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 40
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The township or school district of Lincoln
has nine schoolhouses, costing each about $800. They are of uniform dimensions, 24x 36 feet, one story in height, and frame. The first built in the district was in 1874, and is known as the "Dromyer School." There are also six bridges, all constructed at the cost of the county, at a cost of from $1,600 to $1, 700 each. Three of these structures are across the Big Walnut, two over Little Walnut and one over Graybill Creek. The township has no churches and no mills within its bound- aries.
William H. Painter came into the town- ship from Jasper County, Iowa, in 1872. At that date, the whole township was a wild and
*By Col. John Il. Keatley.
309
WRIGHT TOWNSHIP.
raw prairie. There was no timber, except along the streams. Milling and trading had to be done at Lewis, in Cass County. George Roberts came from Marion County, Iowa, in 1872, in an'emigrant wagon. There were not two houses within three miles of the spot where he settled at the time. He bought 160 acres of land on the prairie, and began to open out a farm. His trading point was mainly at Atlantic. Patrick Howard, a gen- tleman about sixty-three, moved into the
township in December, 1872, and began to improve raw land. He had lived in Knox Township. He made the first wagon trail ever made from Walnut, on the Rock Island, into Lincoln Township. He originally came from Clinton County, Iowa. Among those who came after these were H. B. Jack, W. A. Clapp. Samuel I. Pope, John A. Frank, Elias Yeoman, Christ Dromyer, John A. Chipman, William Linkletler, George Woods, Charles Manifer, George Roberts and R. M. Allen.
CHAPTER XLVI .*
WRIGHT TOWNSHIP-ORGANIZATION-LAY OF THE LAND-FIRST HOUSE-FIRST DEATH-FIRST MARRIAGE-RELIGIOUS-SCHOOLS, ETC.
T THIS township, situated in the eastern part of the county, was organized on the 14th of October, 1873, by an order of the Board of Supervisors. It comprises Con- gressional Township No. 75, Range 3S. It is drained by Walnut Ceeek flowing through its center. The greater portion of the native timber found in the township, of which there is considerable, is found on the East Nishnabotna, in the southeast part of the township. The land otherwise is rolling prairie and exceedingly fertile, the soil being the loam of the bluff formation, which stretches from the east bank of the Missouri River to Cass County.
The first house built was by a man named Campbell, whose Christian name has been forgotten by the oldest settlers. He had a wife and two daughters, and his house con stituted the only stopping place for a long journey for many years, on the road to Wheeler's Grove. Nothing is now definitely known as to what became of this family, but the general impression was that they removed
to Missouri. The Campbells were simply " squatters, " and located in 1852 at the point where the old State road crossed Walnut Creek. The first death was that of a child in that family. It was quite awhile before the town- ship began to settle up, on account of its iso- lation from a navigable stream and from rail- roads. The first marriage noted was that of Henry Shank and Sophronia Dean, in April, 1858. The first birth of which any note is made was that of Jesse Van Riper, now Mrs. Wright, May 22. 1858. Levi Mills erected a house for a tavern on the northwest quarter of Section 22, and this was afterward kept by Mr. Whipple as a station house for the ac- commodation of the Western Stage Company, on their route from Des Moines to Council Bluff's. It is now the house of Mrs. Baxter. To the west of Whipple Station, J. B. Deloy established a small store, and a post office was also authorized at the same point, known as Whipple. The latter was constituted in 1876. M. H. Elliott is the present owner of the property. Alexander Evans bought a claim of land and the improvements, such as
*By Col. John 1I. Keatley.
310
HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY.
they were, in 1855, from Granville Pierson, and thus became the second settler in the township. Pierson removed to Missouri in 1857, having located the claim sold to Evans in 1854. In 1856, the weather was intensely cold, and Evans killed in the neighborhood 100 deer in the timber and on the prairie. Feed for them was exceedingly scarce. Of the old settlers who came in in 1855 were Amos West, Edward Dean and Charles Fen- ner; in 1856, William Van Riper and Samuel Place, and in 1857 L. A. Burnham. As al- ready stated, Levi Mills, Alexander Evans and Campbell came at earlier dates, but none earlier than 1852. Samuel Place set- tled on Section 36. He enlisted in the Union army during the civil war, and died in the service, leaving no heirs or representatives in the county, so far as known. Levi Mills was a native of Ohio, and was by vocation a ho- tel-keeper when he came into the county. The house he built here was of native timber, and the shingles were split. He went to California some time before 1860, where he died, leaving no relatives in this county.
Amos West was born in Bristol County, Mass., January 31, 1784, and died in Wright Township April 30, 1880. He lived until manhood at his birthplace, and was married to Avis Hestor in 1808, who was born Janu- ary 30, 1788. They emigrated to Rhode Isl- and in 1825, and in Natick in the latter State, raised a large family. The latter numbered thirteen children, of whom five are still living. Mr. West came to Pottawatta- mie, with his wife and four daughters, mar- ried, as follows: Edward and Mary Ann Dean, Cornelius Soper and Avis West; Charles and Martha Fenner, and William and Betsey Van Riper. Edward Dean was born in Bristol County, Mass., in 1810. He removed, at the age of seventeen, to Central Falls, R. I .. where he was employed in a cotton factory
for twenty-five years, when he came to Iowa, as a member of the West family, having mar- ried one of the daughters of Amos West in 1840. He located on Section 35 of Wright Township. He has had five children, two of whom, Warren and William, are residents of the township. His daughter Sophronia, that was married, in 1858, to H. C. Shank. Charles and Martha Fenner also located on Section 35. Charles Fenner and William Van Riper, sons-in-law of Amos West, went to California in 1859. Fenner came back, went to Rhode Island, and, remaining there two years. returned to Iowa, and has made this his home ever since. He now lives at Griswold, Cass County, a few miles from the east line of Wright Township. Amos West laid his claim for his land on a land-warrant for service in the war of 1812. Mr. Van Ri- per is a native of New York City, and after reaching manhood, went to Rhode Island. He came with the West family to Iowa. He went to California, as already stated, and lost his life by a land slide, and was thus buried in a drift mine, in which he was working. He left three children in Pottawattamie County-Mrs. Emma Jane Black, Clarence Van Riper and Mrs. Jessie Bertha Wright. After his death, his widow married William Barnes, and now lives in Cass County. Van Riper located on Section 26.
The religious interests of the township are represented by the Whipple Methodist class, which was organized in August, 1872, by the Rev. Mr. Adair, with the following members: Henry W. Rarey, Mrs. Eliza Rarey and Mrs. S. J. Weaver. The following spring, Mrs. J. N. Bell, Mr. Charles Matthews, Mrs. Sar- ah Matthews, James McGinnis, Mrs. Nancy McGinnis, Mrs. M. P. Black, William Mor- ford, Mrs. Susan Morford, Mrs. Eli Clayton and Mrs. Helen Baxter joined the class. The present membership is twenty-five. The
311
CENTER TOWNSHIP.
pastors who have had charge of the class since its organization, are, in their order, Revs. Adair, Abraham, Lampman, A. J. Jefferson, Wertz, Sweeley and Tennant. There are two branches of the class now-one at the Porter Schoolhouse and the other at the Black Schoolhouse. The latter was organized in March, 1882, by the Rev. Mr. Moore, with Nathan Meredith and wife as members; Madison Meredith and his wife; William Charles and his wife; Leonard Barnes and his wife; Mrs. M. P. Black, Mrs. Bershong, Elizabeth Smith, David Utley and wife and Mrs. Twing.
The most prominent citizen in the town- ship is Eli Clayton, the owner of one of the largest farms in the county, and President of the Board of Supervisors, and a sketch of
whom appears elsewhere in these annals. The first school attended by the children of the township was taught by Harriet How- ard in a log cabin on the southeast quarter of Section 2, Congressional Township 74, in the summer of 1857. The first building erected for school purposes was in Subdistrict No. 7, and is what is called the Dean School- house. The lumber for this structure was hauled from Boone, on the North-Western Railroad, in 1866. The distance in which the lumber was brought is 140 miles. The desks and furniture were of native walnut, obtained in the vicinity. Georgiana Hard- enbergh was the first teacher in this new building and is now the wife of Warren Dean, and lives in the vicinity. Dean erected this schoolhouse.
CHAPTER XLVII .*
CENTER TOWNSHIP-ITS SEPARATION FROM KNOX-EARLIEST SETTLERS-FIRST JUSTICE OF THE PEACE-HOME GUARDS OF 1861-FIRST MILL-FOURTH OF JULY IN 1857-PROSPECTIVE RAILROAD.
ENTER TOWNSHIP was taken off from
Knox Township by a line beginning at the southeast corner of Township 76, Range 39, thence north on the Congressional town- ship line to the northeast corner of Section 25, in 76, Range 39; thence west on the sec. tion line to the northwest corner of Section 30; thence north on the Congressional town- ship line to the Nishnabotna River, and all that part of Congressional Township 76, Range 40, lying west of the Nishnabotna River.
The earliest settlers who came were Joshua C. Layton, who arrived on the 2d of April, 1852; Reuben Mains came in 1855; Joseph Layton, Jacob Rust and Joseph Darnell, in
1854; Louis Huff, Benjamin Palmer, Charles S. Robinson, Thomas, Ephraim and William McKee, in 1856. Joshua C. Layton has lived ever since on the farm first occupied by him on the 29th of April, 1852. Joseph Dar- nell located near Big Grove, but, in 1860, went West, and, when last heard of, was liv- ing at Yankee Hill, in the State of Califor- nia. Louis Huff is still a resident of the township. Benjamin Palmer moved into Knox Township, where he died in April, 1882; and Jacob Rust now lives in Oakland, Belknap Township. Reuben Morris resides where he first settled in 1855. Joseph Layton located on a part of the claim of his brother, Joshua C. Layton, and. after awhile. re- turned to Indiana. He came, however,
By Col. John II. Keatley.
1
1
312
HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY.
to Keosauqua, Iowa, where he died in 1875.
Louis Huff, one of the early settlers of the township, was born in Stokes County, N. C., February 22, 1811. His parents were John Huff and Charity Adams, and his grandfa- ther was one of the pioneer settlers of the " Old North State." Louis Huff lived in North Carolina until 1828, when he came to Illinois, and assisted in the erection of the first house ever constructed in Monmouth, the county seat of Warren County. He sub- sequently moved to the vicinity of Rock Isl- and, where he opened up and improved a farm, but, inspired with the desire to come farther west, he arrived in Council Bluffs in 1853. With oxen and horses he moved his effects, in three wagons, to Center Township, and began to improve the northwest quarter of Section 18, Township 75, Range 39. There he has ever since lived, first in a log house, built at the time of his arrival. For three years, from 1861 to 1864, he kept a public house on his farm, for the accommo- dation of the many people crossing the State on that route. He was married, between Christmas and New Year's, in Knox County, Ill., in 1830, to Susan Palmer, sister of M. T. Palmer. She died May 20, 1874. By this marriage he had twelve children, and all re- side in Pottawattamie County. He contract- ed a second marriage, on the 5th of August, 1875, with Mrs. J. D. Rust, whose maiden name was Morris, and who was born in Fay- ette County, Ind., February 23, 1823. Mr. Huff is a member of the Baptist Church, and has always been an active member of the Republican party, having assisted in organizing it in this county. His pres- ent wife is a member of the Christian Church. By her first husband she was also the mother of fourteen children, four of whom were twins, and eight of which child- A
ren -are still living-five sons and three daughters.
Joshua C. Layton, or Capt. Layton, as he is called by his neighbors and friends, was born in Clarke County, Ohio, August 27, 1807. His father was Robert. Layton, and a native of Pennsylvania. He, however, became one of the original settlers of Clarke County. His death occurred when his son, who is the sub- ject of this sketch, was only six years old. His mother was Ruth Freeman, a native of Eastern Pennsylvania, and died in Febru- ary, 1821.
Mr. Layton went to school in a primitive Ohio log schoolhouse for about thirteen months, and that constituted the sum total of his opportunity to acquire an education. He lived with his grandfather for several years, and finally, striking out for himself, moved to Indiana, where he worked for his board the first year, and the next made rails for 25 cents a hundred. In the spring of 1826, he completed his time in the cabinet-maker's trade. In 1830, he was married to Nancy Beedle, who was born in Vincent, Ind., May 23, 1810. Her father was Joseph Beedle. who also emigrated to Miami County, Ohio, from Pennsylvania. Mr. Layton continued to live in Indiana for twelve years, but in IS42 he came to Lee County, Iowa, and worked at his trade there for one year, after which he moved to Kishkekosh, in Monroe County. Here he farmed, putting ont a crop of winter wheat, and built a cabin. Snow came before it was roofed, and filled it with snow, but, notwithstanding this, he put on the roof, Sunday, as it was, and made that his home. He spent a few years there farm- ing and working at his trade, and finally came to Center Township in 1852, as already stated. The land was not then subject to en- try, and was not made so until 1853, after he had squatted on it and made a claim. Since
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CENTER TOWNSHIP.
that date, by his industry and good manage- ment, he has increased his possessions until they constitute a farm of 600 acres, lying in one body. Included in his farm were four Mormon claims which he acquired. All the other land was improved by his own efforts. Mr. Layton has been a member of the Board of County Supervisors, and was honored by that body by the naming of one of the new townships of the county after him. He has always been a Republican in politics since the party was organized, and, during the civil war, was a prominent and active member of the Union League.
The first Justice of the Peace in Center Township was Jacob Rust. The first birth was in the family of Joseph Darnell; the child and his wife died. The first marriage was between James Morris and Lavinia Lay- ton, daughter of Joshua C. Layton, and oc- curred on the 1st day of July, 1856. Mr. Layton was also the first Assessor of Center Township, and made the first assessment in three days. The first school taught in the township was in a log cabin on the northeast quarter of Section 7, in Township 75, Range 39. This was in the winter of 1858-59, and was taught by Martin Luther Ingoldsby. Center Township has now nine prosperous schools and elegant school buildings. The streams draining are Graybill Creek, called after Levi Graybill, an old settler, mentioned in the sketch of Belknap Township; Jordan Creek and Spring Creek.
In 1861, a military organization was effected, and called the " Home Guards." J. C. Layton was made the Captain. Its first duty was to go under Gen. Dodge to the Mis- souri border to meet an apprehended rebel raid into Iowa, which has already been men- tioned in the biographical sketch of Gen. G. M. Dodge. It also marched to Sioux City to meet apprehended trouble from the Sioux
Indians from that quarter. When the draft was ordered to fill quotas in the volunteer forces of the United States, some threats were made by citizens of Pottawattamie County that resistance would be made to this method of raising troops. and the Center Township Home Guards were held in readi- ness to aid the United States authorities to enforce the draft, but were not called upon to do so. Public feeling was exceedingly bitter on both sides. Some of those on the Union side carried this feeling to the extent that they laid a plan to frighten their polit- ical opponents into silence. A large tree stood near the drill ground of the company, on the farm of Mr Layton, and they gave out, in a quiet sort of way, apparently, that they intended to hang some of those most bitterly opposed to the draft, using the limb of that tree for that purpose. A young man was sparking one of the girls of one of those most strongly opposed to the draft, and made it his business to tell his prospective father- in-law that the Home Guards had resolved to hang the " Secesh," as they termed their op- ponents. The old gentleman was so far con- vinced of the truth of the story that he was on his way to obtain a warrant against the organization to compel them to keep the peace against him. The Union League of the township was organized with the utmost secrecy, and its movements as quietly kept, the organization being made in the granary of Mr. Layton.
The first mill established in the township was on Jordan Creek, for grinding corn. It was pioneer and primitive, being simply a very large coffee-mill, with a sack under it to receive the meal. Its capacity.was about a bushel, and it was run by a Mormon by the name of Jordan, after whom the creek was called.
While mentioning other matters connected
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314
HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY.
with the early settlement of this township, G. S. Robinson, one of the pioneers, must not be forgotten. He is a native of Fountain County, Ind., having been born there March 2, 1828, and resided there until 1850, when
1
Joseph Layton and Joseph Donnell, who moved it to the bridge near Big Grove, and, while in use, the boiler exploded and totally destroyed the mill.
The first Fourth of July celebration ever he came to Wapello County, lowa. He held in the vicinity was in 1857, at Iola, moved to Council Bluffs in 1853, with an ox team, with his family. In the spring of 1855, he settled near Big Grove, on Section 18, Township 75, Range 39. His first resi- dence was a board shanty. His wife's name was Mary Rogers, a native of Ohio, born December 16, 1826. They have had ten chil- dren, nine of whom are still living, all of them in Pottawattamie County but one. Mr. Robinson was for one term Justice of the Iola. Thomas Tostevin made the survey and Peace; is now Township Clerk, and served in that office in the early history of the town- ship. near Big Grove. It was a basket picnic. The mention of this place, Iola, calls to mind again the futility of human designs in spec- ulating in the future of cities and towns. The prospect of a railroad, the American Central, through that township at that date stimulated Dr. P. J. McMahon, Dr. S. W. Williams, G. J. Reed and Louis Huff to lay out and plat a town site, and call the place plat in 1857. Three houses only were built in the place, the first by a Mrs. Wilkinson, intended for a hotel; the second by the Mc- Another old settler is Reuben Morris, who was born in Scott County, Ind., in January, 1830, and moved to Fulton County, Ill., and to Center Township in 1855. His wife was Isabella Rust, who was born in Henderson County, Ill. Their first home was a log cabin. Kee brothers, and this one still stands; and the third by Dr. Fansler. The town site is on the dividing line between Center and Val- ley Townships. Frank has become the owner of the site, and devotes it to farming pur- poses. It was emphatically a town on paper. No railroad came to make the speculation Three brothers by the name of McKee brought a portable steam saw-mill into the settlement in 1856, and afterward sold it to available, and it is no more now than a mere memory, with far less romantic interest than Goldsmith's Deserted Village.
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BELKNAP TOWNSHIP.
CHAPTER XLVIII .*
BELKNAP TOWNSHIP-THE FIRST SETTLER-FIRST MARRIAGE-FIRST DEATH-FIRST BIRTH FIRST HOUSE-VEST MURDER CASE-RAILROADS-OAKLAND, AND ITS BUSI- NESS AND OTHER INTERESTS-BIG GROVE. ETC.
A MONG the most recent creations of new townships is that of Belknap, on the Nishnabotna River, and called such after Gen. W. W. Belknap, an Iowa soldier, who became President Grant's Secretary of War, upon the death of Gen. John A. Rawlins. The township was set off for organization by an order of the County Board of Supervisors, dated September 6, 1872, on the petition of W. Henry Mann, D. W. Hays. William Ly- man and twenty other citizens of Center Township, out of which the new township was carved. The order defining its limits states that Township 72, Range 40, except Sections No. 1, 12. 13, 24, 25 and 36, and the southeast of the northeast quarter of Sec- tion 26, and the north part of 75, in Range 40 in said Center Township, shall constitute the new township of Belknap.
As near as can now be traced and ascer- tained, the first settler of the township was Orrin Belknap, who came from Ohio, his na- tive State, in 1854, and settled on Section 10, Township 75, Range 40. the same tract of land which he afterward sold to Judge James, and is now the farm of Hon. John T. Bald- win. In 1857, he went to Central America, where he remained about a year, came back to Circleville, Ohio, married a second time, and died there shortly afterward.
G. A. Slocum. who still lives in the town- ship, was another early settler. He was born at Pompey, Onondaga Co., N. Y., on the 10th of May. 1811, and became one of the
early settlers in Huron County, Ohio. In 1834, he returned to New York, but in 1844 removed to Walworth County, Wis. In 1847, he went northward, to Marquette, and from there emigrated to this county, settling in what is now Belknap Township in 1854. The trip was made from Wisconsin with an ox team and wagon.
The first marriage in the township occurred in March, 1857, between Sylvadoy Slocum and Marilla Belknap. Mr. Slocum's first residence was what is called a "dugout," made by dig- ging into the earth about three feet, and for a space of sixteen by thirty feet. Rafters were then raised from the banks so made to a ridge-pole, elevated twelve feet from the ground floor of the excavation, and the whole was roofed with sod or turf dug from the prairie. The end walls, or gables, were con- structed of the same material, piled up like brick laid in a wall. This kind of a struct- ure, although not of the neatest externally, was warm and comfortable, and sheltered the new settlers from the bleak winds of winter. The floor was laid with common boards and the chimney built of turf. A way was cut in the bank and a flight of steps descended from the prairie surface to the level of the floor. In this primitive dwelling was born the first child of white parents in Belknap Township. The traces of this first home of the Slocums are still plainly to be seen where the turf cabin stood. The first birth, and the one just referred to, was that of Samuel George Slocum, son of G. A. Slocum, on November
*By Cul J. A. Keatley.
R
318
HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY.
7, 1854. In the Center Township Cemetery, on a native stone, is the simple record, " Mi- chael Beard, died August 29, 1854, aged thir- ty-one years." This is the earliest record of a death among the settlers in the township.
Levi Graybill, whose post office is at Car- son, but who is a farmer in Center Town- ship, is one of the earliest settlers of Belkuap and of the county. He was born in Jackson County, Ohio, March 12, 1818. His father, Michael Graybill, was a native of Ashe County, N. C., and crossed the Ohio into the great Northwest on Christmas Day, 1815. He afterward moved to Caldwell County, Mo., in 1837, to Hancock County in 1842, and in 1846, came to Kane Township, where he died, in October, 1856. The family can be traced back through four centuries, and has always in each generation had a Michael, one of Levi Graybill's brothers being also called by that name. Michael Graybill, the father of Levi Graybill, was the son of Peter Graybill and Christina Wampler, the latter of whom was born in Germany. Her par- ents emigrated to this country when she was a mere infant, and when five years old, she was stolen by the Delaware Indians and held by them until she was about twelve years old.
The first post office in the township was established in 1854. George Reed was ap- pointed Postmaster, with M. T. Palmer and Louis Huff on his official bond as sureties. While Mr. Reed held that position, he was fatally injured by the kick of a horse, the wound being in the side. He was a highly esteemed citizen of the county at the date of his death. He was succeeded by William Lyman, Sr., and he in turn was succeeded by J. A. T. Bates, P. J. Wasson, A. P. Coo- per, M. T. Palmer, G. A. Slocum, D. B. Freeman, Alvina Eck aud L. B. Robinson, the post office being called Big Grove, now
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