USA > Iowa > Madison County > History of Madison County, Iowa, and its people, Volume I > Part 40
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Earlham Chapter, No. 294, Order Eastern Star, was organized October 24. 1900, by Mrs. Emma Fox, Mrs. Louise Hatfield, Mrs. Ella Carroll, Miss Dayse Catterlin. Miss Edna Klingensmiller, Mrs. May Monroe, Mrs. Mary Maulsby, Miss Ismay Packard, Miss Enia Thomson, Mrs. Elizabeth Thomson, Mrs. Augusta Wilke, William Best, George Fox. W. A. Monroe, U. E. Maulsby and Fred Wilke.
Earlham Lodge, No. 546, 1. O. O. F., was organized April 21, 1802, with the following charter members: J. H. Maxwell, N. G .; Fred Bilderback, V. G. : J. . 1.
Friends Church
Presbyterian Church
Christian Church A GROUP OF EARLHAM CHURCHES
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HISTORY OF MADISON COUNTY
Griswold, Sec .; E. S. Fry, P. G .; N. Bilderback, R. S. Males, E. B. Griswold, James McDonald, E. S. Fox, Jr., D. L. Gabbart, J. P. Osborne.
Marguerite Lodge of Rebekahs, No. 233, was organized October 18, 1895, by Josiah H. Maxwell, Louisa K. Maxwell, Seth H. and Maggie W. Clay, E. S. and Mollie J. Fry, C. M. and Agnes P. Crosswait, N. and Fannie Bilderback, Jennings P. and Maggie Osborne, James W. Fry, Jr., and Sarah E. Fry ; R. S. and Ella T. Males, George and Eva B. Fry.
Earlham Camp, No. 2162, M. W. A., was organized August 25, 1895, with twenty-one members.
Royal Neighbors Camp, No. 2439, was organized March 22, 1901, with twenty members.
CHAPTER XLI
JEFFERSON TOWNSHIP
Under date August 11, 1858, the County Court "Ordered, That a new township be made and established out of the west end of Badger Township, to be described as follows, to wit : commencing at the northeast corner of section 1, thence west to the northwest corner section 6; thence south to the southwest corner of section 30; thence east to the southeast corner of section 25 ; thence north to the place of beginning, all in township 77 and range 27.
"And it is further ordered and ordained that Badger Township be and remain all of township 77 and range 26.
"And it is further ordered that the said new township be known as and named Jefferson Township; and it is further ordered that the first election in said new township be held at the house of William Alford, in said new township, and that the warrant, provided by law, be directed to Addison Knight, constable, to post the notice and make the return required by law."
The township above named, as shown by the map, is bounded on the north by Dallas County, on the south by Union, on the east by Lee and on the west by Madison townships. North Branch passes through its boundaries from west to east and along this stream the settlers found an abundance of excellent timber. Badger Creek traverses the northern part but, unlike most streams, little, if any. timber was found along its borders. However, there were large areas of good limestone on North Branch and some coal of an excellent quality has also been found along this branch. Following the streams the surface of the country is quite rough and broken, but in other portions the prairies are high and rolling and in this age, excellent in all thngs, many fine farms, highly cultivated and improved, add beauty and interest to the general landscape. The northern part of Jefferson comprises a portion of that beautiful prairie lying between North Branch and Coon River, known as Quaker Divide.
Probably no person now in Jefferson recalis the fact that once the township, except the southern tier of sections, was a part of Badger Township, nor for that matter, that there ever was a township named Badger. There was a township by that name, however, which only existed from March 16. 1857. to September 0, 1858, at which latter date the name was changed to Lee, in honor of Harvey Lec. then a resident near the southwest corner of that township. At the first election held in the county, January 1, 1849, for the purpose of perfecting its organization, what is now Jefferson Township was included in that part of the county desig- nated as North voting precinct. At the second meeting of the Commissioners' Court, held February 19, 1849. this included as a part of Union Township, one of the three townships created on that day. On July 8, 1850, the east two tiers of sections now within the confines of Jefferson, with other territory, was in-
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HISTORY OF MADISON COUNTY
cluded in a new township named East, whch comprised the territories of the present Lee and Crawford and the northeastern corner of Union.
This township was named in honor of Thomas Jefferson, third President of the United States. At the first election for township officers, party lines were not drawn in local matters and but one ticket was placed in the field. However, the township was decidedly republican. The north four and a half miles of its terri- tory constituted a part of what was in early times known and designated as "Coon Divide." Being practically destitute of timber it was not settled very rapidly. It had two periods in the history of its settlement during which nearly all of its first settlers arrived-from 1854 to 1859, and from 1866 to 1870. But the land in that portion of the present township along North River and North Branch was quite well occupied by 1866.
Pursuant to notice issued by the County Court electors of the township first met at the house of William Alford on October 12, 1858, for the purpose of electing a list of officials. Alexander Ballentine was chosen chairman and the elec- tion board was completed by the selection of William Payton, Alexander Ballen- tine and Thomas Myers as judges ; Anthony Myers and Samuel W. Nicholson, clerks. The following list of persons were elected as the first officials for the township: Trustees, George Fisher, William Alford and William McCleary ; clerk, Samuel W. Nicholson ; assessor, Anthony Myers ; road supervisors, district No. I, George Gutshall ; No. 2, William Payton ; No. 3, John P. Clark. The latter being exempted, William McCleary was appointed in his stead November 18th following. Justices of the peace, Daniel H. Rose and Alexander Ballentine ; con- stables, John B. Nicholson and William B. Norris. At this election the following persons voted: Thomas D. Nicholson, William L. Brown, Jacob Riegel, Harvey Smith, John Gossage, John H. Mitchell, John B. Nicholson, William Alford, Wil- liam Payton, D. H. Rose, George Fisher, George Fisher, Jr., William M. Fisher, Thomas S. Myers, John S. Moon, George W. Mullen, Alexander Ballentine, Daniel Jones, Thomas Jones, William B. Norris, Ilugh Ballentine, Thomas Myers, A. J. Ballentine, Alexander Chambers, Merit Cunningham, William McCleary, S. W. Nicholson, H. T. Ballentine, Anthony Myers and John W. Roderick.
James Brown settled on North River in southeast quarter, section 36, 77-27, then Union, now Jefferson Township, in 1847, at Brown's Ford ( later Brown's Bridge ).
Among the first settlers were the Gossage, 1848 (?) ; Smith, 1852; Bowers, 1853 (?) ; Bauer, 1854; Folwell, 1850; Payton, 1854; Brown, 1847; Rose, 1854; Gutshall, 1854; Nicholson, 1854; Schoen, 1852, and Fisher, 1855, families. It is said that John Gossage was here as early as 1848 or 1849, and turned over the first sod broken in the county on what afterwards became the Nicholson place.
Samuel Folwell left his home in Holmes County, Ohio, in 1850, and making his way west to Iowa, settled on section 34. in this township. A son, James D., lost his life from disease contracted while in the army. He was a member of Company B, Fifteenth Iowa Infantry.
Josiah Smith came to the county with William Lucas and the Bennetts from Springfield, Illinois, and settled in Jefferson Township, in 1852. Thomas J. Mckenzie married Mary, a daughter of Josiah Smith, in October, 1854, the cere- mony being performed by J. K. Evans, justice of the peace. By 1870 Josiah
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Smith had quite a large nursery, which he soll to a brother, Harvey Smith, in 1873.
In January, 1852, as will be seen later on in this chapter, William Schoen bought a claim on the south half of section 35, on which he took up his residence and through industry and good judgment brought it to a high state of cultivation. It was his home for a great many years.
Stephen Bower arrived in the township in 1853: D. 11. Rose, George Gutshall and Thomas Nicholson, in 1854.
S. W. Nicholson was born in Jefferson County, Ohio, and came to lowa from that state in 1854. Ile entered land on section 18, in this township. During the same spring William Payton and James Brown located near. These three families were among the first to locate in Jefferson Township. Mrs. Nicholson taught the first school on the divide between Council Bluffs and Des Moines, in a building whch long stood near the Nicholson residence. Mr. Nicholson died in 1874 and for many years thereafter the homestead was ably managed by his widow, who was a member of the first religious organization in the township- that is to say, the Methodist Episcopal Church, which was organized in July, 1855, at the home of William Payton. The society at that time consisted of William Payton and wife, D. H. Rose and wife, John Mitchell and wife, George Mullen and wife. S. W. Nicholson and wife, George Gutshall and two others.
Tra C. Walker and his bride, Lucy Edmondson Walker, settled in Jefferson Township in 1854. Here they found an unbroken tract of land on North River. where Mr. Walker built a home and from the waist-high, grass-grown land, he made a farm which had no superior in Madison County. Winterset and Des Moines were their only markets. In 1910 Mr. and Mrs. Walker celebrated the sixtieth anniversary of their wedding day.
George Fisher, Sr., was born in Brown County, Ohio, in 1807, and immigrated to Iowa in 1855, settling on section 4, in this township. When he began farming at his new home he had the help and comfort of his wife and children. He be- came one of the prominent men of the community and brought his place up to a high state of improvement. Edward S. Fisher, a son, who came with his father in 1855, took hold of the farm when the eller Fisher practically retired from active affairs.
E. Kopp, spoken of elsewhere, was one of the German settlers who came here in an early day and located in the spring of 1856 on section 34. In the same year Jacob Riegel located on section 26.
Among other settlers in this township of the early day, who may be here mentioned, were the Brittains, the Renshaws, John and Adam Shambaugh, the former of whom twice represented the county in the State Legislature. There were also George Mueller and others, mentioned in an interesting article which follows, prepared by Herman Mueller. There were .A. D. Fletcher, the Brookers, Burgers, Storcks and Cooks. The names of many of the pioneers of Jefferson Township, not here enumerated, will be found in the second volume of this work.
No mill has ever been built in Jefferson Township for the production of food stuffs, but a sawmill was erected in 1856 by Jacob Riegel, which was run by water power, on North Branch. This primitive industry continued in operation over twenty years, under different ownerships, however.
The Jefferson schoolhouse was erected during the fall of the year 1858. It was
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HISTORY OF MADISON COUNTY
the first building put up exclusively for school purposes, out of the public funds of the township. The Payton church and schoolhouse, however, was built before this time, with funds contributed by individuals for the two purposes, that is, for a Methodist meeting house and public school. The Jefferson schoolhouse was a frame 24 by 30 feet, and all the material used in it was produced by the Eli Cox steam sawmill on North River, with the exception of the shingles, which were hand shaven. The plastering was the work of Jesse Truitt, of Winterset. All the carpenter work was done by John P. Clark and William McCleary, includ- ing the seats and the pulpit style of desk for the teacher. The contract price was $200. For those times this building was considered quite a grand affair. It stood upon a high hill near the William McCleary place and could be seen for many miles in all directions. In this old school Butler Bird, Timothy Adams, later a prominent preacher, and Zachariah Ross, also a minister, presided over the pupils. Charles Goodale, who for three terms held the office of county auditor, was also one of the teachers. The winter following the erection of the school- house, one of the largest Methodist revivals held in the county brought large gatherings of people here for several days and nights.
After the present Jefferson schoolhouse No. 7 was built during the summer of 1874, the old building was sold to the Jefferson Grange No. 895 and moved to the southeast corner of northeast quarter southeast quarter section 26, 77-27, and used for a hall until this organization disbanded, about the year 1877-78. Jef- ferson Grange was organized February 18, 1873, and William McCleary was the "shining light" and "guiding star" until its close. The building was sold to the Widow Jones and used for a stable for many years afterwards.
THE GERMAN ELEMENT IN JEFFERSON By H. A. Mueller and George Storck
During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, when England, France and Spain were exploring and colonizing America, the German states being divided into petty principalities and rent with religious wars, did not take part in the movement on the Western Continent. It was in the beginning of the eighteenth century that the first Germans came to Pennsylvania, encouraged by William Penn ; hence, there were more Germans there than in any of the other colonies and they became known as the Pennsylvania Dutch. Palatines, Moravians and other Germans settled in Maryland, New York, Virginia and the Carolinas, and the Salzburgers in Georgia. They were all sober and industrious, and took little part in politics but many of them fought in the Revolutionary war. They had come to America because of persecution in their own country, and were seeking a free land. Since 1820 one-third of the immigrants have been Germans. The revolutionary movements of 1848 in Europe caused emigration in large num- bers. It was from this time on that we received some of the best of the German refugees, as Hecker, Franz Siegel and Carl Schurz.
Some of these immigrants would land at New York and other large cities, and, having no particular destination, would remain and later, possibly, migrate westward. Some went by way of the Eric Canal, Lake Erie to Detroit, and many settled in Michigan and Wisconsin. Others took the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad
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HISTORY OF MADISON COUNTY
to Pittsburg, thence down the Ohio River and up the Mississippi and settled at St. Louis, Keokuk, Burlington and Davenport ; from these points they went out and settled over lowa. Those going by way of the Erie Canal route, Erie Raitroad and by steamer on the lakes, went to Chicago and points in Wisconsin : 10 Mil- waukee, the place made famous by its breweries, and thence to Dubuque and Clay- ton counties. The Pennsylvania Germans and those in other states moved with the tide of emigration to Ohio, Indiana, etc., and thence to lowa.
Thus we have the three routes of travel by which most of the Germans in the middle of the nineteenth century came to lowa and we find representatives of most of them in this county.
In Madison County there are three distinct German settlements. Mention will be made of the oldest one, in the southeast part of Jefferson Township. William Schoen was the first one to settle here. In fact, he was the first foreign born set- tler in Madison County. Two Pennsylvania Germans, I. G. Houk and O. .. Mosier were in the county before him.
William Schoen was born September 1, 1826, at Grabow, Mecklenburg. Schwerin, Germany. He served in the Schleswig-Holstein war against Denmark from 1848 to 1851, enlisting March 20, 1848, in Company K. Ninth Battalion of Infantry. He engaged in the battle of Hoptrug, July 26, 1848, Kolding, April 23, 1849, where he received a gunshot wound in the foot and a bayonet thrust in the leg ; was in the battle of Stotert, July 6, 1850, and was made first sergeant of Company I. He was discharged January 1, 1851, and sailed for America on the 8th of March that year, landing on the 7th of May, 1851. He reached Elm Grove, Marion County, lowa, July 12, 1851, where he remained until January, 1852, when he came to Winterset and bought a claim of John Wilhoit, January 7. 1852, on the south half of section 35, Jefferson Township, then being part of Union Township, and has lived there ever since. Miss Dorethea Lorentzen came from Germany to Mr. Schoen's home, in the summer of 1851, and was married to him July 6, 1852, by N. W. Guiberson, then a justice of the peace of Union Township. William Schoen enlisted at Des Moines, in September. 1861, in Company G. Six- teenth Volunteer Regiment of lowa Infantry ; participated in the battles of Pitts- burg Landing and Shiloh and was discharged September 15, 1862, on account of rheumatism. He served as school director in 1873 and justice of the peace in 1881. For a number of years, from 1877 to 1890, he conducted a creamery, which was of much significance to the farmers. His lovable wife went to her reward on the 6th day of September, 1890. Mr. Schoen died May 6, 1910, and was laid away by the side of his wife in Jefferson Cemetery, May 8, 1910.
Along with Dorethea Lorentzen came a neighbor, John Spethman, who lived in the community until 1866. His family followed him in 1854, and his son, Leopold, served in Company B, Fifteenth lowa Infantry. The next German set- tler in this vicinity was Stanislaus Baur. Hearing of Mr. Schoen while at Win- terset, in July, 1854, he came there and bought the land he owned on section 25. Jefferson Township. One son, George, now lives in Stuart, lowa, and the other son, Robert, lives on an adjoining farm in Jefferson Township. Ilis only daughter, Mrs. Withrow, died a few years ago. Mr. Baur also died some years ago. His widow lives at the old homestead. In the fall of 1854. Jacob Riegel and family, consisting of twelve children, came from Davis County and settled on section 20. He was a Pennsylvania German, whose parents had settled in the
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HISTORY OF MADISON COUNTY
Keystone State after the Revolutionary war. Mr. Riegel built an up-and-down sawmill, run by water power, in 1854-5, on land now owned by William Schoen, and for several years, until about 1873, sawed lumber for the surrounding com- munity.
On the same ship with William Schoen were William and Theodore Kopp, who came with him to Marion County. In the fall of 1851 they moved to Pella, where they were joined by their brother, Ernest, in 1854. In the fall of 1854 they settled in Madison County, on section 34. William lived on the farm now owned by August F. Burger on section 34 and Theodore where William H. Burger lived, east half, northeast quarter section 34, 77-27. They were from Stettin, Germany, and were highly cultured, but not educated to do with their hands, so were not successful in a new country as pioneer farmers. In 1856 William Kopp went to Keokuk, to edit and manage a German newspaper, and in 1857 to New York and later to Boston, as editor of the Heinzen Pioneer. In 1869 he went to Detroit as editor of the Detroit Post and resided there until his death. Mr. Kopp was also a talented musician and wrote several songs, for which he composed the music.
Theodore Kopp sold his first farm to Gottlob Burger in 1859, but lived in the neighboring community until he enlisted in Company A, Thirty-ninth Iowa In- fantry, in 1862 ; he died at Rome, Georgia, August 27, 1864. Theodore was mar- ried after coming to Madison County. Three daughters are living in Des Moines -Mrs. Charles Budd, Mrs. Lottie Dolphin and Mary Kopp.
Ernest Kopp lived more or less of the time with William Schoen until his marriage (in 1867) to Elwvilda Owen. For several years he lived on the west half of the northwest quarter of section 34, Jefferson Township, and about 1884 moved to the farm on section 27, where he spent the rest of his days. Mr. Kopp was also well educated in the schools of Germany and, from 1876 to the time of his death, taught music throughout the northeast part of Madison County. He has four children living, Mrs. John O. McCleary, Mrs. Grant Taylor, Charles Kopp and Elizabeth Kopp, now married and with whom her mother lives.
About 1859 Louis Stracke located in Winterset and conducted a county dispen- sary until the fall of 1860, when he moved to the northwest quarter of section 25, Jefferson Township, and farmed until 1866. He then moved to Warsaw, Illinois, where he died a few years ago.
In 1848, Gottlob Burger came to the United States and assisted in building the first railroad in Vermont. Later he went to Cincinnati, Ohio, where he married Mrs. Frances Zweigla Burger, in December, 1850. Mr. Burger was born in Ess- lingen, Wurtemberg, January 8, 1825. After his marriage he moved with his family to Keokuk, Iowa, where for a while he conducted a bakery business, that being his trade in the old country. Keokuk being a landing place, he later hauled freight from the Mississippi steamers and made several trips with merchandise to Winterset in the '50s, by way of St. Charles. He knew Louis Stracke, and through his acquaintance with Schoen, he bought the farm owned by Theodore Kopp and moved thereon in 1859. Mrs. Burger had been married to a cousin of Gottlob Burger and to them were born five children, all excepting one coming to Madison County, namely : August F. Burger; Mrs. Van Buren Wiggins, who died in 1900; Mrs. Louisa Hoppe; Frederich Burger, of Lamar, Colorado; and Charles Burger, of Des Moines. Those by her marriage to Gottlob Burger are: William H. Burger, of Jefferson Township; and Mrs. Henry Brown, of Lamar,
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Colorado. Mr. and Mrs. Burger continued to live on this farm, where they reared their family, until 1891, and then sold it. After living two years with their daugh- ter, Mrs. Henry Brown, at Hamburg, Iowa, they returned to Jefferson Township. and bought the Folwell Farm, on section 34. Mrs. Burger, a noble woman, died February 14, 1901. Mr. Burger then sold his farm to his son-in-law, Henry Brown, and since has been living with his children. lle is another of those sturdy pioneers who helped to make this county what it is today.
As mentioned above, August F. Burger came to the United States with his parents and to this county in 1859. He was born August 3, 1843. When the Civil war broke out he enlisted in Company B, Fifteenth lowa Infantry, Septem- ber 22, 1861, and was discharged August 3, 1865. He took part in over fifty battles and skirmishes and was in the Grand Review at Washington. On his re- turn he purchased a part interest in the Weller Mill, married Ellen Fosher in 1867. and purchased the farm on which he now lives, once owned by William Kopp. In 1894 Mrs. Burger died and on December 25, 1896, he married Miss Laura Mueller. They have three children, August F., Jr., George and Herman Louis.
William H. Burger was born November 3. 1852, at Keokuk, lowa; came to Madison County with his parents in 1859 and married Albertine Marquardt, March 13, 1883. He purchased the home farm of his father in Jefferson Town- ship and later soll this farm and now owns 400 acres in sections 22 and 27. 77-27. They have a family of five boys and one girl.
Frederick W. Burger, a second son, came to Madison County with his parents ; enlisted in Company B, Fifteenth lowa Regiment ; on his return he married Ellen Turney and owned a farm in Lee Township. Later he conducted a meat market in Winterset : he died in June, 1908, in Des Moines, and his remains were laid to rest in the old neighborhood cemetery in Jefferson Township.
Dr. Henry d'Duhuy, a brother-in-law of William Schoen, immigrated from Germany about 1856, and lived near Riegel's Mill. In 1857 a postoffice was es- tablished, called Bloomingdale, and d'Duhuy was its postmaster in 1857-8. He later moved to Union Township, in the Farris neighborhood, taught school, farmed and, about 1863, enlisted as a surgeon in the Union army. He died a few years ago in Kansas City.
Julius Reiman was born August 23, 1842, in Germany, and came to Lee Town- ship, Madison County, in 1860. In 1866 he rented the farm, which he after- wards owned, of Louis Stracke, who had moved to Warsaw, Illinois. Mr. Rei- man, with his mother, went to Germany in the summer of 1860, where she died and he returned in the fall of the same year. He lived at various places, but in 1872 bought a farm in section 25, Jefferson Township, and in June, 1874, married Miss Anna Schultze. Ile lived on this farm until his death, March 25, 1805. His widow and children live on the farm, except one son, John.
George Mueller was born September 11. 1842, in Hohnsheidt, Eder Town- ship. Principality of Wakleck, Germany. He came to America when a young lad, in 1859, and to Winterset in 1860. He with his cousin, Louis Stracke, located in Jefferson Township in the fall of 1860. In the winter of 1861-62 he went to Keokuk, lowa, and then to Warsaw, Illinois, where, in 1864, he married Miss Katharine Schott and immediately returned to Jefferson Township. In 1866 he had rented a part of the Schoen place and that fall bought a farm in section 2,
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