USA > Iowa > Fremont County > History of Fremont County, Iowa : containing a history of the county, its cities, towns, etc., a biographical directory of many of its leading citizens, war record of its volunteers in the late rebellion, general and local statistic, portraits of early settlers and prominent men, history of Iowa and the Northwest, map of Fremont County, constitution of the state of Iowa, reminiscences, miscellaneous matters, etc > Part 59
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An amusing incident is related of Joe Kelly's connection with the lynch- ing of Orton and Jackson. Joe was coroner of the county at the time. The morning after the lynching, in company with John Shockley, he vis- ited the fatal tree. The ghastly sight was too much for Joe's nerves. Turning upon Shockley he said: "Well, I'm not going to have anything to do with this business." Shockley reminded him that he must have some- thing to do with it, for he was the officer whose province it was to make inquiry into such matters as the one before him. "Well," said Joe, with the air of one who evades an unpleasant duty very skillfully, "I know
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I'm an officer, but I design, right here!" He was at last prevailed upon to act in the premises and have the bodies taken to town. When he came to hold the inquest, Joe said to the jury: "Gentlemen of the jury, the first thing to do will be to find out if these fellows are dead! Somebody go for a doctor! ! "
THE KILLING OF DEPUTY SHERIFF ORMSBY.
In 1865, John Ormsby, deputy sheriff of the county, was shot and killed in the town of Sidney by Levin Hamblin. Hamblin bore a hard name. He was said to be in league with a gang of horse thieves and to harbor that class of rascals. It was sought to arrest him. Ormsby and a num- ber of other men went to Hamblin's house one night to arrest him. Hamblin knew that he stood in bad repute in the community and had been ordered to leave the county under penalty of being lynched. When he saw the crowd coming he very naturally concluded that it was a mob coming to hang him. Ormsby was the first man to enter the house and Hamblin shot him. The wounded man lived but five days. The posse fell back in good order but remained at a safe distance to guard the house. In spite of their vigilance, (!) however, Hamblin escaped and made his way into the timber west of town. The next day he sent word to the sheriff that if assurance was given him that he would be protected from the mob and given a fair trial, he would come in and surrender himself. The pledge was given and Hamblin was soon arrested. He was regularly indicted, took a change of venue to Page county, was tried and acquitted, it appear- ing that Ormsby was acting without warrant or authority when killed.
THE MURDER OF RICHARD HILL.
March 27, 1869, at Eastport, Wm. Bebout shot and killed a man named Richard Hill who was in charge of the steam ferry-boat at Nebraska City. The killing was the result of an old feud between the parties. The circumstances of the killing were thus told by Jas. M. White on the pre- liminary examination :
I and Wm. Bebout started across the river with four passengers in a skiff. When we got about half way over Hill called me to help him make another trip with the ferry-boat. Bebout said he should not take the boat unless he was a better man than he was. We turned the skiff back to the Iowa shore. When within fifty yards of the shore Bebout raised up in the skiff and drew his pistol and exclaimed : "You stand back, Dick Hill." When within about fifteen feet of the shore Bebout shot three times at Hill and hit him twice in the right side. When he got ashore Bebout said : "They may hang me and be d-d, I have got my revenge." Hill died right away; I don't think he ever spoke.
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Bebout was arrested and held to answer at the next term of the district court. He was confined in the Sidney jail. Sheriff Martin was then in charge of that institution. One day the sheriff was absent from town and Bebout broke his bonds, went into the part of the building occupied by the family of the sheriff, " borrowed" the latter's revolvers and overcoat and left town! He was afterward seen in Brownville, Nebraska, and in Canada, but was never recaptured. He was guilty of deliberate, cold-blooded murder, as were many other villains of the county who escaped justice through the negligence or connivance of incompetent or dishonest officials.
In December, 1869, Jesse Wilkerson was killed by Isaac Cummings in a saloon at Hamburg.
The Hamburg Times, of December 13, 1869, contained the following particulars:
Last Thursday night Mr. Jesse Wilkerson was assaulted in Cumming's saloon in Hamburg, and received injuries which caused his death on Sun- day following.
Isaac Cummings, A. Dempster, Wm. Murray and S. Beaston, were arrested on the charge of murder. The examination took place Saturday night before Justice Hood, and the following are the facts in the case as shown by the evidence:
An arrangement was made between Murray, Cummings and Dempster to get Wilkerson intoxicated and then compel him to sign a contract to sell them a number of hogs which he had already sold to another party. They succeeded in getting him under the influence of liquor, but could not induce him to sign the contract. Dempster then approached him and after failing repeatedly to induce him to take money, offered a bystander five dollars to place a sum of money in Jesse's pocket, evidently intend- ing to make this an evidence that he had sold his hogs and so collect dam- ages from him if he failed to deliver them. This plan failing, they drew Mr. Wilkerson into a quarrel, in the course of which, the bar-keeper, Mr. Beaston, struck him in the face. Dempster then clinched him and they fell upon the floor. Demster then arose, raised Jesse to his feet and said "I don't want to hurt you." Cummings rushed around the bar saying "I do," and struck him in the face, knocking him down, and then kicked him in the face and side, bruising his head and side badly, and cutting his cheek to the bone. The marshal then arrested Mr. Wilkerson and took him before the mayor who fined him $3.50. Mr. Wilkerson was taken home and lingered in a delirious state until Sunday morning when he died. The examination of Cummings took place Sunday evening. He plead not guilty, but was held to answer the charge of murder. Dempster and Beaston waived an examination and were held to answer to the same charge. Murray was acquitted, the evidence showing that he was not
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engaged in the assault, although probably one of the conspirators in the swindle.
There was great excitement during the trial and many proposed taking the men from the officers and hanging them to the nearest tree, but for- tunately a better spirit prevailed and the law was permitted to take its course. Murray has been notified to leave town within twenty-four hours, and will probably consult his own interest if he takes his paramour and travels.
A good man is dead and a nest of robbers broken up.
Cummings was tried and acquitted, his attorneys succeeding in induc- ing the jury to believe that Wilkerson's death resulted from injuries he received by the overturning of his wagon the night of the affray.
The drowning of an infant child by Dr. L. H. Hitchcock, the para- mour of the child's mother, which was done at the Taylor ford, on the Nishnabotany river, is narrated elsewhere.
In 1877, John J. Bentley shot and killed one Mason Diltz. The parties were neighbors. Diltz bore a bad reputation. He had been indicted for various offenses and was considered a troublesome man. The immediate circumstances of the killing were that Bentley had shut up some hogs belonging to Diltz which had been trespassing upon him. Deltz came in the night and tried to take his property away when Bentley, who, it seems was "on guard," shot him. Bentley was arrested, tried, and acquitted. He is now alive and resides in the county, a well-respected citizen. The killing of Diltz was never very generally or very deeply deplored.
SHOOTING OF WM. BARLOW BY THOMAS WOODSON.
On the fifth day of August, 1873, Thos. Woodson shot and killed Wm. Barlow, in a corn field, near Percival. The killing was the result of an old feud. Barlow belonged to the McWaters gang. He came to Perci- val, and calling out a merchant of the place confided to him that he had come to Iowa to kill Woodson. The latter, it seems, had been apprised of his danger, for he came to town armed with two revolvers and a double-barreled shotgun. Each man maneuvered to get the advantage of the other, and Woodson was successful. He ambushed his foe, shot him dead, and then went and told what he had done. He was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to the penitentiary for four years. He was pardoned out after being in confinement a short time.
MURDER OF JOHN LONG.
The details of this murder are horrible and revolting in the extreme, and may not be given in full. John Long was an aged farmer living in Fisher township. February 16, 1879, he was found in his stable dead,
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and with several cuts and bruises upon his person. His wife, an old woman sixty-seven years of age, and a young man named Finis Allen, a member of the household, gave out that Mr. Long had been killed by the horse. The first inquest was held and the verdict was of the usual stupid character. The body was buried, and the incident bade fair to be soon forgotten. But there were those in the community who were not satis- fied. For some time the conduct of the young man Allen and Mrs. Long, had been the subject of much unfavorable comment. The woman, although old enough to be his grandmother, seemed infatuated with Allen, and many and foul were the stories told of their behavior. An investiga- tion was set on foot. The body was exhumed and another inquest held. Finis Allen, Broderick Pennington, and Mrs. Elizabeth Long, were ar- rested, charged with the murder of the latter's husband, John Long. The murdered man's estate was quite valuable and Allen and the old woman had schemed to get all the property into their hands, get married and leave the country. The developments at the second inquest showed this, and showed also that Mrs. Long and Allen had murdered the old man. Numerous adult children of Mr. and Mrs. Long lived in the neigh- borhood, all of them respectable and all of them almost overcome with shame and mortification at the discovery of the extraordinary depravity of their unnatural parent. About the 1st of June, Allen and Mrs. Long were arrested, one at Council Bluffs and the other at Harlan, Shelby county.
The arrest was effected through the efforts and plans of a detective named G. W. Makepeace, an attorney residing in Shenandoah. To him Mrs. Long admitted that Allen had killed her husband and carried him out to the barn, and placed him under the horses feet. The couple were confined in the Sidney jail. They were arraigned for trial at the October term, 1879. Pennington was discharged. Upon the trial of Allen, Mrs. Long took the stand and testified that her paramour committed the revolt- ing crime; that she assented to and even assisted in the perpetration of the foul deed, and that she had intended living with Allen and sharing with him her property. Allen was convicted of murder in the first degree by a jury of which W. J. Yowell was foreman, and sentenced to confinement in the penitentiary at hard labor for life. Mrs. Long was discharged.
The killing of Nathan Barnard by Wilbur Howell in March, 1880, may not be a proper subject of comment, in view of the fact that legal judg- ment has not yet been rendered on the case. The two men were both young and respectably connected. Young Barnard was seated in the grocery store of Capt. Bowen, in Sidney, when Howell entered. Barnard caught Howell two or three times with his hand, gripping him severely, being a stout, muscular young fellow. This annoyed Howell greatly. He suddenly seized a chair with which he struck Barnard a heavy blow on
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the head. Barnard died the same night. Howell was tried at the next term of court and convicted of murder in the first degree, but the judge set the verdict aside, on the ground that it was not warranted by the evi- dence, and granted the motion for a new trial and a change of venue in the case to Adams county. During his confinement in the county jail, Howell's betrothed, Miss Albina Hatton, of Sidney, was very devoted in her attentions to him and in November, 1880, they were married, Howell being released on bail.
THE PRESS OF FREMONT COUNTY.
There is no power that deserves to take so prominent a position in a community or country as the press. It occupies a position far over that of any other, the clergy not excepted. This circumstance arises not from any deterioration of the clery themselves, but chiefly from the general diffusion of knowledge among all classes. We do not look to the clergy for superiority of erudition; the scientist, the philologist, the historian, all come in for a share of respect for their learning. Once the distinction between the clergy and the laity meant something; it means very little to-day. When only those who could read or write belonged to the church, each member was called a clerk, or clericus, or clergyman. But the clergy of to-day are not those who preach from the pulpit once a week, but those as well who preach from the editor's chair. As James Free- man Clark remarks, the editor has as much right to put "reverend " before his name as the preacher has. The editor wields a mightier weapon than any clergyman can. He influences the public mind for good or evil daily, and the Sunday paper has snatched from the pulpit its ancient power, its traditional prerogative. Instead of dealing with questions the very nature of which renders them unknowable, and therefore impracticable, the editor comes to our door with the live issues of to-day. The latest, the best, the most valuable of the thoughts and doings of men all over the globe reaches us every morning to sway our passions, enlist our sympathy, or arouse us to duty. Nor is this the sole prerogative of the city dailies, but that also of the country weekly newspaper. These latter come to homes of toil, homes where the busy cares of life absorb so great a portion of the time that all but the weekly visitant remains necessarily unread. The power of the type is felt in such hours, felt as no minister's sermons ever are. What was it that first carried the news of war and its attendant hor- rors into the homes of our land? The weekly press. What was it that fanned into flames the embers of patriotism long dormant in human hearts?
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HISTORY OF FREMONT COUNTY.
The weekly press. What is it that to-day so moulds the lives and char- acters of those who live far from the city's noisy hum? Is it not the press? Then to it let its meed of praise be given; to it let a cheerful, hearty sup- port be rendered, for it is the power that adds value to our toil, that gives pleasure and culture to our fireside.
The first newspapor published in the county was in the winter of 1853-4. The paper was the property of a joint-stock company, and bore the name of Fremont County Journal. . The editor was William S. McEwen, but it was conducted by W. L. Holsay, H. A. Houston and Giles Freeman. In 1855 the press was sold and the purchasing parties- one of whom was Judge A. A. Bradford-removed it to Nebraska City.
The Fremont County Herald was next founded in Sidney in 1857 by C. E. Shoemaker, which professed to be neutral in politics and independ- ent in all else-a position which the files show was not maintained. In 1859 the press was removed to Clarinda, Page county, and the style changed to the Page County Herald. The paper is now published by J. W. Chaffin, as the Clarinda Herald.
Sidney being thus again left without a paper, arrangements were made to interest some person in the enterprise of again establishing one. In 1860 J. W. Pattison established a Democratic journal, which was con- tinued a year, and then, as had been done with the Fremont County Fournal, it was removed to Nebraska City.
In 1862 was started the American Union, at Sidney, by B. C. Golliday. After publishing for two years Mr. Golliday suspended for a time, but again resuscitated it, and continued its publication until 1866 when it passed- into the hands of a man named Skinner. The politics of the paper then changed to democratic, and the name Union gave place to Democrat. Only a few issues were published by Mr. Skinner when the paper passed into the hands of L. J. Eastern, who rechristened it as the American Union, and enlarged and otherwise improved the paper. Mr. Eastern continued the publication of the paper until 1867, when J. A. Bodenhamer became the proprietor. The last named gentleman published the paper until 1873, when it was sold to H. A. Houston, who in June of the same year trans- ferred it to Robert Simons. At this time its patronage was very meagre. Mr. Simons changed the Union back to a republican journal and con- tinued to enlarge and improve it until it stood at the head of the republi- can press of the county. He increased its facilities by the purchase of the type and other material used to publish the Fremont County Press, a paper which was issued in Sidney for a few months by G. Hallowell. In 1873 the Union was purchased by C. W. Murphy, who continued its pub- lication until 1880, when Mr. Simons, the former proprietor, purchased the Advocate and the two papers were consolidated as the Union-Advo-
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HISTORY OF FREMONT COUNTY.
cate. It is now the leading republican newspaper in the county, and is ably edited. It is a very influential one, and enjoys a liberal patronage.
The next oldest paper is Fremont Times, which was established in 1866 by Webster Eaton. It was subsequently sold to W. A. Putney, by whom it was transferred to W. W. Copeland, and by him to T. J. Armantrout, from whom it was purchased by the present editor and manager, P. St. Clair. It is republican in politics.
The Hamburg Democrat was established by W. A. Fulmer, July 20, 1870, which is the date of the first issue. As the name implies it is democratic in politics, and one of the most seviceable in the cause it represents. The Democrat has the only steam cylinder press in the county, and presents a peculiarly neat typographical appearance. It is one of the official papers of the county.
The Farragut News was established by C. S. Hawley, who published its first issue March 13th, 1878. It first appeared in the form of a folio, and was afterwards changed to a quarto, and is now published in the enlarged size-an eight page, fifty-six column paper. The paper is re- publican in politics. Besides its chief editor, it has local editors in every part of the county, enabling it to furnish its readers with the freshest and newsiest of pages.
In the fall of 1878, the Riverton Enterprise was established by Dr. Clark and A. G. Barb. In March, 1879, the paper passed under the editorial care of Moulton, Chambers and Rozelle. Shortly after Mr. Moulton purchased the interests of the other proprietors, and published the paper under his name until July 17, 1879, when it was discontinued, and the press and office moved to Clarinda, Page county-making the second newspaper transfer from this county to Page. Mr. Moulton established the paper as the Nodaway Chief, the Greenback organ of the county.
In March, 1879-on the 12th-the Hamburg Publishing Company, com- posed of many prominent citizens of the place, established and com- menced the publication of the Hamburg Republican. The paper is edited by W. G. Read. This paper and the one following, have been estab- lished at so recent a date as to present little history.
The Iowa State News was established August 2, 1879 by the Iowa News company, which represents a capital stock of two thousand dol- lars. The paper is edited by W. A. Storrs. It is democratic in politics, and presents the neatest appearance of any paper published in the coun- try.
There is one other paper in the county, published at Tabor, The Non- conformist, a Greenback organ. No information whatever has been obtain- able from the managers.
Township Histories.
BOUNDARIES AND ORGANIZATION.
It would be a difficult thing to find, in the records of this county, another single subject more indefinitely and unsatisfactorily recorded than the sev- eral changes in the boundaries of its townships. Some of them are im- perfectly recorded, others not at all, and, in two instances at least, the record was commenced but never completed. This may explain any hiatus in the record of township formation. When the county was organ- ized in 1849, there were in existence the townships of Henry, Franklin, and Fulton. From some cause, which does not appear, Henry township occurs on the record but twice previous to 1851, and from that date ceased to exist, since there is no further mention of the same.
The first action taken with reference to retownshiping the county after its organization bears the date of January 6, 1852, when A. C. Ford, Jacob Dawson, and A. A. Bradford were appointed a committee to "report a plan of division of the county into civil townships." They were to con- sider the boundaries of the several divisions, and fix upon the place of election for the same. The committee reported on February 3, 1852, which report was accepted, as follows:
" Ordered, That FULTON TOWNSHIP be composed of townships 68, 69 and 70 north, and ranges 43, 44, 45 west, and that the place of election be at Henry Holloway's.
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" Ordered, That SCOTT TOWNSHIP, be composed of township 70 north, ranges 40, 41 and 42 west, and the place of holding elections be at Jacob Dawson's.
" Ordered, That SIDNEY TOWNSHIP be composed of township 69 north, ranges 40, 41 and 42, and the place of election be at Bradford's store in the town of Sidney.
" Ordered, That FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP be composed of township 67 north, ranges 42 and 43 west, and township 68 north, ranges 43 and 44 west, and that the election be held at Eli Slusher's.
" Ordered, That MADISON TOWNSHIP be composed of township 67 north, ranges 40 and 41 west; 68 north, and range 40 and as much of
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range 41 as may be east of the Nishnabotany river, and that the place of election be at Chauncy Coles'."
The last two orders were rescinded five days after, and their boundaries again changed as follows:
"Ordered, That FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP be so changed as to be composed of townships, 67 and 68 north, and so much of ranges 42 and 43 as lies west of the Nishnabotany river, and that the place of holding elections be at A. J. Singleton's.
" Ordered, That MADISON TOWNSHIP be composed of 67 and 68 north, and so much of ranges 40, 41, and 42 as lies east of the Nishnabotany river, and that the place of holding elections be at Chauncy Coles.'
Still the townships were not permitted to remain in peace. Before five months had passed changes occurred in two others, as follows:
June 14, 1852, Ordered by the court, " That FULTON TOWNSHIP shall hereafter be composed of townships 68 and 69 north, and ranges 43 and 44 west, or that part only which lies west of the sloughs, occasioned by Plum creek, and the place of election to be at the house of I. D. Blanch- ard.
" Ordered by the Court, That SCOTT TOWNSHIP shall hereafter be com- posed of townships 70 north, and ranges 40, 41, 42 and 43 west, and to include so much of townships 68 and 69 as lies east of the sloughs made by Plum creek; the place of election to be at the house of John Leeka.
On July 26, 1854, a change occurred in Madison and Sidney townships, as follows:
An application was made by E. Fisher that part of Madison town- ship, known as Fisher's grove, should be attached to Sidney township. " Ordered that said changes be made in accordance to the above application and recorded in the election book" !! If a digression would be pardoned here, it mighi be interesting to note that the " election book " became the repository of sundry entries of a character wholly foreign to its objects. There are treasurer's reports, census returns, marriage licenses, notices of bonds filed, and a mass of other equally heterogeneous material-testify- ing in a silent but most effective manner to the loose habits of the county officials and the utter want of system that formerly prevailed.
Being referred thus to the election book it was sought and the bounda- ries found to be as follows:
"July 26, 1854. On this day appeared Edmund Fisher and applies to have that part of Madison township known as Fisher's grove, separated therefrom and connected to Sidney township, said grove being bounded as follows, viz: To commence at the s. e. corner of sec. 12 in tp. 68, r. 40 w., then on section line separating sections 12, 13, 14 and 11, continuing said section line until it intersects the east Nishnabotany river, then along said Nishnabotany river to the west line of Page county."
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HISTORY OF FREMONT COUNTY.
During the previous year Fulton township having neglected to hold an election and to elect township officers, Judge Thomas Greenwood annexed it to Scott township, and placed it for political and municipal purposes, under the officers of that township. In February, 1856, upon petition of the old citizens of Fulton, the township organization was renewed, but under the name of Benton, which it has since retained.
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