USA > Iowa > Kossuth County > History of Kossuth County, Iowa > Part 30
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that of Irvington. These three townships remaining undisturbed in form until 1869, through the memorable settlement period, caused them ever after to be referred to by the old settlers as Old Algona, Old Irvington and Old Cresco town- ships. Although the board of supervisors came into power January 1, 1861, no more townships were set off until more than eight years later. The order in which the various boards created the many civil townships, the names given them, the dates on which action was taken and the territory included in them are as follows :
Greenwood, January 4, 1869, to include the present Eagle, Grant, Swea, Har- rison, Seneca and Greenwood.
Portland, October 18, 1869, to include the present Plum Creek and all the territory north to the Minnesota line.
Darien, October 18, 1869, to include the present Lotts Creek, Union Fenton and Burt.
Darien, September 19, 1870, was blotted out.
Seneca, September 19, 1870, to include the present Eagle, Swea and Seneca. Seneca under this act failed to organize.
Greenwood, September 19, 1870, to include the present Harrison, Springfield, Ledyard, the west row of Hebron sections, and Greenwood, except the east row of sections. These east sections, however, were later added to that township.
Collar, September 19, 1870, to include the present German, Lincoln, east row of sections of Ramsey, and all of Hebron except the west row of sections. This township was extinguished to make room for others.
Wesley, June 5, 1871, to include the present Buffalo and Wesley, and that part of Prairie north of the Irvington line at that time.
Wesley, January, 1872, to also include the south halves of sections 13, 14, 15, 16, 17 and 18, 95-27.
Irvington, January, 1872, territory increased by the addition of all that part of 95-28 which then belonged to Algona township.
Irvington, June, 1872, the order last above was rescinded.
Wesley, June, 1872, made to further include the present German, Lincoln and Hebron.
Lotts Creek, January 20, 1873, to include the present township of that name, and the north mile and one-half of the present Whittemore.
Fenton, April, 1873, 97-30, as now. This was the first civil township to coin- cide with the congressional.
Ramsey, June, 1879, to include the present east third of Springfield, Ledyard and Ramsey, the west half of Lincoln and the north half and the southwest quar- ter of German.
Ramsey, January, 1882, to further include the present Hebron and the east half of Lincoln.
Farmers,' June, 1882, to include the present Burt and the north one and one- half miles of Union.
Farmers', September, 1882, blotted out.
Lu Verne, September, 1882, 94-27, same as now.
Prairie, September, 1882, 95-27, same as now.
Burt, November, 1882, 97-29, same as now.
Sherman, February, 1883. 94-28, same as now.
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Irvington, February, 1883, 95-28, and that part east of the river of the present Riverdale.
Union, February, 1883, 96-29, and all south to what was then Algona town- ship, not including any part of the town site site of Algona.
Cresco, April, 1883, to further include 94-29 east of the river and 95-29 south of the same.
Union, September, 1883, blotted out.
Union, January, 1884, 96-29, same as now.
Ramsey, January, 1884, to further include the west two-thirds of the present Springfield, Ledyard and Ramsey.
Cresco, April, 1884, to further include that portion of 95-29 east of the river, formerly included in Irvington.
Seneca, September, 1884, to include the present Eagle, Swea and Seneca.
Buffalo, September, 1884, 97-27, and to further include the southeast quarter of the present German.
Lotts Creek, April, 1885, 96-30, same as now.
Whittemore, April, 1885, 95-30, same as now.
Riverdale, June, 1885, 94-29, and that part of 95-29 south of the river.
Cresco, June, 1885, to include all of 95-29 except what had been detached for Riverdale and what is included in the incorporation of Algona.
Garfield, June, 1885, 94-30, same as now.
Swea, September, 1886, to include the present Eagle and Swea.
Irvington, June, 1887, had the following described territory from 95-29 at- tached : Beginning at the northeast corner of section 12, thence going west three- fourths of a mile, thence south half of a mile, thence west to the river, thence down to the river to the center of section 13, thence east to the east line of said section, and thence north to the beginning.
German, September, 1887, 98-27, same as now.
Plum Creek, September, 1888, 96-28, same as now.
Hebron, January, 1889, 100-27, same as now.
Harrison, June, 1890, 99 and 100-29.
Springfield, June, 1891, 100-28, as now.
Ledyard, September, 1891, 99-28, as now.
Eagle, September, 1893, 100-30, as now.
Lincoln, September, 1893, 99-27, as now.
Grant, April, 1894, 100-29, as now.
Many of these civil townships were not organized till long after the board had set them off. Some of them never were and later became parts of other town- ships. The irregular shape of some was due to the fact that the petitioners for them were willing to have territory anywhere in the county attached, so that they could control the road tax of such territory and use it for highway purposes in the region where they lived. Impassable sloughs frequently became the boundary lines. Then again townships were often enlarged to include villages where the elections could be held and where the taxes upon the property could be used for the benefit of the township at large.
The statement given heretofore that there are twenty-eight civil townships needs the additional statement that there is one more that in fact should be counted. There are really twenty-nine for Algona township exists as much today
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as it did forty years ago. There seem to be but few who are aware of this fact and those who are seldom have occasion to speak about the matter. The city of Algona was located in Algona township in 1856. By degrees the territory was taken away from around the town to make other civil townships, leaving the terri- tory of the incorporation still in that township. As a township it has no officers except the justice of the peace and the constable which are elected the same as in any other part of the county. It exists as a township without either clerk or trus- tees. Algona being in 95-29 should be included in Cresco township, and would have been if the supervisors in the long ago had realized what they were doing.
The frequent changing of the boundary lines of the civil townships caused many troublesome problems to arise for solution. Some of them, however, were amusing. That was the case when the board happened to readjust the boundary line in such a way that Addison Fisher was left living in no township whatever. He came up town declaring that as he was monarch of all he surveyed, no man on earth had a right to assess him or to make him pay taxes. He had been a resi- dent of Old Irvington township from the date of its establishment till the board reduced its size to include only 95-28, and that part east of the river which today belongs to Riverdale. Between the north end of this latter tract and the river is a narrow strip on which Mr. Fisher lived, and is the land which the board forgot to attach to some township. After a few months, however, this little strip, which is a part of 95-29, was set off as a part of Riverdale, where it still belongs. Then Mr. Fisher breathed more easily and asserted that he once more lived in the United States.
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CHAPTER XV THE COUNTY GOVERNMENT
THE COUNTY JUDGE AND HIS COURT
From the date of the organization of the county in August, 1855, until January 1, 1861, its method of government was widely different from that of the present time. This becomes evident when one considers that during that period there was neither board of supervisors nor county auditor. The sole directing power of management of the county affairs was lodged in the county judge who, by the laws of the code of 1851 under which he was operating, had extraordinary discretionary powers delegated to him. He was most emphatically the supreme official head of the county, and his position enabled him to be more of a czar than any other Iowa official. He was the head of the county court, but that court was himself. The clerk of the district court was simply clerk ex-officio for him in noting in the proper books a minute of his proceedings. The judge's county court constituted that peculiar pioneer tribunal which sprang into existence in early days to meet the necessities demanded in the settlement of new counties. It was simply in- stituted in accordance with the eternal fitness of things to pave the way for more acceptable regulations in after years, with the advance of modern civilization.
A man going into the courthouse today, exercising the power of the old-time county judge would create consternation among the officials and spectators. He could step into the clerk's office and issue his own license to get married, or one for any other party whom he knew to be eligible for such a contract. Meeting a couple bound for the parsonage to be united as husband and wife, he could push the preacher aside, if he was along, and perform the ceremony himself. He could go into the auditor's office and divide Burt township into two, one-half to be called Funk and the other Schneider, and then wipe out of existence Garfield and Hebron townships and have both compose a single township to be known as Podunk. When the commissioners for the insane came in to pass upon the sound- ness of mind of some unfortunate person, he could brush them all aside and do the work himself. If an office was vacant he could readily name the one to fill the position. He could grab all the bills presented against the county and without particularly examining them allow all or reject them as he chose. He had the three-fold official nature of being an executive, a judiciary and in some ways a law-making personage.
The county judge was the keeper of the county seal. He was required to keep his office open for the transaction of business "at all usual times." By giving four weeks' notice he could submit to the electors at any regular election, or at any
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special one called for that purpose. the question whether or not money might be borrowed to aid in the erection of public buildings; whether the county would aid in constructing any road or bridge which required a large expenditure ; whether stock should be permitted to roam at will over the county, or whether they should be prohibited from doing so. For the transaction of any business which required a notice to be given, the judge had to hold regular sessions on the first Monday of each month except April and August, and on the Tuesday following the first Monday of those two months. Besides his duty as director of the management of the county, he had full control of all probate work, the.clerk keeping a minute of his proceedings in separate books provided for that purpose.
The office of county judge was created by an act of the legislature in August, 1851, and it existed with all the powers conferred upon that important official, to which reference has been made, until the members of the first board of supervisors took their seats and the control of the county management, under the new law, on the first of January, 1861. The judge, however, retained his office and official name, but merely as judge of the probate court, until the election of the first county auditor in October. 1869, when not only the county judge, but the whole system of county courts passed out of existence, upon the circuit court being given jurisdiction of all probate proceedings.
The large discretionary powers conferred upon the old-time county judge caused serious trouble to arise in some counties of the state, especially in Potta- wattamie where that official was convicted for maladministration in the manage- ment of his office and removed. So far as the work of the judge of probate mat- ters is concerned, that early-day system was better for the people than the system of the present day, because relief could be granted at any time without waiting for the action of any superior tribunal.
Six different persons held the office of county judge of Kossuth-Asa C. Call, Lewis H. Smith, Jerome E. Stacy, D. S. McComb, Chauncey Taylor and Luther Rist. It is certainly much to the credit of these officials that they were enabled to close their respective terms of office with no charge being urged against them for abusing the power vested in them. Not one word of complaint pertaining to their official acts has been heard from that time to the present.
The "minute book," showing the proceedings of these judges in the manage- ment of the county's affairs, indicates the extent of the work they did in this line. Mr. Call's work is recorded on three pages, while that of Mr. Smith's covers one hundred and ten, and Mr. Stacy's, thirty-six. Notwithstanding this fact Mr. Call was the only one to become familiarly known and referred to there- after by the dignified title of "judge." The name clung to him fittingly and he always appeared pleased on being addressed as Judge Call. Moreover, the peo- ple themselves found pleasure in referring to him in this manner, a custom that has continued until the present time. He was chosen judge at the first elec- tion, August, 1855, and so was the clerk, Robert Cogley, who was to record the result of his transactions pertaining to the county management and the probate work. Occasionally one would hear the name "Judge Stacy" but not often. When- ever he was addressed in that way a smile would cover his face, indicating that he considered the title as applied to him to be one of flattery. Mr. Smith's three terms of service left him with the same name as that which he had in the begin- ning-plain Lewis H. Smith. He never encouraged being called "Judge Smith"
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and would have felt uncomfortable if such a term had been applied to him. Mr. Taylor remained "Father Taylor," Mr. Rist, "Deacon Rist" and D. S. McComb was simply called by his surname, as there was no other man in the community by that name. He was almost invariably referred to in that way, but occasionally one would hear the words "Reverend McComb."
In June, 1857, while Mr. Smith was county judge he concluded to get mar- ried and might have issued his own license if he had so desired. But he didn't. He did the next best thing by calling Charles Osgood to act as judge pro tem and letting him do the certifying. In April, 1860, while Mr. Stacy was occupying the position he too was impressed with the idea that it is not well for man to live alone. He looked at the requirements under the laws of the 1851 code to see what a judge had to certify to when issuing a license. They seemed to just fit his case. So he wrote out his own license, underscoring the words on the record "the parties being well known to me to be of suitable age and entirely competent to make a mar- riage contract."
The "hog law" was the first matter considered at the March, 1856, session. The judge ordered that swine and sheep should not be permitted to run at large in the county after the first of the following June, and then gave notice that the proposition would be submitted to the voters for ratification at the ensuing April election. The next order of importance that he made was respecting the division of the county into townships. At that time this county ran twelve miles further south than it does at present taking in the two north tiers of townships now belong- ing to Humboldt county. He set off the Humboldt portion into a township to be called by that name, and all that is now this county to be known as Algona town- ship. From this large civil township all the twenty-eight civil townships, now coinciding with the congressional, have been carved. Up to that time it was simply Kossuth county without reference to any township whatever.
In March, 1857, the county judge ordered Algona township to be divided so that two additional townships could come into existence, for the whole county, as it is now, was then comprising but one township. Algona was to include all the territory in the north thirty-one and one-half miles, Irvington all south of it east of the center of the river and Cresco all the territory west of Irvington. Algona and Irvington organized as directed, but Cresco failing to do so was ordered the next spring to organize the township with its north line one mile further north than the first order required. This last order was satisfactory and the settlers on that territory complied with the request, thus making that township one mile longer north and south than Irvington.
It was during Judge Call's administration that the first vote of the people was taken on the matter of encouraging a railroad company to run its line through the county, as it had been a debatable question for some time as to which would be to the better interests of the citizens a north and south road or an east and west one. At the special election, June 20, 1857, a majority of sixteen was carried in favor of an east and west road. To the judge also belongs the credit of issuing the first marriage license. This act was done on April 22, 1857, for the benefit and happiness of William Moore and Sarah Wright, of Irvington. The first parties getting married in the vicinity of Algona also received their license from this same official. They were Hurlbut Lake and Rachel Eggers, and the date July 21, 1857.
On the last day of his term and at the election which chose his successor, the
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voters expressed their views on the matter of allowing the negroes to vote by denouncing the project 51 to 40. This vote was taken at the election in August, 1857. At the same election the voters showed by their ballots that they had changed their minds about the direction in which a railroad should come to be to the best interests of the county. They now expressed their wishes in favor of a north and south road by a vote of 75 to 20. There is no official record disclosing what proposition had been submitted, as to the aid which was to be given in case a road came through in that direction. The four weeks' proclamation required to be given by the judge, in matters of importance like that, was generally recorded by the clerk, but in this instance it fails to appear. The issuance of this proclama- tion was one of the very last official acts done by the first county judge in his man- agement of the county affairs. He now steps aside for his successor to assume the duties of the office.
Lewis H. Smith was elected the second county judge in August, 1857, receiv- ing an even one hundred votes to five scattering ones for others. J. E. Stacy, who had been chosen clerk the year previous, consequently became clerical as- sistant of his court. At the March, 1858, session the judge gave notice that at the election to be held in the following April a vote was to be taken on the propo- sition to make the salary of the judge $250, the treasurer and recorder's the same, and the clerk's, $200. This proposition was defeated only by a majority of four votes. He re-established Cresco at this session, as already noted.
The required notices having been previously issued to the people, the voters at the June election that year declared in favor of a general banking law by a vote of 70 to 24, and in favor of a state bank of Iowa 101 to 2. The defeated proposition to increase official salaries had been modified and was at this election presented for ratification. The vote stood 72 to 33 in favor of making the judge's salary $200, the treasurer and recorder's the same and the clerk's $100. In accordance with the proclamation issuing from the county court at its March, 1859, session, the voters at the election, held April 25th of that year, defeated the proposition 80 to 25 for giving the judge authority to issue bonds not to exceed $12,000 at not over ten per cent and running ten years' time, for the purpose of having them negotiated and the proceeds used in the construction of a courthouse, one bridge at Algona, one between Irvington and Cresco, one on the Buffalo Fork, and "one on the slough above the Des Moines river on the road to Minnesota."
It was during the administration of this judge that J. W. Moore, who owned a part of the southeast corner of the townsite, had a portion of South street vacated, August 7, 1858, by the voice of the electors at the polls, after he had petitioned for the same and after proper notice had been given as by law required. John Hutchison, August Zahlten, Barnet Devine, James Roan, Geo. Schaad, James H. and Joseph Thompson, Michael Fox, Christian Hackman and Michael Smidt received their naturalization papers at the October 7, 1859, term of court. Some of the bills allowed are in striking contrast with those presented to the board in these later years. For instance, Chauncey Taylor received the amount of his claim-$25-for his six months' services as county superintendent, and R. C. Shaw was allowed $65 for making the assessments for the entire county for the year 1858.
J. E. Stacy, who had been reelected clerk in October, 1858, was chosen at the polls to succeed Mr. Smith as judge October 11, 1859. The vacancy in the
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CHILDREN FULLY THICTS
THE OLD "COOLER"-FIRST COUNTY JAIL
THE FIRST COURTHOUSE Built by Samuel Reed in 1866. The lumber was hauled from Boonesboro
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clerk's office, caused by Mr. Stacy's resignation upon his being elevated to the position of judge, was filled by the appointment of T. D. Stacy, who then became one of the Stacy brothers' county court. In scanning the names of those drawn on the jury in May, 1860, one who was acquainted with all has just reasons for realizing the work that has been done by that grim monster, Death, in the mean- time. Those on the grand jury were: J. E. Blackford, S. P. Martin, Luther Bullis, G. W. Blottenberger, H. C. Kellogg, John Hutchison, Frederick Schaad, W. H. Ingham, W. B. Carey, Malachi Clark, A. L. Seeley, Asa C. Call, Robert Moore, Albe Fife and John Heckart. The petit jury consisted of Levi W. Par- sons, Kinsey Carlon, James Roan, R. C. Shaw, Richard Hodges, William Moore, Samuel Reed, Addison Fisher, Luther Rist, M. J. Sample, Ben Clark, James Hen- derson, D. W. Sample, J. L. Paine and A. C. Holden. These names suggest early days in Kossuth. They represent those who were the actors on the stage of life during that period. They were a part of all that was going on, and the makers of county history in the long ago. W. H. Ingham lives in Algona and Matthew J. Sample near Humboldt. The remainder are known to have passed on before.
At the election, November 6, 1860, Franklin McCoy, on being chosen clerk, became a part of Judge Stacy's court. That made a peculiar combination because of the judge's jolly, good-nature. and of the clerk's cutting sarcasm and inclina- tion to "rub it in" to everybody who happened to get in his way. He was a good business man, however, and did satisfactory service for the county.
The new law creating the office of the supervisors took effect on January I, 1861, when the first board appeared and took their seats. This body of officials by law became the managers of the county's business, taking that power away from the county judge. But the office of judge and the county court continued to exist for some time, their duties being largely those pertaining to probate work and other matters now under the jurisdiction of the clerk of the courts or pre- siding judge.
Rev. D. S. McComb, elected October 8, 1861, was the next incumbent to fill the office of county judge and to become the head of the county court. He was a scholarly Presbyterian missionary, but a clergyman of peculiar habits. He was one of the 1856 settlers who experienced frontier privations, but was quite well adapted to preside over his court. He was succeeded by Chauncey Taylor, an- other clergyman, who was chosen to do so by the voters at the election held Octo- ber 14, 1862, James L. Paine, the clerk, being elected at the same time. This was a happy combination, both being Congregationalists and both holding about the same opinions on matters of business concerning the official work of the court. Luther Rist became the next judge as the result of the election held October 13, 1863. He too was adapted to the official duties required of him in this position. He and Clerk Paine got along well, mixing Baptist and Congregational denomina- tionalism into one harmonious whole. Deacon Rist, as he was familiarly called, was one of the substantial settlers who arrived during the memorable year of 1856. He was elected again, October 10, 1865, and held his position until his resignation in the spring of 1866. Lewis H. Smith again becomes judge to fill the vacancy in the office. The board of supervisors appointed him to do so and the electors at the polls, October 9, 1866, chose him for the position, as they did likewise in October, 1867. The first part of his term he had the assistance of Clerk Paine, but in the latter part of his administration he had the clerical help
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