USA > Iowa > Monona County > History of Monona County, Iowa; containing full-page portraits and biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens of the county > Part 13
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As a lawyer, Gov. Boies has won prominence by his ability and well-grounded knowledge of law, an earnest and conscientious regard for the inter- ests of his clients, and the confidence and respeet he never fails to command in addressing the court or jury. His life has been a busy one, and success has been achieved by indefatigable industry. close study, and strict integrity of character. Ile is not a politician in the common acceptation of the term, and the nomination for Governor came to him un- sought and was only accepted through a sense of (Inty to the party with whose principles he was in close sympathy. Ile enters upon the discharge of his official duties under peculiar circumstances, but with the confidence of all parties that his adminis- tration will be able. honest and fair.
DISTORICAL
INTRODUCTORY
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CHAPTER I.
N the annals of Monona County, as the changes of but four decades are contemplated, one ean searcely realize or comprehend that these won- derful results of Time's marvel-working hand are the aeliievements of a period so brief and so recent as to be within the remembrance of the present generation.
Let us turn back, as it were, the leaves of Time's great book, to about forty years ago, and the stranger lingering in this portion of our beautiful State, would have gazed upon a lovely landscape, ground oft selected as a camping ground by the Omahas or the Sioux, with that singular appreeia- tion of the beautiful implanted by Nature in the breast of nearly every savage. The wide-spread, level bottom lands, the alluvial deposit of the tur- gid Missouri River, and the strange-shaped angular bluffs or rounded knolls, whose formation has puz- zled the intelligent and thinking geologist, all elad in their garb of verdure; wide stretches of way- ing grass, groves and masses of timber, and through the latter streaming the lovely creeks and rivers that marked their devions courses, as with a silver ribbon throughout its length and breadth; tall waving grass, green as the emerald, dotted with myriads of prairie blooms, meets the eye, but no sign of civilization, no token of the white man's presenee is visible on either hand. All is in its pristine state, fresh from the hand of Nature. But what a contrast with the present! Now all traces of the primitive are obliterated; in place of
the tall, reedy grass and spreading forest. one be- holds the rich waving fields of golden grain; the home of the deer, wolf and Indian has become the head of the corn belt of lowa. In place of the dusky warrior's rude tepee are the substantial and many times elegant dwellings of the thrifty farmers, and the iron horse, swifter than the agile deer, treads the pathway so recently the trail of the red man. Then the siekle of fire annually eut away the wild herbage, and drove to death the stag, the elk and the bison ; now it is the home of the cereals and nourishes upon its broad bosom millions of bushels of the staple products of the great Hawkeye State. Then the storm drove the wild wolf to his lurking place; now the blast forces the herds of the husbandman to the comfortable shelter provided by patient industry for their use. The transformation could not be more complete.
It now becomes the pleasant task of the historian to note down upon the pages of history the trials, the troubles, the conquests of the hardy pioneers who laid the foundation for these metamorphoses. Lessening each year under the relentless hand of (leath, the early settlers, who first broke the way for civilization, and planted the broad banner of pro- gress on the virgin prairie and among the fertile hills of Monona County, are fast passing away. Therefore it behooves us to gather from their lips the tales of by-gone days which they alone can tell ; tales of how they, bold, adventurous pioneers, both men and women, leaving the friendly shelter of the
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parental roof-tree, pushed out into this domain of the wild beast and his scarcely less wild brother, the red Indian, and here earved ont for themselves new homes and founded the new settlements on the border of civilization.
In many cases their bent forms, furrowed brows and hoary hair tell of the battle with trial and hardship, the fight for life against want and penury ; but the bright eye, the firm glance, tell that they have conquered after a long struggle, as only a noble band of heroes could conquer. They, the victors in the struggle, seem spared to sanctify the homes that they have founded in this domain of nature.
Their deeds deserve a niche in history, a tablet that will long ontlast the stately monuments of stone or bronze that will sooner or later mark the place where they will "sleep the sleep that knows no waking," and to this end, their words have been gathered from their lips, ere it is too late, that future generations may have the advantages of their example and life.
But forty years ago these now productive acres, these rich grazing lands, these fertile and well-tilled farms, were lying an unbroken wilderness, the hunt- ing, and often the battle grounds of the wild abo. rigine. But with the coming of the white man the sun of progress dawned upon Monana County, and like the advance of day, its light has grown brighter and lighter and stronger, until the broad noontide of prosperity seems close at hand. As in the life of man, the county had but a feeble existence in its early days, but now, in the bright and lusty strength of young manhood, it rejoices in its might.
The soil was rich and productive, but what ster- ling nerve and determination was required to make this a suitable habitation for man, and to reclaim to the uses of civilization its unbroken sod! To turn their backs upon the older homes of their race, with slender resources, as did most of these heroic adventurers, was no light task, and to them belongs the crown of victory, for they have con- quered Dame Nature in her wildest mood. The present and future generations can hardly repay them for their courage and for their trials and for- titude in opening up this splendid section of
country, but they should be honored above men for their acts and deeds of the olden time.
When the Statesman saves the Nation; soldier stands the burning test ;
Then the Nation pays them proudly. with a medal at the breast ;
But the pioneer with axe and plow clears the way for coming race-
Shall he then be forgotten, dying leave] no. lasting trace ?
Ilis reward? Nor cross nor medal, but all others high above,
They may wear more splendid symbols-they have gained a people's love.
The study of the annals of the past has, at all times and in all climes, claimed a large share of the attention of the intelligent] people .! To the sage and scholar, poring over some vast and ponderons tome, dusty with age and in an almost forgotten tongue, to the new beginner with his new and com- prehensive compilation suited to his earlier years, the pleasure drawn from its perusal is perennial. Men eminent in the domain of letters have divided history into several classes, the most prominent of which are, first, that which treats only of events; the second, that which recognizes men, the living actors in the world's great drama. The former of these is but the dry bones of a fossil age, reft of all life, and is, at best, but a synopsis of the more im- portant actions that have crowded upon the stage of the past, a list of kings, rulers, dynasties and their various parts, and in which the people play but a secondary role. The latter recognizes the people, men in their broad humanity, clothed in the flesh; and the story of their deeds, has, in its re- lation, all the fascination of romance, enchaining the reader to its pages until the volume is finished and laid aside with a sigh. This form of history, warm and palpitating as it is with the busy lives of men who, like ourselves, have lived and moved upon the world's broad surface, is the model after which it has been the endeavor to compile these pages. No narrow attempt to paint with partisan pen the working of any party or creed, but setting ont in broad and comprehensive detail the actions of those brave men and heroic women, who in the early stages of this county's existence, played so well " their parts upon the mighty stage."
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But before entering upon a history of man and his doings here, it were well to delineate the stage and its setting that the scene may be familiar to the stranger, as well as him who dwells within the hallowed precinct.
Monona County lies upon the widely-known Missouri River in the western part of the great State of lowa, being in the fifth tier of counties from both northern and southern boundaries. It is twenty-four miles in breadth, north and south, and an average of thirty miles in length east and west. It embraces fifteen full congressional town- ships and five that are fractional, containing in all 682 square miles, or 438,480 acres. A large por- tion of the land lies in the great Missouri River bottom, upwards of 165,000 acres being in the valley in the western part, but a small portion of which is subject to overflow during the periodical high water seasons, and the most of it is suscepti- ble of easy and high culture.
1
The eastern portion of . the county is a high, rolling prairie, well watered and drained by the Maple and Soldier Rivers, Willow Creek and their numerous affluents and tributaries, which meander with sil- very course through wide, beautiful and extremely fertile valleys. These uplands end in abrupt bluffs along the Little Sioux River, which traverses the center of the county from north to south, and which display the same uniform height and gen- eral characteristics of the Missouri River bluffs. Broken and uneven lands, cut up by ravines, are found among these hills which are of little utility for agricultural purposes, but are used as pasture by the owners, with considerable profit. A more de- tailed account of the topography and resources of each township in the county is given in this vol- ume further on, in connection with the history thereof, to which the reader is referred.
Generally speaking the soil in the valleys is a deep, black mould or a fine loam. In the Missouri bottoms, low sand ridges are not unfrequently met
with, which are the remains of bars formed by the currents when the river occupied the whole width of the valley from bluff to bluff, in pre-historic times. The bottom deposits are quite variable in the character of their component materials, though a fine, dark loam constitutes the greater portion of the surface soil. This is underlaid by sand and gravel, and sometimes by silt and clay containing large quantities of partially decayed wood and other vegetable matter. The uplands are covered with a brown humus-charged soil, with a sub-soit of the light colored bluff deposit. Dr. Charles A. White, the State Geologist, in his report thus speaks of the geology of the country:
" The geological formations thus far known to oc- cur at the surface in Monona County, belong to the post tertiary period. The lower formations of the cretaceous period doubtless once overspread the entire area of Monona and adjacent counties, and may, indeed, still underlie a considerable portion of its area. At Blackburn's, below the mouth of the west fork of the Little Sioux, in digging a well, red clays were found at a depth of about forty-five feet below the bottoms, which possibly belong to the rocks of this series. Of the earlier geologieal deposits not a vestige is exposed to view within the limits of the county.
" The drift deposits outcrop at irregular eleva- tions in the base of the bluffs on the Missouri bot- toms, gradually increasing in elevation from the sonth northward where they reach the heighth of one hundred feet above the Missouri. These de- posits include the blue clay and hard-pan layers, and above these are found the sandy clays and gravel beds of modified drift material.
". No quarries of stone are found in the county. The material for brick making is abundantly sup- plied by the surface deposits. The local supply of fuel is entirely dependent on the forests, which, though of comparatively limited extent, are amply adequate for the present wants."
ORGANIZATION ARD GOVERNMENT.
CHAPTER II.
ONONA county was set off and established as a separate county by an act of the legis- lature in 1851, prior to which it had formed a part of the county of Benton. In the year mentioned it was joined to the county of Polk, with several others, for judicial election and revenue purposes, and so remained until 1853. when it was similarity attached to Harrison County. The name given it by the General Assembly is of Indian origin.
In the spring of 1851, by order of the county court of Harrison County, steps were taken toward the organization of Monona County. An cleetion was held on the 3d of April, of that year, at which the following named parties were chosen the first offieers of the new county, that then started on its brilliant career. Charles B. Thompson, County Judge; George Ilinkenlooper, Clerk of the District Court; Johnson F. Lane, Sheriff; Hugh Lytle, Treasurer and Recorder; Guy C. Barnum, Drain- age Commissioner; Isaac Ashton, Prosecuting At- torney; and Aaron Cook, Coroner. About twenty ballots were cast at this election. At that time the county embraced one range of townships on the eastward of its present territory, which now forms a part of Crawford County. The result of the first election was canvassed by Richard Humphreys, Horatio Caywood and G. A. Ilart, residents of Magnolia Township, Harrison County, appointed for the purpose.
At that period the government of the county.
under the State law, was vested in a county court composed of the county judge, clerk of the dis- triet court and sheriff, and had most of the au- thority and stood in the stead of the present Board of Supervisors. Judge Thompson remained in office until the fall of 1855. Of the proceedings of his administration there is no record extant among the books and papers of the county.
John Craig, the second County Judge was elected in August, 1855, and the first term of his court was held in September, of the same year. Several new precincts were organized during his term of office. The first road in the county was laid out in the fall of 1855, W. H. Wiley, being the com- missioner to view and locate the same; the second was laid out in the spring of 1856, James II. Sharon acting as commissioner. At the August term of court. 1856, license to conduct a ferry aeross the Missouri River, was granted to T. Il. Hinman, and the rates or tolls fixed by the county judge. Twenty-five cents could be charged a foot passen- ger ; a man and a horse, fifty cents, and a two horse team one dollar and fifty cents.
On the 17th of November, 1856. John Craig resigned the office of county judge, and the office was under the charge of L. Sears until the election and qualification of a successor at the regular spring election.
D. E. Whiting was elected to fill this important po- sition in April, 1857, and at once assumed charge of the county's affairs. During his administration the
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county seat was removed to Onawa, from Ashton, as detailed in the annals of the former city, and an attempt made to remove it to Belvidere which proved abortive. At the term of court held on the 5th of October, 1857, a general re-organization of the various townships of the county was effected, at which term there were made eight civil townships : Boyer, Maple, Kennebec, West Fork, Ashton. Franklin, Preparation and Belvidere. The first bridge was built during the fall of the same year by F. A. L. Day for $750, and accepted by the county judge and paid for by a warrant on the Swamp Land Fund Jan. 4, 1858, (at same place now called Stone Bridge, named after Almon Stone).
In the fall of 1859. J. C. Hazlett was duly elected to the office of county judge, and filled that office until the 1st of January, 1861. when the reins of government were transferred to the Board of Super- visors, in accordance with a law of the Eighth Gen- eral Assembly. The county judge from that time assumed a secondary place in the affairs of the county, all powers being granted to the newly cre- ated board then consisting of one member from each election precinct or township.
The first session of the Board of Supervisors of Monona County, was held at Onawa, commencing Jan. 7, 1861. The following gentlemen were duly qualified as representatives from their respective townships: Alexander Allison, from West Fork; J. R. Bouslangh, Maple; Addison Dimmiek, Franklin; F. A. Day, Kennebec; T. H. Flowers, Belvidere : J. A. Goodrich, Achton, and W. G. Myers, Boyer. D. W. Butts was chosen to represent the township of Preparation, but removing from the county, prior to the organization of the board, Charles Perrin was chosen to fill his place. On taking their seats, the first action of the board was to elect J. R. Bouslaugh chairman of their meetings for the ensuing year. On the 3d of April following T. II. Flowers resigned his position as one of the supervis- ors and Elijah Walker was chosen to fill the vacancy and represent the township of Belvidere. The latter qualified June 3, 1861. During the fall of the same year the removal of the county seat from Onawa to Belvidere was agitated, and September 3, the Board of Supervisors passed an order submit- ting the question to the qualified clectors of the
county, but the measure of re-location was defeated at the polls that fall.
The Board of Supervisors for the year 1862, met on the 6th of January, when the following gentleman appeared and answered roll call : Alexan- der Allison, of West Fork; J. R. Bouslaugh, Maple; F. A. Day, Kennebee; Thomas Hayes, Ashton ; W. G. Myers, Boyer; Elijalı Walker, Belvidere; Row- land Cobb, Preparation, and Addison Dimmick, of Franklin. Mr. Bouslaugh was again chosen chair- man. January 7, A. Dimmick resigned his seat on the board and was succeeded by Addison Oliver. During the summer of that eventful year, the board in view of the Pike's Peak excitement and the absence of some thirty of the citizens of the county in the Union Army, both of which had drawn from the defense of this section of the State nearly all of the single and many of the married men, and the country being justly alarmed by the accounts of the horrid butcheries perpetrated by the Sioux Indians in Minnesota, the Board of Supervisors of Monona County memorialized the Governor of Iowa, Samuel J. Kirkwood. This document de- manded in a conciliatory manner, that " the men drafted in this county and vicinity be either dis- charged or stationed at a suitable point for the de- fense of this county.or otherwise used for the defense of the Northwest." The next day a petition was likewise sent to Lieutenant-Colonel II. C. Nntt for arms and equipments for two hundred men to arm the militia.
January 5, 1863. the new board met for the first time, and consisted of the following named indi- viduals: J. R. Bouslaugh, F. A. Day, Thomas Ilayes, Rowland Cobb, C. Dunham, Addison Oliver, James C. Crabb and Alexander Allison. Mr. Bouslaugh was chosen Chairman for the en- suing year. Several changes occurred in this board by resignation-C. E. Whiting taking the place of Mr. Allison. Jannary 6; Adam Myers that of Mr. Crabb, June 1st, and W. L. Erskine that of Mr. Day, in October.
The road from Onawa to the bluffs on the Little Sioux River was first agitated at a meeting of this board and a committee appointed to look into its feasibility and desirability, and it was finally established in October, 1863. In November.
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by a resolution the board declared: " That in the opinion of this board this county ought to raise its quota of troops, under the late call, by voluntary enlistments and that to this end they deem it expe- client to offer a suitable county bounty, and there- fore call for a mass meeting of the citizens to be held Dec. 14, 1863, to take the matter into con- sideration." At the meeting it was determined to offer a bounty of $300, $60 on the acceptance of the recruit and 820 per quarter thereafter until paid, and at the next meeting of the board a special tax of five mills was levied for the bounty fund.
The board that came together Jan. 4, 1864, was composed of the following named gentlemen : J. R. Bonslaugh, 11. Erskine, Addison Oliver, F. A. Day, Isaac Ashton, C. E. Whiting. R. Cobb and C. Dunham. Rowland Cobb was elected to the Chair. On organization Mr. Oliver resigned his seat and was sneceeded by B. D. Holbrook, as supervisor from Franklin. At the July term of the board it was determined to pay a bounty of $200 for the enlistment of men in the service of the general government engaged in the suppression of the the rebellion, and Messrs. Ilolbrook and Whiting were made a committee to engage some of the Omaha Indians to take their place in the regiments of the State.
Isaac Ashton, of Ashton; F. A. Day, of Belvi- dere; IT. B. Ernest, Boyer; A. Oliver, Franklin; J. D. Woodward. Kennebec, J. R. Bouslaugh, Maple : R. Cobb, Spring Valley; and C. E. Whiting, of West Fork, formed the board that met for the first time, Jan. 3, 1865. The last named gentleman was chosen chairman. J. D. Woodward resigned his place among the supervisors September 5, and A. Oliver, upon the 16th of October, and were sur- ceeded, the former by 11. D. Erskine and the latter by Il. E. Colby.
On the 1st of January, 1866, the board that con - vened consisted of C. E. Whiting, of West Fork ; H. E. Colby. Franklin; Rowland Cobb, Spring Valley ; J. R. Bouslaugh, Maple; Addison Dim- mick, Belvidere; Abraham N. Bullock, Kennebee; and Isaac Ashton, of Ashton. C. E. Whiting was the chairman for the year. During this adminis- tration the county was reorganized into townships
and several new ones formed, so that at the close of the year there were the civil townships of Spring Valley, Sherman, St. Clair. Belvidere, Franklin Center, Kennebec, Ashton, Lincoln, Maple, Grant, West Fork and Lake.
The first meeting of the board of Supervisors with the representatives of the new townships in its body was convened Jan. 4, 1867, when the follow- ing answered to their names: Isaac Ashton of Ash- ton: A. Dimmick, of Belvidere; J. R. Bouslaugh, Center; B. D. ITolbrook, Franklin; J. D. Wood- ward, Grant; F. A. Day, Kennebee; Joseph Robin- son, Lake; Benjamin Herring, Lincoln; W. L. Ring, Maple; Peter Reiley, Sherman ; D. W. Butts, Spring Valley; J. L. Swinburne, St. Clair, and C. E. Whiting, of West Fork. The last named was placed in the Chair. The towns of Jordan and Fairview were organized by this board and the name of St. Clair changed to that of Soldier. At the October session J. A. Goodrich succeeded to the place of Isaac Ashton, on the board, the latter gentleman removing from the county that sum- mer.
Jan. 6, 1868, the new board met and contained the following gentlemen : J. T. Baggs, E. II. Bakke, T. Il. Flowers, J. A. Goodrich, B. D. Holbrook, Benjamin Herring, J. K. Myers, Joseph Robinson, J. L. Swinburne, J. D. Woodward, C. E. Whiting, Peter Reiley, W. L. Ring, D. W. Butts, and J. R. Bouslaugh. Judge Whiting was again elected Chairman for the ensuing year.
The various Boards of Supervisors for the en- suing years were composed of the following well known gentlemen :
1869-B. D. Holbrook, J. K. Myers, Q. A. Wooster, D. W. Butts, N. W. Ilarlow, D. T. Cutler, F. F. Roe, J. A. Goodrich, J. T. Baggs, C. E. Whiting, J. L. Swinburne, W. H. Stanley, Joseph Robinson, and B. D. Holbrook. Mr. Goodriel was elected to the Chair Jan. 4. Mr. Swinburne died in October and was succeeded by W. F. Burke.
1870-J. A. Goodrich, James Il. Cork, F. F. Roe, B. D. Holbrook, W. II. Stanley, W. G. Ken- nedy, J. K. Myers, Joseph Robinson, D. T. Cutler, Q. A. Wooster, N. C. Harlow, W. F. Burke, D. W. Butts, and C. E. Whiting. Mr. Wooster was
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chosen Chairman for the year. W. F. Burke resigning June 6th, was succeeded on the board by Junius Brown.
1871-The General Assembly had changed the number and mode of election of the members of the Board of Supervisors, from one member from each township to three chosen at large by all the county ; the new board that convened, Jan. 2, 1871, was formed of Collins A. Burnham, Willard G. Kennedy and William Pelan. Mr. Kennedy was elected Chairman for the year. At the April session Mr. Pelan, having handed in his resignation as a member of the Board, was succeeded by E. D. Dimmick.
1872-W. G. Kennedy, Chairman ; E. D. Dim- mick and John Patrick.
1873-The same individuals.
1874-W. G. Kennedy, Chairman ; John Patrick and N. B. Olson.
1875 -- W. G. Kennedy, Chairman ; N. B. Olson and George M. Scott.
1876-G. M. Scott, Chairman; N. B. Olson and H. E. Colby.
1877-G. M. Scott, Chairman ; II. E. Colby and E. Wilber.
1878-Same board; H. E. Colby, Chairman.
1879-G. M. Scott, Chairman ; E. Wilber and S. G. lrish.
1880-E. Wilber, Chairman; G. M. Scott and S. G. Irish.
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