USA > Iowa > Jackson County > History of Jackson County, Iowa; Volume I > Part 8
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HISTORY OF JACKSON COUNTY
capital locating contest. Dr. Parvin, as a young man, was private secretary to Governor Lucas, and therefore present in Burlington during the session of that first territorial assembly, and familiar with its proceedings. The imbroglio of the governor with Secretary Conway involved also a hostility on the part of the secretary towards young Parvin, which was manifested in some reports made to the legislature which afford some of the raciest reading that ever appeared in public documents. Colonel Cox was a bitter partisan in the controversy as a friend of Conway's, and therefore not at all friendly to the private secretary. That this obvious old time fact had any influence upon the memory of the ven- erable doctor of which he was at all conscious, we do not for a moment suppose ; but we believe it did prevent him from having had, at the time, personal knowl- edge of Colonel Cox's ideas and efforts. The first public utterance of Professor Parvin's Lawmakers Association in 1892, when he said: "His (Colonel Cox) was the turning point in the location of the capital at Iowa City, and the terri- tory and state became indebted to him by whose vote the location was determined."
ORGANIZATION OF JACKSON COUNTY- OFFICIAL AND OTHERWISE.
It is a matter of history that the land now comprised in Jackson county was a part of the Louisiana Purchase, being transferred from France to the United States in 1803, becoming a part of the "District of Louisiana," then the terri- tory of Louisiana in 1805, territory of Missouri in 1812, territory of Michigan in 1834, territory of Wisconsin in July, 1836, and territory of Iowa on July 3, 1838.
Jackson county was a part of the land which was conveyed in the treaty with the Sacs and Foxes in September, 1832, and generally known as the "Black Hawk Purchase," which opened the first land in Iowa for settlement by the whites. The treaty included a strip of about six million acres along the eastern border of Iowa, extending from the Upper Iowa River on the north to the present southern boundary of the state. In return for the land the government assumed debts that the Indians owed certain traders to the amount of fifty thou- sand dollars, and agreed to pay the twenty thousand dollars annually, in cash. Soon after the purchase most of the Indians moved further west and in 1842-43 the remainder were transferred to a reservation in Kansas. The Indians with whom the pioneer settlers came in contact mostly belonged to the Winnebagoes, a tribe that was widely scattered throughout this part of the Mississippi Valley and who were always friendly with the whites.
For several years there were but two counties west of the Mississippi River. Dubuque and Des Moines, the dividing line being what is now the line between Clinton and Scott counties. Des Moines county was subdivided by the Wis- consin legislature which met at Belmont, Wisconsin, in 1836, but Dubuque county remained intact until the meeting of the legislature at Burlington, November 10, 1837. The legislature remained in session until January 20, 1838, and Jackson county was formed during that session. The establishing of what is now the line between Dubuque and Jackson counties brought up a bitter fight. Those who are familiar with the map of Jackson county know that two townships along the Mississippi extend along up into what would appear to be legitimate terri- tory of Dubuque county. Captain W. A. Warren, of Bellevue, was enrolling clerk of the house at the time of the contest. Bellevue wanted to be the county seat of Jackson county, and shrewd politician that he was, he at once saw that it would be almost impossible for his town to hold its own in a county seat fight if it was situated in the extreme northeast corner of the county, and hence it was highly essential that there should be some territory in Jackson county north of Bellevue township. It was generally admitted that from a geo- graphical point of view the territory belonged to Dubuque county, but Bellevue put up such a warm fight that a compromise was finally reached by making Tete
RELICS OF JACKSON COUNTY
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HISTORY OF JACKSON COUNTY
des Morts and Prairie townships a part of Jackson county and the townships directly west of them a part of Dubuque county. As soon as the county had been formed, it became necessary to appoint a sheriff and Captain Warren was appointed.
When Jackson county was formed it included under its legal jurisdiction all of the country west of it, within the original land grant, comprising what is now Jones and Linn counties, and the settlers of that territory were accorded elec- toral privileges and the same rights in the county government as those who ac- tually lived within the geographical limits of the county.
The first county commissioners were William Jonas, William Morden and James Leonard, and their first meeting was held in Bellevue, April 2, 1838. At that meeting they established the first election precincts, dividing the county into six voting places as follows: First precinct-to comprise Charleston (now Sabula) and vicinity ; election to be held at the store of James Leonard; judges, Charles Swan, O. A. Crary, and E. A. Wood. Second precinct-to comprise Higginsport and vicinity; to be held at the house of W. H. Vandeventer ; judges, W. H. Vandeventer, Andrew Farley and B. B. Evans. Third precinct- election to be held at the courthouse in Bellevue; judges, W. Sublett, J. D. Bell, and J. S. Fitzpatrick. Fourth precinct-election to be held at the house of Daniel Brown in Tete des Morts township; judges, D. Brown, J. P. March and D. G. Bates. Fifth precinct-election to be held at the house of Charles W. Har- ris, on the north fork of the Maquoketa; judges, C. W. Harris, V. G. Smith, and Thomas Davis. Sixth precinct-election to be held at the house of S. Burleson, south fork of the Maquoketa ; judges, S. Burleson, J. Clark and William Phillips. At a meeting held in June of the same year, the commissioners established three additional voting precincts, two in what is now Jones county, the election to be held at the house of John G. Joshlin, on the Wapsipinicon, and at the house of Nathaniel Dalley, on the Maquoketa, and the third in Linn county at West Point. In August they established precinct No. 10, election to be held at the house of one Wadkins, about four miles south of the present site of An- drew. The new board of commissioners elected in the fall of 1838 was William Jonas, E. A. Wood and James Keeley. The county officers elected at the same time were: John Howe, recorder; John Sublett, treasurer; Jas. S. Kirtpatrick, coroner ; James F. Hanby, assessor ; John G. McDonald, surveyor.
At the regular election held October 5, 1840, the electors decided that the county should be reorganized into townships, and on the 6th of the following January the commissioners divided the county into nine townships, under the names of Butler, Farmers Creek, Perry, Tete des Morts, Davis, Bellevue, Har- rison, Van Buren and Union townships. Many changes were subsequently made, both in boundaries, subdivisions, and names. Brandon township was formed from a part of Butler township in 1843. Monmouth township was organized in 1843, reannexed to Davis township in 1844, and returned to its present form and name in 1845. South Fork township was first organized and named Apple township in 1845, and Maquoketa township was organized the same year. Fair- field township was organized in July, 1845, and the first election was held at the home of B. F. Hull. Jackson township was organized at the same time, with its first election at the home of Markspiles and Sandridge. The name of Butler township was changed to Lehrin in 1845, but was rechanged to Butler soon after. Richland township was detached from Perry and named in 1846, and at the same time Ottercreek township was formed from the north half of Farmers Creek. Washington township was formed from portions of Bellevue and Van Buren townships in 1851. In January, 1855, Iowa township was detached from Union township and its first election held at Sterling in April of that year.
The first term of the District Court of Jackson county, territory of Wisconsin, was held in Bellevue, June 18, 1838, presided over by Charles Dunn, chief justice of the Supreme Court of Wisconsin. Among the attornies were Stephen Hemp- stead, afterward governor of Iowa; James Grant, and Jas. Churchman, afterward
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HISTORY OF JACKSON COUNTY
a United States minister. The grand jurors chosen were Jas. Wood, Benjamin Hudson, Thos. Parks, Samuel S. Draper, James L. Burtis, John Stuckey, John D. Bell, Wm. Smith, J. S. Kirtpatrick, David G. Bates, Daniel Brown, James McCabe, Joseph Mallard, W. H. Vandeventer, C. W. Harris, Webster McDowell, Wm. Phillips, Obadiah Sawtell, Jas. Kimball, S. Burleson, M. Seymore, R. G. Knox and H. J. Hinkley. The petit jurors were: Chas. Swan, E. A. Wood, O. A. Crary, Alexander Reed, Sylvester Baker, John Howe, John Hayes, James Kirkpatrick, Wm. Van, John Clark, V. G. Smith, Richard Billups, Chas. Bilto, Hazen Chase, Hugh Kilgore, N. Jefferson, Thos. Davis, Wm. Trimble, Thos. Nickelson, Wm. Dyas, J. Jefferson, Thos. Sublett, and Henderson Palmer. The grand jury found one indictment, that of Wm. Sublett, charged with assault with intent to kill. He was released on a five hundred dollar bond signed by Jas. K. Moss. The first Probate Court in the county was held March 2, 1838, Jas. K. Moss, judge.
The management of county affairs was vested in a board of three commis- sioners, sometimes called the "county commissioners court," until 1851, and some of the entries in their old records show the extremes they had to resort to oc- casionally to raise a little ready money. In July, 1838, they contracted with Hef- ley & Esgate to build a toll bridge across Mill Creek near Bellevue, for five hun- dred and twenty-five dollars, subject to purchase at any time by the county at an advance of ten per cent on the cost. The owners were permitted to charge a small toll for crossing the bridge until it was finally purchased by the county.
In August, 1841, the board borrowed two hundred dollars of Enoc Sells and Wm. Markspiles, giving their personal note therefore, payable in one year, with interest at forty per cent. In 1844 a license was issued to Isaac Neagus to peddle clocks on the soil of Jackson county two months for three dollars. The same year R. H. Hudson paid twenty-five dollars for the privilege of keeping a gro- cery for one year but it is quite evident that this license was exacted because of the liquor sold in the back room, as three petitions were presented to the board a little later, praying them to fix the license on "groceries" at one hundred dollars per year, while another petition asked a regulation requiring all grocers to sell liquor at ten cents per glass, (a glass in those days was the ordinary table tumbler) or fourteen mills per swallow.
EARLY SETTLEMENTS IN JACKSON COUNTY.
It has always been conceded that one James Armstrong built the first cabin ever erected in the territory now comprised in Jackson county. The cabin stood south of Bellevue and near the foot of Baker Hill, and was built in the spring of 1833. Alexander Reed also claimed to have been the first actual settler, and it is conceded that he turned the first furrow that was turned with a plow in Jackson county. He settled south of Bellevue in 1833 and said that when he came there Keokuk's village still stood on lands that he afterwards acquired. Said, according to an old history of Jackson county, "that he saw Chief Keokuk twice. His first neighbor was a man by the name of Shipton, who afterwards shot a man by the name of Faber in a quarrel over a claim." During the first fall and winter Mr. Reed lived on his claim he killed seventy-five deer. In 1835 he was united in mar- riage with Miss Amelia G: Dyas. He lived to a good old age, honored and re- sperted. and was a prominent figure in the county many years. We also glean from the 1879 History of Jackson County that William Jonas, David Segar, Thomas Nicholson and William Dyas took up claims near that of James Armstrong in the fall of 1833. The first man to engage in business in Bellevue was J. K. Moss, who brought a general stock and opened up on lot I on new town site which had been surveyed the year previous, or in 1835. He was followed by Nich Jef- ferson, who opened a store on lot 40 of the official plat. John D. Bell came in ‘ 1835 and had the town platted and was the first postmaster, and in partnership with John D. Sublett built the first sawmill in the town which was named in his
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HISTORY OF JACKSON COUNTY
honor. Sublett built the first brick hotel in Bellevue in 1852, which was better known for the past forty years as the Bower House. The first hotel in Bellevue was built by Peter Dutell in 1836, who sold it to William W. Brown in 1838. Brown run the hotel until the first day of April, 1840, when he was shot to death by a mob while defending his life and property.
The first school was taught by Miss Laura Mallard in a log cabin on Front street in 1837. The first legally qualified officials in Jackson county, then a part of Dubuque, were appointed by Governor Dodge of Wisconsin territory and were William A. Warren for sheriff to organize the county, and John Forbes and Mathias Ringer, justices of the peace. Bellevue was the first county seat of Jackson county.
The first bridge that carried any cash expenditures in its construction was built across Mill Creek south of Bellevue, in 1838, by Hefley & Esgate. It is claimed that the first sermon preached in the county was delivered in Brown's Hotel in Bellevue by Rev. Simeon Clark, a Methodist minister. The first phy- sician was Dr. Maughs, of Bellevue; the first resident lawyer was Henry Hop- kins, of Bellevue.
The first blacksmith in the county was Henderson Palmer, who was killed in the attack on Brown's Hotel, in Bellevue, April 1, 1840.
The first gristmill in the county was said to have been built by one Kinkaid, near Bellevue, in 1836. The first gristmill that had bolts or made bolted flour was that of Joseph McCloy, on Mill Creek, south of Maquoketa. It was always con- ceded that Lute Steen, who recently died in Sabula, was the first white child born in the county, John Wesley Nims was the first white child born in Maquoketa or vicinity and Oceola Goodenow the second. The first deed recorded on the re- corder's book of Jackson county, or what was then Dubuque county, was a con- veyance of an interest in a parcel of land adjoining the town of Bellevue, from William B. Dodge, of Cook county, State of Illinois, to William Hubble, of the State of New York, the deed, a quit claim, being signed and acknowledged in the county of Cook and State of Illinois on the 23d day of November, 1836.
It has been generally understood that there was no land titles issued by the government within the boundaries of Jackson county until 1845, and the Jack- son County History of 1879 says : "The first land office for sale of lands by the government was opened in Dubuque in 1845." But we find that William Philips entered lands in section 18, Maquoketa township, in 1838. His certificate of pur- chase was No. I, dated November 1, 1838, and the price paid was one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre. These lands are within the city limits of Maquoketa. We also find that Obediah Sawtell purchased one hundred and sixty acres of land from the government November 2, 1838, in section 33, Richland township, at one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre, under certificate No. 14.
The very early settlers staked off their claims, and built their cabins, and depended upon such mutual protection as they could afford each other by banding together as a claim society to prevent speculators from taking advantage of them, and entering lands that they had settled on and improved. The follow- ing is a copy of the rules and resolutions of the claim society :
Whereas, it has become a custom in the western states as soon as the Indian title to public lands has been extinguished, by the general government, for the citizens of the United States to settle on and improve said lands, and heretofore the improvement and claim of the settler to the extent of three hundred and twenty acres has been respected by both the citizens and laws of Iowa.
Resolved, That we will protect all citizens upon the public lands in the peace- able possession of their claims, to the extent of three hundred and twenty acres, for two years after the land sales, and longer is necessary.
Resolved, That if any person or persons shall enter the claim of any settler, that he or they shall immediately deed it back to said settler and wait three years without interest.
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HISTORY OF JACKSON COUNTY
Resolved, That if he refuse to comply with the above requisition, he shall be subject to such punishment as the settlers see fit to inflict.
Resolved, That we will remove any person or persons who may enter the claim of any settler and settle upon it, peaceable if we can, forcibly if we must, even if the removal should lead to bloodshed, being compelled to do so for our own common safety, that we may not be driven by ruthless speculators from our firesides and homes.
Resolved, That a committee of five be appointed to settle all difficulties that may arise.
Resolved, That any settler who may have signed these by-laws, and refuses to render service when called upon by the proper officers and without reasonable excuse, shall be fined the sum of ten dollars to be divided among those that may have rendered the service necessary.
There were several instances where the claim society had to step in to ad- just matters between persons who had made claims to certain lands and those who had entered the same. These we will refer to in another chapter.
Jackson county was established in connection with Jones and Linn counties by act of the territorial legislature of Wisconsin in 1837 and the seat of justice for all three counties was located at Bellevue.
"In July, 1840, the territorial legislature of Iowa, in extra session held at Bur- lington, appointed three commissioners to locate or relocate the county seat of Jackson county as a majority of the commissioners might agree, having reference to the geographical center, water, timber and the welfare and convenience of the present and future population, and providing that the site selected shall be the seat of justice from and after the first day of December next: Provided, that until suitable buildings are erected at the place selected as the county seat, the District Court shall be held in the town of Bellevue."
The demand for a removal of the county seat from Bellevue was undoubtedly precipitated by the riot and mobbing of citizens on the first and second days of the April preceding this action of the legislature. Just what steps the commission appointed in 1840 took, is not of record. But on the 15th day of January, 1841, the legislature in regular session appointed another commission who were au- thorized to select a site and give it a name, and that when they had made such selection, a special election should be held to determine whether the site so se- lected or the orignal county seat should be the permanent seat of justice, at which election each voter should state the place for which he wished to vote.
April 15, 1841, the commissioners made the following report : The undersigned commissioners appointed to relocate the county seat of Jackson county, territory of Iowa, in accordance with an act to amend an act entitled an act to relocate said county seat, have selected the south-east quarter of section 22, township 85, north of range 3 east of the fifth principal meridian, and have named said county seat Andrew.
THOMAS S. DENSON, ELI GODDARD, JESSE YOUNT, Commissioners.
At an election held the last Monday in May, 1841, Andrew had two hundred and eight votes and Bellevue one hundred and eleven votes, making a majority of ninety-seven votes in favor of Andrew.
On the 5th of July, 1842, the town of Andrew was put up at auction and sold to the highest bidder. In this way it came into the possession of Ansel Briggs and John Francis, upon the following terms: The public square to be reserved, the courthouse and jail to be held by the commissioners for twenty years, accord- ing to a certain lien given by Briggs and Francis to pay two certain notes then in the hands of the commissioners, to assume certain other obligations of the commis- sioners' court, and to pay John G. McDonald for his services in surveying said town of Andrew.
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HISTORY OF JACKSON COUNTY
June 4, 1847, a substantial stone jail was contracted for to be built by Peter Mullen, whose mother it was claimed owned the only house on the road between Maquoketa and Dubuque in 1838. This jail was to be on the northeast corner of the public square in Andrew, to be thirty-one by thirty-five feet, containing two cells each ten feet square, and suitable apartments for the accommodation of the jailer. The contract price was one thousand, four hundred and fifty dollars, to be by certain county bonds, bearing six per cent interest, due in 1860 or sooner at the option of the county. The jail was completed in 1848.
THE LAST OF THE RED MEN IN JACKSON COUNTY.
There has been some controversy about the date of breaking up of the last permanent Indian village in Jackson county, but it probably occurred in 1849, although bands of remnants of the once powerful tribes of Sacs and Foxes straggled back to the big forest in the forks of the Maquoketa River until after the Civil War.
When the first white settlers came to Jackson county in 1836, there were several Indian villages in the Maquoketa Valley. When Shadrach Burleson settled in what is now the western part of South Fork township in the spring of 1837 he found unmistakable evidence of a large Indian village on his claim that had been recently abandoned. Large poles were still standing and a large kettle was still hanging over ashes where cooking had been recently done. Anson H. Wilson who, at this writing, September, 1906, is still living and who came to the Maquoketa Valley in 1839, says that a short time after he had built his cabin, an Indian came to his cabin one morning and wanted him to go with him. Mr. Wilson took his rifle and accompanied the Indian. They crossed Mill Creek above the site of the old McCloy Mill going in an easterly direction, crossed it again near where Willey's Mill was afterward built. When they gained the high ground east of the creek, the Indian led Mr. Wilson to a particular point and told him as well as he could with his limited English and sign language to stand there. He then walked off something like one hundred yards and mo- tioned Wilson to join him, which he did. The Indian then pointed to the en- trails of a deer that he explained he had shot the day before from where Mr. Wilson had stood. From there they made their way to an Indian village con- taining about two hundred people, situated on the banks of the Maquoketa, below Bridgeport. The Indians were very friendly and offered Mr. Wilson a share of the dog soup which they were about to serve, but he declined that part of their bill of fare, but accepted some jerked venison and some corn bread which the Indians had got from some of the settlers, and one of the Indians brought him some water in a ladle, and he made out a pretty good dinner. He says the Indians were pretty well provided with food, had plenty of veni- son and had large quantities of corn stored up; this they buried in the ground until they wanted to us it; dug holes and put the corn in and covered it up which made it soft and in good condition for use.
The principal burying ground of the Indians was in the sand ridge, in the Forks, now the village of Hurstville, and Mr. Wilson says when he first saw it there were many dead, but not all buried. Some were rolled in blankets or skins of animals and laid on the ground, and a pen made of saplings built around them; others were leaned up against a tree, and I have heard that all those who died of smallpox were covered up in the sand. Mr. Wilson saw one Indian in an enclosure who had been especially honored by having his gun and a whisky bottle left at his side. At one time there was a large Indian camp near the Hawkins Ford, about one mile above the present village of Hurstville. The smallpox broke out in this band and almost wiped out the entire village. It was told that when the fever was highest the patient was taken to a slough near by and ducked, with the result that the treatment either killed or cured, the former resulted the oftenest. The writer often fished in the old slough in
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HISTORY OF JACKSON COUNTY
the fiftie's and carried home many strings of bass, bullheads and sun fish. One of the most interesting relics or landmarks left by the Indians in this locality and which all traces of has now disappeared, was an Indian dancing ground, as it was called by the early settlers. The dance floor was a smooth level surface enclosed by a circle of cedars that had been planted with great pre- cision at least fifty, if not one hundred years before the first white settler ar- rived in the locality. The trees, in 1854, when the writer first saw them, were as large as telephone poles. The dance ground was from fifty to seventy-five feet in diameter and was enveloped on three sides by a slough, and on the other side a dense growth of brush concealed it from view. An old path, lead- ing from a point where the road turned to the river at the Hawkins Ford, dis- closed the only entrance to this spot, where dusky men and maids had danced to the music of the tomtom for ages. The exact location of this historic place. as near as the writer is now enabled to locate it, as it is in a corn field on land owned by Hon. A. Hurst, is in the northwest quarter of section 12 in South Fork township. The Hawkins Ford was so called for the reason that an old Mormon, by the name of Hawkins, was the first white settler there, and lived with his family in a cabin near the ford, which was on the road traveled by the people from our neighborhood when going to Andrew or Bellevue, in the days be- fore there were any bridges over the North Fork. In 1854, I think the land where the ford was, belonged to J. C. Wood, and I know that Nathaniel Woods owned and occupied the land now known as the Fitch farm, in section I, South Fork township. A Mr. Pangborn, first name I think was Elijah, a brother of Jason Pangborn, who helped to build Maquoketa, lived between Nathaniel Woods' place and the river, in same section, and Frank Hunting owned and occupied the land now known as the J. D. Scholl place in same section. The road has been changed since 1854 and there is no longer a river road, and the river bed has been changed so that there is no water where the once well known Hawkins Ford was located.
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