USA > Iowa > Tama County > History of Tama County, Iowa. Its cities, towns and villages, with early reminiscences, personal incidents and anecdotes and a complete business directory of the county > Part 3
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Great trouble was experienced for many years in the raising of sheep, on account of the great number of wolves that infested the country, but notwithstanding this, enough wool was secur- ed for home use. One article largely manufactured, was called "linsey-woolsey." It was made of equal parts of cotton and wool, and colored according to the taste of the manufacturer. The exquisite shades and delicate colors shown in the dress goods of to-day were not observed in those times, our mothers being content with good, solid colors.
There were few houses where the large and small spinning wheel and the cumbersome loom were not found, together taking up more room than all the rest of the furniture. Having all these implements, and manufacturing so much of their own cloth- ing, our fathers and mothers were almost independent of the rest of the world. To-day all this is changed. The buzz of the little spinning wheel, the whir of the larger ones, and the monot
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HISTORY OF TAMA COUNTY.
onous click of the loom are heard no more. They are banished to the attic or given over to destruction.
While our fathers and mothers toiled hard, they were not averse to a little relaxation and had their seasons for fun and enjoyment. If they did not receive the oft repeated visits of the theatrical or minstrel troupes, the wonderful magician, or the man with the "intelligent ants," they yet contrived to do something to break the monotony of their daily life and furnish them with a good hearty laugh.
Among the more general forms of amusements was the "quilt- ing bee," the corn husking, or corn shucking, as generally call- ed in this country. Our young readers will doubtless be inter- ested in a description of these forms of amusements, where labor was made to afford fun and enjoyment to all participating. "Quilting-bee," as its name indicates, was where the industrious qualities of that busy little insect that improves each shining hour was exemplified in manufacturing quilts for the house-hold. In the afternoon the ladies for miles around gather at the appoint- ed place, and while their tongnes would not cease to play, their hands were busily employed in making the quilt, and a desire was always manifested to get it out as quick as possible, for then the fun would begin. In the evening the gentlemen came, and the hours would then pass swiftly by in playing some boisterous yet innocent game or in the dance. Corn-husking was where both sexes united in the husking. They usually assembled in a large barn which was prepared for the occasion, and when each gentle- man had selected a lady partner the husking began. When a lady found a red ear she was entitled to a kiss from each gentle- man present; if a gentleman found one he was allowed to kiss every lady present. This feature of the general programme was particularly enjoyable, and a source of unlimited fun and frolic. After the corn was all husked the floor was cleared, the old violin brought out, tuned up, and the merry dance began, nsually last- ing until broad day light.
"The little brown jug" spoken of as having a place upon the mantle, was often brought into requisition, it affording a" means
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HISTORY OF TAMA COUNTY.
of enjoyment that nothing else could supply. No caller was permitted to leave the house withont an invitation to partake of its contents; not to so invite was a breach of hospitality, not to be thought of for a moment. It was brought out upon many occasions and freely dispensed to old and young alike, with- no thought of danger. It was a thing of prime importance in all the assemblages of men at log rollings, corn huskings, house rais- ings. etc.
It seems a great wonder to us that the entire County was not devoted to drunkenness for in the early settlement of all its parts the same universal custom prevailed. No one then seemed to think there could be danger. Now and then a drunkard was made but he was more pitied for his misfortune than for his want of manhood or self-control; it was not the use but only the abuse of it that seemed wrong. It was thought impossible to work with- out it, and it was therefore always present and the drunken broils occasioned by its use were soon forgotten.
Hunting was a favorite pastime for the men. Game was killed more however, for amusement than to supply the wants and ne- cessities of their families.
House-raising furnished another occasion for assemblage and enjoyment. Buildings were then made of such massive timber that it required a large force of men to erect them, which was done solely by muscular power, all the appliances of modern in- ventions for this purpose being entirely ignored if not unknown. On these occasions liquor was always free to all present. These raisings were usually important events in every neighborhood and people from far and near came to witness and enjoy them. Log rolling was another mode of useful recreation. When a man had felled the timber on a considerable space of ground, covered as it was with a large growth, it was impossible for him, without aid, to get the logs together so as to burn them. He therefore made a log rolling and invited all his neighbors, who came and with good will and strong muscles, brought the logs together. The work ended with a good supper and a social good time.
Election days were observed as holidays. The men came to
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HISTORY OF TAMA COUNTY.
town, voted, drank whiskey, smoked, swore, whistled and fought, all for a little fun.
Look as we may upon the questionable amusement of the early times, we know that kind hearts, neighborly acts and universal good will for all mankind was a genuine passion and therefore we forbear all criticisms.
CHAPTER IV.
STATE AND COUNTY ROADS.
The late and more fashionable customs of society had not yet penetrated these regions. The bonnets and shawls worn by our mothers were not cast aside after the first season's wear, but con- tinned to do service as long as they could be kept whole. Our fathers did not aspire to broadcloth suits or beaver hats, but were contented with home-spun jeans and felt or straw hats.
When the County was organized there were no public roads running through it, the first being the old State Road which was laid out in July, 1853, from Marengo to Ft. Dodge and run- ning along the south side of the Iowa River through Tama County. In August of the same year the A. D. Stephens and Hardin County State Road was located, also in December of that year a State Road running from A. D. Stephens' place to Indian- town was located north from the Iowa River and proved a great benefit to the County. Early in the year 1854, a Road was locat- ed from J. Il. Hollen's place near the Iowa River, running in a northwesterly direction to James Laughlin's, in Carlton town ship. In May, 1854, the Blackhawk and Toledo Road was located by the way of Toledo and Buckingham into Blackhawk County, and a Road from Bruner's Mill in Toledo township, to Salt Creek, was located in July, 1854.
Toledo, at this time, was the most important point in the
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HISTORY OF TAMA COUNTY.
County. As the County became settled new roads were laid out. More than four-fifths of the entire expenses of the County, we believe, during the first few years of its existence, were for this purpose. Roads were not then run on section lines as now but were located as thought best for the convenience of the people. The broad prairies were open in every direction, and a road running across them at any angle would hurt nobody, but on the contrary would be convenient for all. If one had intimated at that time that these prairies would soon be dotted over with frame houses, barns, school houses and churches, he would have been thought a fit subject for an insane asylum. This no doubt seems strange to our young people and late settlers in the County, but at that time the conclusion arrived at seemed reason able. In the first place, the question of fuel had to be taken in- to consideration. As coal had not been discovered within a reasonable distance, wood had to be procured. In the second place, timber for building purposes was required. Railroads were unknown and Imber could not easily be imported. For these reasons our fathers settled in the timber, or on its border, where they could obtain material for the erection of their houses, and fences for their lands, and fuel for their fires.
The nearest and most convenient route from settlement to settlement was sought, and surveyors were so instructed to locate roads. It may be thought that a great saving could have been made to the County by locating the roads as they are now run, but whether these changes were made wholly for the convenience and saving of time to the people now, is a question we are not prepared to discuss.
The Cedar Rapids and Eldora State Road, by way of Wolf Creek settlements was located in July, 1855, also, a road from Vinton to Newton via. Toledo, in June, 1855. This shows the enterprise and determination of the people to have the County open to travel and free communication. Although her streams were poorly bridged, yet they were passable at times and indicat- ed the routes to market and to settlements.
Next follows the location of Mail Routes to different points.
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HISTORY OF TAMA COUNTY.
One Mail Route was established through Northern Tama from Vinton to Albion, in the spring of 1857, which gave them better Mail facilities. Toledo was reached in due time in the year 1854.
In coming to a new country the settler has, through necessity, to depend upon a distant market. This was a great draw back to the pioneer. The first year's provisions had about all to be purchased, as they could not reap any benefits from their crops until the second year. The nearest market for the Tama County settler was, at that time, Cedar Rapids, Muscatine and Iowa City. It would take abont one week to make the trip. It was customary for the old settlers to take turns in going to mar- ket; when one would go he would bring supplies for the whole neighborhood, and in due time another would return. Thus they would do until they had harvested and marketed their crops, then the future would look brighter and more promising.
Many would resort to means of trade and barter. A. would trade B. flour for its value in meat; B. would trade C. a yoke of oxen for a horse; D. would trade E. a half dozen hogs for a cow. Many were the traits to which the people were led to make both ends meet, and mmerons laughable incidents are narrated of the crooks and turns that were made-incidents that are langhable to us now, but were serions matters with the poor frontiersman. Notes were given payable in property, and often it would seem impossible for the debtor to meet his obligations. Some holders would hold their notes without attempting to collect them, with the hope that better times would come and the giver be able to pay the money. Favors and accommodations were tendered by one neighbor to another, all working harmoniously together, sharing the last morsel and making room for one more weary one to rest on their cabin floor, permitting no one to go away without fully sharing their humble but generous hospitality.
Great hardships and sufferings were endured on many trips to market; sometimes they were made in mid winter. Frozen limbs frequently attested their exposure and sometimes death. The anxiety of those who remained in their cabin awaiting the
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HISTORY OF TAMA COUNTY.
return of those who were out, sometimes became painful from suspense and frequently their worst fears were realized. But such good feelings as were shown to one another never have been excelled, and the strongest band of sympathy existed. To re- fuse a favor was unknown, but to render one was the first impulse of their hearts.
After a few years stores were opened among the settlers and better facilities were offered to purchasers of home necesities.
Not until the fall of 1862 did the settlers of Tama County receive the benefits of a home market and realize the advantage of a Railroad. When the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad reached Tama City, then Inka, it opened a transportation to Eastern markets and established a home market for the produ(- ers of Tama County.
CHAPTER V.
PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY OF TAMA COUNTY.
This large and excellent County is twenty-four miles from cast to west and thirty miles from north to south making twenty full townships of land, containing therefore, seven hundred and twen- ty sections, or square miles. The principal stream in Tama County is the Iowa River, a broad flowing, swift, bubbling, danc- ing stream which enters the County near the north western corner of Indian Village township, and crosses in a south easterly course and enters Benton County a little north of the southwest corner.
The face of the County along the river is abrupt, rongh, broken and timbered. In only a few places do the prairie vistas open down to the water's euge, affording glimpses of the broad, un- dulating plains, which open so wide beyond, that the blue of the sky and the green of the rolling sward, seem to mingle in a far off blending.
Three miles west of Tama City a dam is built across the river which furnishes water for one of the best water powers in the State to which we will again refer in another chapter. There are also good dams across the river at Gray's mill in Indian Village township and at Crenshaw's mill in Richland township. Dams might be constructed at many other points on the river within this County and a supply of water power be put into use, unlimit-
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HISTORY OF TAMA COUNTY.
ed in extent. Indeed, such a stream as the Iowa River, for water powers, is hard to find, and some day it will enrich all this part of the State with its mills, mannfactories, factories, foundries, and machine shops. Other, but smaller streams. run through differ- ent parts of the County, the principal of which is Otter Creek, raising near the center of the County, and running in a southerly course contributes to the Iowa. Salt Creek upon the east side of the County, runs in a southerly course and empties into the Iowa. Sugar Creek upon the west side of the County, and Deer Creek rising in Spring Creek township, flowing in a south- erly direction emptying into the Iowa. also Richland Creek, rising in the southeastern part of the County running east empt- ies into the Iowa. While the north part of the County is well supplied with Wolf Creek, or Big Creek, as it is sometimes known, which flows directly across the County in an irregular course and passes on into Benton County entering into the Cedar River.
The country is rough, and more or less rolling, in close prox- imity to all these streams, and is covered with a fair growth of timber. None of it could be called very heavy timber, and some of it is brushy barrens. Still, all these streams with a few isola- ted groves, furnish a fair supply of wood for fuel and other nec- essary uses.
As previously remarked the County is about equally divided between prairie and timbered land, the former is composed of a soil consisted of the richest prairie loam. In all parts of the State where the counties are prosperous Tama will rank among the foremost in agricultural resources and in the elements of material wealth. The amount of farm products usually raised and sold is enormous. The real resources of the soil are not yet half developed, but when they shall be more fully, and the vast comparatively untouched water powers of the Iowa River and its tributaries shall be utilized, this County will attain a degree of prosperity which will place it foremost in that rich- est portion of the Prairie State lying between the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers.
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HISTORY OF TAMS COUNTY.
GEOLOGY
The geology of Tama County is of a highly interesting char- acter and to scholars it will be especially valuable. Although, as yet coal and mineral have not been discovered in paying quanti- ties in the County, yet coal exists, and stone has been found not only along the river banks, but in the bluffs in the northern part of the county. Stone can be found in abundance in Lincoln and Geneseo townships and in Fifteen Mile and Six Mile Groves while in the southwestern part of Indian Village township can be found large quarries of stone, from all appearance inexhausti- ble. This stone is of peculiar formation, and belongs to the sub- carboniferous limestone of the lower series, divided into three classes, St Louis limestone, Keokuk or Kinderhook limestone, and upper and lower Burlington limestone. The solidity and compactness of the formation renders it susceptible of the highest polish. The beds are some twelve feet in thickness consisting of three layers divided as follows;
1st. Thin bedded sindy limestone, 3 feet; 2nd. Thin bedded politie limestone, 4 feet: 3rd. Heavy bedded irregular limestone, gray, with bluish tinge, 6 feet; and below this will be found thin beds of carboniferous limestone from 8 to 10 feet.
The Keokuk or Kinderhook limestone is largely composed of fine grained, yellowish sandstone.
The Burlington limestone formation consists of distinet calca- reons divisions which are separated by a series of silicious beds. These beds consist of light grayish or yellowish layers of sili- cions shale and chert together with nodular masses of flint, the whole mixed with a smaller proportion of calcareons matter. It affords much valuable material for economical purposes, but which is confined, however, entirely to its stone. It is seldom that it affords anything suitable for ashlar, but for the purpose of common masonry it is excellent, as it endures exposure to the atmosphere and frost without appreciable change. Good lime can be made from it, but the greater part of the lime is made from the upper division, because it usually produces whiter lime. The upper division furnishes excellent quarry rock
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HISTORY OF TAMA COUNTY.
wherever it is exposed. The rock is also strong and endures ex- posure well. The color of some portions of this division is so nearly white and its texture somewhat crystaline, that the purer pieces resemble marble. Although the area occupied by the onterops of this formation in the County, is comparatively small, yet the fossil remains it presents are of the most remarkable character and profusion. The only remains of vertebrates which the formation has afforded, are those of fishes and snails which are numerous in some localities.
The St. Louis limestome formation, as it exists in Tama County consists of three tolerably distinct sub-divisions, principally de- pendent on lithological character. They are magnesian, arena ceous and calcareons. The first and lowest consists of a series of yellowish gray, more or less magnesian and usually massive layers. The second is a yellowish or light gray, friable sand- stone. The third or upper division is principally composed of light gray compact limestone, sometimes uniformally bedded, but it often has a concretionary and even a brecciated character. It furnishes excellent material for quicklime even when it is so concretionary and brecciated that it will not serve a good purpose for building material, and is usually too soft for any practical use. It contains a great many fossils and is very attractive.
At Indiantown, in this County, the sub-carboniferous forma- tion appears, commencing at the water's level of the Iowa River.
No. 3. Soft irregularly bedded, Magnesian limestone, passing up into purer and more regularly bedded limestone 40 feet
.V., 2. Light gray oolitic limestone, in hetvy layers 15 feet No. 1. Yellowish, shaly, fine grained sandstone. 20 ť et
The surface deposits to which the name of Drift is applied, has a far wider distribution than any other surface deposit. It meets our eyes almost everywhere, covering the earth like a mantle and hiding the stratified rocks from view, except where they have been exposed by the removal of the drift through the erasive act- i on of waters. It forms the soil and subsoil of the greater part of the State, and in it alone many of our wells are dug, and our for- ests take root. Occasionally it is itself covered by another de-
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HISTORY OF TAMA COUNTY.
posit; as for example, the bluff deposit, in which case, the latter forms the soil and subsoil. The drift is composed of clay, sand, gravel and boulders, promiscuously intermixed, without stratifica- tion or any other regular arrangement of its material.
The clay drift, which is always present in greater or less pro- portion, is always impure; always finely distributed throughout the whole deposit, but not unfrequently, irrigular masses of it are separated from the other materials. Its color is usually yel- lowish from the peroxyd of iron it contains, and which when it is burned into bricks give them a red color.
The sand of the unaltered drift is seldom seperated from the oth- er materials in any degree of purity, but it is not unfrequently the case that it exists in excess of the others; and in some cases small accumulations or pockets of it are found, having a consid- erable degree of purity while the gravel is derived largely from rocks that are more or less purely silicious, but occasionally they are found to be of granite composition.
So small a proportion of Tama County is occupied by the coal measures that it can hardly be enumerated among the more im- portant of the coal conties, though coal deposits have been found in Northern Tama, and it is not improbable that other dis- coveries of it may yet be made in other portions.
At Montour, near Indiantown. bed No. 2 is well exposed and , is extensively quarried for lime, as it is also at the last named place. Near LeGrand, in the eastern part of Marshall County, and only a few miles west of Indiantown, No. 3 of the preceding section is well exposed, showing a thickness of about forty feet from the level of the River: No. 1 and 2 do not ap- pear they having passed beneath its surface by a westernly dip, aided by the stream. The exposure here is composed most en- tirely of light brown or buff colored limestone, more or less mag- nesian, and in some of the more calcareous layers a slight tenden- ey to oolitic structure is seen. Some of the layers are cherty but a large part of it is quite free from silicious matter.
The stone is largely quarried for various purposes, and the finer layers, which frequently have a beautiful veining of per-
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HISTORY OF TAMA COUNTY.
oxyd of iron, are wrought into ornamental and useful objects, and it is known in the market as Iowa Marble. Several other . exposures of the Kinderhook beds are known in Tama and Mar- shall Counties, one by H. S. Dickson and one by David Houghton. Those first mentioned are the principal ones.
In this County the oolitic member is well exposed at several places where it is quarried and used for the manufacture of lime of excellent quality. It has been proposed to mannfacture this oolitic stone into table tops, mantles, etc., but although it may be made to receive a fair polish and its oolitic structure gives it considerable beauty it is feared that the well known tendency of all oolitic limestone to become fragmentary, will be found to render it worthless for such purposes. However, that near Montour and Indiantown promise to prove valuable for such uses.
CHAPTER VII.
RAILROADS.
In 1865-6 the subject of a railroad was extensively agitated in this County. A charter had been granted by the State for the building of the Iowa Central railroad, running from St. Lonis to St. Paul via. Toledo. At thistime N. C. Wieting, the present ed- itor of the "Toledo Times, " was publishing a paper in Toledo call ed the "Iowa Transcript." This sheet was the only Republican paper in the County, and was edited with considerable ability by its proprietor, Mr. Wieting, a whole souled jovial fellow and a tal- ented man. In the files of his paper, now in possession of the County Auditor, R. G. McIntire, to which we had access, we found numerous articles favoring the proposed ronte. During the days of railroad excitement it was a constant and earnest ad- vocate of the road and did much in influencing the people in its favor.
As already stated, the people of Tama County, at that time were determined to have a north and south railroad. The age was progressive, and they were determined to keep up with the times. Excepting the east and west road, the prairies were trackless but they should remain so no longer, come what would they were bound to have a north and south railroad. A railroad! what an invention! What a blessing! See you iron horse; with his nostrils breathing fire, his long and shaggy mane, of thick murky smoke, streaming far behind, while in his might and strength, with his
HISTORY OF TAMA COUNTY
train in the rear, he comes coursing through yon neck of timber. now over that creek, now across the prairie. now again in timber. until in half the time it has taken us to write it here he is in To- ledo. brought up all standing with his freight of bachelors and babies, married men and mules. ladies and live stock, dry good- and dutch. Oh! what a rumpus, what a din. But still what a thing a railroad is. We imagine we heard the people of the County saying what is to be done in regard to the proposed road. The time for stopping to consider the policy of such an enterprise has passed away: and the benefits to be derived from such means of communication are held to be too self-evident to need any addi- tional argument a lvanced in their tavor: for who, say we. cannot see in the advanced price of land. in the advantage of a ready mar- ket. in the increased facilities of communication. in the spread of general intelligence. in the cheapened and quickened mode of transportation, a sufficient inducement to wish such an undertak- ing success, and say that its benefits are beyond dispute? We must awake from our stupor; measures must be taken for the se- curing of stock and having the County become a stockholder to a liberal amount: of getting individuals, who need only the solicita- tion of some active friend of the road. to become deeply interested in its completion. Then. friends of the road. be up and doing: farmers of Tama County, our interests are at stake. see that you neglect them not: merchants and mechanics, your welfare, too. is bound up in this scheme-with it will come your prosperity. without it you must lose immensly. Then. again say we. let us all at work. Let our undertaking zeal and determined efforts show that we desire what we need and must have-a railroad.
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