USA > Iowa > Poweshiek County > History of Poweshiek County, Iowa: a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement, Volume 1 > Part 35
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PLEASANT TOWNSIIIP.
The pioneers of Pleasant township early saw the need of an organized system of common schools in their commonwealth and began by establishing schools wherever a sufficient number of pupils could be called together. Among the prime movers in this work were John Cassidy, Owen Farmer, A. M. Wis- ner, Joseph Munger, H. B. Royce, Alvin Jones, Alexander Porter, C. W. Gould,
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R. Ewart, M. Daly and a score of others. Some of these pioneer farmers (even before the township was organized into districts) built a log schoolhouse on the west side of section 35 and supported a school at their own expense. This was the first schoolhouse in the township and was afterward known as No. I. John Cassidy acted as examiner of teachers.
Joanna Harris, of Grinnell, who became the wife of R. M. Haines, was probably the first teacher in this school and in the township. She was engaged to teach by Owen Farmer, who guaranteed her wages. Other early teachers were Rev. Crow, Bell Patterson, M. H. Lewis, Tilla Parvin, Miss A. Cheese- man, Thomas Chase, Ella Lieurance, Saralı McAra, Mary Keeney, E. F. Palmer, Michael Davis and E. E. Snow.
The early settlers, although as poor as the poorest, could always be relied on to vote a tax for the support of their schools. As the needs of the people demanded, new sub-districts were organized on the independent plan, each sub-district building its own'schoolhouse. In this manner Nos. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 were organized and schoolhouses built. Some time in 1862 or 1863 the popula- tion having increased, another sub-district was organized, comprising the south half of sections 15, 16, all of 21, 22, 27, 28 and 33, and west half of 34. A. M. Wisner, Joseph Munger, B. W. Stilson, David McCune, G. W. Keirulff, Alex- ander Porter, Edwin Hughes and John Cassidy gave their promissory note to P. P. Raymond for $150, with interest at ten per cent, and with the money bought a house in Montezuma, which was taken to pieces and hauled to the ground on the southeast corner of section 21, where it was reconstructed. This schoolhouse was the meeting place for all township gatherings for several years. About the same time No. 2 was organized, No. 3 was set off. This district included all of sections 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 and the north half of sections 13, 14, 15, 16, 17 and 18. A tax was levied upon this land to build a schoolhouse which was located upon the southwest corner of section No. 3. From the records we find that H. B. Royce was the first director in the district and that in March, 1865, the house was finished and Miss Sarah McAra taught the spring and fall terms, receiving $120 therefor.
By petition of M. Daly in 1864, sub-district No. 4, composed of sections 19. 29. 30, 31, 32, and all of section 20 except the southeast quarter of said section, was set off. Miss Mary M. Keeney was engaged to teach and held the school in the Daly home until about 1868, when a house was built on the south- west corner of section 29, on the old L. W. Farmer homestead. By this time there had grown up quite a population in the extreme eastern part of sub-district No. 3, in what was known as the Alvin Jones neighborhood, and a demand for a more convenient school, than the one farther to the west, was keenly felt. Sub-district No. 3 had been divided and in 1869 a new building had been erected. Miss Clara Jordan taught the first term of school in the "Jones neighborhood." In June, 1881, this schoolhouse was destroyed by a storm and was replaced by a new one.
A new schoolhouse was built in No. 6, on the northeast corner of section 26. Miss Fanny Gould taught the first term. In 1871 sub-district No. 7 was burned and in the year 1872 the schoolhouse was built. Miss M. Fagan taught the first term.
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In 1873 there was set off in the northwest part of the township a new dis- trict and called No. 8, and at this same meeting the following motion was put and carried. "Motion that the sub-district meet on the first Monday in June at the residence of William Morrison, at the hour of ten o'clock to take into consideration the proper site for a schoolhouse in sub-district No. 8-carried." After the site was selected, the contract was let to Marcus Green for building the house. A house was built and Mrs. Beth Porter taught the summer term of 1874. the first in the new schoolhouse in sub-district No. 8.
The village of Ewart was being built up and with so small a house in the west part of the district it became impossible to accommodate all the pupils. September 17, 1883, a portion of district No. 7 was cut off, including the village of Ewart, from which sub-district No. 9 was formed.
This met with opposition in the township, but A. B. Woods rented a house and hired a teacher for the summer term. September 15, 1884, the board in regular session passed a motion to abolish sub-district No. 9. March 16, 1885, the electors were again asked for $800 to build a schoolhouse, but failed again. May 21, 1887, another vote was taken, which resulted in a tie. But at a called meeting, May 28, 1887, a motion to build a schoolhouse in Ewart carried. The tax to build the house in No. 9 was by the sub-district alone and amounted to soniething over $800. In a few years the building was destroyed by fire and a larger one succeeded it, in which two teachers were employed and the higher branches taught. There is now a move on foot to establish a graded school in this district.
Pleasant township from the first log cabin in sub-district No. I to the com- pletion of the system has in each of the nine sub-districts good and substantial school buildings.
Some of the pupils of these schools became teachers under Professor Parker, some took examinations under W. R. Lewis, others under John M. McConnell, S. J. Buck, G. W. Cutting, J. R. Duffield, W. R. Akers, A. L. Shattuck, Rose E. Southard, S. W. Heath, W. C. Rayburn, Viola H. Schell and P. A. McMillen, and most, if not all of them, have become the best of citizens.
WARREN TOWNSHIP.
THE FIRST SETTLEMENT IN THE EAST PART OF THE COUNTY.
We would carry the reader back to the fall of the year 1843, to Johnson county, Iowa. There we find at that time almost the western limit of settle- ments. The region west to Fort Des Moines was a wilderness unbroken save by the path of the wild animal, the Indian roads and the dragoon trail.
In 1834, on the outposts of western civilization in Johnson county, lived the man who was to open the way for settlements in east Poweshiek county. He was one of the sturdy and rugged pioneers of Iowa, had been a pioneer in Johnson county and other places, a blacksmith, a farmer of average ability and more than the average industry. After the harvest season was over and possibly when "the frost was on the pumpkin and the fodder in the shock," three of Johnson county's pioneers started out with two yoke of oxen. They were the
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advance guard of western progress and civilization, and so they turned their oxen westward. Trapping, hunting, fishing and bee hunting were the objects of their western course.
Scarce had the echo of the signal gun died away, which announced that the authority of the red man had ceased, when our three pioneers started west. One of these three was Henry Snook, the first settler of Warren township and of east Poweshiek county. With their ox teams they traveled west until they reached the grove of timber at the junction of Little Bear creek with Big Bear creek at Carnforth. This large grove of timber, with its broad area of rich prairie land surrounding it, at once attracted the attention of the men and they were impressed with the advantages it offered for a new settlement.
But only one of these three men was to figure prominently in county and township history. This was Henry Snook. His love for the solitude of the timber caused him to resolve to settle here. He was at that time past the prime of life, yet feeling the strength of early manhood he wanted to be the first in the new country just opened up to settlement.
What of Poweshiek county at that time? It was in the spring of 1843 that three log cabins were built in the south part of the county, in what is now Union township. Late in the fall of that year Richard B. Ogden, of Illinois, moved into one of those three cabins and occupied it during the winter, and the fact that Mr. Ogden occupied the cabin during the latter part of the year 1843 gives him the honor of being the first permanent settler in Poweshiek county.
But it is possibly true that before Mr. Ogden occupied the cabin Henry Snook had crossed over the east line of Poweshiek county and formed the intention of locating where he so soon after settled. Mr. Snook after staking out a claim along Bear creek, returned to his family in Johnson county, and early the next spring, 1844, was again in the vicinity of the grove, which from that time re- ceived the title, "Snook's Grove." During the summer of 1844 Mr. Snook broke forty acres of prairie, built a house and barn, and thus prepared a comfortable home in his new location. Returning home in the fall he arranged to move his family to their new home and early in the spring of 1845 became an actual settler in what is now Warren township.
Such is the beginning of settlements in the east part of Poweshiek county. Richard B. Ogden had settled in the south part of the county in the fall of 1843. In the spring of 1844, about the same time that Henry Snook started his breaking plow in the east part of the county, two brothers, Daniel and Joseph W. Satchell, came from Illinois and joined Mr. Ogden in the south part of the county. Also into that community about the same time came Richard and Felix Cheeseman from Maryland. Thus we see Poweshiek county as it was in 1844; in the east part of the county Henry Snook breaking prairie and build- ing a house; in the south part of the county Richard B. Ogden enlarging im- provements and the Satchell brothers and the Cheeseman brothers beginning theirs. Mr. Snook was wholly unconscious of the existence of his neighbors in the south part of the county. Contemporaneously the two settlements sprang up and extended until they joined each other in a few years. In the spring of 1845 Mr. Snook moved his family, consisting of a wife and eight children, to his new house on Bear creek.
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Henry Snook was born in Maryland in 1795. He was a son of John Snook, a Frenchman, who came to America in early life, and his mother was of a Ger- man family. Henry Snook married Susan Coon, who was born in Virginia, in 1800. She was a daughter of George Coon, a German, who came to America when a young man. The marriage of Henry Snook and Susan Cook took place in Virginia in 1821, and by this union eight children were born. George mar- ried Catherine Scholes; Mary married Isaac Knox ; Iva married Joseph Kitchens ; Lovina married James Manatt, this being the first marriage in Warren town- ship; Rebecca died in Warren township in 1852, at the age of eighteen years; Julia married John Bodifield; John married Ann Bodifield; Wesley married Mary C. Boden. Mr. Snook's children, except the last named, were all born in Ohio.
Mr. and Mrs. Snook moved from Virginia, where they were married, to Ohio, then to Indiana, thence back to Ohio, and in 1842 to Johnson county, Iowa. There they resided three years and then settled in Warren township. Mr. Snook was a farmer and a blacksmith. In the spring of 1845 he came with his family to this county, bringing with him three yoke of oxen, two horses, some hogs, and a good supply of household furniture. The first crop raised was forty acres of wheat. He settled here previous to the government land survey, having staked out a claim, which was located on section 23, and here they resided four years, when, in 1849, Mr. Snook sold the claim to William Scott for $600. November 4, 1848, he entered eighty acres in section 22, and eighty acres in section 27. After selling his first claim he settled in section 22. There he lived five years.
In 1854, owing to his health, Mr. Snook sought a southern climate and went to Texas. After a short stay, he returned to Warren township, and in 1856, accompanied by his son, George, he again went to Texas. He died there in 1860.
Edward Griswold, wife and three sons, Oscar F., Edward D. and Alphens D., were among the earliest settlers of Warren township. The head of the family first came west from Licking county, Ohio, in 1849, and with Mexican war land warrants secured a tract of land. He returned to Dixon, Illinois, where he had left his family and loading a heavy wagon, drawn by a yoke of oxen, made the trip overland from Illinois, his wife and children driving a horse attached to a buggy. They arrived at Henry Snook's cabin on the last day of March, 1851, where the family was domiciled several days. On April 1, with Henry Snook as a guide, Edward Griswold started for his claim, which was on section 27 and on the east line of section 28. There he unloaded all his goods and at once started the team for Talbott's mill, where he secured lumber to make a temporary shelter for Mrs. Griswold, the children and a few household goods. Shortly after he put up the first frame house built in Warren township.
In the winter of 1852 the first public religious services were held at the home of Edward Griswold, by Rev. Strange Brooks, a minister of the Methodist church.
THE FIRST CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH.
The Congregational church was organized in this township, May 30, 1875, by the following charter members: Jacob Korns, Mrs. Emma Korns, John S.
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Kiser, Mrs. Jennie Kiser, George Bisom, George Chapman, Mrs. Catherine C. Chapman, Clara B. Chapman, Alice S. Chapman, John W. Chapman, William Dougherty, Mrs. Ellen Dougherty, Talithacumi Dougherty, Mrs. Mary E. Lee, Mrs. Anna M. Lee, Virgil and Homer Lee, Abbie S. and Icie Lee, Martin V. Ster- ling, Rebecca Mitchell, Emma Mitchell, Jason N. Billings and Mrs. Lamira Johnson.
Meetings were first held in schoolhouses, which were conducted by Rev. S. N. Millard, an evangelist. In the fall of 1875, a substantial church building was erected on the northwest corner of Jacob Korns' farm, with a seating capac- ity of 300, costing $2,500. The edifice was dedicated in December, 1875, Rev. G. F. Magoun, president of Iowa College, delivering the principal address. The first pastor was the evangelist mentioned and among his earliest successors were Professor Buck, President Magoun, W. W. Woodworth and W. H. Romig, under whose administration the church debt was cancelled.
LITERARY SIDE OF VICTOR, "I. O. G. T."
There were other literary societies, or literary sides of societies, we suppose, but only one other has been reported. Dr. Manatt, before he received his doctor- ate, taught in Old Victor and "boarded around." Old Victor had no railroad. That drew the village northward.
"J. Irving," Manatt as familiars often call Dr. Manatt, says: "Old Victor was a church going community, and most of the people devout Methodists. The schoolhouse, of course, was the church, and it was also the lodge. Our secondary culture agency was one Mount Olive Lodge, I. O. G. T.,-if anybody now remem- bers what that string of letters signifies. Nominally a temperance society, it was actually a literary club. Under 'the good of the order' much spouting and debating went on and the 'Olive Branch' (if that was the title of the manuscript paper which I sometimes edited and never failed to write for) was an amuse- ment to all and a means of grace to not a few. I took as much pride in my 'Olive Branch' effusions as in my more recent Atlantic essays. Nor did I have the field to myself. There were two editresses, Frances Drummond and my favorite cousin Sarah Gwin (afterwards Mrs. Barker), who always got up excellent papers-though I think they never wrote the whole paper as I frequently did. The best thinker among us and most effective speaker was Levi Gaumer (of an old Pennsylvania Dutch family that I should have men- tioned before) ; and who died but recently on his farm southeast of Brooklyn. He was not what we should now call an educated man, but I wish the average college graduate possessed half his real culture-half his interest in the things of the mind. The last thing I heard of him was that he was reading my 'Mycenaean Age;' and I should value highly his impressions of it. Other leaders among us were David Canfield, a whimsical old bachelor chock-full of Shakespeare, and Gardner White, who had a certain histrionic gift-both now 'voces et preterea nihil.' The Lodge was the social rallying point for the young folks who did not go in for dancing and such rural diversions; and that with the intellectual stimulus was the chief 'good of the order' as far as my memory serves me."
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HARMONY MORAVIAN CHURCH.
This house of worship is located on the south line of Warren township, the parsonage standing just across the road from the church, in section six of Lin- coln township. The church organization was formed about 1868, and the fol- lowing is a list of the charter members, heads of families, at the time of the organization :
Mr. and Mrs. Nicholas Nussbaum, Mr. and Mrs. John Fry, Mr. and Mrs. Rudolph Krebbs, Mr. and Mrs. Nicholas Grider, Mr. and Mrs. Abraham Fry, Mr. and Mrs. Christian Brenimen, Mr. and Mrs. John Kraft, Mr. and Mrs. John Wenger, Mr. and Mrs. Frederic Kerston, and Mr. and Mrs. John F. Schull.
To begin the history of the Moravian church we quote from the pastor's diary, beginning March 19, 1869. Under this date the new pastor writes :
"L. P. Clewell having received and accepted a call to this lately organized congregation, as its future pastor, arrived here this afternoon, and the parson- age not being finished he took up his abode at Father Gruether's. Sister Clewell meanwhile remaining with her brother in Washington county. We received a hearty welcome from the brethren."
Pastor's diary, April 8, 1869: "It was with feelings of profound thank- fulness that we assisted in raising the church this afternoon.
August 1, 1869: "It becomes our painful duty to record a sad occurrence. This morning at the break of day the church (which was nearly completed ). was struck by lightning, and almost entirely demolished.
October 31, 1869: "This was a day to be held in lasting remembrance by the congregation of Harmony-the dedication of their new house of worship."
DEDICATION OF THE CHURCH AT HARMONY.
On Sunday, October 31, 1869, the Moravian church at Harmony was solemly dedicated.
The first service took place in the morning at 10:30. Besides the pastor, Rev. L. P. Clewell, there were present Rev. Benjamin Ricksecker, of Grace Hill, Rev. F. W. Knauss, of Moravia, and Rev. Dr. Busby, of the M. E. church, Brooklyn, Iowa. After singing by the congregation, Bro. Ricksecker proceeded to dedicate the building according to the custom of the Brethren church. Bro. Knauss then offered prayer after which Bro. Ricksecker preached a most ap- propriate sermon. Bro. Clewell followed in German.
In the afternoon Bro. Knauss presided in the opening service and Rev. Dr. Busby preached.
At the time the church was finished there was a debt of $1,600 upon the building. During the summer of 1870 Rev. Clewell went east to raise money to pay off this debt. The pastor was absent four months and collected $1,520.
During Rev. Clewell's pastorate he organized church congregations at Victor and North English, and in 1873 Rev. Henry Lehman, of Watertown, Wiscon- sin, located at Victor as assistant pastor.
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On August 17, 1873, Rev. Clewell after over four years' labor as pastor of the church departed from Harmony to assume the pastorate of the church at Graceham, Maryland.
The following list of pastors have served the church up to and including 1900: L. P. Clewell, four years ; J. I. Hillman, one year; F. F. Hagen, three years ; W. A. Hoet, two years; W. M. Romig, three years; David C. Smith, five years ; C. R. Kinsey, two years ; C. T. Oehler, three years; R. S. Wineland, one year ; William Allen, one year ; G. M. Schultz, two years, and John F. Kaiser.
THE FIRST LAND ENTRY,
The first piece of land entered from the United States Government in Poweshiek county, was in Warren township. In the original government sur- vey the township lines were first run. After the township lines were located the work of dividing into sections was soon accomplished. It was not until after this sectionizing was finished that land could be entered. The first entry of land in the county was made by John J. Talbott, August 27, 1847. He entered the east half of the northeast quarter of section 18, township 80, range 13. The land office was opened at Iowa City, and to this office all had to go who desired to enter land. The land was all sold at the uniform price of $1.25 per acre. No entry of land, except that of Mr. Talbott's, was made during the year 1847. For the year 1848, a large number of entries were made in Warren township. On March 20, 1848, the following were recorded :
Robert Manatt, one hundred and sixty acres in section 17.
William Manatt, eighty acres, section 18.
John Manatt, eighty acres, section 18. Robert Manatt, eighty acres, section 18.
E. R. Metcalf, one hundred and sixty acres, section 18.
John Manatt, eighty acres, section 19.
James Manatt, eighty acres, section 20.
Thomas Manatt, eighty acres, section 20.
V. G. Smith, eighty acres, section 27.
On November 4, 1848, the following entries are recorded : William Scott, eighty acres, section 22.
Henry Snook, one hundred and twenty acres, section 23.
William Scott, two hundred and forty acres, section 23.
William Scott, eighty acres, section 27.
Henry Snook, eighty acres, section 27.
November 8, 1848, one entry :
Silas B. Skuls, one hundred and sixty acres, section 20. November 9, 1848, two entries :
John Manatt, two hundred and forty acres, section 26. John Manatt, forty acres, section 23.
November 11, 1848, three entries :
Robert Manatt, Jr., eighty acres, section 20.
Jesse Gwinn, eighty acres, section 26.
WILLIAM MANATT
CHS
ALIEX AND
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Robert Manatt, Jr., eighty acres, section 21.
May 1, 1848, three entries :
Edward Griswold, one hundred and sixty acres, section 19.
Thomas Fry, one hundred and sixty acres, section 20.
Edward Griswold, forty acres, section 28.
July 6, 1849, one entry :
C. B. Coffin, forty acres, section 17.
November 1, 1849, one entry :
Edward Griswold, eighty acres, section 27.
These constitute the land entries up to the year 1850.
THE FIRST VOTING PLACE.
Beginning with the first settlement in the county in 1843, there was soon a necessity for a voting place. From the first settlement in the county, in 1843, to the organization of the county in 1848, all of what is now Poweshiek county was included in one voting place and known as "Poweshiek precinct of Mahaska county." The voting place for this Poweshiek precinct was at Union Prairie, five miles west of Montezuma. In the election of 1847 John J. Talbott and his sons went from the east part of the county to Union Prairie to vote.
TAX LEVY OF 1848.
The following is the first tax levy on the citizens of Warren township, after the county was organized in 1848:
William Manatt, valuation $789, tax $6.02; Edward Griswold, valuation $1,050, tax $7.85 ; Robert Manatt, valuation $1,132, tax $8.42; William Manatt, Sr., valuation $320, tax $2.74; James Manatt, valuation $320, tax $2.74; Thomas Manatt, valuation $320, tax $2.74; Robert Manatt, valuation $640, tax $5.48; John J. Talbott, valuation $1,138, tax $8.78; J. C. Talbott, valuation $250; tax $2.25: J. M. Talbott, valuation $175, tax $1.72; Samuel Fry, valuation $160, tax $1.37; William Scott, valuation $2,750, tax $19.79; John Manatt, valuation $1,487. tax $10.90; Henry Snook, valuation $1,280, tax $9.46; George Snook, valuation $93, tax $1.15; Jesse Gwinn, valuation $502, tax $4.01 ; V. G. Smith, valuation $600, tax $4.70.
Jacob Yeager came to Warren township in the fall of 1846. Here he began improvements by building a log house. His family consisted of a wife and one child. At the first election held in Bear Creek precinct, in April, 1848, he was elected one of the first county commissioners. The land he settled on was a claim he held, and made no entry from the government. When Robert Manatt came to the township in 1850, he bought Mr. Yeager's claim for $75, ten acres of land on the creek bottom being fenced. Mr. Yeager, as one of the first county commissioners, held a very responsible position in relation to the new county. He assisted in organizing the first townships, in locating the county seat, and in putting the machinery of the new county in operation. About 1850 Mr. Yeager left his home here and returned to Washington county, where he closed his life.
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