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 41
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Oakland. Eck became a defaulter, and ab- sconded in the spring of 1882. The post office was first located in George Reed's house, about a mile from Oakland, the resi- dence now occupied by J. A. T. Bates. In 1863, it was transferred to the other side of the run, to the residence of William Ly- man, Sr., and when Cooper was appointed Postmaster, it was taken to his house at the cross roads. Parma Post Office, at the other side of the grove, was established by the in- fluence of M. T. Palmer, in 1871. Abner M. Johnson was the first Postmaster, at the store of M. T. Palmer, about two miles and a half north of the present town of Oakland. Mr. Palmer established his store at that point in 1860. He was a physician and the first who settled in the township, as early as 1856, and the nucleus of the store was the drugs kept by him in the practice of his profession. To these he added a small stock of dry goods and groceries, and occupied a building once used as a schoolhouse. The first mail to the offices was carried by James A. St. Clair, and the mail was kept in the tray of a common trunk, so primitive were the offices on the frontier in those days. The route on which it was carried was from Macedonia to New- town, south of the present site of Avoca.
The second death recorded in Belknap was that of Mrs. Orrin Belknap, in 1856. The first school taught in the township was by William Lyman, Sr., in the beginning of 1858, on the spot near where Schoolhouse No. 1 now stands. It was supported by the voluntary contributions of the little commu- nity, and the school taught in the dugout, built by G. A. Slocum, as already stated.
J. L. Fetter was the first School Director, and as such let the first contract for a school building in the township, to Cyrus True, of Newtown, for $690. When it came time to make payment for the work, it was all done
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BELKNAP TOWNSHIP.
in silver. The house was finished in 1861, and is the one used in District No. 1.
The first house in Big Grove, now Oak- land, was built in 1856, by William Walker, for a storeroom. It still stands near the run, and being since enlarged, is known as the " Bee-Hive." It is now the property of the widow and heirs of John Bates. The first bridge across the Nishnabotna was begun in December, 1855, and finished in March, 1856. The abutments were timber cribs filled in with earth, and the frame was hewn oak and black walnut. The structure was 120 feet long, and the bridgeway fourteen feet wide, and consisted of three spans. It had a puncheon floor. Before this bridge was built, the settlers had to go south to Mace- donia before they could cross the river. Not a dollar in money was expended in the build- ing of it. G. A. Slocum procured the set- tlers to sign a contract to either furnish la- bor or materials, and in this way the bridge was built. The principal part of the labor was performed by G. A. Slocum, Samuel Day and Orrin Belknap, all of whom were me- chanics. This bridge was good, and stood until 1874, when it was removed and replaced by an iron structure.
The first importation of thoroughbred cat - tle was by Abner M. Johnston, in 1874, when he brought from the herd of Samuel A. Ten- ney, of Durham Hill, Waukesha Co., Wis-, a number of Short-Horns, largely of the Dutchess blood. The stock and blood came through John P. Roe, of Walnut Hill, who imported direct from England. The road from Big Grove to Council Bluffs ran south ten miles to Stutsman's mill, from 1852 to 1856, where the river was crossed by a small rope ferry. The settlers went to Council Bluffs about twice a year to trade and market, and the roads were little else than a mere trail on the open prairie in many places.
Deer and such game were quite abundant for many years after the first settlers came into the country, in fact, until 1856, when the severe winter destroyed great numbers. The deer were very tame, so tame that it was not very difficult to capture the fawns when they were quite a size. One of these ani- mals for many years was the pet of the whole settlement. J. L. Fetter and G. A. Slocum were on the prairie and aroused one, and giving it chase, Fetter outran Slocum and caught the young deer and presented it to Mr. Slocum, who kept it as a pet for a long time, and until it was shot by some heartless and brutal hunter.
The arrival of some of the original settlers can be fixed with a goodly degree of certain- ty now. Dr. M. T. Palmer came in 1856; J. L. Fetter, the same year; Sarah Beard about the same time, but afterward moved to Coun- cil Bluffs; Michael Emery and John Emery in 1856; Samuel Day in 1S54, 'but afterward went to Harrison County, where he died; a man by the name of Andrews in 1855, and William Lyman, Sr., in 1857. Mr. Lyman died several years ago, leaving quite a family of children, among them Maj. Joseph Lyman, the distinguished lawyer of Council Bluffs, and who also served with great credit as a soldier in the Twenty-ninth Iowa during the civil war. Emery Beard, one of the sons of Sarah Beard, emigrated to Oregon.
One of the most noted events of the town- ship is what is known as the Vest murder case, which caused great excitement at the time, the crime having been committed by James Vest in the killing of Edward M. Ben- ton in the beginning of October, 1868. Ben- ton was a native of Watertown, N. Y., had lived at St. Paul and Des Moines, and was, at the time of his death, in the employment of the Western Stage Company, who had a station at Big Grove. Vest was a farm hand,
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HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY.
in the employment of one W. M. West. The scene of the murder was a little log rabin, which stood where the rear of the Oakland House now is. The place was kept by three women of not very desirable reputation, and Vest was boarding there. Benton demanded an entrance into the cabin late the night of the killing, and Vest refused to admit him. Benton then broke down the rickety door that barred the way, and made an attempt to get in, when Vest picked up a hatchet and struck Benton twice on the head with the blade, and cut him so severely that he died of his injuries before morning. No inquest was held, and Vest made his escape, no attempt ever having been made to capture him. The last intelligence ever received of Vest was that he had threatened to kill his brother, Thomas Vest, in Missouri, that the latter dis- appeared mysteriously and that James Vest was sent to the Missouri Insane Asylum as incurable.
In 1860, Albert Griffith, a young man from Oshkosh, Wis., was plowing in a field of J. L. Fetter's with a yoke of oxon, when one of them became entangled, and when the young man undertook to extricate him, he was kicked to death. He was buried in the Big Grove Cemetery, in Section 10. Others buried there are Peter S. Johns, one of the soldiers drafted from James Township; Will- iam Elliott, a soldier of the civil war, who died while undergoing amputation of a wounded leg; an unknown emigrant of 1857, who was drowned while bathing in the Nish- nabotna River, and the eldest son of J. R. Cook, who, in trying to reach the Upper Botna Bridge when the river was out of its banks, missed the bridge and was drowned, March 28, 1875.
Goods were sold on the present site of Oak- land before the town was laid out. Mr. Slo- cum had a storeroom and a stock of groceries
when Jacob Cohn came from Council Bluffs, in 1871, to start a general store at Big Grove, and the groceries in stock were transferred by Slocum to Cohn. W. H. Freeman put up a new building in the Grove, and Cohn removed to that. He soon became a bank- rupt. D. B. Freeman took charge of the as- sets, and he and W. H. Freeman afterward opened out in the same place on their own account. J. B. Matlock afterward acquired W. H. Freeman's interest, and again that of D. B. Freeman, after which D. B. Freeman became sole owner by purchase from Matlock. Through successive changes quite rapidly made, the business has come into the hands of its present owners, Potter & De Graff.
The building of a branch railroad of the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad down the Nishnabotna Valley, from Avoca, changed the character of the hamlet of Big Grove as it stood in the primeval forest, and transformed it into a prosperous growing town. The town of Oakland was laid out by Thomas Tostevin and Samuel Denton as sur- reyors. The first residence on the new site was erected by Dr. S. Stewart, and the first store building by J. C. Norton, J. M. Estes and E. H. Wineland, in the upper part of the town. The plat of the lower part of the town was made September 13, 1880, on the lands of W. H. Freeman, Daniel Freeman, John Bates and Ambrose Bates and Thomas Tos- tevin. The next spring, 1881, Thomas Tos- tevin platted a portion of the town, in the upper part, on the lands of John T. Bald- win.
Since then, the place has grown with con. siderable rapidity. It has now as business, dry goods and groceries, Potter & De Graff, G. W. Cooper & Co., Estes & Hislop and Bates & Reed; hardware and furniture, Nor- ton & Bryant; hardware and implements. Strong & Huff; agricultural implements,
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George H. Nash and E. G. Bailey; drugs and the post office, L. B. Robinson & Co., and drugs, Toothaker & Balkam; grocery. A. M. Louie; restaurant, D. H. Morrison; ho- tels, the City Hotel, Dennis McGath, and Oakland House, Nathaniel Young: jewelry, W. S. Bedford; millinery, Mary Ellis and Mrs. Moses; harness shops, William Stotes and James Storey; clothier, Henry O'Neil; boots and shoes, G. A. Slocum, M. H. His- lop and Lee Rudolph; lawyers and insurance, L. B. Robinson and W. W. Bilger, and law- yer, W. T. Wilcox; physicians, Drs. S. D. Toby, S. Stewart and T. C. Alexander; lum- ber, Milner & Caldwell; anti-monopoly com- bination, the Barb Fence Factory and Milner & Caldwell; livery stables, Mark Neiland and Freeman & Co .; bank, Freeman Bros .; flour and feed exchange, John McDonald; newspaper, Oakland Acorn, A. T. Cox; blacksmiths, D. Steadman & Co. and W. P. Meadows; wagon-maker, M. Howrey; grain dealers, S. S Rust and W. H. H. Dabney; stockbuyers, H. A. Goff, J. I. Reed and H. Cooper & Co .; two saloons, Peter King and Thomas Collison; furniture, A. P. Cooper & Co .; meat market, C. H Cooper; under- taker, Norton & Bryant; barbers, J. A. Em- mett and J. M. Pullen: carpenters, A. N. Cov- ert, M. M. Brightman and Daniel McCotter, and plasterers, William Farley and the Young Bros.
The town site is in the center of an im- mense grove, which at an early day received the name of Big Grove and by which the point was known until the railroad station and new town were designated as Oakland. The place is the center of one of the finest agricultural regions in the world, and is destined to still greater growth and prosper- ity. Oakland has been set apart as an inde- pendent school district, and has set apart the necessary funds for the erection of a large
and handsome school building for its own use, and the same is in course of construc- tion. The town was incorporated under the laws of Iowa by the Circuit Court of Potta- watamie, on the 1st of May, 1882, an elec- tion having been held on the 26th of April. at which W. H. Freeman was chosen Mayor; S. S. Rust, J. L. Caldwell, John McDonald, Austin Goff, L. F. Potter and Charles Bry ant, Councilmen; E. G. Bailey, Recorder; B. F. Freeman, Treasurer; D. H. Morrison, Marshal, and W W. Bilger, City Attorney.
A newspaper, the Acorn, was started by John C. McMannima and John G. Julian, on the 1st of May, 1881. The first issue was dated May 5, of the same year. In August following, A. M. Lewis became editor and proprietor, and on the 1st of March, 1882, A. M. Lewis sold to A. T. Cox, who now con- ducts the paper. It is independent of polit- ical parties, and devoted to the interests of the town and surrounding country. In that respect, it fills an important position in the community, and its efforts are appreciated by the business public in liberally sustaining it.
Oakland Lodge, No. 442, of the Independ ent Order of Odd Fellows, was established at Oakland on the 13th of January, 1882, with the following officers and members: T. C. Alexander, N. G .; N. Young, V. G .; A. M. Lewis, Secretary, and W. D. Johnson, Treas- urer. Members: H. C. Snyder, William Farley, E. A. Coleman, A. J. Richards, A. Eck and W. D. Johnson. The present mem- bership is thirty -four.
The Big Grove Grange of Patrons of Hus- bandry was instituted by Gen. William Du- ane Wilson, editor of the Iowa Homestead. in the spring of 1871. The charter mem- bership was twenty, and increased to sixty while the Grange continued to act as such.
For the establishment of a Masonic lodge, the first meeting for organization was held
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HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY.
at Big Grove, in March, 1874, and the lodge instituted, as Ark Lodge, No. 335, under dispensation from the Grand Lodge, upon the recommendation of Mt. Nebo Lodge of Avoca. J. C. Chapman was the Grand Mas- ter at that date. The dispensation is dated the 10th of June, 1874, A. L. 5874, the year of the Grand Lodge thirty-two, and is signed by J. C. Chapman as Grand Master, and T. S. Parvin as Grand Secretary, and evidenced by the seal of the Grand Lodge of Iowa. The dispensation constituted Fletcher Dun- ham, Master of the lodge; W. H. Freeman. Senior Warden; H. H. Gillette, Junior War- den. With these the lodge was duly consti- tuted, and at the ensuing meeting of the Grand Lodge, the subordinate lodge was properly and regularly clothed with power to work under the jurisdiction of the Grand Lodge of Iowa. The present officers are: W. H. Freeman, Worshipful Master; J. A. T. Bates, Senior Warden; J. O. Humbert, Jun- ior Warden; Freeman Reed, Treasurer, and E. G. Bailey, Secretary.
The Big Grove Missionary Baptist Church of Jesus Christ was organized, August 11, 1861, with the following as members: Jacob Rust, Eda E. Rust, Susan Huff, Margaret J. Reed, Eda McGee, M. T. Palmer and Caro- line Palmer, seven persons in all. The so- ciety was organized under the counsel of the Rev. E. W. Hall, pastor of the Baptist Church at Lewis in Cass County, and James W. Brown, elerk of the church at Lewis. The first meeting was held in the dwelling which now constitutes the residence of John Bird, the building then being used for a schoolhouse. On the second Sunday in No- vember, 1861, George I. Reed and Abnas M. Huff were received as members, and on the second Sunday in December. Mr. Keed was
baptized and the sacrament of the Lord's Supper administered for the first time. A series of meetings were held during the fol- lowing week, and the following persons joined the church by letter: Louis Huff, Benjamin and Sarah Morris, and subject to baptism; H. J. Reed and William Huff. The succes- sive pastors have been E. M. Hall, James Lambert, William Arnold, Eli Bureh and D. C. Adams. The present membership is forty - two, and the society is without a pastor. In 1874, the society purchased a schoolhouse on the site of the abandoned town of Iola, near Big Grove, and fitted it up for a church, but it is now untit for use, and has been abandoned.
A preliminary meeting was held at Big Grove September 16, 1881, for the purpose of organizing a Congregational Church so- ciety. The confession of faith as laid down in the authorized manual was accepted. Ar- ticles of faith and a constitution were drafted by a committee composed of Messrs. Norton, Snyder, Shepherd and De Graff. The fol- lowing persons became members by signing the same: J. C. Norton, Susie Norton, Sarah Lyman. Rhoda Lyman. H. C. Snyder, C. R. Johnson, Lottie Shepard, W. L. Nokes, H. B. Shepard, M. J. De Graff, L. B. Shepard and Frank Shepard. Rev. John Todd, of Tabor College preached to the congregation in the storeroom of J. B. Estes on the 19th of Oc- tober, 1880. The first officers were: H. C. Snyder, Clerk; Mrs. Sarah Lyman, Treasurer; A. Johnson, L. B. Shepard and J. C. Norton, Trustees, and J. C. Norton, Deacon. Work was begun on a new church in September, 1881, a building 28x40 feet in dimensions, and was so far completed as to be suitable for use in the winter of 1881. The cost was $1,500, and the same has been furnished and dedicated.
WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP.
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CHAPTER XLIX .*
WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP-ORGANIZATION-FIRST ELECTION-AN OLD STAGE STATION-SCHOOLS -CHURCHES-A TRAGEDY.
W ASHINGTON TOWNSHIP was or- ganized as a civil township from the territory comprising Congressional Township 75, Range 41, on the petition of C. W. Brown and others. It is situated east of Council Bluffs, and, among other points, includes the old stage station of Pleasant Taylor, on Silver Creek, on the old route of the Western Stage Company from Des Moines to Council Bluffs. The first election was held at the schoolhouse near Taylor's Station. The name of Wash- ington was given to the township at the in- stance of Jerome Turner, a farmer and pub- lic-spirited citizen of the township, who has been a resident for many years. There were only sixteen votes cast at the first election. Situated, as the township was, at a great dis- tance from railroads, and constituted, as it was, from raw prairie, with little timber, its settlement was exceedingly slow until 1875 and 1876.
The only post office in the township is near the old Taylor Station. The old station building was destroyed by fire a few years ago. T. H. Sketchley is the Postmaster, and also keeps a store, having the only one in Washington. The first road laid out after the township was organized was what is known as the Wasson road, from the Nishna- botna to a point near Parks' Mill, two miles from Council Bluffs.
The first schoolhouse was built by Jerome Turner, near the " station " at Silver Creek, in 1860, The district has now eight such frame buildings in all, and as many flourish-
ing and prosperous public schools. The first teacher in the district was Miss Piles. Soon after the first schoolhouse was erected, a Sun- day school was organized at that point. The first sermon was by Elder Golliday, who was then stationed at Council Bluffs. Pleasant Taylor came into the township first and opened up the stage station, and built the only mill ever erected in the township. It is now disused, and has gone to ruin. F. A. Burke, a Pennsylvanian by birth, but who emigrated from West Virginia, where he had been a steamboat Captain, was the next set- tler after Pleasant Taylor. He has been a resident of Council Bluffs for many years, and, for ten or more, the City Recorder and City Auditor, and a prominent Odd Fellow. Jerome and Charles Turner, brothers, came in soon after. Charles Turner moved to Phillips County, Kan., several years ago, but Jerome Turner is still a resident of the town- ship, and a prosperous farmer. For many years these were the only settlers, and the distance to the next, at Big Grove, was six miles, and on the west the Dick Hardin Sta- tion, as many more miles, the intervening space being scarcely more than trackless prai- rie. Miss Piles was the first teacher, in 1859; Ellen Wood was the second. In 1864, Miss May Burke was the first teacher, and Miss Belle Burke the second. The first birth was Alice Turner, in 1858; the first death, Lu- cinda Nolands, a widow, in 1865; and the first marriage, James Taylor, son of Pleasant Taylor, to Miss Maria Piles, in 1859. Pleas- ant Taylor built his mill in 1856.
*By Col. J. H. Keatley.
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HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY.
The original settlers in their order were: Pleasant Taylor, Jerome Turner, Charles Turner, James A. Taylor, William Taylor, F. A. Burke, T. B. Matthews, J. B. Matthews and A. F. Carter.
The first election was held October 11, 1870. P. B. Matthews, James Taylor and B. M. Weak were chosen Trustees; J. B. Mat- thews. Township Clerk; and B. M. Weak and W. L. W. Wasson, Justices of the Peace. The present officers are: J. K. Annis, Jack- son Lewis and R. E. Williams, Trustees; O. W. Pearce, Justice of the Peace; Jesse Cra- ven, Constable; and F. A. Turner, As- sessor.
The Methodist Protestant Church of that township was first organized in 1861. There is also a Methodist Episcopal, and a Presby- terian society in the township, but none have any church building, the services being held at the public schoolhouse at Taylor's Sta- tion.
A tragedy occurred on the bridge at the crossing of Silver Creek at Taylor's Station in December, 1877, which caused quite an excitement in the township. Frank Briggs. a young man abont twenty years of age, son of George W. Briggs, William Martin, and a number of other young men of the town- ship. were at a religious meeting at the Tay- lor Station Schoolhouse, at night. They left the meeting before it was over, and, crossing the creek, some kind of an altercation oc- curred between Frank Briggs and William Martin, and the latter stabbed Briggs through the heart, in the road, and instantly killed him. Martin was tried for the mur- der, and on the witness stand testified that he was simply acting in self defense. The prosecution was conducted on behalf of the State by A. R. Anderson. District Attorney, and John H. Keatley, and the prisoner was defended by C. R. Scott. There was a ver- dict of not guilty.
CHAPTER L .*
HARDIN TOWNSHIP - INTRODUCTORY-DRAINAGE - FIRST FAMILIES-" OLD DICK HARDIN" ROADS AND BRIDGES-CHURCHES AND SCHOOLS-RAPID INCREASE OF POPULATION.
H E who attempts to present with accuracy the annals of a country or even of a district no larger than a township, the his- tory of which reaches back to the date of the settlement of the first white man within its boundaries, imposes upon himself a task not easily accomplished. The difficulties to be met with in performing such a task are often angmented by statements widely at variance, furnished by early settlers and their descend- ants, as data from which to compile a true and faithful record of past events. 'To claim for a work of this character perfect freedom
from all inaccuracies would be to arrogate to one's self a degree of wisdom and infalli- bility possessed by no mortal man. To give facts only, should be the highest aim of every writer who professes to deal with in- cidents of the past. This shall be our aim in the pages following. and when statements disagree with the opinion of the reader, he will bear in mind that we have chronicled the events which seemed supported by the greatest weight of evidence.
Originally, and as far back as we know, this great Western country belonged to the Indians. Undisturbed in those primeval days
*By Frank M. Wright.
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HARDIN TOWNSHIP.
by the pale-faced race, beneath the shadows of his wigwam, the Indian smoked his pipe in peace and dreamed not of the time when his people must make room for the pale-face and the Westward strides of civilization. The relics left by the red man and his ante- cedents are the only historic chapters handed down to us to tell of the people whose feet once pressed the earth around our own pleas- ant homes. With these people there were no learned men to record the history they were making, though among them unlettered sages and warriors there may have been. With us, how different ! We know the uses of letters, printing presses, books and telegraphs, and there is no reason why we should die and leave no sign. The history we are making can be handed down to posterity in the ages that are to come, for thousands of years, when other and higher races of men shall have taken our place.
Hardin Township was organized in 1869, but for many years prior to this formed a part of territory known as Kane Township. It is a full Congressional Township, lying in the form of a square, and containing thirty six sections. Its boundaries are: Norwalk Town- ship on the north, Washington Township on the east, Keg Creek Township on the south, and Garner Township on the west. It is a section of land six miles square, and forms a part of a vast rolling prairie, which in some places is inclined to be broken. The original timber growth, so far as is known, consisted of small groves along the streams. The growth of cotton-wood, box elder, maple and walnut has been largely cultivated on al- most every farm in the township. Hardin Township, like the greater portion of Potta- wattamie County, is well adapted to farming and grazing purposes. The soil is very pro- ductive, and in some of the creek bottoms farming has been carried on for many years
without requiring fertilizers: indeed, but lit- tle need has been felt thus in any portion of the township for fertilizers. The higher lands, so long as they bave been farmed in different localities, seem to have lost none of their productive qualities. Hardin Township is, perhaps, as well adapted to stock-raising as any township in the county, on account of the advantages derived from running streams, which furnish a supply of water for stock during a greater portion of the year. Keg Creek is the largest stream in the township. Its name originated through the following incident: During the early settlement of the whites in Pottawattamie County, the sale of intoxicating liquors to Indians was carried on to such an extent as to have been prohibited by law. Then, as now, the prohibitory laws did not always prohibit, and the traders con- tinned to sell whisky to the Indians. An abundance of "fire-water" was not calculated to preserve peace among the Indians, and the officers were diligent in their efforts to detect the guilty dealers. A trading-post on the bank of Keg Creek was visited by the officers, but the trader, having been warned of their approach. rolled his stock of five barrels of whisky into the stream, and sunk them from view. The stream has since borne the name of "Five Barrel," or Keg Creek. The streams all flow through Hardin Township in almost a direct line from north to south. Weasel Run, in the southwest part of the township. and which empties into Little Keg Creek, being the only exception. Keg Creek enters Hardin Township about the northwest corner of Section 1. It is joined by one of its trib- utaries in Section 2. In Section 15 another tributary, Mamie Creek, empties into it. This stream was without a name until, in 1875, when an Atlas of Iowa was being completed, and one of the gentlemen en- gaged in preparing the map of Pottawattamie
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