USA > Iowa > Scott County > History of Scott County, Iowa > Part 44
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Resolved, That a committee of three members be appointed by the Chair to draft a constitution and by-laws to be submitted for adoption at the next meeting.
Resolved, That a committee of five members be appointed to make arrangements for a festival, to be held in this city on the 22d day of February, 1858.
Resolved, That tickets of invitation be sent to all " Pioneer Set- tlers " who have since become non-residents of this county.
Several names were suggested by which the society was to be known, and a considerable discussion ensued. The name by which it is now known was finally adopted.
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HISTORY OF SCOTT COUNTY.
The Chair appointed Judge Weston, John F. Dillon, and C. C. Alvord. Committee on Constitution and By-Laws; and appointed Willard Barrows, A. H. Owens, James McIntosh. Geo. L. Daven- port and D. C. Eldridge, a Committee on Festival. .
On motion of John F. Dillon, it was voted that all those settlers whose wives eame here prior to Dee. 31, 1840, be admitted to the festival.
The association then proceeded to elect its first officers, which resulted in the choice of the following named gentlemen: Antoine Le Claire, President; Ebenezer Cook, Duncan C. Eldridge, Willard Barrows, John Owens, Robert Christie, William Cook, Jabez A. Birchard, Adrian H. Davenport, Alexander Brownlee, Leroy Dodge, Vice-Presidents; Dr. E. S. Barrows, Corresponding Sec- retary; Jolin L. Coffin, Recording Secretary; Hon. George B. Sar- gent. Treasurer.
On motion of H. L. Fenley, that a committee be appointed to ascertain the names of pioneer settlers prior to Dec. 31, 1840, who have since died or removed, the Chair appointed H. L. Fin- ley, Wm. McCammon and J. K. James said committee.
On motion of Judge Weston it was voted that the proceedings of this meeting be published in the daily and weekly papers of this city.
Voted to adjourn until next Saturday evening at same place at 7 o'clock.
At the second meeting of "The Pioneer Settlers' Association of Scott County " held pursuant to adjournment in Le Claire Hall, on Saturday evening, dan. 30, 1858, Antoine Le Claire, President, in the chair.
The president appointed Judge Charles Weston. Willard Bar- rows, Hon. John P. Cook, Jabez A. Birchard and Dr. E. S. Bar- rows the Executive Committee for the ensuing year.
The report of the Committee on Constitution was then presented and adopted.
CONSTITUTION.
WHEREAS, It was our destiny to be the pioneers in the settle- ment of this fair and fertile section of our State; and, whereas, our lives have been bounteously lengthened out through the honorable . confliet of the past to enjoy the prosperity of the present; and. whereas, the number of pioneers is rapidly decreasing, and must soon be removed by death from the earthly scene of their strug-
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HISTORY OF SCOTT COUNTY.
gles and triumphs; and whereas we feel a just pride in gathering and preserving the memorials of a settlement that has resulted in a growth and development so great; and feeling that the recollec - tions of the past, the felicity of the present, and hopes of the future link us together as a brotherhood, we do now order and establish this :
ARTICLE I. This association shall be called The Pioneer Set- tlers' Association of Scott County.
ARTICLE II. The officers shall be a president, ten vice-presi- dents, recording secretary, corresponding secretary and treasurer.
ARTICLE III .- Sec. 1. The president shall preside at the meetings of the association, preserve order therein, and in case of an equal division upon any question, give the casting vote. He shall call special meetings of the association when such inay be necessary, and also when requested to do so by any five members of the association.
See. 2. In case of the absence of the president or his ina- bility to aet, the senior vice-president shall perform his duties.
Sec. 3. The recording secretary of the association shall keep a true record of all its proceedings, and shall keep a register, called the " Pioneer's Register," and perform such other duties as may from time to time be assigned him.
See. 4. The corresponding secretary shall receive, read to the association and answer all communications addressed to it, and shall also perform such other duties as may from time to time be assigned lim.
See. 5. The treasurer shall have charge of the finances of the association and colleet and disburse all moneys, and render an account at the expiration of his term of office, and hand over all money. books and papers to his successor.
See. G. The present officers shall hold their respective offices until the meeting of the association next preceding the annual festival, which meeting shall be held each year'on the first Monday of February. All officers shall be elected annually at that meet- ing by ballot, or in such other manner as the association may direet.
ARTICLE IV .- Sec. 1. After each annual election the presi- dent shall appoint an executive committee, consisting of five members, whose duty it shall be to provide for the annual festival, and this committee shall take charge of and regulate all matters pertaining thereto.
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HISTORY OF SCOTT COUNTY.
Sec. 2. The president at the same time shall appoint a committee of three members whose duty it shall be to select a suitable person to deliver the address before the association on the day of the next succeeding annual festival.
ARTICLE V .- Sec. 1. All male persons who are residents of Scott County, and who were residents of said county on or before the 31st day of December, A. D. 1840, who married wives, who were residents as above, and who are of good moral character, are eligible to membership.
Sec. 2. Names of persons proposed tor admission shall be handed in in writing, and be annonneed to the association, where- upon the president shall appoint a committee of three members to examine into the qualifications of the applicant, which committee shall report at the same meeting if practicable. If such report be favorable the association shall vote upon the question of his ad- mission and the applicant shall be rejected if one-third of the mem - bers present shall vote against him.
Sec. 3. Every member shall sign this constitution and pay to the treasurer one dollar at the time of doing so, and one dollar annually thereafter, and such assessment as may from time to time be levied upon them by the association.
Sec. 4. All persons who were residents of Scott Connty on or before the 31st of December, A. D. 1840, and who have since be- come non-residents as well as pioneer settlers in other parts of the State, and in any other States and Territories, may be elected hon- orary members in the same manner above provided for the election ot members.
ARTICLE VI .- See. 1. Any member may be expelled for sneh cause as two-thirds of the members present may deem sufficient.
ARTICLE VII .- See. 1. There shall be an annual festival of this society to be held in the city of Davenport on the 22d ot Feb. ruary each year during the continnanee of this society; if the day above fixed shall fall on Sunday in any year, the festival shall oeenr on the Saturday preceding or Monday succeeding, as the Execu . tive Committee shall determine.
Sec. 2. Every member and honorary member and the wives of such, and the widows of pioneer settlers, are entitled to be pres- ent at the festival, and no other persons are so entitled unless by vote of the society. Any member may bring a daughter or other female relative in lieu of his wife.
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HISTORY OF SCOTT COUNTY.
Sec. 3. There shall be an annual public address before the association on the day of the festival. to be delivered by such per- son as may be selected by a committee of three to be appointed for the purpose.
ARTICLE VIII .- Sec. 1. The corresponding secretary shall ad- dress kindred societies in this and the adjoining States by letter, giving the particulars of the proceedings of the annual festival and soliciting replies of the same nature to be read at the next festival of the association.
Sec. 2. Whenever practicable the members of this society shall attend in a body tlie funeral of any deceased member, and as a token of respect shall wear the usual badge of mourning.
Sect. 3. The recording secretary shall provide a book, to be known as the " Pioncer Register, " in which shall be registered the name, age, place of nativity, occupation, date of settlement here, and date and place of death of each member when such death shall occur; and also register the same facts as far as may be, in regard to such pioneer settlers as have deceased or become non-residents. The recording secretary shall ascertain from members the above facts as respects themselves at the time of the signing of the con- stitution.
Sec. 4. This constitution shall not be amended except by an affirmative vote of three-fourths of all the members present of the association, and, unless such proposition for amendment shall have been before the society in writing at least at one meeting previous to any action upon it by the association.
Scc. 5. It shall be the duty of every member of the associ- ation to furnish within six months from the time of his admission a brief memoir of his life, which shall embrace date and place of birth, incidents of youth, reasons and motives for emigrating to this State, jottings down of his personal experience in pioneer and Western life, and such other matters and recollections pertinent to the objects of this association as he may deem proper to communi- cate. which memoir shall be delivered to the recording secretary, and by him be carefully filed and preserved as the property of the association.
SPECIAL MEETING.
At a special meeting of the association on Wednesday evening, Feb. 17, 1858, the meeting was called to order by Robert Christie, one of the vice-presidents.
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HISTORY OF SCOTT COUNTY.
The committee appointed to procure the presidential cane made the following report :
This committee who were instructed to procure a " cane " as an ensignia of office of the president of the association, beg leave to report, that they have made the necessary arrangements therefor, that it will be in readiness for presentation at the festival on the 22d inst .; and would further say that immediately after their ap- pointment they received the following communication :
GENTLEMEN :- We observed in the proceedings of the " Pioneer Settlers' Association of Scott County," a resolution providing for the purchase of a cane, with suitable inscriptions, as an ensignia of office of the president so long as the association shall exist.
The undersigned, sons of Ira Cook, deceased (who was one of the first settlers in the county, having emigrated here in the year 1835), desire to connect bis memory with this association, and for that purpose they respectfully request that they may be permitted to furnish the money for the purchase of the cane, and that the faet may be entered upon the records of the association.
It is our desire that the cane be gotten up in the same manner, and the inscriptions thereon be the same as though the present applica- tion were not made.
We are respectfully your obedient servants.
WILLIAM L. COOK, EBENEZER COOK, JOHN P. COOK, IRA COOK.
To WILLARD BARROWS and others of committee.
The committee recommended in relation thereto the adoption of a resolution accepting the offer, which was unanimously accepted.
FIRST ANNUAL FESTIVAL.
The association met at the Burtis House, Monday evening, Feb. 22, 1858, forming with the invited guests a company of nearly 800 persons. Antoine Le Claire, President, in the chair. John E. Dillon, in behalf of the association, arose and presented the cane to the president in the following appropriate speech :
MR. PRESIDENT :- I am charged with the grateful duty of pre- senting you with this insignia of your office. You, who were the first to pioneer the way to this lovely spot, lovelier and rieher than the land " flowing with milk and honey;" you, who have used the
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HISTORY OF SCOTT COUNTY.
wealth it has been your good fortune to acquire, in constant en- deavors to promote the growth and advance the interests of our city and county; you, who are confessed first in the esteem of all old pioneers, have been unanimously elected our first president. Happy are we that your life has been boun teously lengthened out to behold this night. Happy that we are able to bestow upon you this testimonial of our regard.
What endeared recollections and thronging visions this occasion must call up and inspire! Who would not fondly " give the hope of years " to enjoy the satisfaction and delight that inust to-night be yours ? A thousand incidents strike the electrie chain of memory, and in the light of its corruscations the past comes back again, and glows vividly before you. How pleasant, at times, to retouch memories that are being moss-grown, to retint the fast fad- ing pictures of life.
The changes you have seen, how astonishing! The like whereof will be sought for in vain, in the realities of history, and in the dream of poetry. Since the world began, it has never in any age or country exhibited a growth so solid, and a development so amazing, as that which you yourself have witnessed. So rapid and thorough is the progress of improvement, that the memorials ot our early settlement are fast passing away. Scarcely a trace or vestige of the primitive log cabin remains; and the inquiry might be pertinently raised, not "Have we a Bourbon!" but "Have we a log. cabin among us? These have been succeeded by comfortable and elegant dwellings-but why specify changes when specifica- tions were endless? All, all is changed, save the unchanging sky above ns, and the changeless river that rolls by us; magnificent river!
"Time writes no wrinkles on thine azure brow," and without avonching its geological accuracy let me add-
Such as creation's dawn beheld thou beholdest now. How often in the quiet watches of the night when I have beheld the glory of the one, reflected in and increased by that of the other, lias my heart melted with gratitude, that aspiring man could not reach the heavens to cover them with signs and placards, or mar the beauty of earth's glorious water-courses. Especially have you observed, sir, with intense interest, the growth of our fair and proud young city.
This interest has not been the indifferent interest of a mere spec- tator, but with you it has partaken of a warmer nature; it has
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HISTORY OF SCOTT COUNTY.
claimed kindred with a paternal solicitude, and withont demur has had its claim allowed.
Our feeble infancy, our slow growth, our precarious situation, our gloomy prospects, awakened for awhile the most tender concern and anxious forebodings. These dark days, happily, have passed away, we trust. to return no more; and Davenport to-day in size and beauty stands peerless among rivals-the "Queen City " of Iowa. Well may we rejoice to-night with you in the triumphs of a faith in our destiny, that suffered all things, endured all things, hoped all things even unto the end. But these exultant feelings, and grateful reflections come to us mingled and tinged and soft- ened and subdued with those of a sadder nature. While we have been busy, time and death have not been idle.
But I may not further indulge in reflections that crowd for utter- ance, save to say. that this cane, made from a stick of native growth. and skillfully fashioned by the hand of a member of our association, is the distinctive, and we think fitting and appropri- ate, badge of your office. As such, it is intended to be preserved with jealous care, and to be transmitted successively from presi- dent to president, until our society shall be no more!
On it will be found engraved your own name, the name of our association, and the date of its organization. It affords me un- feigned pleasure, sir, in behalf of the " Pioneer Settlers' Associa- tion of Scott County," to present this ensign of office and honor to you, the first president, wondering who, of those present, shall enjoy the enviable, yet melancholly, distinction of being the last.
This effort was highly applauded, after which the president, through E. Cook, Esq., responded as follows:
MR. DILLON :- I receive this cane, the ensignia of my office, as president of the " Pioneer Settlers' Association of Scott County." with great pleasure, not alone because I shall take pride in its ex- hibition, not alone because of its beautiful and skillfull workman- ship, not alone for the very flattering remarks attendant upon its presentation, either of which causes would justify the feeling, but chiefly because it is and is intended by the association as a tangi- ble memento of the past, and of the early history of the settlement of our county, to be handed down, I trust, to future generations, to be preserved for all time; to be exhibited to thousands upon thousands of our descendants yet unborn, as having been designed, made, and handled by their forefathers, the first settlers of Scott County.
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HISTORY OF SCOTT COUNTY.
With this canc shall go down, I trust, the records of our as- sociation, and if the members are faithful, and furnish, as required by the constitution, the leading incidents of their lives connected with their settlement and habitation in this county, to be placed upon the records, how interesting to those who come after us will be this eane, as a tangible memorial of their forefathers, long since crumbled into the dust from which they came, and whose history, to a greater or less extent, is written in the records before them.
Methinks, as I look into the far, far future, I see within the limits of our county a noble building, dedicated to some noble public objeets, and there, in some suitable and proper place, are deposited the records and testimonials of this association. Within its walls is a living crowd, pressing forward eager to see and pursue the record, to see and touch the memorials handed down with it, and I hear them say, " These were sent down to us from our forefathers; here is written a history of the first settlement of this beautiful land, of the trials and hardships endured, and of the triumphs won by them. Let them be preserved forever."
Ladies and gentlemen, members of this association, let me charge upon you that you impress upon your children, and chil- drens' children, that they hold it as a sacred duty, when we shall all have passed away from earth, to preserve, intact, the records and memorials of our association, and to transmit them unim- paired to future generations.
You have been pleased, sir, to allnde in very flattering terms to me, personally. If I have, in the course of a long life spent here, entitled myself to and won the respect of my fellow men, partieu- larly the old settlers of the county, I am amply repaid for any and all 'exertions I may have been able to make to aid in advane- ing the interests and prosperity of our beloved eity and county.
If I have acquired wealth, it is to the settlement of the country that I am indebted for it; for of what value would have been the land on which this eity and the city of Le Claire is built, except from the fact that you, gentlemen of this association, settled upon and improved the lands of the county, and thereby enabled us to build up a city? So that, gentlemen, we see that we are depend- ent, to a greater or less extent, upon one another, and when we so act as to confer a benefit upon the community, we really are bene- fitting ourselves.
The Hon. John P. Cook, Orator of the Day, delivered the first Annual address, at the close of which the association joined in singing " Auld Lang Syne." The following is the address :
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HISTORY OF SCOTT COUNTY.
MR. PRESIDENT, AND LADIES AND GENTLEMEN : Through the politeness of the committee appointed to arrange for this occasion, it has fallen to my lot to address your association, on this the first festival of the pioneers of Scott County. The interest manifested in this organization, this large assembly, and the familiar nod of recognition passing from one to another, attest the perfeet happiness we all feel in this union, made genial by the hardships of the past, the joy of the present. and hopes for the future. In the West such a society is neither new nor uncommon. The first settlers of Illinois, Wisconsin, and of many of the older counties in our own beautiful Iowa, have been drawn together by that fraternal regard which is always warm in the honest heart of an " old pioneer." It, in the excitement of business, and the duties of life, we have hitherto neglected to come together, as the pioneers of Scott County, the greater reason now exists, that we should nourish this infant association, and make it promotive of every good and noble sympathy of the heart. Our organization is now complete, our names are enrolled, and with the exception of absen- tees, and such as have not yet joined, although entitled to member- ship, our ranks are full, and under our constitution there can be no accession to our number, other than exceptions named. With a just appreciation of the memory of the dead, you have procured the names of those who settled in this county prior to 1840, but who now no longer live, so that your records will perpetuate their names, who have "acted well their part," and now sleep beneath the cold clods of the valley, as ours, who have survived to consuni- mate this organization. In thins recording the names of the dead, who were our companions in frontier life, we but open a record that will soon contain the names of all who now stand recorded as living members of this association. One by one we shall pass away, and at each returning festival some familiar face will be missed at the board, some chair will be vacant, and the record of the living will be shortened to lengthen the record of the dead, while the void in our ranks can never, never be filled. As years roll on, those of us who may be living at the end of the first decade will realize the fearful work of death among us. A little longer, yet a little longer, and a score of years shall have passed away, leaving but a few to cherish the momory of the departed, and to eling closely, ah ! how closely, to each other. Who shall presume to lift the veil, and name the pioneer who will then answer to the secretary's roll call ?
ยท
.
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HISTORY OF SCOTT COUNTY.
A little longer, and still a little longer, and the youngest among us will have reached his three-score years and ten, and no one may know, until time unfolds the eternal decree, who of our number will be the last survivor of the pioneers of Scott County ! You have pro- cured a cane, and have had inscribed thereon, "Pioneer Settlers' Association, organized January, 1858, Scott County, Iowa," and presented it to your president, with instructions that it be handed down to his last successor in office. That successor lives, and if not here with us to-day in propria persona, he is with us in spirit, and in well wishes, and is destined to officiate at the last act of your association.
The history of the early settlement of Scott County is replete with interesting incidents, and to those of us who first " squatted " and located our claims upon " Uncle Sam's " land. it is a satisfac- tion to look back to that period, and compare Scott County then with Scott County now. No one here to-day can claim a settle- ment anterior to that of our worthy president, and certainly no one has done more than he in aiding and encouraging the first set- tlers; and I may be permitted thus publicly to record the humble acknowledgments of my father's family to him who was the first to extend his hand, to offer hospitality, and to welcome us to our prairie home. I was but a boy then, yet how well do I remember the scene when I landed one bright May morning in 1836 within four squares of the spot where we are now assembled.
The ground upon which " mine host " of the Burtis House has erected this spacious hotel was a corn field. and two cabins below Main street constituted the improvements of the embryo "City of Davenport:" some half a dozen houses across the river in the then village of Stephenson marked the spot where now stands our twin sister city. The booming of the morning gun from Fort Arm- strong warned the red man that Uncle Sam's troops were in pos- session of their island home, and assured the pioneer of protection and safety. The daily movements of noble steamers upon the bosom of our majestic river told us that the way was opened to immigration; while the unclaimed acres invited the husbandman to one of the finest soils ever warmed by the sun of heaven.
Need we wonder that the old chieftain, Black Hawk, and his noble band refused to yield up the country to their white breth- ren ? Can we blame them for clinging to this lovely spot, and for lingering around the graves of their dead?
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HISTORY OF SCOTT COUNTY.
O'er the fate of the Indian, The Great Spirit has cast The spell of the white man, His glory is past.
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