History of Kossuth County, Iowa, Part 13

Author: Reed, Benjamin F
Publication date: 1913
Publisher: Chicago : S. J. Clarke Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 879

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The settlement on the Cresco side celebrated July 4, 1856, this being the first gathering of the kind ever held in the county. Mrs. Altwegg, then Jennie Brown, fifteen years old, says of that event: "The men cut a tall, slender oak tree and raised it for a flag pole. This pole continued to stand there on the open prairie, a little northwest of the Brown cabin, for twenty-five years, and was bent like a rainbow for twenty years or more. As there were no flags here then my mother (Mrs. Alex. Brown) made one out of my dress for red stripes, and she tore up a sheet to make the white stripes. The blue she procured in some such way. The dinner under the circumstances was good, and the visiting by neighbors still bet ter. That was the year that Fremont and Dayton were running at the head of the republican ticket."

There were but few arrivals in this part of the county, west of the river, be- tween the close of 1856 and the end of the war. Geo. W. Barnes lived with his family on the present John Goeders farm and went from there to the army. Fid- dler Bell then occupied the premises until the owner, Levi Leland, married Lewis H. Smith's hired girl and made that place the home for himself and bride. Le- land was a very entertaining lecturer, making faces being his principal stock. At the close of his lecture at the Irvington town hall when he orated on the "Conduct of the War," he asked Uncle Tom Robison how the lecture pleased him. The re- ply he received was, "By dog ! you are the first person I ever saw who could make a seven cornered mouth and flap his ears at the same time." The last years of his life were spent out at Oregon City.

Before moving on to his home farm John Devine lived on the west side of the river, but he surrendered the premises to Ben Clark when he came with his fam- ily in 1857. This home was on section 23. Geo. P. Steele soon followed and later married Mary, the daughter of Ben Clark and wife. Mr. Clark was one of the early members of the board of supervisors. On section 14, not far away, a man by the name of Abernathy built a cabin and lived there. On the same side of the river opposite John Devine's lived John Maher, brother to the former's wife. He lived a happy bachelor's life all alone in his cabin on the hill. There are still those in the county who remember how old John in getting dinner ready for the threshers found a little frog in the kettle with the potatoes he was trying to boil. As the water began to get a little warm it mounted a big murphy and began to croak. Hearing this old John looked into the kettle and amused the spectators by remarking "oo, ye booger ye! I'll have to skim yez ahf."

Rufus Sanderson's claim was a part of what is now Nich Redding's farm. Leaving it to enter the army he never again had his residence in this county, for he settled in Humboldt on his return. Geo. W. Blottenberger lived on the land on the west side which contains the "oxbow" of the river. This is the same

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HISTORY OF KOSSUTH COUNTY

tract on which the Carr family moved when Blottenberger left the county at the close of the war. Mr. Blottenberger was a hard worker and an honest man, but he made his life a miserable one during the war because of his hatred of the whole colored race and of the war that gave freedom to the slaves. Just before the war the Hiram Howard family settled on the extreme south side of the county be- low the Ben Clark settlement. Since then the various members of the family have been identified more with the growth of Humboldt than Kossuth.

L. T. Martin in the latter 50's preempted the southeast quarter of section 10, but near the close of the war the tract was conveyed to Betsy Norton. She made her home on the north half of it as long as she lived. The place just north of it was homesteaded by her son-in-law A. D. Barker. Seba Norton bought an eighty in the southeast corner of section 28, in the present Cresco, and his brother Hiram located elsewhere. In this same congressional township, 95-29, James Robertson, early in the settlement, located for his claim the grove where Leroy Bowen's farm residence stands. Later John Edwards bought the M. D. L. Parsons grove which was originally claimed in the fall of 1854 by Malachi Clark. W. D. Eaton's claim was the northeast quarter of section 34, the tract owned by J. R. Armstrong when he died. By his marriage with Nancy Kellogg in December, 1857, he be- came the son-in-law of the proprietor of the Cresco town site. Just north of the site, on section 26, J. P. Sharp had his place of abode. A little west of the Alex. Brown home in 1857 Jarvis Horton had a shanty in which he and his wife lived. He was an eccentric old man, but not half so repulsive as was old Dutch Henry Hauzerman, who, after selling his Plum Creek claim to Abe Hill, settled upon the northwest quarter of section 22. All alone he bached in a shanty so filthy that no decent person would go near it. Certainly he was the most repulsive person that any of the settlers ever knew. Later he became a county charge, his land being taken by the county for his support.

Stephen W. Millen having disposed of his claim interest to land in section 15, located on the farm now owned by Judge Quarton. This tract he sold to Elijah Eggers who lost it on a mortgage foreclosure. Just west of town Geo. A. Lowe perfected his claim to a part of what is now W. H. Ingham's farm, while nearby on section 10 was the shanty home of Charles and John Magoon. Abiather Hull gained a residence in Cresco, a couple of years before the war. His fam- ily lived in 1861 where Leroy Bowen's farm residence is situated. He was serving on the board of supervisors in the fall of 1862, when he enlisted. He lost his life while going up the Red river with General Banks in April, 1864.

While Cedar Rapids contributed numerous persons who helped to promote the growth of early Algona, and Lafayette (Albion, Iowa) did the same for the old village of Irvington and community, Cresco received a whole colony from Whitinsville, Massachusetts. From there came James L. Paine, Francis C. Rist, Luther Rist, Sylvester Rist, Alexander Brown, Sr., Alexander Brown, Jr., John Brown, Robert Brown, Barney Holland, Jason Richmond, Charles Os- good, Stephen Millen, John Hutchison, Jack Schofield. James Robertson and H. L. Wood. With several of these parties there came also their families. The first four on this list settled near Algona, on the southeast, their locations being on section 12, 95-29.

This showing of the location of settlers during or prior to the war is per-

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haps all that is necessary to indicate the extent of the settlements on the west side (lower settlement) during that important formative period.

The town sites of Algona and Irvington having been surveyed in 1856 and Ashuelot in the following year, Henry Kellogg saw no reason why he could not become the proprietor of a town over in the Cresco settlement. He had dodged into the county in 1855 to see if it was to his advantage to go in with the Web- ster City capitalists and help boom Irvington. He soon disappeared and was not heard of for a couple of years. Then he came again and selected the south half of section 26 in the present township of Cresco and proceeded to establish the town site of what he hoped would be the future village of Cresco. The plat was filed in the recorder's office September 19, 1859 by order of County Judge Lewis H. Smith. The proprietor established his home on the site and began raising garden seeds for sale and manufacturing "Kellogg's all-healing salve." This latter product sold readily, for it was really all that was claimed for it. It was in every home and was regarded as a necessity.

It is not remembered that Kellogg ever tried to sell any of his lots to settlers in the county. He had a visionary scheme by which he thought he could push his town faster ahead than the other towns. That scheme was to sell shares in the enterprise and thus secure a large number of persons to become interested in making the town grow. His certificates were lithographed and gotten out in an attractive style. The plan proved a failure and left the Kellog home the only one on the site. The well-known lone tree, standing so conspicuously in the field, started its existence as a twig in Kellogg's onion patch. It is a reminder of Kellogg's folly and of the days of wild adventures in laying out town sites.

THE IRVINGTON COUNTRY-1856-1864

The Irvington country received its full share of the settlers who came into the county looking for locations during the year 1856. The Webster City capi- talists, having disclosed their intention the fall previous to found a town by the name of Irvington, caused the country for several miles north and south of the site, on the east side of the river, to become known as the Irvington country. It must be remembered that no township by that name was in existence that year, nor was it created until the spring of 1857. But where did those who came to settle in that territory in the year 1856 locate? Let us investigate :

Barnet Devine that year settled on the premises which have ever since been his home, now in southern Riverdale. His brother John also located just south of him. The senior brother, Barnet, found a fine grove, the river running through it, and very fertile prairie adjoining. Besides this on the river bot- toms grass was making a luxuriant growth. The place presented itself as an ideal one for a stock farm and "Barney" wanted it. There was but one ob- stacle in the way of his becoming the owner, and that was that another man was holding it as his claim and demanding $500 for his interest. Barney there- upon went down into his pocket, produced the required cash and took pos- session. When Mrs. Devine began living there her nearest neighbors on the north were O. J. Smith and another bach on the old O'Rourke farm. On neither the east nor the west were there any houses in sight, and her neighbors on the south were far away.

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Joseph Raney moved into the settlement and selected his home farm (in Sherman) .but lived the first winter in the Parsons grove where Malachi Clark first took his claim in Cresco. William T. Crockett came in March and paid Lyman Craw $300 for the place now owned by R. J. Skilling. Craw had bought W. G. Clark's claim to it even before he sold his Plum Creek claim to Ingham. This Crockett farm was later the property of Isaiah Fry and then of C. R. Lewis. The latter did the first tiling there ever done in the county. William Carter made his appearance this year, and then a few months later paid Hiram Wiltfong $1,000 in gold for liis preemption-the Reinecke place. Luther Bullis came and managed to get possession of the east quarter of the present D. W. King farm. Dave wanted that himself at that time but Luther put up a bold front and a frontier bluff and secured possession. When Geo. D. Wheeler ar- rived during the summer he selected what was then considered one of the best prairie quarters in that part of the county. That was the southwest quarter of section 6, later owned by Capt. D. D. Dodge.

In the spring of 1856, James G. Green came to the Irvington community and located on an eighty for his preemption upon which he built a log cabin, where old Joe Hewitt later resided. This eighty is now a part of the Sample farm, but the cabin has long since perished with the lapse of time. D. W. Sample came about that same time, and preempted the home farm on which he lived until his death. His junior brother, Matt, who came later, after coming home from the army located near Humboldt where he still lives Kinsey Car- lon at first came into possession of the southeast quarter of section 20, the west half of which he later sold to John K. Fill and the east half to Samuel Reed. Later he became the owner of the southwest quarter of section 29 and adjoining tracts. G. C. Carlon held the title to the north fourth of section 32 and an additional forty, while Jim Carlon became possessed of the south fourth of the same section. Charles Harvey and Thomas Tillinghast also among others had claims in the vicinity. Among those who came that year to become identified with the growth of the village, which was soon to be started, and who took preemptions were O. W. Robinson, B. W. Howard, Levi Parsons, Charles Par- sons, Leicester Fox, Geo. T. Tulley, Ransom Parmenter and C. E. Orcutt. During the month of May, 1856, Albe Fife came into the Irvington settlement and located upon what was afterwards his home farm for many years on sec- tion 20. R. C. Shaw and his brother David came from near Boston with their families, and after shifting about from claim to claim settled upon sections 27 and 28. Dave was an expert basket maker and turned out a large quantity of such goods. Addison Fisher settled down by the river that year on the location where he thereafter had his home.

The two Allisons settled in May, 1857, about one mile east of the old village of Irvington. The grave of one of them was visible for many years on the eighty just east of M. L. Roney's. His death occurred in the fall of that year. John Allison's preemption was afterward the old Heath place nearby. James Mckibben came in the summer of 1857 as a mail carrier for Joe Hewitt and made his home on his claim on the southwest quarter of section 22. In the fall of that year Stephen Rogers settled on section 18-the old Belton-Wightman place. Alonzo Crockett, Louis Loupee and William Moore were arrivals in that settlement during the year. The old Nicholas Brass homestead in Sherman was

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ADDISON FISHER (1856)

BARNET DEVINE (1856)

THOMAS ROBISON (1855)

PIONEERS TO THE IRVINGTON REGION

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the claim home of Sanford Courell in 1857. He built the frame house that year, the dimension material being oak and the siding black walnut. It was one of the most substantial structures in that settlement, but being a single man he never lived in it. The building was used for a sheep shelter in later years. It was also the year 1857 in which J. R. Armstrong came to the commun- ity to spend the remainder of his days. It was several years before he became the owner of very much land. R. J. Sissen about that time preempted a quar- ter, in what is now Sherman, in section 6.

It was at the March, 1857, session of the county court that the judge defined the boundaries of Algona, Irvington and Cresco townships and ordered them so established. The south nine and one-half miles of the county, lying east of the center of the river, constituted by this order the civil township of Irvington. This township received but few settlers from that time until the close of the war.

In the fall of 1857 Samuel Reed came up from Marshall county and located his military land warrant on the southwest quarter of section 21, on the ridge. He moved his family to the county the following spring, living in the village for several months while getting the buildings ready on the farm. His cottonwood and willow grove, the very first in the county, was a conspicuous object upon the ridge in early days when viewed from the flat, in the southern part of the county. From that farm home went John Reed into the army, doing service with the 32nd Iowa Infantry.

N. A. Knouf came in 1858 and located on the Mathers place. He sold at the beginning of the war to Armstrong, then the latter to Fessenden, then the place went again to Armstrong who later sold to S. A. Holt. Holt sold back to Armstrong who in turn sold to Robert Thompson. Thompson deeded it to Jo- seph Mathers, whose son now possesses the premises. About that time Almon Needham settled on the farm now owned by Mrs. Alice Green Duryea. It had previously been the home of Alex. Davidson's family and then later of James G. Green's. B. F. Morris died while his family in 1858 were living in the Crockett log house. He was buried in the timber near the cabin. Abram Knight lived during the same year on the spot where E. S. Johnson's farm house is in Sherman. He died in 1861 and was buried in what is now R. J. Skilling's east field, near the northwest corner. There was some talk about that time of starting a public cemetery at that point, but it did not materialize.

Just before the war Riley Mason, Dr. A. B. Mason, and G. C. Mason pre- empted the whole of section 22 except one forty, while Judd Mason had the northwest quarter of 26. There parties soon left the county and their houses were hauled to other claims.

In what is now Riverdale there settled in the latter 50's a few families, among whom, in the extreme southern end, was the family of Elhenan W. Clark, who came in 1857. They were from the East, the father a skilled blacksmith and the mother a literary personage of considerable merit. Her poetic effusions fre- quently appeared in print during the 70's and later years. On the northwest quarter of section 12 in the same township, on the hill where the home of Charles H. Worster stands, there stood during this early period the Mary Cornish house. In it Rev. McComb lived with his family for some time. John S. Sixby had for his claim and preemption the farm on which the Abel Worster family VOL. 1-7

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lived in after years. Theodore Smith, who bached with his brother O. J. in the cabin on the old O'Rourke place, located his claim one mile north on section 2. Upon the ridge, towards the east, there located upon section 24, in the year 1858, Thomas Whitehead, Roderick M. Bessie and Frank Harrison. They were 1856 settlers in the village of Algona, but after they had erected a frame dwel- ling there they went down to their claims.

During the fall of 1860 there moved into this same township -94-29-John M. Patterson, wife and son Henry H. They located upon the west half of sec- tion 1-the premises still owned by the widow of the latter. The three occupied the little log cabin on the hill for many years. Prior to their coming they had roamed through various sections of California in search of gold mines, but not finding what they wanted returned to Wisconsin just prior to their coming to this county. Later Henry was with the Border Brigade and then with the 2nd Iowa cavalry in the rebellion. Father, mother and son have long since passed away.

During the year 1860 the settlement near the village of Irvington received the John K. Fill family. They located on the southeast quarter of section 20 which they purchased of Kinsey Carlon. The father was a German tailor who followed that line of work in connection with farming. He also did barbering. Up to the time of his coming the men and boys had worn their hair long and bushy in regular pioneer style. In less than one year all were wearing their hair neatly shingled with artistic design. Like magic, he transformed the appearance of the whole community. Of his three sons, John K. was with the 2nd Iowa Cavalry, Fulton was killed on the railroad and Oliver in a fit of despondency committed suicide.

During the year 1864 there located in the settlement near the old village two families whose descendants are still in the community but the parents have long since gone on before. Geo. W. Mann and wife came up from Humboldt county that year and bought the old William G. Clark place where the Mann brothers and sisters are still living. This place originally belonged to Malachi Clark and Philip Crose who sold the same to the son of the former. The John Burtis family was the other to which reference has been made. Mr. Burtis was a substantial citizen of sterling worth. His daughter, Mrs. Mary Patterson, of Riverdale, and his son, B. F. Burtis, of Lu Verne, are well known residents of the county, while his son, Gaylord, now lives at Seattle, Washington. John Sherwood and brothers and "Government" Foster also located with their families in the community about that time, but have long since ceased to be residents of the state.

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CHAPTER IX THE TWO RIVAL VILLAGES

ALGONA IN PIONEER TIMES

When for the first time the two Call brothers passed over the rolling tract of land on which the city of Algona is now located, and beheld not only the picturesque scenery which burst upon their view, but also the natural advantages which the site afforded for founding a promising city, Asa C. Call remarked to his brother: "I think, Ambrose, this is the place we are looking for."

Those who in after years became acquainted with the peculiar habits of the Judge have sufficient reason for believing that while he was contemplating the situation, as he uttered these words, he stood erect while repeatedly rub- bing in turn the back of each hand with the other. They had not only come in sight of the promised land at that time, but had entered upon it and were considering the matter of taking formal possession. It was then the tenth day of July, 1854, when the landscape in every direction presented a charming appearance. As they stood on the elevated tract in the bend of the river they beheld on every side the natural splendor of the surrounding scenes. Half encircling them were groves of majestic oaks and elms through which the wind- ing Des Moines river placidly flowed on its way to the Mississippi. The fertile prairies, covered with a carpet of native grasses making a vigorous growth, stretched away for many miles in every direction and were unoccupied by set- tlers. Here was a dry and sightly location for a future city ; here was timber, sufficient to support a large community ; here was a river necessary for water supply and possibly for propelling mills upon its banks, and here was a vicinity in which tens of thousands of preemption claims awaited the coming of man to possess them.

Yes, the site they selected was the place they had been desiring to find. It is now well known that the great ambition of the senior brother at that time was to found a town which would finally develop into one of the most populous and enterprising cities of the West. As it was his nature to con- template possibilities by looking into the future, he no doubt had a mental vision of an ideal city soon to be flourishing upon the site, at the time he de- cided upon the location on that July morning in 1854. From the very begin- ning it was his earnest desire to see the North grove finally dotted over with residences tastily constructed. This grove occupied the land north of North street to the river. As long as he lived he was interested in the way in which buildings in that part of town were erected and the yards and lawns tended.

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"I don't want to sell these lots to any one who will not be willing to tidy up about his house and yards."

He was frequently heard to make this remark when referring to the sale of lots in North grove. Many years after the town had been growing, an honest old German bought a lot on Elm street on the east side of the ravine, and be- gan operations to build a home on the same for his family. The Judge, hap- pening along by the place one day just as the foundation was finished, observed that it nearly cornered with the street. He thereupon pulled ten dollars from his pocket and gave it to the owner to rebuild the foundation in proper position.

Although Asa C. and Ambrose A. Call had determined in July to settle and begin making preparations for founding a town, they did not immediately locate upon the town site. Ambrose having taken his claim on section 14, south of the river, on the same day on which they had first passed over the site, pro- ceeded in a short time.to build a little log cabin on it near the edge of the timber. The senior brother was not present during the building of the cabin, as he had gone down to Iowa City, where he had left his wife to remain until it could be erected and provisions procured. He arrived with Mrs. Call No- vember 4, at the cabin where the three lived during the winter of 1854-5. The location of this primitive hut was twenty or thirty rods northwest of the Chubb farm residence.

Some time before the spring of 1855 had come, the Judge had nearly com- pleted his double-log cabin on the town site. The principal building was a story and a half high. The doors and windows had been purchased at Iowa City and hauled to this place, but the floors were like those in the other cabins built later-made of puncheons or split logs. The chimney was tall and the fire- place large. This first cabin on the site of course had to be built in North grove as a starter for better buildings to follow. It stood near the south edge of the grove in what is now the yard at the Danson home. The Judge and his wife moved across the river and took possession of this new cabin in April. Mrs. Call has left a record, telling a little of the experiences they had in making the move. Here are her words:

"I remember in moving over there, that just as we got in the middle of the river where the water was quite deep, old Bawley, one of our oxen, made up his mind to go no further; coaxing or whipping did no good, so Mr. Call jumped in the river in about three feet of water. I took a seat on his back and we landed safe on shore. I went on foot the rest of the way, while Mr. Call unloaded the wagon and got old Bawley out, but I never knew how. I have often wondered if he was taken out in the same way I was."

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History of Kossuth County, Iowa, Part 13

Author: Reed, Benjamin F Publication date: 1913 Publisher: Chicago : S. J. Clarke Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 879

Author: Reed, Benjamin F
Publication date: 1913
Publisher: Chicago : S. J. Clarke Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 879