USA > Iowa > Lucas County > History of Lucas County, Iowa containing a history of the county, its cities, towns, etc > Part 43
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now White Breast township. The foregoing include the additional pio- neers to the county during 1848. In 1849, the influx was larger. Among others who came to the several settlements already, which were made the previous year, was James B. Custer. He located in what is now Liberty township, where he began active life for himself upon a farm, in his young manhood days. In 1852, after Liberty township, among others, had been organized, and township officers required to be chosen, Mr. Custer, then as now, an honored citizen, was chosen the first justice of the peace therein. His modesty is proverbial, but,
" Modesty's the charm That coldest hearts can quickest warm; Which all our best affections gains, And gaining, ever still retains."
He accepted the position with some reluctance and timidity; but encour- aged by kind words from friends and cheered by the prospect of occa- sional fees, he entered upon the duties of official life.
" To meditate, to plan, resolve, perform, Which in itself is good-as surely brings Reward of good, no matter what be done."
He realized with the poet, that,
" Justice, when equal scales she holds, is blind, Nor cruelty, nor mercy change her mind."
Mr. Custer was not called upon, however, to exercise the law in any of its sternest forms. His first case was one of the pleasantest as well as sacred duties that this officer of the law is called upon to perform: the ceremony of marriage. A young man of the neighborhood had been smitten by the charms of a maiden living near:
"Love knoweth every form of air And every shape of earth, And comes unbidden, everywhere, Like thought's mysterious birth."
The happy day had been named, and Mr. Custer was selected to say the words which would make them husband and wife. Having prom- ised the young man that he would officiate, the awful fact dawned upon his mind that he did not have among his papers or books, the legal forms used upon occasions of this kind, and he had forgotten what the preacher had said when he and his estimable wife were united in the bonds of wed- 5
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lock. But, happy thought, perhaps, she might know; alas! the words had slipped her memory. One hope, however, was left; and, together, they searched the scriptures, but could find nothing satisfactory. The wife, always ready and full of expedients,-
" A guardian angel o'er man's life presiding, Doubling his pleasure, and his cares dividing,"-
suggested that a form be written out and committed to memory. Between the two, the necessary language was conjured up, and like Demosthenes repeating a philippic along the shore of the Grecian sea, the new fledged justice sounded that marriage form up the hills and down the dales of Liberty township:
" Like clocks; one wheel another on must drive- Affairs by diligent labor only thrive."
The important day arrived at last. A few friends had gathered in, the nuptial feast had been prepared, and at the appointed hour the happy pair joined hands, and awaited the fateful words. The justice during the early part of the day had frequently repeated the ceremony to his wife, and was assured that he knew his piece. He had persevered, and,
" Perseverance is a Roman virtue That wins each god-like act, and plucks success E'en from the spear-proof crest of rugged danger."
Everything was ready, and the justice approached the couple and commenced repeating the memorized lines, and was nearly half through, when horror! a few words dropped out of his memory, and the threads of his smooth sentences were so tangled and mixed as to be rendered useless for further service on this occasion. A crimson blush his face o'erspread, varying his cheeks with white and, red; and his heart work- ing like a pump, made his head fairly thump. Though greatly confused by this break, he happily thought of the law, and holding up his right hand, gently quoted this command: " You who hold each other by the hand, do solemnly swear that you will perform the duties of married life to the best of you ability, so help you God. I now pronounce you hus- band and wife."
" The spider's most attenuated thread Is cord-is cable-to man's tender tie On early bliss; it breaks at every breeze. "
The contracting parties considered the marriage as perfectly legal,
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the witnesses were satisfied, even if the officiating magistrate and his wife were not. A period of merriment followed in celebration of the first marriage in Liberty township. It is a little late to quote a verse for the occasion, but better late than never, so here it is:
" Oh, happy pair, to every blessing born; For you may life's calm stream unruffled run; For you its roses bloom without a thorn, And bright as morning shine its evening sun. "
Time rolled on in the even tenor of its way, and other pairs were mated by the first justice of Liberty township, who deemed-
" Experience joined to common sense, To mortals was a providence. "
In after years when Mr. Custer was urged to become a candidate for mayor of Chariton, a friend told him that the canvass, in his behalf, was made because of his peculiar fitness and experience, having so long, faith- fully and satisfactorily filled the position of justice of the peace. " Well," said Mr. Custer, " have my friends been telling the whole story?" " Why, what's that?" asked the friend. "Why, that I resigned the office of jus- tice because I was not competent to fill it." The people however subse- quently showed their confidence in his ability and worth by electing him repeatedly to the most important and trustworthy position within their gift: that of county treasurer. He is now a prosperous and respected merchant in Chariton.
Other localities of the county also were settled by new comers this year, 1849. Among those who came were S. B. Chapman, Jacob Fudge, Hiram and Joseph Holmes, who made claims in what is now Union township. The only settlement that year in what is now known as Otter Creek township, was made by Nelson Case; and in what is now called Jackson township, by Joseph Mundill. John Ballard, Isham Hodgen and Joseph Stuart also came this year and settled in that part of the county now covered by English township. William and John Mckinley made their appearance at the settlement of Samuel Mckinley and X. E. West, made the year before in Washington township, and Jonas and Nelson Wescott also came this year from Monroe county, and joined " Buck " Townsend at Chariton Point, and soon after became prominent at the new county seat, one as the first county judge, and the other as surveyor and merchant. Beverly Searcy also came to the same locality this year. He also became prominent in the affairs of the new county, as the rec- ords will develop.
The Waynick brothers, Dr. W. W. and I. H., also returned to Lucas
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from Monroe county, where they improved a claim on its western limit, which they sold to one Prather, and in March, of 1849, they came to the locality of the "Point, " and located claims some three miles east of the court house. They were accompanied by Samuel Francis, who after- ward became their brother-in-law by the marriage of their sister, which is noted elsewhere as the first marriage in the county so far as any rec- ord shows. However, tradition says that Miss Rachel, daughter of Edmond Colver, of "Ireland" now Cedar township, made the first move in this direction in a union with P. G. Dunn, who entered a claim in sec- tion eight, in Cedar township, December 24, 1849, which was consumma- ted by a justice of the peace from Monroe county, named Hendricks. This is a pioneer tradition only, verified by no record.
FIRST UNITED STATES LAND ENTRIES.
The primary object of pioneers who determine to encounter the hard- ships and privations of frontier life, is a home-a piece of God's earth which they can call their own. Hence, among the first things they do, is to locate a "claim" under the claim and pre-emption laws, where the land is not yet in market, and await the time it can be formally purchased from the general government; which is done by applying at the office United States land district in which such claim or pre-emption may lie, where the government price of $1.25 per acre is paid, and a certificate of purchase is issued to the purchaser-unless such certificate should be issued upon the presentation of a military land warrant, in lieu of money. At any time after such entry, upon the presentation of such certificate to the register of such land office, the holder, or his assignee, will be entitled to a patent-which is the same as a deed-from the President of the United States. This is termed the original purchase, beyond which no one need go to ascertain the validity of the title to his land in after years.
Thus, in the pioneer days of Lucas county, her settlers who came prior to 1848, secured only a pre-emption title to their claims, which were maintained by law, and the force of custom. After the extinction of the Indian title to the land in this section of the state, by treaty of 1842, under which, the government got possession in 1846, it surveyed it and estab- lished a United States land office at Fairfield, where the first entries of claims were made. In February, 1853, the land office was removed from Fairfield to Chariton, where it remained until all the public land in the county was entered. The following list of entries include the first made in this county:
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William Riddle, Oct. 23, 1848, nw } of se { sec 1, tp 73, range 20 west, 40 acres.
John Riddle, Oct. 23, 1848, e § of set sec 1, tp 73, range 20 west, 80 acres. Jesse Hubbard, Nov. 16, 1848, ne { of se { sec 15, tp 71, range 20 west, 40 acres.
Zalomon J. Clair, Nov. 27, 1848, w fr & of ne { of nw } and ne } of sw t sec 3, tp 73, range 20 west, 157 37.100 acres.
James Peck, Dec 14, 1848, ne } sec 24 and sw t of se }, se } of sw } and e } of nwt sec 35, tp 71, range 20 west, 320 acres.
John J. Kennady, Dec. 14, 1848, n fr § of ne { sec 2, tp 73, range 20 west, 73 34.100 acres.
Samuel P. Martin, Dec. 14, 1848, w } se { sec 14, tp 71, range 21 west, 80 acres.
Samuel Fowler, Dec. 29, 1848, sw } sec 1, tp 73 range 20 west, 160 acres.
Alvin P. Chaad, March 1, 1849, w $ of se { and e } of sw } sec 34, tp 71, range 20 west, 160 acres.
Campbell Rankin, April 17, 1849, sw } of sw t sec 2, tp 72, range 20 west, 40 acres.
Samuel Mckinley, May 3, 1849, n } of nw { sec 26, and e } of sw t sec 23, tp 71, range 20 west, 160 acres.
Samuel T. Summers, May 3, 1849, e } nw } and ng of sw t sec 24, tp 71, range 20 west, 160 acres.
William Mckinley, May 28, 1849, sw } of ne }, se of nw, nw of se and ne { of sw } sec 20, tp 71, range 20 west, 160 acres.
John Mckinley, May 28, 1849, n } of nw { sec 20, and s } of sw t sec 17, tp 71, range 20 west, 160 acres.
Xury E. West, May 28, 1849, w + se } and e } of sw } sec 13, tp 71, range 20 west, 160 acres. Entered under a military bounty land warrant.
John Banks, June 8, 1849, nw fr } sec 19, tp 71, range 20 west, 155 12.100 acres.
Abner Mckinley, June 28, 1849, se } sec 21, tp 71, range 20 west, 160 acres.
Humphrey G. May, June 28, 1849, w } of ne } and e } of nw } sec 34, tp 71, range 20 west, 160 acres.
Solomon J. Hickman, June 24, 1849, sw { sec 36, tp 71, range 20 west, 160 acres.
John McMaines, July 23, 1849, se } sec 29, tp 72, range 21 west, 160 acres.
Samuel Payne, August 4, 1849, sw fr } sec 7, tp 71, range 20 west, 156 67.100 acres.
Edmund Colver, August 10, 1849; se } of se } sec 8, tp 72, range 20 west, 40 acres.
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James F. Robinson, September 20, 1849; sw } of se } sec 25, tp 72, range 20 west, 40 acres.
Joseph W. Allen, November 20, 1849; nw } of nw } sec 9, tp 72, range 20 west, 40 acres.
Thomas Wilson, Dec. 3, 1849; ne fr } sec 5, tp 71, range 20 west, 183 acres.
David J. Prather, Dec. 10, 1849; se } sec 5, tp 72, range 20 west, 160 acres.
William McDermot, December 20, 1849; sw } of ne }, and se } of nw { and nw } of se }, and ne. } of sw t sec 9, tp 72, range 20, west, 160 acres.
Philip G. Dunn, Dec. 24, 1849; se } of nw }, and ne } of sw } and w ֏ of se } sec 8, tp. 72, range 20 west, 160 acres.
James Roland, Dec. 30, 1849; se } sec 5, tp 72 range 20, west, 160 acres.
James G. Robinson, March 3, 1850; sw } of sw t sec 20, tp 72, range 21 west, 160 acres.
William T. May, June 6, 1850; w fr } of nw _ sec 1, and e fr t of ne } sec 2, tp 71, range 20 west, 157 acres.
David D. Waynick, September 24, 1850; w + of ne }, and nw } of se , and ne { of sw t sec 20, tp 72, range 21 west, 160 acres.
The United States Land Office remained in Chariton from February, 1853, until 1858, when it was discontinued, and the books, plats and papers were removed to Des Moines, pursuant to an order from the gen- eral land office, at Washington, which consolidated all the land offices of the state into one, at that point. During the period it was at Chariton it was under the official management, first of William Gilmore, from Dubuque, as register, and Col. Isaac Leffler, from Burlington. In 1854, Robert Coles was appointed register, and N. G. Sales, Receiver, by President Pierce. In 1856, Mr. Coles resigned and was succeeded by James Baker, now of Springfield, Missouri. In 1857 Mr. Baker resigned, and he, in turn, was succeeded by Joseph Braden, who retained the office until its discon- tinuance in 1858.
The largest land entries made in Lucas county by any one person, were those of Samuel Fowler, of New Orleans, Louisiana, in 1848, at Fair- field. The total of his entries were nearly twelve thousand acres, many of which his heirs still hold; or rather the heirs of his brother, Joseph Fowler, whose money was used in payment of this vast area of Lucas county. These lands were entered in the name of Samuel Fowler, but in his life time, and after the death of his brother Joseph, he conveyed them, by deed, to the heirs of the latter. The descriptive list of these lands in the deed, covers some five pages of the record in which the deed
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is entered. Many of these lands are still held by the heirs of Joseph Fowler; and, as is generally the case, they are held at prices which preclude them from being made into productive farms as soon as they otherwise would be. The wild land speculation mania of earlier days did much to retard the development of very many portions of the west, as is shown in this instance.
COUNTY ORGANIZATION.
Since the existence of nations, the territory comprising them has been sub-divided into subordinate civic organizations. First, the state or province; next, the county, shire, parish or district; and finally, the township. In England the realm is divided into shires, the same as coun- ties in this country. Under the present land system of that country, how- ever, township organizations would be insignificant, as one of the size of a congressional township in Iowa, would not often contain more than the estate of a single landed proprietor. In the colonial days of this country, the English system was initiated in some of the colonies, notably in Virginia. Mr. E. M. Haines, in his work on "Township Organizations," of Illinois, also gives some account of the organizations of the county system in this country. He says:
"It originated with Virginia, whose early settlers soon became large-landed proprietors, aristocratic in feeling, living apart in. almost baronial magnificence on their own estates, and owning the laboring part of the population. Thus the materials for a town were not at hand, the voters being thinly distributed over a great area.
" The county organization, where a few influential men managed the whole business of the community, retaining their places almost at their pleasure, scarcely responsible at all, except in name, and permitted to conduct the county concerns as their ideas or wishes might direct, was moreover consonant with their recollections or traditions of the judicial and social dignities of the landed aris- tocracy of England, in descent from whom the Virginia gentleman felt so much pride. In 1734 eight counties were organized in Virginia, and the system exten- ding throughout the state, spread into all the southern states, and some of the northern states; unless we except the nearly similar division into ' districts ' in- South Carolina, and that into ' parishes ' in Louisana, from the French laws.
" Illinois, which with its vast additional territory, became a county of Vir- ginia, on its conquest by Gen. George Rogers Clark, retained the county organi- zation, which was formally extended over the state by the constitution of 1818, and continued in exclusive use until the constitution of 1848. Under this sys- tem, as in other states adopting it, most local business was transacted by those
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commissioners in each county, who constituted a county court, with quarterly sessions.
This system of county organizations has been continued and improved in the various American states, and is, to-day, more perfect in its workings than it was in colonial days. Its affairs are brought down closer to the masses of the people, and the system is more in keeping with our form of self-government. Its landed interests are not in the hands of a few aristocratic proprietors, by whom the county affairs are managed, but the soil is generally owned by the tiller, and divided among the people in moderate quantities, according to their pecuniary circumstances and dis- position for this branch of industry, who, with every other male citizen has a voice in the general management of their county affairs.
As heretofore noted, the first act in the organization of Lucas county was that of the last territorial legislature of Iowa, when it passed the act, January 13, 1846, to "establish a new county, which shall be called Lucas, and define its boundaries." Under the present state constitution, adopted in 1857, "no new county shall be hereafter created containing less than four hundred and thirty-two square miles, nor shall the territory of any organized county be reduced below that area." The same instrument also provides, that "no county or other political or municipal corporation shall be allowed to become indebted, in any manner or for any purpose, to an amount, in the aggregate, exceeding five per centum of the value of the taxable property within such county or corporation-to be ascer- tained by the last state or county lists, previous to the incurring of such indebtedness." These are safeguards for the protection of the tax payers against the wild schemes of 'financial and political adventurers.
Under an act of the second session of the general assembly of the state, entitled "an act to organize Lucas county," approved January 15, 1849, and supplemental to that of 1846, defining the boundaries of the county, the first section provides "that the County of Lucas be, and is hereby organized from and after the 4th day of July next, [1849]." Thus, pro- vision was made to place the civic machinery in operation; first, by the appointment of three commissioners to locate the county seat. These commissioners were Wareham G. Clark, of Monroe county; Pardon M. Dodge, of Appanoose county, and Richard Fisher, of Wapello county, who proceeded to perform the duties thus assigned to them. There was much interest shown by the early settlers then on the ground, as to the precise location of the then future seat of the new county, and several were looking for pecuniary advantages. John McMaines, a single man, "came west" to find his fortune, and "grow up with the country." With this view, he purchased eighty acres on the south limit of Chariton, in the expectation that he could secure the location of the county seat upon it. In this he failed, however, though he came so near it that the present
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town already extends to the northwestern limit of his location. He was the first sheriff chosen by the people at the election of August, 1849, and after his official days ended, and his speculative prospects seemed to have waned, he pushed on to the more distant west in Colorado. Another who was similarly inspired with the county seat mania was William S. Town- send, who was commonly called "Buck" Townsend, for "short," and who became somewhat conspicuous in the early days of the county's history, as will be observed. He made a claim in 1848, which was then, and is since somewhat historic, as shown by the following facts.
In the autumn of 1846, the year the Indians were finally transferred be- yond the Missouri river, a body of Mormons peregrinating through the State, from Nauvoo, Illinois, from which they were driven by the force of events, located themselves for the winter of 1846-7, in the edge of the timber skirting Chariton river at its angle from the southwest corner, to southeast corner of the county, and nearly two miles southeast of the present county seat. Here they erected two or three log shanties, in which they remained for nearly a year, when they pushed on to their New Jerusalem in Utah.
These were the first white people sojourning in Lucas county. Their settlement thus being at the angle or sharp turn in the Chariton river, which forced the timber out to an extended point, they gave it the name of " Chariton Point." The next year-1848-after this Mormon exodus, Mr. Townsend being the next white man who came to this locality, he located a claim covering their abandoned settlement at "Chari- ton Point," upon which he erected a house, the first and only one in this part of the county, where he resided for some time after. Tradition says that Mr. Townsend, in his burning anxiety for the county seat to be located upon his "claim" at the "Point," or the Badger farm, as it is now called, procured a bogus petition set- ting forth its advantages for the future metropolis ot Lucas county, and forwarded it to the legislature, then in session at Iowa City. But it did not secure its purpose.
Mr. Townsend's house served for many months as an "inn," for the . hungry wayfarer, for public gatherings, and as the business head-quarters of the county officials.
In August, 1849, when the commissioners appointed to locate the county seat came, they met at the house of Mr. Townsend, where had also gathered almost every man in the county. It was a grand holiday with most of them, and a matter of self-interest with some. There are some traditional incidents connected with this locating occasion, which are of interest, and should not be lost in the graves of those who were participants in them. Besides, they illustrate the rugged and buoyant spirit of those who were charged to make these early innovations upon
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the wild domain, which had but recently been abandoned by the red man, through the incorrigible force of the tide of civilization toward the " star of empire."
From the lips of one of the locating commissioners, an incident is related, out of which resulted a historical fact which should not be lost of record. The first morning after the commissioners arrived on the ground, they started on their official tour of inspection, and strolled down along what is now known as Wolf Creek, south of Chariton, unconscious of any liv- ing object in their course, when suddenly a wolf started up. They gave it chase, and finally caught it. Securing it in a sack they returned to " Buck" Townsend's house that evening, some four miles distant, where they staid all night. Nearly every person in that section came to Town- send's the next morning to see the commissioners, when, by way of enter- tainment, they gathered what dogs they had, took the wolf out of the sack and let him loose, to see the fun; and the last they saw of the dogs and wolf the dogs were a little ahead in the race. From that circum- stance they named the stream along which they caught the wolf, " Wolf Creek."
The next morning, the commissioners and those who kept them con- stant company, started out from Townsend's house, at "Chariton Point, " on a tour of inspection in a northerly direction, when they came to a stake some four feet high, which proved to be a government land mark, at the corner of sections 19, 20, 29 and 30, township 72, range 21, west. After a moment's pause, commissioner Wareham G. Clark asked some one to help him upon this stake, which was done; and after surveying the coun- try about him for a moment, he promptly and emphatically said: "Gen- tlemen, this is the county seat of Lucas county." In this declaration the other commissioners at once joined. Several persons were doubtless dis- appointed in this prompt decision of the commissioners, but none more so than Buck Townsend and John McMaines. Mr. Townsend subsequently left the county for the west, and is said to have been drowned in the Mis- souri river while crossing it on the ice.
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