USA > Iowa > Sac County > History of Sac County, Iowa > Part 6
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MEMORIAL PARK, SAC CITY
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SAC COUNTY, IOWA.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE COUNTY COURT AND BOARD OF SUPERVISORS.
The record shows that on November 6, 1856, at the house of William Wine, in Sac county, Iowa, were united in marriage William Montgomery, of Sac county, aged thirty-five years, and Mary J. Wine, of Sac county, aged sixteen years. The ceremony was performed by Esquire Eugene Criss, (later known as Judge Criss), and certified to in the return by County Clerk Henry A. Evans, January 31. 1857.
Among the first members of the grand jury who received warrants for such service were the following: William Montgomery, $4.60, paid in war- rant No. 117; Joseph Williams, warrant No. 118 for $5.20; warrant No. 119 to Joel Austin for $4.20 and warrant No. 127 to F. M. Cory for $4.30.
December 7. 1857-"And now comes the citizens and tax-payers of Sac county, lowa, praying for an increase of salary of the following officers : County judge, clerk of the district court, and recorder and treasurer. It is asked in the petition that the salary be raised from fifty dollars to ninety-nine dollars per annum, and the petition was granted and the court hereby orders and decrees that the foregoing officers receive ninety-nine dollars per annum, commencing with August, 1857."
In 1859-It appears of record that among the first foreigners to receive their naturalization papers and be made citizens of the United States, was one Charles Oldfield, who was naturalized October 6, 1859, by W. J. Wagoner, county judge, and W. H. Hobbs, county clerk.
May, 1860-At this term of court, a petition was presented, with thirty-six signatures thereto, asking for a bounty of one cent on each black- bird killed within Sac county. The petition was granted and many birds were killed, and thus the former damage to newly planted corn was greatly depreciated by farmers. This came under the head of what was styled the "Blackbird Law" and the bill was offered to the Legislature by Hon. S. B. Rosenkraus, of Hamilton county, residing at Webster City, and for which reason he was forever afterwards styled the "Blackbird Representative from Hamilton."
In 1864 bounties of five dollars were offered on timber wolves and three dollars on wildcats and prairie wolves.
In January, 1865, on account of President Lincoln's call for three hun- dred thousand more soldiers, the board of county supervisors of Sac county offered the following bounty for volunteers: Five hundred dollars for one- (4)
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year men ; seven hundred dollars for two-year men and nine hundred dollars for three-year men.
On February 10, 1865, the county board ordered a well put down on the public square at Sac City.
About the same date it was ordered that the one-acre graveyard tracts at Sac City and Grant City both be enclosed within a good fence.
In February, 1866, R. Ellis, of Grant City, was appointed superintendent of public schools for Sac county.
In 1873 a reward of five hundred dollars was offered by the county for the discovery of a vein of coal not less than two feet in thickness within the limits of Sac county. It was not discovered.
On July 1, 1889, the county refunding bonds were sold to Ira C. Calef, of Washington, Vermont, at a premium of six hundred dollars. These bonds drew interest at the rate of five per cent. per annum.
In August, 1892, the minute book shows that the supervisors met at the poor farm to invoice the stock and holdings of the place and to settle with the contractors for erecting the poor house, built by B. F. Shultz.
In May, 1899, the supervisors offered the following bounty to any per- son or corporation who might discover coal within the limits of the county : "For a vein of coal two feet thick, $500; for a vein three feet thick, $1,000; for a vein four or over feet thick, $1,500." This offer was to last for a period of three years. It appears that nature had not stored away this material in the county, and none has ever been discovered in paying quantities.
In the matter of refunding bonds of Sac county, the minutes for June, 1899, state that twenty-seven thousand dollars worth of refunding bonds were floated at three and a half per cent. interest per annum. This was the amount of the county's indebtedness at that date.
On April 3, 1900, the board of supervisors contracted with C. W. Wel- man to serve the county as a tax ferret, to investigate and if possible collect unpaid taxes due the county. He was to receive the sum of fifty per cent. as collection fees for such work. In 1903 this was reduced to fifteen per cent.
COURT HOUSE IIISTORY.
Sac county's first court house ( the present is the third building) was erected as a result of an election held July 7, 1860, when bonds to the amount of ten thousand dollars were voted. The same drew ten per cent. per annum. The following is the record concerning the election above named :
A petition bearing date of June 5, 1860, reads as follows: "Whereas,
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a petition signed by the legal voters of Sac county, Iowa, has been presented to me asking that measures be taken for the erection of a courthouse in Sac county, and whereas it being prescribed by law that in all such matters the question may be submitted to the people of the county. Now. therefore, be it known that I, Eugene Criss, county judge of said Sac county, in com- pliance with the law made and provided. do hereby give notice to the legal voters of said county that the question will be submitted to them on the 7th day of July. A. D. 1860, at which time there will be an election held in the several precincts of said county, at the usual places and hours for holding elections in said county : whether or not a courthouse shall be erected in said county to cost $10,000, in bonds bearing ten per cent. per annum. The inter- est due and $10,000 of the principal to be paid annually until the debt is paid and whether a tax shall be levied annually, to liquidate the demands as they become due."
"And I do further declare the manner of voting shall be as follows: Upon each ballot shall be written or printed, 'For the erection of a court- house,' or 'Against the erection of a courthouse.' 'For the levy of a tax,' or 'Against the levy of a tax.' And I do further declare that if a majority of the votes are cast affirmatively that such votes shall be deemed to be in favor of the proposition above submitted, and if a majority of the votes cast are in the negative, it shall be a rejection of the above proposition. The votes are to be returned by the judges of the different precincts to this court to be then canvassed according to law.
"Given under my hand with the seal of the county affixed, at Sac City, Iowa, this fifth day of June, 1859 A. D.
"E. CRISS, County Judge."
The legal returns of this election was made by Judge E. Criss, July 7. 1860, and the result was as follows: Total number of votes cast, forty-one. For both propositions, twenty-three votes; against both propositions, eighteen votes. W. H. Hobbs, county clerk, certified to the above as being true.
The contract for building the court house was awarded to W. N. Meservey, of Fort Dodge, for ten thousand dollars. He took the county bonds that had been voted, the same bearing date September 2, 1860, running for ten years. The building contract was signed by Mr. Meservey and County Judge Eugene Criss, attested by County Clerk William H. Hobbs. The contract read, in part, as follows :
"That it shall be built on the public square in the original town of Sac City. The front of said court house to face south and to be built on a line
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corresponding with the north line of Main street, provided said street runs to the public square on the same variation of the needle as said street is estab- lished. The center of said court house to be built on a line corresponding to the center of State street."
Signed the 31st day of December, 1860.
The contract for this court house included these words :
"To be thirty-four by forty-six feet outside to outside, to be built of brick ; foundation walls to be six feet high-two feet under the ground and four feet above ground, to the first floor. The first story walls to be sixteen inches thick and nine feet between floor and ceiling. The second story walls to be one foot thick and thirteen feet between floor and ceilings. The first story is to be finished off in four rooms for offices, with a hall running through said building from end to end and six feet wide. At back end of said hall there is to be two flights of stairs, one on each side to ascend to the court room.
"The second story is to be finished for a court room, with two jury rooms, one on each side of the stairway leading to the court room. The court room is to be furnished with judge's stand, bar, jury rooms, etc., at one end and to be seated with black walnut seats to be dressed and varnished. All the outside brick work of said building to be built of good, hard burned brick and the inside walls to be of such brick as are suitable for that purpose. The building is to have eight windows on each side-four on the first story and four on the second story. There are to be five windows on each end-two below and three above-all to be of twelve lights of glass, said glass to be twelve by eighteen inches each.
"The roof is to be a self-supporting roof and covered with good shingles laid four inches to the weather. The brick work is to be painted and penciled. The floors are all to be of good oak or pine, seasoned, dressed and matched. The wood work on the entire building is to be painted with three good coats of white lead and oil, save the varnished work. The walls are to be plastered by a three-coat work. The cupola is to be a good sized one of seasoned lumber, to be patterned after and as good as the one at Denison, Crawford county, Iowa.
"Said building is to be erected, enclosed and the lower story plastered by December 1, 1861, and the upper rooms to be finished as to admit of hokling court in them by April 1, following, and the whole to be completed by August 1, 1862."
This court house served well its purpose until the erection of the second
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court house of the county, which was erected under the following circum- stances, as seen by the county records :
In 1873 it appears that the county was obliged to lease rooms of private individuals for the accommodation of the county clerk and recorder. The bids for the erection of the second court house were let March 13, 1873. Bonds had been issued according to the vote of the people and sold to the amount of $30,000 to Jackson Orr, at ninety-three per cent. of their face value. The contract was awarded to O. J. King at $26,800, and subsequently there were changes and extras as follows: Cement foundation, $1,500; four vaults, $400; additional painting, $68: two base-burner stoves, $82. This building was first used by the county January 1, 1874, and the square was ordered fenced, the contract being let to Orson Lee the same year. The old court house building was ordered sold, as well as the county safe.
This building is described in a work published at that day as follows : "The new court house is eighty-four by fifty-six feet, solidly and handsomely built of brick, with limestone foundations, and is one of the best county build- ings in the Northwest. It cost thirty thousand dollars. The first floor is fitted up for the county officers, with vaults for the county records. The upper story has the court room, jury rooms, etc. With the court room fitted up for a term of court there are about four hundred sittings, but in use as a hall for lectures or political meetings, there is ample room for six hundred people. One room in the basement is used for a jail. A cage of boiler iron, con- taining two cells, fills about half the room and makes the jail a pretty secure one."
TILE PRESENT COURT HOUSE.
By 1888 Sac county people had about decided to issue bonds and clear an overhanging debt, thus saving interest and making the future generation do their share towards caring for such legitimate obligations. Just when this was about to be brought about the court house then in use was burned ( October 3, 1888, ) and this stopped further talk of refunding. A new court house must of necessity be quickly provided for the safety of the public records of the county. It was thought the fire was caused by an incendiary, and a reward of two hundred dollars was offered for the arrest and turning over to the county authorities of one Carlson, supposed to be the party who fired the building. The record shows: "Whereas, H. A. Hutchinson, a constable of Lake City, did capture and return him to Sac City, therefore, be it resolved, that we, the board of supervisors, consider him entitled to the
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reward and instruct the county auditor to issue him a warrant for the amount of two hundred dollars."
Carlson had been incarcerated in the jail and set fire to it, burning the court house. He was tried and sentenced to twelve years in the penitentiary. He was a Swede farm hand, aged twenty-three years and worked on the Cook ranch. The county clerk's books were the worst burned. The treas- urer and recorder got off better, and the sheriff's books and papers were all destroyed. Also the county law library was lost. Carlson was tried before Judge Macomber.
Concerning the present court house structure and its construction, the county records say :
"May 2, 1889-Order No. 1. Resolved, that county court house for the use of Sac county, Iowa, be at once erected on the site of the one recently burned in said county and on the plat of land known as the public square in the town of Sac City, at a cost of not to exceed fifteen thousand dollars." All three county supervisors voted for this, and all subsequent measures relative to this building. The board then consisted of the following citizens : H. H. Fitch, C. H. Babcock and C. W. Marcy.
"Order No. 2-Resolved, that the sum of fifteen thousand dollars of the money received from the insurance companies, as an indemnity for the loss of the former court house, in said county, recently destroyed by fire, be ap- propriated to erect a new court house."
"Order No. 3-Resolved, that the plans and specifications furnished to Sac county by J. M. Russell for a court house building be adopted, and the new court house built in accordance with said plans and specifications, as now filed in the office of the auditor of Sac county."
"Order No. 4-Resolved, that the bid of fifteen thousand dollars for the erection of a court house building to be erected in Sac county, Iowa, accord- ing to plans and specifications furnished said county by J. M. Russell, made by Asa Platt, D. E. Hallett. D. C. Early, James N. Miller, A. D. Peck, Myron Childs, J. E. Robbins, John M. Fox and W. C. Shull, be accepted. and that the contract and bond tendered by them for the completion of the work by January 1, 1890, be accepted." A tower surmounted the building. but was taken down in 1900. In July, 1911, a new roof of slate was placed on the entire roof and other improvements made, including the repainting of the inside. The corner stone, laid by the Masonic fraternity, bears this inscription : "Laid by the Grand Lodge of Iowa, A. F. & A. M., July 13, A. D. 1889, A. L. 5889."
Just at this time, when the county was without a court house, the citizens
SAC COUNTY, IOWA.
in the south part of Sac county, especially in and near the town of Wall Lake, sought to have the county seat removed and a new court house erected at Wall Lake. A great fight was put up and remonstrances and petitions galore were circulated here and there over the county. The citizens at Sac City got together and formed a home company and pledged themselves to duplicate the new court house then just finished at Storm Lake, for the con- sideration of the fifteen thousand dollars insurance due the county, they mak- ing up the balance toward building a thirty-thousand-dollar structure, which in the end was accomplished. This company of Sac City citizens deposited the collateral with the county auditor, who issued them the following certifi- cate :
"This is to certify that there has been deposited with the auditor of Sac county, for the use of said county, a contract signed by A. Platt, D. E. Hal- lett. D. Carr Early, A. D. Peck, James N. Miller, J. E. Robbins, Myron Childs, John M. Fox and W. C. Shull, agreeing to build on the court house square in_Sac City, on a new foundation, a court house according to the plans and specifications to be furnished by J. M. Russell, of Storm Lake, said court house being estimated to cost thirty thousand dollars. to be built under the direction of said architect and the board of supervisors. to be a duplicate of the one recently erected in Buena Vista county; to furnish the same with steam heating apparatus and to deliver said court house, so built and furnished to the county for the sum of fifteen thousand dollars. Said contract is accompanied by a bond of sixty thousand dollars, signed by the above parties as principals. Said contract is subject to acceptance by the county at any time prior to January 1, 1891, and cannot be withdrawn by said contractors before that date.
"(Signed) by C. W. MARCY, for the Board of Supervisors.
"Attest : C. C. CLEVELAND, County Anditor.
"January 26, 1889.
THE COUNTY JAIL.
The first real jail for Sac county was in the basement of the court house, which was erected in 1874. but the records show that in September, 1893, the supervisors made the following entry in their official proceedings : "Whereas, Sac county, Iowa, being without a jail, is compelled to send prisoners and persons detained by law, to other counties for imprisonment and detention, etc., etc., hence it is deemed expedient by the board of super- visors of Sac county, in the management of the business of said county, to
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erect a jail and, therefore, be it resolved by the board of supervisors, in regular session this 13th day of June, 1893, that there be submitted to the qualified electors of said Sac county, at the next general election, the follow- ing question : 'Shall the board of county supervisors of this county erect a jail, the cost not to exceed ten thousand dollars.'
"C. H. BABCOCK, Chairman of the Board." (Signed)
In September, 1893, the following was entered on the board's minute book: "Resolved by the board of supervisors of Sac county, Iowa, that said county will cause to be erected in the court house square at Sac City a jail having the necessary cells, cages and rooms, at a cost not to exceed ten thousand dollars, and that said county raise the said amount by levying a tax on the taxable property of the county in sums as follows: In the year 1893, two and one-half mills on the dollar, which tax shall be levied and col- lected by law as other taxes in the county. The direction of said jail shall be under the supervision of the board of county supervisors of said county, but these provisions shall not be binding unless ratified by a majority of the legal voters of said county voting for or against the proposition, submitting the same at the general election to be held in November. 1893, at which election it is ordered that the propositions herein contained shall be sub- mitted to them, etc." This jail was to be completed in 1894. The election named was held, but the measure was lost by a majority of over three hundred.
Then the matter was up to the board to provide a safe jail, so in June, 1894, a contract was awarded to the Pauly Jail Building Company, of St. Louis, at four thousand two hundred and thirty-six dollars. It is situated on the northwest corner of the court house square and stands on a good foundation four feet in the earth. It is a red brick structure and now looks the worse for wear. It was so located that a jailer's house could be added thereto, but none has ever been erected there. A jail office is found at the south end of the building. The jail has two of the best steel-plate cells, with a steel corridor for the use of prisoners. It is really, today, a safe, but ugly looking jail for so rich a county as Sac!
It is, however, probably an improvement over the old jail that was under the court house, from which several prisoners made their escape, including two horse thieves, as noted in the following as appearing in the Sac Sun of November, 1878: "The jail breakers, in escaping, first set fire to the ceiling of the jail and burned a hole up through the floor into the treasurer's office. They, no doubt, intended to make a hole through, when they discovered the
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ventilating pipe could be pulled apart and thus give them an easier access to the outside and to final freedom. It was lucky that they did not get the whole court house on fire. We suggest to the board of supervisors that it is hardly worth while to spend more money on the jail for the purpose of keeping prisoners from other counties. We have furnished Beuna Vista and Ida counties with rooms, food and fuel and attendance long enough. Sac county has had few criminals confined there, compared with other counties. The jail should not be under the court house, but as it is, it would be safer and cheaper to hire a watchman than to expend money to make this one saw and file proof."
THIE COUNTY FARM.
The care which any people display towards the unfortunate poor within their midst is an almost sure index of what class of citizens they are. From the earliest date, the taxpayers in Sac county have sought to provide for and. as far as possible, relieve the distress and absolute needs of their poorer classes. While the authorities have never been in the habit of caring for the lazy and shiftless classes, they have ever desired that those who had not the means with which to provide for themselves should not want and suffer. Up to 1891 the pauper element, and those who needed some aid, were cared for in and by the different townships of the county, but during the month of December, that year, the supervisors purchased, at thirty-five dollars per acre, a quarter section of land in section 14 of Boyer Valley civil township, for the purpose of establishing a county farm, which has since been maintained. In 1905 the proceedings of the county supervisors included an invoice of the stock, implements, supplies and products of this county farm, and it was shown that the total value of the farm and its contents and belongings amounted to about $17.035. Of this amount, the land was placed at $12,800. That year the receipts of the farm amounted to $3.045. The cost of keeping the eight paupers that year amounted to $906.40.
In the year 1912 the county auditor's report shows the following con- cerning the county farm, usually styled the "Poor Farm." Valuation, $23,200; produce raised, $1,617; implements owned, $983; furniture, $452; live stock and poultry, $3,065; pantry stores, $120; total, $30,351. For the same year the expenditures were : Salaries and labor, $1, 135.50; subsistence, $1,461.20; medical expenses, $45.58; fuel and light, $568.18; improvements and repairs, $428.74; feed, $123.95; feed bought, $518.21 ; miscellaneous, $227.46; total expenses, $4,508.82. Cost of keeping the inmates for 1911, $972.79.
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Of recent years the farm has not been a very profitable investment to the county. Not all of the poor are cared for there, as much aid is given outside, while the inmates and the stock of the place has not been fully up to former standards, but at this date ( 1914) efforts are being made to stock up and run the farm on a better basis.
In 1890 a resolution was passed by the county board of supervisors to this effect : "Whereas, the American Educational Association proposes to take the homeless children coming under the charge of the county, that are of a sound mind and of good body, and place them in suitable homes and become responsible for their future maintenance and support, upon the con- dition that the said county pay to said association the sum of twenty-five dollars for each child so taken charge of." This proposition was accepted.
COUNTY FINANCES.
Sac county, like all fowa counties, has had its own financial history. It has, like its individual members, had its years of despondency and gloom and accompanying debts hanging over its treasury like a pall, but, with the pass- ing of those earlier and more trying years, came the spell of prosperity that makes glad every taxpayer's heart. At one time more than thirty-five thousand dollars would not fully cover the indebtedness of this county. Bridges, roads, ditches, school houses and three court houses all had to come in for their full share of improvement, before the county could boast, as she does today, of her one-hundred-and-fifty and two-hundred-dollar land for agricultural purposes.
During the never-to-be-forgotten Civil war days, soldiers' bounties, wild animal bounties, even "blackbird bounties," had to be cared for. But the good citizen kept steadily pressing onward, shouting with the songster. "Deliverance will come!" There was a period in this county when county warrants were not at par by any means, and there were men who took ad- vantage (possibly legally) of such conditions and profited thereby to the detriment of taxpayers and warrant holders. Then there came another period, when men served on the board of supervisors, and were elected to county official positions, who stood squarely for the right, and under their administration a "clean-up" process was undertaken, which worked well for all concerned in the upbuilding and prosperity of the "Kingdom of Sac." There has never been a real defalcation in the county's official record.
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