USA > Iowa > Linn County > History of Linn County Iowa : from its earliest settlement to the present time, Volume I > Part 7
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THE ERA OF THE OUTLAW
Along the American frontier were always found the outlaws; sometimes they outnumbered the honest settler and sometimes not, depending more or less upon conditions. Ontlaws preferred to hover on the frontier where courts of justice were unknown and where the sons of toil, busy with making a living, had no time to defend themselves against ontlawry. Some of these outlaws had commit- ted theft and robbery and were living upon this borderland of civilization, knowing that it would be perfectly safe under assumed names. Others came here for the special purpose, knowing it was easier to make a living by theft than by honest toil. Thus. the Linn county frontier at an early date was in- fested with this class of people, and for a number of years the rights of the people had to be protected by associations organized for this purpose, and made up of the best class in the community, until such a time as law and order eould be enforced by decrees of court and by penitentiary sentences.
When the first white settler came into the Red Cedar valley there were only two counties fully organized west of the Mississippi, with the exception of the state of Missouri. These counties were Dubuque and Des Moines. They ex- tended from a flag station at Fort Armstrong back into the country forty miles, and from the Missouri line to a line running westward from Prairie du Chien in Wisconsin. It was a large tract of country, and offered secure hiding places for law violators. In this wild country, along rivers where the timber was thick, hiding places for the outlaw were offered, and when settlers did come in the ontlaw did not like to remove, and, consequently tormented the actual settler and frequently took by stealth or force such personal property as he wanted.
In the early day the country bordering on the Cedar river was flooded with counterfeiters, and it is stated that this counterfeit money was so well made that it was difficult to tell which was the good money and which the bad and, in fact, at times it seems that the good money was a searee article. No one was able to tell where this counterfeit money came from. but it is supposed very little, if any, was made here but that it was imported from other places and distributed by "healers" on a percentage basis. While a cry was raised against counterfeit money, only the government eould handle such eases and very little was done to start proceedings. Now and then the government attorney would bring a case or two, but as a rule the defendants were generally released by a jury, many of whom were friends of the parties accused.
It was not until horse stealing became prevalent that the people arose in arms against the outlaw and formed associations called "anti-horse thief" associations.
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It was a difficult thing at first to prosecute, as the gang was well organized and had a perfect system of stations, agents, signs, and signals. The members of these gangs which infested Cedar, Jones, and Linn counties in the early days dressed better than the honest farmer, were more charitable, and in the day time, at least, were looked upon as the most respectable persons in the community. They were shrewd and ennning in their business transactions, and hedged them- selves in such a way as to escape detection and exposure for a long time. These "free hooters" and plunderers would move from county to county and from community to community if things got a little hot and they feared exposure. In counties where they were in the majority they would intimidate and scare the actual settlers, even if these knew positively that depredations had been made. And frequently the honest settler who attacked and complained was forced to leave the country instead of the outlaw who had many friends who came to his resene. Many a man who was known to make a complaint before a grand jury, to a proseenting attorney, or judge would be trailed by a company of ontlaws, threatening letters would be written against himself and members of his family, that his buildings would be destroyed by fire if he persisted in bringing suits or attempted to file an information of any kind against any members of the band.
A few of these men who were at least accused of being members of these var- ions gangs of counterfeiters, horse thieves and other desperadoes may be men- tioned.
Perhaps the most noted ones were the members of the Brodie gang, composed of John Brodie, and his four sons - John. Jr., Stephen, William, and Hugh - who came into Linn county in 1839 and were among the first settlers in this county. They were natives of Ohio. Some had lived in Michigan for a time, and before coming here had commenced their career of villainy. On account of some misdemeanor they were driven from Clear Ford on the Mohican river in what is now Ashland county, Ohio, in 1830 or 1831, and sought refuge for a time in Steuben county, Indiana. Here they remained for a couple of years when they became so notorious as to arouse the country against them, and they fled westward in about 1835 and found their way into what was known as the Rock river country, or Brodie's Grove, Dement township, Ogle county, Illinois. In this part of Illinois at this time the country was completely under the control of outlaws and desperadoes, and here the Brodies found congenial companionship.
Early in 1839 the Brodies gang were driven out by an organized society called the "regulators," composed of law abiding people who insisted upon law enforce- ment. They then drifted westward and located in Linn county. From this time on for a number of years there was scarcely a term of court but that one or more members of this family was arraigned for trial on some criminal charge or other.
Sam Leterel, Christian Gove, James Case, also known as Jim Stoutenberg, McConlogne, Squires, MeBroom, and others were members of this gang. Me- Conlogue resided for a time at Cedar Bluffs, later removing into Johnson county where Morse is now located. Stoutenberg resided at times with MeConlogne and at times with Squires. A number of others associated with the gang and lived on the borders of Linn and adjoining counties and went by various names. Where they came from no one knew and they dropped out of sight if there was any danger of arrest and conviction.
In 1839 John Goudy and his son-in-law. Thomas MeElheny, and a son settled in Linn county, and it was noised abroad that the family was very wealthy. To aseertain whether or not they had money, some time in April. 1840, a man by the name of Switzer was sent to visit the Gondys under the pretense of wanting to borrow money, the real object being to ascertain whether or not the parties kept money and whether or not he could obtain a pretended loan. The loan was de- clined for some reason or other, but it is supposed that Switzer learned enough
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in his talk with the Goudy family to know that they had money and there would be a chance to make a good haul. The gang went up along the Cedar river on the west side and erossed the river about where Goudy's home was. Here McConlogue had some conversation with a person who knew him. About mid- night of a day in April the door of the Goudy cabin was forced open and the inmates awoke to find themselves surrounded by five burglars who threatened their lives if they did not give up their money. Old Mr. Goudy replied that he had but little money, only $40.00, and that they could find that in his vest poeket. The vest was searched and the money found. They insisted that he had more and demanded it. The old man persisted that it was every dollar he had, or that was about the house. The leader of the gang then ordered the house to be searched and dirceted the occupants of the beds to cover their heads at once. In the shuffle for places Mrs. McElheny, a daughter of Goudy, recognized Switzer, who had been there to borrow the money a few days before, and also another mem- ber of the gang who was well known by the family. In the search for money a purse containing $120.00 belonging to a daughter, Hannah, was found by the burglars. In an old leather belt used by Mr. Goudy there was also a $100.00 bill which the robbers overlooked or could not find in their hurry to search the house.
They became very angry at not finding any more money, having expected to find $9,000.00 which Mr. Goudy was reported to have had in the house at the time. The robbers on leaving the house eursed every member of the family, and seemed much put out at the haul they had made. Captain Thomas II. Goudy, a married son, lived near his father's cabin. He had been a captain of militia in Ohio and his uniform was hanging upon the wall. The robbers seeing this remarked "a military officer must be a rich man," and his money was demanded, but they received nothing, and after turning over everything in the house and finding only some provisions, they left Goudy and went to the cabin of William F. Gilbert, another prominent settler in the neighborhood, who was also supposed to have considerable money. On the night in question Gilbert had stopping with him three men, the mail carrier who operated a stage between Dubuque and Iowa City. and two others. In the Gilbert house, as in the other house, the cabin consisted of only one room with several beds, and on this night Mrs. Goudy and her children oeeupied one bed, the strangers another bed, while Goudy and the mail carrier slept on the floor by the fire. The entrance of the robbers was so sudden that before the ocenpants knew what was going on they were covered with guns and clubs, and their money was demanded. Goudy rallied to defend his home, and so did the mail carrier who slept near the door. Both men were knocked down and the cheek bone on one side of the mail carrier's face was smashed completely by a blow from a club wielded by one of the robbers.
The house was thoroughly searched and the drawer of a box which was sup- posed to be opened by a secret spring known to no one but members of the family was forced and a $50.00 bill and some $30.00 or $40.00 in change were found and taken. While all the older members were frightened Mr. Goudy's son, during the plundering, arose in bed and recognized a neighbor - one Goodrich, who lived but a half mile distant - as one of the robbers. This neighbor had up to this time been looked upon as a respectable man. It was he who opened the drawer as quickly as though he was one of the family. The robbers seenred as their share of the booty this night about $240.00. A young daughter of Mr. Goudy, who remembered well that night, was later married to Judge John Shane, of Vinton, a well known jurist and a most excellent judge.
This wholesale robbery stirred the whole country, and Captain Thomas Goudy especially, being a military man, insisted that now it was high time for the people to arouse themselves and if the officers of the law refused to do any- thing then the settlers would take the law into their own hands and start some- thing going. Thomas and his father went to J. W. Tallman at Antwerp and
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HISTORY OF LINN COUNTY
Colonel Prior Scott at Pioneer Grove for advice and counsel. and especially to apprehend one Wallace who was implicated in this robbery. Colonel Scott went among his people and organized a "mutual protective association," the settlers hunted up their rifles and shot guns, and the organization was ready to begin work. Wallace had fled. but pursuers were on his track and he was apprehended in Illinois City in Illinois, ten miles above Muscatine, by a citizen named Cole- man and turned over to Thomas Goudy and his party. Coleman's reputation in the vicinity was not the best and he had been suspected of harboring outlaws. but it was stated on account of some difficulty in the division of spoils he and Wallace had had a falling out and hence Wallace's easy capture.
A warrant was taken out for the arrest of Switzer, and when Wallace was returned Switzer was also arrested and a preliminary examination was held before John G. Cole, one of the first justices of the peace in Linn county. Both of the parties were held to bail. Their cases came on for trial at Tipton at the October term, 1841. of the district court.
James W. Tallman, a resident of Antwerp, accompanied by several neighbors, started ont to arrest Switzer, a large man and an ugly one. Switzer resided near Halderman's mill. At two o'clock in the morning a posse surrounded Switzer's home. Ile refused to open the door and they waited till daylight before he was taken in custody. Switzer's cabin was a perfect arsenal. there being guns. pistols, and ugly knives scattered all around.
Later James Stoutenberg, also known as Jim Case, was arrested at MeCon- logue's as an accomplice and member of the gang. He was taken into the woods near MeConlogue's and examined in the court of "Judge Lynch" in order to obtain a confession from him, and he was finally tied to a tree and severely flogged. Ile was never seen alive again. Some assert that he left the country. and others that members of the party carried him to the Cedar river, tied him to a stone raft and left him to his fate.
MeConlogue was also arrested as being a member of the gang in the robbery, but he established an alibi. Being satisfied that he was guilty of helping to plan the robbery. the pioneer settlers, duly aroused, tried him by rules not known in the ordinary law court. He was sentenced to be hanged, but finally it was agreed that this sentence should be changed to whipping, and that each one of the eiti- zens should give him five lashes on the bare back, and if that failed to bring a confession as to the partienlars of the robbery and the extent and names of the gang, then he should be whipped the second time until he died. Blows continued to fall upon his quivering and bleeding back until he implored for mercy and promised to reveal all he knew about the robbery and the operations of the "free booters." Ile admitted having knowledge of the Goudy robbery and that he received as his share of the booty $25.00. He also admitted that Wallace was the leader of the gang at this time and that Switzer was another member of the gang of live men who perpetrated the robbery. The members of the association after this confession let him go, but first applied a solution of salt on his laeerated flesh, followed by an application of slippery ehn bark to remind him of the ordeal he had recently passed through, and which he never forgot. At this time Me- Coulogne was under indictment in Johnson county for assaulting a man named Brown with intent to rob him: on this charge he was tried and sent to the pen- itentiary.
Goodrich. a neighbor of the Gilberts, who had taken part in the robbery and who had been recognized by the latter's son, was also horse whipped and gagged at the same time but he refused to answer any questions and denied having taken part in the robbery. Soon after this he removed from the county and was never heard of afterwards.
MeConlogue's admission implicated MeBroom, who had been known for some time previously as one of the brightest men of the gang, and who was also sup-
DANIEL SEWARD HAHN One of the First Settlers in Linn County
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BEGINNINGS IN LINN COUNTY
posed to be a lawyer. He was also caught and whipped nearly to death near what is known as Scott's mill, without making any confession, but with threat that if anything more was heard of any attempted robbery of any kind by any member of the gang everyone, including himself, would be swung up to the first oak tree. It is needless to say that he immediately left the country and was never heard of again.
William Stretch, an old settler, many years afterwards made a trip down the Mississippi and there in one of the river cities, either New Orleans or Memphis, he met and recognized MeBroom who had been so severely flogged on the banks of the Cedar river. MeBroom claimed that he had lived an honest life since remov- ing from the Cedar river and he begged Stretch not to say anything about it, at least in his new home. Stretch agreed to this, but investigated to ascertain whether or not MeBroom had told the faets, and found that he was a respectable citizen, one of the leaders in that eity, and had accumulated a fortune - between forty and fifty thousand dollars.
Another member of the gang, a cousin of the Brodie boys, and in many ways a bad fellow, was overtaken in Washington township, this county, while driving and there shot by a band of what was known as "regulators " or members of the "anti-horse thief association." Seventeen bullets had penetrated his body. Who had a hand in this aet is not known, although the members are said to have be- longed to some of the first families of the county. When Wilson was caught he was passing through the county with a team of stolen horses which had been brought from the eastern part of the state.
The trial of Switzer, who had been indicted for burglary in 1840, was trans- ferred on a change of venue from Linn to Cedar county. It came up at the October term of the district court, Joseph Williams presiding. George McCoy was sheriff and William Knott was his deputy. The following named persons. all well known settlers, sat on this jury: C. Kline, William Morgan, Elias Epper- son, Abe Kiser. Porter Mckinstry, P. Wilkinson, J. S. Lewis. John Lewis, William Denny. W. II. Bolton, Peter Diltz, and Sammel Gilliland.
Considerable excitement prevailed at this trial. Switzer was represented by able counsel who put up a great defense. Mrs. MeElheny and other members of the family unmistakably identified Switzer as the person who had been there before to borrow the money and who was one of the leaders on the night of the robbery. Switzer tried to prove an alibi, and had a number of people who swore that he had been at another place on the night of the robbery. It is said that the jury was out two days and two nights and during this deliberation Switzer tried to approach Knott hy saying that he wanted help and that as soon as Knott found ont the jury had found him guilty he asked him to give him some sign by taking a handkerchief ont of his pocket. What he would have attempted then is not known. Knott refused, the jury disagreed, eleven standing for eonvietion and one for acquittal.
During the trial a large grey horse was hitched in front of the building used as a court house, for what purpose no one ever understood, nor did any one know who was the owner of the horse. Switzer had a number of friends who hung around the jury and around the court house during the trial. As the jury came out one of the jurors had a handkerchief protruding from the side pocket of his coat. Switzer recognized the signal. With the nimbleness and quickness of a bare back rider he jumped on to the horse and darted away like a cyclone. Know- ing the proposition Switzer made to Knott there seems to be some reason to be- lieve that this member of the jury had given Switzer the sign. When the jury reported they were unable to agree, Switzer's friends started out to find and convey to him the result, but could not find him until the day following. when they found him eoneealed among some of the timber along Sugar creek.
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HISTORY OF LINN COUNTY
Another warrant was issued for his arrest, but there was some delay in serving this notice and in the meantime he made his eseape. In 1852 William Knott was in California and there met Switzer at Carson river in Nevada territory and had a conversation with him. Switzer admitted that he had been in a very tight place when he was under arrest in Cedar county, and he asked Knott to convey his best wishes to the juror who had hung out in his favor. Mr. Knott ascertained that Switzer's morals had not changed any on account of his removal. In 1874 Judge John Shane and his wife visited California, and upon inquiry at Vallejo aseer- tained that Switzer lived in that vicinity, and although a very dissolute and reck- less man and feared by all, he had accumulated a handsome fortune. He also dis- covered that the sons were following in the footsteps of their father, and that one of them was under indictment for having killed a man.
At the time of the Switzer arrest and trial for the Gilbert robbery a eivil snit had also been brought against him for the recovery of the money and a judgment was obtained. Judge Shane consulted an attorney and tried to get a transcript of his judgment in order to eolleet the same, but for some reason the records eould not be found and the judgment could not be transeripted. Switzer died in Cali- fornia in 1877.
One of Switzer's best friends and a hanger-on at the court, a desperado, sur- rounded by a number of fellows of the same type, was Christopher Burns. He carried revolvers and bowie knives and wore a gentleman's eloak of the old style thrown loosely about his shoulders. The sheriff. his deputy, and a number of men surrounding them also earried arms, and in ease the jury had returned a verdiet of "guilty" it was Burns's intention, no doubt, to resene his friend and a bloody battle would have taken place. Burns left the country immediately and was shot by a neighbor in a quarrel on the upper Missouri river in 1845.
The whipping of MeBroom, Case, and others. and the arrest of Switzer and his flight put a stop to these outrages, so from 1841 to 1855. while many suspicious persons still lived in the community, they were more guarded in their movements than before, and these desperate aets did not take place, although for many years after this a good horse was not always safe property to keep in the country.
EARLY SETTLEMENT
From Ilistory of Linn County, 1878
It seems that the first store was located at Westport where there was a barter trade carried on with Indians. W. II. Merritt ran a store at Ivanhoe in 1838, which was located on the government road. John Henry seems to have operated the store at Westport, but whether he bought this from Wilbert Stone is uncertain. It is stated that William, or Wilbert, Stone, sold his store or had one at Westport abont 1837 where he did some trading with the Indians. He must have been there as early as 1837 because he sold out his interest to John Henry and removed further up to what became Cedar Rapids, and had been living there for some time when Robert Ellis found him on the west side of the river upon his arrival in May, 1838.
None of the land at that time had been surveyed, so all the rights the people had were known as "squatter" rights, which they sold as any other land, and which would give them the privilege of filing on it when the land would get into the market. Much of this land was handled that way. The sontheastern and eastern part of the county were first settled. and then settlements were made along the Cedar river, which would be natural for the reason that people had to use the river more or less in keeping in communication with other places.
It would be impossible to give the names of all the carly settlers for the rea- son that some only remained a short time and moved away again and the names
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of these have been lost. A few only ean be mentioned to give the reader an idea of where and how eertain towns were staked ont and buildings commeneed. The Linn eounty lands first came into the market in March, 1843, and not till then, did the settlers eome in any large numbers. All were anxious to get free lands. The town sites were laid out as follows, though they were only squatter's rights : Westport in July, 1838, by Israel Mitchell; Columbus (Cedar Rapids), Septem- ber, 1838, by William [or Wilbert] Stone; Ivanhoe, October, 1838, by Anson Cowles; while the town site of Cedar Rapids was laid out by N. B. Brown and others August 4, 1841. The first plat, however, recorded was by the father of Elias Doty. This was recorded after the land had come into market, when West- port was re-named Newark, and was filed November 12, 1844.
The tide of eivilization gradually flowed westward from the Mississippi river. The regular chain of progress is clearly shown, and forms a portion of the history of Linn county. Young men pushed bravely ahead, elaiming rights to unsur- veyed lands, expeeting in a short time a rise in values and big money in their holdings. Many of these men were single and never intended to make this, or any other community, their permanent home. All they wanted was to piek out the best claims, ereet shacks, hold them down until men with families came, who had a little money and were willing to pay so as to get a home at once. Many of these young venturesome spirits frequently in six months or a year would pick up from $500.00 to a couple of thousand for a elaim, depending somewhat upon the improvements made. At times these squatters would ereet fairly good log houses and stables, and dig a well or two, and would also put in a little garden stuff - potatoes and the like - so as to keep the family partly, at least, over winter. Crops and all improvements would go with the bargain. Many of these men drifted farther westward and undoubtedly lived nearly all their lives on what might be known as the border land of civilization. They preferred this kind of life, and whenever a community was settled up it lost all interest for the original pioneer ; he wanted and preferred to live among frontier ruffians; would fight if he had to, and would always defend himself against any intruder. These men enjoyed this kind of a life and thrived upon it, and all they eared for was a little money, good times, and the freedom they so mueh craved and which the frontier afforded.
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