History of Kossuth County, Iowa, Part 85

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

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Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

The Titonka incorporation election was held December 29. 1899, R. Lane, Alfred Wallen and W. T. Hall being the judges, and Al Falkenhainer and Geo. E. Patterson the clerks. Fifty votes were cast for the measure and only two against. The first election of officers was held January 18, 1900, at which time H. G. Gardner was chosen mayor ; Al Falkenhainer, clerk ; J. E. Lillie, treasurer ; A. F. Frebel, W. T. Hall. A. R. Specht, L. W. Gingery and J. D. Breen, councilmen.

Since the retirement of H. G. Gardner, at the close of his second term, W. T. Hall has served as mayor four years, Lee O. Wolfe four, and the present incum- bent, H. C. Armstrong, two. At present E. A. Hansen is the clerk ; Jay Budlong, treasurer ; E. G. Bruns, B. F. Kleist, J. J. Budlong, Lee O. Wolfe and Dr. R. M. Wallace, councilmen.

The M. E. church was organized and incorporated April 3, 1902, W. T. Hall, H. G. Gardner, A. Schram, J. E. Russell, Heifner and Stone, being the first trus- tees. The pastors have been Rev. Allen Wood, Rev. C. B. Mitchell, Rev. B. S. Green, and the present minister. Arthur Hopkinson, who came in October, 1912.

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The present trustees are Geo. Cogswell, A. Schram and wife, Geo. Hansen, W. F. Reynolds, Jay Budlong and Mrs. J. J. Budlong. Jay Budlong is the Sunday-school superintendent ; Mrs. T. P. Reibsamen the president of the Ladies' Aid, and Edith Budlong of the Epworth League. The church edifice was turned over to the Meth- odists during Rev. Wood's administration by the trustees of the Union Presbyte- rian church, which had been organized in June, 1899, by the election of John Wel- hausen, P. E. Johnston and Jacob Ingelheart, trustees.

The Evangelical Lutheran church belongs to the Ohio synod and was organized June 4, 1900, Albert Rockow, Theo. Rike and William Callies being the first trus- tees. Good Hope is the name of the congregation. The first pastor was Rev. H. G. Koenig. Rev. E. Lack, came in 1902, and the present pastor, Rev. P. Mueller, in December, 1908. Albert Rockow, George Koestler and Bruno Stecker are the trus- tees and Fred Stecker the secretary. The edifice was erected in 1900. The school is held in one room of the parsonage seven months in the year, instruction in Ger- man being given by the pastor.

The Catholics have a new edifice where occasional services are conducted by Father Schimmel, of Bancroft.

The I. O. O. F. Lodge, No. 649, was organized June 27, 1899, and is now offi- cered as follows : E. A. Hansen, N. G .; A. C. Nelson, V. G .; J. F. Fisher, secretary ; and E. G. Bruns, treasurer.

The Uriel Rebekah Lodge, No. 546, was organized December 19, 1902, Sarah Shaw being the first N. G .; Jeanette Benton the V. G .; Frances Budlong, secretary ; and Anna Hall, treasurer. The lodge having become depleted in numbers, the last meeting was held June 24, 1911, but an effort is being made to recruit the ranks.

Woodmen Lodge, No. 6245. has been in existence since May 25, 1899, and is in a flourishing condition. The following are the names of the first officers: G. E. Schmidt, clerk ; W. F. Woodcock, A .; G. L. Dalton, B .; H. G. Gardner, Con. The present head officers are Geo. Lamoreux, Con .; Geo. Nelson, B .; L. O. Wolfe, clerk ; and Geo. Hansen, A.

The Titonka Topic was established by Miss Ella Graham, who published the first issue January 19, 1899. Her paper was filled with interesting news and was a credit to both herself and the town. During the month of October of that year she sold the plant to Lee O. Wolfe, who has continued to be the sole proprietor. He owns the brick building which contains the printing equipment, and has re- cently installed one of the largest job presses in the county. He is a fearless writer and dips his pen in caustic ink when the occasion demands its use. Among the live papers of the county, the Topic under his management stands in the front rank and is read by subscribers covering a large field. There is only one Lee O. Wolfe, and he is both editor and postmaster at Titonka.

Two lawyers located in the early days of the town. E. J. Berry was there in 1899, and the next year he had as competitor Geo. E. Patterson. They were young men of ability but the peaceable disposition and thrifty condition of the settlers in the community did not justify these disciples of Blackstone in making that point their permanent home; so they soon left and located elsewhere.

Three physicians have been residents, but only one remains. First after the town started V. G. Treat came, but soon moved away. Then Dr. C. W. Packard arrived and began the practice. He was coroner for several years and became well known. While he was still here, Dr. R. M. Wallace came in 1906 and now has

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return. The Ed Moll cabin was later the home of the Frank Means family and was a conspicuous landmark until recent years.

The next settlers after the Molls, besides a few who had cabins in Ashuelot, were the McAllister, Tom Gordon, John Piercy and Sylvanus Rickard families. The exact date of their coming the writer is unable to state, but they were comfortably located when other homesteaders in the fall of 1864 arrived. They came either during the year 1863 or early in the spring of 1864. R. A. McAllister had his cabin located on the northeast quarter of 21, and Gordon on the quarter joining his on the west, with the Buffalo flowing through the tract. Rickard had chosen for his home the east half of the southeast quarter of 10, and Piercy had homesteaded the north half of the northwest quarter of 20 and the south half of the southwest quarter of 17.

The land held by these war-time settlers has long since been owned by other parties. In those days it was difficult to make much of a living on a homestead, and as a result many became discouraged and left the country. The Piercy children grew to maturity and some of them after getting married settled down on farms for a few years in the vicinity. Death, however, has claimed nearly all of those who came to the township at that period.

Among the few who came to locate in the county in the fall of 1864 there were some who selected homes in 97-28. That was four years before the territory was made a part of Portland. That was at a time, furthermore, when the period of enlistment for thousands of soldiers had expired and many of these after they had returned from the army sought the fertile lands of the west for new homes.

The third crop of settlers to the township came in the fall of 1864. During the month of August Henry A. Smith homesteaded the northeast quarter of 27. He had recently returned from the army, where he had been doing service for Uncle Sam with the Second Wisconsin Infantry. With him came Luther Fair- banks, who located on the quarter adjoining his on the south. Rod Jain was the third member of the party who came at that time. He homesteaded the northeast quarter of 26 and began making preparations to hold his claim. These three men had come from Dane county. Wisconsin, where they had been) neighbor friends.

So far as remembered only two other heads of families located that year ; and these were S. V. R. Mann and J. H. Grover. Mr. Mann came about the last of September and selected the southwest quarter of 27 for his Kossuth county home. Mr. Grover arrived from the army in the latter part of October and chose the southeast quarter of 26 for his homestead.

During the winter of 1864-65 Mr. Grover stayed with Henry A. Smith at the home of his army comrade; but later put up a little log cabin on his land. Most of the others had sod houses, which caused the settlement to become widely known as Sod Town. Rod Jain, while hanging on to his homestead, drifted down to Algona, where he helped to put up the old Foster water mill. and where he attended the grammar school taught by H. M. Taft in the even- ings. He is still living upon his original claim and is an influential citizen. H. A. Smith is spending his last days at the county seat, but still owns the land he set- tled upon in 1864. J. H. Grover and wife have retired from their Portland farm and are living at Burt, after having acquired a large body of land and

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seen their children matured and settled on farms of their own. S. V. R. Mann has passed on before, but his wife is spending her remaining years also at Burt. Their children have grown up and married and are numbered among the re- spected citizens of the county. Grant and Luther Fairbanks remain of the original family that settled in 1864 on section 27, and have for life partners daughters of Mr. and Mrs. J. H. Grover.

The year 1865 saw Kossuth take on a new lease of life, and 97-28 receive various settlers. The homesteads taken in the townships that year were gradu- ally settled upon by the parties and their families. In the spring Ben Smith, just released from the army, homesteaded the east half of the northeast quarter of 8; Clark Coffin located on the northwest quarter of 32; Geo. C. Allen, after serving with the 129th Illinois Infantry in the war, came and settled upon the north half of the northwest quarter of 36; Wm. Keys began making his home on 36 on the eighty just south of Allen's on the northwest quarter; Vol Clark and Lem Paine settled upon the north half of section 35; and John Chapin in the fall entered the southwest quarter of 15 for a home. Thos. Gallion also about that time gained a residence in the south part of the township on 36.

Keys, Paine and Vol Clark soon left the country after disposing of their claims. Of the remainder of those 1865 settlers John Chapin and Geo. C. Allen were, perhaps, the best known to the county at large, owing to their long resi- dence before they died. Mr. Chapin was one of the prominent and reliable citizens of that section of the county and had a high rating for his integrity. Mr. Allen was one of those whole-souled characters that are essential to the happiness of any community in a new county. He had a fondness for relating war incidents that always entertained his friends.

W. P. Winter, better known for forty years as old Uncle Billy Winter, was an 1866 settler on the northeast quarter of 6. He was a typical frontiersman and had been with Smith's Guerillas in the Sixteenth Corps. He chose for his wife Mary A. Schenck, the daughter of an 1856 pioneer. W. K. Vickroy was a comer to the county in 1866 and soon after located upon the northeast quarter of 32. The family have all disappeared except the daughter. Anna, who is now Mrs. C. H. Worster of Riverdale.

Section 8 was for many years the most noted of any particular section in the county. The people living upon it began referring to their homes as being on "section 8," and soon all others seemed to know of no other section of that number. The first to make claim to land on it was evidently Dave Wilson, who entered the southwest quarter in August. 1865. The six others who soon made their homes there only got an eighty each. Dave had lots of trouble in trying to hold the full quarter, and soon lost half of it that was regarded as swamp land. Ben Smith and Chas. Struble that fall entered homesteads on the section, Smith on east half of the northeast quarter, and Struble the north half of the south- east quarter. Wm. McDonald, either that fall or in the spring following, home- steaded the north half of the northwest quarter.

During the year 1866 J. D. McDonald and his sister came and began making their home on the south half of the northwest quarter, and following him the Smith family arrived. With this family was Smith's stepson, John Duckmanton, who is now a resident of Bancroft. He says that when they came the only ones on the section were Wilson. Struble and J. D. McDonald

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and sister. Henry McDonald came in 1866 and entered the west half of the northeast quarter and then returned to his old home.

The remaining eighty about that time was homesteaded by Dave Bardwell ; but he soon turned his interest over to Frank Foley, who in turn sold out to Frank Ordway. The latter later sold to Fowler, who afterwards disposed of the land to other parties. Wm. McDonald, the father of J. D. and Henry, came with his family in 1867 to make their home upon the land he had homesteaded several months before. One of the younger sons who came that year was O. P. McDonald, who has for a long term of years been an influential business man of Burt.

Wm. Ringsdorf on the southeast quarter of 36 and Mr. Bartlett on the northeast quarter of 14 are reported as having settled during the year 1867, though there are reasons for believing that it was a year later before they located upon their places.

Among others who are regarded now as having been early settlers may be named Ben Jain, D. Gingery, E. Tallman, Ludwig Anker, John Wood, A. H. Dwinell, W. A. Chipman, John O'Hara, E. S. Streator, Jesse, Daniel and Ras- sellas Davison, C. F. Keys, J. A. Millis, Wm. Cooper, Martin Jordan. Levi Toothman, Wm. Shanor, J. W. Stott, Lem Stockwell, Wm. Farrow, Henry Inman, Den Paine and all others who came at that time or up to the beginning of the eighties.

The section 8 schoolhouse in the latter seventies was a favorite place for holding discussions and formal debates. Subjects pertaining to agriculture, politics and social affairs were discussed with freedom and energy by the neighbors and sometimes by professional men from the county seat. P. M. Barslou, who was living there on section 21, on the Gordon place now owned by Geo. D. Stone, used to take a hand in the discussions.

The mail for this section of the county used to be handled by postmasters who had the office in their own homes. That was long before the days of rural routes. After W. H. Ingham had it for a while at his home down in 96-28 it went to the home of Sylvanus Rickard. Ed Moll then had it at his cabin, and from him it went to E. Tallman. John Chapin held the position until he grew tired of it and surrendered his commission. The office was finally established on section 13, where it remained until the villages and rural routes caused its cessation.

The first burying ground was on the bluff near the Buffalo on the northwest quarter of 21. Several were buried there before any regular cemetery was procured. One of the Gordon children that died is believed to be the first to be buried at that place. The present cemetery on the northeast corner of the northeast quarter of that section, was procured in 1879. In January of that year an association was formed and incorporated. Those active in the organiza- tion to maintain a cemetery were J. H. Grover, John Wood, H. A. Smith, John Chapin, S. V. R. Mann, J. B. Jain, Tom Gallion, M. H. Mills, Ludwig Anker, E. S. Streator, Ben Smith, D. J. Davison, E. Tallman, J. D. McDonald, R. E. Davison, Wm. McDonald and G. C. Allen.

Doan Memorial Methodist Episcopal church was organized and incorpo- rated in April, 1890, and its first board of trustees consisted of Ben Smith, D. J. Davison, W. A. Chipman, Case Wiltse, Timothy Fox, L. C. Smith and E. B.

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Eddy, the other organizers being C. W. Fowler, Rose McNeil, E. Y. Eddy and Ann Smith. The church was named to perpetuate the memory of Doan Eddy, the deceased son of E. B. Eddy, the principal promoter and donor of the edifice. The boy was about a dozen years old when he died. The building stands upon the northeast corner of section 15.

The townsite of Ashuelot was surveyed on the north half of section 15 during the month of September, 1857, though the plat was not recorded until the following July. The promoter of this "paper city" was Geo. W. Braizee, a visionary dreamer from Chicago, who sought to sell lots on the site at a high figure. His lithographs, showing steamboats coming up the Buffalo to an elaborately improved wharf, caught an occasional innocent victim. The story of this enterprise is presented at considerable length in Chapter VIII, under the subhead "The Upper Country-1856-1864."

The Portland township officers are: E. O. Mann, clerk; I .. E. Fairbanks, W. H. Schweitert and N. A. Nelson, trustees; and A. A. Graham, assessor. The school officers are as follows: E. Bartlett, president. W. H. Smith, secre- tary ; Geo. Koestler, treasurer ; G. W. Bleich, E. B. Dittmer, Le Roy McWhor- ter, Fred Ringsdorf, G. W. Fairbanks, G. J. Rike and Ellis McWhorter.

Of the thirty-six sections in the township, 21 is the most suggestive of pioneer days, for it was on that section where the first signs of civilization appeared when Ed Moll built his cabin farther north than any other settlers of that period. Moreover, the families of McAllister and Gordon, who, a little later, made their homes upon 21, were settlers of the early Civil war days. Geo. D. Stone's "Oakland" stock farm now comprises all these places. Hc has transformed that once dreary appearing section into one indicating pros- perity and good management.

For many years the principal event each summer was the gopher tail picnic that had its origin in the long ago. At first the farmers and their sons met and chose sides and captains to wage war on the gophers, which in those days were very destructive to the corn crops. The victorious side was the one that could produce the greater number of gopher tails on a designated day. The event each year was celebrated with a grand picnic dinner to which all present were invited. Games and various other sports, and formal addresses were later included in the programs, until the celebrations were attended by hundreds of people. The place of meeting was in the vicinity of the J. H. Grover home. Of late years the custom has been rather ignored, because many of the original promoters have either died or moved away.

BURT TOWNSHIP AND VILLAGES

The township of Burt (97-29) was not created by the board until Novem- ber, 1882, and the organization did not occur until the fall of the following year, when there were elected; Hiram Norton, John Murray and Thos. Hanna, trus- tees ; Geo. F. Marble, clerk; A. D. Blanchard, assessor; P. M. Barslou and Isaac Ames, justices, and Arthur Stow and John Douglas, constables.

The territory now comprised in Burt township remained a part of old Al- gona from the spring of 1856 until the board made it a part of Darien in Oc-

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tcber, 1869. It went back to Algona again in September, 1870, when the board blotted Darien out of existence, and then remained a part of it until in June, 1882, when it was made a part of Farmer's township. In September of that year Farmer's was blotted out by the board and 97-29 again became a part of Algona. Since Burt was set off in November, 1882, no changes in the boun- dary have been made.

The first attempt at settlement in what is now. Burt township was in the fall of 1864 when John Brown homesteaded the northwest quarter of 36. He was a red-whiskered Englishman who had come to the county at the time Mose Godden and Albert Wheeler located, the former in Plum Creek and the latter in Union. He built Mr. Wheeler's sod house, the first in the county to be made of that material. He was one of Samuel Reed's threshing crew for several seasons, beginning in the fall of 1865. He married Adelia Coles in 1868 and after her death he was united in marriage to Olive Anderson in 1881. Mr. Brown was a great cut-up, and some of his pranks have been referred to in "Pioneer Anecdotes" in a previous chapter. He broke up a few acres in the fall of 1864 and later built a shack to hold his claim.

The rush for free homesteads in 1865 landed James Marlow on section 32, where he built a sod house and dwelt alone. A few others took homesteads that year, though it cannot be remembered that any one else made settlement until the following year. Among the claim takers of 1865 were Washington Hudson, the one-armed blacksmith, who filed on the northeast quarter of 2, and Lon Wilson, who did the same on the quarter just west of him. The south- west quarter of that same section was taken a little later by Albert Crammond.

During the year 1866 John Wilson homesteaded the south half of the south- east quarter of 24 and Hiram Norton the south half of the northeast quarter of that section. Geo. Atdell about that time came into the township to become a resident.

Elijah Hulburt arrived in March, 1867, and homesteaded the southeast quarter of 32, and Ed Marlow began making his home on the northwest quar- ter of 28. The real settlers of that year appear to have been very few. Mr. Hulburt cannot recall any more who came for a couple of years after he began piling up sod for a home, but others are of the opinion that in 1868 John and Chris Seward located in the southwest portion of the township.

Among the families that came in 1870 were the Murrays that arrived in the spring. John Murray, Sr., located on the south half of the southwest quar- ter of 8, William on the eighty adjoining on the north, and David on the south half of the southeast quarter of the same section. John Murray, Jr., is now living upon the northwest quarter of 17. It is about forty-three years since he came with his parents to that vicinity. James Murray in 1870 homesteaded the northeast quarter of 20. but being a little slack about making it his bona fide home, Chris Bierstedt jumped it and made it his own.

During the early seventies Thos. Hanna located on section 31 and John Hutchinson, Fraser Mackey and Tom Brigham became residents, but the latter, by not complying with the law, lost his claim when some one else jumped it. Jacob Markle, Fred Schultz and John and Fred Koepka came during that

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period, but the latter two lived on the Union side for several years before cross- ing the line to live in Burt township.

J. T. Bloor became one of the early settlers on the north line of the town- ship on section 4, but he has been a resident of Washington for several years. P. M. Barslou crossed over the line from Portland in the latter seventies and located just north of the Hiram Norton place on 24. In the early eighties Wm. Harsh, James Leslie, F. A. Wood and Mrs. Meinzer became residents. B. F. Hayden and Levi Detrich are regarded now as having been old settlers. A. B. Sheldon came in the early seventies to the county also, but he lived for several years in Cresco before locating in Burt township.

The first death of a citizen occurred December 28, 1869, when John Wilson lost his life while helping to excavate the railroad cut north of Algona. The raving in of the bank caught him and crushed him to death. Mrs. Ann Wilson. his widow, still resides upon the original homestead on section 24, and has never forgotten the sad death of her husband.

While the Hiram Norton family were living on their farm in November. 1867. the first birth in the township occurred at that home when the son, John, first saw the light of day. Hiram had come to the Irvington community during the winter of 1863-64, and had lived for a year or so in Cresco before settling in this township.

Burt is a township of prosperous farmers and comfortable homes. Dairy- ing and fancy stock raising are the principal lines in which they are operating. Thoroughbred cattle, horses and swine are to be found on many of the farms, and other evidences of prosperity are seen on their premises.

The present township officers are J. P. Stow, clerk; R. F. Hawcott, as- sessor ; and Robt. Jacobs, W. A. Stoutenburg and H. Sewick, trustees. The school officers are as follows: R. F. Hawcott, president; W. A. Stoutenburg, secretary ; Chas. Dittmer, treasurer ; J. H. Holding, F. Harvey, Lem Marlow, Robt. Jacobs, Otto A. Johnson and E. N. Vallentine.

No one attempted to found a town until after the line of the Northwestern had been surveyed in 1881, and it became evident that one would spring up in the vicinity of the depot. The Western Town Lot Company seemed to have the matter of locating the towns along the lines in its charge, and dictated to the owners of the site where the town should be located.

The original plat of Burt was filed on record September 19, 1881, by D. A. Buell, and A. A. Call and The Western Town Lot Company. This comprised nine blocks and the railway reservation. Since that time plats of various addi- tions have been filed as follows: D. A. Buell's subdivision of four out lots. February 21, 1885; Buell's addition of three blocks and out lots, June 8, 1891 ; F. D. Nicholson's addition of two blocks, December 24, 1891; Elmer Hodg- son's subdivision of out lot 6, May 3, 1892. Buell's second addition of five blocks and subdivision of two blocks, June 7, 1892; W. T. L. Company's sub- division of out lot and replat of four out lots, July 21, 1892; E. J. Murtagh's addition of six blocks and three out lots, April 27. 1893; F. D. Nicholson's second addition of two blocks. December 14, 1893; Walter H. Smith's addition of thirteen lots, August 10, 1894: A. A. Beane's addition of two blocks, Sep- tember 8, 1894; Murtagh's addition of one block and three out lots, October 26.

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History of Kossuth County, Iowa, Part 85

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