USA > Iowa > Jackson County > History of Jackson County, Iowa; Volume I > Part 96
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Descending to the creek, we heard the waters madly rush through, and saw ice pillars of transparent beauty. A mass of rock had fallen from overhead, warning us of danger, and having an appointment at a distance of twelve miles, I hurried from the entrancing scene. Later in the season I visited the spot again, in com- pany with Mr. and Mrs. Holbrook, and my classmate, Ebenezer Alden, of Tipton. The creek was then dry, and we went several hundred feet into the cave, finding stalactites and stalagmites in profusion, and seeing subterranean marvels.
On reaching Galena and Dubuque I preached for Mr. Kent and Mr. Holbrook in their churches. Mr. Kent said to me that Mr. Peet had told him of his desire and intention to get me into Wisconsin.
In April I made a long missionary tour in the adjoining counties of Jones, Cedar and Clinton. Near the Wapsipinicon I found a good settlement of United Brethren. At Red Oak grove I was entertained by Robert Cousins, an intelligent
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and warm hearted Christian, deeply interested in Sunday schools and devoted to the use of the Psalms in public worship. At Tipton I enjoyed the hospitality of Paterson Fleming, clerk of the court, and of Addison Gillett, merchant, who had come the previous year from Hudson, New York. I was disappointed in not find- ing my classmate Alden; he had gone to Denmark, to arrange for sending Asa Turner east, to raise funds for the purchase of lands on which to establish a col- lege. After a dreary ride over the prairie to DeWitt, thirty-five miles, I found Oliver Emerson shaking with ague; at his request I went to Comanche to fullfil his appointment for a funeral sermon, the second time I performed such a service. From Comanche I crossed the Mississippi and preached at Albany, Illinois. Later in the month Julius A. Reed visited me. He had been on an exploring tour in Delaware and Buchanan counties for a site for the proposed college.
Receiving an invitation from John Lewis, my classmate in the University of the City of New York, and in Union Theological seminary, to attend his ordination at Fairplay, Wisconsin territory, I crossed the Mississippi at Bellevue the last day of April, and was two hours in getting over, the river being higher, it is said, than since 1828, and the islands and lowlands on the Illinois shore were under water. In his examination by the Mineral Point convention, Mr. Lewis stated that when a clerk in a book store in Boston he attended Lyman Beecher's church and that on several successive mornings when sweeping out the store, Dr. Beecher came there and gave him wise and helpful counsel. Mr. Kent preached the sermon, and I gave the right hand of fellowship. In obtaining his education Mr. Lewis had been aided by Christopher R. Robert, afterwards the founder of Robert College, Con- stantinople.
My Andover classmate, James J. Hill, arrived at Dubuque, June 7th, and I went to see him; hitching my horse to a small wagon, I took him through rushing creeks and over Turkey River to the field assigned to him in Clayton county. He received a warm welcome at Jacksonville, the county seat, from James Watson, whose brother Cyrus L. Watson, had preached in Dubuque in 1836, the first home missionary in Iowa; they were natives of North Carolina.
Urgent invitations coming to me to visit Mineral Point and Potosi, I did so, and the church at Potosi gave me a call, and it was said, "You must come." I referred the matter to the Home Missionary Society, and the following letter de- cided the matter :
ROOMS OF THE A. H. M. S., 150 NASSAU ST., N. Y., August 3, 1844. Rev. W. Salter,
Dear Brother: I lose no time in saying that the reasons which seem to have influence with your own mind in favor of your remaining in Iowa seem sound and weighty. The "Iowa Band" have awakened a good deal of interest in the East, and have a character that is drawing around them more and more the affec- tions and confidence of the good, and it is very desirable that this character should be sustained. There would be some misgiving in regard to the results contem- plated, if one of your number should return to this side of the Mississippi; the chain would be broken, the charm in a measure dispelled, and the brethren there in danger of being disheartened; it would be easier for one and another to yield to discouragement. You might be more useful in Wisconsin at once, but I think it would be in appearance only. You have made a good beginning, getting ac- quainted, and acquiring influence, and it would be difficult to supply your place. Wisconsin can be easier provided with ministers than Iowa. You have given yourself to that territory, and I think you had better say to all this side the river that you cannot come down or over. Your Iowa brethren would all, I know, give you this counsel, and I think the disinterested everywhere would do the same. I hope you will by all means stay in Iowa and lay the foundations. Your communi- cations have all been of deep interest to us, and you will ever have our tenderest sympathy and our fervent prayers. Yours truly,
MILTON BADGER, Secretary.
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Brother Holbrook wrote me : "I hope you will not see it to be your duty to leave Iowa. Still I want to see poor Potosi supplied, and you decide as the Lord would have you whether to go there or not. May he guide you, and make you useful wherever you may labor." Shortly afterwards I preached three Sundays at Dubuque for Brother Holbrook, he going east to solicit funds for removing an encumbrance on his church. Meanwhile I visited Clayton county to attend the organization of the church which Brother Hill had gathered. I met there the Rev. A. N. Wells, United States chaplain at Fort Crawford, a very genial and friendly gentleman, and of much historical interest. I went with him to Prairie du Chien. He was a graduate of Union College, New York ; studied divinity with Dr. Eliphalet Nott; was a man of his spirit, was the first Protestant missionary at Detroit and pastor there twelve years.
In October, I rode horseback, via Tipton and Muscatine, where Brother Robbins joined me, to Brighton, Washington county, and attended an association meeting. The church there was composed of excellent families from the West- ern Reserve, Ohio. On returning, I attended a meeting of the Iowa Anti-Slavery Society at the county seat of Washington county. Aaron Street, Jr., and other Quakers from Salem, and Mr. Vincent, a Seceder minister, were active and zeal- ous members. At Iowa City I visited the capitol, and listened to some of the pro- ceedings of the constitutional convention then in session ; I made the acquaintance of Robert Lucas, the first governor of Iowa territory, of Shepherd Leffler, president of the convention, and other members.
Through the winter of 1844-45 I kept up my work at Maquoketa and Andrew, and in the various settlements of Jackson county, holding some revival meetings aided by my brethren, E. B. Turner, Emerson and Holbrook.
I was sometimes aiding them in their fields. Brother Holbrook wrote me from Dubuque :
"An Episcopalian minister has arrived here, and will for the winter preach in our old meetinghouse half the time. Consequently I shall have some leisure Sabbaths, and could help you in a protracted meeting at Andrew, Bellevue or Charleston. (He had previously aided me at Maquoketa.) It would be neces- sary to provide a conveyance for me to and from the places as I have no horse and could not afford to hire for so long a time. Let me hear from you as I am anxious to improve the winter. The meeting at Charleston should be when the river is closed, to admit of the Savanna people crossing. We have exchanged our form of government for congregational, and expect to build a new meeting- house the next year."
At Maquoketa we organized a temperance society with one hundred mem- bers, and kept the liquor traffic out of the settlement. We were not so success- ful at Andrew, though a society was organized there with fifty members. A sub- ject of the reformation wrote me a pathetic letter :
ANDREW, February 22, 1845.
Friend Salter :
I have been a wretch for the last year, have sinned against God and man. I have made one more resolve, one which I shall never break. I am determined by the help of God never to taste liquor, that which has been almost my ruin. I feel that I have been a guilty wretch, but will sin no more; I put my trust in God, and ask him to sustain me in my determination.
I write these few lines to you to ask an interest in your prayers. I want you to call and see me when you are in town, if you have not given me up as lost altogether as I have made promises and broken them so often; but this resolve, Mr. Salter, is firm, is not to be broken. I am determined once more to be a man and not a brute. I love you and all the people of God, and wish you all to call and see your unworthy friend,
G. W. S.
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Impressed with the necessity of better advantages in the cause of education, I secured the cooperation of Mr. Goodenow, Mr. Shaw and Mr. Current, in meas- ures for the establishment of an academy at Maquoketa.
Mr. Goodenow offered five acres of his land on a commanding site; others made subscriptions of material and labor, and contemplating a visit East, I pro- posed to solicit aid from friends there. After attending a Presbyterian and Con- gregational convention at Detroit in June, 1845, I went to New York and Boston, and collected three hundred dollars. My brother, Benjamin Salter, was the largest contributor ; among others were John Mace, A. L. M. Scott, who had been my Sunday school teacher, W. M. Halstead, R. T. Haines, Calvin W. Howe, Fisher Howe, Bowen and McNamee, Wiley and Putnam, Wm. Scribner, George Lockwood, S. B. Hunt, W. A. Booth, C. R. Robert, J. A. Robertson, I. Van- Cleef, etc., of New York, and E. P. Mackintire of Boston.
The academy was incorporated by an act of the legislative assembly of the ter- ritory, January 15, 1846. The money I collected was expended in the purchase of brick, and in payments to the contractor, D. Jones of Dubuque. The building was completed in 1848, and was dedicated with an address by George F. Magoun, the pastor of the Second Presbyterian church in Galena. Mr. Shaw had pre- viously written me, April 8, 1848:
"Our academy is completed. I wish you could see it. It is a splendid build- ing. I think much better than you expected. I think it will not be long before we shall add what we contemplated. My subscription is paid and over. When I signed I did not know any way to pay. The trustees have settled with Mr. Jones, so the building is out of his hands. The dedication of the academy will be on the 4th of July next. I hope you will be here certain. Mr. Gale, founder of Galesburg, Illinois, and Mr. Blanchard, president of Knox College, will prob- ably be here.
"We shall not have the county seat here. It will be for our benefit. In my mind the evils attending a county seat are more than the benefits of a courthouse."
Jerome Allen was principal of the academy for two years. He was a graduate of Amherst College, and married a daughter of John Wesley Windsor, pastor at Maquoketa 1849-54; he became eminent for his zeal and ability in the work of education and as a teacher of teachers, both in Iowa and in the State of New York (Iowa Normal Monthly, XII, 356). The property of the academy, in- cluding Mr. Goodenow's donation of land, was eventually turned over to the pub- lic schools of Maquoketa.
In the fall of 1845 the people of Jackson county were advised of an approach- ing sale of the public lands on which they had made their claims. The United States had delayed the sale of these lands for several years as in a mineral dis- trict, where lands were subject to rents, and not for sale in fee simple. That policy was changed. There was much excitement and anxiety to secure the neces- sary funds, and to protect one another in their claims, and there were some dis- putes about claims that embittered the future ; but harmony and order generally prevailed, and, becoming secure of their titles, the people built better homes and made more permanent improvements.
I now felt somewhat encouraged in my work, and, looking forward to making a home, I built a little frame house on a gentle rise of land south of Mr. Shaw's house, and moved into it. I was there enjoying such opportunity as I had not had for retirement and study, with my books conveniently arranged and was es- pecially enjoying a new book I had purchased in New York, "The Life and Cor- respondence of Thomas Arnold," when word came of the serious and probably fatal illness of the pastor at Burlington, and that he had resigned his office, and I was requested to come there. I made the journey in February, and was de- layed in crossing the Iowa River by running ice. I found my brother, Horace Hutchinson, near the end of his days. We had come to the territory together. He was then in vigorous health, ardent in his work, his life full of promise. Now his countenance was changed, and it fell to me to close his eyes in death. Brother
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Robbins came from Muscatine, and preached at the funeral service which was held in "Old Zion" church.
After spending three weeks with the church in Burlington they invited me to become their minister. Returning to Jackson county I reviewed the situation, and, not without reluctance to leave my friends there, I accepted the invitation from Burlington, which the Missionary Society approved. I had preached three hundred and twenty-six sermons in Jackson county, one hundred of them in the sod-covered schoolhouse in Maquoketa; forty at Andrew, and one hundred and eighty-six in other parts of the county. I now preached farewell sermons at Andrew and Maquoketa, and early in April removed to Burlington, "not know- ing the things that should befall me there."
PRESTON.
BY HON. A. L. BARTHOLEMEW.
HON. J. W. ELLIS,
My Dear Sir: In response to your request for items of interest concerning the early history of the town of Preston, I would say, that it has been in my mind for a number of years and I have repeatedly suggested to those in authority, that the city should employ one who is competent and has knowledge of the facts to write a full and complete history of the town since its organization, not simply as a matter of interest to the public at this time, but, that there might be preserved a record of the town from its beginning down through the years, for not only the benefit, but for the information of future generations. Some time in the future when Preston reaches its fiftieth or one hundredth anniversary, it might then be desirable to know something of the events surrounding the location of the town and those interested in its upbuilding, but when that time comes to pass, those familiar with the incidents will have all passed away. This history should have been written and a copy placed in the cornerstone of our new city hall, but it has been neglected, and as one after one of those who have knowledge of the early history of the town are passing away, I take pleasure in responding to your re- quest.
It is perhaps best as a matter of preface, to say that in the fall of 1869, Mr. Z. DeGroat and the writer were residents of what was at that time and is now called Buckeye. At that time there was an old railroad roadbed (now the Midland branch of the Chicago & Northwestern Railway) owned by Colonel Shaw of Ana- mosa; during that fall a committee representing the people of Marion, in Linn county, were desirous of an eastern railway connection from other towns, and a company was organized under the name of the Sabula, Ackley & Dakota Railway Company, at the head of which was Colonel I. M. Preston, A. J. Twogood, H. P. Elliott, R. D. Stephens and others. The proposed road to be built was to run from Sabula, Iowa, through Marion to Ackley. The representatives of that com- pany commenced the agitation of the railroad project, calculating to condemn or purchase the old roadbed heretofore referred to, which was at that time owned by Colonel Shaw. At about this time an organization was effected in Dubuque led by General Vandever and associates, contemplating the running of a line of railroad from Dubuque through Clinton and southward; this organization was known as the Chicago, Clinton & Dubuque. So much for the situation at that time, the fall of 1869. At that time Buckeye was a very lively little ( four cor- ners) town; it was the only postoffice in the township. Those representing the Sabula, Ackley & Dakota Company had missionaries at work through this town- ship requesting local aid, which of course caused considerable excitement, and the understanding at Buckeye was that if the road were built it would leave Buckeye about three or four miles to the north, so that we of Buckeye conceived the idea getting the Dubuque company to run their road from Dubuque to Clinton through Buckeye. Mr. Z. DeGroat and the writer had an interview with some
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of the Dubuque people, and we were informed that it would be impossible to run the line through Buckeye, that they could procure an easy grade down the river and that it would be useless to think of building a line over the hilly country be- tween Buckeye and Dubuque. A meeting had been held at Buckeye previous to this interview, which was attended by Mr. Otto Schmidt, Mr. L. B. White and most of the citizens residing in and around Buckeye and upon the return of Mr. DeGroat and myself, we made report that it would be useless to further urge the Dubuque people to run their line through Buckeye. Meetings were held at Miles in the interest of the Sabula, Ackley & Dakota road and at Buckeye in the inter- est of the Dubuque line, and at that time Mr. William J. Gillett was a strong advocate of the Sabula, Ackley & Dakota line and he was present at the meeting at Buckeye in the interest of the Dubuque line, and lest his influence should be too much against us, we placed Mr. Gillett in the chair to preside over that meeting and thus handicapped him from personal contact with those present advocating the Dubuque line, but as I have mentioned before, circumstances were such, that hopes of the Dubuque line were abandoned, and Mr. Z. DeGroat and the writer concluded that it would be to our best interest to be friendly with the Marion company, thereby, placing us in closer touch, enabling us thereby to pro- cure benefits which we might otherwise not have. Mr. DeGroat and the writer upon that conclusion added our efforts with those favoring the Sabula, Ackley & Dakota line. During the winter of 1869-1870 meetings were held at Sabula and Miles' Corners (now the city of Miles) and the local aid asked for by the Sa- bula, Ackley & Dakota Company was considered; Sabula agreed to give to the Marion company twenty-five thousand dollars, provided their road would run as far south as Hauntown, the object of the Sabula people being to preserve and hold the trade of Van Buren and surrounding townships. This agreement was made between the railroad company and the Sabula people, and upon learning this, a feeling was gotten up in Van Buren township and a proposition was finally formulated and agreed upon by the leading men interested, whereby a bond in the sum of fifteen thousand dollars, which was signed by fifteen of the most re- sponsible men in the township, agreeing with the railroad company that if they would swing back into Van Buren township from Hauntown, Van Buren would raise them fifteen thousand dollars as local aid. There was an inside history to the acceptance of this bond by the railway people, which was this: During the agitation of the building of the road, the Chicago & Northwestern Railway Com- pany quietly purchased from Colonel Shaw the old roadbed which the Sabula, Ackley & Dakota Company had intended to possess, and while this was known to the Sabula, Ackley & Dakota Company, it was not generally known to the people of this township, so that when the fifteen thousand dollar bond was offered to the company, the company gladly complied for the reason that the Midland roadbed could not be procured. This fifteen thousand dollar bond was signed by the bondsmen with the understanding that an effort should be made to vote a five per cent tax on the taxable property of the township for the purpose of get- ting the road, and should that tax amount to the fifteen thousand dollars, then the tax voted was to be received by the company in lieu of payment on the bond, and the bond was to be null and void. A special election was called and the five per cent. tax was voted as promised. Other local aid was procured along the line until the Sabula, 'Ackley & Dakota Company felt that they had procured all the local aid possible. The promoters of that company then took the matter up with the Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway Company, whose southwest line ended at Sa- vanna, and the Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway Company finally agreed to advance the sum of about twelve thousand dollars a mile and operate the road when built on certain leaseholds until such time as the Sabula, Ackley & Dakota Company could repay the money.
Bids for the letting of contracts were advertised and the preliminary survey made and the line established. At that time the ground upon which Preston is now located was owned by William J. Gillett, Dr. Coleman Amos and Christopher
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Farley ; a meeting was held and the location for a depot was agreed upon and thereupon the laying out and platting of the town was commenced; the survey was made by Mr. A. C. Simpson, the then county surveyor of Jackson county who has been dead a number of years.
At that time the promoters of the railway made the home of Mr. William J. Gillett their headquarters, Mr. Gillett at that time being very enthusiastic, fur- nishing board, time and conveyances, carrying them from one place along the line to another, and consequently his home was the place in which most of the meet- ings of the promoters of the company and citizens interested were held, although the final meeting, the signing of the bond was held at Miles' Corners (now the city of Miles). During the survey and platting of the town, Mr. Z. DeGroat and the writer were in constant attendance together with Mr. William J. Gillett, Dr. Coleman Amos, Mr. L. B. White, Christopher Farley and many others who have long since passed away, and the writer cannot now recall a single person who was present at that time save and except himself and Mr. H. P. Elliott, who is still connected with the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway Company ; Mr. I. M. Gillett, who is one of our citizens, was present on all those occasions, but at that time he was a boy not more than twelve years old.
After the town was platted the question came up as to what should be its name, and it was finally decided that it should be named in honor of Colonel I. M. Preston, who was one of the leading promoters of the company. Next came the naming of the streets and all who desired were allowed to name certain streets, the writer being about the only one in the crowd assembled too modest to have a street named after him. The park was named for Mr. A. J. Twogood. The plat was placed upon record, deeded to the public by Mr. William J. Gillett, Dr. Coleman Amos and Christopher Farley, and the birth of the town of Preston followed. In the meantime contracts had been let for the building of the line, railroad shanties erected between Preston and Sabula and the building of the railway (which is now a part of one of the great transcontinental lines) was begun.
I have given this little preliminary history as showing that at that time a great deal of earnest and hard work had to be accomplished to insure the building of the road, and during which time many exciting controversies arose. Most every citizen immediately became an expert in the building of railroads and hundreds flocked to the various locations where work was being begun. I remember that it was noised around the township that "Big Jack" intended on a certain day to touch off a blast of twelve kegs of powder in the stone cut one mile east of Preston, and people gathered from all around to see that wonderful explosion, an explosion which nowadays would be called a very small affair.
Coming now to the advent and entry of the road to Preston, the last rail was laid to Main street in Preston and the engine stood on the track on Sun- day the 26th day of December, 1870.
On Monday the 27th day of December, 1870, the writer, who during that winter had a class in penmanship at Buckeye, made a hauling bee to which his former pupils responded with their teams; among that number was Howard Prusia, Lon Swaney, Adelbert Swaney, Charles Garland, Henry Garland, J. P. Latta (now member of congress from Tekamah, Nebraska) and others. The stone was procured from the hill back of what is now the residence of Adolph W. Meyer, and on that day was commenced the foundation of what is now the writer's home. The contract for the building had been previously let to William English and George Confare, who were carpenters at Sabula. The next day Mr. William Welsh commenced the putting up of piers and before the week was out the writer's present home was raised, being the first building erected on the plat of what is now our beautiful little city. The sale of lots were advertised and many sold; the next building to be erected was what is now the home of Mr. Henry Oldis; it was built by Mr. Millard DeGroat to be
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