USA > Iowa > Jefferson County > History of Jefferson County, Iowa, a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement, Volume I > Part 2
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47
This district the Legislative Council of Michigan at a special session or- ganized as two counties and two townships. The division was made by a line running due west from the lower end of Rock Island. The northern county was named Dubuque, the township, Julien; the southern county was named Demoine, the township, Flint Hill. County courts were provided for them. · The existing law was extended over them. For judicial processes they were joined with a county already organized and bearing the name "Iowa." Owing to this association they came usually to be referred to as the Iowa District.
In 1836, the Territory of Michigan was divided. The western part was established as the Territory of Wisconsin. General Henry Dodge, an officer of the regular army, was appointed its governor. He designated Belmont as the temporary capital.
The Territorial Legislature convened in October. One of its acts was to divide Demoine County and establish the additional counties of Lee, Van Buren, Henry, Louisa, Musquitine and Cook. Henry County lay between De- moine County on the east and the Indian country on the west. Why the name "Henry" was given it has become a matter of conjecture. The most probable
11
Digitized by Google
-
12
HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY
supposition is that it was to honor, not Gov. Henry Dodge as is frequently stated, but Gen. James Dougherty Henry, who was a prominent figure in the Blackhawk war.
Owing to the poor accommodations at Belmont and the discomforts of the lawmakers, another act of this Legislature temporarily removed the seat of government to Burlington, Demoine County. The political effect of its pas- sage was unforeseen. At once it set in motion new activities which led to im- portant consequences.
When it was learned in the Iowa District that Burlington was for a time to be the capital of the Territory of Wisconsin, it aroused and stimulated the interest of the settlers in public affairs. There began a serious agitation for the establishment of a territory west of the Mississippi. The distinction and prestige it would give were quickly and fully recognized. To develop and strengthen the popular sentiment for it, public meetings were held in the several counties. Washington, Jefferson and Iowa were names suggested and consid- ered for the proposed territory. A delegate convention of citizens was called to meet at Burlington on the sixth of November, 1837, to give formal expression to their views on the subject. This was the date set for the assembling of the Legislature and was selected no doubt for the purpose of influencing the mem- bers of that body.
Both bodies met at the appointed time; and both adopted a memorial to Congress, praying for the organization of a separate territory to bear the name of Iowa.
A census taken in May, 1838, gave the Iowa District a population of 21,859 souls, indicating a rapid growth, and a necessity for a local government.
In response to the memorial, a bill to divide the Territory of Wisconsin and to establish the territorial government of Iowa was introduced in Congress. There was some opposition to the proposal. The advocates of slavery and espe- cially John C. Calhoun, senator from South Carolina, were antagonistic. The friends of the measure urged that the settlers themselves were largely from the South and would not be hostile to the Southern institution. While Calhoun ad- mitted this might be true for the moment, he was not misled as to the ultimate consequences and continued his opposition. Fortunately, George W. Jones, the territorial representative, was a man of tact and influence, and taking ad- vantage of an opportune absence of Calhoun, secured the passage of the act. On the twelfth day of June, 1838, it was approved by President Van Buren and on the fourth day of July following took effect.
The Territory of Iowa was born.
Digitized by Google
Digitized by
Beautifd
JOHNSON
DA
B
S
Canaan
Stephen
Rost
SLAUGHTERPAS
HENRY
DES MOINES
BUREN
68
.Com
United States
95
to the
GROUND
55
Buffalo
the Sidux
NEUTRAL.
henes
90
89
BUCHAM
DELAWARE
88
DU BUQUE
çağlade
Pellerde
86
JACKSON
Grandstons
85
LIN
83
00
82
CAINTO
Falls soft
Ceded by the Sac and Fox Indians to
91
by
caded
Prairiedu
15 18 .
tothe United States
2018a)
Otterz
Agiand
at Prairie du Chene July 15 1650
CLAPTON
WISCONSIN AND IOWA TERRITORIES-JUDSON MAP
.
Digitized by
CHAPTER V
THE ESTABLISHMENT OF JEFFERSON COUNTY
To the governorship of the Territory of Iowa President Van Buren appointed Robert Lucas of Ohio.
Robert Lucas was not unknown. Already an eventful life had crowned him with distinction. He was born on the first day of April, 1781, in. Shepherds- town, Virginia. He removed to Ohio in early manhood. Its settlements were still on the frontier. In the development of this state he was an active force. In the War of 1812 he took an energetic part. To encourage enlistments he became a private in a company of volunteers, although he was at the time a cap- tain in the United States Army and a brigadier general in the militia. He was a member of the Legislature many years, serving both in the House and in the Senate. Twice he was elected governor. At the first National Conven- tion of the Democratic party, held in Baltimore in May, 1832, he had the honor to be selected as both its temporary and its permanent presiding officer. This con- vention adopted the famous rule requiring a two-thirds vote for the choice of a candidate, nominated General Jackson for president for a second term and Martin Van Buren for vice president. With such training for preparation, he brought a ripe experience in public service to the duties and responsibilities of his position.
On the twenty-fifth day of July, 1838, Governor Lucas began the journey to the distant field which was to be the scene of his future labors. The fifty- eighth year of his life was opening before him, but he possessed still the intrepid spirit of the frontiersman. After a few days' delay in Cincinnati, he started on the first day of August on the steamboat Tempest on the long and tedious voyage down .the Ohio and up the Mississippi. Much of the time was spent in reading and study. On the morning of the fifteenth day of August he arrived at Burlington. A crowd of citizens came to the wharf to greet and bid him welcome.
.
The governor wasted no time in getting to work. Laws were to be enacted for local government. Officers were required to put them into effect. He issued at once a proclamation dividing the nineteen counties of the territory into eight representative districts and calling an election to choose members of the Legis- lature and a delegate to Congress.
The interval between the issuance of the call and the date of the election was but twenty-five days. There was little division into parties. Issues to give them form and substance had not arisen. Under existing conditions the time was too short for much concerted action, or for making any particular effort in that direction. There were no conventions and no nominations by organiza-
13
Digitized by Google
14
HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY
tions. Candidates were numerous because there was no selective process. They offered their names to the electors on the stump and through the newspapers where these were available. The subjects discussed related to the immediate needs of the people of the territory. Local interests as ferries, bridges, roads, milldams, boundaries of counties and the locations of county-seats, were the potent influences in determining the vote of each community.
By a census taken in May, Henry County was shown to have a population of 3,058 persons. On this enumeration it was assigned two members of the Coun- cil and three members of the House of Representatives. Although its legal boundary on the west was along the line of the Blackhawk Purchase, its juris- diction had been extended in 1838 across the adjacent Second Purchase to the Indian country. The settlers in this section desired the establishment of a new county in order to secure a government interested in their local needs. Their close neighbors in Henry County joined in this desire. On this issue Wil- liam G. Coop, a resident in the extreme western part of Henry County, appears to have made his canvass as a candidate for the House.
The announcements of two of the aspirants to the House have been preserved in the files of The Fort Madison Patriot. Henry Richey advocated the loca- tion of the county seat on the bank of Skunk River, the maintenance of the existing county boundaries and the making of all offices elective. He put his opinions tersely. "When a navigable stream runs through the center of a county as Skunk does through Henry, let common sense determine the location of the county seat. * * I am opposed to a change of the county lines, or any * curtailing of them. * * I am also in favor of the people electing all or most of their officers." James F. Rice was less positive and willing to sub- serve the wishes of the public. "I am in favor," he wrote, "of sustaining the present boundary lines of this county; on this subject, however, should any portion of the county set forth their grievance by a memorial to the Legislature, asking for an alteration of the county line, and such memorial having a greater number of signers than any opposing one, I should certainly be in favor of such alteration. This I believe would be right, and this I believe is the best way to settle the county boundaries, as the people are the best judges of their wants. I am in favor of organizing a new county west of Henry. There is territory sufficient to form a county as large as the present boundaries of Henry, without taking off the three miles from the west side of it that is spoken of. As to that I would be governed by the memorial as I have stated." When the loss was sustained it proved to be greater than was proposed or Rice anticipated: six miles were taken instead of three.
Doubtless to aid Coop's candidacy and to commit the other candidates for the Legislature to the cause of the proposed county, a grand barbecue to which they were all invited was held at Lockridge. The important attractions were the feast and the speeches. A fiddle in skillful hands added to the entertainment. A stag dance increased the enjoyment. In the hilarity of the moment it was resolved that they would vote for no man who did not take part in the dance. This was hard on Jesse D. Payne, a Methodist preacher, who aspired to the Council. Out of respect for his clerical obligations it was finally decided to relieve him from the requirement. L. B. Hughes, another aspirant for the Coun- cil, having made the excuse that he could not dance, was snubbed and ignored
Digitized by Google
15
HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY
till an opportunity offering he proposed that some one pat Juba and let him try a Virginia jig. At this he so pleased the crowd by his antics that he was called out again and again. It is stated that he received every vote cast in the precinct.
The election was held on the second Monday in September, the tenth day of the month. Coop was successful, leading all candidates for the House of Representatives. According to the official returns, he received 293 votes. Four- teen votes were returned for William Tillford, also resident in the western part of Henry County, which suggests they may have been cast as a protest against Coop and his purpose.
William Green Coop was born on the twenty-sixth day of February, 1805, in Greene County, Virginia. His parents were of migratory habits. Between and including the years 1809 and 1830, the family passed through the states of Ten- nessee, Pennsylvania and Indiana, residing for times of variable length in each, and in the last year indicated moving to Macoupin County, Illinois. In 1829, he was married to Nancy F. Harris of Lexington County, Kentucky. His first public employment was to deliver under a government contract a drove of cattle to the soldiers stationed at Green Bay, Wisconsin. It was a difficult undertak- ing, but successfully accomplished. On his return from this expedition, he was elected captain of a company of volunteers. He was soon after made colonel of a regiment called out to serve in the Blackhawk war. On the twenty-eighth day of January, 1832, Governor Reynolds commissioned him a major gen- eral in the Illinois Militia. For six consecutive terms he was elected sheriff of Macoupin County. Then the spirit of unrest and a desire to better his condi- tion seized him and brought him to the Blackhawk Purchase to make his future home. On the sixth day of June, 1836, with his wife and three children, he set- tled on a claim near the western line of Demoine County. The claim was in the part a little later set off as Henry County. These were the salient events in his life when chosen a member of the first Territorial Legislature of Iowa.
The Legislature consisted of a Council with thirteen members and a House of Representatives with twenty-six members. Of the thirty-nine men in this body but one might be termed old; the others were young or in their lusty prime. They were natives of twelve states: nine of Virginia, eight of Kentucky, two of North Carolina, one of Maryland, one of Tennessee, four of New York, four of Pennsylvania, four of Ohio, two of New Hampshire, two of Vermont, one of Connecticut, and one of Illinois. Their occupations were varied. There were twenty-three farmers, four lawyers, four merchants, two physicians, one surveyor, one miner, one gunsmith, two whose specific calling is not known, and one who, till a short time previous, was an officer in the United States Dragoons stationed at Camp Des Moines.
Three of the lawyers in after life rose to high distinction. Stephen Hemp- stead became the second governor of the State of Iowa. Serranus Clinton Hast- ings became a representative in Congress, a chief justice of Iowa and a chief justice of California. James W. Grimes became the third governor of Iowa and a United States senator from Iowa.
The Legislature convened at Burlington on the twelfth day of November. The sessions were held in "Old Zion," a Methodist church. The Council met in the basement; the representatives, on the main floor. William H. Wallace,
Digitized by Google
16
HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY
of Henry County, was speaker of the House; Jesse B. Browne of Lee County, president of the Council.
The governor in his message to the Legislature voiced his deepest con- victions. It expressed the sober judgment of his experience in public affairs. Treating of a country in the beginning of its formative stage, it necessarily dealt with a multiplicity of subjects. He placed most stress on the need of township organization as the proper basis of action, but he called attention in positive terms to the need of schools, of courts, of roads, of a criminal code, of militia, and of a permanent seat of government.
"The subject of providing by law," he wrote, "for the organization of town- ships, the election of township officers, and defining their powers and duties, I consider to be of the first importance and almost indispensable in the local organ- ization of the Government. Without proper township regulations it will be extremely difficult, if not impracticable, to establish a regular school system. In most of the states where a common school system has been established by law, the trustees of townships are important agents in executing the provisions of the laws. To them are entrusted the care and superintendence of the school lands of their respective townships, the division of townships into school dis- tricts, and various other duties relating to building schoolhouses, the organiza- tion of school districts, and the support of schools in their respective townships."
"There is no subject," he wrote again, "to which I wish to call your atten- tion more emphatically, than the subject of establishing, at the commencement of our political existence, a well digested system of common schools; and as a preparatory step towards effecting that important object, as well as the con- sideration of numerous other advantages that must flow from the measure, I urge upon your consideration the necessity of providing by law for the organi- zation of townships."
Upon another subject which was to occupy a prominent place in the labors of the lawmakers he wrote strongly. "When we take into consideration the local excitements that frequently arise in neighborhoods, on the subject of division of counties, the alteration of county lines, and the location of county seats, I am satisfied that much benefit would result to the community, were the whole of the surveyed part of the territory laid out into counties of a uniform size, and so bounded as to preclude any subsequent subdivision, or alteration of the boundaries; and the seats of justice established in each (where such seats of justice have not already been established by law) by disinterested commissioners to be appointed for the purpose."
To these opinions the governor adhered with vigorous tenacity. His earnestness in these matters was not at first fully appreciated. William L. Toole of Louisa County planned to add to his county the northern half of the adjacent townships in Des Moines County. Hawkins Taylor of Lee County proposed to make the channel of Skunk River the line to separate the counties of Lee and Des Moines. Each introduced a bill to accomplish his purpose. They joined forces and made the passage of their bills a common cause. Together they called upon the governor for the purpose of persuading him not to exercise a veto should their bills pass. Toole in his smoothest manner led the conversa- tion up to the object of their visit. The governor's stiff hair, so the incident is recorded, seemed to be stiffer than usual as he responded, "No, sir; I will not
Digitized by Google
6
9
*
2
1
MT STAALINO,
THE
-
7
1839
18
17
16
15
14
13
19
20
22
23
24
30 29 |28 :27
26
25
-
31
32 | 33
3+
35 36
JEFFERSON
ATTACHED
To
DEMOINE
COUNTY
T. 72 N
TILL DECEMBER 1836
BY
LOCUST. GROVE Ne Vinsed's
FAIRFIELD
COOP'S
LOCKRIDGE
TO
DIG
COUN'
FROM
T. YIN
DECEMBER
/056
TO
JANUARY
1839
ROUND PRAIRIE
CA
-
R. XI. W.
R. X.W.
R.IX.W.
R . VIII.W.
JEFFERSON
COUNTY
The Townships were divided into sections as shown in Township - 73 North. Range -10 West. The voting places were at the town of Lockridges at John Lee's in the Pleasant Prairie, and at Wm Vinson's in the Locust Grove:
Digitized by
9
10
11
12
PURCHASE TENE
PLEASANT PRAIRIE JOHN LEE
T. 73.N
COUNTY
SWITZERS SURVEY 1843
NEW PURCHASE 1838 JEFFERSON CO
BLACKHAWK
ADDED
BOUNDARY
ORIGINAL BOUNDARY
ATTACHED -
HENRY
BOUNDARY
THE
THE
.
Digitized by
17
HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY
sign any bill that divides townships." The Hawkins Bill was on his hook. Pointing to that, he continued, "There is a bill I will veto if it passes. Township organization and public schools are the life and protection of a free people. Of all things, public schools are the most important to the people and they can only be properly organized by townships. No, sir, I will allow no townships to be divided."
Early in the session Representative Coop introduced a bill to accomplish the purpose for which he was elected. His proposal was "That all that tract of country lying west and attached to the County of Henry, viz .: beginning at the southeast corner of section thirty-three, township number seventy-one north, range eight west, thence north on said line until said line strikes Skunk River, thence up the main channel of said river until said line strikes the line dividing townships number seventy-four and seventy-five, thence west on said line until said line strikes the line dividing ranges twelve and thirteen, thence south on said line until said line strikes Des Moines River, thence down the main channel of said river until said line strikes the township line dividing townships number seventy and seventy-one, thence east to the place of beginning, be and the same is hereby constituted a separate county to be called Jefferson."
It will be noticed that this proposal seriously and directly violated the canons set up by Governor Lucas. Despite this patent fact, as Coop was con- sidered a good fellow, he readily secured a favorable vote in both houses. But like Toole and Hawkins he had not taken proper measure of the governor's attitude. On the last day of the year the bill was returned to the House of Rep- resentatives where it had originated. "My objections to the bill in its present form," the governor's message reads, "are, Ist, that it extends into the Indian country, 2d, that it divides surveyed townships, which I think ought in, all cases to be avoided. I would therefore recommend a modification of the boundaries so as to bound it by township lines and the Indian boundary line. With these modifications the bill will meet my cordial approval."
The bill was altered to conform to these suggestions. After some strange vicissitudes, it again passed both houses and on the twenty-ninth day of January, 1839, was signed by the governor. The act went into immediate effect. For judicial purposes, however, it remained attached to the County of Henry until its officers could be appointed and elected and the county organized in the manner prescribed by law.
Vol. 1 -1
Digitized by Google
-
1
1
Digitized by
CHAPTER VI
JEFFERSON COUNTY : THE LAND
Jefferson County lies thirty-six miles west of the Mississippi River and twenty miles north of the State of Missouri. In the beginning it was bounded on the north by unorganized territory, on the east by Henry County, on the south by Van Buren County, and on the west by the Indian Country. In place of the unorganized territory on the north are now the counties of Keokuk and Washington; and in place of the Indian Country on the west is now Wapello County.
According to its recognized boundaries, the county is rectangular in shape, the shorter side extending eighteen miles from south to north, the longer side extending twenty-four miles from east to west. Its total area is 432 square miles, of which 216 square miles were part of the Blackhawk Purchase and were taken from Henry County, 166 square miles were part of the Second Pur- chase and fifty square miles were part of the New Purchase. The whole is regularly divided into twelve government townships each six miles square. In the terms of the survey, these are all of townships number seventy-one, seventy- two, and seventy-three north, ranges eight, nine, ten and eleven west of the fifth principal meridian.
The legal boundaries of the county are thus set out: "Beginning at the southeast corner of township number seventy-one north, range eight west, thence north with said line to the line dividing townships seventy-three and seventy-four, thence west with said line to the Indian boundary line, thence south with said line to the line dividing townships seventy and seventy-one, thence east with said line to the place of beginning."
This original description has not been altered by any subsequent enactment. In precise terms it makes the Indian boundary the western boundary of the county. A later event shows these terms were not noted or were misunderstood.
When the County of Wapello was established in 1843, its boundaries were thus defined: "Beginning at the northwest corner of Jefferson County, range eleven and twelve west, thence west on township line seventy-three and seventy- four to range line dividing ranges fifteen and sixteen; thence south on said line, to the northwest corner of Davis County; thence east, to the southwest corner of Jefferson County; thence north, on range line dividing ranges eleven and twelve to the place of beginning."
It is plain that this definition of Wapello County assumes that range eleven west is the western boundary of Jefferson County. To make this a correct
19
Digitized by Google
20
HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY
assumption, range eleven west and the Indian boundary must be identical. As a matter of fact they did not anywhere coincide. The Indian boundary ran, not due north and south, but somewhat east of north, meeting township num- ber seventy about one-half mile east of the southwest corner of township number seventy-one, range eleven west, and meeting township number seventy- four about one mile west of the northwest corner of township number seventy- three, range ten west. This error left a strip almost triangular, its base at the north, between the two counties and legally belonging to neither. Since it was opened for settlement, however, it has been treated as an integral part of Jefferson County, whose authority over it as yet remains unquestioned.
The physical contour of the county shows a pleasing variety of surface with- out sharp or violent contrasts. It drains well. Checaque, to employ the Indian name, or Skunk River, to use the accepted translation, enters it near the north- east corner, flows southward some nine miles, crossing and recrossing the eastern boundary before it finally passes out not to return. The Des Moines River misses its southwest corner by barely a mile. Diagonally through its center from southeast to northwest stretches a divide. North of this the waters find their way eastward into the Skunk through Walnut Creek and its branches in the north, through Burr Oak Creek in the northeast, and through Turkey Creek and Brush Creek in the east. South of the divide meanders the Wapello- noc of the Indians, or Big Cedar Creek into which empty Wolf Creek and Rock Creek in the southeast, Crow Creek in the south, and Competine Creek with its two branches in the west. Lick Creek and Black Creek in the southwest seek the Des Moines.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.