrews located here in 1861. Albert Pickering arrived in the county in 1861, settled in Lee township, where he remained two years, and then removed to Reeve town- ship. He afterwards engaged in the mercantile business at Hamp- ton. Mr. Pickering served the county as sheriff two terms, and then returned to Reeve township.
W. W. Day settled in Reeve in 1862. He was elected county judge in 1868, and died in 1896.
A. D. St. Clair settled on section 10, in 1863. He is a native of New York, taught school in his early days and then took up farm- ing. He became one of the leading men of Reeve township and among other offices, held that of county supervisor. He still owns his Reeve township farm but is leading a retired life at Hampton.
George W. Wilton, born in Canada, located in Reeve township in 1864. In 1877 he entered the mercantile business in Maysville and was appointed postmaster of that place.
Warren S. Towle settled on section 3, Reeve township, in 1865; ยท Jacob Kurtz located on section 25, in 1866; David H. Van Kirk was a son of William Van Kirk, who settled in the township in 1866.
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There were a number who came between this latter date and 1876, among them being W. B. Timmerman, M. D. Latham, Robert Bird, W. S. Nobles, H. Z. Tucker, C. B. Green, Amos B. Hudson, Garrett W. Luke, John G. Hicks, Theodore Thomas, Isaac T. Way, J. M. Goble, G. H. Hyndman, Thomas Fox, Henry J. Millard, James M. Bailey, James Hunt, John Vincent, Amos Sheppard and J. M. Stout.
Among the early incidents to take place in this township worthy of note may be mentioned the following: Alexander Arledge and Julia Springer were the first persons to be married in Reeve. The ceremony was performed by Squire McCray, who at the time held the office by appointment of the county judge of Hardin county.
The birth of a son, Isaac, to Samuel Garner, early in the spring of 1854 was the first occurrence of this nature to take place here. The next birth was a few days later and was that of a son, Abner, to Mr. and Mrs. G. D. Sturms, who some years later moved to Kansas.
The death of Mr. Crouch's child in the spring of 1854 was the first sad event in the community. A short time later a Mr. Webb, a settler of the township, died in Hardin county, and his remains were brought to Reeve township for burial.
The first burial in Mayne's Grove cemetery on section 23 was that of the wife of Dr. Arledge, in 1854.
Dr. T. H. Baker, who was a lawyer as well as a doctor, opened the first store in Reeve township in a log house a mile east of Mays- ville. This was the first attempt at merchandising in Franklin county. The next store was kept by Solomon Brazzelton, who began opera- tions in 1854. He sold his stock to the firm of Sparling & Brown, the senior member of whom was killed in battle during the Civil war. Brown moved to Independence in 1858 and then William Boyles was the town's merchant until he suspended. The next to engage in trade in Maysville was E. L. Clock.
There was a blacksmith shop started in the fall of 1855 on what is now the farm of J. E. Hicks, in Reeve township, on section 13, and run for two years by a man named Lightfoot, who had a son named Jeptha. The next shop was started by Levi Jones in section 23, in 1856. The shop was later moved to Maysville.
The first physician to locate in the township was Dr. L. H. Arledge, who began practice in Maysville. Doctor Addis located there in 1863.
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Octavia Smith, who came with her sister, Mrs. John Mitchell, to Reeve township in the spring of 1854, taught the first school held in the township in the summer of that year in a small log building. She was at the time a miss of sixteen summers. A year later, how- ever, she became the wife of Hial J. Mitchell. About three years afterwards the building was torn down, moved to Maysville, rebuilt and converted into a blacksmith shop. In 1855 the settlers got to- gether and put up a schoolhouse of logs they had gotton out them- selves. The building stood near the old Reeve cemetery on the farm of Benson Toll. William Boyles taught that school in the winter of 1855, and among his pupils were Orson G. Reeve, Martin B. Jones, now a citizen of Hampton, David Creighton and his sister Margaret, who became Mrs. J. S. Mulkins, and William Shroyer. The summer school was taught here by Miss Octavia Smith, who had among her pupils Orson G. Reeve and two of his sisters. As Orson Reeve re- calls, there was no floor in this school building, nor a stove. The seats were made of puncheons. There was one window, and near that was a board eighteen inches wide which served as a desk and was used by the pupils in their turn when called upon to take writ- ing lessons. When William Boyles first came he brought a set of maps. He also had a list of the names of state capitals, their popu- lation, and the principal rivers of the country. These were set to music and sung by the pupils-a primitive though effective way of impressing the children's minds with the geographical attributes of their own country.
In speaking of school, Orson G. Reeve recalls that the winter of 1856-7 was the most severe within his memory. At the foot of the hill on which the schoolhouse stood, was a stake and rider fence. The snow that winter fell to a great depth and was finally capped by a crust of ice. The children would get on their sleds and toboggan down the hill, scooting over the fence, and gleefully con- tinue their way until reaching a point at least one hundred rods beyond the point whence they started. It is needless to state that the fence was out of sight, being completely hidden and covered by the snow.
Mr. Reeve also recalls that G. D. Sturms had moved to a new location near the timber. Near his house was a vacant spot. This was covered so deep with snow that it came even with the top of the first floor. To reach the doorway, Mr. Sturms was compelled to cut steps through the snow up to the door sill.
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Within two rods of the Reeve residence was heavy timber. Mr. Reeve says that he stood at the end of the house and that the snow was so dense he could not see the barn, six rods distant. Several people froze to death that winter. Two of the Coles family, to whom the elder Reeve had sold five acres of land, went down to the timber to get wood. They had to drive down to Mayne's creek to turn around, the snow being too deep in the woods for that movement.
James Fairchild, one of the first settlers in Reeve township, opened his home for the initial religious services held in this com- munity. Job B. Garner was the preacher who administered to the spiritual longings of the settlers who gathered together on this occa- sion. At this time Mr. Garner was without means, but was desirous of securing a claim. Leander Reeve had taken up a claim and was holding it for a friend in Ashtabula county, Ohio, the former home of Mr. Reeve, but as the Ohio friend did not come to claim the tract of land, Mr. Reeve let the self-styled minister have it on condition that he would take charge of the regular religious meetings of the settlers, then arranged for, and preach to the people of the com- munity at least once a week. The first meeting was held in the summer of 1853, at which nearly every one in the township was present. There is no other record of Mr. Garner having presided at any religious exercises, save and except the one just mentioned.
The Protestant Methodists of this community held their first meetings in 1855 at private houses but before the year had waned the log schoolhouse was converted into a place for church services.
Reverend Crill organized a class about this time and the Springer and Arledge families composed the greater part of the new church, which was in operation about a year.
The settlers of the Methodist Episcopal faith held their first meeting in the spring of 1855 in a log schoolhouse on section 23, Reverend Stewart presiding. Among the first members were Levi and Jane Jones, the Faulkner family, Isaac Mulkins and wife, Henry Shroyer and wife and William Johnson and wife. Levi Jones was chosen leader of the first class and held the position for many years. Of the early pastors may be mentioned Reverends Stewart, J. H. Burley, Freeman, Hesstwood, Glassner, Connell, James Hankins, Knickerbocker, Cooley, Charles Jones, Miller, J. J. Sitler and Jacob Haymond.
The Wesleyan Methodist Church of Mayne's Grove was organ- ized through the labors of J. A. Crill, who held a tabernacle in the grove on the 11th of September, 1876. A class was formed, consist-
RUINS OF THE OLD H. C. CLOCK STORE BUILDING, MAYSVILLE
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SCHOOL HOUSE, MAYSVILLE, ERECTED 1868
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ing of the following members: Josiah H. Bond, Mary E. Bond, Jane Van Kirk, Jennie Bond, Caroline Collins, J. R. Miller, Henry House and I. T. Way. The first officers of the society were: Mary E. Bond, class leader; I. T. Way, steward; C. M. Leggett, clerk; Rev. John Calderwood, pastor, who served two years.
FOUR MILE GROVE
About the year 1854 two men named Clark and Cameron, evi- dently speculators, entered land in Franklin county, among other tracts the farm later owned by A. D. St. Clair, about three miles south of Hampton. They later laid out and staked off a town on the level land lying north of J. M. Stout's house and between him and St. Clair's. As far as is now known, the town was never named or the plat recorded. These speculators induced Levi Jones to come here and take a look at Franklin county. Mr. Jones, with his son- in-law, Isaac C. Mulkins, arrived in the county in the winter of that year. Mulkins was very much impressed with the country and bought a tract of land before returning to Buchanan county, from which he and Mr. Jones had journeyed. Jones also bought land, which was the well known place where he lived so many years and where he died. The Mulkins tract became the well known Thomas Fox farm. In the spring of 1855 Jones and Mulkins were joined by their families and also Jabish Jones, a brother of Levi, who located at Four Mile Grove, Martin Lutz and many others. In fact the settlements in and about Four Mile Grove were practically made up of immigrants from Indiana who followed on the trail of Levi Jones. Alpheus Jones sold his property in Buchanan county and came here a little later.
MAYSVILLE
This was a thriving little village situated on a stage line between Ackley and Hampton, about six miles south of the latter place. It was laid out in the year 1856 by William May, who removed to Minnesota. The location was a good one, on rolling prairie ground, with Mayne's creek and its groves of timber only a short distance away.
Maysville for a time was far ahead of Hampton in point of population and as a trading place. Its leading men were intensely ambitious and fought valiantly and long to secure for Maysville the
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county seat. The first lawyers and doctors made Maysville their home. As late as 1870 hopes of securing the county seat had not died out in Maysville as the following item in a Maysville letter to the Franklin Reporter in that year indicates :
"That the new railroad scheme meets the unqualified approval of our citizens generally goes without saying. The sanguine ones predict that Maysville will have a railroad before Hampton after all the fuss. Consequently, the county seat will be eventually re- moved to this place. The site of the courthouse will be fixed upon soon, and near unto it will be the Reporter office, for of course that paper will want to come to headquarters, if it expects to keep up with the march of events."
The above article was writen shortly before the Iowa Central reached Hampton, leaving Maysville six miles to the south. This was a body blow to the future prospects of Maysville and from this time onward its population began to dwindle, its influence ceased to have any force in political affairs, and eventually the town became nothing but a name and a subject for future historians to dilate upon.
A postoffice had been established there in 1857, with Edward Sparling as the first postmaster. His successor was E. L. Clock. The next postmaster was a Mr. Kreisler and his successor was 'Squire Dunn. By the spring of 1890 the postoffice was discontinued and the last store in the place was moved away. All that now remains to indicate the former greatness of Maysville is a two-story stone school- house, erected in the '70s, which was at that time the best schoolhouse in Franklin county. It stands as a memorial shaft, emblazoning the memories of an ambitious people, and is the only visible headstone to indicate the burial place of Hampton's ancient rival.
MORGAN TOWNSHIP
Morgan township is composed of congressional township 91, range 22, and derived its name from one of its earliest settlers-Lewis H. Morgan-who eventually removed to the State of Oregon. It is situated in the second tier from the south boundary, with Wright county on the west, Scott township on the north, Hamilton on the east and Oakland on the south. This was one of the three original town- ships in Franklin county and embraced nearly one-third of it. The creation of the township took place at the March term of the county court in 1856, and its organization was completed in the fall of that year, when the following officers were elected, the votes being cast
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at the house of J. I. Popejoy, who lived in what is now Oakland township: Justice of the peace, Lewis H. Morgan; clerk, Jesse R. Dodd; assessor, J. I. Popejoy.
The territory comprising this township is well watered by the Iowa river, which runs through the southwest corner, forming a semi-circle through sections 30 and 31. Originally there was con- siderable heavy timber along the Iowa but none elsewhere except beautiful groves planted by the pioneers. The soil is a dark pro- ductive loam on the prairies, but along the river a more sandy loam obtains, which produces the finest crops of corn, grain and grass. The surface is gently rolling, with rich valley or bottom lands that seldom overflow.
Lewis H. Morgan was probably the first settler in the township to which the name was given. He was a native of Kentucky, a man of more than ordinary intelligence. It is said of him that he attended school with Abraham Lincoln in Illinois and heard him make his first plea at the bar. The distinction of being a schoolmate of the great emancipator is in itself to be prized; but Mr. Morgan must have received more schooling than Mr. Lincoln, for the martyr President's education, as is well known, was acquired outside the walls of an institution of learning. Mr. Morgan settled in the town- ship in the spring of 1856 and later kept a hotel in Otisville.
Robert E. Train came to Morgan township in May, 1856, and became one of its leading citizens. After a residence on his farm of many years he removed to Dows, where he engaged in the real- estate business. In 1883 he was appointed postmaster. Mr. Train was an Ohioan by birth. He was possessed of a college education, taught school, and his mental make-up and abilities made him a valuable acquisition not only of his immediate community but to the county, of which for several years he served with faithfulness and general satisfaction on the board of supervisors. He died April 30, 1910.
E. A. Howland settled in the township in the winter of 1857-8 and started the first cheese factory in this part of Iowa in 1858. He was elected a State Senator from this district and was county super- visor for many years. Finally disposing of his interests he removed to Belmond, in Wright county, where he went into the mercantile business.
About the time Mr. Howland arrived, Frank White, Frank Walters, Lewis Osborne, Frank Mitchell and Jesse R. Dodd located in the community. The latter remained only a few months and removed to Oakland.
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A comparatively early settler was Samuel Parkinson, who set- tled on land in Morgan township in 1861. This farm he greatly improved by the erection of valuable buildings and a handsome home. Mr. Parkinson was a native of England.
William Whipple settled on section 17 in 1864. He was a native of New York. Mr. Whipple had a splendid Civil war record. He was considered a good citizen and a splendid farmer. For sev- eral years he held the office of justice of the peace.
August Quasdorf was one of the frugal, industrious and progres- sive sons of Germany who settled in this township. He came to Iowa in 1864 and after living one year at Alden, bought a tract of wild land in Morgan township, where he erected a board shanty and immediately commenced to make improvements on his property. He had little means at the time but by good management, hard work and economy became one of Morgan's successful farmers.
Alonzo A. Bangs came with his parents, Samuel and Melissa Bangs, from Michigan to this township in 1865 and settled on section 19.
Another prominent citizen who settled in this township was A. J. Northrup, a Congregational minister, of New York, who located on section 30, in 1865. This was his home until his death in 1880. His wife followed him to the unknown land in 1881.
Col. Sidney J. Mendell, after the close of the Civil war, in which he served with distinction, settled on section 30, in Morgan township, in the fall of 1866. Here he remained until his death, which took place December 13, 1909. He was a native of New York, received an academical education and at the age of twenty taught school in Kentucky. Mr. Mendell became not only promi- nent in township affairs but had much to do with shaping the course of the county in its onward march to prosperity.
William H. Weaver's settlement in this township was coextensive with that of Colonel Mendell. He was a Canadian by birth and was raised on a farm. He came to Iowa with no means of support save a strong, physical make-up, and a determined disposition. He arrived at Ackley in 1866 and at once engaged at work on a farm. He then took up carpentering as an occupation, in which he con- tinued until the spring of 1868, when he moved to his farm on sec- tion 8, which he had acquired in 1866. Mr. Weaver was one of the first importers of fine standard bred horse flesh from Canada.
Samuel Bangs settled on section 9, in Morgan township, in 1866. Albert R. Wood came to the township in 1869. He was a veteran
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of the Civil war. Mr. Wood soon attained a most desirable place in the confidence of his neighbors and was elevated to places of trust and responsibility in the community.
James K. Frazer came to Franklin county in 1870 and first set- tled in Maysville. After remaining there a year he located in Morgan township.
Ferdinand Schulz came from the fatherland and in 1876 began farming in Morgan township. He was a man of more than ordi- nary ability and intelligence. During the Centennial Exposition at Philadelphia he was in the employ of the German commissioners in their department. He taught school in Iowa and held offices of trust in Morgan township.
R. E. Train taught the first school opened at Otisville in 1856. This schoolhouse was the rendezvous for all the children of school age in the township until 1867, when Jennie Mendell held school in a little log house. In the fall of the year just mentioned, a frame building for school purposes was erected on section 30. The first school taught there was by S. J. Mendell. He continued here as an instructor for five consecutive terms. Since then a number of schoolhouses have been built and in each school district instruction has been afforded to the children thereof from eight to nine months throughout the year.
Early in the history of the township a cemetery was located on section 30, where thirty bodies were buried in the course of time. In the fall of 1883 these bodies were disinterred and removed to a new burial spot, containing eleven and a half acres, on section 19, which is now known as Mount Hope cemetery. The same year an association was formed which has charge of the grounds. The town- ship had also previous to this opened a cemetery in 1880, on sec- tion 23.
THE VILLAGE OF DOWS
Morgan township has but one village and only a small part of that. Shortly after the Burlington, Cedar Rapids & Northern Rail- way was in operation, the Cedar Rapids, Iowa Falls & Northwestern Town Site Company caused a plat to be made of the town on sections 30 and 31, in Morgan township, and sections 25 and 36, of township 91, range 23, of Wright county. At that time the town was known as Otisville. The name was later changed to that of Dows and up to the present time that part of the village in Morgan township, Frank-
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lin county, contains but about two hundred inhabitants. The popu- lation of the township, including the fractional part of Dows, is 1,076.
The Burlington, Cedar Rapids & Northern Railway, now known as the Rock Island Railroad, passes diagonally through that portion of Dows lying in Morgan township and here is located the depot and elevator built by James Richardson, in 1880. J. J. Iverson took charge of the elevator in the year it was built and was one of the first persons in Dows to buy grain and stock. The first grain dealers were George Alexander and G. H. Richardson.
E. B. Willix started the first lumberyard in Dows in 1880. An- other lumberyard was opened by Cole & Davis in 1881.
John Graham was the first banker, opening a private bank in connection with his lumber business, in 1881. The firm of Wilson & Jenkins opened the first general store in Dows. This was in 1881. That same year Williams & Barker began a grocery business, also O. R. Johnson.
H. J. Miller started a hardware store in 1881, and the year 1881 was when the Dows Tribune made its bow to the local public. Its editor was I. C. Phifer. The Tribune lasted one year.
H. E. Schultz had his drug store running in good order in the early part of 1881, and in 1883 the village was making an attempt to support two physicians-Drs. J. A. Mulnix and F. E. Cornish. Those who started in business in Dows in 1881 were: D. O. Wilson, shoe merchant; Wright & Collins, blacksmith shop; Ward & Hill and John Morgan, wagon shops; Bushnell & Wilson, creamery; C. B. Flindt, meat market.
In 1882 Mrs. R. Hopkins opened a millinery store; Ward & Hill, an agricultural implement concern.
The first lawyer to locate in Dows was F. M. Williams, making his appearance there in 1882.
One of the chief industries of Dows is the manufacture of tile, a splendid quality of clay being obtained from the bed of the river. Dows in its entirety is now a bustling little village of 900 inhab- itants, but as the greater part of the village is located in Wright county, a detailed history of it has hardly a place here. However, the postoffice is of general interest to all in that community and a short history of that important institution will be given. The office was first established at Otisville, November 27, 1856. Lewis H. Morgan received his commission as postmaster on that date. His successors were Elisha A. Howland, April 17, 1865; and William
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Tutin November 16, 1869. On December 23, 1880, the name was changed to Dows and on that date R. E. Train received his com- mission as postmaster. His successors were: John F. Kent, Sep- tember 16, 1885; John Jenkins, December 8, 1890; John F. Kent, April 10, 1893; Horatio Ed Smith, November 12, 1897; Clyde E. Hammond, September 16, 1902-13.
WEST FORK TOWNSHIP
This township was detached from Ingham in 1868 and the or- ganization was completed by an election held November 13, 1868, at the house of Simon Selix, when the following officers were chosen : Trustees, James E. Bailey, James Ray and W. H. Bowton; clerk, Thomas E. B. Hudson; assessor, Lewis Sumner; constables, J. W. Hall and G. H. Horton.
West Fork lies in the northeast corner of Franklin county and is in township 93, range 19. It is made up of splendid farms, highly cultivated and well improved, all of them adapted to stock-raising and the production of grains of almost every variety. The hay and grazing lands are superb and stock-raising is one of the chief indus- tries.
The west fork of the Cedar river traverses the township, enter- ing on section 27, and coursing diagonally across its territory, makes an exit from section 35. The stream is skirted by a good supply of timber and the soil is a dark, rich loam; inclined in places to be sandy.
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