USA > Iowa > Pottawattamie County > History of Pottawattamie County, Iowa. Containing a history from the earliest settlement to the present time biographical sketches; portraits of some of the early settlers, prominent men, etc. > Part 23
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The Twenty-ninth Fowa has some claims upon
the attention of the people of Council Bluffs. It was here that this fine regiment of soldiers was organized, at Camp Kirkwood, from mate- rial gathered throughout Western Iowa, from the stalwart yoemanry of that region. The rendezvous began in August, 1862, and in De- cember the command was ready to take the field. During that time, the men who assem- bled from all parts of the " slope" formed as- sociations of the most pleasant character, and the survivors still turn with pleasing memories to events here of twenty years ago. It was that feeling which, to many of them, made the re- union of October 28, 29 and 30, 1882, of such a pleasant character. Pottawattamie County furnished of the field and the Colonel, Thomas II. Benton, Jr .; Major, Joseph Lyman ; Sur- geon, Dr. William S. Grimes, now of Denver, and after the war a long-time a physician at Des Moines; and the Quartermaster, William W. Wilson, now a banker in Lincoln, Neb. Com- pany A was from Pottawattamie County, withi John P. Williams, Captain; George A. Haynes. First Lieutenant, and R. R. Kirkpatrick, Second Lieutenant. Capt. Williams is an employe of the Council Bluffs Post Office; Haynes is a merchant at Maysville, Cal., and R. R. Kirk- patrick lives at Oakland, Cal. C. V. Gardner, one of the founders of Avoca, and afterward of Deadwood, D. T., succeeded Williams as Cap- tain of Company A, a short time after the regi- inent reached the field, and remained at the head of the company during the war. Will- iams resigned on account of ill health. The regiment had an honorable career, and was dis- charged at New Orleans, on the 10th of Au- gust, 1865, after having served on the Rio Grande for some months after actual hostilities ceased in that quarter, by the surrender of Dick Taylor and Kirby Smith. Thirty men of the Twenty-ninth were killed in battle and died of wounds, 253 of disease and 134 were discharged on account of disability.
While speaking of the military incidents of
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HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY.
the city, it may be stated that only one draft oc- enrred here during the war. This was made on the 5th of November, 1864, sixty of whom were drawn from Kane Township. Substitutes were furnished in a few instances, and on the 17th of the same month the men thus drawn were sent to the general rendezvous at Davenport, and from that camp assigned to various commands in the field. The draft was here conducted by II. II. Field, who was a Deputy Provost Marshal in the Fifth District of Iowa. Hon. Caleb Baldwin, as an assistant to Gov. Kirkwood, and Col. II. C. Nutt as aid to Govs. Kirkwood and Stone, rendered important service in placing all these troops in a condition for active duty. The ladies of Council Bluff's were not behind hand in aiding the country in its efforts to re- store peace. At an early period of the war, a soldier's aid society was formed here, and did most excellent and patriotic work, but on the 22d of March, 1862, that organization was merged into a branch of the " Army Sanitary Commission of Iowa." In addition to that, a branch of the Christian Commission was also established here to aid in the work assigned to that organization, in the hospitals, and camps. and military posts. Company E of the Sixth Iowa Cavalry, was recruited at this point. When the enlistments were made, it was in- tended that W. G. Crawford should have the command of the company, but consumption was already making rapid headway and threat- ening his life, and he reluctantly yielded the post to Capt. Daniel F'. Eicher, of this city, one of the Lieutenancies being assigned to Joseph C. Dellaven, also of this city. The company was mustered in in January, 1863, and the disturbed condition of Indian affairs on the Northwestern frontier, and the massacres of set- tlers in Minnesota, making it necessary that they should be employed in that service, their term of enlistment was spent in arduous can- paigns through the wilds and " Bad Lands" of Dakota and the Northwest.
The final paymont of the $40,000 sub- scribed for stock in the St. Joseph Railroad was made on the Sth of January, 1862. The road, owing to the disturbed condition of national affairs, was making no headway to- ward completion, but the assets of the com- pany at that date were estimated at $568,000. Some indication of the growth of the city was manifest in the number of children of school age, and, as shown by the school cen- sus of the year. there being of those 554. J. M. Palmer was chosen Mayor, and J. B. Ruo, John Dohany, H. C. Frederickson, L. W. Babbitt and John B. Lewis were chosen as Aldermen. Samuel Clinton was also chos- en President of the School Board. In March of this year. the market price of wheat here ranged from 40 to 45 cents per bushel, corn, 15 cents, and dressed pork, from $2.25 to $2.50 per hundred weight. The Missouri River, in April, was at a very high stage. To navigato it in those days through virtual wilds, at any season of the year, in any small craft, was an undertaking of considerable hazard. Jesse Williams, Bernhard llenn and Col. Test, however, ventured to come down from Decatur, Neb .. to Council Bluffs in a small boat during this flood, and, though exposed to great perils, made a successful trip. Emigration to the gold mines kept up a constant stream, and contributed to general mercantile prosperity. Mormon emigration was without abatement. Abont a thousand of these arrived by way of the river in steam- boat, on the 9th of June, and started over- land, after fitting out hero for the long and dismal journey of more than a thousand miles. As soon as the act of Congress went into effect, during this summer, providing a system of internal revenue, Horace Everett was appointed Collector of the Fifth District. and F. 1. Burke, an old and highly esteemed citizen, was appointed his Deputy. The Pa-
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cific House property met with an accident, on the 30th day of August, in this, that the stables belonging to the hotel were struck by lightning and entirely destroyed by fire, in- cluding seven horses, some cows and ve- hicles.
The frights to which the sparse settlements in Northwestern Iowa were subjected from border Indian hostilities during the fall of 1862 will not soon be forgotten by those early settlers. The savage torch was kindled all along the Minnesota frontier. The unrelent. ing Sioux were on the warpath, and the utmost alarm pervaded the whole of Western Iowa The excitement reached its highest pitch in September. The people of Council Bluffs felt the necessity of prompt action and held a large public meeting to devise measures of assistance. Three companies of the Twenty- ninth Iowa in camp here, then recruiting that regiment, and a detachment of the local ar- tillery, moved to Sioux City to await devel- opments, and, after remaining there some days, the excitement grew less, the alarm abated and the troops returned to this point. W. W. Maynard was appointed Postmaster in November, to succeed Nelson T. Spoor, who had gone to the front with his battery, and retired from the editorial control of the Non- pareil. He was succeeded in the latter posi- tion by W. S. Burke, whose health did not permit him to remain in the military service. John P. Williams, who was Sheriff of the county, also resigned to go into the volunteer service, and C. Voorhis was appointed to fill the vacancy thus made. The Democratic County Convention held that year denounced " Abolitionism and secession as twin enemies of the Union." The resolutions of the Re- publican County Convention simply an- nounced the adherence of the party to the administration in its efforts to prosecute the war. E. F. Burdick and J. Smith Hooton
were independent candidates for the only office in the county to be filled that fall, that of Clerk of the District Court, and in the con- test Burdick was elected. John A. Kasson was the Republican candidate for Congress, and D. O. Finch, of Des Moines, led the Democratic party in that respect. The two candidates had an interesting and joint dis- cussion at Council Bluffs during the canvass. Both were ranked as the most eloquent stump speakers in the State. Samuel Clinton was the candidate of the Democracy for Judge of the District Court, and James G. Day, of Fre- mont County, was the candidate of the Re- publicans of the district. The latter was elected, and held that office until chosen to the Supreme bench of the 'tate, in 1870, a position he has ever since held. Finch's ma- jority over Kasson in the county was thirty- six; that of Clinton over Day, two hundred and forty-two. Kasson, however, was elected by a decided majority over Finch in the dis- trict, and was re-elected in 1864, but failed of the nomination in 1866 for a third term because of his leaning toward the famous policy of President Johnson.
Several years before this, missionary priests of the Catholic Church had succeeded in gathering in the communicants of that relig ious organization, and, in 1859, a plain, sub- stantial brick church, a chapel rather, was erected on Pearl and Main streets. between Willow avenue and Buckingham street. No regular pastor was provided for the parish until 1862. when the Bishop of the Diocese of Iowa designated the Rev. Father Philip McMahon as the first stated priest here. The church edifice was built through the main efforts of the Rev. Father Tracy, as a mission- ary. Rev. J. H. Clark, of the Presbyterian Church; the Rev. J. W. Todd, of the Method- ist Episcopal Church; the Rev. Harvey Adams, of the Congregational Church, and
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the Rev. Faber Byllesby, were the pastors of the Protestant societies at that date.
Among the changes that took place at the January meeting of the Board of Supervis- ors, in 1863, was the admission of Perry Reel as a member from Crescent Township. This gentleman afterward became Sheriff of the county for four terms, and County Treasurer for two terms. His popularity in the county was unbounded, and his name has always been the synonym of everything that is noble in character. J. M. Palmer was again elected Mayor in the spring of 1863. Among the Aldermen chosen were H. H. Fields, J. M. Phillips, John Hammer and N. S. Bates. The latter gentleman was a noted and con- spicuous character in his day here, and was familiarly known to his associates as "Gov. Bates," a title to which he responded with alacrity. He was highly esteemed during his life, and took high rank as an Odd Fellow, of which order he was a zealous member. Sam- uel Clinton was re-elected as President of the School Board at the annual school election. The Sixth Iowa Cavalry, the regiment to which the company, officered by Capt. Ei- cher, and Lient. De Haven, of this city, be- longed, were ordered into the Indian country of Dakota, and when on their way up, on the march, they halted for a day, rested their animals and enjoyed the hospitality of old neighbors and friends. The Council Bluffs Branch of the Sanitary Commission did a most excellent work during this period. in the collection and remittance of funds. To May, for that current year, they had collected and transmitted $340. Considering that they were here on a virtual frontier, and had con- tributed largely in the equipment of troops, and in aid of soldiers' families, this showing was highly creditable to the town.
Council Bluffs lost several estimable and patriotic young men in the army during this
summer, among them Curtis Burroughs, of the Twenty-ninth Iowa, who died at Helena, Ark .; George W. Fairman, son of George Fairman, an old citizen, and N. H. Folsom. Lawrence M. Smith was instantly killed in a fight at Milliken's Bend. A Union League was established early in the year by the Re- publicans of the county, with headquarters in Council Bluffs. Its functions were mainly in the direction of controlling local political affairs. The Democrats effected the organi- zation of a large club, with Samuel Ja- cobs, now of Hamburg, Fremont County, as President. Judge Cole, who had hitherto been a Democrat, took the attitude of a War Democrat, as they were called in those days, and spoke to a large crowd on the 2d of May. He eventually drifted into the Repub- lican party, and was elected to the Supreme Court for several terms. Capt. A. L. Dem- ing, President of the First National Bank of Council Bluffs during his lifetime after the institution was organized, was chosen a dele- gate to the Republican State Convention this year. Thomas Tostevin, Frank Street, and J. C. Layton, were the other delegates. The Republicans carried the county by 160 ma- jority on the State ticket. Col. William M. Stone, of Marion County, was the Republican candidate for Governor, and was elected, afterward for a second term, and Gen. James M. Tuttle, of Des Moines, they were both soldier candidates, was the leader of the Democracy. L. W. Ross, now one of the law professors and Chancellor of the University at Iowa City, was the unsuccessful Repub - lican candidate for State Senator, against Samuel Clinton, Democrat. A. J. Bell, Re- publican, was chosen Representative over B. Winchester, Democrat. Among the political events of the summer and of the campaign, was a Democratic address-a speech to the people here by Hon, A. C. Dodge, ex-United
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HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY.
States Senator, on the 30th of May, when on his way to Montana Territory. On the 5th of September, Gen. G. M. Dodge visited his home on a leave of absence, and in considera- tion of his distinguished military services, the citizens, without regard to party, gave him a most cordial public reception and wel- come. This demonstration was highly ap- preciated by that distinguished officer, and he expressed his gratitude to his old neigh- bors in the warmest possible terms. The county fair fell short of being a success, owing to a heavy frost which destroyed almost all kinds of vegetation, on the 27th of Angust. Caleb Baldwin and Nathan P. Dodge formed a banking house in September, an institution that was afterward merged in the Council Bluffs Savings Bank, the latter also afterward absorbing the Pacific National Bank. The annual Mormon conference was held in Octo- ber, on the farm of M. L. Follet, in what is now Garner Township, in the vicinity of Parks' Mill. This was that branch of the Latter-Day Saints whose headquarters were at Plano, Ill., and who discarded polygamy as any part of their system, and treated it as a rank heresy engrafted on their religion by Brigham Young. Joseph Smith, Jr., the son of the Carthage Jail martyr, was the recognized head of the anti-polygamous branch, and presided over the deliberations of the conference at this meeting for the first time. At that date, and up to 1881, the gen- eral business of the church was transacted in
an annual conference held in the fall near Council Bluffs, at Parks' Mill. Every male member of adult age had a voice in the de- liberations of the conference. The people of the society from far and near came in wagons and otherwise, and pitched their tents in the style of a camp meeting, and for a week, at. least, religious services were conducted in the camp meeting, and the affairs of the church deliberated as in a purely democratic assembly. As the church grew in numbers, and, in 1880, had reached some 21,000, in Missouri, Iowa, Illinois, and even in Utah, and other Western Territories, as a delibera- tive body, on the old plan, it became un- wieldy and inaccessible to many, and its dis- cipline and constitution were so changed as to constitute it a representative body com- posed of delegates chosen by congregations and local church societies. These camp meetings were events of an interesting local character, and thousands attended them who were neither members of that society nor in sympathy with them in any way, as idle and curious spectators. They were more after the fashion of an old-time Methodist camp- meeting than the later-day so-called camp meetings of the Methodist Episcopal Church. An interesting sight, always, was the immer- sion of scores of converts and new communi- cants in the Mosquito, this ceremony receiving greater unction from the fact that the sacra- ment of baptism in that formu was adminis- tered by the son of the Prophet Joseph Smith.
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HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY.
CHAPTER XXX .*
COUNCIL BLUFFS - SOLDIERS' BOUNTIES -- FIRST SCHOOL BUILDING - FAIRVIEW CEMETERY -GEORGE FRANCIS TRAIN-CIRCUS CALAMITY -WILLIAM MARBLE KILLED BY INDIANS-LINCOLN'S ASSASSINATION-PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHI BUILD- ING-LYNCHING OF A ROBBER-UNION PACIFIC BEGUN.
HEN the Board of Supervisors met, on the 4th of January, 1864, E. McBride, now of Harrison County, represented Kane Township. A draft, under the act of Congress, was pending at that date; Mayor Palmer and other citizens, to avoid that contingency, went before the Board, and induced them to appropriate the sum of $2,000, to be placed in the hands of Caleb Baldwin, for the pay. ment of bounties for voluntary enlistments to fill the quota called for. Large sums were also expended by the board for aid to the families of absent soldiers who needed such assistance. The State tax was 2 mills; the county tax, 4; schools, 1; relief, 23; and bounty tax to soldiers, 12. At the city elec- tion in Mareh, "Gov." Bates became Mayor. A. J. Bump was also elected Marshal. Judge Douglass and Judge Street were also elected to the Council with others. The entire Re- publiean city tieket was elected at that time. In that year began that admirable system of public school building, which has ever since characterized the district. A tax of 2 mills was voted by the people at the annual elec- tion, and the contract was let to George F. Smith for a $5,000 brick schoolhouse, now known as the Statsman Street School, in the eastern part of the city, and the building completed in time for the winter schools.
In the early history of the city, the Mor- mon settlers had used the highest point of the bluff between Oakland avenue and Ben-
ton street, and the spot now forming the eastern portion of Fairview Cemetery as a place of burial. During this summer, this old burying-ground was seeured from those who thus owned the soil, and by adding to it on the west to a great extent, an area was se- cured for one of the most beautiful resting- places for the dead to be found anywhere. The ground sloped beautifully to the west, and being at an elevation of 100 feet above the level of the great valley of the Missouri, presented a most romantie and delightful view for miles north, south, west and, at the highest point, east, taking in range the Missouri as it coils around the foot-hills, and the sparkling lakes, whose sheen amid the trees and foliage that embowered them is like the glitter of gems. Walnut Hill Cemetery, in the eastern part of the city, and on the road to Parks' Mills, was laid out the same season. Here rest the re- mains of Dr. McMahon and Judge Baldwin. The Catholic cemetery is side by side with Walnut Hill. A soldiers' festival was held in Palmer's Hall in April, 1864, as a testi- monial of welcome to such soldiers as had come home on a thirty days' furlough, one of the conditions of their ro-enlistment for another three years. George Francis Train, at that time, was highly interested in Omaha, with Dr. Durant, his brother-in-law, the Vice President of the Union Pacific Railroad, and was here and made one of his eharac- teristie speeches at this festival and re-union.
The semi-annual statement of the State
*By Col. John II. Kratley.
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HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY.
Bank, now the First National, of Council Bluffs, showed the average deposits to be $48,000; the circulation, $79,000; the loans, $85,000, and the gold and other coin in its vaults at $22,000. The Cedar Rapids Rail- road, now the Chicago & North-Western, had advanced westward to within 160 miles of Council Bluffs, and gave token of an early connection with the outside world by rail. The Western Stage Company established its stages between the temporary terminus and this city, and as the space diminished, short- ened its route, until the arrival of the road in 1867.
On August 2, the people had an immense scare. Mabie's circus was exhibiting. A fearful storm of wind came on, after dark, and blew the pavilion down and extinguished the lights. Several thousand people were involved in total darkness, and, in the pros- trate canvas. One of the lions escaped from the cage, and added terror to the dis- tressing scene, but was secured in a short time, but the fright occasioned a panic of the most alarming character. The pavilion was cut almost to shreds by the attempts of the people to escape. No lives were lost, and the injuries received were not of a very seri- ous character.
Atlanta having fallen, the people uniting with those all over the country, celebrated the victory with vast demonstrations of joy, with bonfires and illuminations, on the 9th of Sep- tember. Gen. Dodge, who had been severely wounded in the head, in front of Atlanta, in that campaign, came home as soon as he could safely travel, and gave the citizens another pleasant opportunity to testify in a public manner their high regard for the distin- guished soldier, their fellow-townsman.
William Marble, a citizen of this place, while on the plains near Plum Creek, Neb., was killed by the Indians, in October. His
little son with him escaped, and was sent home. S. S. Bayliss and his son-in-law, George Parks, began the erection of what is now known as Parks' Mill, on the Mosquito Creek, two miles east of town, on the site of the Wicks Mill, used by the Government in connection with the Pottawatomie Indian Agency and reservation. During the same autumn, the militia of the city were shaped into two organizations of "Home Guards," in two companies, one called the "Flying Artillery," under Capt. Thomas Tostevin, and the other the "Provost Guards," under Capt. A. J. Bell. The county fair began October 24. An early frost greatly injured the corn crops, and that cereal sold at $1.10, and wheat at $1 a bushel. Butter readily brought 50 cents per pound, and hard wood $10 per cord. The canvass between Lincoln and Mc- Clellan was conducted with very little spirit in the city, and few public meetings were held. The work of the Republicans was done within the secret precincts of the Union League. The most marked public event of the winter was the holding of a festival for the relief of the families of such soldiers as needed that assistance. It may as well be plainly stated that a variety of circumstances made this course necessary on the part of those at home. Long delays frequently oc- curred between dates of payment in the field. Active operations in a campaign rendered it impracticable in the presence of the enemy to intrust large sums of money on precarious lines of communication, and added to that, the soldier in the field was not always as mindful of those dependent on him at home as the ordinary dictates of prudence demand. Gambling devices innumerable, often won his hard-earned dollars when his family were in need, and, in many instances, there were those who were careless of results, in this, that they conceived that the rich who were
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not bearing the brunt of the battle were un- der some kind of au obligation to support the families of those in the service. These were exceptions, but they helped to increase the burdens of those charitably disposed toward the actually deserving. The donations and receipts of this fair and festival amounted in money and useful articles to $2,000, and was placed in the hands of D. C. Bloomer, Thom- as Officer and Judge Baldwin as a committee for distribution. At the January, 1865, meeting of the Board of Supervisors, E. Mc- Bride was elected Chairman. A. E. Claren- don, of Council Bluffs, was also appointed County Superintendent, to fill a vacancy caused by the resignation of L. S. Axtell. Cornelius Voorhis also resigned the office of Sheriff, and at the same session of the board H. H. Field was appointed in his stead. A ferry at Trader's Point was established as soon as navigation opened, and a license for that purpose granted by the Board of Super- visors to H. T. Clark. At the city election, Bates was elected Mayor; T. P. Treynor, Recorder; H. P. Warren, Treasurer; A. J. Bump, City Marshal; and H. H. Field, Rich- ard Rodgers, C. P. Johnson, J. M. Phillips, Thomas Jefferies and John Hammer, Alder- men. At the spring school election, a brick school building was authorized at the corner of Seventh street and Willow avenue, diag- onally across from the Presbyterian Church in the Fourth Ward. This building was re- garded of ample proportions for its uses, until 1880, when the present three-story brick edifice gave place to it, and received the name of the Bloomer School Building, a designation made officially by the School Board as a tribute to Mr. Bloomer, as a tribute to his long and val- uable services in the cause of education.
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