USA > Iowa > Harrison County > History of Harrison County, Iowa : its people, industries and institutions, with biographical sketches of representative citizens and genealogical records of many of the old families > Part 7
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Theburg L: dlane.
Ve English home of Mirs alan Butler who named the town of Woodbine lawas giving it the name of her child hood home.
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Mrs. Ann Butler
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HARRISON COUNTY, IOWA.
and Manteno off the route, and ran from Magnolia to Whitesboro (then a postoffice ) : thence to Jeddo. Jason Z. Hum, postmaster, thence direct to Harlan and on to Adel.
Henry Olmstead, who settled in the spring of 1857, at the place where this post office was established, had the office named after himself, but upon the completion of the Northwestern railroad, down the Boyer, this office was discontinued and the mail was sent to Dunlap.
The other line established in 1858. as before mentioned, had its initial point at Magnolia, and ran semi-wheekly toward the west, to De Soto, Washington county, Nebraska, a distance of thirty-five miles, and many of the settlers remember the carry-all of Mr. Jerome Seeley, who at that time was the servant of the Democratic administration, which compelled him to wade, swim, or boat the country through, from the edge of the bluffs on the lowa side, so as to land the United States mails safely on the Nebraska side at the place of destination at any bluff where there was sufficient dry land to afford opportunity for distribution. These routes were continued until the running of mails on the cars on the Chicago & Northwestern railroad, and on the Sioux City & Pacific railroad, a circum- stance which took place in 1866 and 186 ;.
At the inception of the year 1864. the postal department established a post-route from Council Bluffs via Crescent City. Harris Grove, Reeder's Mills. Woodbine, Manteno and thence to Olmstead and on to Fort Dodge. The first contractor on this route was James Billings, known by all per- sons as "Laughing Jim" ( the music of whose laughter was more forcible than eloquent ), who provided for a semi-weekly service and continued up 10 1866.
In 1863. there was also established a weekly route from Magnolia to Smithland, on the south line of Woodbury county, furnishing Prepara- tion. Mt. Pisgah, Belvidere and Castana with postal facilities, which con- tinued up to 1867, at the time the Sioux City road began the carrying of the mails.
In the fall of 1866. at the time when the Northwestern railroad be- gan regular trips down the Boyer Valley, and had reached Council Bluffs, the western stage from the last named place to Sioux City was dispensed with, so far as the Magnolia mail was concerned and Magnolia was sup- plied with mail from Woodbine, by a daily service run and operated by George R. and Orville Brainard, which service was maintained until the postoffice was established at Logan, which was in the fall of 1867. And (6)
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HARRISON COUNTY, IOWA.
here let it be remembered that the railroad, with all of its boasted mag- . nanimity, passed and re-passed the town of Logan for nearly one year from the time of the first trip before any mails were given off for the accommodation of the citizens of the community. Not until there were orders of a peremptory character from the department did this neighbor- hood receive any benefits from this imprtant factor of the government.
From 1867 to the present, Magnolia has been served from Logan. which is the greatest distributing point for local mails within Harrison county. As early as ISgo it was said that it supplied mails for one-fourth of the county. Here all mails for Reeder's Mills, Valley View, Persia, Needmore, Beebeetown and Magnolia were sacked and forwarded to the respective places of destination. The Calhoun, Whitesboro, Jeddo. Raglan and Harris Grove offices were discontinued during the last of the eighties and, in lieu of the oldl order of things. Dunlap, Woodbine and Missouri Valley were furnished with four mails per day. But the establishment of free rural delivery routes in the country changed many of the above con- ditions, so that at present there are few farm homes that do not receive their mail, including daily papers, each forenoon on every week day in the year.
PIONEER CUSTOMS.
We can not refrain from giving the following from Joe H. Smith's history of Harrison county, published many years ago, as it gives, graph- ically described, several interesting features of the manners and customs of the early days in this county :
In the early days there was no such species known as the tramp. This peculiar make-up has been a production of a foreign country, transplanted into this nation since the first settlement of this county, and therefore was not known until the production had spread over the United States.
The weary, way-worn traveler was never refused food or lodging by anyone. The usual size of the farm houses, until the latter part of the sixties, searcely ever exceeded twelve by sixteen feet. There was some- thing peculiar in the architecture of these houses, by which they coukl hold many more persons during a stormy night than the largest farm houses now in all the country, or the difference was in the size of the heart of the lord or lady of the manor.
In the winter of 1856-57. L. D. Butler lived at his mills ( where Wood- bine stands now) in a little house fourteen by sixten feet, and only one story high. Yet in this the Butler family, numbering ten or twelve, to-
S3
HARRISON COUNTY, JOW.A.
gether with quite a dozen more who had made their way through the snow drifts for a little grist, were, by Mrs. Butler, safely stowed away. in some comfortable manner or other, in this small space. The same may very truthfully be said of the homes of Patrick Morrow, on the Soldier river, and that of old Uncle Dan Brown. at Calhoun. These places were con- stanily, night by night. filled to overflowing during all the winter last named. All the other homes in the county were open to the stranger and unfortunate; not the poor unpalatable crust was set before them. but always the very best the larder afforded. The charities of the old settlers were as large as the demands of humanity, and their generosity measured out of their substance with an unsparing hand, the larger share to the needy and unfortunate.
"HIS HONOR, THE DEVIL.'
Perhaps the difference in the circumstances of persons at that time, as compared with those of the present, accounts for the warm, free- heartedness then so proverbial. Neighbors, then at a distance of five, eight and even ten miles, were considered as living in close proximity. and set- tling within a mile was somewhat crowding on that one who had settled first. There may be just as much benevolence. goodwill, charity and friend- ship today as there ever was. because there are so many more persons upon whom to bestow the same, but then, once distributed. it becomes a little "thin." Yet, without hesitation, I am free to assert that there is a thousand times more deception practiced at this time than was ever dreamed of by the old settlers, and such hypocrisy as would produce the bluish on the cheek of his honor, the devil.
The country dance was the event of the neighborhood-talked over for days and days prior to the happening of the same, and when the time had arrived there would be such a jovial good time that "all care was mad to sce man so happy, even drowned himself among the nappy." True, there might have been a little more energy than polish in the manner of dancing. This was at that time pardonable, because heavy cow-skin boots were used in the ballroom in lieu of the present fancy slippers. Calling attention of the reader to the music on these occasions, none who were here in the fifties but well remember the selection known as "Caywood Cross- ing the Bottom.". The homespun dress, puncheon floors, Caywood's fiddle and all else dove-tailed with exactness, and all "went merry as a marriage bell."
HARRISON COUNTY, IOWA.
Of the shooting matches there was no end in pioneer days in Har- rison county. They were by far better patronized than was the Sabbath school and meeting house. Every man was then a mighty hunter (in his own mind at least), and much time was devoted to the sport of the chase. The man who could not hit the bull's eye then was counted a poor stick of a marksman.
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CHAPTER V.
COUNTY AND TOWNSHIP ORGANIZATION.
Harrison county was at one time a part of Keokuk coumy. It was established in 1851 and became an organized county, March 7, 1853, by an act of the fourth General Assembly, which enactment also appointed Abraham Fletcher, Charles Wolcott and A. D. Jones, respectively of Fre- mont, Mills and Pottawattamie counties, as commissioners to locate the seat of justice, the name of which was to be Magnolia, and who were to meet early in March for that purpose. The name is derived from William Henry Harrison, that noted Indian fighter. the hero of the battle of Tip- pecanoe, who was made the ninth President of the United States. Michael McKenney was appointed organizing sheriff by the same authority. The aforesaid locating commissioners met at the house of A. D. Jones in Pot- tawattamie county and executed the business for which they had been ap- pointed. They selected the southeast corner of section 32, township 80, range 43 west, and gave the name of the tract selected "Magnolia." and the organizing sheriff called an election on the first Monday in April, the same year. 1853. at which time a full corps of county officials were elected.
There were two other locations desiring the county seat-one was at Calhoun, fostered by Daniel Brown, the county's first actual settler, and another faction wanted it located on the Boyer river, to the east of present Logan.
When organized, the county was divided into two voting precincts. one on the west side of the Boyer river. at Magnolia, and the other cast of that stream at Owen Thorpe's, who lived then at Jeddo. This is a de- funct village, and for many years was within the farm of Hon. L. R. Bolter. The first election resulted in the return of the following officers : Stephen King, county judge: P. G. Cooper, treasurer and recorder: Wil- liam Dakan, prosecuting attorney: Chester M. Hamilton, sheriff, and Wil- liam Cooper, clerk of the courts: G. H. White, surveyor, and John Thomp- son, school fund commissioner.
The voting returns for the first election held in Harrison county were carried to the house of Stephen King, to there be counted. James Hardy and Thomas B. Necley took the poll books from the west side
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HARRISON COUNTY, IOWA.
of the county to Judge King's place. Upon arriving at the banks of the swollen and unbridged Boyer, they staked out their horses, undressed and swam the river, keeping their seanty wardrobes and record-books above high-water mark. They then dressed and went on to Judge King's, all of which was not as funny then as it seems at this date.
Before the organization of Harrison county in 1853. several of the voters exercised their right of franchise by going to Council Bluffs, where they were allowed to cast their ballot. Among such gentlemen are known to have been Messrs. William Dakan, W. B. Copeland, and S. W. Con- dit, who walked all the way to Council Bluffs and cast their votes for the presidential candidates.
A JUST JUDGE.
Having installed the preliminary machinery to operate a county gov- ernment, it was at once set in operation, under the "one man power" county judge system, but which in the case of Judge King was never abused, as it was in many parts of Towa. Among the first things to be done after organizing. was to set off and lay out the various civil subdivisions, or townships, in the newly formed county. At first the county was with only two townships-Magnolia and Jefferson. County Judge P. G. Cooper at- tempted to sub-divide the county into five townships-Magnolia, Sionx, Washington, Wayne, Jefferson-but. through some error or mismanage- ment, this act did not stand. This was in February, 1854, and in March of that year, "Sioux" and "La Grange" were erected. Just when and by what authority the prefix "Little" was finally added to Sioux the records seem entirely silent concerning.
In March, 1855, Calhoun township was set off from Magnolia. €
Again in September, that same year ( 1855) the county was redis- tricted. making the civil townships conform to the congressional town- ships. In a few instances, the names of some of these have been changed from time to time, for various reasons. The subjoined is a list of the townships within Harrison county at this date (1915), with the date of their organization, etc. :
Allen, constituted in 1872, comprises township 81, range 43. and was named for its first settler.
Boyer, constituted prior to 1857. comprises township 80, range 42, and was named for the river bearing that name, which flows through the county.
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HARRISON COUNTY. IOW.A.
Cass, constituted prior to 1857. now comprises township 79. range 41, named for the celebrated Michigan statesman, Lewis Cass.
Calhoun, constituted prior to 1857, changed subsequently. comprises township 79, range 43. and was named, secondary from the village of Cal- houn, which is within its borders. The village was named from old Fort Calhoun located on the banks of the Missouri river at a point opposite where the village was platted in 1853.
Cincinnati was constituted in 1856, and comprises township 78, range 45, and was named for the large number of persons, headed by Jacob Foun- tain, who immigrated from Cincinnati, Ohio. He laid out the town near the present railroad junction. called Cincinnati. The locality is now known as California Junction.
Clay, constituted between 1856-60. comprises township 79. range 45 and range 46, was named in honor of Henry Clay. the great American statesman.
Douglas township. constituted in 1868, comprises township 80, range 41, and was named for Hon. Stephen A. Douglas, who was a candidate against Abraham Lincoln for president of the United States in 1860.
Harrison, constituted in 1856. comprising township SI. range 41, was named for the county of which it is a sub-division, and primarily for Gen. William Henry Harrison.
Jackson, constituted prior to 1860, and probably about 1858. com- prises township SI, range 44, and three sections of township So. was named in honor of ("Old Hickory") Andrew Jackson. of New Orleans fame.
Jefferson, constituted in 1854. comprises township 79, range 42, and part of range 43. and derives its name from President Jefferson.
La Grange, constitute prior to 1855. now comprises township 78. range 43.
Lincoln, constituted in 1868. comprises township 81, range 42, and derives its name from that our lamented President Abraham Lincoln.
Little Sioux, constituted in 1854, comprises township 81. range 45, and was named for Little Sioux river flowing through its domain.
Magnolia, constituted in 1853. comprises township 80, range 43. and derives its name from the county seat. as first located in this county, which the fourth general assembly named "Magnolia." It is primarily from the sweet-scented flower of the Gulf States.
Morgan, constituted in 1867. which comprises part of township 80. range 45. and part of range 44. township 80, was named for Morgan
HARRISON COUNTY, IOW.A.
county, Ohio, from which section of the Buckeye state, Captain John Noyes emigrated as a settler to this lowa county.
Raglan, constituted in 1857. comprises township So, range 44. and was named by Captain John A. Danielson, for Lord Raglan, of Crimean War fame, who was then at the height of his glory.
St. John township. constituted in 1856. comprises township 78. range 44.
Taylor, constituted in 1861. comprises township 79. range 44. except section 24. section 25. and section 36. and was named for old General Zachary Taylor.
Union, constituted in 1858, now comprises township 78. range 42. It was named by "Uncle Sanimy" Wood. the first settler, on account of his great friendship for his neighbors. Unity was his thought, doubt- less.
Washington, constituted in 1872. and comprising township 78, range 41. was named in honor of the "Father of His Country"-George Wash- ington.
PRESENT TOWNSHIPS.
There have been no changes in the form and size of civil townships in Harrison county since 1872, when Allen township was taken off from Magnolia township, which now lies to its south. For a matter of ready reference it will be well to here insert a list, when constituted and the congressional township and government range in which the twenty sub- divisions of Harrison country are situated, which is as follows:
Allen, constituted 1872, in township 81, range 43.
Boyer, constituted before 1857. in township So. range 42.
Calhoun, constituted before 1857. in township 79. range 43.
Cass, constituted 1856-60. in township 79, range 41.
Cincinnati, constituted 1856-60, in township 78, range 45.
Clay. constituted 1856-60. in township 79. range 45.
Douglas, constituted 1868. in township 80, range 41, taken from Boyer.
Harrison, constituted 1856-60. in township 81. range 41. Jackson, constituted 1856-60. in township SI. range 44. Jefferson, constituted before 1855. in township 79. range 42. La Grange, constituted before 1855. in township 78, range 43. Lincoln, constituted 1868. in township 81, range 42, taken from Boyer. Little Sioux. constituted before 1855. in township SI. range 45. Magnolia, constituted before 1853. in township 80, range 43.
HARRISON COUNTY, IOWA.
Morgan, constituted before i870, in township 80, range 45, taken from Raglan.
Raglan, constituted before 1857. in township So, range 44.
St. John, constituted before iSho, in township 78, range 44.
Taylor, constituted iNói. in township 79. range 44.
Union, constituted before 1859. in township 78. range 42.
Washington, constituted 1872, in township 78. range 41. taken from Union.
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CHAPTER VI.
COUNTY GOVERNMENT, FINANCES, ETC.
Having properly organized. the citizens of Harrison county had noth- ing else to do but at once set up housekeeping after their own fashion, and they have been keeping it up ever since, sometimes with periods of local strife and misrule, then again working in harmony, honor and justice to all law-abiding citizens. Perhaps, on the average, the government of this county has been administered on as high a standard as most counties in Jowa, yet there have been defalcations and men of none too high sense of justice have occasionally got into public office, and before their terms of office have expired, much wrong and injustice have marked their records. A county of the size and geographical position of Harrison, could hardly ex- pect to maintain, at all times, through pioneer days, through a great Civil War, and through the road and bridge and court house construction days, every department of home rule, without having some family jais to mar and make unpleasant its history.
The first county government in Harrison county was under the county judge system-a one man power, as it is sometimes termed -- which was in vogue in Jowa at the date of the county's organization. In this, the management of all county matters was left in the hands of a single officer. It became his sworn duty to locate highways, build bridges, levy taxes an- nually, erect courthouses, and he was made amenable to no one save on the day of election, when all things were promised to all men. Yet, with all this power in his hands, with all the vast sums of money that he had to account for, with the passing of the years included in his term of office, the records show that in all Jowa, there were but three real defalcations --- a record which has never been equaled since the abolishment of the office of county judge. However, as the state became greater in population. the old system was no longer a practical thing, and none would care to go back and adopt the office as it was fifty or sixty years ago.
As a general rule, these county judges were men held in high esteem and possessed of good judgment, and were men of exceptional integrity. In Harrison county, the judges were of a high and honorable order-above suspicion. The gentlemen who held such office here were: Hons. Stephen
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HARRISON COUNTY, IOWA.
EARLY RECORDS DESTROYED.
The early records of the county judges' proceedings having been de-
stroyed by fire in 1854. it is not the pleasure of the author to review the administrations up to that date. It is quite probable. however, that little else than routine work was performed, such as looking over, and acting on road and bridge petitions from various parts of the large territory in- cluded in the county, apportioning school funds and the auditing of a few bills and accounts.
Upon the resignation of Stephen King as county judge. P. G. Cooper
was appointed to fill his term of offce out. This judge on February 4. 1854. attempted to divide the county into five civil townships, but through some error or oversight he signally failed to accomplish the object he had in view, hence the entire county was still left in two great sub-divisions- Magnolia and Jefferson townships.
But little marked the county court's administrations until that of
Judge D. E. Brainard, in 1857, when on September 19. of that year, the county was divided into twenty civil townships, the boundary lines and names of which were as indicated below. Many had been "constituted"
before, but never set apart and organized into separate civil townships.
Range.
45
44
43
42
41
45
44
43
42
41
45
44
Township.
78
78
78
78
78
79
79
79
79
79
80
80
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Taylor
Calhoun
Jefferson
Cass
Washington
Raglan
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Name.
Cincinnati
Hoosier
La Grange
Union
Webster
Clay
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King, James Hardy, P. G. Cooper ( who filled out the unexpired term for Judge King), D. E. Grainard, Jonas W. Chatburn, Samuel Moore, and the late H. C. Harshbarger, who held the last term before the office was abolished, and over into the first term as county auditor, which office really took the place of the county judge, save in a few duties imposed upon him.
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TIARRISON COUNTY. IOW.A.
Name.
Township.
Range.
Magnolia
80
43
Bover
So
42
Marcy
So
Sioux
81
45
Jackson
81
44
Adams
81
43
Madison
81
42
Harrison
SI
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The county judge system, as then constituted, continued until January 1, 1861, when most of the power vested in such office was taken from the county judge and entrusted to a body of men known as a "board of county supervisors." This board consisted of one member from each organized civil township within the county. This obtained all over lowa, and was but little improvement over the old judge system, for from twelve to twenty- four men assembled in one body. usually resulted in a regular, legalized "debating club," where each had a right to the floor as long as he saw fit to talk and argue his point. Business could not be dispatched under such circumstances, as well as by fewer men. In 1871 the people, having tired of such an endless chain management of affairs, sought out and obtained a repeal of the law, and in its stead was established a modified supervisor law, in which the county was divided into "supervisor districts." three or five, owing to the number of inhabitants. By this law, a part of the code of 1871, made in wisdom and still in existence, gave Harrison county three county supervisors, instead of twenty under the old law. The county judge was still left, but shorn of his former power, and had little else than to attend to a few cases in probate matters, marriages, etc. In 1869 he was no longer named among the county officers, his office having been entirely abolished.
BURNING OF FIRST COURTHOUSE.
At Magnolia, the first county seat, there had been erected a rude log cabin used as a courthouse. This, unfortunately, was burned, through some unknown cause. in September, 1854. and the county records, with all carly books and papers, with "cash on hand." were destroyed. Hence the published history of Harrison county can not give anything concerning the business transactions for the years prior to that date.
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HARRISON COUNTY, IOW.1.
COUNTY BOARD PROCEEDINGS.
The first Monday in January, 1861, the Erst board of county super- visors assembled at Magnolia. That was fifty-three years ago, and vast have been the changes wrought in this county, state and nation with the passing of this more than half a century. The minute book used by that first board of supervisors contains the following bill which was made out a few months before the opening of the great Civil War:
One hundred large envelopes, $1.oo: 100 small envelopes, $1.00: 2 reams letter paper, $10.00: one-half ream foolscap paper, $2.50: 1 gold pen and holder, $2.50: 15 pounds tallow candles, $4.50; I New York bank note detector, $1.00; 1 St. Louis bank note detector, $ .: 1 ball twin. 30 cents: I broom. 30 cents: I water bucket. 30 cents: 5 cords seasoned wood, $15.00. This made a total bill of $39.40. It may be remarked that the item of wood is higher today, while the paper and other items are much cheaper, and the tallow candles are no longer in use! The "bank note de- tectors" were very important then, but since one kind of a dollar is as good as any other kind in these days of a better monetary system-gold, silver and paper-there is no longer a use found for such articles in this county. The bank note detectors told the holder of such paper money, including the "red dog" variety, just how much it was worth on a dollar on a given day, in the money centers of the country.
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