USA > Iowa > Madison County > History of Madison County, Iowa, and its people, Volume I > Part 36
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The aspects of Nature seem always to have influenced the character of its inhabitants, as Sir Walter Scott says of his homeland :
"O Caledonia! stern and will, Meet nurse for a poetic child !"
So we would reasonably look for poets along the course of North River.
Up toward the northwest corner, along what is now known as the Stringtown road, there resided in the early 'zos a band of brethren associated together in a Methodist class. The old reaper. Death, invaded the brotherhood and took one of them. One of the mourning brethren endeavored to partially express his appreciation of the departed one and his grief over their loss in a poem. It is written in the style and measure of Bryant's Thanatopsis. It is too long for reproduction here, but a copy of its concluding paragraph will give some idea of its character and its merits. It ranks high, considered as unprofessional work.
So let us live. That when our pilgrimage on earth is done, And Time shall toll our summons to the skies, To tranquil pleasures of a purer realm We'll part in peace. "Twill not be very long, "T'il those who still survive us shall pursue The course we swiftly run. And soon again. We'll meet around the throne of God in heaven With all our loved ones who have gone before. To share the joys of everlasting life. And love immortal.
-C. L. Harlan.
Winterset, Towa, June 11. 1872.
About the year 1866, an appreciative observer of the scenery along the river, in the vicinity and above and below the IJogback, tried to express his apprecia- tion of that scenery in a little poem, so short that I will give a full copy. It is one of those
"Jewels, that on the stretched forefinger of Time, Sparkle forever."
NORTH RIVER
Shall Burns sing the Afton, the Doon and the Ayr, And others less famous, sing rivers less fair, Yet thou, noble North River, still glide along U'nmentioned in story, unhonored in song ?
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Shall landscape so lovely as seen from thy hills, And fountains so crystal as seek thee in rills, And prairies and woodlands so lovely as thine Call no sweeter muse to their service than mine?
Thy stream winds as clear, through a valley as fair, As either the Afton, the Doon or the Ayr, Yet thou art unhonored, while they are renowned, Wherever a lover of song can be found.
No wonder that murmurs come up from thy tide, And seem all Hesperian poets to chide ; Such beauty still calling, yet calling in vain For merited praise, has right to complain.
Sweet river, thy landscape is fair to behold ; Thy vale is so verdant, thy bluffs are so bold; Thy woodlands abounding in cool, shady bowers ; Thy hill-points ascending in high rocky towers.
From whose lofty summits, O, is it not grand, Thus sitting with pencil and paper in hand, To gaze on a scene so romantic and bold As never before was my lot to behold?
Assist me, ye Muses! O, swell your fair throats With your sweetest, your grandest, your loftiest notes ; I feel, but I fear I can never portray With justice, the grandeur of what I survey.
Far northward, ascending till met by the sky Like uprising billows, the prairie lands lie, With here and there visible over their swells, A farm indicating where somebody dwells.
While eastward and westward, and northward ascend The wood-covered hills, like a wall 'round the bend Where sweetly meanders thy cool stream along. Thou noble North River, fair theme of my song
But now, the bright sun, sinking low in the west, No longer reflects from thy stream's silver breast ; Thy valley grows dark, and thy woods gather gloom ; So farewell, sweet stream, I must hie away home. (By George W. Seevers, Sr.)
So in view of what I have written and what I have copied, I submit my claim that Douglas Township is, and of right ought to be, "The land of poetry."
CHAPTER XXXV
LINCOLN TOWNSHIP
Lincoln Township is bounded on the north by Douglas, on the south by Monroe, on the east by Scott and on the west by Webster. Middle River crosses through its territory from west to east a little north of the center. There were large bodies of heavy timber when the settlers first came and the supply of lime- stone and buikling stone is practically inexhaustible. Coal has been found crop- ping out of the bluffs along the banks of Middle River. In the center portion of the vicinity of Middle River the surface of the country is quite rough and broken, but in the southern and northern portions the prairies are beautiful and just rolling enough to make the most desirable farms. Numerous small streams and springs provide an abundance of fresh water for stock and all of the township is now occupied and under improvement, showing beautiful homes. substantial farm buildlings and fences, bridges and well kept roads.
Lincoln Township has a natural curiosity in the topographical feature of the locality, known as the "Devil's Backbone," a big formation of nature, about five miles west of Winterset on Middle River. This is a "high, rough rock ridge. so narrow that at the top there is only room for a wagon road. The Middle River running from east to west strikes the ridge, which is over two hundred feet above the water level and thence bears away in a circuitous route and some two or three miles further down its course bends around until it passes on the other side of the same deep, high ridge. From water to water directly through the ridge is less than one hundred feet. An early settler in that neighborhood, named John Harmon, together with his sons, tunneled the ridge through solid rock, occupying three years' time to do the work. They thus obtained a waterfall of twenty feet, making it the most desirable site for a mill in the western country. A large room has been made in the rock around the mill end of the race, making as delightful a bathing place as can be found anywhere. A large grist mill and sawmill has lately (1868) been erected at this point by Messrs. Wilkin & Com- pany. This 'backbone' is quite a curiosity and worth going a long distance to see."
This township was settled as early as 1847, Absalom Thornburg. C. D. Wright and Daniel Vancil coming that year and settling in the timber along Middle River. James Bertholf and Elijah Perkins arrived early in 1849. Alexan- der Bertholf, his sons, Alexander, Zachariah, George and James, and Joshua Gentry and Rev. John Hootan, settled in the township in 1851. It was not long thereafter when William Harmon, a Mr. Skidmore and John Macumber con- tributed their presence and energies to the new settlement.
Elijah Perkins was a native of New Hampshire, immigrated to Ohio when a young man, where he taught school for several years, and came to the State of
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STONE HOUSE BUILT BY HON. B. F. ROBERTS
This house was built in the early '50s and was used as a station on the "Underground Railway." It was later used as a boarding house for the employees of White & Munger's woolen factory which stood near by. It is well preserved and is still used as a residence. Many of these houses were built in the '50s and '60s in Madison County.
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Iowa in 1848. Early in the year 1849 he located on section 14, in this township, on which he made many improvements.
John Hootan was born in Madison County, Kentucky, in 1805, removed to Indiana and from there to Madison County, Iowa, in 1849. He removed his family here in 1850. Mr. Hootan was a Baptist minister, and it is said, always took off his coat to preach. He was rather eccentric in his habits and mode of dress. Tradition has it that he used wooden pins to hold up his suspenders and while on the platform walked back and forth, continuously haranguing his audience. During one sermon, so it is said, being much interested in his subject, the clergyman stepped off the platform with a jolt, but this did not break him of the acquired habit.
David Halgarth came in 1850 and was one of the township's substantial farmers. He also was a member of Company F, Thirty-ninth Iowa Infantry and served three years in the Civil war.
Isaac Jessup first lived in Indiana and in 1849 settled in Warren County, Iowa, from whence he came in 1851 to this township. He was a member of the Fourth Iowa Infantry in the Civil war. When Mr. Jessup first came here he split rails for 25 cents per 100, paid 10 cents per pound for meat, and for eighteen months carried all his grain that was used in his family for breadstuff to mill on his back.
Jacob Leinard left his home in Harrison County, Ohio, in 1852, and came to this township, where he secured 200 acres of land 212 miles southwest of Win- terset. A daughter, Anna Christina, was united in marriage to Lewis Thornburg in 1855.
John Brown came to the county from Ohio in 1854 and was one of the frugal and prosperous farmers of Lincoln Township. Along about this time Caleb Clark, who first settled in South Township in 1846, and in 1849 in Douglas, removed to this township on a farm near Winterset.
In 1851 E. G. Perkins entered 240 acres of land in Lincoln Township, which he partly improved and then returned to his home in New Hampshire. Six years thereafter he came back to the township and eventually removed to Jackson Township. He served the county as treasurer and recorder when the offices were combined, and was also a member of the board of supervisors.
John Reed was a native of England and came to the county in 1855. He owned and operated a sawmill near the "Backbone."
J. A. Macumber immigrated from Ohio in 1853 and became one of the large landowners of this township.
James W. Evans was a settler as early as 1855. In 1858 he married Catherine J. Vancil. Mr. Evans died in 1874.
J. F. Brock, who held the office of sheriff four years and was the incumbent of various township offices, settled in the county in 1856. He enlisted in the Thirty-ninth Infantry in 1862 and served during the war.
T. Conard was a Holmes County, Ohio, man and in 1856 forsook the Buckeye State for Iowa and settled in Madison County. He was a member of the Thirty- ninth Iowa Infantry in the Civil war, serving three years.
Samuel Duncan was a native of the State of New York, removing with his parents to Ohio, from there to Indiana and from the Hoosier State to Iowa in
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HISTORY OF MADISON COUNTY
1853, when he became a citizen of Madison County. He has held various Lincoln Township offices.
The Lorimors. B. F. and A. W .. were Ohioans who found Iowa a good place in which to live and raise their families, hence the year 1856 found them located in this township. The Lorimor brothers for several years were the largest sheep men in the county.
Benjamin Titcomb, a native of Maine, removed to Illinois and after a residence of ten years arrived in this county in October, 1854. He held various township offices and died in October, 1876. His son Otis enlisted in the First Iowa Bat- tery and died from disease contracted in the army in 1864.
In a few years Lincoln Township had many substantial farmers, some of whom were before and others followed those last mentioned in this article. Among them were Joseph MeKibben, Benjamin Hartsook. William Cameron, Dr. William L. Leonard, Nathan Newlon, George 1. Beerbower. D. G. Martin, Samuel Gordon, Samuel Duncan, Isaac Hogle, John Huffman and C. Fink.
No attempt has been made, because of its impossibility, to describe all the brave, industrious and worthy men and women who came to Lincoln Township in its early days and opened out and improved farms and began that great move- ment which has made the township and the county so well known for its fine farms, splendid homes, good schools and church buildings. But many of the names worthy of mention and not found here will be noticed on the pages of the second volume of this work.
Lincoln Township at one time prided itself upon having within its borders a woolen mill, whose products found a ready market not only locally, but abroad. This industry was known as the Madison Woolen Mills and was established in 1865 by J. T. White and N. W. Munger, the buildings being located on a spot 11/2 miles west of Winterset, on the Council Bluffs road. These struc- tures were of stone, 40 by 50 feet, three stories high, with a wing 20 by 50. containing engine, boiler and dye room. In addition there was a two-story ware room 20 by 40, and a half dozen dwellings for operatives, altogether making a little village. The machinery was manufactured expressly for the mills and combined all improvements up to that time. All the rooms were heated by steam pipes connected with the boiler. The establishment furnished employment to twenty-five operatives and turned out annually 30,000 yards of woolen goods and large quantities of yarns, consuming about sixty thousand pounds of wool.
THE CHURCH OF CHRIST
This church was organized about the middle of December. 1853. by Elder Irvin W. Gordon, at the log house of Joseph Brinson which stood on the south- east quarter of the southwest quarter of section 9. Lincoln Township. Those who united themselves together as a band of Christians on this occasion were : Irvin W. Gordon and wife, Sarah; Caleb Clark and wife, Ruth: William I. Gordon and wife, Sarah : Joseph Brinson and wife. Rebecca : Israel Miller and wife, Cynthia: William Bird and wife, Sarah; Nancy Jane Gordon, Martha Gordon, James Farris, Sr. Among those who preached for the congregation the first few years were Elders Washington Short, Gill. N. E. Corey, James Rhodes, J. P. Roach and Noah. Services were held the first years usually at the homes
OLD STONE SCHOOLHOUSE NEAR BUF- FALO MILLS, SCOTT TOWNSHIP
WEST STAR CHURCH, DOUGLAS TOWNSHIP
AFTON ROAD BRIDGE, LOOKING NORTH, LINCOLN TOWNSHIP
AN OLD CABIN IN LINCOLN TOWNSHIP
OLD BERTHOLF HOMESTEAD IN LINCOLN TOWNSHIP
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HISTORY OF MADISON COUNTY
of the members and occasionally in the old log courthouse, when not used by others.
There is a church in the Ord neighborhood that is well attended.
THE GORDON BAND
With the coming of Irvin Walton Gordon from Versailles, Indiana, who set- tled near the center of Lincoln Township, October 15, 1852, appeared the first distinctively musical aggregation in Madison County, for many years known all over this portion of the state as the Gordon String Band. Its first appearance before the general public was upon the occasion of the third celebration of July Fourth held in this county-July 4, 1853-in a grove southeast of the square and close to Winterset, across the draw and next east of "Gospel Ridge." On this occasion the players and their parts were as follows: J. Newton Gordon, clarionet A ; I. William Gordon, violin : Samuel A. Gordon, bass drum ; Jonathan Gordon, snare drum; Jackson Porter and Reuben Hanna, violins ; Dr. J. H. Gaff, clarionet. Granville Bond, from Adel, was an all around helper in different parts, especially the violin. This band played at most of the important gatherings in Madison and adjoining counties during the '50s and even later on. During the year 1860 the first brass band was organized in the county at Winterset, by the Ayers Brothers, then in the drygoods business. The elder one was E. J. and the younger one Oliver C., who later enlisted in the Thirty-ninth Iowa Infantry and was killed at Allatoona. This band had twelve pieces and its members were as follows : E. J. Ayers, leader ; Asbury Nosler, clerk of band ; John D. Holbrook, baritone; Samuel G. Ruby, tuba ; Jerry Barker, tenor ; llamilton Leisure, alto : Oliver Ayers, B flat ; E. J. Ayers, E flat ; "Yankee" Clark. E flat; Newton Gordon, E flat ; William Holbrook, alto; Charles Williams, alto ; Frank Mclaughlin, E flat. This band continued doing business until E. J. Ayers removed in 1864; about then the band broke up. During all this time the Gordons were doing something with their string band at private entertainments and on public occasions.
CHAPTER XXXVI
CRAWFORD TOWNSHIP
This is one of the first townships created in the county and was first given the name of East Township, which was later changed, together with the boundary lines, to conform with the present limits and to follow the proportions of an exact congressional township. George W. McClain, John Carroll and Seth Adam- son were appointed by the Commissioners' Court trustees of the said newly created township, which as it now stands is bounded on the north by Lee, on the south by South, and on the west by Union townships. Warren County forms the east boundary line. North River, Middle River and Cedar Creek flow directly through Crawford Township from west to cast and on all of these streams originally were large groves of timber. Limestone in moderate quantities and some coal are indigenous products. There is probably no region in the county better watered than this, as numerous springs and small streams abound, pro- viding the best of refreshments for stock and drainage of the land. The surface is more rough and rolling than any other township in the county, yet most of its land is susceptible of cultivation and throughout the township are some of the choicest farms in Madison County.
It was to Crawford Township that Hiram Hurst, the first settler, was attracted and here he set up his stakes for a permanent settlement on the Ist day of April, 1846, rehabilitating an old bark wick-i-up left partially standing by an Indian, its last inhabitant. That spring and summer he planted and cultivated a small patch of corn and in the fall returned to his home in Buchanan County, Missouri. for his family, which he brought back with him to his new home and settled on section 36. As the first settler in the county, the name Hurst stands ont inter- estingly and significantly, so that considerable space has been devoted to the history of Madison's pioneer. Those interested may be fully informed by revert- ing to the chapter entitled Madison's Advance Guard of Civilization.
The next person known to have settled in Crawford Township and who became a permanent settler was Thomas Cason, who bought the Hurst claim on section 36, in July, 1847, and took up his residence there. J. J. Cason was a member of his family. The Casons immigrated from Indiana and when Thomas chose the Hurst place for his future home he had two sons, W. T. and T. T. Cason. The latter was born in 1837 and the former in 1843. Both boys remained on the old homestead for many years and became important citizens of the township.
J. B. MeGinnis, Thomas Stewart. William Weakley, Jacob Kinkannon, Jackson Nelson and George Salisbury were here as early as 1851 and the widow Shreves and sons, John, Jonathan and Jonah, became citizens of the township in 1852.
Oliver Crawford arrived here in 1852, coming from the State of Ohio with his family. It was in honor of Mr. Crawford that the township received its
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name. Both he and his wife have long since passed away, leaving the following children : Mary J., Sarah A., Robert J., Elizabeth E., Maria T., William W. and Charles S. Crawford.
James Gillaspie, still living and a resident of Patterson, was born in County Londonderry, Ireland, in the year 1830, emigrated to the United States in 1852, and to this county in 1856. Mr. Gillaspie recently prepared a history of the Irish settlements in Lee and Crawford townships, and as both these divisions of the county were largely made up of the Irish race, Mr. Gillaspie's relation of his people's migration to this land of plenty and prosperity finds an interesting place at the close of this chapter.
Thomas W. Folwell was a shoemaker who left Holmes County, Ohio, in the fall of 1851 and located in Winterset, where he followed his trade 412 years and then located on section 20, where he for many years cultivated the soil, improved his farm and lived as one of the important citizens of the community. One son, John M., died in the army, while a member of the Fifteenth Iowa Infantry.
Michael Loftus was born in Ireland in 1817, married Bridget McGloon in 1845 and two years after immigrated to Canada. In 1855 he came to Madison County and located in Crawford Township and raised a large family of children.
Patrick Swift came to New York from Ireland in 1848 and remained there until 1856, when he settled in this county and acquired several hundred acres of land.
S. E. Shannon came to the county in the fall of 1855 and married Mary E. Hughart in the fall of 1865. Shannon was a member of Company B, First Iowa Cavalry, and served three years in the Civil war with honor to his name.
Among those who came later than the above mentioned and identified them- selves with the stability and prosperity of the township may be mentioned, as far as possible by name. Aaron Howell, John Holton, George Blosser, John and Ephraim Potter, Elvis Stout, Jonah Shreves, J. M. Huglin.
James and Abner Bell were settlers here at an early date, and "the latter, a large, imposing and vigorous man of four score years, still lives in the locality of his first trials and triumphs."
The Hardy schoolhouse east of Patterson received its name from one of the early families living in that vicinity.
One of the largest landowners in Crawford Township in the latter '50s was Aaron Howell, who had a farm of over nine hundred acres under cultivation. He came to the township in 1855 with but a few hundred dollars in his pocket, but by economy, perseverance and diligence became one of the richest farmers in Madison County.
One of the early millers in Crawford Township was J. M. Huglin, who had a grist and sawmill on Middle River, where he did a large business. About this time the firm of Carson & McDowell also had a steam sawmill on the river.
The Adamson schoolhouse was located and built on section 35 in the early '50s. Among the pupils were Tom, Bill, Calista and Elizabeth Cason; Mills, Solomon and a daughter of the Adamsons; Jesse, Rebecca, Mercy, Abner D. and Martha, children of Rev. Henry A. Bell; William, Sanford, Permelia and another maiden of the John M. Johns family ; Milton, Lorenzo Dow, William, Jr., and a daughter, all belonging to William Smith ; John, Malcolm, Abbott and
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a little girl, children of David Worley. A. A. Moser taught this school, which was held about the winter of 1852 or 1853.
IRISH SETTLEMENT IN CRAWFORD TOWNSHIP By James Gillaspie
Lee and Crawford townships were largely settled by natives of the Emerald isle. The history of this hardy and thrifty people, who came into the wilderness, made for themselves homes in this new world and contributed to its prosperity, was tersely related by one of them, James Gillaspie, in a carefully prepared paper, for the Madison County Historical Society, in March, 1907. Mr. Gillaspie was born in Ireland in the year 1830 and immigrated to this country in 1852, landing in New York City. In the early part of the year 1856 he found his way to Madison County and settled in Crawford Township. Here he took up a residence and it was in this old homestead he wrote the history of the Irish families of Lee and Crawford. Mr. Gillaspie was true to his adopted country in the hours of her peril and in 1864 enlisted in Company A, Sixteenth lowa Infantry, serving until the close of hostilities between the two sections of the Union at strife. He returned home and in course of time filled most of the important offices of his community. This worthy son of "Ould Erin" lived a long and useful life in Crawford Township and gained the esteem of a large circle of friends and acquaintances. Now for the story :
The first settlers did not come here, as some suppose, by any preconcerted plan, in order to form a settlement, nor were they lately landed from Ireland. They were men of families for the most part who had lived for several years in other states of the Union. Some were farmers before coming to Iowa and some followed other occupations of life. lowa being then a new state, and its lands to be had at Government price, many sold their possessions in other states in order to better their conditions in lowa. As Des Moines was about to become the capital of the state, it was but to be expected that immigration would flow to the capital, and as the lands within several miles of Des Moines were nearly all owned and hell by eastern speculators, people wishing to purchase farms were compelled to scatter out from that city. So the first Irish families liking the looks of the country, located in what is known as the Irish Settlement. This settlement consists of two townships in Warren County, as well as the townships of Lee and Crawford in Madison County. But for the purpose of this article, 1 confine myself to the Irish settlers who located in Madison County prior and up to 1860. I will begin with Crawford Township and give the names of those who settled north of North River, the year they came, as far as possible, and also as far as I know, where they came from directly to lowa. They are as follows:
Andrew Connor and family in 1854 or earlier : came from Wisconsin ; is now dead; father of Stephen and John Connor of Crawford, and Michael, of 1.cc.
Patrick and John McManus in 1854, from Wisconsin. Patrick is dead ; family moved away. John's family moved from here.
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