USA > Iowa > Muscatine County > History of Muscatine County, Iowa, from the earliest settlements to the present time, Volume I > Part 8
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Section 5. The boundaries of Louisa county shall be as follows, to wit: Beginning at the northeast corner of Des Moines county; thence west to the northwest corner of said county; thence north with the range line between ranges four and five west to the township line dividing townships seventy-five and seventy-six north; thence east with said line to the Mississippi river; thence down the same to the place of beginning; and the seat of justice of said county is hereby established at the town of Lower Wapello.
Section 6. The boundaries of Muscatine county shall be as follows, to wit: Beginning at the northeast corner of the county of Louisa; thence west with the northern line of said county, to the range line between four and five west; thence north with said line, to the township line dividing townships seventy- eight and seventy-nine north; thence east with said line to the range line be- tween ranges one and two east; thence south with said line to the Mississippi river ; thence down the main channel of the said river to the place of beginning ; and the seat of justice of said county is hereby established as the town of Bloomington.
Section 7. The county included within the following boundaries, to wit: Beginning at the northeast corner of the county of Henry; thence west to the northwest corner of the same; thence north to the township line dividing town-
NE VAD
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NEVADA FLOUR MILL, IN 1870, SOUTHEAST CORNER IOWA AVENUE AND THIRD STREET, BUILT IN 1852 BY ZEPHANIAH WASHBURN
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HISTORY OF MUSCATINE COUNTY
ships seventy-six and seventy-seven north; thence east with the said line to the line between ranges four and five west; thence south with the said line to the place of beginning, is hereby set off into a separate county by the name of Slaughter, and the seat of justice of said county is hereby established at the town of Astoria; and all the territory west is hereby attached to the county of Slaughter for judicial purposes.
Section 8. That the several counties hereby established shall liquidate and pay so much of the debt, as was due and unpaid by the original county of Des Moines, on the Ist day of December, eighteen hundred and thirty-six, as may be their fair and equitable proportion of the same, according to the assessment value of the taxable property therein.
Approved January 18, 1838.
HOW "CLAIMS" WERE MADE.
The claim making of the early settlers in Iowa was a mode of settlement peculiar to that portion of the public domain which was occupied prior to its being surveyed by the general government. Newhall, in his "Sketches of Iowa," states that by mutual concession and an honorable adherence to neighborhood regulations, claim making was governed by a pro tem law, which answered the purpose of general protection for the homes of the settlers until the land came into the market. So general did this usage become, and so united were the in- terests of the settlers, that it was deemed extremely hazardous as well as highly dishonorable for a speculator or stranger to bid upon a claim, even though it was not protected by a "pre-emption right." More than one "war" was waged when such attempts as that were made, almost invariably resulting in the rout of the interloper. Blood, in some instances, was shed in defense of their rec- ognized rights. When it was clearly understood that improvements constituted a claim, and when the settler conformed to the "by-laws" of his neighborhood or township, it was just as much respected for the time being as if the occupant had the government patent for it. For instance, if an emigrant came into the country for location, he looked from county to county for a location. After having placed himself, he set about making an improvement. To break five acres of ground would hold his claim for six months; or if a cabin was built, eight logs high with a roof, which was equivalent to the plowing, he held it six months longer. He then staked out his half section of land, which was a full claim, generally one-quarter timber and one-quarter prairie, and then his home was secure from trespass by anyone. If he chose to sell his "claim," he was at perfect liberty to do so, and the purchaser succeeded to all the rights and immunities of the first settler. As an evidence of the respect in which these claim rights were held by the people of Iowa, we quote here an act of the legis- lature council of the territory, passed January 15, 1839, entitled, "An act to provide for the collection of demands growing out of contracts for sales of improvements on public lands."
"Be it enacted, That all contracts, promises, assumpsits, or undertakings, either written or verbal, which shall be made hereafter in good faith, and with- out fraud, collusion or circumvention, for sale, purchase or payment of im-
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HISTORY OF MUSCATINE COUNTY
provements made on the lands owned by the government of the United States, shall be deemed valid in law or equity, and may be sued for and recovered as in other contracts.
"That all deeds of quitclaim, or other conveyance of all improvements upon public lands shall be as binding and effectual, in law and equity, between the parties for conveying the title of the grantor in and to the same, as in cases where the grantor has the fee simple to the premises conveyed."
Previous to lands being brought into market, each township, nearly, had its own organization throughout the territory. This was to prevent unpleasant litigation and to keep up a spirit of harmony among neighbors, and the better to protect them in their equitable rights of "claim" purchase. A "call meet- ing" was announced something after this fashion: "The citizens of township 76 north, range 2 west, are requested to meet at Squire B-'s, at Oak Grove (or as the place or the time might be), to adopt the necessary measures for securing their homes at the approaching land sales at B- -. " After a short preamble and set of resolutions, suited to the occasion, a "register" was ap- pointed whose duty it was to record the name of each claimant to his respective "claim." A "bidder" was also appointed, whose duty it was on the day of sale, to bid off all the land previously registered, in the name of each respective claim- ant. Thus, everything moved along at the land sales with the harmony and regularity of clock work; but if anyone present was found bidding over the minimum price ($1.25 per acre) on land registered in the township, woe be to him !
When any controversy arose between the neighbors relative to trespassing (or, in common parlance, "jumping a claim"), it was arbitrated by a committee appointed for that purpose, and their decision was considered final.
Newhall describes a land sale, which may bring up to the minds of some of the old settlers a remembrance of one of those absorbing periods. He says :
"Many are the ominous indications of its approach among the settlers. Every dollar is sacredly treasured up. The precious 'mint drops' take to themselves wings and fly away from the merchant's till to the farmer's cupboard. Times are dull in the towns, for the settler's home is dearer and sweeter than the merchant's sugar and coffee. At length the wished-for day arrives. The su- burbs of the town present the scene of a military camp. The settlers have flocked from far and near. The hotels are thronged to overflowing. Bar- rooms, dining rooms and wagons are metamorphosed into bedrooms. Dinners are eaten from a table or a stump, and thirst is quenched from a bar or a brook. The sale being announced from the land office, the township bidder stands near by, with the registry book in hand, in which each settler's name is attached to his respective half or quarter section, and thus he bids off, in the name of the whole township, for each respective claimant. A thousand settlers are standing by eagerly listening when their quarter shall be called off. The crier passes the well known numbers; his home is secure. He feels relieved; the litigation of 'claim jumping' is over forever; he is lord of the soil. With an independent step he walks into the land office, opens the time-worn saddlebags and counts out the $200 or $400 silver and gold, takes his certificate from the general gov- ernment and goes away rejoicing."
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HISTORY OF MUSCATINE COUNTY
The meeting of claim holders in each section usually adopted the order of . procedure which follows: A register was chosen for each township, whose duty it was to prepare a map, with the several claims indicated thereon; a bidder and assistant bidder were chosen to attend the sale and make the purchases. Con- flicts of claimants were submitted to a committee of three, who had the power to settle all disputes. In event of a refusal by both parties to arbitrate, the case was to be submitted to a committee of five. Claimants were authorized to take as much as 320 acres. An equable arrangement was made between adjoin- ing claimants, where their claim lines and the government survey failed to coin- cide. All persons over eighteen years of age were entitled to the privileges of claimants.
The following is a statistical table of monthly receipts at the Burlington land office during the first year and four months of its existence. Perhaps no safer criterion can be drawn of the preeminent character that Iowa had already at- tained than the receipts which this table exhibits of a country that, only so late as June, 1833, was first subject to occupancy by the white man. Of every hun- dred acres, it was estimated that ninety fell into the hands of the actual settlers : November 19, 1838, sold by public sale. $295,495.61
January, 1839, by private entries and preemption. 60,751.14
February, 1839, by private entries and preemption. 23,047.31
March, 1839, by private entries and preemption. 8,778.46
April, 1839, by private entries and preemption.
12,706.77
May, 1839, by private entries and preemption.
15,675.93
June, 1839, by private entries and preemption.
14,356.52
July, 1839, by private entries and preemption.
24,909.16
August, 1839, by private entries and preemption.
8,216.32
September, 1839, by private entries and preemption. 8,836.56
October, 1839, by public sales 47,487.91
November, 1839, by private entries 10,564.72
December, 1839, by private entries
3,868.II
January 1, 1840, by private entries 4,644.80
February, 1840, by private entries 5,420.56
March, 1840, by private entries and public sales, inclusive. 332,222.42
April, 1840, by private entries and preemption. 29,834.22
June, 1840, by private sale and preemption.
62,170.62
Total
$968,987.14
FIRST SETTLERS.
The treaty between the government and the Sac and Fox Indians became effective in 1832 upon its ratification, and previous to that time all this locality was free from the presence of the white man.
Within the limits of this county were two Indian villages, Keokuk, the ruling Sac, and Poweshiek, the ruling Fox, were the chiefs of the tribes and ruled over the villages. Keokuk's was in what is now Seventy-six township, about eight miles south of Muscatine near the foot of the lake now bearing the
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HISTORY OF MUSCATINE COUNTY
celebrated Indian chief's name-Keokuk. Here the land was rich and fertile and the Indian planted his corn (tomanock). The village was located on the west side of the lake and was probably vacated in 1836, a few years after the treaty with the Indians went into effect.
The other Indian village in the county was the home and principality of the noted chief, Poweshiek, of the Fox tribe, which was located on the west bank of the Cedar river, near the Saulsbury bridge, about twelve miles west of Musca- tine. Soon after the Black Hawk Purchase, or in 1832, the white man came. In 1832 the first "squatter" made his appearance on the Purchase near Bur- lington, and David Tothero staked out a claim about three miles back of that point ; about the same time Simpson S. White and Amzi Doolittle laid claim to the site of Burlington. These men built cabins and disregarded the provisions of the treaty, which stipulated that no settlements should be made prior to June 1, 1833. In the spring of this year Jefferson Davis, then a lieutenant in the army and stationed at the island of Rock Island, then known as Fort Arm- strong, with a squad of men drove some fifteen families off the Purchase, near Flint Hills, burned cabins and destroyed the crops.
FIRST SETTLER IN THE COUNTY.
It was in the spring of 1834 that Benjamin Nye settled at the mouth of Pine creek, in Montpelier township, and erected a cabin there. Undoubtedly he was the first settler in the county, although the matter has been threshed over times without number that the distinction is not his.
"ERR TOLD ME SO."
Other histories of the county have given Err Thornton the credit of being the first settler in Muscatine county and for many years the local historian, J. P. Walton, who came to the county in 1838, and lived here seventy years, employing his leisure time in collecting data relating to the early history of the community and placing it in enduring form, contended that Err Thornton was the first settler and so continued in his contention until upon a certain occasion Err Thornton told him that he did not come until after Ben Nye had taken up an abode on Pine creek. In another part of this work the reader will find that the "fall" Err Thornton came to the county, he and his brother Lott stopped at the Nye cabin a short time. However, the controversy is now practically settled. In his own handwriting, on the margin of one of his "scrapbooks," Walton wrote: "It has recently been proven that Nye was here before the Thorntons came ; so Err has since told me. J. P. Walton."
Benjamin Nye and his cousin Stephen settled in Montpelier township, at the mouth of Pine creek, in the spring of 1834; Err, Lott and James Thornton located in the fall of 1834 on the slough in the southeastern corner of Seventy- six township.
John McGrew came to Iowa in 1834, but did not settle at once in Muscatine township. He took up his residence in the Thornton neighborhood, but in Louisa county, near the Muscatine county line. Subsequently, in 1842, he
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HISTORY OF MUSCATINE COUNTY
moved on to an eighty-acre tract in Seventy-six township, which he purchased of Colonel George Kincaid. Previous to this, in 1833, a man by the name of Farnham had set up a cabin, on the spot now designated by a marble stone placed in the center of Front street, just where it meets Iowa avenue. Farn- ham put in the cabin a stock of merchandise, being in the employ of Colonel George Davenport, Indian trader, at Fort Armstrong, on the island of Rock Island. He was never, however, considered as a settler, so that at the begin- ning of 1835 it is considered that there were none but the Nyes and Thorntons in the county as settlers.
FIRST SETTLER IN BLOOMINGTON.
In May, 1835, came James W. Casey, who settled a short distance west of the Farnham cabin, at the foot of Broadway. He was the first actual settler in Muscatine, then Bloomington, and built a cabin on his claim in the fall of 1835. Here it was his intention to build a town. He had already given the site of it the name of Newburg, although his claim was known as "Casey's Landing" and "Casey's Woodyard." Mr. Casey died in the fall of 1836, and his was the first death in the county.
In the summer of 1835 Arthur Washburn arrived at Casey's Landing and remained there until fall. Later, he became a clerk in the store at Montpelier, opened by Major William Gordon and Ben Nye. Dr. Eli Reynolds came in 1835 and settled in what is now Sweetland township. He chose for his claim, with Harvey Gillett, a tract of land on the river front about three miles from Muscatine, and there laid out the now extinct town of Geneva (see Sweetland township).
From this time on a steady growth in numbers among the settlers became more and more evident. Colonel John Vanatta came in 1836 to Muscatine and bought the Farnham, or Davenport claim, and in 1837 Weare Long built the first sawmill in the county, on Sweetland creek. The first grist mill in the county was erected on Pine creek in 1837, by Benjamin Nye, and the same year Dr. Eli Reynolds and John Lawson put up a steam sawmill at Geneva, the first in the county. Robert Smith, an engineer, came with the machinery for this mill from St. Louis, and was placed in charge of the mill when it became ready for operation. The mill was later moved to Muscatine.
The third postoffice in the county was located at Geneva in 1838 and S. C. Comstock presided over it. He soon resigned and Amos Walton, who had come to the county that year, was his successor, retaining the position until his death, when the office was discontinued. In 1838 there was another store started in Geneva, by James Davis, who was the first sheriff of the county.
In 1838 there were 1,247 inhabitants in Muscatine county, and in 1840 the number had increased to 1,942.
By 1844 the population was almost double the number in 1840, or 2,882; and from thence on settlers, most of them a hardy, thrifty and God-fearing people, located in the community, many of them entering land and opening farms, and others engaging in business in the new river metropolis of Bloomington, or put- ting hands and hearts into the various mechanical arts and industries open to
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HISTORY OF MUSCATINE COUNTY
them. A partial list of settlers, from the time of the Nyes and Thorntons to- the last one in 1839, is here given. To undertake a recital of all would be an utter impossibility, for the reason no record of them is in existence and no one now living is able to remember but a small fraction of even the more prominent ones. Those here given are from the records of the Old Settlers' Association, which are in themselves distressingly incomplete :
1834-Benjamin and Azuba Nye, Err Thornton, Lott Thornton Nye.
1835-James W. Casey, John Vanatta, John McGrew, Arthur Washburn, Dr. Eli Reynolds.
1836-Suel Foster, Moses Couch, William Gordon, John J. Huber, Thomas Burdett, H. Burdett, Addison Reynolds, Samuel Gilbert, Hiram Gilbert, Will- iam St. John, Thomas B. Holliday, John H. Miller, John Holliday, Samuel Hol- liday, Elias Holliday, Levi Thornton, J. H. Benson, Edward E. Fay, J. Craig, John Reece, Henry Reece, Joseph Reece, Harvey Gillett, William Beard, Will- iam P. Wright, L. C. Hine, Mr. Higley and his son Jonas, Joshua Stearn, Browning Stearn, Frank Casey, W. H. Sams, Solomon Bair, William Hunter, John Cobb, John Marble, Daniel Edginton, Samuel Kinney, R. C. Kinney, Aaron Blanchard, Samuel Parker, Giles Pettibone, Jonathan Pettibone, John Champ, Silas Maine, Charles Maine, Norman Fullington, Adam Ogilvie, T. M. Isett, Mr. Norton and wife, William Chambers, Sr., and his sons Vincent, William, Isaac, Anderson and John, Aaron Brewer, James Chambers, S. C. Comstock, J. H. Franklin, Henry Mockmore, Robert Bamford, Charles Drury.
1837-Joseph Bridgman, Richard Lord, Silas Lathrop, Isaac Lathrop, Samuel Shortridge, John Briggs, Asa Gregg, Henry Funck, Adam Funck, William Sparkes, Thomas Starks, S. Clinton Hastings, R. Robert Davis, H. Wiley, Silas Goldsbury, George Bumgardner, William G. Holmes, Addison Gillett, Samuel Storms, John Frierson, John Main, Ahimaaz Blanchard, George Storms, Jere- miah Fish, Charles H. Fish, Pliny Fay, H. H. Hine, John Miles, Davie Kiefer, Robert Smith, Jacob Kiser, Wilson Wright, J. Richman, Robert Graham, John Lawson, Martin Sutherland, Alexander Ward, L. T. McGrew, Amos Walton, Isaiah Davis, Alexander Ward, Myron Ward, John Kindler, Dr. Maxon, A. Whiting, William Todd, H. Sany, S. Richardson, F. Richardson, C. Rayburn, A. Cone, Daniel Mauck, Isaac Mauck, S. C. Trowbridge, Giles Pettibone, John Mor- ford, J. Berg, J. C. Cole, J. S. Yates, J. G. Morrow, Mr. Mitchell, Mr. Vandever, John Miller, S. Colver, Dr. H. Lee, Jacob Long, James Bidwell, Peter Bidwell, John S. Abbott, Robert McClaren, Benjamin Baston, John Shefrey, A. L. Mc- Kee, Luke Cunningham, Joseph Mounts, Thomas J. Starke, Nathan Parsons, James Davis, Samuel Parker, Christopher Burns, Levi Chamberlain, Samuel Starr, the Coombs family, Anderson Pace, Aaron Usher, Niles Higginbotham.
1838-T. S. Parvin, Judge Joseph Williams, M. M. Berkshire, A. T. Banks, J. E. Fletcher, Samuel Lucas, Thomas Morford, D. R. Warfield, A. O. Warfield, Josiah P. Walton, John W. Walton, S. W. Stewart, W. D. Viele, Peter Jackson, Henry W. Moore, Abraham Smalley, J. A. Reuling, A. M. Winn, Andrew Mc- Curdy, J. Williams, Jr., William Morford, R. Morford, B. T. Howland, J. W. Brady, George Barney, Mr. Hawkins, Irad C. Day, D. R. Petriken, W. S. Ayers, A. West, James Beatty, John M. Kidder, J. M. Brockway, A. Brockway, W. Te-
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HISTORY OF MUSCATINE COUNTY
bow, Charles Browning, James Phillips, A. Farnsworth, Samuel Bamford, Ho- race Deming, John Isler, Amos Lillibridge, Azel Farnsworth, Benjamin Lilly, Alonzo Standard.
1839-John A. Parvin, J. M. Kane, G. W. Kincaid, J. McCloud, J. A. Purin- ton, E. T. S. Schenck, C. A. Abbot, Mathew Mathews, Clark Mathews, W. W. DeWeber, Hiram Mathews, Benjamin S. Olds, G. E. Daniels, G. W. Humphreys, Samuel Tarr, S. N. Candee, F. H. Stone, James Weed, Z. Washburn, J. K. Will- iams, M. Gilbert, J. E. Israel, George M. Kinsley, Dennis Jeffers, Joseph Ben- nett, D. C. Cloud, William Leffingwell, J. Scott Richman, William A. Gordon, John Giles, S. D. Viele, Samuel Sinnett, Isaac Magoon, George D. Magoon, W. G. Woodward, A. R. Woodward, Alexander Dunmore, Shepherd Smalley, John Smalley, William Smalley, Jackson Smalley, Henry Smalley, Tiley Smalley, S. Whicher, J. Ziegler, J. A. McCormick, G. W. Hunt, A. M. Hare, H. Q. Jenni- son, Stephen B. Brophy, L. Truesdale, William Brownell, G. A. Springer, P. Fryberger, Benjamin and Edward Mathews, Daniel S. Smith, Silas Hawley, Barton Lee.
CHAPTER IV.
STORY OF THE ROCKS.
GEOGRAPHIC AND GEOLOGIC FEATURES OF MUSCATINE COUNTY-ITS ROCKS, RIVERS AND HILLS-THE CLAM AND MUSSEL SHELL WHICH FURNISH THE MATERIAL FOR PEARL BUTTONS, THE MANUFACTURE OF WHICH HAS BECOME A GREAT IN- DUSTRY OF THE COUNTY'S CHIEF CITY.
Professor F. M. Witter, member of the Academy of Science and Superin- tendent of the public schools for many years, prepared an article descriptive of the geographic and geologic formation of Muscatine. By permission, it is re- published in these pages :
DRAINAGE AND SURFACE CHARACTERISTICS.
The Mississippi river forms the southern boundary of the county for about fourteen miles, beginning on the east, and the eastern boundary for about six miles, making almost a right angle at the city of Muscatine. The Cedar river enters the county near the center on the north and runs southwest, leaving the county two miles east of the southwest corner.
About two-thirds of the county is between these two rivers. The general drainage therefore is south and southwest. Pine creek, Sweetland creek, Geneva creek, Mad creek, Pappoose creek, Lowe's run and several other small creeks, drain the south and east side of this region into the Mississippi. Sugar creek and its chief branch, Mud creek, Mosquito and Little Mosquito creeks, with others unnamed, carry the water from northwest of the divide between the riv- ers, into the Cedar. The third of the county northwest of the Cedar is drained into that stream by the Wapsinonoc.
From the east along the Mississippi to Muscatine, the bluff is about one- fourth of a mile from the limit of high water, and rises rather abruptly, generally in steep ridges pointing toward the river, to the average height above high water of about one hundred and fifty feet.
Below Muscatine, the bluff continues nearly west, bending slightly to the south some four miles before it leaves the county, while the river runs almost south from Muscatine, forming a bottom in this county between the river and the bluff, about six miles square. The greater part of this tract is known as Muscatine Island, once correctly so called, because Muscatine slough branches from the river in the southwestern part of the city and runs generally in this county within a mile of the bluff, reaching the river again some ten or twelve
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AUTOMATIC BUTTON CO.
EAST FROM COURT HOUSE
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HISTORY OF MUSCATINE COUNTY
miles below our southern boundary. This slough is closed now in the city by artificial works.
Some two or three miles back from the bluff of the Mississippi, the surface is moderately rolling. A considerable portion, indeed, of the divide, especially in the northern and eastern part, is quite level. The bluffs along the Cedar are not so high and bold as along the Mississippi.
The bottoms of the Cedar are from two to three miles wide from bluff to bluff. Muscatine Island and a large part of the bottoms along the Cedar are scarcely above high water. The former is protected by a levee. But little land is covered by ponds, lakes or swamps.
Muscatine slough is generally about eighty feet wide and ten feet deep, sup- plied largely by springs. It expands near the southern border of the county into Keokuk Lake, a sheet of water some two miles long, one-half mile wide, and four to six feet deep. Some low land along the Cedar is being reclaimed by a system of ditching.
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