USA > Iowa > Osceola County > History of Osceola county, Iowa, from its organization to the present time > Part 9
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The meeting was held according to announcement and the following is a report of it :
HOMESTEADER'S PROTECTIVE ASSOCIATION.
A large number of homesteaders were present at the meeting held at the Court house on Saturday last. D. L. Riley was chosen temporary Chairman, and F. M. Robinson temporary Secretary. Appropriate and earnest remarks were made by D. L. Riley and H. Jordan. A committee on reso- lutions, consisting of J. H. Douglass, H. Jordan and A. W. Clark, was appointed. Remarks were made by J. L. Robin- son, W. Rea, A. Halstead and Allen Garvin.
The committee on resolutions reported a preamble and resolutions which were adopted. We have not space for them, but the gist of them is as follows: After setting forth as reasons for the forming of an association, the fact that many homesteaders, owing to the failure of their crops, would be compelled to leave the county for a time to obtain work in order to provide for their families; also that fears were enter- tained of their claims being unjustly contested, thereby caus- ing them expense which they were unable to bear; "there- fore, be it
" Resolved, That we, the undersigned, band ourselves to- gether for the purpose of protecting ourselves in our rights."
A series of resolutions, fifteen in number, establishing the number of officers as one President, one Vice President from each range of townships, a Secretary and Treasurer; appoint- ing a regular meeting on the first Saturday of each month, at I o'clock P. M., in the court house; establishing certain com- mittees, defining their duties; giving the terms of admission to the association; and making it necessary for the Treasurer to give a bond, etc., were adopted. The officers elected were as follows:
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HISTORY OF OSCEOLA COUNTY, IOWA.
President, D. L. Riley; First Vice President, C. W. Wyllys; Second Vice President, C. M. Bailey; Third Vice President, A. Garvin; Secretary, H. Jordan; Treasurer, J. L. Robinson.
Any resident of Osceola County may become a member of this organization by subscribing his or her name to the preamble, resolutions and by-laws, and paying the sum of fifty cents.
Any one wishing to examine the by-laws, etc., or to become a member of the association, can do so by calling at Jordan's office.
This meeting was the foundation of a call for relief. Grasshoppers had devastated the county, and what crops there were had generally been ruined by this pest. On the start, the people were divided on this relief question, as many were opposed to it on the ground that it would give the county a bad reputation and retard settlement. Several men in Sibley offered to carry such families as were extremely needy, through the winter and furnish them the necessaries of life. Others, of those opposed to relief, thought the county had better make provision for its own, but the relief party was numerically the stronger, and finally its opposers had to fall into line. It is often the case when some sudden catastrophe has fallen upon a community, like the Chicago fire or the Johnstown flood, that the community itself is unable to take care of its unfortunates. Where hundreds of families are left homeless and thrown upon the charity of others, then, indeed, it is well to call upon other parts of the country for contribu- tions. But there is always more or less fraud connected with it, and it is apt to be the case that the modest people, but more deserving, get but little of the relief goods, while the " cheeky" ones get the most. It was a question then, and is now, whether that relief movement for Northwestern Iowa was advisable, but the people had it, organizations were effected to handle it, the state was solicited particularly, and the country generally, for supplies. Adjutant-General Baker was the state manager, and each county, and indeed each township had its committees.
At a meeting of the Sibley Grange, held the evening of the 7th of October, 1873, the following among the proceedings was had:
"On motion, J. F. Glover, H. C. Hungerford and F. M. Robinson were authorized and instructed to prepare an ad- dress to the Master of the National Grange, and to the State
RESIDENCE OF C. M. MANVILLE, OCHEYEDAN.
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HISTORY OF OSCEOLA COUNTY, IOWA.
and Subordinate Granges of Iowa, soliciting supplies of grain for seed, to be used by the farmers of Osceola County in the spring of 1874, who are and will be unable to purchase the same on account of the almost total failure of crops the past season."
The Gazette notes one weeks receipts as follows: "Two boxes, three sacks, eight barrels of flour and two carloads of coal. General Baker reports nine more carloads of coal which will make seventeen in all. About $200 in cash have been received, which will be used to procure seed grain."
The relief business soon fell into controversy and the newspapers were wrangling over the question.
The Gazette of December 19, 1873, had the following article :
"THE RELIEF QUESTION .- We notice that some of the papers in this part of the state are attributing all the destitu- tion to this county; some of them even intimate that all the supplies which come to this place are distributed to the people of this county. In order to correct this impression, we have obtained from J. L. Robinson, the secretary of the distributing committee, the following figures:
"From the 10th to the 16th, inclusive, of this month, only six days, there has been filled sixty-seven orders for families of Lyon County, and thirty-four from Rock and Nobles Counties, Minnesota. Sixty-seven orders in six days from a county whose prominent men boasted in the Sioux City Fournal that they could take care of their own poor, does not look much as if they were backing up their talk by deeds. It should be remembered that these orders are not for single arti- cles, but are from half a ton of coal to provisions and clothing for a whole family, and in many instances all combined. The above explanation will also apply to the Minnesota applicants.
"We publish elsewhere a communication from Minnesota men in regard to the matter.
" While we have not denied the need of aid in this county, we think it hardly fair that we should have to bear the whole odium, especially when we are giving out supplies to people whose own county was going to take care of them, and to in- habitants of another state where there is no more than ordi- nary destitution. No doubt some have obtained supplies who did not really need them, but we should hesitate to call all those thieves who get aid, and they certainly would be such if they had taken when not deserving. As we understand the matter, the supplies were sent for the needy homesteaders
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HISTORY OF OSCEOLA COUNTY, IOWA.
of the northwestern part of the state, and all received at this place have been so distributed, except those furnished desti- tute people in Minnesota. The distributing people are faith- ful caretul men, and have done their work well; they may have been deceived, but we think that what complaint there may be, has come from those who have been refused when it was ascertained that they did not need.
" We hope that the papers of these neighboring counties will at least give us credit for what we have done, and not try to shove all their destitution off onto Osceola County, because it might injure their future prospects-especially in the face of the above mentioned facts."
On November 14, 1873, the following appeal was issued: " AN APPEAL FOR AID .- To the People of the State of lowva: We, the undersigned, a committee appointed by the Homesteaders' Protective Association of Osceola County, an organization effected for the purpose of looking after the ex- treme and urgent necessities of the people of said county, caused by the almost total failure of the crops, do deem it just and proper that we let our sister counties, who are in affluent circumstances, have positive knowledge of the situation of a very large proportion of the citizens of this county.
The most of the settlers came here last spring with little or no means, and depending entirely on their efforts during the summer to carry them through the winter; honestly and faith- fully have they toiled. A very large amount of ground was sown and planted in the spring-more than sufficient to raise subsistence for all for the coming winter, if it had not been for an extremely wet, backward spring, and the invasion of a vast army of grasshoppers, which caused almost a total failure of corn and small grain crops, so that they now find themselves on the eve of a long, cold winter, worse off than in the spring; without food of the plainest kind, and without means to pur- chase fuel to protect themselves and families during the com- ing winter. There are hundreds of families who have not sufficient clothing, and know not where the bread that they will eat ten days hence is coming from, or their fuel. These same people relying on their crops to carry them through the winter, have labored diligently through the summer, and thousands of acres of the prairie have been turned over ready for a crop next spring.
" Now, therefore, be it known to the people of the State of Iowa, that without liberal assistance from some source, a very large portion of the citizens of this county will be without
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JIISTORY OF OSCEOLA COUNTY, IOWA.
the necessaries to sustain life, and also fuel to keep them from freezing, and unless, from some source, seed is furnished to these people to sow and plant in the spring, many of the broad acres that are now ready will have to lie idle the com- ing season.
" We therefore appeal to the liberal, christian hearted peo- ple of this state for assistance in the shape of money, clothing, fuel and staple articles of food.
" At the present writing there are at least two hundred families in the county needing immediate assistance.
" All consignments will be made to
" C. M. BAILEY, Agent H. P. A., " Sibley, Osceola County, lowa. "( For relief. ) "ALLEN GARVIN, "ROBT. STAMM, "W. W. CRAMM, "J. L. ROBINSON, "J. H. DOUGLASS, "Committee."
At a joint meeting of the Relief and Grange Committees. held Saturday, January 3, 1874, the following township com- mittees were appointed to canvass the several townships and ascertain the actual necessities of the inhabitants:
Township 98, Range 42-S. Haney, A. H. Miller and A. W. Mitchell.
Township 98, Range 41-C. Thompson, J. Mandeville and W. Rea.
Township 98, Range 40 -- N. D. Bowles, J. C. Moar and D. W. McCullam.
Township 99, Range 42-Wm. Anderson, F. Townsend and E. Huff.
Township 99, Range 41 -W. S. Westcott, W. A. Spencer and Curtis.
Township 99, Range 39-40-C. Boyd, W. A. Waldo and F. Thayer.
Township 100, Range 42-N. 1. Wetmore, F. Reynolds and S. Cram.
Township 100, Range 41 -- Wm. Thomas, P. Piesley and A. Shapley.
Township 100, Range 40-W. W. Herron, Q. E. Cleve- land and J. F. Pfaff.
Township 100, Range 39-J. S. Flint, C. M. Richards and Ira Stevens.
--
C. I. HILL.
J.MANZ &CO. CHI
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HISTORY OF OSCEOLA COUNTY, IOWA.
The State Senate of 1873-74 appointed a committee to visit Northwest Iowa with reference to legislative action for the purpose of securing a loan with which to buy seed grain. December 3, 1874, Geo. D. Perkins, Senator from Woodbury County, and Samuel Fairall, Senator from Johnson County, went to Sibley and held a conference with the people. They examined the Auditor's books in order to ascertain the financial condition of the county, and the feasibility of the county issuing warrants for the purchase of grain, and ascertained that the county could not 'obtain the supply needed from its own re- sources. These men expressed themselves as wishing that the entire General Assembly might be there and see for them- selves, and promised that they would make an appeal for its sympathy, and to its patriotism for action in the matter. A bill was presented by Mr. Perkins asking an appropriation of $105,000 for the purchase of seed grain and expenses of three commissioners to purchase and distribute; $5,000 out of the amount appropriated to be paid for expenses. Under this bill the money was to be in the nature of a loan, which the parties were to pay back. After a discussion, a bill was agreed upon to donate, instead of loan, $50,000 to the northwest counties, and this bill passed both houses and became a law. Out of this donation Osceola County got about $8,000.
The Legislative Committee, Messrs. Brown and Tasker, arrived in Sibey March 12, 1874, and " opened court." They were armed with blanks, requiring the settler to state where he lived, whether he was owner or renter, and how many acres he had broken; also that he had no seed, no money to buy seed with, and that he would use the seed for sowing. They also required testimony where one's word was not con- sidered good, and admonished each and all that the peniten- tiary stared them in the face if they swore falsely. This Legislative tribunal did their work and went home.
On March 27, 1874, after the relief business had under- gone its usual trials and vexations, and charges of fraud had gone around, and considerable discontent and dissatisfaction, the following instructions were issued by General Baker to committee :
" In the distribution of all supplies the utmost caution and care must be exercised, and only the really needy must be supplied, and they must be careful to save something in reserve for emergency or in case of sickness.
"In order to conform to the above instructions the com-
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HISTORY OF OSCEOLA COUNTY, IOWA.
mittee will require each applicant for aid to take and subscribe the following oath :
" SIBLEY, Iowa, 1874. " I, do solemnly swear, so help me God, that I have not flour or other provisions sufficient to last my family one week, and that I have no means, on hand or at my command, to procure subsistence for my family.
"
Soon after this, which was in March, 1874, the relief business was ended.
On March 12, 1874, the state committee issued the following :
DES MOINES, March 12, 1874.
"To the Public: The undersigned would state for the information of all concerned, that all supplies in our possession for Northwestern settlers, will be distributed by April Ist, 1873. There may be a small amount left on hand at that date but hardly worth consideration. The settlers and committees must now act most cautiously and govern themselves in ac- cordance with the existing condition of supplies. Any Grange or other benevolent people who have anything to for- ward should do so at once. All our advantages on railroad lines will probably cease by the date above designated. And here in conclusion, we wish to thank the railroads, express companies and the telegraph companies for all the great favors they have done to the Northwestern settlers, in forwarding the generous donations of our benevolent people.
N. B. BAKER.
J. D. WHITMAN, R. R. HARBOUR,
D. W. PRINDLE,
State Grange Committee.
March 23, 1873, after an extended announcement, the people gathered in the courthouse at Sibley, crowding the house to its utmost capacity, to listen to General Baker and others, and to have sort of a speaking love feast over the winding up of the relief department. General Baker told them that he had done what he could for the people, that the supplies would soon end and that they were now thrown upon their own resources and must view it in that light and act ac- cordingly. Messrs. Jordan, Glover and Riley also spoke to the people, and with three cheers and tigers for Baker the meeting dispersed. Thus ended the great relief campaign of 1873 and 1874.
CHAPTER XVIII.
Soon after the Huff residence was established Mr. T. J. Shaw put up a store building and put in a stock of goods; the building on the same section with Huff. Mr. Shaw afterwards filed on a part of Section 14, in Gilman, and in 1872, put up a store building in the town of St. Gilman (now Ashton) and moved his stock there. Shaw's store was the first store in the county, and in it in 1871, the old settlers used to congre- gate, and if we had a record of all their doings, and the stories there told, our readers would be highly entertained. Every blizzard would find about so many who happened to be at the store, and unable to get home. In one of the blizzards there were several of the old settlers caught there, among whom were Dr. Gurney, August and C. Thompson, W. A. Spencer and others. They took their horses in the store except one of them, and this they put into the railroad tank near by. This was not in the days of prohibition, and the boys had plenty of the ardent, and hence quite a jollification. One of them was preparing a pan of biscuits for baking while the others were watching the operation, when Shaw declared that his mother always striped biscuits when she made them, and these must conform to the parental custom, upon which he brought his foot down on the soft dough, giving them the required stamp, when they were pronounced ready for the oven, and in they went. When the settler got to Shaw's store he generally tarried awhile, talked over the news of the day, smoked a clay pipe and sat around on the barrel heads, and of the old settlers there were several there at all times during the day and evening. In April, 1871, Joseph Reagan with Uriah Cook, Jacob Henshaw and some others who set- tled in Lyon County, came to Osceola County from Madison County, Iowa. They went to the " Huff " house and through the services of our first settler secured claims. Mr. Reagan filed on a part of Section 20, Township 98, Range 42, now Gilman Township, and Uriah Cook filed on the same section Huff was on. Mr. Reagan still lives in the county, is one of the prominent men in Ashton and its postmaster. Mr. Cook now lives in Montana.
Reagan and party arrived at Huff's on the Sth day of
RESIDENCE OF C. A. TATUM, OCHEYEDAN.
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HISTORY OF OSCEOLA COUNTY. IOWA.
April, 1871. Their outfit consisted of five wagons, twelve horses and mules and six head of cattle. Each of the wagons had occupants sleeping in them on the night of the Sth, and early on the morning of the 9th a terrible blizzard set in, and these wagon sleepers were soon covered with snow and crawled out and into a house. The next day they took the wagons and formed a half circle of them at the south side of the house, making a corral, in which they put their horses and then tied the cattle to the wagons on the outside. This storm lasted two days, and the company, consisting of about twenty men, women and children, filled the house, and at night it taxed the ingenuity of all to arrange the packing. Along with the inmates already named, there were three dogs and forty chickens, so that the time was not passed in Quaker silence, and everybody was in everybody's way, though all were jolly. The first night all were packed around systematically. Huff and his wife were placed in the northeast corner, then came Henshaw and his family, then the chickens and the rest of the crowd as they could be accommodated. The end where the horses were was considered unsafe, as the pressure against the boards was liable to break them in, so that Reagan, C. M. Brooks and Uriah Cook were assigned to that part of the shack to counteract the pressure from the outside.
The morning of the third day was pleasant, and each went their way to their separate claims. C. W. Freeman came to Gilman township in June, 1872, and settled on the northeast quarter of Section S. He came from Humboldt County and with him came F. E. Cook, J. W. Carson and Will Smith. These four took Section 8. Mr. Carson died in January, 1883, and his popularity and his large circle of friends in the county justifies a reproduction of the following from January 24, 1883, number of the Osceola County Review, then published at Ashton :
"IN MEMORIAM.
" James W. Carson was born at Batavia, Genesee County, New York, February 16, 1833. When about thirteen years old his parents, leaving their eastern home, became pioneers in the then Territory of Wisconsin. A wonderful tide of immigration was pouring into the newer states and the terri- tories bordering the Mississippi, and two years later, when Mr. Boyd Carson, the father of the subject of this sketch, removed to West Oregon, Dane County, Wisconsin had be- come a state. The father was one of the hardy pioneers of
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HISTORY OF OSCEOLA COUNTY, IOWA.
the olden time, who, without the help of railways and modern conveniences of travel, made the long and tiresome journey to the frontier lands, and laid the foundations for prosperous communities and states. He is described as a man of sterling integrity and fine Christian character, and James W., the son, inherited from his father a high regard for what was true and pure in religious life. James, or " Kit," as he was popularly called by settlers old and new in this county, of which he was one of the first pioneers, grew to man's estate and was indus- triously employed in trade or farming, but the agitation of the slavery question and the disloyalty of the South, leading to the civil war, he early in the rebellion enlisted in the Second Wisconsin cavalry, and earned the merit of being a good sol- dier, but incurred hardships and injuries which laid the foun- dation of the disease which has taken him away, to the grief of his family, the sorrow of his friends, and the loss of the community. After the war, and soon after his marriage, he removed to Humboldt County, this state, where he remained two years. In 1871 he, in company with F. E. Cook and C. W. Freeman, removed to this county and located homesteads in Gilman Township. During his twelve years residence in this county he formed a wide acquaintance. The hold he had on the hearts of the settlers was well attested by the crowd that turned out to his funeral on the bitter cold Wednesday of this week. People gathered in from the three counties of Osceola, O'Brien and Lyon-one family driving fully ten miles across the country. Sheldon sent a large delegation and quite a number of old soldiers, bringing choice flowers and wreaths for the grave. Kind neighbors and comrades of both Sheldon and Sibley army posts served as watchers from the time-early Tuesday morning-that his remains reached Ashton from Minneapolis, where he died early on Monday- the immediate cause of his death being his inability to with- stand the shock to his system, induced by an operation per- formed by surgeons at a hospital in Minneapolis, removing a large and bony-like tumor under the arm in the left side, which had developed until it reached the region of the heart."
In 1871, Nick Boor, along with John Streit and William Shultz, landed in Gilman Township. They came from Wis- consin, and drove through with a team. Nick filed on the southeast quarter of Section 4, Township 98, Range 42, Streit on the northeast quarter of same section, and Schultz on the northeast quarter of Section IS. Mr. Schultz lives at Sheldon, and Boor and Streit still live in Gilman Township.
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HISTORY OF OSCEOLA COUNTY, IOWA.
C. C. Osgood came in 1872, and settled in Gilman Town- ship on the southwest quarter of Section 30. Mr. Osgood still lives on the same place, has weathered all the difficulties, and is a successful farmer.
Mr. William Foster settled in Gilman Township in 1872, on a part of Section 14. Mr. Foster died a few years ago, and his widow with her sons still live on the old homestead.
Ephraim Miller, in 1871, located on the southwest quarter of Section 26, Gilman Township; still owns the land, and still resides in the township on land he has since pur- chased.
Of these 1871 and 1872 settlers in Gilman Township but few remain in the township now. As far as we can learn they are Joseph Reagan, Nick Boor, John Streit, Ephraim Miller, C. C. Osgood and the Foster boys.
In the spring of 1873, J. E. Townsend, along with his brother George, came to Gilman Township from Michigan. George returned soon after and J. E. filed on the north half of the northwest quarter of Section S, upon which he still lives with his family and has other land afterwards pur- chased. J. E. Townsend is now County Treasurer. This same year, 1873, also, Fred Poschack came from Wisconsin and filed on a part of Section 6, upon which he still resides. Other parties living in this township came in the years follow- ing these first settlements, and quite a number are renters. Among others of the farming people in Gilman Township, Mrs. John Neff resides on Section I; also on the same Section John Rabe. M. A. Schend was an old settler in Lyon County and now lives on Section 2 in Gilman Township. On Section 2 also Mr. Frank Walrich and John Barbien. On Section 3 John Thorn; on Section 4 Joseph Dries, Anthony Geiver and also Mr. Streit; on Section 5 Jacob Johannes; on Section 6 Fred Poschack, Matt Spartz, John Seivert, B. Sturber and B. F. Pettingell. Mr. Pettingell is a Yankee from Massachu- setts. Warren Robbins is on Section 7; Henry Shaa, Joseph Ehlen, besides J. E. Townsend on Section S. Of still other residents of the county Joseph Dries, Jr., is on Section 9; also Matt Seivert and William Fuger; R. Linzen, Jacob Leinen, William Fuger on Section 10, Peter Kappes on Section IT; Thomas Cox and Charles Winters on Section 12. The town of Ashton is on Section 15 in this township and on Section IS we find Henry Arends, W. Popkes, H. Lenitzens, and Mr. DeGroat. On Section 20 lives Rev. Mr. Nolte, a Quaker preacher; also C. W. Conner. Mr. Conner is a prominent
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