USA > Iowa > Tama County > History of Tama County, Iowa, together with sketches of their towns, villages and townships, educational, civil, military and political history, portraits of prominent persons, and biographies of representative citizens > Part 122
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106 | Part 107 | Part 108 | Part 109 | Part 110 | Part 111 | Part 112 | Part 113 | Part 114 | Part 115 | Part 116 | Part 117 | Part 118 | Part 119 | Part 120 | Part 121 | Part 122 | Part 123
1065
HISTORY OF TAMA COUNTY.
Ohio, and in 1852, he came to Marietta, the county seat of Marshall county, Iowa. Ilere he engaged with John Hill in build- ing a flouring mill. Afterwards he run the same mill for thirteen years, giving entire satisfaction to all his enstomers. After this he moved to Nebraska and bought a farm of eighty acres and farmed one year, then sold and returned to Iowa and again engaged in milling in Coon Valley, Green county, for six years, and later in Cass and Guthrie counties. In 1875, he bought the flouring mill at Irv- ing, and lived there until 1882. At the present time he is interested in Bruner's mill, having bought an interest in it in 1882.
11ISTORICAL ITEMS.
Anthony Weaver was frozen to death, December 23, 1856, while on his way home from the mill at Irving. His body was found two weeks later by a deer hunter. His brother was in company with him and went for help to a house about one mile distant. Having secured assist- ance, they started back, but could not find him in the blinding storm which was raging. This brother, whose name was John, had his feet badly frozen and is now living in the township.
The first marriage occurred April 16, 1854, and celebrated the nuptials of Jacob Bruner and Susan Ashby. The marriage was performed by Judge John C. Ver- miłya.
The second death was that of Mrs. Jep- tha Edmunds, which occurred on the 6th of March, 1856.
The first reaping machine was intro- duced into this township, in the summer of
1859, by J. B. Van Auken and I. N. B. Dres- ser. It was sent here by L. B. Dodd, and was manufactured at Mendota, Illinois.
The first school was kept in L. H. Shu- garts house on section 14, in 1854, and was taught by Miss Sarah Simpson.
The next school was taught by Miss Libbie Graham in a log house on section 25, in 1855.
The first school house was erected at Redman in the fall of 1856, and the first school in this house was taught by Sarah Simpson.
One of the carly marriages was that of Joel S. Edmunds to Miss Melinda Shugart, February 17, 1856, at the house of the bride's parents. They settled on section 14, where she died the 22d day of April, 1859. He enlisted in the army and died while in the service.
The first religious service in the town- ship was held in L. II. Shugart's log cabin, in 1855, by Elder Wilkins, a Baptist preacher. He preached in this same place for some time.
Elder Dwight was another Baptist preacher of an early day.
A child belonging to Jacob Knehara was lost during the summer of 1860. It was but two years old and had wandered away from the house. The neighborhood was aroused and search began, which grew more and more exciting as the days passed by and no trace was found. It was thought it might have been taken by the wolves, and hole after hole was dug and searched. At length its body was found in Troublesome creek.
William Riley Vandorn, the first settler as before stated, squatted on Salt creek bottom. Ile was not familiar with the
1066
HISTORY OF TAMA COUNTY.
country and built his cabin on low ground, and when the rains came, the ereek rose, overflowed its banks, and the little cabin was surrounded with water. He took his family in a dug-out which had been made for a feed trough, and thus transferred them to high ground.
The streams of this section rise rapidly after heavy rains. On one occasion an Indian chief, Bearskin, was camping on the bottoms with his family, when a sud- den rise compelled him to seek safety by swimming to the bluffs. His family climbed trees, where they were obliged to remain until taken away in boats.
RELIGIOUS.
A Methodist Episcopal Class was or- ganized at the school house in Waltham, in 1874, by M. A. Goodell. Dr. W. C. Beam was the class leader, and the fol- lowing named succeeded the pastor: Hay- wood Barnes, Dolph Hoskins and Mr. Littler. Preaching was discontinued in the fall of 1882.
A Catholic Church was built on section 21, in 1875, and is the only church build- ing now in the township.
. A United Brethren Society was organ- ized in Oneida township, and moved to Waltham in 1864. Rev. O. H. Crawford was the preacher at the time and meet- ings were held in the school house. G. G. Mason was appointed class leader. j
A Sabbath school was organized that spring, with G. G. Mason as Superintend- ent and Aaron Mason, Secretary. Rev. John Ollaman succeeded Crawford in the ministry here, followed by the fol- lowing named: J. II. Vandeveer, II. B. Potter, Hyte Rodgers, L. B. Hieks, John Smith, George W. Benson and H. W. Re- bok, the present pastor. Meetings are held at the school house in Waltham. Charles Mason is the present class leader.
EDUCATIONAL.
The school interests received attention in this township at an early day. In 1856, a school house was built at Redman, and Sarah Simpson taught the first school in this building. From that time to the present, the schools have kept pace with the settlements, and houses have been built and schools maintained in all loeali- ties where there was a settlement, until now, within the limits of the township, there are nine organized distriets, all, .with one exception, having good school build- ings, well furnished. The population has increased here, until in some distriets the houses are not sufficiently large to acconi- modate, comfortably, the children, but as a rule educational facilities are abundantly furnished to every district in the town- ship, and immediate steps will doubtless be taken to seeure additional buildings where needed.
C
HISTORY OF TAMA COUNTY.
1067
CHAPTER XLI.
EVENTS OF INTEREST.
The criminal history of Tama county may be said to have started with the mur- der of a young man named Samnel Keen (frequently miscalled Reed) on the upper part of Whiskey bottom, in 1854 or 1855. The murderer was unknown. A company of five men, in company with Keen, one spring day started for a turkey hunt on the Iowa bottoms. When in the woods they divided, three of the men going in dif- ferent directions. Keen was in company with William Schamerhorn and another man. After being out some time the three men sat down on a log to rest. While conversing, the report of a gun was heard and Keen fell over on his face. Upon examination, it was found he had been shot in the back of the head. Suspicion was fastened upon Schamerhorn as having some knowledge of the shoot- ing, or of being connected with the crime in some way, as some feeling of jealousy had existed betweed Keen and him con- eerning a woman in the settlement, which had become public talk. Schamerhorn was arrested upon suspicion, but nothing could be proven. Keen was a single man and had no relations here. Soon after his examination, Schamerhorn left the county and pushed further west, leaving the mat- ter, as to the guilty party, a mystery.
In the winter of 1854-5 the dead body of a man was found on Wolf creek. The
body could not be identified as it had been partly devoured by the wolves. It was supposed he had been murdered.
Sometime in June, 1856, a man came to Toledo calling himself "Jim Ilarris," rep- resenting that he came from the northern part of the county and had some business to attend to. At Monticello he made a few purchases from the Brush Brothers and passed a suspicious looking $5 bill, upon them. IIe next came to Toledo, and in a dicker with Tom Murray, left a like bill with him. The Brush Brothers made up their minds, soon after he left, that the bill was counterfeit, and at once started for Toledo to have the fellow ar- rested. Tom Murray came to the same conclusion, and it came to be noised about the village, that the fellow was a coun- terfeiter. C. J. L. Foster, a lawyer, hear- ing the report, and seeing the fellow cross- ing the public square, started out, called him, and detained the fellow by conver- sation until an officer arrived and made his arrest. Upon search, $600 of counter- feit money was found in his pockets. The whole Harris tribe, consisting of this fellow and his relations, were a rough set.
In September, 1855, Dr. P .1 .. Baldy had a valuable horse stolen from him. It had been tied out to pasture and quietly dis- appeared, remaining unheard of for nearly a year. In the summer of 1856, Pete
1068
HISTORY OF TAMA COUNTY.
Conklin, a brother-in-law of Harris, drove into old Guinntown, having with him sev- eral horses. At this place, the brother of Dr. Baldy's wife was keeping hotel, and the family at once recognized one of the horses as the doctor's stolen one. Conk- lin imagined they suspected him and feared he would be arrested, so he got rid of a lot of counterfeit money which he had in his pockets by dropping it through a hole in the plastering, and it fell to the cellar, where it was picked up afterward by the landlord. Finally Conk- lin was told that he had Dr. Baldy's stolen horse, but he strenuously denied it. They persisted, and it was agreed, that, in case the animal recognized an old path which Dr. Baldy's horse had been accustomed to traveling, it should be conclusive that it was the doctor's horse. When the ani- mal came within several rods of the path, he started on a trot and turned directly up it. At this point Conklin tried to escape by making a break for the woods : but he was captured, and taken to Iowa City to jail and the horse returned to Dr. P. L. Baldy. When his trial took place at To- ledo, another incident occurred. While the crowd was at the court house, at about ten o'clock at night, some of the horse- thief gang attempted to get up a sensation in another part of town, hoping thereby to cause a stampede from the court house, and thus give the prisoner a chance to es- cape, knowing that if he could get a single rod's start, he was so fleet of foot, no one in the village could keep in sight of him. At the hour named, Mrs. H. G. Baldy heard some one at her kitchen win- dow, and upon examination it was found to have been raised. After waiting for
some time and hearing various noises in- dicating that burglars were about, Mrs. Baldy finally made up her mind to see what was the matter. She took down the gun, and quietly stepped out of the back door into the pitch-like darkness and driz- zling rain. She then went around the house, and a man sprang up from almost directly under her feet and ran away. She then turned to go into the house, and the back door was opened by the girl who exclaimed, "There's a man right behind you !" On wheeling, Mrs. Baldy stood face to face with the ruffian, who held a revolver in his hand. She at once brought the gun to bear, and in the same moment he moved off in the darkness. Dr. H. T. Baldy was sent for, as there was an invalid at the house on whom the shock had had a bad effect, and he came at once from the court honse. When he learned what had hap- pened, a company of men were raised, and the surroundings carefully searched; but the intruders had gone. The fol- lowing day Mrs. Baldy went to the court house and singled out from the crowd the man who had stood in the door-way the night before, with the re- volver, and he was accordingly arrested.
In 1857, the settlers of Tama County were startled by the brutal murder of William Stopp. The particulars of the affair are related as follows: A short time previous to 1857, a German, named Olleslaugher, a man named Butler, who had more than ordinary education and attainments and a professional lawyer, eame to this county and setteled on a farm in Grant township. If reports are correct, they were of overbear-
-
HISTORY OF TAMA COUNTY.
1069
ing and quarrelsome dispositions. Wil- liam Stopp, a young man of but four- teen years of age, from Cincinnati, Ohio, accompanied them to this county. The three occupied a small cabin on section 23. Both of the men drank and caroused, and at times cruelly abused the boy. One severe, cold night, nearly in the dead of winter, they stripped the boy and gave him a shameful beating, then thrust him under the floor of their cabin, into a small cellar, where he died before morning from the effects of the cruelty received from the infuriated men, and from exposure to the severe cold. It was but a short time before the news spread over the entire neighborhood, and a crowd of excited peo- ple at once proceeded to the scene of the murder. In due time both Olleslaugher and Butter were arrested and placed under bonds. On the 23d of May, 1857, the grand jury found a true bill of indictment against them, and the same day they were brought before the court. A change of venue was asked and granted to Johnson county. The case was tried at Iowa City, but they finally escaped their just punish- ment through some lack of evidence or informality of the law. Shorly after, they left the country, leaving the whole. matter a mystery, at that time, as to the true facts in the ease, and their object in dealing so foully with the boy. But some time sub- sequent to their trial it was ascertained by the attorneys for these men, that the boy, Stopp, who at the time of the murder was about fourteen years of age, was to fall heir to a valuable property in Ohio when he became of age, and that Butler had succeeded in securing the legal guar- dianship over him, and without much
doubt, removed with the boy to Iowa, to do what was finally accomplished, using Olle- slaugher for the purpose, as the gravest charges, the last severe beating and expo- sure, were done directły by him, but with the approval of Butter.
In 1859, the wife of John Connelly, a resident of Buckingham township, was missing, and to all questions as to her whereabouts, Mr. Connelly would give no definite answer. The neighbors thought she had been murdered, and a thorough search was made, but no trace of the miss- ing woman could be found. A warrant was issued for the arrest of Connelly, but he was not to be found. A jury was em- panelled and the forms of trial were gone through without the presence of the de- fendant; but as there was no evidence against him, the matter dropped. Con- nelly was soon married again. From some unknown cause, the family quarrelled, and a son of Connelly's informed on him, by saying that he had killed his wife by striking her on the head with an ax; that he first buried her for a few days, under the straw, and coarse manure of the stable, and a few days later removed her body, and with his son's aid, buried her on the southeast quarter of section 30, on the farm of Leander Clark, in Geneseo town- ship. The old man was consequently ar- rested on a warrant issued by Nathan Fisher, Justice of the Peace, of Toledo, and by whom, after hearing the evidence of the case, he was held to appear before the next District Court for indictment and trial. But when the time for trial came, the son, who was the only witness, was not to be found, and the necessary testi- mony was not at hand. However, Con-
94
7
1070
HISTORY OF TAMA COUNTY.
nelly was not discharged from custody, and H. C. Foster, Constable, took him home with him on the evening after the trial, intending to start with him the fol- lowing morning for the jail at Marion, Linn county. About dark, while Connelly and Foster were seated near the open door in the front room of the latter's house, the C'onstable fell into a doze. Upon waking he found that his prisoner had flown, and snatching up his hat, dazed and bewil- dered, he blindly started out in rapid search of the eseaping man. After spend- ing sometime in fruitless quest, he re- turned and aroused the town; but in the darkness all traces of the prisoner were lost and he succeeded in making good his escape. While Connelly had been in jail, his second wife sold the property and moved from the county.
The year 1860 was a memorable one in the history of Tama county, made so by the hanging of the Bunker boys. It was the first and last hanging affair in the county. The Bunker boys, says a local writer, Charles and William, were mem- bers of a large gang of cut-throats. These men were the representative characters of the gang. The operations of the gang extended from one end of the country to the other-from Texas up through the Indian Territory, Arkansas, Missouri and lowa to Wisconsin; from the Ohio river, at Pittsburg, through the States of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Iowa, to the Mis- souri river, as far as civilization extended. Their depredations were direeted against society everywhere, and they preyed upon the substance of honest toilers, merchants and business men, with reckless and dar- ing impunity, sparing no one who was not
in some way allied with their plunder- stained combination. In 1860, a gentle- man by the name of Small, a resident of Polk county, had three valuable colts stolen from the prairie just east of the city of DesMoines. When Mr. Small missed his colts, he procured the assis- tance of Constable Seaman, of the same county, and started on the trail, which they followed to the residence of the Bunkers in Hardin county, where they very soon found the colts. Advancing to the house the pursuers were met by the mother of the Bunkers, who barred their way, ax in hand. At length, and without violence, an entrance was effected and one of the boys arrested. Securing him, they kept guard until daylight, when another Bunker came in sight, and after a long chase, he too, was captured. The colts were haltered and the party started for Des Moines. While in Tama county they were joined by Stephen Klingaman, and, as the story goes, it was proposed to hang one of their prisoner until he should reveal the names of his partners in erime. They had succeeded so far as to suspend one of them in mid-air-without, however, in- tending to continue the process until he was dead-when the other Bunker sprang away and started for freedom at a lively gait. Klingaman and Seaman started in pursuit, leaving Small to take care of the aerial Bunker. Small became so much interested in watching the pursuit and flight, that he forgot to lower the body and by the time Kingaman and Seaman returned with the recaptured brother, the first was as dead as a smelt. As a matter of precaution and to prevent his telling tales, the other Bunker was submitted to
1071
HISTORY OF TAMA COUNTY.
the same strangling process and with the same result. Thus both bodies were left suspended on a Tama county tree in what is known as National grove, in Perry township. They were found hanging soon after the perpetrators had gone. Klinga- man, it is said, was drowned the next spring, near Helena, in the Mississippi river, having fled to that point, and Sea- man and Small were arrested shortly after, but escaped. The former was never seen, or heard of, afterward. Small, after pass- ing several years in the Rocky Mountains, returned to his farm and family in Polk county. In 1877, Small was arrested at DesMoines by Deputy Sheriff, William E. Appelgate, and again escaped from custody, but afterward gave bond for his appearance at the February term of Court, in 1878. At this time he was tried and found guilty of murder in the first degree. A new trial was asked and granted by Judge Shane. At the Febru- ary term of the District Court, in 1879, the case was dismissed, Small paying all costs of prosecution.
During the afternoon of the 8th of Oc- tober, 1866, A. H. Felter murdered his wife, Charlotte, by striking her a blow with the butt end of a Springfield rifle, crushing and fracturing the skull diago- nally from one eye to the opposite ear. Mrs. Felter was in the act of leaving the premises, having gotten just outside the door when the blow was given. Their little daughter, Ida, an only child, eight years old, ran to the nearest neighbor, Robert Provon, and informed them of what had happened. After striking and killing his wife, Felter set fire to the house; then with razor in hand he attempted to
sever the jugular vein in his neck, and would doubtless have succeeded had it not been for the heavy beard covering his throat and face, which so dulled the in - strument that the vein was left bare, but not cut. He then ran to the stable and staeks and laid down, evidently expecting he would soon die. In that condition he was soon found and taken to Buckingham village, where his wounds were dressed by Dr. Daniel. He was then arrested and held for examination on the charge of murder by W. H. Stivers, then County At- torney. After remaining a short time in Buckingham, he was taken to Toledo and there had a preliminary examination in the court of 'Squire Fisher, who bound him over to answer to the District Court for his crime. In consequence of having no jail in Tama county, he was taken to Iowa City and lodged there until the time set for his trial. His first trial was held in Vinton and he was sentenced to hard la- bor in the penitentiary for life, where he remained for one year and was then brought back to Marion and re-tried by or- der of the Supreme Court. IIe was again found guilty of murder in the second de- gree, and sentenced, by Judge Rothrock, to imprisonment during the remainder of his natural life. Felter was a man of in- dustrious habits, but had an uncontrolable temper, which, when irritated, knew no bounds. It was thought by some at the time that he contemplated killing his child as he followed her a short distance from the house. However, he deeded his real property in trust for her maintenance.
On the 14th of July, 1873, the Toledo postoffice was robbed of all the letters in the mailing and alphabetical boxes. No
1072
HISTORY OF TAMA COUNTY.
trace of the letters was obtained until late in the fall, when they were found in the brush near the residence of James Ross, who, together with Frank Graham, exam- ined and pronounced them toru and so faded by the heavy rains as to render them 'illegible. Among the letters taken was one from Frankfort, Germany, addressed to Carl Rest, which contained a New York draft for the sum of $71.19 gold. It was not definitely known at the time the letters were taken, that such a letter was in the office, but it was considered probable, as the letter had left Frankfort and had never reached the person to whom it was addressed. In April, 1873, the postmis- tress, Mrs. Dillman, went to examine the pile of old letters as they were left in the brush, and among them she found the draft referred to, in a state of almost per- fect preservation, and it was accordingly turned over to the owner.
On Monday, July 27, 1875, another mur- der took place and passed into the history of Tama county. In the eastern part of the county, in the Bohemian settlement, two neighbors lived; Thomas Roubicek owning forty acres of land, and John Prusa, eighty acres. There seems to have been a quarrel between these two families for some time, and each had warned the other from their premises. There being no publie highway near these farms, a by- road was used which crossed both pieces of land. On the day mentioned, Mr. Prusa went to a neighbors, about a mile west, for an animal, and while coming back and crossing the farm of Roubicek, the terrible deed was committed. When Roubicek saw Prusa coming he and his wife both rushed down the road, he carry-
ing an axe and she a knife. Prusa was struck by the axe in the forchead, both claiming in their testimony to have struck the first blow and seemingly proud of it. In trying to ward off the blow, he received a cut on the right arm, and it is supposed that the woman then stabbed him in the abdomen, there being two gashes there, Ile grabbed the knife and was cut to the bone by the woman drawing it from him. An- other blow from the axe laid the victim low, when the brutal murderers struck him twice after he was down, mashing his head almost to a jelly. They then went off and left him, while his life blood flowed in a stream down the wagon track. This was the shape in which he was found and the coroner was immediately summoned. After the inquest both parties were arrest- ed, charged with murder in the first de- gree. The trial resulted in a verdiet of guilty for the man and acquittal for the woman. Roubicek was sentenced to six- teen years in the penitentiary at hard work together with cost of the suit.
A singularly shocking erime came to light at a Coroner's inquest, held at Traer, on the 21st of January, 1877. The de- ceased was a new born babe, born to Miss Catharine Carstensen. Mr. J. C. Averill was sworn and testified that this ('atharine Carstensen was hired by himself, to do house work; that on the night of January 20, he and his wife went to bed at about 9 o'clock, and the girl retired a little later. About 11 o'clock, they were awakened by Miss Carstensen, who came down stairs and said she was very sick. Mr. Averill told his wife to get up and make her some ginger tea. The tea was made, but the girl would drink but little of it, saying,
1073
IHISTORY OF TAMA COUNTY.
that nothing but laudanum would ease her pain. Mr. Averill finally got up and started out for the drug store to get some lauda- unm for the girl, who by this time was suffering terribly. In the meantime, Mrs. Averill went to bed to wait until her hus- band should come back. The girl sat in the dining room for a few moments, then went into the kitchen and made such a racket with her groans and moving things about, that Mrs. Averill was afraid to ven- ture out. She called the girl by name several times, but received no response. Finally the husband returned with the medicine, and went to go into the kitchen, when the girl sharply told him to go back. Mr. Averill left the medicine on the table and went to bed. He had been in bed but a few moments, when the door of the kitchen, leading out of doors, opened and shut, and the noises ceased. Mr. Averill told his wife that the girl had gone out of doors and would catch her death, out in the bitter cold night, and that she had bet- 1er go after her. Mrs. Averill got up and went to the door, when Miss Carstensen eame in looking white as death, and shak- ing as with a severe chill. There was blood on her cheek, and Mrs. Averill asked, "Why, Catharine, what's the matternow ?" "Oh," was the reply, "you don't know what I have passed through; I haven't been un- well for two months; but it's all right now;" and going to the basin, washed her hands and face and started for bed. Mrs. Averill following to see her safely in. When she got into bed Mrs. Averill no- ticed that her clothes were in a terrible condition, being literally saturated with blood. Mr. Averill, during this time, was courting sleep, with but little success. The
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.