USA > Iowa > Kossuth County > History of Kossuth County, Iowa > Part 31
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of A. E. Wheelock. Upon the resignation of Mr. Smith, March 8, 1869, Marcus Robbins, Jr., was appointed the last county judge. When he retired from that position the whole system of county courts was also retired by the new law creat- ing the office of auditor, which so changed the order of the work to be done in the offices of the clerk and the auditor that further use of the court was not deemed necessary.
ADMINISTRATION OF THE SUPERVISORS
By the laws in force when the members of the first board took their seats, January, 1861, there was one supervisor for each township and the tenure of his office was for two years. As there were at that time only three civil town- ships in the county there were consequently that number of supervisors. The thirteenth general assembly so changed the law, on account of the increasing number of civil townships, that the board had to consist of three members elected at large, without reference to townships, and who should hold their office for a term of three years. The election to prove who were to become the lucky three for the county was held October 11, 1870, being the date of the general election of that year. The election returns showed that thirteen different persons had received votes for the position, D. H. Hutchins having received the highest, 377. Then came Daniel Rice with 220, and next C. C. Chubb with 204. Addi- son Fisher had 116, O. F. Hale 72, Abram Hill 66, Thayer Lumbar 49, Albe Fife 23, and five others had a few votes each.
At the general election in November, 1872, in accordance with the law at that time, the proposition "Shall the board of supervisors be increased to five?" was submitted to the electors. Those voting in favor of the increase numbered 436, while those who opposed the measure numbered but 49. These five were also to be elected at large and hold their office for three years. Marcellus Taylor, Leonard Ayres, and H. F. Watson were chosen at the 1873 general election on this plan, the other two required members having been chosen previously, were still holding their positions. They were Daniel Rice and R. I. Brayton,
The election of supervisors by districts occupied the attention of the board at its June, 1900, session. The law for some time previous to that date had given the board the privilege of having its members chosen from districts established by that body if it chose so to do. At that session the following resolution was adopted: Be it resolved by the board of supervisors that Kossuth county be divided by townships into five districts, the said districts to be designated and constituted as follows :
District number one shall be composed of the townships of Cresco Garfield, Irvington, LuVerne, Riverdale, Sherman, and Whittemore;
Number two-Algona, Plum Creek and Union;
Number three-Buffalo, German, Portland, Prairie, Ramsey and Wesley ; Number four-Burt, Fenton, Greenwood, Lotts Creek, Seneca and Swea;
Number five-Eagle, Grant, Harrison, Hebron, Ledyard, Lincoln and Spring- field.
The supervisors to first represent these districts as thus designated were L. Barton, 1; J. G. Smith, 2; Ed Kunz, 3; M. Weisbrod, 4; and F. S. Jenks, 5. These were chosen at the November 1900 general election, excepting Weisbrod and Smith who had been elected the year before.
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Having thus presented the plan by which the various boards have been chosen, it now remains to give some account of the official acts of these boards. Only the most important of these acts will be considered. By referring to the list of county supervisors and noting the year in which each member was elected, one can become easily informed as to who were managing the affairs of the county in any particular year when certain transactions occurred.
The first board of supervisors was composed of Ambrose A. Call, chairman, Algona township; J. R. Armstrong, Irvington township; and Dr. M. C. Lathrop, Cresco township. They were elected November 6, 1860, and took their seats on the following January Ist. They drew cuts to see which one should hold for two years, and the Cresco member won; the other two thus had to content themselves with a one-year term each.
The board rented, at the rate of seventy-five cents per week, the Lewis H. Smith office to hold their sessions in, and to provide an office for the county clerk whose duties then required him to record the proceedings of the board. This office was the first frame business house erected in town, and one of the first two frame buildings of any kind built in Algona. It stood in the garage corner west of the courthouse square and was put up in the fall of 1856.
At the April, 1861, session the board voted to call a special election to be held on the sixth of the following May when, after due proclamation had been given, the electors could vote on the proposition of building two bridges, each of which was not to cost more than $1,000. One of them was to be constructed "at Irvington on the state road where it crosses the Des Moines river at or near Treat's mill in Irvington township," and the other "on the road leading from Algona to Spirit Lake where the road crosses the Des Moines river at or near Call's mill." The voters at the election indorsed the proposition 57 to 27. On the 18th of May the bids received were opened and the contracts awarded. Samuel Reed on a bid of $784 got the contract for building the Irvington bridge and Orange Minkler the one at Algona for the sum of $740.
At the board's July session preparations were begun to secure the swamp land interests belonging to the county. Since the chapter on "Swamp Land Controversies" deals with every feature of the trouble the supervisors had in dis- posing of these lands, their proceedings instituted from time to time relating to them need not be noticed in this chapter. Neither will the respective acts of the board in establishing the various civil townships be noted, since in the preceding chapter that subject has been treated independently as a whole.
In May. 1862, the sum of $40 per year was voted to be paid by the county for the support of Charles Easton. He was that old eccentric Englishman who had been in the community almost since the very first settlers arrived, peddling whiskey, powder, tobacco, etc. In July of that year the board first took action on encouraging enlistments by offering to pay the sum of $10 at time of muster and $5 per month for the time the volunteer was in the service. 'At the September session better inducements were offered, $25 being the amount to be given as bounty and a compensation of $10 per month while in the army serving under such terms of enlistment. As a basis for tax levy the value of property in the county was determined by the board in January, 1863, as follows: Prairie $2 per acre, timber $4, unimproved lots in Algona $5, and in Irvington $4. December 8, 1863, the board resolved to pay a bounty of $500 to those enlisting
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to the county's credit before the date of the threatened draft-January 5, 1864. Henry M. Johnson appeared, accepted the offer and was issued his warrant for that amount after it was ascertained that he had been mustered into service to such credit.
In the spring of 1864 there was a demand from several parts of the county for bridges to enable the settlers to cross the river with more ease than they could at that time. The board paving the way for this object, ordered a special election to be held April 5, 1864, for the purpose of learning the sentiment of the people in regard to that matter. The proposition was for building a bridge in Irvington township, near Barnet Devine's. The vote stood 41 to 9 in favor of its construction. Samuel Reed's bid of $1,290 made him the contractor. This was known as the Devine bridge.
August 29, 1864, $1,000 bonds, bearing ten per cent and payable in ten years, were offered to enlisting volunteers, and on the fifth of the next month county warrants for that amount were authorized to be issued instead for that purpose, if so desired by those enlisting. At that session it was voted that a tax of three mills on the dollar be levied for the purpose of raising the soldiers' monthly bounty. A few timber wolves, during the war period, annoyed the settlers by their howling presence, especially those who had flocks of sheep. So on Janu- ary 3, 1865, the board voted to give a bounty of $5 for the skin of each timber or buffalo wolf presented. Up to this time the county had no safe in which to keep its funds, the money being kept in boxes, books, pockets or in any other place where it seemed the most convenient. The board realizing the need of a safe, authorized Treasurer J. E. Stacy at this session to procure one. Comply- ing with that order he purchased what was desired for $400. Where that old relic went in later years is one of the questions no one seems able to answer.
During this January, 1865, session, the board took its last action relating to bounties for enlisting soldiers. Each of the three supervisors was to become a special agent for his own township in finding those who were willing to enlist on any terms not to exceed $1,000 per man. Four were needed for Algona township, four for Irvington and one for Cresco.
The board had been considering for some time the feasibility of erecting a courthouse, for all the county officers had been compelled since the organization of the county to have their respective offices in small rented rooms or in their homes. In the spring of 1866 a plan of building was agreed upon and advertise- ment for bids to erect the same was duly made. On March 26th, the contract was let to Samuel Reed. On account of the bad condition of the bottom west of the river, the location of the Irvington bridge, constructed in the fall of 1861, was by no means a desirable one. The board realizing this fact took steps to have the bridge removed to another spot further down the stream. The con- tract was again let to Samuel Reed, this time for $775. The new location was on the site where the present bridge stands. The boss carpenter on the job was "Old Fred Damann," the Dutch army bridge constructor.
During and following the grasshopper scourge for several years, the various boards of supervisors were puzzled as to how property owners could be induced to pay their taxes. Among the large number who were far in arrears were many who were regarded as wealthy landowners, but who, under the conditions, could not realize on their property sufficient to support their families and at the
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same time keep up their taxes. As an inducement to clear the books from a showing of these arrearages, the board, January 7, 1877, voted to abate the interest and costs on all taxes delinquent for the years from 1858 to 1865, and also those delinquent for more than five years, provided the taxes were paid by the first of the following January.
Marcus Robbins, Jr., was appointed county attorney September 2, 1877. He was the first lawyer to transact business with that title. He located in Algona just after the close of the war and became a successful practitioner. His death occurred a couple of years ago at Grant's Pass, Oregon.
The board's assessment value of land in January, 1869, was from $4 to $20 for timber and $1.80 for prairie. This indicates how much more the timber tracts in those days were valued than those of prairie. The low prices of the college lands did much to make one believe they were of no great worth.
The interest and costs on all taxes on land, except state and federal, were ordered to be abated June 7, 1869, where the taxes had been delinquent ten years. Under this provision the county lost a large amount of funds that rightfully belonged to it to defray its running expenses. The system of thorough exam- ination, by a checking committee, of the courthouse officers' records had its inception at the January, 1870, meeting of the board, when W. H. Ingham, J. B. Jones and L. K. Garfield were chosen a committee to investigate the transactions of the various treasurers since the organization of the county. In July of that year, J. E. Blackford was authorized to contract for the erection of the first county jail at a cost of not to exceed $308. That old 2x6 "cooler" served its purpose quite well for several years.
The legislature, having previously established Crocker county by taking away from Kossuth the north three tiers of townships, made the boomers for the new county very anxious early in its short career, to get it organized and ready for business. They wanted roads located and money to defray the expense, so they petitioned the board to designate the "White" school house in subdistrict eight, in Greenwood township, in Crocker county, as the place for holding the polls at the election in 1870. This request being granted in September of that year, all was quiet on the subject for some time.
In accordance with a proposition which had been submitted to the people, the electors at the polls in October, 1870, voted by 120 majority to have stock restrained from running at large. At that election the prohibition question was submitted and resulted in showing that there was a temperance sentiment among the voters on the scale of 374 to 46. One month later H. B. Smith was awarded the contract for building two bridges on the grade west of Algona. In January, 1871. residents of Crocker county asked the board for help in establishing new roads in that section, but the board sarcastically referred them to the board of that county. Three months later they asked that the treasurer be restrained from collecting taxes from their territory. This request was refused, but the board stated that an adjustment of finances would be made as soon as they became aware that such a county as Crocker existed.
In June, 1871, it appearing to the board that there was a sentiment in favor of repealing the provisions of the act restraining stock from running at large, they resolved to submit the proposition to the voters at the next election. They did so but the proposition was defeated by a vote of 475 to 83. The freedom of
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the wide range which the early settlers enjoyed was hard for some to give up in after years. Restraining stock from running at large became a necessity when the prairies began filling up with people, and establishing farms was evidenced in every section of the county.
At the June, 1872, session the board began paving the way for the erection of two bridges across the river at Algona, by voting to build one at the watermill and the other at Call's ford on the south. This action was hailed with delight by the many who were compelled to cross the river from time to time while engaged in their business. During the spring months the water often over- leaped the banks and remained upon the bottoms so as to make the crossing sometimes impossible, and often extremely dangerous. "Shall stock be re- strained from running at large?" This question was submitted to the voters again at the general election October 13, 1874, and on receiving such a large affirmative vote-431 to 36-the matter was settled, never again perhaps to be voted for or against at any election.
Those hard maples and elms which beautify the courthouse lawn are there as the result of the board's action in April, 1876. D. H. Hutchins, W. H. Ingham and M. W. Stough were appointed to supervise the work of setting out trees.
Until this time the bridges had been built of wood and were giving the board no little trouble to keep them in repair. At the June, 1876, session bids according to previous arrangement were received and considered for the erection of one iron bridge across the Buffalo Fork, and another across the river on section 26, in Greenwood township, near Bancroft. Z. King of Cleveland, Ohio, was awarded the contract for building both. The board became unusually patriotic and sentimental at its November, 1884, session, by voting to appropriate $180 to help defray the expense of the state exhibit at the World's Fair at New Orleans. The state having been asked to forward funds to the amount of $30,000 for that purpose, the board thought that this county's share would be about the sum it voted to contribute. Their enthusiasm, however, over the project lowered by the time the session was held on the first of January of the following year, for it was then that their action in making the donation was rescinded.
Surveyor O. F. Hale's proposition to the board to preserve the government corners of the land in the county was considered at the September, 1886, ses- sion. This resolution pertaining to the same was adopted: "Whereas, a large number of government corners of the county are already in our public highways with prospects that all, or nearly all, will be in the near future, and whereas it is deemed of great interest to the landed owners of the county to have said corners preserved, and also to the permanency of road lines and the security of road improvement, and whereas the county surveyor, O. F. Hale, has offered to do the work for a sum not exceeding $2,250, therefore be it resolved that the question be submitted to the voters at the next general election in 1886." Al- though the electors on the second day of November defeated the measure 945 to 393, many have felt since that time that on the whole it would have been a blessing if the people had decided to let Mr. Hale do the work ; because corners which could have been located then have long since been obliterated. Many law suits have taken place concerning the corners, which would not have been
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necessary if they had been established in the year 1886 in accordance with Sur- veyor Hale's proposition.
The first session of the board in 1887 resulted in one fortunate appointment. It was then that Matt Holzbauer was employed as courthouse janitor, a position which he has continued to enjoy since that time. Although having but one hand, he has done mechanical stunts in repairing tools and other county property to the surprise of all. No mother has taken better care of her baby than has he of the court yard lawn. The dog caught carrying a bone upon it during the summer months gets a Dutch blessing immediately. He manages the lawn mower with his one hand, and an iron hook on the other, with such skill that it never fails to attract the attention of admiring spectators. The board could not have made a better selection if it had searched the state over with that object in view.
The Sexton voting precinct was established by the board at its April, 1897, session to embrace sections 1, 2, 11, 12, 13, 14, and the east half of section 10 of Irvington township.
The Blackford bridge west of Algona, by order of the board in September, 1903, was taken down, moved and rebuilt across the river east of Burt at a point known as Moll's crossing. Barton and Smith were appointed to make a contract for its removal and Ed Kunz was named as the one who was to super- intend its erection. Provisions were made later for the building of a new steel bridge in place of the one taken down.
The Lone Rock precinct was established at the June, 1904, session to include the village of that name and the east two and one-half miles of Fenton township.
THE OLD COURTHOUSE AND THE PRESENT EDIFICE
It was eleven years after the county was organized before the officials had anything but temporary quarters. The supervisors met in the Smith building where the county judge and clerk had been having their office, and the treasurer and recorder were housed in the log adjunct to the St. Nicholas hotel which stood on the present city hall corner. The records were scattered and kept wherever the officials happened to have their headquarters. Fearing that fire might con- sume these records, the board finally took action on the matter of building a court- house.
The first building to be erected for a courthouse still stands, but not on the spot where it stood when the officers occupied it for their respective places of official business. Early in the spring of 1866 the board began making prepara- tions for a building which would answer the purpose for that period of the coun- ty's history. Plans having been made and bids received for its erection, the low- est bidder for the work was found to be Samuel Reed, whose offer was about $800. The lumber was hauled from Boonesboro, Valentine Zoelle, late of Lu- Verne, being one of Reed's teamsters. Simon Helpman, who had returned from the army, was hired as boss carpenter on the work. E. N. Weaver, father of Algona's present postmaster, was also one of the workmen. The plastering was done by J. H. Warren, who later became the editor and proprietor of the Upper Des Moines and also postmaster.
While the work was progressing there was a daily attendance of gratified spectators. It is well remembered how pleased Judge Call seemed while view-
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ing the growing structure. The words "Court House" were those not applied to any building in Algona before. The town seemed to be taking on new life at that time and entering upon an era of prosperity. By the first of January, 1867, the officers had been installed in their new places of official abode. J. E. Stacy was the treasurer; J. L. Paine, the clerk; H. M. Taft, the recorder, and Lewis H. Smith the probate judge. The officers who did not have rooms pro- vided for them were, Samuel Reed, sheriff, who was the contractor and who had no fixed place for his official business other than at his home farm near Irvington ; Chauncey Taylor, superintendent, whose office was at his own home; Kinsey Carlon, drainage commissioner, whose residence on his Irvington farm was his office; Asa C. Call, coroner, whose office was wherever he happened to be; and O. F. Hale, surveyor, who had to be called from the southern end of what is now Riverdale township whenever he was wanted to do any work in his line
The members of the board of supervisors who had the honor of transacting business first in the courthouse were D. W. King, Algona; Addison Fisher, Irvington; and Ben Clark, Cresco. Of these only the former is still living. They were representative men of their respective townships, having the implicit confidence of all the citizens. We have no better material today for holding that office than those who held the first sessions in the old courthouse.
The court hall was large enough for all that was required of it in those days. In it lawyers of ability frequently made the walls echo with forensic eloquence. The trials were conducted with more speed than has been the custom for a long term of years. All attorneys, whether local or foreign, seemed to take pride in clearing the docket each term, and to frown upon the later-day custom of having cases continued.
This old courthouse stood where the sheriff's residence stands and faced towards the east. There was no building south of it used for an office or place of business except the Lewis H. Smith office. When the new courthouse was built the old temple of justice was sold to August Zahlten, who moved it to its present site, west of where it had stood. After its removal, the court chamber was used for several years as a place for holding meetings of the grange and kindred societies. The same hall, soon after the building was erected, was used for holding Sunday Schools. Dr. S. G. A. Read conducted such schools for the Methodists there in the long ago.
The historical beginning of the present courthouse dates from the June, 1871, session of the board. when a resolution passed to submit to the voters at the next general election for ratification the proposition to issue bonds of the county to the amount of $25,000 upon which money could be borrowed for the purpose of erecting a new courthouse; and further to levy a five mill tax on all taxable property of the county for the year 1872 for that purpose. The election that year was held on the tenth day of October when the measure carried by only a very small majority, 305 ballots having been cast in favor of the proposition and 237 against the same. The board felt gratified even though but 68 more voters had declared themselves in favor of the bonds than those who were opposed. There was considerable anxiety during that campaign manifested by the voters in all parts of the county. The canvass proved a peculiar con- dition existing on account of the attitude of the people. First, there were those
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opposed to spending money to build a courthouse, no matter where it was to be located; and second, there was a strong opposition by those who feared the building, if erected, would be located just where it stands, and so prove a detri- ment to the growth of the Milwaukee depot village, which was endeavoring to outrival the old town. On the other hand the measure was actively supported by all those who believed the county ought to have such a building for the good of the public, but who cared but little what part of Algona secured its location. It was especially supported by those who realized that the public square would be the place where the building would be erected in case the bond proposition carried, and that it would prove a heavy anchor in holding the old town from slipping eastward.
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