USA > Iowa > Marion County > History of Marion County, Iowa, and its people, Volume I > Part 14
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SWAN TOWNSHIP
Swan Township embraces that part of congressional township 77, range 21, lying south of the Des Moines River, and has an area of about twenty-four square miles. On the north it is bounded by the Des Moines River, which separates it from Perry Township; on the cast by the Township of Union; on the south by Pleasant Grove, and on the west by Warren County. Originally about one-half prairie and the remainder was covered with timber. Several small streams flow through the township, the most important of which is Sugar Creek in the northern part. Coal is found in various localities and several veins have been worked in the past, though at present there are no mines of commercial importance.
After the big flood of 1851 the people of Perry Township living on the south side of the Des Moines River became dissatisfied with conditions as they then existed and started a movement for the or- ganization of a new township. On February 20, 1853, a petition signed by Eli Vanderford and thirty-eight others was presented to the county judge asking that Perry Township be divided and that portion south of the river erected into a new township to be called Swan. It is said that this name was proposed by one of the residents, Vol. 1 - y
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who had formerly lived in Swan Township, Athens County, Ohio, and that it was selected because of its beauty and brevity. Judge Brobst granted the prayer of the petitioners and ordered that the first township election should be held on the first Monday in April, 1853, at the house of Charity Groom. Thirty-seven votes were cast and the following officials were elected: Edward Murray, James Metcalf and Jacob Haynes, trustees; H. W. Groom, clerk; Eli M. Cole, assessor; Samuel P. Hamilton and J. Metcalf, justices of the peace; A. G. Young and Robert McElroy, constables.
As the territory comprising Swan Township lies west of the Red Rock line established by the treaty of October 11, 1842, it was not opened to white settlement until October, 1845. During the late fall of that year and the year 1846, the following persons settled within the present township limits: Charles M. Thomas, Jesse Johnson, James Crabb, the three Markly brothers, Harrison Freel, William Groom, John Henry, William H. Palmer, John Groom, John Stroop, John Firman and his three sons; Jesse Walker, William Bundren and Mary Tout. In 1847 the population was increased by the arrival of Daniel Hunt, John Butcher, Andrew Schirner, the Childers family and a few others. From that time on the growth of the township was steadily onward and upward, both in population and wealth.
The first white child born in the township was Emma Jane, daughter of William H. Palmer. She was born on October 8, 1846, grew to womanhood and became the wife of James H. Easley, for many years a resident of the township. The first marriage was that of William Markly and Miss Eva Groom, which was solemnized in February, 1848.
Jesse Walker planted the first orchard, on the farm afterward known as the Jacob Camp place, and some of the trees were still living forty years later, being over twelve inches in diameter and still bearing fruit. The first religious services were held by a United Brethren minister named Forbes. The first timothy seed was sown by Daniel Hunt in the spring of 1848.
The first school was taught by John E. Groom, but the date can- not be learned. The cabin in which this school was taught stood on the east side of Daniel Hunt's farm, on the Hoosier Prairie, and had been erected by a man named Moore. In 1914 there were four school districts in the township, exclusive of the schools in the incor- porated town of Swan. Five teachers were employed during the preceding school year.
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A fine example of the manner in which justice was meted out to offenders in early days is seen in the history of Swan Township. Five brothers-Jonas, William, John, Ebenezer and James Castner -were among the early settlers. All were men grown except James. Jonas was the only one married and they all lived with him, about two miles west of the present village of Wheeling. The reputation of these people had preceded them and was such that the law-abiding citizens concluded that they were no profitable addition to the settle- ment, to say the least. It was rumored that the Castners had been driven from Missouri, and after coming to Marion County they were closely watched, the reputable people being determined to get rid of them at the first opportunity. Such an opportunity was not long in coming. "Bill" Castner went to Illinois, where he took part in a daring robbery, was arrested and confined in the jail at Quincy. He succeeded in breaking jail, however, and made his way, closely pursued, to the home of his brother Jonas.
News of his escape reached the people of Swan Township and a self-organized posse determined to watch Jonas' cabin for his arrival. They secreted themselves in such a way as to be able to see all that took place about the cabin, knowing that the family expected his return that night, and that his brother John had left home to join him. Midnight came and passed without developments of any kind. Then the posse heard the hoot of an owl in the timber not far away. and this was answered almost immediately by an owl near the house. The suspicions of the watchers were aroused, but they waited pa- tiently until daylight before taking any action. Then Ebenezer and James were taken into custody, after the cabin had been surrounded, and informed that unless they told just what the hooting of the owls meant they would be severely punished. At first the two boys denied all knowledge of any signals, but after James saw the gad in the hands of a brawny man, whose countenance showed that he would be willing to use it, the boy weakened and told how the hooting of the owl in the timber was made by John and Bill to let him and Eb. know where they were, so that they could take them something to eat. This story was afterward corroborated by Ebenezer, but not until after a few lashes had been applied to his back to awaken his recollection and his conscience. The two boys then led the posse to the place where the brothers had been concealed, but the nest was empty.
The next step was to order the whole family to quit the country within a given time, or take the consequences. The time expired
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without any move on the part of the Castners, and again the citizens gathered to see that the order was enforced. They compelled the family to hitch up the team and load their household goods, etc., upon the wagon, after which they were escorted by a guard to a point beyond Bremen, Monroe County, where they were admonished to "keep on going."
In the meantime Jonas Castner had removed to near Hartford, Warren County, and some time afterward the people of Swan Town- ship learned that Ebenezer was at his brother Jonas' house. A com- pany of men from Swan and Pleasant Grove townships and Warren County was hastily organized, Wesley Jordan was elected captain, and the company then started for Jonas Castner's house. They were discovered by Jonas and Ebenezer, who were watering their horses at a spring, carrying their rifles with them as though in anticipation of an attack. The horses were at once abandoned and the two brothers took shelter in the house. When the company was drawn up in front of the house, Jonas came to the door and announced that he would shoot the first man that came within a certain distance. Captain Jordan replied that they had come for his brother and would not leave until he had been produced. Eb. then came to the door with a large butcher knife in his hand and demanded to know what they wanted. Jordan reminded him that he had promised not to return to this part of the country and that he had violated his word. He was then notified that he would be given a specified time to leave the country for good, or be severely handled. Someone suggested that as Jonas had been guilty of harboring his brother, the order to leave should apply to him also. Captain Jordan then called upon all those who were in favor of including Jonas to step one pace to the front, but just then Jonas appeared in the doorway with his gun and threatened to shoot any man that took the forward step. Imme- diately every gun in the company was leveled at him, when, conclud- ing that discretion was the better part of valor, he hastily retreated within the house and closed the door. A few minutes later he was apprised of the result of the vote, and within the time specified he left the country.
The Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad enters the township from the south, about two miles from the southwest corner, and fol- lows a course a little west of north to the Town of Swan, where it turns to the west and crosses the western boundary of the county about a mile south of the Des Moines River. Swan is the only sta- tion in the township.
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In 1910 the population of Swan was 750, and in 1913 the taxable property was assessed at $615,036.
UNION TOWNSHIP
Union Township was erected by order of the county commis- sioners on October 7, 1850, in response to a petition signed by a number of persons residing in townships 76 and 77, range 20, south of the Des Moines River, asking that the territory above mentioned be organized into a new township, to be known as Union. It was further ordered that the first election should be held on the first Monday in April, 1851, after which date the organization of the township should be regarded as complete. For some reason not plain the date of the election was changed to Wednesday, April 2, 1851, when Andrew Stortes, Alfred Rees and William Ballard were elected trustees ; Simeon Reynolds, clerk; James Amos, treasurer ; Samuel E. Teter and William M. Norris, justices of the peace ; John W. Broadess and Robert Gusten, constables; Andrew Stortes and Samuel Ballard, road supervisors.
On the north, Union is bounded by the Des Moines River, which separates it from Red Rock Township; on the east, Polk; on the south by Knoxville, and on the west by the townships of Pleasant Grove and Swan. Its area is about twenty-six square miles. Along the Des Moines River the surface is somewhat hilly and was origi- nally covered with timber. The southern portion is mostly upland prairie, well adapted to agriculture. Ballard and Teter creeks are the principal streams.
Foremost among the pioneers were: George, Samuel E. and Wesley Teter, John Butcher, Hiram Steel, Duncan Neil, John Flanders, Robert Gusten, Andrew Stortes, Simeon and George Reynolds, Richard and William Butcher, William Leuty, and a man named Vandenford.
Simeon Reynolds was a rather prominent character. He was a native of Dutchess County, New York, where he was born in March, 1786. After a residence of several years in Ohio, he came to Marion County in the fall of 1845, and in 1847 was elected a member of the lower house of the State Legislature. He was the first clerk of Union Township after it was organized and held the office at the time of his death on April 21, 1852. Upon arriving in Marion County, in No- vember, 1845, he moved into a little cabin that had been erected by one of the Butchers, to whom the Government had granted the privi- lege of settling there as early as 1843 in consideration of services he
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had rendered in making or repairing roads. The claim was at the time of Mr. Reynolds' arrival occupied by Hiram Steel and Duncan Neil, of whom he bought it, but not long afterward was surprised to learn that a man named Vanderbilt had entered the land and secured a title therefor. This Vanderbilt then took a fortified posi- tion on the north side of the Des Moines River with a view to hold- ing possession, but was finally persuaded to deed the land to Reynolds, who paid him the entrance money. Soon after his ar- rival, and the adjustment of the title to his land, Mr. Reynolds built a hewed log house, 18 by 24 feet, which served as a house of enter- tainment for immigrants going up the Des Moines Valley. It is said that this house was often so full of nights that late comers found it difficult to find a place large enough to lie down.
Wolves caused considerable annoyance to the early settlers, the timber along the river being one of their favorite haunts. During the winter of 1848-49, which was one of unusual severity, with a great deal of snow, many of these animals were slaughtered. Weak- ened by starvation and impeded by the deep snow, they were easily run down and killed by men on horseback. William Ballard and his two sons killed nine in one day, and others were equally active in exterminating them.
The Indians were also a source of trouble, on account of their disposition to appropriate anything that could be used for food. On one occasion a party of them, during the absence of Andrew Stortes from home, decided to help themselves from his corn crib. Mrs. Stortes, seeing that their supply of corn would soon be carried away, worked like a Trojan to save some of it from the thieving savages. Having no sacks to carry it in from the crib to the house, she took one of the bed ticks and in this way managed to preserve several bushels for the use of the family.
Samuel Teter was the first blacksmith and gunsmith in the town- ship. His first shop was under a tree, and a stump was used for an anvil block. Here he sharpened plow points and repaired guns for his neighbors until a shop could be erected. In the fall of 1848 he went to Iowa City, a distance of about one hundred miles, to enter his land, and for fear that someone would get ahead of him he traveled night and day, making the trip in forty-eight hours.
The first school was taught in the western part of the township, in 1848, by Nancy Beckwith, the schoolhouse having been a small cabin on the farm of Jacob Haynes. In 1914 there were six school districts in the township, in which seven teachers were employed, and the schoolhouses were valued at $3,900.
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Union is one of the three townships in the county that has no railroad. Knoxville and Pleasantville are the most convenient rail- road stations. In 1910 the population, according to the United States census, was 425, and in 1913 the property was assessed for taxation at $661,196.
WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP
Washington is one of the original ten townships erected by the county commissioners on January 6, 1847. As established at that time it included all of township 74, range 20, and township 74, range 21, or, in other words, the present townships of Washington and Dallas. When the Township of Dallas was organized on October 3, 1848. Washington was reduced to its present area of thirty-six square miles-township 74, range 20. It is bounded on the north by Knox- ville Township; on the east by Indiana; on the south by Lucas County, and on the west by Dallas Township. English Creek enters near the southwest corner and flows in a northeasterly direction through the township. Along this stream there was originally a broad belt of finc timber, but considerably more than half of the arca is prairie land.
Being situated west of the Red Rock line, where the land re- mained in the hands of the Sac and Fox Indians until October, 1845, Washington was one of the last townships in the county to be settled. So far as can be learned, it is believed that the original pioneer of Washington was Josiah Willey, who settled there in 1846, but sub- sequently removed to Lucas County. In 1847 William Hunt, John Asher and William Clear made claims in the English Creek Valley. During the next five years settlers came in slowly. Among those who located claims during that time were Hiram, Larkin, George W. and Simon P. Moon, Joseph Pershall, John and William Agan, Andrew Reed and John Stotz.
The year 1853 witnessed a large number of land entries in this part of the county, actual settlers and speculators being alike at- tracted by the beautiful prairies. In that year Brumfield Long made a claim and built a large cabin on section 23. His house became a lodging place for land prospectors, and it is said he lodged as many as twenty in one night, but all the food he could offer them was "corn pone."
In the order of January 6, 1847, it was provided that the first township election should be held at the house of William Tibbett, but no returns of that election are available. The first election of
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which any record has been preserved was held on April 5, 1852, when Andrew Reed, Hezekiah Willey and Joseph B. Snyder were elected trustees; Allen Pearson, clerk; Joseph Grove and Allen Pearson, justices of the peace; Henry Dresser and James Fletcher, constables. It is known, however, that prior to this election, Joseph Pershall and James M. Brady served as justices of the peace; Heze- kiah Willey, Joseph Scott and John Riddle, as trustees, and Allen Pearson, as clerk.
Hiram Moon was one of the best known of the early settlers. He was born in North Carolina, August 22, 1818, but removed to Indiana at an early age and lived in that state until the fall of 1848, when he came to Marion County. His cabin, on section 31, was the most western dwelling of a white man in Washington Township at the time it was built. Mr. Moon was a minister of the Christian denomination. His first sermon after becoming a resident of the county, was delivered at his own house on Sunday, March 4, 1849. In June of that year he organized a Christian Church of thirteen members. Ill health kept him in comparative poverty, but he re- tained his cheerful disposition and continued to preach occasionally to his little congregation at his own house until a short time before his death on January 25, 1861.
Allen Pearson, whose name appears above as the first township clerk, built the first brick chimney, the first shingle roof, and put up the first timothy hay in the township. He came from Missouri in July, 1849, and bought a claim from a man named Wilcut in section Io, not far from English Creek.
The first school was taught by Miss Mary Crowley in 1853, in a small cabin built by T. L. Strong, near the county line. Three school districts were formed in the introduction of the public school system, but five additional districts were subsequently created, so that in 1914 there were eight, in which twelve teachers were employed and 180 pupils were enrolled. The schoolhouses of the township were then valued at $4,300.
Washington has no railroad, and few events of a startling nature have ever occurred within her borders. The people are of that thrifty, industrious and frugal class which has done so much to build up the state, and are content to "pursue the even tenor of their way." The township stands eighth in population and sixth in the value of taxable property. In 1910 the population was 830, and in 1913 the property was assessed for taxation at $1,135,840, an average wealth per capita of nearly $1,400.
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BIRD'S-EYE VIEW OF KNOXVILLE. 1869
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CHAPTER VIII THE CITY OF KNOXVILLE
BEGINNING OF THE CITY'S HISTORY-SURVEYING THE SITE-AGENTS TO SELL LOTS-FIRST SETTLERS-CHANGING THE NAME-INCOR- PORATION OF THE TOWN- GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT-PUBLIC LIGHTING-TELEPHONES-WATERWORKS-CITY HALL-SEWER SYSTEM-PUBLIC PARKS-MISCELLANEOUS HISTORY-COMMIER- CIAL CLUB-LIST OF MAYORS-POPULATION AND WEALTH.
Knoxville owes its origin to the action of the commissioners appointed by the Legislature to locate a permanent seat of justice for Marion County. On August 25, 1845, two of these commissioners- Joseph M. Robertson and James M. Montgomery- made a report in favor of locating the county seat on the northwest quarter of sec- tion 7, township 75, range 19, "a high, level prairie or plateau, about one mile south of the exact center of the county, and in the near neighborhood of excellent timber." This is the quarter section upon which the courthouse stands. In their report, a full copy of which is given in Chapter IV, the commissioners did not recommend any name for the town, but to the local authorities they suggested that it be called Knoxville, to commemorate the patriotic services of General Knox, a distinguished American soldier in the Revolutionary war.
Soon after the selection of the site, Isaac B. Power, who was elected county surveyor on September 1, 1845, was directed to lay out the town. The first sale of lots was on October 29, 1845, George Gillaspy acting as auctioneer by appointment of the county commis- sioners, and on January 5, 1846, he was allowed $2 for his services.
On January 6, 1846, it was ordered by the board of commis- sioners "That Luther C. Conrey be, and he is hereby, appointed agent for the board of county commissioners to sell and dispose of the town lots in the Town of Knoxville; and that he give bond with security in the penal sum of $500, conditioned for the faithful per- formance of his duties."
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Mr. Conrey was succeeded on October 8, 1846, by Lysander W. Babbitt, whose bond was fixed at $300, and on November 16, 1846, at a called session of the board of county commissioners, the follow- ing action was taken:
"Whereas, The survey made by Isaac B. Power upon the plat of the Town of Knoxville is ascertained to be incorrect, it is there- fore ordered that said town be resurveyed by the county surveyor, Claiborne Hall, and it is further ordered that said surveyor com- mence at the rock at the southwest corner of the public square of said Power's survey."
Mr. Hall completed his survey in January, 1847. The plat as filed under his survey shows twenty-three blocks-two rows of five blocks each on the north side of the public square; two rows of three blocks each on the south side of the square; one block east and two west of the square, and three blocks extending southward toward Competine Creek in the first tier of blocks west of the square. The revised plat was filed with the county recorder on February 8, 1847, by Samuel Tibbett and David Durham, two of the county commis- sioners. In the meantime a second sale of lots had taken place on the second Monday in April, 1846, and some of the purchasers were a little alarmed at the order for a new survey, but Mr. Hall made his survey in such a way that the rights of every lot owner were fully protected.
Seventeen blocks were added to the town by a plat filed on De- cember 26, 1849, making the town five blocks wide from east to west and eight blocks from north to south. In 1852 Judge Brobst, county judge of Marion County, ordered the remainder of the quarter sec- tion embraced in the report of the locating commissioners to be laid out in lots, and appointed F. M. Frush, at that time county surveyor, to make the survey. The plat of this survey was filed on September 17, 1852, whereupon Judge Brobst issued an order that block No. 49 be set apart as a burial ground for the town.
In the first survey the streets were laid out eighty feet in width, with alleys ten feet wide through the center of each square each way. In the final survey the width of the streets was reduced to fifty feet, the fifteen feet on either side being added to the depth of the adjoin- ing lots.
Probably the first white settler within the present city limits was Dr. L. C. Conrey, who laid claim to the land upon which the county seat was afterward located, and in whose house the first meeting of the county commissioners was held in September, 1845. Other early settlers were Lysander W. Babbitt, Conrad Walters and the Jones
WEST SIDE OF SQUARE. KNOXVILLE
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family. Although some of the latter did not live immediately in the town, they were more or less intimately connected with the in- dustrial development of the embryo city, and for a number of years John M. Jones was proprietor of the Knoxville Woolen Mills.
CHANGING THE NAME
There was at least one citizen who did not like the name of Knoxville, and that was Lysander W. Babbitt. At the time Iowa was admitted as a state, in 1846, he was postmaster at Knoxville, and came to the conclusion that Knoxville, Iowa, might become confused with Knoxville, Tennessee, or some other town of the same name, in the handling of mails. During the session of the first State Legisla- ture, in January, 1847, Mr. Babbitt happened to have business in Towa City, then the capital of the state, and while there took it upon himself to secure the passage of a bill changing the name to Osceola. Upon his return home he informed David T. Durham, whom he had left in charge of the postoffice, of what had been done, and in this wav the "news got out." The indignation at Babbitt's presumption and officiousness was universal. A petition was hurriedly circulated and was signed by nearly everybody in the town, asking for the re- peal of the obnoxious act. It was then sent to Iowa City by a special messenger, who turned it over to Simeon Reynolds, the representative from Marion County.
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