USA > Iowa > Johnson County > History of Johnson County, Iowa, containing a history of the county, and its townships, cities and villages from 1836 to 1882 > Part 33
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The foregoing list contains 128 names, each of whom reckoned as the head of a family, would, in the ratio of five to each family, give a popula- tion of 640. It will be observed that the highest assessment was given to Joseph Stover, $600, upon which he paid a tax of three dollars; and the lowest assessment was given to Asby D. Packard, five dollars, upon which he paid a tax of two cents and a half. The record-two sheets of foolscap paper, musty and browned in the lapse of forty-three years, shows that the tax was closely collected, every amount being marked paid except three; eleven marked removed out of the county, and four-Benona Has- kins, Thomas Fitz, Thomas Ford and David A. Burns, were found to be over the line in Linn county. The tax was collected by John Eagan, deputy under Sheriff Trowbridge, and the aggregate amount on the list is shown by the following return:
Amount on duplicate for 1839, one hundred and thirteen dollars and fifty-five cents.
JOHN EAGAN, Deputy Collector, J. C.
This is supplemented by the following: " Duplicate of taxes for 1839. Settled satisfactory to us.
HENRY FELKNER, PHILIP CLARK, County Commissioners.
ABNER WALCOTT,
Attest: LUKE DOUGLASS, Clerk B. C. C.
Iowa City, Jan. 7, 1840.
FIRST MONEY ORDERS.
On the first organization of the county its public business and expendi- tures was managed by a board of three county commissioners; and the following is the first money order ever issued, and the first bill ever paid by Johnson county, for the services of a county officer:
No. 1 .- Treasurer of the county of Johnson pay to Samuel C. Trow- bridge, forty-three dollars out of any money in the treasury not otherwise appropriated, as remuneration for services rendered at the commissioners' court, and for summoning venires of grand and pettit jurors in and for the county of Johnson. By order of the board of county commissioners, issued this 20th day of June, 1839.
$43.00
LUKE DOUGLASS, C. B. C. C.
273
HISTORY OF JOHNSON COUNTY.
On motion of Henry Felkner, the eagle side of a ten cent piece was to be used for a county seal until further orders.
By a new law known at the time as "Mason's Code," the system of county business was changed from the board of three commissioners to a judgeship, or county court, consisting of one man elected for' the purpose. This law took effect in 1851, and the first financial transaction of Johnson county, under this system was the following:
No. 1.
OFFICE OF COUNTY JUDGE, IOWA CITY, Aug., 18, 1851. State of Iowa, Johnson county, ss:
The treasurer of Johnson county will pay to Peter Ewing, two dollars and fifty cents out of any money in the county treasury, not otherwise appropriated.
Given under my hand, with the seal of the said county of Johnson, hereunto affixed.
Seal.
F. H. LEE, County Judge.
The next change in the mode of county government for Iowa was to abolish the judgeship and adopt the system of electing one supervisor from each township. This gave Johnson county a court or parliament of twenty members to transact its public business. The first money order issued by this new body was the following:
No. 1.
STATE OF IOWA, JOHNSON COUNTY, OFFICE OF CLERK OF THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS,
Feb. 2, A. D. 1861.
The treasurer of Johnson county will pay to James Fogg or bearer, eleven and twenty-eight one-hundredths dollars, out of any money in the county treasury, not otherwise appropriated. By order of the board of supervisors. Witness my hand and seal of this office hereunto affixed.
H. E. BROWN, Clerk.
This system of county government proved too expensive and cumber- some; and in a few years the law was changed so as to have only three supervisors, the same as at first; but afterwards two more were added, making a board of five, and that is the law we are now working under.
COUNTY FINANCES .- 1841-42.
The first published report of the county finances found in the old news- paper files, was the following; which is valuable to compare with the amassed bulkiness of similar reports for 1881-82:
Statement of Receipts and Expenditures for the County of Johnson, from the Ist day of April, 1841, to the 3d day of May, 1842.
RECEIPTS.
Received from merchants and peddlers. $ 341.39
66
grocers.
611.33
fines .
253.24
ferry and auction licenses.
30.00
supervisors of roads. 80.79
collector revenue for 1841. 1,193.01
Total
$ 2,509.96
274
HISTORY OF JOHNSON COUNTY.
EXPENDITURES.
For county and territorial roads
$
393.87
For criminal prosecutions.
412.20
For constables, bailiffs, and witnesses. 39.28
For stationery, room rent, furniture, &c.
207.63
For clerks of district, and commissioners' court.
155.81
For sheriff
167.17
For expenses of elections
79.14
For wolf scalps.
103.00
For support of the poor
239.59
For pay of county commissioners
243.71
For treasurer's fees and charges
94.45
For assessing the revenue ..
130.56
For recorder for transcribing deeds, &c.
67.87
For printing
40.00
For lawyers for counsel, &c.
25.00
For coroner's inquests.
33.75
For R. P. Lowe, prosecuting attorney .
300.00
For pay of supervisors .
22.65
For outstanding orders on the 1st of April, 1841
751.31
Total
$3,506.99
JOHN PARROTT, JAMES CAVANAGH, PHILIP CLARK,
Attest: S. B. GARDNER, Clerk.
VOTE FOR A COUNTY LOAN OF $15,000.
On June 28, 1858, a vote was taken to decide:
Whether the county shall borrow the sum of fifteen thousand dollars, at a rate of interest not exceeding ten per cent per annum, to pay indebted- ness of the county, and also to aid in the erection of the new court house and jail, and also authorizing the levy of a tax within the limits prescribed by law, upon the taxable property of said county, to pay the principal and interest of said loan in ten years from the date thereof.
The following table shows the result of the vote by townships:
Township.
For the Loan.
Against the Loan.
Iowa City
601
13
Big Grove.
44
3
Cedar.
5
17
Clear Creek
17
7
Fremont
10
47
Graham
24
12
Hardin.
17
4
Jefferson
29
1
Liberty .
29
2
Monroe.
11
36
Newport.
18
10
Oxford
25
7
Penn
39
25
Pleasant Valley
1
38
Scott.
23
5
Commissioners.
275
HISTORY OF JOHNSON COUNTY.
Sharon 19
7
Union .
21
. .
Washington
18
39
Total.
951
273
Majority for loan and tax, 678.
A LOST RECORD.
Theology has its "Lost tribes of Israel," history has its "lost arts," and Johnson county has its "lost record "-or, more properly, hasn't got it- for the record of county board proceedings from Dec. 31, 1859, to Jan. 7, 1861, are entirely missing and cannot be found. And at the same time there is some crookedness in the matter of county treasurer's books. In 1861 Mr. J. W. Stow was appointed a special committee to investigate the matter. Meanwhile the state auditor made inquiry after the "miss- ing link" in the chain of statistics and revenues that serve to hold county and state governments in vital unity. On Sept. 3, 1861, Mr. Stow made a report, from which we extract such parts as show the main points of historic value:
" Your committee asked from the present treasurer the books Mr. Hughes kept during his term of office, but was informed by Mr. Sperry that no such record existed. The only books kept by Mr. Hughes were claimed by him as private property, and removed by him upon the expir- ation of his term of service. The neglect to keep a full and accurate account of the county finances in books permanently deposited in the county treasurer's office, has made the examination and adjustment required by the auditor a matter of great difficulty, and in some respects, an impossibility.
The following is what your committee gathered from the examination, and the abstract now annexed is the same in substance as that sent to the state auditor as the best that could now be furnished:
Thomas Hughes, treasurer of Johnson county, Iowa, in account with the State of Iowa on state revenue:
DEBTOR.
To cash received from Gardner (probably nothing).
" levy of 1855 state tax $ 4,408.40
66
66 1856 6,285.85
" " 1857 11,669.19
66 " 1858 S,281.73
1859 "
7,255.63
Additional assessments in 1855-56-57-58-59.
95.13
Interest received during term
" Amount received from peddlers' licences
" sale of laws.
66 of state revenues from other sources .
(Note .- There is no possible way of knowing anything respecting these last items except through Mr. Hughes, no records of such receipts being kept in the office. Your committee applied to Mr. Hughes for these items, but he stated that he could not furnish them. Your commit-
276
HISTORY OF JOHNSON COUNTY.
tee knows of no way in which the amount properly chargeable to Hughes from these sources can be known.)
CREDIT.
By unavailable taxes of 1855 $ 105.01
66 66
1856 176.62
Delinquent taxes of
1857 838.47
1858 1,939.92
66
1859. 6,663.81
Treasurer's receipts for payments made .
Auditor's mileage certificates.
Refunded for erroneous assessment.
Cash paid to successor
As before stated, the foregoing has been forwarded to the auditor of state as the best statement practicable.
A. J. Hershire [now 'editor of the State Press], was county treasurer from 1869 to 1873; and auditor from 1875 to 1879. He took pains while . in office to gather up and preserve in proper order all the loose papers and records of county business that he could find. He found such papers tucked away in pigeon-holes and on shelves without any classification or labels; also found a lot that had been thrown into the wood-box and lain there for months or years as waste paper, but which, on examination con- tained matters quite important to the public records, and that had not been copied or preserved anywhere. But he could never find any clue to that "lost record" of the county business transacted during the year 1860.
For many years the county business was done in such chance rooms as could be hired for the different officers. There were no vaults or safe storage provided for the books. The offices were occasionally moved; and there were several changes made in the laws governing county offices -such as changing from three commissioners to the one county judge sys- tem, and then changing back again; also, combining the duties of treas- urer and recorder, up to 1864, and then separating them; and combining the duties of county judge and auditor from 1851 till 1869, when the com- missioner or supervisor system was restored, and the separate office of auditor established. It is, therefore, not surprising that confusion worse confounded should have crept into some parts of this humpty-dumpty sort of management, and also of the official records pertaining to it. The loss of the county business records of 1860 was probably purely accidental, though from gross neglect or carelessness, for there was nothing in them from which anyone could gain pecuniary benefit by their destruction. But the case of the missing treasury records of course was different.
And in addition to the above cases, the entire record of county tax sales, from the beginning up to 1860-61, was feloniously purloined from the court house, and has never been recovered. One supposition is that it was taken and destroyed by irate parties whose property had been sold for taxes, and they thought thus to prevent consummation of tax title. Another supposition is that some one or more snide lawyers did it, because
277
HISTORY OF JOHNSON COUNTY.
its loss would make oceans of tax-title litigation, whereby they might profit. As to which is 'which, we can only say, in the language of the reliable colored gentleman, "you pays your money , and you takes your choice."
FINANCIAL TROUBLES IN 1861.
On June 6, 1861, the following report was made by the committee on finance:
Your committee were instructed to determine and report the amount and condition of the county indebtedness, both of a funded and floating character, and recommend such measures as they may deem expedient for its gradual liquidation.
In the discharge of this duty, they find that the outstanding warrants upon the county treasury, on the first day of June, 1861, amount to the sum of . $16,354 36 Judgment of McKee vs. County, 2,413 85
66 " W. Penn Clarke vs. County . 600 00
$19,368 21
There is besides this an unadjusted indebtedness of the county, which your committee cannot now report-a part of which indebtedness will be audited by the board at its present session.
The funded debt of the county consists of bonds issued to the M. & M. R. R. Co.,. $ 50,000 00
To the Lyons I. C. R. R.,. ยท 50,000 00
Bonds for court house buildings, 15,000 00
Making the entire liabilities of the county amount to the serious sum of.
$134,368 21
The assets of the county consist of swamp lands unsold 925 00 Amount due from the United States for swamp lands sold. 30,775 00
[NOTE .- These figures are derived from the state- ment of the county judge, submitted to the board at its last regular session.]
Delinquent county taxes to 1st inst., estimated,
10,000 00
Excess of liabilities over available assets, .
$41,700 00 $92,668 21
The railroad stock held by the county, as well as the real estate belong- ing to the county, are not included in this estimate, being evidently una- vailable for the purposes of this exhibit.
How this board is to provide for the gradual extinction of this ponder- ous indebtedness, and at the same time reduce the present high rate of taxation, is a question difficult of solution. The accruing interest of this debt, together with the heavy annual expenses of the county, are of them- selves serious demands upon the county revenue. This will be more apparent, when it is seen that the assessed value of the taxable property of the county for this year, is only $4,626,251.00, which will, if subjected to the highest rate of taxation allowable by law for county purposes, only
18
278
HISTORY OF JOHNSON COUNTY.
yield a revenue of $18,500.00 per annum. Just what proportion of this revenue will be absorbed by the ordinary expenses of the county, your committee cannot now determine, having no reliable data upon which to base an estimate, which would be approximately reliable. The following abstract derived from the books of the county judge, will serve to show something bearing upon that point, but will, we trust, be no index to the future wants of the county.
From the 15th of September, 1859, to the 1st of January, 1861, a period of 154 months, there was expended from the county treasury
For grand and petit jury fees, $ 5,639 83
witness fees, . 630 30
Attorneys' fees SOS 35
costs in criminal suits,
625 55
66 sheriff's and deputy's fees, . 1,487 35
. expense of keeping prisoners, 1,329 25
Total judicial expenses, .
10,520 63
During the same period there was paid
For support of paupers.
5,833 57
salaries of county officers
6,074 23
stationery, printing, etc.,. 2,938 15
66 court house purposes, building, repairs, etc.,
5,269 87
66 establishment of roads,
1,098 72
expenses of election, .
481 21
county assessment,
758 65
miscellaneous purposes,
2,834 05
Total expenditures, . $35,809 08
While your committee are of the opinion that it will be quite practicable to reduce the expenditures of the county very greatly below the sum above stated, they cannot hide from themselves the fact that under the most economical administration, the expenses of the county must be of necessity very heavy, nor can they perceive how these expenses are to be provided for, and any reduction of the county indebtedness effected, except by retaining the highest rate of taxation permitted by law.
Certain it is that as long as the county warrants are current only at a discount of 15 to 20 per cent., your committee do not feel at liberty to rec- ommend any reduction in the rate of taxation. Yet, while forced to this unpleasant conclusion, your committee deem it due to the public that a full explanation of the difficulties, which forbid such a reduction should be given. In view of these facts, your committee recommend the levy of four mills on the dollar for county purposes; and, in this connection, would express the belief that the continuance of this rate, coupled with the most rigid economy in the administration of our financial affairs, will tend to the creation of a sinking fund for the gradual extinction of the floating indebt- edness of the county. In the meantime, the tax ridden citizens of Johnson county must endeavor to console themselves with the reflection that while continuing to bear this heavy load of taxation, they are gradually escap- ing from a no less onerous burden of debt.
The only sources to which the committee can direct the attention of the board, as affording any hope of relief from the funded indebtedness of the
279
HISTORY OF JOHNSON COUNTY.
county, are the delinquent taxes and the swamp land fund already alluded to. The estimated value of these assets is $+1,700.00, and to these sources the committee would invite the attention of the board.
With respect to the delinquent taxes, your committee would say that, although the apparent amount of these is much greater than is herein reported, the committee for various reasons do not dare to estimate them worth more than the sum named by them. The committee deem it espe- cially important that some action should be taken for the adjustment and recovery of the swamp land fund supposed to be due from the govern- ment. That this will be a work of some difficulty, your committee do not doubt. The tedious details necessary for the proper presentation of the claim to the department at Washington, require exact knowledge and the utmost care in preparation, or vexatious delays and perhaps final loss may be the result. As your committee are aware that proposals for the recov- ery of this fund will be made to the board, they abstain from any specific recommendations.
The total delinquent taxes of the year 1860, amount to the sum of $22,- 893.82. This large delinquency is doubtless due to the monetary difficul- ties which afflict us in common with the whole west. Your committee fear that the collection of this delinquency will be a matter of great diffi- culty, and that the usual resort of tax sales will not be available for this purpose. The experience of former years also teaches us that unless extra efforts are made, much of the personal tax of the county will be lost. In view of these facts, and that also by a resolution of this board, a special deputy of the treasurer was charged with the duty of collecting the delin- quent taxes of the years 1857-8-9, and that in the discharge of this duty, such deputy will be compelled to visit every portion of the county, your committee are of the opinion that this affords a good opportunity for the collection of such delinquent personal tax, without increased expense to the county. They therefore recommend the adoption of the following resolution :
32. Resolved, That the county treasurer be and hereby is requested to cause to be prepared a list of all delinquent personal taxes of the levy of 1860, and that the special deputy provided by this board for the collection of the delinquent taxes of 1857-8-9, be charged with the duty of collecting the same under the supervision of the county treasurer. Adopted.
In addition to the levy for county purposes, your committee would recommend the levying of a general fund school tax of one mill, a railroad tax of one mill, and township school tax as requested by the various town- ships in the communications herewith submitted.
M. L. MORRIS, S. H. MCCRORY, J. W. STOW, Committee.
June 6, 1863, the committee on delinquent taxes reported :
Your committee in presenting this report would suggest that some method ought to be adopted by which the tax books may be kept in a more intelligible manner. Your committee confess that in their opinion a is not in the power of any man or number of men to make out a strictly correct list of the delinquent taxes of Johnson county.
280
HISTORY OF JOHNSON COUNTY.
REPORT OF WARRANTS OUTSTANDING AND CASH BALANCE IN TREASURY JUNE 5, 1864.
ORDINARY WARRANTS.
Outstanding. $ 601.95
Claims audited and not paid.
680.73
Balance . . 3,247.87
By cash in treasury.
$4,530.65
RELIEF FUND WARRANTS.
Outstanding
$5,000.00
Cash in treasury .
82.40
Balance outstanding
$4,717.60
BOUNTY WARRANTS OF 1862.
Cash in treasury
$2,115.52
Outstanding
2,000.00
Balance cash in treasury
$
115.52
Bounty warrants of 1864 outstanding
Free bridge warrams outstanding. $ 239.80
Warrants issued from Jan. 1, 1864, to June 1, 1864.
$5,598.31
CASH BALANCES IN THE TREASURY.
State revenue.
$1,070.70
County revenue.
4,530.65
Temporary school fund.
577.48
Railroad fund.
98.28
Township road fund.
2,291.16
Permanent school fund.
7,687.02
Poor house fund.
15.28
County road fund.
58.98
Interest on bond fund
341.02
McKee judgment.
23.10
War fund.
23.08
Federal revenue fund.
456.74
Lyons railroad fund
18.36
Free bridge fund.
S.19
Bounty fund.
2,115.52
Relief fund.
282.40
Insane hospital fund.
249.22
Dictionary fund.
44.00
Temporary school fund interest on notes
1,028.17
Judgment fund.
442.16
Contingent school fund.
182.48
Teachers' fund.
707.70
District fund
480.51
Total
$22,743.28
REPORT OF RELIEF AGENT.
To the Board of Supervisors of Johnson county, Iowa : Since your meeting of January, I have disbursed eight thousand, sixty-
$ 165.01
281
HISTORY OF JOHNSON COUNTY.
one dollars and twenty-seven cents to 243 families, in all about 1,000 per- sons, an average of $33.17 to the family, an increase of about $13 to the family.
Amount received from county treasurer $8,000.00 176.96
Amount on hand Jan. 4, 1864
Cash disbursed on orders $7,630.00
Discount on orders . 270.00
Services at 2 per cent. 161.27
Balance on hand.
115.69
Total $8,176.96 $8,176.96 I would recommend as the better policy, the issue of bonds for the pur- pose of replenishing of the fund, as the discount on the relief warrants is 4} per cent., which, with the 6 per cent. interest, amounts to 102 per cent., and money can now be had on county bonds at 8 per cent, thus saving 2} per cent. to the fund.
Respectfully submitted,
G. FESLER, Agent.
Jan. 1, 1867, the county clerk, John C. Culbertson, makes a financial statement, showing an excess of liabilities over assets amounting to $2,275.81.
June 7, 1867, a special committee consisting of A. H. Humphrey, John Dillatush and A. D. Packard, reported that they had found on the recor- der's books, mortgages, judgments, etc., which had escaped assessment, amounting in all to $90,712. And the board proceeded to assess them according to law.
FINANCIAL AND OTHER STATISTICS FOR 1881.
The following statements have been compiled from the State Auditor's last biennial report, submitted to the Governor, Nov. 15, 1881.
Statement of the balances on the books at State auditor's office due from Johnson county on account of the different funds, on the 30th day of September, 1881: Insane Hospital, county dues, $1,796.76; Orphans' Home, county dues, $325; total $2,121.76.
Statement of the amount of the several State funds in the hands of the Johnson county treasurer on the 1st day of October, 1881, as reported by said county treasurer: State revenue, $2,126.59; War and defense bond tax, $1,049.39; total $3,175.98.
Statement showing the amount of State and local taxes in Johnson county for the year 1880, as returned to the auditor of State by the county auditor, in compliance with section 844 of the Code of 1873: State tax two mills, $14,735.12; county tax, $24,698.31; Insane Hospital tax, $1,842.16; Bridge tax, $24,735.12; County school tax, $7,367.56; District school tax, $43,557.86; Road tax, $3,788.26; Special tax, $11,356.85; Judgment and bond tax, $239.90; Corporation tax, $23,746.32; total, $146,- 066.90.
Statment showing the number of cattle, horses, mules, sheep and swine assessed and the value thereof in Johnson county, for the year 1881:
282
HISTORY OF JOHNSON COUNTY.
Number of cattle 29,229; value $306,843. Number of horses 11,265 value $300,566. Number of mules 780; value $27,682. Number of sheep 9,578; value $10,315. Number of swine 50,450; value $104,603.
Statement showing the number of acres of land assessed, the average value per acre, and the aggregate valuation, after deducting the exemp- tions (on account of fruit and forest trees planted), and after equalization; also the aggregate value of town property, railroad property, and of per- sonal property, and total valuation of taxable property, and exemptions, in Johnson county for the year 1881: Number of acres of land 389,891; reported value per acre $10.91; equalized value per acre $10.91; reported value of lands $4,251,825; reported value of town lots $1,360,085 ; personal property, value $1,497,025; railroad property, value $482,814; total value $7,591,749.
Statement of the apportionment of the interest of the permanent school fund made by the Auditor of State on the fifth day of September, A. D. 1881, as provided by sections 66, 1582, 1844, 1881, 1882 and 1884, Code of 1873, on the basis of twenty cents for each youth in the county:
Number of youth, 8,441; interest due as per section 1882, code of 1873, $1,104.17; total interest to be apportioned, $1,104.17; amount of interest apportioned, $2,073.20.
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