USA > Iowa > Poweshiek County > History of Poweshiek County, Iowa: a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement, Volume 1 > Part 34
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On the morning of July 11, 164-, William of Orange, claimant of the Eng- lish crown, looked down upon the valley of the Boyne in northern Ireland. He saw the army of James II across the river, an army of French and Catholic Irish. He himself was surrounded by Protestant Irish and many English. "I am glad to see you, gentlemen," said William, as Macaulay tells the story.
William's army plunged into the river and crossed it with difficulty. Men from Londonderry and Enniskillen were conspicuous among them. Muskets and green boughs soon lined the banks and a new army sprang up as from the earth. Defiance answered defiance for a little time. The battle began. Soon the English Stromberg was dead, James had fled, his troops had been crushed. William met Enniskillen on the field. He placed himself promptly at their head, saying: "You shall be my guests today. I have heard much of you. Let me see something of you." William and Enniskillen won a victory that the Deep River Irish love to celebrate.
Other early settlers were William Light and family and his two sons, Mathias and James, with their families, who came from Virginia. To James was born a son in the spring of 1848, the first birth in the township.
The first death in the township was that of a young man, Cohoe by name. He was buried on land later owned by Michael Funk. The body was disinterred and deposited in the Deep River township cemetery.
SCHOOLS AND CHURCHES.
The first school in Deep River was located in the G. A. R. building in the spring of 1885, with Alpha Morgan as teacher. The attendance was not large, but as it was, the small room was crowded. His successor was John G. Mead.
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The next building used for school purposes was the opera house, which was prepared for the spring term of 1890. Miss Mary Feight presided over the children, notwithstanding her marriage to Dr. J. J. Ball, about two years after the school building was erected, which cost about $3,000. Professor W. E. Pratt was the first principal of this school.
THE METHODIST CHURCH.
Members of the Methodist faith worshiped in the church at Dresden, but a short time prior to the founding of Deep River, the building was destroyed by fire and in 1886 the members used the Presbyterian church until a very neat building had been completed. Rev. Gannon was pastor that year. The mem- bership grew rapidly, both in church and Sunday school. During the pastorate of Rev. W. B. Marsh a parsonage was built.
THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.
In the summer of 1886 the Presbyterian people, who had worshiped in their church at Dresden, purchased lots in Deep River and taking the Dresden build- ing apart, removed it to its present location on the site above mentioned, and later on the parsonage building was brought from Dresden to the place. At this time Rev. E. Cooper was the pastor in charge, who has had a number of successors in this pulpit.
THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
The Christians-that is, members of that society-worshiped with the Pres- byterians, until in September, 1890, when a state evangelist began a series of revival meetings. On October 5, 1890, a society of the Christian church was organized, with thirteen members, and meetings were held in the opera house until 1894, when a church edifice was erected on East Main street, at a cost of $2,500. The beautiful temple was dedicated by Rev. F. M. Raines, of Cin- cinnati, Ohio, August 29, 1894. Rev. L. Howe was the first pastor. The church grew in membership and has reached a fair measure of prosperity.
AARON BEVAN POST, NO. 412, G. A. R.
Early in the spring of 1886 the veterans of the Civil war organized a post of the Grand Army of the Republic and named it after Aaron Bevan, a comrade. The organization was made possible through the efforts of J. A. Seaton and others. At one time the membership was thirty. This remnant of the "old guard" meets in a building belonging to the post.
FRATERNAL ORDERS.
Golden Rod Lodge, A. F. & A. M., No. 512, was organized in June, 1891, with the following members: E. H. Ennis, W. M. Wilson, E. Gladdin, N. J.
FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, DEEP RIVER
15 PTPLIMARY
ASTOR, INOX AND TILDEN FOUNDATIONS,
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Converse, E. M. Post, Wilson Van Fossen, Davis Tilton, C. A. Sweet, John Dunn, H. E. Emery, Elvin Tilton, J. W. Ball, H. W. Hatter, George Bushnell, Robert J. McLain.
The first meeting was held in the hall over Cox & Cochran's store and the following officers were elected: C. A. Sweat, W. M .; N. J. Converse, S. W .; H. W. Hatter, J. W .; E. H. Ennis, Sec .; E. M. Post, Treas.
In 1892 the lodge purchased six acres of land at the east limits of the town, and platted it into lots for cemetery purposes and the first body to be deposited in the ground here was that of a child of Mr. and Mrs. H. E. Emery, December 23, 1892.
Castle No. 412, Knights of Pythias, was organized, August 24, 1894, with the following charter members: A. H. Bown, E. C. Cochran, G. W. Swartz, W. J. Forby, E. A. Henzie, Brooks Ringle, W. Z. Newell, J. T. Greene, O. G. Wasser, Fred Taylor, Edgar Forby, J. S. Burgett, Lee Burgett, C. W. Pierce and Rev. W. B. Marsh.
The first officials were: J. T. Greene, C. C .; W. J. Forby, V. C .; E. C. Cochran, K. of R. & S .; A. H. Bown, D. D. G.
The castle held its meetings in the schoolroom two years and then moved to the hall over Cox & Cochran's store.
Palmetto Camp, No. 297, M. W. A., was organized January 1, 1887, with the following members: David Gordon, H. W. Hatter, Horace Phelps, J. M. Pierce, William N. Sargent, J. C. Sanders, George Cox, John H. Light, S. C. Cook and G. H. Clement.
For some time meetings .were held in the G. A. R. hall, then in the school- house and eventually in the hall over Cox & Cochran's store.
BATTLE OF . THE BOYNE CELEBRATED.
In the '6os and 'zos there came to this section, a few miles northwest of here and on Union Ridge, a colony of Protestant Irish from Rock Island county, Illinois. These people organized "Orange" societies, named in honor of William of Orange, of England. These societies, three in number, became known far and wide in this community, by reason of their annual celebration of the Battle of the Boyne, when Deep River has a merry holiday.
DEEP RIVER INCORPORATED.
The town of Deep River was incorporated in the summer of 1887 and at the first corporate election, held August 24, 1887, the following municipal officers were selected by the voters of the place: J. S. Potter, mayor; S. S. Jenkins, recorder: J. C. Sanders, treasurer; C. F. Cutler, assessor ; James Sargood, marshal. Councilmen one year: A. C. Converse, Charles Lacher; two years, N. M. Valentine, J. P. Sargood; three years, E. T. Whitney, James Light.
A well was driven at the highest elevation in Deep River to a depth of 243 feet, in the fall of 1895, for waterworks purposes and the town today has ample protection from fire A tower was erected, upon which a tank, with a capacity of 240 barrels, was placed on top. The water was elevated to this tank
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by a windmill. The town has good streets ; blocks upon blocks of cement side- walks, a place to keep the unruly and an officer to look after them. The trans- portation facilities by rail come from a branch of the Northwestern, which was built in 1884. The town also has a good hotel and the Deep River Hustler, a "live wire," established in 1892 by C. F. Cutler, is not by any means the least of the town's important institutions.
UNION TOWNSHIP.
To take up the history of Union township, it is quite necessary to go back to the spring of 1843. At that time William and Thomas Curlin came from Illinois and made improvements in what is now Union township. They were young, unmarried men, and no doubt thought to make homes for themselves in a new country. Young men representing two other families came at the same time. During the spring of 1847 three cabins were erected near together in what is now the south part of Union township, in an open space in the timber, and after building the three cabins the young men broke prairie and spent part of the summer here. We are safe in saying that they were the first to come into the county. But ere the summer ended they were seized with the desire to return to the old home and took their departure for Illinois.
The Curlin boys came back to the county temporarily the next summer, but did not become permanent residents.
The next comer into the county was Richard B. Ogden, who was a neighbor of the Curlin boys in Morgan county, Illinois. It is claimed that Mr. Ogden came here because of his acquaintance with these two young men, but upon his arrival in October, 1843, the boys had gone and Mr. Ogden found the three empty cabins, one of which he occupied during the winter of 1843-4. He had no children and with his wife spent the long winter there. A brother-in-law, Beckett, by name, had brought Ogden with his household goods to the county, but he had no stock of any kind, not even a faithful dog.
With the spring of 1844 three other families came in. These were the Satchell brothers, Daniel and Joseph; Richard Cheeseman, and Peter Morgan. Daniel and Joseph Satchell came from Logan county, Illinois. Daniel had a wife and three children, and Joseph had a wife. The Satchell brothers arrived in the county in March, 1844, and on the 6th of April following, the Cheeseman and Morgan families arrived. They came originally from Maryland. Mr. Cheese- man was a brother-in-law of Mr. Ogden. The Cheeseman family consisted of a wife, and three sons by a former marriage; Ezra Palmer and William Palmer, and their half brother, Rhioneer Hoyt.
William Palmer, at that time a young man, was not favorably impressed with the country and after remaining two weeks returned to Illinois, and after a lapse of four years became a permanent settler of Sugar Creek township. He died at Deep River in 1900. Ezra Palmer remained here a short time and then went east. After an absence of about ten years he also returned to the county, settled in Union township and previous to his death, in 1882, located in New Sharon. Rhioneer Hoyt, a boy of ten years when he came to the county with his
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mother, grew to manhood, settled in Union township, where he resided until 1892, and then located in Grinnell.
Richard B. Ogden became one of the most prominent men of the county, and resided in Montezuma at the time of his death in 1875. Richard F. Cheeseman continued to reside in the county until his death. Daniel Satchell lived here many years, and Joseph remained a citizen here until his death in 1899. Mr. Morgan at the date of coming to the county had a family of four children. He became a permanent resident of the county, lived in Deep River several years, and later moved to Des Moines, where he died. Felix Cheeseman and his mother came to the community in 1846. He did not at once become a permanent res- ident, but made a trip to the Pacific coast, and later spent a year in South Amer- ica. Returning to the county, he married Mary Lowen, settled in Union town- ship and resided here until his death.
In the fall of 1845, Richard Rivers, with his wife and family came from Keokuk county and settled on a farm later known as the Albert Carpenter place, in Union township. By birth Mr. Rivers was a Virginian. In 1847 when lands in Poweshiek county were opened for homesteads and entry, he took up a tract of land in the eastern part of Sugar Creek township and built a log cabin. This is the farm now owned by W. B. Stilwell. The first hogs sold from this farm brought $1.50 per hundred and had to be driven on foot to Keokuk. The nearest grist mill was at Oskaloosa, the trip being made with ox teams. He was a man of modest, retiring nature, was a strong believer in arbitration of disputes be- tween neighbors and probably settled as many differences in this way as most justices of the peace, for no man wielded a greater influence than he in the community. Mary, his lifelong companion, died in 1864, after which he made his home with his children. His death occurred May 1, 1872. He was a head of one of the pioneer families of Poweshiek county, members of which follows:
Jacob Rivers married Elizabeth Powers, daughter of Andrew Powers. Mary became the wife of William Sampson, son of Ezekiel Sampson. Richard, Jr. married Jane Powers. Sarah married T. S. Applegate, son of Joseph Apple- gate. James died in Indiana, unmarried. Elizabeth married Robert F. Steele. of Kentucky. William married Arthur Allen, daughter of Sherwood Allen. John L. married Nancy A. Ridpath, daughter of James Ridpath and cousin of John Clarke Ridpath. Of these all have passed away except Elizabeth Rivers, wife of Jacob Rivers; Nancy A., wife of John L. Rivers; and Sarah Applegate and husband.
Allen R. Farmer was a son of Ervin Farmer, who came to Poweshiek county from Ohio in 1850, and settled in Union township, eventually becoming a large landowner. In 1853 he moved to Kansas, where he died in 1896. Allen R. Farmer married Emiline Fleener in 1868. In 1864 he enlisted in Company C, Twenty-eighth Iowa Infantry. He became one of the influential men of the community.
Others who came to the south part of the county in 1845 and early in 1846, were the Elias Brown, Thomas Rigdon, Woodward, Hall and Newson families.
John and Stephen Moore were also here in 1844, coming from far-famed Sangamon county, the home of Abraham Lincoln. Both of them were elevated to positions of trust and responsibility in the township. John was a justice of
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the peace sixteen years, served on the board of supervisors and represented the county in the fifteenth general assembly. He loved farming and stock-raising and on his large farm had four hundred apple trees and forty cherry trees. He was an all-around man of honor.
William Butt, a Virginian, first came to Iowa in 1841 and settled on a rented farm in Van Buren county. Here his wife died about 1845, leaving him with three small children, two boys and a girl. Soon thereafter he returned to Vir- ginia and remained about a year. In 1847 he was again in Iowa and in the spring of 1848 married Miss Irene Jenkins, and in March settled with his fam- ily on a farm in Union township. He was practically penniless, but by the ex- ercise of his native wit and determination, managed to secure the money to make his first payments on land, being assisted materially by his more fortunate neighbor, John Rivers. After locating here there came to this pioneer four more children : William L., Washington, Jacob L. and Susan. In 1871 his sec- ond wife died and two years later Mrs. Roena Brent became his third wife. He died in 1892, in the eighty-seventh year of his age.
Robert F. Steele settled in the township in 1846. He was a native of the "dark and bloody ground," Kentucky, and was born in 1817 and lived to a ripe old age.
Joseph Hall was another early settler. He was a native of the "Buckeye" state, his birth occurring in 1816. His wife was born in Pennsylvania in 1810. Both of these worthy people rounded out a long and well-spent life in the township.
Hereto attached is a partial list of those who were here in the '50s :
T. D. Smith, D. J. Evans, L. G. McCoy, L. A. Johnson, W. A. Bryan, W. W. Howard, Richard Bogarth, Thomas Ashing, F. F. McVey, Paschal Booze, Will- iam Beason, Hiram Colbreen, John Saunders, C. Wright, Samuel Sheeley, Snow- den Myers, Isaac Myers, Nicholas H. Moore, Nicholas Kerr, John Sheeley, I. G. Dement, Aaron M. Saunders, John J. Rice, Hiram Whitney, William S. Saunders, A. J. Binegar, John James, Lemuel Hackney and G. W. Hays.
Jesse Shrader and Emma Newson were the first couple married in Union township. Rev. W. H. Barnes performed the ceremony in 1848.
The first birth was that of Hannah Woodward, in 1847, daughter of Malilon Woodward, one of the earliest settlers in the township.
Elias Dement died about 1847 This was the first death in Union.
Presiding Elder J. B. Hardy, of the Methodist faith, was the first regular minister in the township.
The Free Will schoolhouse, built in 1849, on section 8, was the first one in Union township. There was also one built in section 28. Both buildings were log cabins. James McIntire presided over the first and Sarah A. Moore the second.
Dr. C. C. Terrill, an extended sketch of whom will be found in the chapter devoted to early physicians, came from Ohio in 1857 and was the first regular physician in the township.
ORGANIZATION.
Union township as first formed was one-third larger than it is at the present time. The territory it lost went over to Jackson and was, of course, that town-
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ship's gain. The first election was held at the house of Mahlon Woodward, in August, 1846. This was before the township or county was organized. At that election twenty-five votes were cast.
The first clerk of the township, as now organized, was Stephen Moore, and Martin Snyder was the first justice of the peace.
The census of 1910 gives Union township a population of 600, one hundred less than it had in 1900. In 1890 there were 571.
The hamlet of Forest Home is hardly more than a memory. At one time it had about seventy people within its confines. Now it is of such little signi- ficance numerically that the census department at Washington ignores its ex- istence entirely. Here, however, is located a Methodist church, which was or- ganized in 1844, by the first settlers of the township, among them being John Moore, Conrad Newson, Daniel and Joseph Satchell, Nicholas and Stephen Moore. The first meetings were held in the homes of the members and school- houses and then, in 1870, a church building was erected at a cost of $3,000 and dedicated by Bishop E. G. Andrews. Rev. W. H. Barnes was the first pastor.
The Christian church was organized at Forest Home, February 1I, 1877, by Samuel A. Allen, Sarah J. Allen, D. M. Valentine, Jasper N. Marsh, Jacob Hildebrand, Frances Hildebrand, William T. Allen, Hannah E. Allen, Anna Hesley, G. L. Hildebrand, W. T. Walcott and Mary Walcott.
The Union Township Baptist church was organized in the summer of 1855, the original members being Clayborne Hays and wife, Solomon Watson and wife and Joseph Applegate and wife. A church was built in 1856, but was de- stroyed by fire in 1863. It was not rebuilt until 1872. The present edifice cost $1,200, and was dedicated by Revs. J. M. Wood, G. M. Vallandingham and Martin Gregson. Rev. A. N. Atwood was the first pastor.
PLEASANT TOWNSHIP.
Congressional township No. 79, range 15 west, is now known as Pleasant township, which is of regular size and bounded on the north by Scott, on the east by Bear Creek, the south by Union and Jackson, on the west by Washing- ton townships. The land is generally level and very fertile. The population in 1880 was 706; in 1890, 674; in 1900, 676; and in 1910, 635. There is very little waste land in Pleasant and there is probably no township in the county that surpasses the land here in its fertility. The farmers are all prosperous, hav- ing highly cultivated fields, improvements of a character which shows a thrift, energy and enterprise not surpassed by any other community and schools and churches of the highest character known to a rural district.
Pleasant township was organized in the spring of 1858, as the following order of Judge Alanson Jones indicates :
"Now to-wit, on the Ist day of March, 1858, G. N. Wilson and others filed in this office, a petition praying for the organization of this township, to be con- stituted out of congressional township No. 79, range 15 west. After due con- sideration of the premises it is ordered by the court that a new township be formed so as to include congressional township No. 79, range 15 west, and to be Vol. 1-20
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called Pleasant township, and to be bounded by the boundaries of said con- gressional township No. 79, range No. 15 west."
Robert, Matthew and Robinson Ewart came to Poweshiek county in 1862 and located on section 20 in Pleasant township. From one of the early settlers now living in the township, a man of intelligence and discernment, the broad state- ment comes that the Ewarts accomplished more in the interest of the township than any one else and were its most influential citizens. The farm on which they first located was improved when they purchased. Matthew and Robinson never married, but the three boys became prosperous, acquired several hundred acres of land, in fact, they were the largest land owners in the township, and shipped a great deal of cattle. Robinson died în 1871, at the age of twenty- three; Robert died in 1904, aged sixty-five. Representatives of the family still live in Pleasant township.
Hannibal Sutton was an early settler, coming in 1855, and locating on sec- tion 27. He moved to Nebraska and died there.
Another pioneer of the township was Alexander Palmer, who came early from Ohio and settled on section 16. He was a good farmer and for some years served as justice of the peace. Mr. Palmer retired from the farm about ten years ago and moved to Malcom.
George Burns was here as early as 1854, coming from the "Buckeye" state and locating on section 10. He died about 1891.
John Cassidy was from Indiana and came into Pleasant township early in the '50s, locating on section 21. He has long since passed away.
Amos Gregson came from the "Hoosier" state and located on section 30 in 1852. He was an industrious man and became prosperous. Mr. Gregson died about 1909.
William Cleland does not pretend to be a pioneer of the county, but he is an old resident and a very good one. He is from the North of Ireland and left the home of his birth in 1860. After reaching the United States he at once came westward and located in Rock Island county, Illinois, and from there he came to Poweshiek in 1868, locating on section 19, in Pleasant, where he still "lives in peace and plenty."
EWART.
This bustling little town is situated on the line of the Grinnell & Monte- zuma railroad, and since the advent of this means of transportation Ewart has become quite a shipping point for grain, hogs and cattle. The town was laid out by the Ewart brothers, from whom it took its name in December, 1875. That same year L. H. Harris erected the first building in the new town, and in the spring of 1876 A. B. Woods put up the first building to be used for busi- ness purposes. The same season witnessed the erection and completion of several other structures, among which was an elevator.
B. N. Warren was the first blacksmith in the village and became a man of considerable influence among his neighbors.
In 1880 the village attracted to itself Dr. W. B. Cotton, who located there and began the practice of his profession, which proved a lucrative and suc- cessful one.
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UNITED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCII.
The organization of the United Presbyterian church of Ewart was consum- mated September 4, 1876. John McDill, Mrs. Nancy Donnan, James Donnan, Mary A. Donnan, Della J. Donnan, William and John Hamilton, with their wives, and Margaret Rutherford were the first members. For a while services were held in the depot and then removed to a schoolhouse. December 29, 1876, James Donnan was ordained an elder and while the services were conducted in the Daly schoolhouse, Rev. Shearer of Oskaloosa conducted the services. On April 10, 1880, Robert Cutts was elected elder, and that same summer a pre- sentable frame church was erected at a cost of $1,000.
The church building was burned to the ground in 1902. A new structure soon stood in its place, which was at once erected and paid for at the time the contractor turned it over to the church authorities. The cost was $2,800. Rev. Gilmore was the first pastor and his successors were Revs. Woodburn, Allen and S. M. Hood. The last named is the present minister in charge.
METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH.
Some years prior to the organization of the Presbyterian church the Meth- odists of the township had effected a formation of a class and later organized a church society and erected a modest but substantial building. The Methodist church at this place has not been, however, very strong and its membership at the present time is a small one. Among those have filled this pulpit may be mentioned Revs. Cowan, Matthew Hughes, Mayer, Starr, Pickworth, Hall, Fitzsimmons, Good, Druse, and the present pastor, E. O. Rankin.
CLOVER HILL CEMETERY.
One of the best kept and prettiest country cemeteries in the county is 'Clover Hill," just north of Ewart. It is the only one in the township and is under the general direction of a board of trustees.
AROSE FROM ITS ASHES.
Most of the business portion of Ewart was destroyed by fire in 1910 and the citizens at once rebuilt it. The buildings are much better than the former ones and business in the little village keeps increasing with the advance of time.
DEVELOPMENT OF EDUCATION AND THE PRESENT SCHOOL SYSTEM IN
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