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 34
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86
When Pleasant Township was organized. by being carved out of Knox, in 1873, the Board of Supervisors authorized S. B. Frum as a Commissioner, to take the necessary steps to perfect that organization. He called a meeting of the qualified electors, on the 14th of October of that year. S. B. Frum was chosen Chairman of the township meeting. and F. N. Keeney, Secretary. S. B. Frum, S. J. Wharton and J. M. Greenlee were elect- ed as Judges of the election, and F. N. Kee- ney and W. A. Clark were made Clerks of the same. Fifty-four votes were polled, and the following officers elected: S. H. Buckley. C. H. Brown and T. T. Larkin, Trustees; S. B. Frum, Township Clerk; William Buckley and F. N. Keeney, Justices of the Peace; D. Gross, A. M. Scott, Constables; William A. Clark, Assessor, and Hiram Stewart, Road Supervisor. The following are the township officers: Franz Haas, W. V. Rock and J. N. Frum, Trustees; S. B. Frum, Township Clerk; F. M. Keeney and A. C. Bergman, Justices of the Peace: J. C. Frum and Fred Rohrs, Constables; John Stuhr, Assessor;
President of the School Board, John Stuhr: Secretary, F. M. Keeney; and Treasurer, S. B. Frum.
The most notable public event was the tragic death of Jacob Maason, a farmer, a German, at the hands of Christian Pittman, a neighbor. This occurred on the evening of July 28, 1879. Maason had been at Avoca during the day, and came home in the after- noon. A dispute had existed between them on account of the claim made by the latter, that Pittman, in cutting his grain with a reaper, on a piece of ground next to that of Maason, was treading down the latter's grow. ing corn. Just about dusk, Maason was standing near his door, with one of his chil- dren near the door. when he saw Pittman coming out of his field into the road near Maason's gate. Without putting down the child, he advanced to the gate, and there an altercation took place between them, the words of which could not be heard by those in sight of them, as they stood in the road. When Maason went out of the gate, he placed the child on the ground. In a few moments Pittman started to run, with Maason in pur- suit, and in a short time both were out of sight. Pittman stated, in his evidence on the trial of the ease, that, when they got near his own premises, Maason then close to him, took hold of him, and threatened to kill him. That he did not realize that he had struck Maason until after he saw the wounds, after death, and that he only used the knife, to ward off the blows and to loosen the grasp of Maason. The death of the latter was al- most instantaneous, the stab being in the heart. Pittman was arrested and indieted by the grand jury, and tried before the Dis- trict Court at Council Bluffs. The prosecu- tion was conducted by A. R. Anderson, Dis- trict Attorney, and John H. Keatley, and the defense by Mynster & Adams. The jury
260
HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY.
failed to agree on the first trial. The case was then changed to Mills County, and when the case was called for trial there, the indict- ment, which had never been sent to that county, could not be found, and the District Attorney, Conner, who had succeeded Ander- son, was obliged to dismiss the case. The attention of the grand jury in Pottawattamie County was again called to the case at the December term, 1881, of the District Court, and Pittman was indicted a second time, and a second time the place of trial was changed to Mills County. At the September term of the District Court of Mills County, in 1882. the cause was tried a second time, with a ver- dict of acquittal.
In the fall of 1875, T. T. Larkin bor- rowed a gun from Claus Horst to kill a hawk. He promised to return the gun the same even- ing, and about 7 o'clock some one saw him near a fence with the gun, then heard the re- port of it and his own name called, and when
he got to the spot he found Mr. Larkin dead, with a severe gunshot wound in the breast.
Peter Doll, a German resident of Pleasant Township, was killed in Avoca, in 1878, by the running away of his team. On the 4th of September. 1882, an unknown man was found dead from exposure and intemperance, about a mile east of the Frum Schoolhouse. His remains were interred in Avoca.
Pleasant Township is largely settled by Germans. The only church organization in the township is the German Evangelical As- sociation, who hold their religious services in the Frum Schoolhouse. It was organized in the spring of 1874, by Aaron Bossart, as minister. He held the charge for two years, and was succeeded by Wilhelm Jonas, and he in turn by Flegler Aschenbrenner. Ground has been secured for a church edifice on Section 16, donated by Franz Haas, three and a half miles south of the Frum School- house.
CHAPTER XXXV.“
MINDEN TOWNSHIP-ORIGIN OF THE NAME-FIRST ELECTION-SOIL- BOUNDARY -DRAINAGE- MINDEN STATION-ROADS-TIMBER LAND-SCHOOLS-CHURCHES -BUSINESS INDUSTRIES-INCIDENTS.
THE origin of the name of Minden Town. ship is familiar to the greater portion of her citizens. Natives of a foreign country, it was only natural that they should establish in the home of their adoption on the broad prairie, which promised them a speedy com- petence, mementoes of the far-away homes across the sea. How true they were to the memories of olden times, and how patriotic in their desire to honor their native land, is evidenced by giving to their township and the chief town in it the name of Minden.
Minden is a strongly fortified Prussian town, in population about fifteen thousand, and the capital of the administrative division of Minden, the population of which is abont five hundred thousand. It is located on the left bank of the Weser. and on the declivity of a chain of mountains, 161 miles from Co- logne, and 229 miles by railway from Berlin. It has manufactories of woolens, linens, to- bacco, soap and sugar, and is the center of the Cologne-Berlin Railway, which, as well as the navigation of the Weser, produces much commercial activity. It possesses an ancient
*By Frank M. Wright.
Eli Clayton
263
MINDEN TOWNSHIP.
Roman Catholic cathedral, and was once the capital of the See of Minden, which was founded by Charlemagne. It was also for- merly the residence of some of the German Emperors, and several diets were held there. Within two miles of Minden, the railroad traverses the pass called Porta Westphalia. In a ruined chapel near it, Wittekind was, according to tradition, baptized by Charle- magne. The French were defeated in the vi- cinity of Minden August 1, 1759, by an Anglo-Hanoverian army, under Ferdinand of Brunswick. Such was the city in the na- tive land of most of the citizens of Minden Township, the memory of which carries them back to the by-gone days of childhood.
Minden Township formed a part of the township of Neola until 1877, when, through the efforts of Mr. James Crow and a number of other citizens of that portion of Neola Township subsequently forming Minden, the petition presented by them to the Board of Supervisors was granted. and a new town- ship formed, to be known as Minden Town- ship. The township took the same name as the little village, which had been founded on the line of the Chicago, Rock Island & Pa- cific Railroad in 1875.
In October. 1877, the first election took place in the newly organized township. It was held at the schoolhouse, in the village of Minden. The Judges were William Spears, August Caven and James Crow, and the Clerks were J. R. Crow and J. Lake. About one hundred votes were cast at this election.
There is but little untillable land in Min- den Township, and what there is lies along the course of Keg and Mosquito Creeks. The surface of the whole township, except the rough land along the streams, is fine, rolling prairie, and of the same fertile and highly productive soil which is to be found in the greater portion of Pottawattamie County.
The boundaries are Harrison County on the north. Pleasant Township on the east, York Township on the south and Neola Township on the west.
The eastern portion of the township is drained by Keg Creek, and the western por- tion by Mosquito Creek, both of which rise in Harrison County. The latter enters the township about the center of Section 4, on the north line, and flows diagonally across that section from its point of entrance to the southwest. Its course is almost due south- west through Sections 9, 8. 17 and 18, cross- ing the southern line of the latter section. where it bears dne south for a short distance, and then bends to the east until it crosses the southern line of Section 19, about the center. From this point it again bends westward, and crosses the line of Section 30 about one-half mile south of the village of Neola, and thence on its way through Neola Township. There are five tributaries which have their rise and join this stream in Minden Township. The largest of these rises in Section 5, and runs south through Sections 6, 7, and into Section 18, where it joins the main stream. Another small creek rises in Section 9, and flows al- most west, entering the main stream in Sec- tion 8. Two small streams join the main creek in Section IS, the one rising in Section 17, and flows almost dne west; and the other rising in Section 20, about one mile due south of the first. The length of either of these streams does not exceed one and a half miles. The last tributary to the south to join Kog Creek in Minden Township rises in Section 32. and flows in a direction almost opposite the main stream. It passes through Section 32, across the corner of Section 29, thence northwest across Section 30 to the point where it empties into the main stream. Keg Creek, the origin of the name of which will be found in the history of Hardin Township,
0
-
264
HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY.
enters Minden Township through Section 2, from Harrison County. Its course is in a zigzag line, almost due south, through Sec- tions 2, 11 and 14, leaving the latter section at the southwest corner, and flowing diagon- ally through Sections 22, 27 and 33. Five small tributaries have their rise and enter the main stream in this township, neither of which, however, have been honored with a name, and the largest of which will not ex- ceed two miles in length.
Though Mr. James Crow was the most ac- tive in getting Minden Township separated from Neola, Mr. Casper Foster, of the firm of Richmond. Kooh & Foster, of Davenport, Iowa, was the first to become a large land- owner before the organization of the town- ship. He purchased of the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad Company 10,000 acres of land, and at the same time made a contract with them that they should build and maintain a station at some point where- their railroad crossed his purchase. Under this contract, they built the station of Min- den in 1875, which was located on the lands owned by Mr. Foster, and which was named by him.
The old settlers of Minden Township had passed through the greatest difficulties of pio- neer life long before the township was organ- iz ed.
Mr. N. Abbott was one of the first settlers in the township. He and many more of the early settlers were obliged to go to the old In- dian Mill on Mosquito Creek to get their corn ground. It was situated about twenty miles from their homes, and, when a trip was made to the mill, two yokes of oxen were usually driven, and the grain thus hauled tomill fre- quently belonged to half a dozen different families. The roads were rough, uneven trails, winding round the base of hills, and crossing the sloughs at points where the
banks of the streams seemed most firm, and where the teams and wagons were least liable to become stuck in the mud. Three and sometimes four days were required to go to mill, as it was not an uncommon occurrence for the settlers to be obliged to wait a whole day for grain belonging to the In dians to be ground before they could have the use of the mill. The continual flow of the settlers to the promising lands of Minden Township enabled them, in a short time, to build rude bridges across the streams, which served their purpose until, in later years, these were torn away, in many instances, where the line of road remained unchanged, and a bet- ter class of crossings were built at the ex- pense of the county.
The first regularly laid out road through the township was known as the Remington road. It was built in 1858, and ran through the west tier of sections. Its name is de- rived from the principal builder, Z. Reming. ton. The roads now in the township running north and south, east and west, are about equal in number, and in most instances they follow the seetion lines.
The original timber growth of Minden Township is confined to the borders of Mos- quito and Keg Creeks. In variety, it is principally cottonwood, box elder, ash and maple. Much of this has been used for building purposes, fuel and fence-posts. Groves of cultivated timber are now being planted on almost every farm.
The town of Minden, which has always ex- ercised a great influence over the township, is located on the southeast quarter of Section 15, and lies almost wholly on the north side 1
of the railroad. Keg Creek skirts it on the east, and there are six lines of wagon roads enter the town from different directions. It is only about four miles distant from Neola, and, thongh a smaller town, it draws the
265
MINDEN TOWNSHIP.
trade of the community for more than half the distance between the two towns. North and south and to the east it affords a market for the citizens of a large scope of country.
As before stated, the town was laid out in 1875. from land belonging to Mr. C. Foster. That gentleman has taken an active interest in the growth and prosperity of the town since it was first settled.
The first house in the town was built by Hugo Prister. Mr. Foster built the second, and Peter Ehlers the third. G. Diederich erected the first store in 1875. He moved a stock of general merchandise into this from Avoca. J. O. Jeffries built the next business house, and engaged in the grocery trade, with a restaurant attached. Messrs. Bartelle & Co. became the successors of Mr. Diederich by purchase. Mr. Diederich then erected an- other store building, which he subsequently sold to Stuhr Bros., who have since occupied it as a general merchandise establishment.
The first carpenters of the town were Henry Urbahn, Angust Kaven and Fred Krugen- berg. A Mr. Rodecker opened a blacksmith shop, and the first lumber business was done by Messrs. Pria & Hornley, a Davenport firm. Peter Ehlers was the first to begin the grain trade. Dr. McLeod was the first physician to hang out a shingle in the little town, and James Crow was the first land agent.
Through the energy and enterprise of the citizens a public school building was erected, which is 24x36 feet. Caven and Wilson were the contractors and builders. This step to- ward public improvement was made under the jurisdiction of Mr. James Crow, who was at that time Director. Previous to the con- struction of this building, a term of school had been taught by a Mr. Kelsey, in one room of the residence of Mr. Foster. In the spring of the same year that saw a public school building added to the improvements of the
little town, a very destructive prairie fire from the north came near destroying the town. Its approach, however, was discovered in time to enable the citizens to protect and save their homes.
The first Board of Trustees of Minden Township met and organized January 26, 1877. At their meeting, the township was divided into five subdistricts for school pur- poses. No township in Pottawattamie County has taken a more active interest in their pub- lie schools than Minden. The statistics for the year 1881, as per the reports of the County Superintendent of Public Schools, show the following:
Number of subdistricts, S: number of un- graded schools, 8; average number of months taught, 8; number of teachers employed- male. 5; female, 12; total, 17; average com- pensation per month-males, $35, females, $33.75; number of persons between the ages of five and twenty-one years-males, 156; females, 123; total average attendance in the whole district, 95; average cost of tuition per month for each pupil, $4.19; schoolhouses, frame, nine; value, 3,530; valne of apparatus, $9.10.
Minden has a German day school, which is the only one in the county. It was opened through the efforts of Rev. Nolting in 1882. Twenty pupils are regular attendants, who pay a tuition of 50 cents per month. The branches taught are the same as those of the common schools of the county, except the re- ligious instruction.
The German Evangelical Lutheran Church of Minden is the only one in the township. The organization was effected in 1878, with the Rev. Julius Ochlert as pastor. The orig. inal members were August Kaven, Adam Turk. John Stuhr, Jr., Jacob Wasser, Died- erich Rohlfs, Peter Alleman, August Bock, Wilhelm Bolte, Wilhelm Giese, John Stuhr,
266
IHISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY.
Sr .. August Giese and Carl Leitzke. Rev. Ochlert remained in charge as pastor for three years. and, during most of this time, services were held in the schoolhouse. A church building was begun during his stay, but left unfinished. From various causes, the mem- bership dwindled down to five, when Rev. Wilhelm Nolting became their pastor. Through his efforts, the membership increased to thirteen, and the church building, begun in 1879, has been completed under their ear- nest and active pastor. It is 24x36 feet, and is surmounted by a bell tower, and furnished with all modern improvements. The lot on which it stands was presented to the society by Mr. Casper Foster. A Sunday school was organized in Minden in 1876, with James Crow as Superintendent, and there is an at- tendance of about twenty pupils. The pres- ent officers are: Conrad Niel. Superintend- ent: John Crow, Secretary; J. A. Yoder, Treasurer; and E. O. Morgan, Librarian. It is now in a flourishing condition, and has a regular attendance of forty pupils.
The growth of Minden has not been so rapid as that of some of the other towns of Pottawattamie County, but there lias always been, since its founding, a substantiality in its progress which made success a foregone conclusion. The extent of the business done in the town may be determined by the fol-
lowing list of business men and the indus- tries they represent: J. B. Norton, druggist; John Hammer and J. C. Garmong, hardware merchants; Peter Stuhr and J. C. Garmong, agricultural implement dealers; Stuhr Bros .. J. W. Crow and J. H. Yoder, dry goods and grocery merchants; Peter Ehlers, grain-deal- er; Seiffert & Weise, lumber-dealers; L. Harm, physician and surgeon; J. C. Gar- mong. harness-dealer; Henry Rolfs and H. Peterson, blacksmiths; and one hotel, with Adolph Wunder as proprietor.
There are several smaller business institu- tions in the town, but the above are the prin- cipal firms. Minden will shortly have two grain elevators in operation. Besides that of Mr. Ehlers, which has been running for some time, a new one is being constructed by Messrs. Dow, Sandhan & Co., the capacity of which will be abont fifteen thousand bushels.
On the 12th of June, 18SI, a hail-storm struck Minden Township, and the damage done by it amounted to $20,000. The track of the storm was about two miles wide. It came from the southwest and northwest, and the two divisions seemed to meet near the residence of Mr. F. Bloomer, where the dam- age done was about $1,000. The storm de- stroyed about six hundred and fifty trees and about one hundred acres of grain at this point.
-
267
NEOLA TOWNSHIP.
CHAPTER XXXVI .*
NEOLA TOWNSHIP-INTRODUCTORY -ORGANIZATION -DRAINAGE-EARLY SETTLERS-ROADS- BRIDGES-FIRST RAILROAD-SCHOOLS-POST OFFICE-GRAIN ELEVATORS- BUSINESS INDUSTRIES-SECRET SOCIETIES-CHURCHES.
L ONG before the white man saw the rich lands of the " Great American Desert," these gentle slopes, green hills and groves of timber were peopled by another race than the pale-face from the far East. Here the red man roamed in all his savage glory for years and decades, aye, for centuries, perhaps, un - disturbed save by the rival tribes of his own race. Here he hunted the buffalo and chased the deer and howled behind his fleeing ene- my. But the time came when all this was changed, and as the light of civilization spread over the continent, the "wigwam blaze " was extinguished in this region and the savage followed after the retreating herds of buffalos. Then were the foundations laid for the future greatness of a prosperous country by the hardy pioneers amid exposure and privation. The farmer, the mechanic. the merchant and the professional man were soon represented by the most enterprising and energetic of their calling, and soon where the prairie grass grew so rank as to hide a man on horseback from view, broad fields of waving grain told of the rapid development of the resources of a rich and fertile country. . Manufactories, villages, churches and school buildings sprang up and the hum of busy in- dustry was heard on every hand, where but a few years before the pioneer was almost alone; on a broad, rolling prairie, almost wholly unpeopled for hundreds of miles in every direction from his lonely cabin, save by bands of half-naked Indians, which might
occasionally have been seen galloping along the course of a stream, or disappearing over the crest of a hill on their hardy Mustang ponies. Such were the scenes familiar to the pioneers of only a quarter of a century ago.
June 10, 1872, a petition signed by H. G. Fisher, George Remington, Fielding Steele and seventy-eight other citizens, was present- ed to the Board of Supervisors, asking that honorable body to form a new civil township, to comprise a part of the townships of York and Boomer. It was ordered by the Board of Supervisors that Township 77, Range 41, and Township 77. Range 42, is hereby or- ganized into a civil township, to be known as the township of Neola. By this organi- zation, Neola Township comprised all the territory now known as Minden Township. Neola Township is now bounded on the north by Harrison County, on the west by Boomer Township, on the south by Norwalk Township and on the east by Minden Township. It is broken and untillable only at some points along the streams. Nearly the whole surface is a gently rolling prairie, and the soil is very productive. Wheat, corn, oats and rye are grown successfully, corn being the staple crop.
This township is drained by Mosquito and Pigeon Creeks and their tributaries. The latter rises in Section 10, and crossing See- tion 3, entering Section 4, flows in a south- westerly direction across the sections diago- nally of 9, 8, 18 and 19, leaving the town- ship at the southwest corner of Section 19
*By Frank M. Wright.
268
HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY.
and crossing Section 25 of Boomer Town- ship. In Section 25, of Boomer, it receives the waters of a small tributary which rises in Section 21, of Neola, and taking a southwest- erly course, through Sections 20, 29 and 31, leaves the township at the northwest corner of Section 31. This tributary is known as Bardsley's Creek, and received its name through the event of the settlement of a Mr. Bardsley on the west bank of the stream in 1854.
There are three bridges cross this stream, all of which are mainly wooden structures, erected at the expense of the county. Mos- quito Creek rises in Harrison County and enters Neola Township near the northwest corner of Section 1. It flows almost due sonth through the northern part of Sections 1, 12 and 13, and, on entering Section 24, it bears to the east, flowing nearly to the east- ern line of the township, in Section 25, where it is joined by the Minden Branch of Mos- quito Creek. Its course from this point is southwest through Sections 25, 26 and 35, crossing the township line between Neola and Norwalk Townships, about the center of Section 35.
The early settlers of Neola Township found the same rich soil, the same fine rolling prairie and the same prospects of peace and plenty, which awaited the pioneers of most of the other townships of Pottawattamie County. G. W. Henderson claimed the honor of being the first permanent white set- tler of the township. His home had been in Van Buren County, Iowa. In March, of 1855, he pre-empted the southeast quarter of Section 12, and began at once to erect a shel- ter for himself and family and to break ground for a spring crop. He continued his improvements, and to-day is among the well- to-do farmers of the county. His home is now located about two miles north of the
town of Neola. Mr. Henderson's first neigh- bor in Neola Township was a Mr. Norman Abbott, who settled in Section 19 during the latter part of the same month. Mr. Abbott remained a resident of the township until 1865, when he sold his farm to Thomas Cel- lars, who in turn sold it to a gentleman named Hillsworth. Subsequent to this sale, it was divided, but is now owned by Mr. John Handley, of Neola. William Tidwell came to the new country and settled in Sec- tion 18, near to Mr. Abbott. Joseph Balsley and J. Mecklin settled on Pigeon Creek in May of 1855. Mr. Balsley continued a resi- dent of this township until his death. Mrs. Balsley still owns the old farm where they first settled. Mr. Mecklin sold his farm and is now a resident of Boomer Township. The next to choose a home in the prairie now within the boundaries of Neola Township was John O'Brien, who settled on Section 23 and still resides on the old place. Promi- nent among the early settlers was Mr. Z. Remington and family, who settled on Sec- tion 33. Mr. Remington, however, did not become a resident of the township until 1858. He lived on the place of his first settlement until his death. After his death, the old farm was divided by his heirs. His sons are among the most prominent business men of Neola. These early pioneers were soon fol- lowed by large numbers of settlers, and the country began to assume the appearance of being peopled by a thriving, energetic com- munity.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.