USA > Iowa > Humboldt County > History of Kossuth and Humbolt counties, Iowa : together with sketches of their cities, villages, and townships, educational, civil, military, and political history, portraits of prominent persons, and biographies of representative citizens > Part 31
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Registers of the State Land Ofice
Anison Hart, 1855-57.
Theodore S. Parvin, 1857-59. Amos B. Miller, 1859-63. Edwin Mitchell, 1862-63.
Josiah A. Harvey, 1863-67. Cyrus C. Carpenter, 1867-71. Aaron Brown, 1871-75. David Secor, 1875-79. J. K. Powers, 1879.
Superintendents of Publie Instructson.
James Harlan, 1847-48. Thos. II. Benton, Jr., 1848-54. James D. Eads, 1854-57. Joseph C. Stone, 1857. Maturin I. Fisher, 1857-58. Oran Faville, 1964 -67. D. Franklin Wells, 1867-68. A. S. Kissell, 1868-72. Alonzo Abernethy, 1872-76.
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Carl W. Van Coelen, 1876-83. John W. Akers, 1882.
This office was created in 1847 and abolished in 1858, and the duties then developed upon the secretary of the Board of Education; it was re- created March 23, 1864.
State Printers.
Garrett D. Palmer and George Paul, 1849-51 William H. Merritt, 1851-53. William A. Hornish, 1853. Den. A. Mahoney and Jos. B. Dorr, 1858-55. Peter Moriarty, 1855-57. John Teesdale, 1857-61. Francis W. Palmer, 1861-69. Frank M. Mills, 1869-71. G. W. Edwards, 1871-73. Rich. P. Clarkson, 1878-79. Frank M. Mills, 1879.
State Binders.
William M. Coles, 1855-58. Frank M. Mills, 1858-67. James S. Carter, 1807-71. J. J. Smart, 1871-75. H. A. Perkins, 1875-79. Matt. Parrott, 1879.
Secretaries of Board of Education. T. H. Benton, jr., 1859-68. Oran Faville, 1863-64. This office waa abolished March 23, 1864.
Presidents of the Senate.
Thomas Buker, 1846-47. Thomas Hughes, 1847-48. John J. Selman, 1848-49. Enos Lowe, 1849-51. W. E. Leffingwell, 1851-53. Maturin L. Fisher, 1853-55. W. W. Hamilton, 1855-57. Under the new constitution the Lieut .- Gover- nor is President of the Senate.
Speakers of the House. Jesse B. Brown, 1846-48. Smiley H. Bonham, 1848-50. George Temple, 1850-52,
James Grant, 1852-54. Reuben Noble, 1854-56. Samuel McFarland, 1856-57. Stephen B. Sheledy, 1857-59. John Edwards, 1859-61. Rush Clark, 1861-63. Jacob Butler, 1863-65. Ed. Wright, 1865-67. John Russell, 1867-69. Aylett R. Cotton, 1869-71. James Wilson, 1871-78. John H. Gear, 1873-77. John Y. Stone, 1877-79. Lore Alford, 1880-81. G. R. Struble, 1882.
Chief Justices of the Supreme Court.
Charles Mason, 1847.
Joseph Williams, 1847-48. 8. Clinton Hastings, 1848-49.
Joseph Williams, 1849-55. George G. Wright, 1855-60. Ralph P. Lowe, 1860-62. Caleb Baldwin, 1862-64. George G. Wright, 1864-66. Ralph T. Lowe, 1866-68.
John F. Dillon, 1868-70. Chester C. Cole, 1870-71.
James G. Day, 1871-72.
Joseph M. Beck, 1872-74. W. E. Miller, 1874-76. Chester C. Cole, 1876. William H. Seevers, 1876-77.
James G. Day, 1877-78. James H. Rothrock, 1878-79.
Joseph M. Beck, 1879-80. Austin Adams, 1880-82. William II. Seevers, 1882.
Associate Justices.
Joseph Williams, held over from territorial government until a successor was appointed. Thomas S. Wilson, 1847. John F. Kinney, 1817-54. George Greene, 1847-55. Jonathan C. Hall, 1854-55.
William G. Woodward, 1855. Norman W. Isbell, 1855-57. Lacon D. Stockton, 1856-60.
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Caleb Baldwin, 1860-84. Ralph P. Lowe, 1860. George G. Wright, 1860. John F. Dillion, 1864-70. Chester O. Cole, 1864-77. Joseph M. Beck, 1868. W. E. Miller, 1870. James G. Day, 1870.
United States Senators.
Augustus C. Dodge, 1848-55. George W. Jones, 1848-59. James B. Howell, 1870. George G. Wright, 1871-77. James Harian, 1855-65. James W. Grimes, 1859-69. Samuel J. Kirkwood, 1866. James Harlan, 1867-78. William B. Allison, 1873-79. Samuel J. Kirkwood, 1877-81. William B. Allison, 1879. James W. McDill, 1881.
MEMBERS OF HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.
1846-47-8. Clinton Hastings, Shepherd Leffler. 1847-49-Wm. Thompson, Shepherd Leffler. 1849-51-Wm. Thompson, Dan. F. Miller, Shepherd Leffler.
1851-53-B. Henn, Lincoln Clark.
1853-55-Bernhart Henn, John P. Cook. 1855-57-Aug. Hall, Jas. Thorington. 1857-59-Samuel R. Curtis, Timothy Davis. 1859-61-Samuel R. Curtis, Wm. Vandever. 1861-63-Samuel R. Curtis, J. F. Wilson, Wm. Vandever.
1803-65-James F. Wilson, Hiram Price, Wm. B. Allison, J. B. Grinnell, John A. Kasson, Asahel W. Hubbard.
1865-67-James F Wilson, Hiram Price, Wil- liam B. Allison, Josiah B. Grinnell, John A. Kasson, Asahel W. Hubbard.
1867-69-James F. Wilson, Hiram Price, Wil- liam B. Allison, William Loughbridge, Grenville M. Dodge, Asahel W. Hubbard.
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1869-71-George W. McCrary, William Smyth (died September 80, 1870, and succeeded by Wm. P. Wolf), William B. Allison, William Loughbridge, Frank W. Palmer, Charles Pome- roy.
1871-73-Geo. W. McCrary, Aylett R. Cotton, W. G. Donnan, Madison M. Walden, Frank W. Palmer, Jackson Orr.
1873-75-Geo. W. Mccrary, Aylett R. Cotton, W. G. Donnan, Henry O. Pratt, James Wilson, Willlam Loughbridge, John A. Kasson. James W. McDill, Jackson Orr.
1875-77-Geo. W. Mccrary, John Q. Tufts, L. L. Ainsworth, Henry O. Pratt, James Wilson, Ezekiel 8. Sampson, John A. Kasson, James W. McDill, Addison Oliver.
1877-79-J. O. Stone, Hiram Price, T. W. Bur- dick, N. C. Deering, Rush Clark, E. 8. Samp- son, H. J. B. Cummings, W. F. Sapp, Addison Oliver.
1879-81-Moses A. McCoid, Hiram Price, Thomas Updegraff, N. C. Deering, Rush Clark (died in May, 1878, and succeeded by Wm. G. Thompson), J. B. Weaver, E. H. Gillette, W. F. Bapp, Cyrus C. Carpenter.
1881-83-M. A. McCold, S. 8. Farwell, Thos. Updegraff, N. C. Deering, W. G. Thompson, M. E. Cutts, John A. Kasson, W. P. Hepburn, C. C. Carpenter.
PRESENT STATE OFFICERS.
Governor, Buren R. Sherman.
Secretary, John A. T. Hull. Deputy Secretary, Wm. T. Hammond. Auditor, Wm. V. Lucas. Deputy Auditor, Rufus L. Chase. Book. keeper, I. E. Ayres.
Treasurer, Edwin H. Conger.
Deputy Treasurer, C. R. Chase. Register Land-office, Jas. K. Powers. Deputy Register, John M. Davis. Bup't Pub. Inst . John W. Akers.
Printer, Frank M. Milis.
Binder, Matt. Parrott. Adjutant-General, W. L. Alexander. Superintendent Weights and Measures, Prof.
N. R. Leonard.
Librarian, Mrs. S. B. Maxwell. Assistant Librarian, Jesale Maxwell.
SUPREME COURT.
Chief Justice-Wm. H. Seevers, Oskaloosa. Judges-James G. Day, Sidney. James H. Rothrock, Tipton. Joseph M. Beck, Fort Madison. Austin Adams, Dubuque. Att'y Gen .- Smith McPherson, Red Oak. Clerk-E. J. Homes, Des Moines. Reporter-John S. Qunnells, Des Moines.
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HISTORY
OF
KOSSUTH COUNTY,
IOWA.
CHAPTER I.
INTRODUCTION.
T \HE study of the annals of the past | dry bones of a fossil age, reft of all life, las, at all times and in all climes, and is at best but a synopsis of the more important actions that have crowded upon the stage of the past, a list of kings, rulers, dynasties, and their acts, to which the people play but a secondary part. The second treats of the people, of men in their broad humanity, and is an ever liv- ing reality, clothed in the flesh, and the story of their deeds, has, in its relation, all the fascination of romance, enchaining the reader to its pages until the volume is finished and laid down with a sigh. This form of history, warm and palpi- tating, as it is, with the busy lives of men, who, like ourselves, have lived and moved upon the world's broad surface, is the claimed a large share of the attention of the more intelligent of men. To the sage and scholar, poring over some vast and ponderons tome, dusty with age, and in an almost forgotten tongue, the new be- ginner with his short and comprehensive compilation, suited to his early years, each draw much pleasure from its peru- sal. Men, eminent in the domain of let- ters, have, however, divided history into several classes, the most prominent of which are, first, that which treats only of events; and the second, that which treats of men, the living actors in the world's great drama. The first of these is but the
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model after which it has been the en- deavor to compile these pages. No nar- row attempt to paint with partisan pen, the workings or machinations of any party or creed, but setting out in broad and comprehensive detail the actions of those brave men and heroic women who, in the early stages of this county's exist- ence, played so well "their parts upon the mimic stage." Brave, hardy pioneers, who, departing from their parent roof-tree, phinged into the great wilderness west of the "Father of Waters," there to carve out for themselves homes upon the prai- ries. Heroic women who, leaving the home and association of childhood, where surrounded with ease and comfort they had passed their youthful days, followed their husbands to this then desert spot, and cheered their weary hours and shared their joys and sorrows. Men and women who lived true lives while here on earth, and "departing left foot-prints in the sands of time" that cannot help but make the world brighter, richer and truer.
The times move on apace, and these, the pioneers of Kossuth county, are al- ready passing away to their reward be- yond the "dark river," and it behooves the historian to hasten in his task that he may note down from the lips of those who remain the account of the trials, the labors, the joys of those early days, to preserve within the pages of history their deeds, so that when they have "gone before to that bright and better land," the annals of their times may be preserved. Here let us raise the monument of everlasting fame, and let History with her adaman- tine pen engrave their lives and actions npon her tablets, monuments that shall
long outlast the bronze or stone that must ere long mark the resting places of them all.
In casting a backward glance adown the "misty corridors of time," the think- ing mind cannot but wonder at the short- ness of the time that has elapsed since these now fruitful fields and busy towns were but the waste and grassy desert, roamed over only by savage beast or the Indian. Where now rises the beantifnl town or village, then stood, perhaps, the lonely teepee of the savage; where is heard the hum of busy industry or the whir of machinery, then re-echoed only to the howl of prowling wolf, the hoot of night seeking owl, or the horrid whoop of fiendish savage. But man came, civil- ized man, and with the characteristic en- ergy of the Anglo Saxon race, made these waste places to blossom as the rose. The savage gave place to industry and thrift, and villages and farms began to dot the virgin surface of the county.
But thirty years have passed since first the pristine sod was pressed by the foot of white settlers, and one can hardly help but look around and contrast the differ- ence between the then and now. The early pioneer, to reach this locality, was forced to make long journeys in his wagon or on horseback, over undulating prairie, through swamp and slough, with no road to guide nor make his way smooth. No bridges spanned the streams, and his ouly alternative was to make a long detonr to find a ford, or swim the creek or river. Then when he had reached his destina- tion, he had his humble cot to raise by the unaided efforts of his own hands, that he and his, might be sheltered from the
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elements. He was cut off, to a certain extent, from mail communication with the outside world; and when he had by infinite toil succeeded in raising his little crop, he had no handy means of disposing of it except by hauling to a far distant market. But now neat frame cottages adorn the land, and he sits in his easy chair surrounded by every comfort and luxury that he knew in his old home in the older States; the iron horse snorts at his front door, and he can receive his daily paper, yet damp from the press, and learn the current events in far off climes of a day ago.
Then, when he came here the imple- ments of husbandry were rude and simple, and the helps to domestic labor almost entirely wanting; and now the self binder and mower have taken the place of the scythe and cradle, the thresher that of the flail; and all kinds of machinery have supplanted the expenditure of manual strength. Enter the house and the sew- ing machine, the patent churu, the newly invented home creamery, and thousands of appliances are found to help the busy
housewife do away with much of the drudgery of earlier days. The children of this generation, looking around them, can little realize the trials, the toils, the pennry and pinching want endured by their parents in their pioneer days, and it is the pleasing task of the historian to draw the veil, that they may look back into the past, and view the noble deeds of their fathers and mothers in those pristine days.
Some one has justly said that "a price- less boon would have been conferred upon posterity, had some kind hand sketched down in living letters the pictures and the daily lives of the hardy pioneers, led by that noble Winthrop, who settled on New England's rocky shore. Their per- sonal history, their every day customs, their principal characteristics, that we could know them as if we had lived among them." In this spirit these pages have been compiled, and the personal sketches of the old settlers, living or dead, so per- meate the whole mass as to give it the semblance of a living reality, that could not be attained under any other mode of treatment.
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CHAPTER II.
EARLY HISTORY AND SETTLEMENT.
Usually the task of finding out the first | on the frontier settlers, robbing and pil- settlers of a county, that has passed its second decade, is a more difficult task than it looks to be upon the surface, but in the case of Kossuth county the com- piler has been saved great trouble. Much of the facts contained in this chapter have been gleaned from a series of sketches written by Hon. Ambrose A. Call, the pi- oneer par-excellence of the county, and from which we freely quote, by kind per- mission. A habit this gentleman has fol- lowed of jotting down the events of the day in a diary, makes any contribution he may make to a historical work doubly val- nable, and no better account of the early settlement of the county could be written.
The territory embraced by Kossuth county was formerly occupied by the Sioux Indians, although there is no evidence of their having had any villages or cultivat- ing any land on the East Fork. The Winnebagoes occupied the country as far west as Clear Lake and Pilot Mound (in Hancock county) and the Sacs and Foxes, from the south as far up as the month of Boone river. The proximity of those tribes with whom the Sioux were con- stantly at war, doubtless made this locality an undesirable.place for a permanent res- idence. It seems to have been their cus- tom to make annual raids in strong force
laging as they went. Before the post was established at Fort Dodge, they frequently went down as far as the rapids, and as far east as Iowa river, and if they happened to meet a band of Winnebagocs or Sacs and Foxes, or a surveying party of whites in their territory, there was sure to be a mas- sacre, a fight or a foot race. To prevent these raids on the settlers, and also to keep peace between the three tribes of Indians, was the object of the government in es- tablishing a military post at Fort Dodge. Before the settlement of the county, there were no roads or trails passing through its territory. There were three trails running north and south, west of the Cedar, well known to the frontier settlers and trap- pers, one up the Boone river by Buffalo Grove to Mankato, Minnesota; one from Boonesboro by the way of Fort Dodge up the east side of the river, crossing just above the forks and up the West Fork to Fort Ridgely; one from Sioux City up the Floyd, crossing to the East Fork of the Rock, to the Minnesota river. Prior to 1854 two cabins had been built north of Fort Dodge in Iowa, one by Henry Lott near the mouth of Lott's creek, in Hun- boldt county, and the other by William Miller, six miles north of Fort Dodge,on the east side of the river. They were
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both built and used for trading posts, while the soldiers were stationed at Fort Dodge.
In March, 1853, Lott was robbed and driven out by the Indians, but he subse- quently returned with a fresh supply of whisky and tobacco, watched his oppor- tunity to get the perpetrators all drunk at once, when he succeeded in tomahawking six of their number, including the chief of the band. The bodies were carted four or five miles and dumped into Bloody Run, whence its name, after which exploit le packed up his goods, burned his cabin and left the country. Miller, on learning of this last enterprise of his rival and fearing a retaliation, abandoned his claim and fortified himself in the old barracks at Fort Dodge. On July 8, 1854, when Ambrose A. Call reached Homer, one of the most conspicuous objects of the town was the head of the old chief stuck on a pole, which an enterprising trapper had fished out of the creek and brought down as a trophy. The part of Kossuth county south of the north line of township 95, was mostly surveyed in 1853-4. Col. Ellis and Capt. Leach were engaged in survey- ing the north part of 95, about the 1st of July, 1854, when their camp was robbed by the Indians and they were compelled to abandon the work. The camp was lo- cated on the northeast quarter of section 15, township 95, range 29, two miles soutlı of Algona, near what is known as the Os- good House. From these parties the Call brothers at Fort Dodge, July 5, heard a des- cription of the country and an estimate of the amount of timber in what they called the big grove, and at once decided to make up a party and explore that locality. But
this party was not a success. One man volunteered, William F. Smith, a school- master, with a rusty rifle, a covered wagon, a balky horse to put with the old pack horse, made up the outfit, with a small stock of provisions and a large amount of good advice. The party left Fort Dodge July 7, and kept up the river on the east side. About 4 o'clock in the afternoon the driv- er discovered Indians, dead ahead, two, yes, three, four, five, eight of them alto- gether, several miles away. A consulta- tion was held, a vote taken, and the de- cision announced that the party should go right alread and interview them, but they had disappeared-probably laid down in the grass, possibly gone back over the hill. Every member of the party was on the alert, revolvers examined, powder picked into the tube of the old gun, and prepara- tion made for war, when the advance guard shouted back that he could "lick a whole tribe of them Injuns," which was literally true, for at the sound of his voice they took flight. The second night out, July 9, camp was made on the southeast quarter of section 12, township 95, range 29, near D. W. King's residence.
A very remarkable phenomenon was witnessed by this party, the evening of the Ist of July, one that seldom occurs except on the arid plains in the center of the great continent. A most beautiful mirage-proper-appeared in the north- west just at sunset. The day had been very warm, with scarcely a breath of wind. A few cumulus clouds were visible above the horizon, when they noticed a peculiar appearance of the sky in the northwest, as of a shadow. A few minutes, however, brought to their view an exact duplicate
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of the bluffs and groves as defined against the horizon, inverted, and seemingly sus- pended in the air. At first the outlines were dim, but as the sun sank lower be- hind the bluffs, the picture developed un- til the lower edge was as perfect as the groves and hills themselves. They watched the phenomenon with intense in- terest until the picture faded in the twi- light.
The next morning a careful reconnois- sance satisfied them that the Sioux who robbed the surveying party had gone in an easterly direction. They found one of their encampments, near where the Col- lege building now stands. Their fires had apparently just gone out. A few "teepee" poles were left, and three or four rude racks, upon which they had "jerked" their buffalo and elk meat. Says Mr. Call: "There had been a large band of them; we estimated their number at 100 men, but we afterward learned that our estimate was too low, as they went as far east as Lime creek, and created a great panic among the settlers as far south as Cedar Falls and Waterloo. The settlers first heard of their proximity from his dem- ocratic excellency, Gov. Hempstead, who was out beyond the settlements selecting a few choice pieces of land, and who only by hard running escaped capture. The governor promptly ordered out the State militia, to drive them back. Carriers were sent ont, and volunteers to the num- ber of some 200 gathered and confronted the Indians on Lime creek. Both parties fortified and made faces at each other for several days. Finally an old trader by the name of Hewett volunteered to take a flag of truce into the Indian camp, and
try to find out what they wanted of our governor. The Sioux, after becoming satisfied that there were no Winnebagoes in the ranks of the whites, agreed to turn back. In their retreat towards the upper Missouri, they crossed the Des Moines near the mouth of Buffalo Fork about the 10th of August, fortunately not discover- ing our cabin. Our party, the 10th of July, passed over the town site of Algona, crossed the river just above Blackford's grove, and took dinner on section 15, at the camp where the surveyors were robbed. We then went down the river on the west side, crossing Four Mile creek, and striking well out on the prairie, struck the old trail at the ford above the forks, and reached Fort Dodge the second night. We had not yet decided whether there was anything in Kossuth county worth claiming, but on reaching Boons- boro, the writer hereof decided to return. A. C. Call was to return to Iowa City, and come back in four weeks. W. T. Smith had accompanied us as far as Boons- boro, on his way home to southern Ohio, but was persuaded to remain with metwo months for $14 per month. I succeeded in purchasing, in that vicinity, a yoke of oxen and wagon, a few implements and tools, and a stock of provisions; also a a large-bored rifle. This last I bought of Judge McFarland, who afterwards be- came quite well-known through the me- dium of Harper's Drawer.
"The Judge was a great buffalo hunter; in fact every kind of game suffered at his hands-especially poker. In returning from Boonsboro, after leaving the old trail this side of Fort Dodge, the best natural route was selected for a road, as
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this was our only outlet to settlements. The fords where we crossed the streams were worked so as to make them pass- able, and a small log hitched under the hind axle of the wagon, which dragged down the grass, made a trail which could be easily followed.
We reached our camping ground on section 14, near the present residence of C. C. Chubb, July 26. The weather was very unfavorable, raining almost constant- ly for several days. We also suffered great annoyance from the mosquitoes. The first few days were spent in making ont claims, after which we went to work building a cabin, 14x16 feet, but which was raised twelve logs high August 8. This cabin stood about twenty rods south- west of C. C. Chubb's house in Cresco." This was the first dwelling raised in the county of Kossuth.
Early in the year 1854, Asa C. Call, wishing to make some investments in western lands and to lay ont a town plat somewhere, began to look around for a suitable locality. It was his idea to get somewhere upon navigable waters, but a trip along the banks of the Mississippi demonstrated that the territory was al- ready occupied, and a visit to the upper lake region produced a similar impres- sion. He therefore determined to go north from Des Moines, along the river of that name, into the unexplored region of this State. In July, in company with his brother, Ambrose, he started out and came to Kossuth county. After a thor- ough looking over the territory, they went back, but with the intention of returning. Ambrose A. Call was the first to do so. Making his second and final visit to this
county the same month, and on July 26, 1854, camped on section 14, and raised their cabin as already mentioned.
Thus the Call brothers are justly en- titled to the honor of being the first pio- neers of Kossuth county, and are yet the most prominent figures around which cluster the halo of many reminiscences of the past. During the fall of that same year, 1854, Malachi and W. G. Clark, William Hill and Levi Maxwell, settled in what is now Creseo. In this connection it would be well to mention that the wife of Asa C. Call was the first of that cour- ageons band of noble women who fol- lowed their husbands into this great wilderness, and was the first white woman whose feet trod the prairies of Kossuth county.
In November, William H. Ingham, with D. E. Stein, came to Kossuth county, al- though he did not make a claim until later. But on the arrival of A. L. Seeley in the latter part of January, they in com pany built a cabin on Mr. Inghain's claim near the present residence of Mr. Rieb- hoff, in Portland township.
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