USA > Iowa > Madison County > History of Madison County, Iowa, and its people, Volume I > Part 33
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William Gentry, with his family, migrated from Indiana to Madison County in 1847. and located on section 30. He was one of the three members of the first board of county commissioners. His sons, F. M. Gentry and W. W. Gentry, were of the family who came with him.
John Butler and John Evans were settlers in the township as carly as May 10, 1846. A day or so later came Irvin Baum.
Leonard Bowman was one of the settlers in this township of 1847. coming that year from De Kalb County, Missouri. Afred Rice, of the same place, was also a settler of 1847.
David Cracraft migrated from Buchanan County, Missouri, in 1847. 1le located on what is now known as the Withrow farm, and lies buried on the Brockway place.
Major Farris was the first one of that name in the township, coming in the spring of 1849 with his wife, Minerva, and child, Sarah Jane. He began the improvement of what afterwards became his father's place on the Ehm. the southwest quarter of section 11, but little of the land was broken that year. In March of the next spring, while sugar making north on the Beedle place, he took a severe cokl and died of pneumonia. Dr. J. H. Gaff attended him. His was the first burial in the old Farris graveyard.
About September 1, 1849, Charles Farris, wife and daughter, Nancy Jane, arrived here and lived in a tent with the Beedles and Major Farris. He spent part of the early summer in improving a tract of ground, then put up a cabin. Charles helped build the Major Farris double hewed log house that stood on
EDWIN R. GUIBERSON
Born in New Jersey in 1807 and mi- grated to Holmes County, Ohio. Served a term in the Ohio Legislature. Came to Polk County in 1848 and to Madison County in 1849. Was town lot agent for sale of lots in county seat, Winter- set, in 1849. Elected justice of the peace of Center Township February 23, 1850; school fund commissioner April 1, 1850; reelected in 1852. Elected Representa- tive for Madison County to the third General Assembly August 5, 1850 and again in 1858, serving in the third and seventh General Assemblies. Defeated for county judge by Judge Pitzer in 1855. Was elected judge in 1859 serv- ing one term. Died in 1864.
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later to Union Township and accumulated several hundred acres of land. Hc was one of the most successful live stock dealers in the county.
If one should attempt to give the history of Union Township in all its details, a goodly sized book would be the result. That means that the space required is greater than the scope of this work contemplates. The historical society estab- lished a few years ago, has gathered some little local data in a fragmentary manner, pertinent to the early history of the county, but the society, unfortunately, has been late in commencing operations. Most of the people who came on to the prairies and into the timber of the county in the 'Jos have either passed from earth or have gone to other parts of the country. Those remaining show the ravages of time, both physically and mentally, and but few there are who can be relied upon for a statement relative to events transpiring in the early days. so that if the reader becomes disappointed in not finding the names of certain families who carly settled in the community, or the relation of an incident seemingly of importance, and a part of the history of this community, these things should be considered as attributable to the utter impossibility of securing the necessary facts.
In Union Township, as in all new American communities, as soon as the necessary preliminaries of building habitations and garnering crops were con- summated, educational facilities were provided for the children, church organiza- tions were established and other things accomplished, to ease the burdens of life and seek the contentment that comfortable homes, well conducted schools, prop- erly maintained churches and general prosperity evolve.
THE FIRST SCHOOL By A. J. Hoisington
The first school in the township was erected during the fall of 1852, on the northeast acre of the northeast quarter of section 17, which was donated to the vicinity by Nathaniel W. Guiberson, who had entered that quarter from the Government in 1850. This log schoolhouse remained a few years, when a frame building was erected one mile south and a quarter of a mile east of the old one. Samuel Guye secured the contract for the construction of the building at $120 in cash. He was a millwright by trade and handy with tools. The structure was 20 by 20 feet and most of the sawed stuff was done at the old Pierson mill at Summerset, in Warren County. Rough one-inch oak boarding, six inches wide, was used for the floor, laid on smooth surfaced logs for sleepers, The ceiling was one-inch rough linn boards. ten inches wide; the rafters and sheeting were sawed out by James and George Guye with a whip saw. The shingles, which were of black walnut, were hand shaved and nailed on to the sheeting. The gable ends were weather boarded and nailed to split-out stud- ding, roughly evened on the outer side. A rough puncheon door hung by iron butt hinges was fastened by a thumb latch. It had no lock. There were six windows-three on the east and three on the west, each with twelve panes 8 by 12-inch glass. Seats were made of rude puncheon, split-out boards, smoothed on top by a jack plane, supported by legs, of which one end was driven into two-inch holes, bored into the puncheons near each end. But few of the pupils
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had desks the first few years. At the first terin a carpenter named Joseph Thomp- son made a combined seat and desk, with a lid, and gave it to Emma and America Pursel, who used it between them. This seat and desk was envied far and near throughout the county. Thomas Sturman made seats and desks for each of his three sisters and himself. A fairly good teacher's table was furnished by the district. The room was more or less heated by a long box stove that was 4 fect long, 2 feet wide and 2 feet high. It was built to hold a lot of wood. The stove stood in the middle of the room and the pipe went straight up through the roof. This big "wood eater" was a second-hand monster and had been used by William Compton in his grocery store at Winterset.
The first term taught in this then "grand new schoolhouse" was by John Jordan, of Pella. He began his ministrations on the first Monday in December, 1852. and continued the term twelve weeks. Basil Pursel was the school director. Succeeding ternis were taught by the following persons; The summer of 1853 by Jane Sturman; winter term of 1853-54, a Mr. Wright, summer term of the year, Phoebe Gordon ; winter term of 1854-55. John Bird ; summer term that year, Jane Turney; winter term of 1855-56, a Mr. Lewis.
Following is the complete enrollment of pupils attending the first term of 1852-53 in the new schoolhouse: Thomas, Jane (married William Pursel), Harriet ( married a Mr. Kelly ), Sarah ( married Frank McDaniel), children of the elder James Sturman ; Eliza (married Alfred Brittain), Missouri (married Jack- son Jones), Dorinda (married James Henry Farris), Joel (died in 1860), and John James (died in the army), children of William Sturman; Francis M., Samuel Houston, Mary (married Elzie Evans), Elizabeth (married Enos Mills), Angeline ( married Henry Vanwy), Maria (married George Ludington), chil- dren of Samuel Guye ; William, Absalom K., and America M. (married William Guiberson ), children of Basil Pursel; Frank, Irene (married Joseph Thompson), children of Henderson McDaniel; Reuben and Emeline (married Jacob Shell- hart), children of David Cracraft; William, son of Nathaniel W. Guiberson ; Eliza (married Challen Danforth ), Cecelia (married Daniel Brobst), children of John B. Sturman; George D., Martha (married S. S. Guiberson), and John Thompson, children of William Ratcliff, whose widow had married Samuel Guye; Martha, Lizzie and Bruce, children of Samuel Stover; Rebecca Ann, Matilda and Phoebe Allison, sisters of Mrs. Philip M. Boyles of southwestern Union Township.
No very young pupils attended this school. At recess the larger ones indulged in a game called "snatch and catch 'em," which was similar to "drop the handkerchief." Sometimes on extra cold days this game was played until long after the noon hour, school being called about in time to be ready for a respectable dismissal at 4 o'clock. Jump the rope was also a popular pastime and also "blind man's buff." Occasionally there was a spelling school at night. Missouri and Jane Sturman usually "kept the floor" the longest when "spelling down."
GUYE SCHOOLHOUSE By A. J. Hoisington
Another educational institution of Union Township in the early days was the Guye schoolhouse, which was built at about the time or shortly after the Vol. 1-18
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Guiberson schoolhouse. There was some trouble experienced in getting the district divided from the Guiberson district. for the reason that there was not enough money to build a schoolhouse. Thereupon Basil Pursel donated hewed timber (sills, corner posts and plates ) for a building. George and James Guye. sleepers and joists ; Samuel Guye, the studding, Richard Cooper, sheeting. Thomas Townsend and William, his son, some other lumber, and Samuel Hildebrant. Ilampton Jones and Levi Smith also contributed building material, all of which was placed on the ground. The work of building was paid for out of public money.
Before this house was built, a term of school was taught in a house vacated by Levi Smith that summer. The first teacher was Thomas Townsend who lived on the Casper place. The term was three months. When Townsend got his certificate from the county superintendent he invited that official to visit his school, assuring him he would show him a model institution. When the super- intendent arrived at the Guye schoolhouse, he found Townsend sitting in the middle of the room with a six foot gad in his hand, which he would wave through the air in one direction, pound it on the floor and then wave it in another direction, exclaiming at each stroke "mind your books," and other like ex- pressions. He was a "Hard Shell" Baptist preacher and peculiar in his way, but the superintendent agreed with him that he kept order with his gad. The school official also learned that Townsend whipped at least one scholar a day : but he taught no more in that section of the county. Everybody agreed he kept order but wanted no more of his kind of teaching.
THE FIDLER CEMETERY By .A. J. Hoisington
James Fidler was the first man who died in Madison County. lle was well along in life and had been an almost helpless invalid some eight years prior to his location in this township. His death had long been expected by the family to occur at any time. Fidler took a claim and had built a cabin in the edge of the timber on section 9, up on the ridge west of Long Branch. Ile died early in October, 1846. There being no graveyard in the county, and one place being as good as another, naturally, he was buried on his own claim, a little north of his cabin in the woods. Later that fall a little child of David D. Henry's was scalded to death by tipping over a pot of water. The child's body was interred near Fidler's grave and this was the second burial there. Contemporaneous burials at this place were those of Jane, daughter of Chenoweth Casebier, aged about sixteen years; James Thornbrugh, Eliza Tremble, little Sarah Crawford, Anderson Crawford, Sarah Pender, four years old, who was burned to death ; Mrs. Mahala Simmons, wife of Henry Simmons, David Cracraft and one of his daughters, a child of Asa Mills and a child of Philip M. Boyles.
A SENSATIONAL WAKE By A. J. Hoisington
Jacob Evans died June 5, 1870. in Union Township, at the age of seventy- three and was buried in Winterset cemetery. All the members of the very large
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FARRIS SCHOOL, UNION TOWNSHIP Built in 1865. H. A. Mueller attended this school from 1873 until 1883
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family, except one son, were in a room adjoining where the body lay. The men, while laying out the body of the deceased, attempted to keep the partition door closed, but as often as they closed it, some one would partly open it again from the adjoining room, and the men observed that some members of the family were closely watching them. This caused annoyance and somewhat pro- voked them. It was after dark when the body was prepared and placed to one side of the room. It was decided to remove the bed out of doors into an out- building. This caused a disturbance in the adjoining room and it could be seen that those occupying it were peeping through the partly opened door. After removing the bedroom doors those attending the body discovered an old trunk under the bed, and while the bedstead was being taken down one of them got hold of the trunk, but at that moment two grown-up sons of the deceased rushed in, fighting each other, each one attempting to get to the trunk first. The at- tendants interfered, desiring to learn what the trouble was about, and finally made peace between the boys. One of the daughters then explained why the men had been closely watched and why the boys rushed in and were fighting. It developed that in that old hair-covered trunk, which was encircled a hundred times with bed cord, were their father's will and $4.000 in gold. Ever since he had moved to Iowa in 1851, that frail safe had been the storage place of a fortune in gold. In it Evans had brought the treasure then in view from Indiana to Iowa, and how many years the trunk had performed its peculiar duty before the removal of the family here none but the members knew. But it was a matter of local comment as early as 1857, when Mr. Evans paid for a building in the spring of the year just mentioned, which had replaced one destroyed by fire, the money came from that old trunk. During all his life in Iowa, either Mr. Evans or his wife was by that trunk. They never left it alone at any time. It was on their minds all the time.
Union Township has no trading point within its borders. At one time, in the later '40s, a little settlement was established at what later became known as Tileville, acquiring its name from the manufactory of tile in that vicinity. A. D. Jones ran a small store there for a short time. Here was Montpelier postoffice, first in the county. It has a railroad, however, but no station.
Fortunately, George W. Guye, one of the boys who came with his father, Samuel Guye, in the spring of 1846 and settled in this township, is still living and has been for some years past a resident of Winterset. He remembers many interesting things relative to his family, which history has now become part and parcel of that of Madison County. He says that he was born in White County, Tennessee, in 1826, and that the family moved to Sullivan County, Indiana, in 1828. In that year they turned their faces westward and arrived in the Territory of Iowa in 1841, stopping at Iowaville, in Van Buren County. They then took the old Mormon trail and reaching a point in Nodaway County, near Andrew County. Missouri, April 16, 1846, the family remained there until coming to Madison County, arriving in Union Township, April 28th. "As early as 1841," he relates, "we heard of the Three Rivers country, that it would be opened for settlement. There were glowing accounts of. this country coming to us from trappers and traders who had been here. Upon reaching the county, we stopped with Hiram Hurst two nights, and one night at Linn Grove with Lafridge Bedull, whom we knew in Missouri. The following night we were at Cruz
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Grove, north of Churchville, and the next night camped in the J. 11. Farris grove. where we stayed while staking out our claim, May 3. 1846. We built a cabin of linn logs in two days and this was the first real house in the county.
"Iliram Hurst put in a crop in the summer of 1846 and then went after his family, meeting its members at the state line. He had constructed a cabin of buckeye and hackberry, which he covered with elm bark. It was a small affair. It was here we visited him the day we crossed the Middle River. We were the first guests he entertained in Madison County. When we arrived he looked wild and got his gun, but we told him who we were and that we were looking for information. Ile said he had not as yet seen the country.
"My father, Samuel Guye, located on section 7. on land afterwards known as the Vanwy place. My claim was on sections 5 and 8, parts of which afterwards became known as the Hendricks and Ryner farms. James also located on section 8. The other members of the family were: Mary, who married Elzie Evans. and died in southwestern Missouri: Elizabeth, the wife of Enos Mills; Francis M., who later became a citizen of Seattle, Washington ; Samuel 11., who moved some years ago from the county to Des Moines: Angeline, the wife of Henry Vanwy; and Maria, who married George Ludington.
"When the land here was opened for entry, on January 1. 1850, 1 went to Iowa City on horseback to buy land. The journey there and back consumed seven days. I paid Judge Carrollton to bid in for me two hundred and forty acres. This was the first farm land sold in Madison County at that time. 1 might here add that I did not get my patent for the land on which I located and entered until twenty years afterwards.
"The members of my family farmed land on North River once cultivated by Indians. When we came here we brought from seventy to eighty head of cattle and one hundred head of sheep. We broke the prairie in 1847 with oxen, of which we had six yoke. We also had three horses.
"My parents were married in Tennessee. My mother owned slaves in that state at the time and before departing for Indiana permitted them to purchase their liberty. Arriving in the Hoosier State, my parents bought a fine farm and my father speculated in toll turnpikes, much to his disadvantage. lle was com- pelled to sell the farm and met with another disaster by taking $4.750 of the purchase price in bills of the State Bank of Indiana, which decreased in value fifty cents on the dollar before arriving in Missouri, where another farm was purchased in 1841. Not liking to live in a slave state, we left Missouri with some money, horses, cattle, sheep and household goods, and as has been before stated. arrived in Madison County, April 28, 1846.
"John Beedle, John Chenoweth, Samuel Casebier, my brother, James Guye. and myself went to Des Moines on the 2d day of August, 1846, to vote at an election which was to be held on August 3d to ratify the first constitution pro- posed in the State of lowa. We all voted for the adoption of the constitution. At that time I was only twenty years old."
PIONEERS OF UNION TOWNSHIP By .A. J. Hoisington
The story of each pioneer settler of Madison County becomes more and more interesting and romantic as the years go by. Over sixty years have passed since
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they began to arrive; only a very few of those old enough to remember their coming, what they did, how they lived and even who they were, are living to tell the tale.
Their names, where they came from, where they first located, what next they did and how they lived, their daily habits, their customs, their religion and politics and the manner of people they were-and, finally, what became of them-is of interest to us now. At random 1 will here briefly mention a few who came the first year or two-there is no special reason that I mention one and omit another, since I have no favorites among them.
Omitting Hiram Hurst and the Clanton and Guye colonies, which makes a little book by itself, since they were the first people, there came a few days after them the colony among whom are still well remembered, William Gentry, Philip M. Boyles, John Evans, Asa Mills and others. This colony was a large one and all were from Missouri. It should be recalled that Hurst, the Clantons and Guyes were all from Missouri, and for the matter of that, nearly all the settlers in 1846 and 1847 came from Missouri-Northwest Missouri.
David D. Henry came in May, 1840, and settled on section 20, Union Town- ship, on the north bank of Cedar Creek, where was a beautiful little bottom of prairie meadow, making the first improvement there. He had a family and was from Missouri. In 1851 he joined the California bound crowd and left, taking his family. He entered the southeast quarter of the northeast quarter and the southeast quarter of the southwest quarter of that section in 1850.
William Gentry came in May, 1846, from Missouri, first settling on the north half of the west half of the northwest quarter of section 30, Union Township, near where the present house stands on top of the hill south of Cedar bridge, straight north of Winterset. He entered one hundred and sixty acres there in 1850. He was one of the most prominent and active citizens of the county in the early days of its history-one of its first county commissioners and on the board that named Winterset and platted the town. Later on he sold out and set- tled on the north side of the lane, some distance west of where Tileville now is. Mr. Gentry's relation to the history of the early days makes him an important figure in many of its chapters. He lived out his days in the county he helped to mold and established and died respected by all.
Leonard Bowman came in the spring of 1847 from Missouri, and first settled on the east half of the southwest quarter of section 5. in Union Township. As the lands in this county were not surveyed until 1849, it turned out that he was on the quarter on which the Guyes had located the year before. There is quite a history to this quarter that pertains to pioneer history of the county which is herein related. Not only was this southwest quarter the one on which the pioneer Guyes first located, they being the first settlers west of close to the east line of the county, but it was the first tract of land entered in Madison County-January 21, 1850. To make the long story brief, George Guye beat Bowman to the United States land office, then located at Iowa City and got the land. After thus losing his claim, Bowman settled west of where the county farm now is, in 1850. He sold out about 1853 and moved to South Audubon County, lowa, where he lived and died. When here he had a large family, of whom some were quite grown up, among whom were sons, David, Reece, Daniel and Levi, and daughters, Mary and Cassie. David went to California, Daniel
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married Elizabeth Folwell, in 1854. and lived in Audubon County, and Reece and Levi went west beyond the Missouri River.
Brownfield came in June, 1846, with John B. Sturman and John R. Beedle, from Missouri. He had a family and settled on the northeast part of section 10, in Union Township, where Boone afterward owned some land. Ile made no improvements but a log cabin and left in 1848. His only distinction here, besides being one of the very first settlers, is that he was one of the five voters of Madison County, who went to Fort Des Moines and voted at the election, August 3, 1840, when the state constitution was adopted, which five voters marked the first road northeasterly to Des Moines on their way to vote.
Thomas M. Boyles, brother of Philip, came with the colony, a single man, and settled on the southwest of section 17. Union Township, which he entered in 1850. He arrived in May, 1846, and there settled, building a log cabin and cutting out a small clearing where afterward long resided the elder Sturman and his son Thomas. Late in the fall of 1847 he married a daughter of John Butler, who came with the Boyles from Missouri and who had settled in the south edge of the timber next east of the Philip Boyles farm. There was a great wedding, but the big boys of the then sparsely settled country were not invited. This slight they resented by organizing a charivari party. Having long distances to go they were late in getting to the Butler cabin. All had gone to bed, or it seemed to the boys they had, for the cabin was dark and quiet. The boys began their noise with every cow bell, stolen from the cattle in all the region about. They had two big dinner horns, tin pans and other things, with which to make the deafening noise. This infernal din they kept going until wearied out, but no one in the house seemed to give any attention to them. They were afraid to try to get inside, because they might meet with trouble. Finally, they quietly moved away, disappointed, tired and disgusted. Passing through the timber northward, crossing Cedar, they finally got to Boyles' cabin on the hill south of where Joe Forney lives now, de- termined to let Boyles and his bride know they had called that way. Of course the bride and groom were at Butler's. Boyles had three sheep only. The boys built a rail pen on top of a haystack and put in it the three sheep, but fearing the pen might not hold them and the sheep get killed or injured in the downfall. they finally took the sheep down from the pen on the stack and put them in the cabin, where they fastened them in and left them. Disarranging other things around the place they pulled out for their several cabins of abode, miles away for all of them. Toward morning they got home. It was a dead failure all around and the more so it seemed to them afterward when they could not hear even a whisper from any one concerning what they had done that night. . No one ever mentioned in their hearing, or so they could hear of it, anything about their doings. Most of all, the boys wondered about the sheep in the house, but they never knew, or heard. They have always supposed that when they left the Butler cabin, some one followed them, with the expectation of mischief at Boyles' cabin and that when they left the latter with the sheep inside, some one was there to right things. Thus ended the first charivari in Madison County. Among those in this crowd I remember to have heard named George W. and Francis M. Guye, Reece, Dan and Levi Bowman and Martin Baum. There were nine or ten in the crowd. Boyles later sold to the elder James Sturman and moved to Texas.
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