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 85

Author:
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Springfield, Ill. : Union Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 898

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 85

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ing answer in the paper which had thus pronounced me a moral parah. My posi- tion was one of consuming anguish, for if his representations were to go unanswered, and be accepted by society as true, then life, instead of being a blessing and a joy, must henceforth be a grievous hurden. My position was not unlike that of a standard bearer being fired upon by his fellow soldiers in the dark, as an enemy, and being forbidden, while thus beset, to strike a light by which his colors might be recognized. The door to this prison house of darkness was opened in the fol- lowing manner. One day, in the latter part of November, my son, Frederick, came running home from the postoffice, and as he entered the door, holding up the Christian Register in his hand, he ex- claimed, "Good news for father. Dr. James Freeman Clark has come to the de- fense, and says that he must be heard in reply on every charge made against him in the Register." The family was soon gathered to the reading of the article by Mrs. Taft. The grateful joy of that hour can never fade from memory.

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Very respectfully Gekiel P. Malwick.

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CHAPTER XVIII ..

A RETROSPECT.

The following is an account of Hum- boldt county written by the hand of Ma- jor W. W. Williams, of Fort Dodge, in January, 1867, and gives a picture of the county as it then was :

Humboldt county is situated in the Des Moines valley, bounded on the north by Kossuth, on the east by Wright, on the south by Webster, and on the west by Po- cahontas counties. This county may be ranked among the best counties in the State. The prairies are gently rolling, the soil is a sandy loam of a dark color, and in depth and richness will compare favorably with any county in the State. The products are wheat, corn, oats, sor- glium and potatoes. All the hardiest va- rieties of fruits do well. There is a good proportion of timber, there being about eiglit or nine acres of timber to every acre of prairie in the county. The tim- ber lies principally along the several streams as it does in the prairie country generally, and consists of oak, elin, ash, linn, poplar, walnut, cherry, butternut and other, varieties such as crab-apple, plum, etc.

There are four townships organized in the county : Dakota, Humboldt, Vernon and Waconsta. Both forks of what is now called the Des Moines river run through the county, uniting before reach-

ing the south line of the county, the West Fork running through the western part and the East Fork nearly through the center. Tributary to these branches, are Lott's creek in the northern part, Indian and Deer creeks in the west and south- west, and Beaver and Badger creeks in the southeast, and a small stream a branch of Boone river, in the east. There are several good mill sites on both branches of the Des Moines yet to be improved.

It may be satisfactory to the citizens of the county, to know the origin of the names given to the several streams, also the Indian named by the Algonquin race of Indians who owned the territory, the "Moingonan," by Charlevoix, the "Moin- gona," by the Dakota or Sioux Indians, "Eah-sha-wah-pa-tah" or Red Stone river. The East Branch or fork, which heads in the lakes near the State line, was called by the Indians "Sun-ka-kee" or Brother river. Lott's creek was named by settlers from the fact that on that creek Lott com- mitted the murder of the Indians in 1854. Deer creek was named by the men at Fort Dodge from the fact that they never failed to find the deer numerous along that stream. Indian creek was so named because we found quite a large encamp- ment of Indians had been on that stream, and a desperate battle was fought near it

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between the Sioux and Sac and Fox Indians. A party of the Sioux who lived there went down to the Skunk river country in the vicinity of Poweshick's village, and ran off a number of their horses and killed three or four of Powe- shiek's band. As soon as discovered by the Sac and Fox Indians a party of them gave chase and pursued the Sioux to their encampment, at which point a desperate fight took place. The Sac and Fox Indians were victorious. The Sioux lost a nnm- ber; but a few of them escaping. This occurence took place in 1844.

Beaver creek was so named from the fact that when we first came up to this country, we found quite an encampment of Sionx on the east side of the river, a short distance below the mouth of the creek. Meek Piere Hap-a-wa's parties claimed that neighborhood as their trap- ping and fishing district. The small lake above the mouth of the creek was always called, Pit-tau-wam-a-dos-ka" or "Pit-tan- min-ne-da" which interpreted is Beaver lake. From this the creek was named Beaver creek, as it was a favorite place for trapping beaver. Badger creek was so named by the men at the garrison. A squad of men was sent up to the grove above to haul down some timber that had been selected of a particular length by the quarter raster when building the quarters. They came on a badger near the creek, when the badger whipped the dogs they had with them. They man- aged to kill it, however, and brought it down to the garrison as a wonderful baste, as they called it, never having seen one before. The squad was composed of Irishmen, who afterwards were called by

their fellow-soldiers, " the badger boys," and in speaking of the creek, called it Badger creek.

There is in the county one first-class flour or grist mill, and a second one abont completed, and three saw mills, and a fourth one nearly completed, and also a machine shop and woolen factory in oper- ation.

The county of Humboldt was organized in March, 1857. The commissioners ap- pointed by the Legislature to select a site for the county seat, selected Dakota City as the proper place. The first election beld was on the first Monday in April, 1857, when the county officers were elected.

Dakota City, the county seat, is situated about three miles north of the junction of the two branches of the DesMoines river, and between the two streams on a beauti- ful elevated prairie extending from the timber on the East Fork of the river westward. The location is a beautiful and healthy one. The town site was laid out by Edward Mcknight, Esq., at an early day, (1854 or 1855) through but little was done in the way of improvement until 1856, and in the spring of 1857, the In- dian massacre occurred at Spirit Lake and other points on our northern frontier, which checked emigration. Within the last eighteen months emigration has been very great to the northern counties gener- ally. The population of Dakota City at this time (Jan. 1, 1867,) is about 100.

Fifteen or sixteen new houses were built this season past. Messrs. McKnight & West have built an excellent dam, and have built a first-class flouring mill. There is a Catholic Church, a Methodist

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Episcopal organization, one clothing and grocery store, one variety store, one shoe shop, six carpenters, one tanner, one blacksmith, a good string band and a Ma- sonic lodge. The agricultural society of the county have established their fair grounds immediately north of and adjoin- ing the town site, and a good bridge erect- ed over the river. A neat brick school house was also put up last fall. A post- office, C. Bergk, Esq., postmaster. Da- kota City, owing to its location and many advantages, is destined to be a town of considerable importance.

The reason why the population of Da- kota City does not number more is that a great proportion of the present population are bachelors and have been from the first settlement. Perhaps they are dis- posed to follow the example of the pro- prietor, who seems to hold out stubbornly. Two of the first settlers who held ont a long time finally cared in some time ago, and deserted the fraternity of bachelors by taking to themselves partners. Since, they look like new men, feel evidently as they should feel, proud of what they have done, and feel that they now have others to live for. "There can be no bet- ter points for emigrants to steer for, par- ticularly those who can bring fine young ladies with them; no better class of young bachelors can be found anywhere. Could the old chief, by a vigorous charge, be cap. tured, 'tis likely that all would surrender at discretion, as they are all of that clase who would be disposed to follow a good example.

Springvale, a thriving town, is situated on the West Branch of the Des Moines river, between three and four miles north

of the junction of the two branches of the Des Moines river, about one mile west of Dakota City. Its location is in a beau- tiful valley. It was named Springvale . from the fact that several fine springs were found along the river in the vicinity of the town plat. It was laid out by Rev. S. H. Taft, who, with a colony of several families, emigrated from central New York and settled in Humboldt county in the spring of 1863. The town is laid out on quite an extensive scale, with several parks and squares, named after martyrs, statesmen, generals, and others who, in the estimation of the proprietor, were the great men of the Nation whose names should be perpetuated. The Rev. Mr. Taft, the proprietor, has been so kind as to furnish me with the following statistics: Number of houses, twenty-seven; number of inhabitants are at present, 137; number of voters, forty-six; one flouring mill, one saw mill, one carding machine, one turn- ing lathe, one dry goods store, one gro- cery, one hardware store, one cabinet maker, one blacksmith, four carpenters, one millwright, one clergyman, one law- yer, a lodge of Good Templars, a cornet brass band and five masons; number of scholars in the district, fifty-six. The building known as the Union Ilall will seat 300 persons. The inhabitants of Springvale appear to be a go-ahead people, principally emigrants from the eastern States. It may be said that the future prospects for Springvale promise fair.

NY WILLIAM THOMPSON.

Sometime during the spring of 1878, Patrick Lavin, while hunting ducks in Waconsta township, and while creeping np to a flock of them in a grassy marsh, sud- denly came on what to him was a s'a. t.

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ling sight, causing him for the time being to lose all thought of his ducks. It was a grinning skeleton of a man, with shreds of clothing here and there attached, lying partly concealed in the long grass. The coroner was notified and proceeded to the spot with some assistants. On further ex- amination, it proved to be that of a man about forty years of age, dark hair and about five feet eight inches high. Nothing was found to identify him as to who he was or where he came from. A plain jack knife was all his earthly posses- sions. His remains were gathered up and interred in what is now Union cemetery. Since which time no inquiry has been made concerning the lost wanderer, nor lias anything been developed as to wlio he was, or how he met his terrible fate.

No sadder tale can be told in the his- tory of our county, than the death by freezing of the Van Driest boys, sons of Daniel and Amelia Van Driest, of Beaver township. Ou Saturday morning just preceding the advent of one of the most severe "blizzard" storms that ever oc- curred in the county, these little boys left their home, as was their custom, to attend to some traps they had strung out along Beaver creek, which runs through the township, little thinking of what was in store for them ere evening came. The forenoon and afternoon up to about 2 o'clock was warm and balmy. These boys had wandered nearly four miles from home, as their footprints disclosed, in the

search made for them afterwards. About 2 o'clock the blinding snow storm came, accompanied with severe cold. The wind blew a gale, and no human being could long survive, exposed to its fury. H. J. Ketman and Timothy Driscoll, neighbors of Mr. Van Driest, made their way to Dakota, on the next day, by feeling their way carefully along the bed of Des Moines river, and gave the alarm. But no effort could be made for their relief until the storm abated. As soon as it was possible for any person to venture out, a large party of the citizens of Dakota and vicin- ity started out in search of the little ones. Some followed their trail, others wan- dered at will over the open prairie. Abont 11 -o'clock in the morning, a signal gun was fired, and it was soon known that the bodies were found, both frozen to death. They were found about a mile and a half 'from their home, a few rods apart. One lay straight, with his hands folded across the breast, as if the kind offices to the dead had been performed by the Savior; the other had, after doing what he could for his little companion, started in a direct line towards the house. He did not pro- ceed far before he was overcome with the cold, and perished in the snow. The lat- ter's appearance gave evidence of a strug- gle for his life, but it was a fruitless one, and the little fellow surrendered to the grim monster, and went to sleep on the cold prairie. They were conveyed to their late home, prepared for burial, and their remains lie in Union cemetery.

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CHAPTER XIX.

AVERY TOWNSHIP.

This township, which comprises all of the congressional subdivision 92, range 30, is the most western of the central tier of townships. It is bounded on the north by Wacousta, on the east by Rutland, on the south by Weaver townships, and its west line meets the line of the county of Pocahontas. The West Fork of the Des- Moines river enters the township on the west line of section 6, and flows in a southeasterly course through the entire breadth of Avery, leaving it on section 25. The surface of the land, like most of the county, is a gentle rolling prairie, broken somewhat near the river whose banks are fringed with a heavy growth of forest trees that, marshalled along its course, seem to stand like sentinels to keep off the intruder, man. The beauty of the river valley is entrancing. Cool, leafy bowers of sylvan shade hang over the silver pools of the river, that dimples along, now swift, now lingering lovingly in some sheltered spot, and anon leaping as if in play adown some gentle incline. No wonder that the valley of the Upper DesMoines has acquired such world-wide fame, when to such natural picturesque- ness, is added such magnificent soil. This is a rich, alluvial deposit of dark loam, with just the right admixture of sand to make it quicken with life in the

rays of the summer sun. On account of the difficulty of obtaining a proper title to the lands, owing to the gigantic fraud of the Des Moines Valley Improvement Company grant, Avery has not settled up as much asit would have been had that im- mense steal not been consummated.

Perhaps nowhere in the State is there developed so fine a building stone as is found within the limits of Avery township, or at least in the southern portion of it, on the lines where corner the four sec- tions 7, 8, 17 and 18; near the bridge across the West Fork, the limestone crops out for the last time; all north of that for countless miles, being covered with nought but the vast accumulations of debris left by the vast sea that covered this great basin, away back in the dim cycles of pre- historie ages. This stone is of the finest quality of any in the county, if not in the whole valley, and is a species of vo- litic or fossiliferous limestone, and a rep- resentative of the Kinderhook groupe, of the sub-carboniferous rocks. Immense quarries of this Humboldt marble will doubtless soon be quarried for shipment abroad, and a large industry thus spring, as it were, out of the ground. One of the peculiarities of the surface of the ground, in Avery, is that with the exception of a lit- tle broken land near the river, which makes

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excellent pasture, there is no waste land within its limits. No wet, cold, clammy slough, to deter the farmer from plowing every fout of soil he owns, which is quite an object to the agriculturalist. Springs of water bubble up along the river, and in its bed, and many of them have chaly beate or mineral properties that may one day be utilized for the cure of some special ail- ment of humanity.

The first to settle within the limits of Avery was a party by the name of Fel- ton, who located upon a portion of section 8 sometime during the year 1857. He did not remain here long, but removed to Fort Dodge.

William Beers made a claim, during the same year, to a portion of the same section, where he lived some little time. The following year, another Beers, a cousin of his, came to this locality and made a claim near by, where he resided until about 1860.

Henry Beer, who was no relation to the foregoing, entered Avery township in 1857, and put up a cabin, where he lived all that summer.

In 1857, also, two men by the name of MeClellan and Royal, entered claims in this township but did not stay long.

These parties were nearly all of that class that usually precedes the civilization and development of a country, who take up claims, not for the purpose of im- proving them and making a home, but to sell ont their rights to some settler. They have all left the country and no one knows their present location.

The first actual settler who came here with the intention of opening up a farm was O. F. Avery, after whom it is named.

On the 9th of November, 1859, he located upon section 7, and proceeded to make him a farm in this sylvan desert. Ile is a native of Herkimer Co., N. Y., and is at present one of the most influential cit. izens of the town of Humboldt, of which place he is a resident.

The next to come was Charles Jarvis, a native of England, who in 1861 settled upon section 17, where he built a cabin and broke the virgin sod, preparatory to making a farm. Ile is still a resident of the original homestead, where he now en- joys himself after a life of labor.

Charles Sherman, who,in October, 1861, located upon section 15, was the third set- tler of this township. He was a native of New York State, but came here from Illi- nois. He is now keeping the hotel at Rutland village.

The next was a party hy the name of D. W. Rider, who came here in 1861, with a drove of cattle and sheep. While in Chicago, sometime afterwards, he came to his death, and his body was brought on here for interment. He was buried in the garden near his house, but has since been re-buried at Fort Dodge.

The next settlers in this township came from Vermont, and included John Dickey, C. N. King, Moses Adams, Ira Davis and D. K. Blood. John Dickey, who was af- terwards county judge, and is now the president of the Humboldt County Bank, located here in 1864, and while partially engaged in farming, did some mason work, plastering, etc. In 1868 he removed to Humboldt, where he still resides.

Jacob Murray settled upon section 23, in the year 1862, and the following year was joined by his brother, William, and

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these brothers are now found among the most prominent farmers of the county.

William and Jacob Murray are the sons of Jacob and Margaret (Stone) Murray. William, the elder of the two, was born in Ireland, in 1832, and came to this con- try when quite young, settling in Pennsylvania, where he learned the black- smith trade, at which he worked about eight years. He then went to Chippewa Falls, Wis., and worked at lumbering four or five years, and came to Humboldt connty abont a year before the war. He enlisted as a private, and was promoted to the rank of captain in the same company in which he enlisted. After the war he came back to Iowa, and settled in Avery township, with his brother.

Jacob Murray was born in Ireland, in June, 1838, and came to this country in October, 1861. He first went to Dubuque, Iowa, where he remained a few months, and then came to Humboldt county, and settled in Rutland township. Two years later he took a homestead of 155 acres, in Avery township, where, at the close of the war, he was joined by his brother, William. They now own 980 acres of land, and are engaged in stock raising. They are members of the Episcopal Church, and are enterprising and prosper- ous farmers.

C. N. King is still a resident of the township, and is one of its most influen- tial citizens.

C. N. King, son of Hiram and Sarah (Colby) King, was born Sept. 6, 1829, in Orange, Orange Co., Vt., where he lived upon a farm until March 8, 1864, at which date he came to Humboldt county and purchased 247 acres of land on section 5,

of Avery township. Since that time he has bought additional land, and now owns 400 acres. He raises a great deal of fine. stock, and was the owner of the first thoroughbred stock, both cattle and sheep, ever brought to the township. Mr. King was married Oct. 23, 1854, to Sarah J. Mowe, daughter of Asa and Mary (Fuller) Mowe. She was born Ang. 7, 1829, in Andover, N. H. She is a member of the First Baptist Church. When Mr. King came to this county he purchased land of a woman whose husband had taken it as a homestead, shortly after which he died, and his wife entered the land under the pre-emption act, and laid the agricultural college script upon it, consequently Mr. King could not obtain a clear title to the land. After three years the script was returned to the heirs of the estate, and they were notified that the script could be laid only on Minnesota lands. Mr. King then procured a land warrant and sent it to Washington to get a title to the land. After waiting five years the warrant was returned to him, with the information that the land had been granted to the Des Moines River Company, but had passed into the hands of a railroad company. He then procured the passage of an act of Congress giving the governor of the State, as president of the railroad company, authority to relinquish the land to the State, which he did. The land, which was patented to the heirs of the estate, had by this time increased considerably in value, and the heirs refused to let it go at the price formerly agreed upon, and Mr. King was finally obliged to resort to the courts of the State to obtain his title. During all the thirteen years in which

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this title was in dispute, Mr. King did not spend a dollar for lawyer's or attor- ney's fees, a fact that is somewhat re- markable. Many others lost their lands or had to pay the railroad company again for them. Land matters were so compli- cated that settlers refused to undertake to perfect claims, therefore the county re- mained unsettled, or comparatively so, until about 1870, and yet remains a serious drawback to the development of the county.

J. W. King has been a resident of Humboldt county since the fall of 1865. He was born in Boone Co., III., Nov. 1, 1841, and came with his parents to Inde- pendence, Buchanan Co., Iowa, when he was twelve years old. At the breaking out of the Civil War he enlisted in the 9th Iowa Infantry, company C, and served until the close of the war. He was mar- ried Oct. 17, !869, to Annie E. Averill, of Humboldt, Humboldt Co., Iowa, born at Clockville, Madison Co., N. Y., Sept. 11, 1844. They have five children-Fred- erick O., Clara F., Mattie E., Bertha M. and Bessie A. Mr. King owns 330 acres of fine farming land on section 6, Avery township, where he has resided since 1865. He is an independent politically.

Prominent among the settlers of what is known as the "Brown settlement," were the following: Daniel Tellier and Wil- liam Lemihue, who came here and located in 1867; Walter Heathcote and Joseph Dayton, in 1868, and Charles Tuttle, in 1871. There used to be a postoffice here called Byron, but it has been discontinued. The settlement goes by the name of Lombardy, at present.

Daniel Tellier came to this county in December, 1865, and on the 11th of July, 1867, took a homestead in Avery town- ship, section 27, township 92, range 30. He owns at present 320 acres of good land. He was born at Retranchment, Zeeland, Holland, Feb. 24, 1823, and is the son of Jacob and Susanna (Morel) Tellier. He came to the United States in June, 1851, and settled at Milwaukee, where he stayed until 1855, working most of the time at the shoemaker's trade. He went from there to Sheboygan county in November, 1855, and worked upon a farm until 1867. He was married in October, 1849, at Cadzand,Zeeland, Holland, to Mag- dalena Bril, daughter of Jacob J. Bril. She died the 22d of August, 1852. They had one child-J. A. On March 13, 1856, Mr. Tellier was again married to Maria Snurmont, daughter of Leenderd and Maria (VanDuin) Suurmont. They have six children-Leenderd D , Maria S., Daniel, Pieter, Willem and Susanna. Mr. Tellier and wife are members of the Presbyterian Church. IIe is a member of the republican party. He enlisted in the army Aug. 21, 1862, in company F, of the 27th Wisconsin Volunteers. He was dis- charged Oct. 26, 1864, on account of disa- bility, and has never fully recovered his health or regained his entire strength. He served on the board of trustees seven years, and helped organize the township of Rutland, and the township of Avery, and served five years as school director in Byron.

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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 85

Author: Publication date: 1884 Publisher: Springfield, Ill. : Union Publishing Company Number of Pages: 898

Author:
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Springfield, Ill. : Union Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 898