USA > Iowa > Hamilton County > History of Hamilton County, Iowa, Volume I > Part 7
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TAXATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION
Before the counties of Yell and Risley were attached to Boone county they. with all the other unorganized counties in the northwest portion of the state, had been attached to Polk county. While so attached for revenue and judicial pur- poses, an assessor was sent up to assess the property and he returned an assess-
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HISTORY OF HAMILTON COUNTY
able valuation of about $40,000.00, which included probably all of the assessable property in all of the unorganized counties north of Boone county. But the settlers objected to paying taxes without having any voice in the matter and whether their objection was considered legally good is not known, but no attempt was made to collect the taxes then levied and they were never paid.
Preparations having now been made for a county government, the county judge of Boone county ordered an election to be held on the first Monday in April, 1853.
THE FIRST COUNTY OFFICERS
The election was held at the residence of Wm. Pierce. Theodore Eslick, A. Gloseclose, and John Tolman were judges. L. Miracle and Earven Allen, clerks. Wm. Pierce was elected county judge, Jesse Goodrich, clerk of district court; James T. Hook, treasurer and recorder; J. H. Cofer, prosecuting attorney ; Samuel Eslick, county assessor ; James Doty, sheriff; John Johns, coroner, and Philomen Johnson and John Tolman, justices of the peace.
These officers were elected to hold their offices until the general election to be held on the first Monday in August, 1853.
The salary of the judge and treasurer was small. Warrants were issued to each for $12.50 for services from April Ist to August Ist, 1853, though addi- tional compensation was afterward paid to the judge.
The first record made by the county judge, after taking his office, was that of the issuance of a marriage license to John J. Holmes and Miss Emily Lyons, daughter of Isaac Lyons, and bears date May 14th, 1853.
TIIE COUNTY SEAT
A commission was appointed to locate a county seat. Elisha Anderson and Samuel McCall acted upon the commission and selected the southwest quarter of section 6, township 87, range 26, as a location, and the county seat was named Homer. The land belonged to the government, but the county officers took pos- session of it and had it "run out" into town lots. The following persons were employed to survey it : W. R. Williams, R. W. W. Alcorn, Francis Eslick, Gran- ville Burkley, L. Gilmore, S. C. Wood, Benj. Bell, John Manling and Geo. W. Hill.
It was not until October 14th, 1854, that the county obtained title to the land. On that day Judge Pierce received a warrant for $114 with which to enter the land upon which the town plot of Homer is located.
THE STATE ROAD
One of the first acts of the county government was to appoint a commission to locate a state road from Fort Dodge to Fort Des Moines. William Pierce, John Taylor, Peter J. Nickolson, Francis McGuire and Samuel Luther were the commissioners. S. C. Wood was employed as surveyor on the road, and with the assistance of Geo. Morgan, Richard Green, James Oliver, David Carroll, R. W. W. Alcorn, Elisha Kounts, and David Hamilton, made the survey, and the
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HISTORY OF HAMILTON COUNTY
road was duly established. It was over this road that the Northwestern Stage company afterwards ran its line between the towns above named. The entire county was included within one township, and it was called Washington.
THE SECOND ELECTION
The next election was held in Homer on the first Monday in August, 1853. and at this election 79 votes were cast. There was no court house at Homer, at the time, and to improvise a polling place a wagon box was inverted, and over it a brush canopy erected. The judges and clerks sat upon the wagon box. The candidates for office and the votes received by each were as follows :
County Judge, William Pierce, 39; James Hook, 37. Treasurer and re- corder, W. T. Woolsey, 39; James ITook, 37. Sheriff, James Doty, 39; Benj. Bell, 35. Prosecuting attorney, Geo. Warner, 31; Geo. W. Hall, 10; John H. Cofer, 34. Coronor, Jacob Miracle, 40; David Carroll, 32. Justices of the peace (no opposition ), E. Russell, L. Miracle.
GRANVILLE BURKLEY
We deem it proper at this time to call attention to a character who played an important part in the early history of Webster and Hamilton counties. We refer to Granville Burkley, the first lawyer to settle within the present limits of the two counties. Burkley came to Yell county in the fall of 1852 and during the following winter taught a school a short distance southwest of where Homer was afterwards located. The school was attended by pupils from both counties. J. H. Lyons, whose parents resided near where Webster City now is, attended this school and lived with the family of the teacher. He relates that the school was closed for two weeks during the winter while Mr. Burkley took a petition from the settlers, praying for a county government, to lowa City, where the legislature was in session. He managed matters so well that the act authorizing the organization of Webster county was passed. He took an active interest in the organization of the new county, and was largely instrumental in locating the county seat at Homer. He was a man well suited to be a "backwoods" lawyer. Though of considerable ability, he had a bulldozing disposition, and when he desired to carry a point, he had very few scruples as to the means employed. He undertook to run the county, and succeeded fairly well until John F. Dun- combe of Fort Dodge and W. C. Willson of Webster City joined forces and car- ried things against him. For the first three years after the county was organized there is little doubt that he directed most of the public matters, and dictated the county policy.
THE BUILDING OF HOMER
The town of Homer having been platted and established as the county seat in the fall of 1853, David Carroll built the first house in it early in the year 1854. It was a hewn log house about sixteen feet square and into this he moved his family and his stock of goods. Granville Burkley also built a house and moved his family into it. A post-office had been established and he was appointed postmaster, and was the first postmaster in the county. It is said that the mails
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HISTORY OF HAMILTON COUNTY
were very light and that he kept them in a box under the bed and when anyone called for mail, they were directed to pull out the box and look for themselves. But this charge is also denied, and in the main is probably pure fiction. It was during this year that the first regular hotel was opened. Its location was at Homer and Alexander Turner was the landlord. The hotel was opened in the fall and Mr. Turner kept it until the next June when he moved to Swedes Point for a year. He then returned to Homer again, and in 1857 moved to Webster City where he remained until his death. He built one of the first brick houses in Webster City and it was for many years the finest residence in the city. While he was landlord of the hotel in Homer, the land office was opened at Fort Dodge, and the stage line from Des Moines to that place was started. His daughter, Mrs. M. R. Dalby, then a little girl, remembers distinctly the stirring incidents of the time, and tells how utterly impossible it was for the hotels, with their limited capacity, to accommodate the general rush of travelers, and how they slept in barns and out of doors, for want of better accommodations. A number of houses were built during the year, forming quite a village. Among the build- ings erected was a schoolhouse built by Granville Burkley for the settlers but some difficulty occurred about accepting the house and Burkley pocketed the key and refused admission thereto until it should be accepted. A compromise was finally made, and school was held in it the winter of 1854-5, and we believe R. WV. W. Alcorn was the teacher, though here again there is some dispute, while those disputing Mr. Alcorn's title to being the first teacher at Homer are unable to name the person who was entitled to that honor. It was in this school house that Judge McFarland held the first district court ever held in the county. It was in the fall of 1854. There was little or no business of importance to attend to, for up to this time, except for justices of the peace and their courts, the people had been a law unto themselves. They regulated the evil doers sumn- marily. If there were those who were not "square" the displeasure of the community, with all that that implies in a new country, was sufficient to hold most of the would-be criminals in check, and from that displeasure there was no, appeal.
NEW CASTLE
In the fall of 1854 Wilson Brewer and Wm. Frakes laid out the town of New Castle, now part of Webster City, and began selling lots. It was located on the west side of Boone river and consisted of eight blocks, lying between Division street and the Illinois Central R. R. and east of Superior street as now seen on the maps of Webster City. The plat was two blocks wide and four blocks long and was the second town laid out in the county.
The laying out of this town and giving the place a name tended to bring this place into more notoriety, and homeseekers heard of it as they journeyed west- ward, and made it a point to pass through on their way. Many arriving in that way being pleased with the location and surroundings concluded to stay and be- came permanent settlers.
A MILD WINTER
The winter of 1854-5 was perhaps the mildest and pleasantest winter ever witnessed in Iowa. Very little snow fell and very little cold weather was ex-
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IHISTORY OF HAMILTON COUNTY
perienced. It was asserted that so mild was the weather that the mosquitoes lived over. They were unusually plentiful in the following April, at any rate. Josie R. Middleton has often told the writer than on Christmas day, 1854. he walked from Homer to White Fox in his bare feet, carrying his shoes and coat on his arm, and that the roads were dry and dusty and the day was much more like one in May than in December.
PRAIRIE VS. TIMBER FARMS
Our readers, if they have noticed the settlement of the county as recorded herein, will observe that up to the end of the year 1854, no settlements had been made except along the Boone river; or, at least within a couple of miles of it. The prairie land at that time was shunned, unless it could be had near the timber, or in connection with timber land. Looking about us now, it will also be observed that though the prairie was then shunned and the timber sought for homes, the finest farms and farm buildings are to be found on the prairie, and it has been true of the settler on the prairie ever since the settlement of the county that the general farmer, who went right out into the prairie did much better than the man who stuck his stake in the timber and grubbed out his fields. Along the timber, the first start was more cheaply made because a log cabin could be put up with no outlay of money. But it was on the prairie that the neat white farm houses first appeared, giving the country the appearance of civilization and thrift that is not usually expected where nothing but log cabins are to be found.
A STATE ELECTION
During the year 1854, Francis Eslick was elected district clerk ; John H. Cofer, prosecuting attorney ; Samuel Eslick, sheriff ; and Henry B. Martin, surveyor.
For senator, Theophelus Bryan received 94 votes and James Gordan, 19 votes.
For representative in state legislature, Samuel McCall had 81 votes; Gran- ville Burkley had 33 votes; Franklin Thompson had 13 votes. Phineus Cassody received 96 votes for district judge and Wm. Mckay 12.
The vote for governor in the county gave Curtis Bates 104, and James W. Grimes, 22.
From the above vote it will be seen that the population of the county in August. 1854, was about 600 and that politically the county was largely democratic as is shown by the vote for governor, Bates being the democratic candidate.
Settlers were coming in, singly and in groups, during all of this year and while a larger proportion than common stopped within the present limits of Hamilton county, the larger number went into the present limits of Webster county.
THIE FIRST SCHOOLS
In the fall of 1854, the Frakes, Downings, Skinners, Segars, Paynes and probably Storys, organized a school district and built a log schoolhouse on the present site of the White Fox schoolhouse. Josie R. Middleton was employed as the first teacher and as there was no school being taught at Webster City,
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HISTORY OF HAMILTON COUNTY
the Lyons and Brewers also attended there. This was the first school in the northern part of the county, and one of the first in the county. The same winter a school was taught at Homer by Mr. Alcott, and another north of Hook's Point was held in a claim cabin, taught by Miss Abedience Bell,-now Mrs. Woolford, of Boone county. These were the first schools taught within what is now Hamilton county.
At the April, 1854, election there were 213 votes cast and the following officers were elected : N. W. Meservey, county judge ; Granville Burkley, county attorney ; D. Carroll. drainage commissioner ; A. Gaines, coroner.
For district judge, W. W. Williamson had 123 votes and C. J. McFarland, 73 votes. McFarland was elected in the district but it will be seen from the vote at the different elections in Webster county that he was not popular with the voters and never carried a majority of the votes. The board of canvassers for this election were Judge Pierce and Justices of the Peace L. Miracle and E. Russell.
"PROHIBITION" SUSTAINED
The question of prohibiting the sale of intoxicating liquors came up at the April election of this year and resulted as follows: For prohibition, 99; against prohibition, 76. The democrats were prohibitionists and the whigs were for license though the vote shows that not all of the democrats voted for prohibition, and it is probable that some of the whigs voted for it. About one-fourth of the voters refrained from voting on the question at all.
The second election of the year took place on August 7th, when there were 283 votes cast.
A CONTEST OVER COUNTY JUDGE
Judge Pierce had resigned and W. N. Meservey was elected judge at the April election to fill the vacancy and the office was to be regularly filled at the August election. W. N. Meservey was again a candidate and John D. Maxwell was his opponent. The contest between these two candidates was very spirited, the people of Homer and vicinity voting for Meservey while the citizens of Fort Dodge and New Castle and vicinity voted for Maxwell. The election resulted as follows: J. D. Maxwell, 156; W. N. Meservey, 136.
Notwithstanding, Maxwell was clearly elected by a majority of 20 and no fraud was charged. The canvassers at this election being Homer men, gave Meservey the certificate of election. The entry made by them of the election return book shows the vote as recorded above. Maxwell entered a contest and the trial resulted in his favor, but Meservey appealed to the district court and continued to hold the office. When the time for trial in the district court came. Meservey succeeded in obtaining a change of venue and the case was sent to Pot- tawottomie county for trial. The office was not a very valuable one so far as salary was concerned and therefore Maxwell failed to follow the case and Meser- vey continued to hold the office until after the county was divided.
The other officers elected at the August election, 1855, were: Geo. Gregory. district clerk ; W. T. Woolsey, treasurer ; Wm. Royster, sheriff ; C. C. Carpenter, surveyor ; N. L. Osborn, coroner.
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HISTORY OF HAMILTON COUNTY
C. C. CARPENTER VISITS NEW CASTLE
C. C. Carpenter had been working as a surveyor during the year in different parts of the county and a good story is told of his first visit to New Castle after the Willsons had opened their hotel. As stated by Mrs. Willson, the number of guests at their house was out of all proportion to the means for comfortable accommodation and Carpenter and his gang of surveyors were obliged to sleep on the floor of the main room. In one corner of this room was a bed with cur- tains around it in which Mr. and Mrs. Willson slept.
Now Mrs. Willson, notwithstanding her rough surroundings, was as neat and trim all the time as though just out of a band-box, and a great beauty as well. Walt was full of rush and enterprise, going in where anything was to be done without regard to personal appearance. He was at this time working on his mill dam, and was covered with mud and tanned by exposure. In his personal appear- ance, in his every day clothes, he was not a beauty. Mrs. Willson looked after the hotel and Walt looked after everything else and worked at everything. While Carpenter knew who the landlady was, he did not know and had not met the landlord, and when he was pointed out to him he could not refrain from remark- ing : "Well, it's an infernal shame that so nice a woman as that should be married to that galoot of an Irishman." Walt didn't hear of this remark until after acquaintance had changed Mr. Carpenter's opinion, and of course, when he did hear of it he could laugh as heartily over it as anybody.
Among the deaths this year was that of a man named Crawford at Homer. His funeral sermon was preached by a newcomer who claimed to be a preacher and we are informed he preached a very excellent sermon. The preacher must have been an imposter. however, for the night after preaching the funeral, he stole a horse and skipped out and was never heard of again.
The first physician to locate at Homer was a Dr. Coyle, and the second was a Dr. Corbin, both coming in 1855.
The winter of 1855-6 was the hardest yet seen by any of the settlers and was a great contrast to the mild and pleasant one that had preceded it. Deep snows, blizzards and bad roads were the chief attractions.
TIMBER STEALING
We must not forget to mention a matter that had been going on ever since the settlement of the county but which first began to be noticed about this time and that was what would now be called stealing timber off non-residents' lands. The fact was that much of the valuable timber lands had been entered by speculators who were holding it for a high price, to buy it and as the work of improving their farms could not be carried on without timber, they helped themselves to any timber not guarded by a settler. As the settlers winked at these depredations to speculators' land, it was difficult and usually impossible to punish any of them, though the law was stringent enough.
.A story is told of Wilson Brewer that will illustrate how this thing was carried on. An eastern speculator came out to look after his property and stopped with Mr. Brewer. The next day Mr. B. took the man out to show him his land, which was timber land.
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HISTORY OF HAMILTON COUNTY
On the way Mr. B. pointed out a piece of timber land here that he said be- longed to Mr. So and So and said Mr. A. stole the timber of that; another piece belonged to another and Mr. B. stole the timber of that; finally coming to a strip of land that had evidently been well covered with timber said: "This is your land and I stole the timber off of it and if you don't like it. I'll lick h-1 out of you." The fellow said he liked it and returned east disgusted, and let his land go to tax deed, never again paying any more attention to it. But if one settler was found taking timber belonging to another settler, it was made exceedingly torrid for him. In relation to taking speculators' timber the settlers reasoned like this: "The improvement of our land will necessarily increase the price of the speculator's land without his doing anything: therefore it is only fair that enough of his property be put into the improvements to make him pay in part at least for the cause of the advance of the price of his land." which seemed to be good logic, if it was not law. Another way the settler had of making the speculator pay for the advance in the price of his land was to assess his unim- proved lands as high as the improved farms, thus making him pay as high taxes as the settler, and for the same reason as given in the timber case. For these two causes, speculators' lands were, no doubt, often sold for a much smaller price than if they had not existed, and the settler benefited thereby.
ANOTHER "WILSE BREWER" STORY
Another story is told of "Wilse Brewer" which illustrates the summary methods of doing justice then.
There had been a shooting match and "Wilse" had won a quarter of beef. That evening, before starting home, somebody stole the beef. One Beemas Hay- den was accused of taking it, and Brewer having satisfied himself that he was the culprit went to his house next morning before Hayden was up and hauled him out of bed and gave him a sound thrashing. Nothing was done with Brewer for this, but Brewer went to the office of Esquire Russell and plead guilty to assault and battery and paid a fine of $5.00 on his own motion. When the grand jury sat next, they were proceeding to indict Hayden for stealing the beef. Brewer heard of it and went before the body and said that he had chastised the man sufficiently and asked that the case be dropped and the jury dropped it.
SOME NEW TOWNS
During the year 1855, the people of Hamilton county, like the people of most new countries, found numerous places where it was thought a town would be needed in the future, therefore, in addition to the towns of Homer and New Castle, there was a town laid out July 2. 1855. on the southeast quarter of sec- tion 6-86-26. The town consisted of a row of blocks around a public square and was called "Paris." The projection of the town of Paris was a flat failure and perhaps few, except the early settlers, know that such a town was platted. This town, however, was laid out on the same section of land upon which the villages of Hook's Point was afterwards situated.
On July 5th, Walter C. Willson, Henry Kellogg and Chas. Wilder filed for record the original plat of "Webster City." It included New Castle and joined
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HISTORY OF HAMILTON COUNTY
West New Castle on the south. It extended west to Broadway, the line being the alley north of Bank street, south to the present cemetery, and east to the Boone river and north to the I. C. R. R. track. The postoffice was named Webster City; the name of New Castle was after a few years changed to Webster City by act of the legislature, though the original names still appear on the maps of the town, and a large part of the business portion of the town is now on what was platted as West New Castle.
On the 24th of July, 1855, a town was laid out on the southeast quarter of the northeast quarter of section 12-87-26 and was called "New Saratoga." This town was laid out on what is now the John N. Maxwell farm, and it was a prominent candidate for the honor of the county seat at, and after the division of the county. It was, however, always a paper town, no buildings ever having been, so far as we can find. erected upon it unless it was a farm house. A story is told, that the question of deciding whether Webster City or Saratoga should be the county seat was submitted to N. G. Olmstead and S. B. Rosencrans, who were to wrestle to decide it, the victor to name the town; that Rosencrans was suc- cessful and named Webster City. It will hardly be taken by the average citizen that it was officially so determined, though we believe the wrestle really took place.
New Castle, during the year 1855, made considerable growth. As stated in Mrs. Wilson's essay, a saw mill was built the fore part of the year near where the Chase flouring mill now stands. A store was opened by Cyrus Smith. There was one regular hotel kept by W. C. Willson; and Wilson Brewer and the Beaches also kept lodgers.
In December, Jacob M. Funk and Joseph Funk laid out and placed in market West New Castle which extends from New Castle on the east nearly to Des Moines street and from the Illinois Central railroad south to the alley north of Bank street. Joseph Funk was not a resident and the dedication of the town plat was signed by Jacob M. Funk and "Joseph Funk by J. M. Funk, his agent."
THE THIRD SCHOOL HOUSE
As will have been noted, the first two school houses in the county were built in the fall of 1854 at Homer and White Fox. The third school house was built by James Faught in 1855 on the site of what is now known as the "Bethel" school house in Webster township. The building then erected, and used for years, is now to be seen at the home of Mr. William Spicer, and is used by him as a granary. There may have been other school houses built in the county that year but if so, we have failed to hear of it. Quite a number of schools were taught in the county during 1855. but so far as we have heard they were kept in claim cabins or temporary buildings, and among the rest Miss Richey, later Mrs. Levi Emmerson, of Stratford, taught a school at Hook's Point in a room of a private residence arranged for the occasion.
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