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 22
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82
Shortly after F. M. Rains and Alfred Ken- worthy made settlement in the same locality, and proved the land much better than was believed by the earlier settlers of the county.
March 22, 1883, Thomas Crum settled on a farm on section 5, which he had purchased the year pre- vious, where he still makes his home.
Peter Inman made a settlement in this township in 1883 on section 21, although he had been a resi- dent of the county nearly all the time since Sep- tember, 1871.
M. F. Brink dates his settlement in West Fork township from March, 1884, although he had come to the county in 1880, and had made his home in Grant until coming here.
About the same time Philip Benner made a set- tlement on the West Fork on section 9, where he lived until 1887, when he sold out and moved to Woodbury County.
HIISTORIC CRUMBS.
The first child born in what is now West Fork Township was Will C., the son of Ilon, Charles E. and Nancy Whiting, whose birth took place.
The first death was that of Frank, the son of Myrick E. and Elizabeth Whiting, whose demise occurred in 1861.
The pioneer school building was erected in 1863, and in this the first school was taught the same year by Miss Emily Morley, the sister of Lew Mor- ley of this county, and Mrs. C. M. Whiting, who had come here from Lake County, Ohio, about that time.
The first religious services were held in the school house in 1863.
Services of a union character are held at school
237
MONONA COUNTY.
house No. 3, but not regularly, although the Sabbath-school organized at that place about 1885 by Peter Inman, is in a flourishing condition.
The officers of the present School Board are Lewis Pike, president; E. M. Whiting, secretary ; C. E. Whiting, treasurer; and J. M. Slater and M. F. Brink, directors.
The West Fork post-office was established in 1863 with M. E. Whiting as Postmaster. He continued to have charge of the mails until the spring of 1869, when he died and was succeeded by E. M. Cassady. The latter remained in the otlice until Jan. 27, 1873, when the office was removed to the new village of Whiting, Lyman Whittier succeed- ing to the duties of the same.
ORGANIC.
The first organization of the town was decreed by the county court, October 5, 1857, and then con-
stituted all of township 85, ranges 15, 46 and 47, or the present precincts of West Fork, Lake and Fairview. By the same order, as the population was so sparse, the town was attached to that of Ashton until the election for officers would be de- creed. The first election took place in the spring of 1858.
The first supervisor on the county board to represent this town was Alex. Allison, who was one of the first board that met at Onawa, January 7. 1861.
At the time of the reorganization of the vari- ous towns in the county, made April 3, 1866, West Fork was given its present boundaries, and the first election of the reconstructed town was ordered to be lield at the school house, with M. E. Whiting and Joseph Allen as judges, and Victor Dubois and W. B. Whiting as clerks of election.
LAKE TOWNSHIP.
CHAPTER XIII.
HE civil township of Lake is one of the smallest in area of any in the county, em- bracing only a part of Congressional Town- ship 85, range 46. sections 1, 2, 3, 12, 13, 24. 25, 36, and the cast half of sections 10 and 14, being cut off to add to that of West Fork, and therefore embraces only some twenty six sections. It de- rives its name from the beautiful Badger Lake that lies entirely within its borders. This forms nearly a complete circle lying in sections 20, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32 and 93.
The surface of the township, which is quite as level as is common to that part of the county, ly- ing in the celebrated Missouri River bottom, is covered with a rich sandy loam, the silt or deposit of the ancient river, which returns an abundant re- compense for the labor of the husbandman. The principal cereal raised is corn, and this with the pasturage of a large number of horses cattle, etc .. forms the principal business of its population. By the census of 1885, it is shown that the inhabitants of this suldivision of the county numbered 466. chiefly of American birth, a number which has grown since that date. It contains a fair propor- tion of native timber, that fully supplies the in- habitants with fuel and building material, besides many handsome artificial groves that surround the residences of its people.
There is no village within the limits of the town- ship, but the young city of Whiting lying just without its borders, in the adjoining town of Ash-
ton, affords ample market facilities. The Sioux City & Pacific Railroad crosses the town in a diagonal line from north to south, but, as mentioned above, has no station in Lake.
The first to make any settlement within the lim- its of this township, was James Stillwell. He came to the county in company with the surveyors in in 1832, and built the dirt cabin so often spoken of in these pages, on the southeast quarter of the southeast quarter of section 2, town 84, range 46. In 1854 he removed to section 22. Lake Township, where he made his home until 1858, and then de- paited for California.
Edward Clark was the next to make a settlement here. He had come to the county in October, 1855, and with his family spent the winter in what is now Lincoln Township. March 20, 1856, he re- moved to a claim which he had pre-empted on sec- tion 31, the west half of the southeast quarter, and the east half of the southwest quarter. upon which he resided for many years, only recently removing to the village of Whiting. where he is now living.
With Mr. Clark came Frank W. Brooks, a single man, who made his home with Mr. Clark's family, in Lincoln, until the spring they came here, when, having been just married, he settled on a piece of land of his own. He remained here a year or two, and then removed to the Soldier Valley.
The next permanent white settler to locate in the township, was Tobias Fegenbush. In 1856. he came to the county, while yet the earth was elad in
239
MONONA COUNTY.
vernal verdure, and housed his family for that and part of the succeeding year in a log cabin in the township of Lincoln. In the fall of 1857, he set- tled on his farm on section 28, in what is now Lake Township, where he has remained, watching the growth and development of this his adopted home, and engaged in the improvement of his place.
I. Nicholas Ilite and his family located on sec- tion 28, on coming to this county and township in the autumn of 1858. Some years after he removed to section 18, and there he made his home until June, 1886, when he was called away by deatlı. ITis family are still residents of the town,
William L. Coones came to Monona County with the carly pioneers in 1856, and settled on the land owned by Philip Fegenbush. on section 32, this township. Ile remained there the following win- ter, and until May 19, when he returned to War- ren County, III. In March, 1872, he came again to this town, and located on section 17, where he made his home for a year, and then moved to an- other place, but soon returned to the old home- stead. Here he has remained ever since.
i
George Harris, who had located at Onawa the previous year on coming to the county, came to Lake Township in 1857, and made a settlement. About 1862 he left this county, going to Denver. Colo.
Alfred U. Ilanscom settled in this part of the county in 1859. He had located at Onawa two years before, whence he had come to Lake. In 1865 be removed to Franklin Township, and died in Sionx, May 29, 1887.
Alexander Allison, at one time one of the promi- nent citizens of this county, located in Lake Town- ship, on section 20, this same year. He represented this part of the county. then West Fork Township, in the first Board of County Supervisors. About 1863, he too, went to Colorado.
J. W. Sudduth settled in this township in May, 1861, on a piece of rented land, but the following spring removed to his own farm on section 31, where he now lives.
In the fall of 1861, Thomas A. Dunagan came here and located on section 5. In 1865, he enlisted in the 7th Iowa Cavalry, and returned here at the expiration of his service, making this his home un-
til 1872. In the spring of 1882 he came back to Lake, and has since resided here.
John N. Combs settled in this township in Sep- tember. 1861, on a rented farm, where he died. April 28, 1861. Ilis family, the following year re moved to their own place, where the widow, now Mrs. Paul M. Dubois, is still living.
Joseph Robinson appeared in this township in the fall of 1862, and located on section 17, where he still lives. He came to the county in 1857. but first settled at Onawa, where he engaged in carpen- tering.
S. G. Irish, now a resident of the village of Whiting, is among the settlers of the year 1863. Ile came through here on his way to Dakota in 1860, and on being driven from there through fear of the Indians during the dark days of the Sioux uprising, in the fall of 1863. came to Monona County and settled on seetion 35, Lake Township, where he lived some twenty years.
Oliver L. Davis, who had settled in the county in 1865, located in this township in 1880, where he now lives, on section 6.
Ilalvor Rye and family came to this town in July, 1867, and settled on section 21, where he died Jan. 19, 1870, TIis widow, who afterward married T. H. Skidmore, still resides on the homestead.
Larkin Packwood, residing on section 20, settled on that spot in 1867, having been a resident of Franklin Township for the five years previous.
William P. Drown was also a settler of the year 1867, and since 1870 has made his home on sec- tion 31.
George W. Pixler, who had been living for the past two years in the town of West Fork, removed here in the fall of 1868, and has remained bere since that time.
John Huff, the first settler in the Lake circle, came here in September, 1869, and found the home he was seeking on section 32, 85, 16. Ile brought with him a sawmill, which he ran for about ten years.
Germain Schurdevin came to Lake Township in October, 1869, locating on section 32. Seven years later he removed to another place, and finally in 1879, settled where he now lives, on section 31. David W. Bowers, now living on section 32,
240
MONONA COUNTY.
made his first settlement in the township in March, 1871, in what is known as Badger Lake Circle. Four years later he left the county, but returned in two years' time, and for four years more was a resident of this town. After spending the succeed- ing six years in Nebraska, he finally came back here in June, 1887, and has since that time made this his home.
Albert Cummings, now of Lincoln Township, came here in the spring of 1872, and was engaged at farm work by several parties here.
James 1'. Utterback, Sr., came to Monona County in September, 1873, and settled at first in Lincoln Township, whence, in the spring of 1875, he re- moved to Lake, locating on section 29. In 1884 be removed to his present residence on section 28.
David Backer, residing upon section 8, made a settlement on that place in the spring of 1874.
The same year witnessed the settlement of Will- iam MeCandless, who is living on section 9, where be first located.
Joshua Williamson, who had been living for a short time in Maple, came to this township the same year and settled on section 5, where he now resides.
A. P. Gunsolly came the same year and settled in the "Lake Circle." A few years after he ran the sawmill. lle now lives on section 23.
Thomas H. Skidmore was another settler of this year, and resided on section 21 until his death, May 15, 1882.
William Polly settled in Lake Township in the fall of 1875.
Wilson M. MeBeath settled on section 34, in February, 1876, on coming to the county, and has there made his home ever since.
In the spring of 1876, James M. McClain, who for four years had been a resident of Lincoln Town. ship, removed here, and lived among these people until the fall of 1878. He then returned to Lin- coln. In the autumn of 1884 he came back to Lake, settling on section 31, where he now resides.
James W. Polley first settled in this township in this year, and although he has been absent from it at times, is now a resident.
In the fall of 1880 Lycurgus Godsey, a promi- nent stock-raiser living on section 2, located on that place, where he has since made his home.
Bain B. Stillman settled in the township in 1881, and has made this his home ever since.
Thomas G. Davis, also, located a home here in the fall of 1881, and has been a resident here or in Whiting ever since.
Axel Christopherson made a settlement on sec- tion 23, where he now lives, in 1882. Hle first came to the county in September, 1874.
John W. Konkle came here the same year, set- ling on section 22, where he now lives.
John Crosley, also, settled here the same year, on section 19, where he still makes his home.
Silas Dean came to Lake Township in 1883 and settled on the farm on section 18, where he now lives.
Jolın M. Slater, still a resident of the town, set- tled here in the spring of 1883.
David F. Conkle, living on his farm on section 11, made his settlement in October, 1884.
William Murdick, at present living on his farm on section 27, came here and settled in July, 1885.
John McBeath settled here the same year, and now lives upon a part of section 3.1.
Andrew T. Dailey, who settled in Lincoln Town- ship in 1875, removed to Lake, where he now lives, on section 22, in May, 1885.
John Henry, a native of Sweden and a resident of this civil subdivision of the county, settled here on the 5th of August, 1886, although he first came to the county in 1869.
Henry Il. Harvey made a settlement here in 1887, on section 20. He came to the county in 1882, but made his home in Fairview and Lincoln Townships until coming here.
Oliver J. Howk, residing on section 6, came here in the spring of 1887.
HISTORICAL ITEMS.
The first child born was Polly Stillwell, the daughter of James Stillwell, the pioneer settler of this town, whose birth occurred in the summer of 1857.
James Clark, a son of Edward and Rachel Clark, was most likely the first death. He was accidentally poisoned with strychnine, kept to kill gophers. This was in 1860.
The first marriage of residents of the township
241
MONONA COUNTY.
was that of Franklin W. Brooks and Miss Martha Roberts, which took place Jan. 10, 1856. The first celebrated in the township (the others going to the connty-seat) was that of Joseph Robinson and Miss Margaret Fegenbush, the ceremony taking place Jan. 26, 1861.
The first school was taught in the fall of 1860, in a building erected for the purpose near the cen- ter of section 28, by Mrs. Chapman, of Onawa. This building was afterwards removed and used for church services.
ORGANIC.
Lake Township was organized as a separate eivil subdivision of the county in accordance with an
order of the Board of Supervisors re-organizing all the old and marking out the lines of new town- ships, passed by that body April 3, 1866. The first election took place and was held at the school house in district No. 1, and T. Fegenbush was Judge and Joseph Robinson, Clerk. At that time the town was to inelnde all the territory lying west of West Fork in town 85, ranges 46 and 47. Joseph Rob- inson was elected Supervisor; T. Fegenbush and J. N. Hite, Trustees; and A. U. Hanscom, Clerk.
The present officers are: W. L. Coones, Silas Deane, and Wilson McBeath, Trustees : James Me- Clain, Clerk; J. P. Utterback, Treasurer; G. W. Stevenson, Assessor; Thomas Dunnagan, Justice; and S. L. Packwood, Constable.
BELVIDERE TOWNSHIP.
CHAPTER XIV.
HUIS subdivision of Monona County em- braces all of Congressional Township 83. range 44, and contains some 23,040 acres of excellent land. The surface is considerably diver- sified, consisting, in the western part to the Little Sioux River, of the flat level of the Missouri bot- tom, with its rich alluvial silt soit, and in the west- ern portion of the knobby, rounded bluffs of the well known western formation, composed of finely comminuted' clay and the famous loess, or drift deposit. Unusual fertility and rare productiveness marks the soil where cultivated, but some it is so abrupt and steep as to be practically unfitted for the plow. A considerable amount of valuable native timber fringes the rivers and streams, and adds materially to the beauty of the landscape and the wealth of the people of the town.
The railroad facilities are excellent, the Maple Valley branch of the Chicago & Northwestern Railway Company entering it on the north line of section 2, and thence southwesterly to the young village of Turin, the only station within the limits of the town, and thence straight west through sections 9, 8 and 7.
Formerly there were two post-offices, in Belvi. dere and Hiawatha, but which on the springing up of the new village of Turin, . were discontinued. The postmaster at the first mentioned office was S. C. Hoadley, the same being located on section
25; it ceased in 1885. The township is well watered and drained by the Little Sioux and Maple Rivers. Beaver, Iliawatha and Cottonwood Creeks. The beautiful valley of the Maple begins in this town, a short distance above the junction of the Maple with its parent stream, the Little Sioux, the junction taking place on section 28.
The first to make a settlement within the limits o what is now Belvidere Township was Philip Ashton, who located upon what was afterwards the Judge Craig land, in 1852. During the winter of 1852-3 he started for Ashton Grove, and being overcome by the cold, laid down and was frozen to death while yet in this town. This was the first death in the county.
William Brooks came to this part of the country about 1854 and settled in the northern part of the town. His wife died here in the winter of 1856-7, during " the time of the big snow," and was the first one buried where the Belvidere Cemetery is now located.
George Hartwell came here from Missouri in the spring of 1855 and making a claim on section 28 put up a cabin. The following year lie sold out to A. J. Hathaway and returned to Missouri.
Next came Hugh Lytle and John Thomas, who had seceded from the community at Preparation and settled within the limits of this town in 1855. The former held an important place in the county,
2.13
MONONA COUNTY.
being one of its first officers, and died a resident of the county. Both he and Mr. Thomas settled on section 13. The latter gentleman is now living in Kennebee Township.
About the same time John and James Crabb made settlements in the township. Both made their home here for some years. James removed years ago to Harrison County. and John in 1887 to Little Sioux, the same county, where they still reside.
John Craig, afterwards county judge, came to this county in 1855 and made a settlement in this town. With the exception of the period when in official position. he here made his home until 1863, when he removed to California with W. N. IIatha- way, Thomas and William Flowers. On their re- turn trip, a year later, Judge Craig was killed by being run over by a loaded wagon, when near Fort Kearney, and his body is buried in that vicinity.
Albert J. Hathaway came to what is now Belvi- dere Township in June, 1856, and purchased a claim at the mouth of the Maple River, on section 28, where he intended to erect a mill. His father, Wilber llathaway, who had come with him to help put up the same. dying two months after their arrival, August 20, the project was abandoned and in 1858, Mr. Hathaway started for Pike's Peak, returning to this county a year later. He is now a resident of Kennebec Township.
At the same time Charles Hathaway made a settle- ment in this town and remained a resident here until 1881, when he went to Florida. Ile is now living near Springfield, Mo.
Hiram Harmon, a settler of the year 1856. lo- cated upon section 3, and remained upon his farm until the fall of 1859, when he died. His widow disposed of the laud to R. T. Reese and removed to Michigan.
John and James Porter made a settlement about the same time, on section 9. The former about 1862, removed from here to Harrison County, but is now a resident of Oregon. The latter removed to Nebraska.
Thomas .J. Bryson, now a resident of Ilarrison County, located here on coming to this county, in 1857, and was identified with Belvidere's interests for several years.
Lycurgus Shields and Baylis were also old set.
tlers of the same year. Baylis, about 1856, re- moved to Kennebee where he died a few years later, his widow marrying Seth Smith, Sr.
In the spring of 1856 Richard T. Reese came to this county on a tour of investigation, and after viewing the country in a short time returned to Council Bluffs well pleased. In the spring of 1860. in company with his father, Edward Reese, he came here and made his first settlement on section 5, this township. Later be removed to section 4, where he is now residing, although engaged in the general merchandise trade at the young village of Turin. Edward Reese died here Sept. 19, 1860.
A man by the name of Jones, more trapper and hunter than agriculturist, came here about 1856-'57 and remained a resident on section 16. for some years.
Charles C. Bisbee, who afterward occupied the important positions of County Judge, County Superintendent, etc., with his son, Charles W., the present County Surveyor, came to Belvidere Town- ship in May, 1857. The father died here June 21, 1871; the son still makes his residence here, and is one of the leading agriculturists of this part of Monona County.
Frederick D. Winegar, Sr., came to Belvidere in 1857, from Spring Valley, where he had settled two years before, but the same year removed to Kennebec, where he lived until his death, in 1881.
Edward Winegar made a settlement on seetion 18, in September, 1857, pre-empting eighty acres of land. The following spring he broke about twenty-five acres, and made other improvements, and there lived until 1861, when he removed to Kennebec Township, where he is still residing.
John Wood, who had been living in Kennebec Township for about two years. came to this town in 1863, and has been a resident ever since, having his home in Turin at the present time.
George Bell, still a resident of the town. is one of the settlers of the year 1862.
Miles S. Outhouse came to Monona County in 1864, and settled in Belvidere Township on a rented farm, and in a few years purchased a place on section 36. He died in Dawes County, Neb., April 17, 1889, he having removed to that State in 1883.
24-1
MONONA COUNTY.
Sidney C. Hoadley located in this section of the county in the fall of 1867, and is still one of its honored citizens.
During the year 1864, S. S. Dorward, a veteran of the Union army, during the late Civil War, came to this county and opened up a farm on sec- tion 13, where he has since made his home, which is a pleasant one.
About the same time J. M. Mountain came to this county and engaged in teaching school, which profession he followed until 1874, when he adopted agriculture as a calling, and is still a resident of this town, engaged in that line of business.
Rev. William M. Dorward and his sons, Frank M. and William M., Jr., made their appearance in this town in the spring of 1865, and opened up farms on Beaver Creek. The father, one of Monona county's best citizens, died here June 14, 1888. Frank M., at the election in November, 1889, was chosen treasurer of the county by a handsome majority. William is also a resident of the town at the present writing.
George W. Cork made a settlement on section 10, this township, in the spring of 1869, where he resided until March, 1887, when he removed to Onawa, and there makes his home.
William T. and Charles T. Seaton came to the county and took up their residence in 1869 in this township, and both of them are residents here still.
William Townley, now living in Sioux Township, located on a farm here on first coming to the county, in 1870, and made this his home for four years.
Lewis L. Rinehart came to Belvidere from Ilar- rison County in 1871, and made a settlement. He lived here for many years, and died here not many years ago.
German Brown settled in 1873, on section 34. where he still lives.
Clinton M. Wiley and George Diddy, still rep- resentative citizens of the township, located here in the fall of 1875, both on section 1.
Charles Smith, one of the residents of the town the present day, living on section 1, came here from Grant Township, where he had been living, and opened a farm where his home is at present in 1874.
Benjamin Garder, now a resident of Spring Val- ley, to which he removed in 1877, eame to this county in 1875. and made a settlement in this town.
Thomas Moore settled where he now lives in the spring of 1876, coming from the town of Galva, Ill., although born in the Isle of Man, a de- pendeney of the British Empire.
John Hanson dates his settlement here from the spring of 1879.
David W. Lotspeich, one of the prominent citi- zens of the town, came here and founded his home in 1881.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.