USA > Iowa > Page County > History of Page County, Iowa : containing a history of the county, its cities, towns, etc. : a biographical directory of many of its leading citizens, war record of its volunteers in the late rebellion, general and local statistics, portraits of early settlers and prominent men, history of Iowa and the Northwest, map of Page County, constitution of the state of Iowa, reminiscences, miscellaneous matters, etc > Part 45
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Thursday, October 31, 1878 .- Miss Ida Hall, 15 years of age, living with her father, four miles east of Shenandoah, committed suicide by taking strychnine.
Thursday, January 9, 1879 .- L. F. Thompson, of Buchanan township, died at his home January 3. He was 68 years old, born in Tennessee, and settled in Page county in 1844.
Thursday, April 17, 1879 .- On Friday last, about five o'clock P. M., the little town of Braddyville was thrown into excitement by the report of a pistol and the announcement that Joe Thompson had shot and killed Doc Chestnut. There had been for some time trouble existing between them as to a few rods of fence, and they had a law suit over it, and that made bad blood, and it continued until it culminated in death. Both men hap- pened to be in Braddyville on Friday and came together in a drug store, and something was said, when Chestnut turned around and struck Thomp- son, knocking him down and kicking him a couple of times. Parties standing by grabbed Chestnut and pulled him back, and as Thompson raised up he shot Chestnut through the body near the heart. He fell and soon expired.
Thursday, May 29, 1879 .- Died, on Sabbath, May 25th, 1879, Mrs. Sarah Ribble, aged 89 years, nine months and six days. She was mar- ried to Mr. George Ribble, who still survives her, March 19th, 1817. She removed with her husband to this county in 1855.
Thursday, June 12, 1879 .- On Thursday, the 7th inst. John Reeves, a young man about twenty-one years old, was found dead in the barn of J. S. Walker of Buchanan township. He came to his death by poisoning himself.
Thursday, June, 26, 1879 .- On Sunday night, June 24th, the Clarinda woolen mills were entirely consumed by fire. Loss, ten thousand dollars.
Thursday, July 10, 1879 .- On Thursday, July 6th, J. H. Polsley, one of the early settlers of Page county, died at his residence in Lincoln township, aged nearly ninety years. He came to Page county in 1855, and settled in Clarinda, and for several years was engaged in the mercan- tile business, when he sold out and moved onto a farm west of Page City, where he resided until the time of his demise.
·
405
HISTORY OF PAGE COUNTY.
THE RAILWAYS OF PAGE COUNTY.
The citizens of Page county early conceived the importance of railroads, and projects of that nature have been under discussion since 1856, being a few years after their great importance to the country became manifest. As a consequence the county now has very good railway connections with the outside world-which bids fair to increase, even in the immediate future. In 1859 the citizens of the county were talking of the State Line railroad, the eastern terminus of which was at Farmington, Van Buren county. Had the road been built the line would have run through the southern tier of townships of the county. It is probably needless for us to remark that the road was never constructed.
March 23d, 1860, a meeting was held in Clarinda, and a committee ap- pointed to confer with the railroad companies of St. Joseph, Missouri, and make known to them the advantages of a railroad in the valley of the Nodaway. This, like the other project referred to, never culminated in anything, and the people of Clarinda and Page county were compelled to get along as best they could without a railroad until the year 1871. That year the Nebraska City branch of the C., B. & Q. was built from Red Oak to the former named place, entering Page county on the township line between Pierce and Fremont townships, running through sections one and twelve and diagonally across sections thirteen, twenty-three, twenty-four, twenty-six and seven, and thirty-four, and entering Grant township at the northeast corner of section four, running diagonally across sections four, nine, eight, seventeen, eighteen and nineteen. There are but two stations on this line in Page county,-Essex, in Pierce township, and Shenandoah, in Grant township. The road was constructed without any aid from the citizens of the townships in this county through which it passes, the company constructing the road paying for the right of way. This is the only road in the county that has been constructed without aid from the citizens of the county.
By the year 1872 a few of the live business men of Clarinda came to the conclusion that the town had been groping in darkness, and shut out from the outside world long enough, and that a railroad they must have. They had been running after various projects for years, all to no avail, and now that roads were being built in all directions around the town, it behooved the citizens to be up and doing, if they did not desire to be shut completely off from railroad facilities. In February of 1872, a company was formed for the purpose of constructing a road from Vallisca to Browns- ville, Nebraska, via Clarinda. The company was organized under the following articles of incorporation :
406
HISTORY OF PAGE COUNTY.
ARTICLE 1 .- Under the provisions of chapter fifty-two of the code of Iowa, we, W. P. Hepburn, David Reinick, H. C. Lett, John Fitzgerald, J. S. Cameron, Samuel Crooks, George H. Powers, N. L. Van Sandt, N. C. Ridenour, John Barnett, M. S. Thurman, do hereby incorporate our- selves and all other persons who may become stockholders in the Brown- ville and Nodaway Valley Railway Company into a body corporate, with all the rights, powers and privileges granted by the laws of Iowa and these articles.
ART. 2 .- The name and style of this incorporation shall be the Brown- ville & Nodaway Valley Railway Company, and by that name shall have · perpetual succession.
ART. 3 .- The Principal place of business of this company shall be at Clarinda, Iowa, and all the stockholders' meetings and meetings of the board of directors shall be held at that place.
ART. 4 .- The objects of this corporation are to locate, construct, main- tain and operate a railway with single and double track, with all the necessary branches, fences, bridges, ware-houses, elevators, steamboats, lands and such other appendages as may be deemed necessary for the convenient use and profitable management of the same, from a point on the Missouri river, opposite Brownville, in the state of Nebraska; thence to the valley of the Nodaway, in Page county, Iowa; thence, in a north- westerly direction, to a junction with the Des Moines Valley Railroad.
ART. 5 .- The capital stock may be four millions of dollars, which shall be divided into shares of one hundred dollars each, and at all stockholders' meetings each share of stock shall be entitled to one vote. The stock may be subscribed for at such times and in such amounts as the board of directors may from time to time determine. The time and conditions upon which it is to be paid in shall be determined by the board of direc- tors.
ART. 6 .- This corporation shall commence on the 27th day of Febru- ary, A. D. 1872, and shall continue fifty years, with the right of renewal and perpetual succession.
ART. 7 .- The affairs of the company shall be managed by a board of not less than seven nor more than fifteen directors, a majority of whom, including president and vice-president, shall constitute a quorum. In the absence of president and vice-president, two-thirds of the directors shall constitute a quorum, and they may appoint one of their number presiding officer.
ART. 8 .- The officers of the company shall consist of a president, vice- president, secretary and treasurer, and such other officers as the board of directors may deem expedient, all of whom shall be appointed by the di- rectors.
ART. 9 .- The board of directors shall have full power and authority to
407
HISTORY OF PAGE COUNTY.
carry into effect the objects of this incorporation; shall have the power to fill any vacancy in the board; shall have power to authorize the president and secretary to execute a deed of trust on the whole or any part of the prop- erty of the company to secure the payment of the bonds thereof, in such amounts, and upon such terms and conditions, as the directors may think best. The said directors shall have the right to consolidate, by purchase or otherwise, with any other railway; they may prescribe the manner in which this company's railway may be used; may regulate the running and operating of trains, and shall have full and exclusive power to regu- late fares and the rates of toll or tariffs for the transportation of property or persons over this company's railway.
ART. 10 .- All certificates of stock, contracts, agreements and bonds shall be signed by the president and secretary. No certificate of stock shall be valid unless countersigned by the transfer agent of the company.
ART. 11 .- The aggregate indebtedness of the company shall in no case exceed two-thirds of the capital stock authorized by these articles.
ART. 12 .- The private property of the stockholders shall not be sub- ject to the debts of the corporation.
ART. 13 .- After the year 1872 the annual meeting of stockholders shall take place on the first Wednesday of June of each year, of which at least four weeks' notice shall be mailed to each stockholder by a printed notice sent to his postoffice address, informing him of the time and place of such meeting. At such annual meeting a board of directors shall be elected, who shall choose from their own number a president and vice-president, and elect a secretary and treasurer. They may also appoint such other officers and agents as the business of this company requires. Each stock- holder shall be entitled to vote in person or by proxy.
ART. 14 .- The treasurer shall be required to give bond, satisfactory to the board, as security for the faithful performance of his duties.
ART. 15 .- This corporation may exercise all its powers and hold meet- ings of its board of directors in either of the cities of New York or Brownville, Nebraska.
ART. 16 .- Any of these articles may be altered or amended by the written consent of two-thirds of the directors, or by the written consent of three-fourths of the holders of all the stock.
ART. 17 .- Until the first regular meeting of the stockholders the fol- lowing named incorporators shall continue the board of directors: H. C. Lett, John Barnett, D. Reinick, J. S. Cameron, John Fitzgerald, N. C. Ridenour and N. L. Van Sandt.
Witness our hands this 27th day of February, 1872.
JOHN BARNETT, N. L. VAN SANDT,
D. REINICK, J. S. CAMERON,
H. C. LETT, N. C. RIDENOUR,
JOHN FITZGERALD.
408
HISTORY OF PAGE COUNTY.
Notwithstanding the fact that Clarinda had been so long endeavoring to secure a railroad, some of her citizens strongly opposed the project when they found, in order to secure the building of a road from Vallisca to Clarinda, it would be necessary for them to loosen their purse strings. On the first day of June, 1872, the voters of Nodaway township decided, by a vote of 77 to 225, to transfer the five per cent tax previously voted in aid of the Chillicothe road, to the Brownville & Nodaway Valley com- pany. In connection with this it was necessary for the citizens of Cla- rinda and Nodaway township to raise thirty thousand dollars in money, and this, after quite a struggle, they succeeded in doing. After the con- test was over, in referring to the matter in his paper, N. C. Ridenour took occasion to speak of the project, under date of July 4th, 1872, as follows:
"For the past few months our citizens have been working for a railroad almost day and night, and we are glad to announce that they have, at last, achieved the long talked of project, and on the first day of October, 1872, Clarinda will be connected with the outside world. In this work our citi- zens have done nobly; they have acquitted themselves with credit; and we, with the most of our citizens, rejoice that such liberality and enter- prise was manifested in securing this road. It is true, we have had many draw backs-some of our would-be leading citizens making a display of what they call independence, which, in our opinion, will not be of any ad- vantage to them in the future. If men will not assist their neighbors as well as themselves we see no obligations resting upon the citizens to sup- port them.
"On Thursday last the contract for building the Brownville & Noda- way Valley railroad was let to Messrs. Fitzgerald and Reinick. These gentlemen have the money, and will go to work and build the road more rapidly than now anticipated.
"We hope that our citizens will rejoice and that they may be able to make more money than it has cost them to secure the road. * It was never expected that any of the men in Clarinda were going to build this road, but we, with many others, knew that the money was behind us, and therefore we went to work. We must be permitted to say that too much praise cannot be bestowed upon George Ribble, William Butler, Moses Thompson, Allen Collins, J. S. McIntire, and others, for their lib- eral donation and many hard days work in securing the road."
The work of constructing the road was commenced the latter part of July, and the last rail was laid at Clarinda on Tuesday, September 24, whereat the Democrat, of September 26th, rejoiced in the following strain:
* * Ever since 1856 our people have been, year after year, agi- tating some railroad scheme, and when the present one was inaugurated many of our most prominent citizens were disposed, not only to rough- lock the enterprise, but attempted to laugh it out of existence. But there
409
HISTORY OF PAGE COUNTY.
were many of our people who looked upon it as the only salvation of our town, and put their shoulders to the wheel, and after a long pull accom- plished what they had been so long waiting for for years, and we are to- day permitted to see a railroad in Clarinda. * * * Now that we have what we all have been laboring for, we hope our business men will turn over a new leaf and go to work and regain what we have lost by being deprived of this blessing."
Shortly after its completion, the road passed into the hands of the B. & M., (now C., B. & Q.) company, who have since controlled it, although it has always been known as the Brownville & Nodaway Valley railroad. In 1873, as all will probably remember, the railroad companies of the west, and particularly of Iowa, found a check placed upon the further extension of their proposed lines in consequence of the "Grange Railroad Law" that was passed during the session of the Iowa legislature of 1873, and during the next four years no new lines of road in Iowa were projected and but very few, if indeed any, of the lines remaining incompleted by the spring of 1873, were finished. It will thus be observed that Clarinda was united by rail with the outside world none too soon, and her citizens during the next six years were content with this railroad, short as it was. By the year 1878, the building of railways in Iowa was generally resumed, the obnoxious embargo having been raised, or rather legislated out of exis- tence, and with prosperity in that respect came a general desire on the part of the citizens of Page county, and Clarinda in particular, for more and better railway facilities.
In 1879 the Brownville & Nodaway Valley road was extended to Bur- lington Junction, Missouri, thus giving the citizens of Clarinda a southern outlet.
The latter part of 1878 the business men of Clarinda began to look hopefully toward the south with a view of securing the St. Louis & Coun- cil Bluffs road. The 29th of October, 1878, the citizens of Nodaway township voted on the proposition of levying a five per cent tax in aid of said road, at which election there were 543 votes polled, 372 of which were in favor of the proposition and 171 against. But notwithstanding all the hard work on the part of the business men of Clarinda the road was lo- cated on the southern route, making Shenandoah a point on the line in- stead of Clarinda, five of the townships on the west side of the county- Colfax, Washington, Morton, Lincoln and Grant-voting a five per cent tax in aid of the road.
After losing the main line the business men of Clarinda concluded that half a loaf was better than no bread at all, and they immediately set about to secure a branch from the main line. After consulting with the officials of the road they learned that in order to secure a branch it would be nec- essary to vote a five per cent tax in Nodaway, East River, Harlan and
410
HISTORY OF PAGE COUNTY.
Buchanan townships, with subscriptions to bring the whole amount up to $100,000, the right of way complete and depot grounds at Clarinda. Such were the terms on which Clarinda and the townships named could secure the road. It was rather a large undertaking but the case in point was a desperate one so far as the capital of Page county was concerned. If it ever proposed to amount to anything in the future it was essential that the town should secure the road, and more especially now was this the case, as since the main line had gone to Shenandoah the citizens and newspapers of that live town had sprung the county seat question. A question, evident to all, if Clarinda did not get the branch, that would in the no distant future prove a troublesome one to the citizens of the east side of the county. The proposition to vote a five per cent tax in Noda- way township was carried by a vote 507 to 85, which shows conclusively that the people were in earnest in regard to the road this time. Buchanan township had always before persistently refused to vote a tax in aid of the road, but now it came to the front with a vote of 112 for, to 42 against the proposition. East River also voted in favor of the tax, the vote standing 125 to 66, and thus securing the branch. It leaves the main line at Roseberry, eleven miles below the state line, and enters the state of Iowa and county of Page near the section line between sec- tions 29 and 30, Buchanan township, running up the east side of the Nod- away through that township, and entering East River township, running through section 30, where it crosses the river and enters Harlan township in section 25, thence up the west side of the Nodaway to Clarinda. There are but two stations on the line outside of Clarinda, in this county, Morse- man and Crooks.
The main line of this road enters the county at Blanchard, on section 29, Colfax township, running across the west side of that township, it en- ters Lincoln township at the southwest corner, thence across the northeast corner of Morton and enters Grant township at the southeast corner, trav- ersing the same in a northwesterly direction. On this line in Page county there are four stations, Blanchard, Coin, Bingham and Shenandoah.
The citizens of Page county struggled long and patiently ere their efforts were crowned with success in regard to railroad facilities, and whatever the future may have in store for the county in this region, it has already secured such an outlet for its agricultural and mineral productions as give them the very highest attainable value, and to show in very marked con- trast the difference in the conveniences of transportation of the early set- tlers of the county and those who now constitute its citizens.
Below we give the length of the main track of the several railroads lying in each township, town and school district in Page county, and the assessed value for the year 1880:
411
HISTORY OF PAGE COUNTY.
CLARINDA & ST. LOUIS RAILWAY.
TOWNS, TOWNSHIPS AND DISTRICTS.
No. miles
Value
per mile.
Total
Incorporated town of Clarinda .
.206|$2,000|$
412
Independent school district of Clarinda.
1.271
2,000
2,542
Harlan township independent school district No. 1 ..
2.210
2,000
4,420
.700
2,000
1,400
East River township sub district No. 2.
2.442
2,000
4,884
Amity
66
66
66
3.
.132
2,000
264
Buchanan
66
66 ° "
6.
2.770
2,000
4,540
Total miles and value.
11.428
$22,486
COUNCIL BLUFFS & ST. LOUIS RAILWAY.
Grant township independent district Pleasant View! Grant twp. independent school district, Lake View
0.568
2,000
1,136
0.568
2,000
1,136
66
66
2
" Pleasant Hill . .
1.079
2,000
2,158
66
66
~
" Lone Star
1.268
2,000
2,536
" Grant
1.950
2,000
3,900
Morton township sub district No. 1
2.873
2,000
5,746
1.572
2,000
3,144
Lincoln township independent district Snow Hill.
2.647
2,000
5,294
Colfax
sub district No. 2
1.265
2,000
2,530
66
66
3.
1.439
2,000
2,878
66
66
4.
1.661
2,000
3,322
66
66
66
66
5.
1.042
2,000
2,084
Total miles and value .
19.801
$39,602
C., B. & Q .- NEBRASKA CITY BRANCH.
Fremont township
Pierce township.
4.324
3,000
12,972
66
independent school district Essex. town of Essex ..
1.269
3,000
3,807
Grant
66
ind. school district Lake Shore.
3.058
3,000
9,174
Shenandoah
.644
3,000
1,932
66
town of Shenandoah
1.218
3,000
3,654
Total miles and value.
11,819
$ 35,457
66
Shenandoah .. .
1.246
2,000
2,492
66
66
5.
2.197
2,000
4,394
66
town of Shenandoah .
.623
2,000
1,246
6.
0.045
3,000
135
1.261
3,000
3,783
value.
66
6 ..
412
HISTORY OF PAGE COUNTY.
BROWNVILLE & NODAWAY VALLEY.
TOWNS, TOWNSHIPS AND DISTRICTS.
No. miles
Value
per mile.
Total
Valley township. .
6.047
2,000
12,094
Nodaway township independent district Emma ....
.954
2,000
1,908
Nodaway township independent district McCowan
2.268
2,000
4,536
c:
66
66
Clarinda .
2.037
2,000
4,074
town of Clarinda.
0.500
2,000
1,000
Harlan township independent district No. 1. 66
2.268
2,000
4,536
6.
2.328
2,000
4,656
Buchanan township sub district No. 3.
3.573
2,000
7,146
"
66
5
.535
2,000
1,070
66
66
8
1.331
2,000
2,662
Total miles and value .
22.856
$45,712
value.|
BRIDGES.
Owing to the great number of rivers and running streams throughout the county, there are few counties that have been called upon for larger expenditures for bridges than Page, in proportion to the age of the county, and number of inhabitants, and in this respect the response of the people has been liberal. Crossed as the county is by three rivers and a great number of large creeks and numerous smaller streams that require bridg- ing, the expense of building and maintaining bridges for the convenience of the public has been considerable, and as a result the county is already furnished with a large supply of good bridges. In many cases substan- tial iron bridges have been constructed, both arch and truss, varying in cost of construction from a few hundred to twenty-eight hundred dollars. There is a large number of good substantial wood bridges in the county. The following is a list of the bridges of the county spanning the two Nod- aways and the Nishnabotna, giving the location of each bridge, together with the date of construction:
EAST NODAWAY.
Hawleyville, Howe truss; re-built 1880. Kelley's Ford, King iron bridge; built in 1878. Pace bridge, Howe truss; re-built in 1879. Davison bridge, iron; built in 1878.
Washington
1.015
2,000
2,030
413
HISTORY OF PAGE COUNTY.
Couch bridge, Howe truss; built in 1877. Nixon bridge, Howe truss; built in 1874.
WEST NODAWAY.
Hepburn bridge, iron; built in 1878.
Laporte bridge, Howe truss, covered; built in 1875.
Clarinda bridge, Howe truss, covered; built in 1876. Shambaugh bridge, Howe truss; re-built in 1877. Nodaway Mills bridge, iron; built in 1870. Morsman Station bridge, Howe truss, covered; built in 1880. Braddyville bridge, iron; built in 1873.
NISHNABOTNA.
Franklin Grove bridge, Howe truss; built in 1872.
Essex bridge, iron; built in 1874.
Shenandoah bridge, iron; built in 1878.
The three Tarkios are so numerously bridged that we have not at- . tempted to ascertain the numbers and location of the various bridges on these streams. At first we were disposed to add the bridges on the Tar- kios to the above list, but when the genial county auditor, W. M. Alex- ander, informed us that they were bridged endwise, we abandoned the task. It is safe to say that no county in southwestern Iowa is so well fixed in regard to bridges as is Page county. Besides being numerous they are also substantial. For not a little of the enterprise in this respect is the county indebted to its auditor, for the perfect manner in which the numer- ous bridges have been constructed. It is too frequently the case that the bridge fund of counties in the west runs behind from year to year, and in the course of a short time, from gross mismanagement, the fund is so far behind that it is not possible, by even heavy taxation, to bring the bridge fund out of debt. But this has not been the case in Page county. By ex- cellent management, notwithstanding the numerous streams to be spanned, the fund has never been permitted to run behind, and this has been accom- plished by a tax of from two to five mills; and only once in the past ten years, 1870, did the levy reach the latter named sum. Thus it will be readily observed that the bridges of the county have been built and main- tained, not by high taxation, but by good and judicious management.
414
HISTORY OF PAGE COUNTY.
THE SWAMP LAND TROUBLES.
The following taken from the files of the Council Bluffs Bugle for April, 1860, will place fairly before the reader the condition of affairs relative to the celebrated swamp lands, just previous to the commencement of those series of negotiations and legal difficulties which cost the county so much money in the years that were to come :
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