USA > Iowa > Hancock County > History of Winnebago County and Hancock County, Iowa, a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement, Volume I > Part 24
USA > Iowa > Winnebago County > History of Winnebago County and Hancock County, Iowa, a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement, Volume I > Part 24
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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
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1864. Following Mr. Crow the following named have held the office of surveyor : Eugene Marshall, 1871-73; W. C. Moak, 1873-79; C. C. Way, 1879-83; J. M. Elder, 1883-87; F. N. Pitkin, 1887-97; J. E. Rathburn, 1897-99; F. N. Pitkin, 1899-1903; J. E. Rathburn, 1903-5; E. W. Burgitt, 1905-9; Charles R. Wood, Jr., 1909 -.
COUNTY CORONERS
At the time of the first election in 1858 no coroner was elected for some reason, nor was it until October, 1859, that it was thought neces- sary to elect one. Charles Church was then chosen to fill the position, beginning with the year 1860 and holding it for three years thereafter. Benoni Haskins (1863-5), was the immediate successor of Mr. Church and then came, in order, the following named: S. Whitcombe, 1865-72; Dr. J. Muncey, 1872-3; J. H. Beadle, 1873-4, to fill a vacancy; R. W. Noble, 1874-6; Z. C. Green, 1876-80; Hartley Hasket, 1880-2; H. W. Smith, failed to qualify in 1882, but did in 1885; E. N. Bailey, 1886-8; J. A. Treganza, 1888-9; J. W. Knadler, 1889-90; E. N. Bailey, 1890-4; A. J. Cole, 1894-6; W. S. Groom, 1896-8; E. N. Bailey, 1898-1900; A. J. Cole, 1900-4; A. R. Carton, 1904-7; L. M. Small, 1907-9; H. A. Richter, 1909-13; W. R. Keeney, 1913-17; W. F. Missman, 1917-
STATE REPRESENTATION
At the time of its organization Hancock County became a part of the Second Congressional District, which then embraced about half of the state and was represented in the Congressional halls by William Vandever of Dubuque. By the census of 1860 Iowa was entitled to six representatives in Congress and Hancock County, on the redis- tricting of the state in 1862, became a part of the Sixth District. In 1870 the state was again redistricted and this county became a part of the Fourth District. Again in 1882 it was made a part of the Tenth District.
The following men have represented Hancock County in the state legislature: N. V. Brower acted as senator in the Twenty-Second, Twenty-Third, Twenty-Fourth and Twenty-Fifth General Assembly; Henry H. Bush was representative in the Sixteenth General Assem- bly; John Christie, Jr., was a representative in the Twenty-Seventh General Assembly; Albert J. Cole was representative in the Thirty- Fifth; Seth B. Durant was a representative in the Thirty-Sixth; John Hammill was a senator in the Thirty-Third and Thirty-Fourth General Assemblies ; O. K. Maben was a representative in the Thirtieth, Thirty- First, Thirty-Second and the Thirty-Second extra; Charles D. Prit-
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chard was representative in the Tenth session; Andrew C. Ripley was the representative in the Thirty-Third and Thirty-Fourth Gen- eral Assemblies; Thomas A. Way was representative in the Twenty- Eighth General Assembly; J. E. Wichman, Thirty-Seventh General Assembly.
These men named above are those who lived in Hancock County during their term of service in the state legislature, and the list does not comprise all the men who represented the district of which Han- cock County was a part of the various Assemblies. It is intended simply to show the number of Hancock County men who have had the honor of being elected to the legislative halls.
Albert M. Deyoe, for several terms county superintendent of schools, was elected state superintendent of public instruction in the year 1911. He is still serving in this position under appointment.
EARLY POLITICS
At the first election in Hancock County in 1858 there was no excite- ment or contest, as but one person was nominated for each office and he necessarily received all the votes. There were only twenty-two votes cast in all. Another election was held on the 12th of October, 1858, the first having taken place on the 28th of June, and then only the county judge seems to have been voted for. The candidates were M. P. Rosecrans and G. R. Maben, the former receiving eighteen and the latter seventeen votes.
At the fall election of 1859 more interest was evident, as in most cases the office was strongly contested and the successful candidate had not many votes to spare. Charles D. Pritchard and Reuben Church contesting for the office of treasurer and recorder, the former received thirteen and the latter twenty-two votes. Three candidates there were for the office of sheriff, Benoni Haskins, David F. Hunt and Charles M. Hunt, the latter being elected by a plurality of five votes. For superintendent Charles Gillespie defeated James C. Bonar by one vote in a total ballot of thirty-seven. For drainage commis- sioner and surveyor the vote was just as close, resulting in the election of Richard Colburn and Bernard Bolsinger to those respective offices.
With the campaign of 1860 came many new elements of discord in the political field. Already rampant treason had arisen from the South and slavery became the live issue of the day. The country was deeply moved and the different questions stirred the popular heart as it never had been before. The storm had been gathering in the political sky ever since the repeal of the Missouri Compromise and it had not been calmed when "bleeding Kansas" cried out from
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beneath the ruffian's lash and the borderer's knife and pistol. The raid of John Brown, that ended so disastrously for him at Harper's Ferry, roused the evil demon in Southern bosoms, and with both sides excited beyond measure, the country entered into its most mem- orable campaign. The republican convention met at Chicago for the purpose of placing in the field candidates for the Presidency and Vice Presidency. The names of Seward, Chase, Blair and Bates were handed around, but when the name of Abraham Lincoln of Illinois was produced the cheers and demonstrations of the convention plainly showed him to be the favorite. After three ballots he was declared the unanimous choice of the convention and Hannibal Hamlin of Maine was chosen to be his running mate.
The democratic national convention met at Charleston, S. C., April 23, 1860, but disagreements arising between the sectional parts of that great party, no choice could be effected, and after fifty-seven ineffec- tual ballots, many southern delegates withdrew and an adjournment was had to Baltimore. Here, upon the 19th of June the convention again met and after a stormy meeting Stephen A. Douglas was nominated for the Presidency and H. V. Johnson for the Vice Pres- idency.
That portion of the convention that had seceded held a meeting of their own and placed in nomination the then vice president, John C. Breckenridge for President and Joseph Lane, of Oregon, for Vice President. A Union conservative convention also placed in nomi- nation the names of John Bell of Tennessee with Edward Everett of Massachusetts as his running mate.
These four candidates in the field, the exciting question of slavery, together with the threats of secession made by Southern leaders if Lincoln was elected, all combined to make this one of the most exciting forerunners to what followed. Large and enthusiastic meetings were held by all parties in every city and town in the country.
In Hancock County but little of this bitterness was seen in the choice of county officers. Charles D. Pritchard was elected clerk of the courts, beating his rival, A. H. Stiles, by a majority of two. Charles Church also had the same majority over Charles Gillespie for the office of school superintendent. Benoni Haskins was elected drainage commissioner by an unanimous vote of forty-four, the total number of votes cast.
The war was in progress during the political campaign of 1861 and issues growing out of the conduct of the war were the points of dispute. The republicans were the first to hold their convention, meeting at Des Moines in July. They placed in nomination a state ticket and adopted a platform endorsing the action of the government
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in trying to coerce the rebellious states, denouncing the doctrine of secession. The democratic party, while also denouncing the secession of the states, condemned the action of the government in trying to maintain the supremacy of the states by arms. The campaign in Hancock County afforded but little interest, the all absorbing topic being the course of the war. Only forty-eight ballots were deposited at the polls. Where any candidate was known to affiliate with any party, it was found, however, that the lines were drawn very closely. M. P. Rosecrans was elected county judge by only two votes over B. F. Denslow. Reuben Church had thirty-eight votes for treasurer and recorder, and James Crow but twenty-three. Although H. N. Brock- way polled a large majority of the votes of this county for the office of representative in the legislature, he was not able to overcome the opposition in the other counties composing this district. B. A. Hill was the successful candidate for sheriff and J. M. Elder for superin- tendent. Four candidates contended for the office of surveyor and Bernard Bolsinger was the fortunate aspirant. Although the office of drainage commissioner was of no account votes were given for all the following gentlemen: J. Ward, B. Haskins, J. M. Elder, Thomas Magill, William C. Gilpin and A. Williams. Jacob Ward was elected.
The reverses met with by the Union Army during the year 1862 had its depressing effect upon the campaign. The democrats met in convention at Des Moines and adopted a platform in which it was declared that they were in favor of using all the constitutional means for the supression of the Rebellion, but were opposed to any confis- cation or emancipation scheme; were opposed to any suspension of the habeas corpus, and declaring the superiority of the white over the black race, and opposed to the purchase of the slaves.
The republicans in their platform adopted at Des Moines simply reiterated their former platform upon the subject of loyalty to the government and a vigorous prosecution of the war. In this county politics do not seem to have entered into the field, but cach officer seemed to run upon his own merits and capabilities to fulfill the duties of the office. C. C. Doolittle was elected clerk of the court over C. D. Pritchard and G. R. Maben by a majority of four. John Maben took the office of sheriff by twenty-eight votes out of a total vote of thirty- four. J. M. Elder, a democrat, was elected county superintendent of schools by a majority of fifteen.
In 1863 in Hancock only a fair vote was polled, the general pop- ulation being too much scattered to get up much enthusiasm. The winning candidates had better majorities than usual. In 1864 Abra- ham Lincoln was renominated by the republicans with Andrew Johnson of Tennessee associated with him. The democrats put in nomination
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Gen. George B. McClellan, and George H. Pendleton. The republi- cans of the state held a convention at Des Moines July 7th, and adopted a platform endorsing the action of the national convention. The democratic party met also in convention at the same place July 16th, selected a state ticket, but adopted no definite platform. In 1865 the republicans were the first to hold their convention, meeting at Des Moines June 14th, nominating a ticket and adopting a platform. The Union Anti-Negro Suffrage Party met at the capital August 23rd, nominated a ticket and adopted a platform. The democrats also met in convention the same day, but made no nominations, the party supporting the soldiers' ticket. In Hancock County about the only opposition was encountered by C. C. Way, who won the office of school superintendent by a majority of only seven votes.
The campaign of 1866 was fought upon the issue of reconstruc- tion of the South. This was the beginning of what was called the liberal republican movement. In Hancock County politics had little to do with the election as J. M. Elder, a democrat, was elected by a major- ity of fifty-five to the office of clerk of the courts, and L. B. Bailey, a republican, to the office of recorder.
The general issues dividing the parties in 1867 were about the same as in 1866. In this county the republicans carried the day on state matters, but on the county offices the best men went into office irrespective of party and without opposition.
MARRIAGE RECORD
The first marriage license issued in Hancock County bears the date of April 14, 1861, and authorizes Thomas Wheelock to wed Christine Sheaf. This ceremony was performed by M. P. Rosecrans, the county judge.
Among the curious items in regard to marriages in the county is that of the wedding of James Dickinson and Annie Williams, who were "married on a trot," as some of the old settlers described it. The couple drove up to Judge Rosecrans' office, procured the license and then as all were in a hurry, the judge to go to dinner and the couple to return to work at the farm, Rosecrans climbed into the buggy and the ceremony was performed while the outfit traveled down the road. When the judge's home was reached he jumped out and the newly wedded pair proceeded without even slowing up the horse.
The second marriage license was issued on the 15th of April, 1861, to William L. Thatcher and Frances A. Fisk. The county judge also spoke the words which united this couple.
PUBLIC LIBRARY, GARNER
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The following is a list of the various licenses issued for the first few years subsequent to the organization of the county :
James Dickinson and Annie Williams, July 17, 1861; ceremony performed by M. P. Rosecrans, county judge.
Charles Buffon and Hannah Catlin, November 6, 1861; ceremony performed by J. M. Elder, justice of the peace.
Bernard Bolsinger and Margaret Gilpin, July 26, 1862; married by the county judge.
Jacob Ward and Catherine Kneadler, November 13, 1862; cere- mony by James Crow, justice of the peace.
Joseph F. M. Perttenarte and Martha E. MeNutt, July 15, 1863. Elias Tompkins and Sarah Gilpin, December 14, 1864.
Lewis Colburn and Melissa Ward, on January 30, 1865; ceremony performed by Rev. Richard Burge.
Joseph S. Bamford to Lucy Barker, October 10, 1865.
For the first twenty years of the county's existence the number of marriages per year ran from none in 1868 to thirty-six in 1881.
LAND AND PROPERTY VALUES
The value of property open to taxation, that is, all taxable prop- erty, including land, town property, personal property and railroad property in 1869 was $947,687; in 1871, $957,992; in 1872, $953,888; in 1873, $1,192,886; in 1874, $1,273,517; in 1875, $1,252,211; in 1876, $1,391,028; in 1877, $1,264,534; in 1878, $1,385,467 ; in 1880, $1.286,072; in 1883, $1,755,033.
Compare the above with the figures for 1916, which represent the total value of taxable property in Hancock County to be $27,637,364.
REGISTRY OF DEEDS
As has been stated, before its organization Hancock County was attached to Webster County. The first transfers of land, therefore, were recorded in the books of that county, and were afterwards transcribed into the Hancock County books.
The first warrantee deed was recorded as being filed January 1, 1857, at 6 o'clock P. M., and conveyed from David F. Hunt to Robert L. Irwin, of the county of Hancock, the northwest quarter of the southeast quarter of the southwest quarter and the south seven-tenths of the northeast quarter of the southwest quarter of Section 32, Township 94, Range 23, the same containing seventeen acres, more or less, according to the government survey. The consideration named therein was $200, and the instrument acknowledged before L. H. Cutler, notary public, on the 20th day of November, 1856.
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After Hancock County was organized books were procured and the records kept at the house of the first recorder, Reuben Church. The first deed entered by him upon the new records was executed by Luke Nichols and his wife, Maria Nichols, to P. E. Goodale, on the 25th of October, 1860. In consideration of $1500 it conveyed to the latter party the southeast quarter of Section 21, Township 97, Range 26, and the southeast quarter of the southeast quarter of Section 13, Township 96, Range 26. It was acknowledged before J. L. Brown, justice of the peace.
The first mortgage bears the date of April 29, 1859, and was filed for record June 1st of that year. It appears to have been given by William C. Gilpin to George Knowles of Osage, to secure the payment of the sum of $235 one year after date. The land covered by it was the northeast quarter of Section 25, Township 94 North, Range 24 West, in the Turkey River land district.
CHAPTER III
COUNTY SEAT HISTORY
NO COUNTY SEAT-FIRST LOCATION OF COURTHOUSE-FIRST COUNTY BUILD- INGS-GARNER DONATES THIRTY THOUSAND DOLLARS FOR A COURTHOUSE -- THE COUNTY SEAT FIGHT.
For several years after the organization of Hancock County the official business of the civil division was carried on at whatever place the county officials called home-sometimes at Upper Grove and some- times at Ellington, as well as at other places in the county. The few books composing the county records were transported from place to place in a wagon, as new officials were elected. An attempt was made to locate the county seat permanently at Amsterdam and on December 1, 1860, a contract was entered into, by and between M. P. Rosecrans, then county judge, and B. A. Hill, by which the latter party agreed to build for the county a courthouse in the village of Amsterdam, Han- cock County, for and in consideration of $2,000. All the papers were drawn and signed, and the plans and specifications made, but the county judge ceased to be the supreme ruler January Ist following, consequently the matter was dropped, the parties enjoined from pro- ceeding by writ of injunction from the district court made on applica- tion of many of the legal voters of the county.
Then came the first location of the courthouse and county seat of Hancock. The minutes of the supervisors' meeting held on November 4, 1865, are as follows :
"Board met pursuant to adjournment. All members present this A. M. John I. Popejoy, Esq., of Franklin County, and James Good- win of Cerro Gordo County, two of the commissioners appointed to locate the seat of justice of Hancock County and present the following report : In pursuance to the order issued by the Twelfth District Judge, W. B. Fairfield, to John I. Popejoy, James Goodwin and S. B. Hewitt to locate the county seat of Hancock County, Iowa. James Goodwin and John I. Popejoy met pursuant to said order and located said county seat on the southeast quarter of the southwest quarter of Section 31, Township 96, Range 23, at a point sixteen chains and fifty links north and one chain and fifteen links west from the quarter post on the south side of said section, then believing said site to be the best
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location in said county, taking into consideration the present as well as the future prospects of the inhabitants of said county.
"Dated November 4, 1865,
"Signed,
JOHN I. POPEJOY, JAMES GOODWIN.
"On motion of C. Robbins the following resolution was unanimously adopted : Resolved that the board of supervisors of Hancock County proceed to build two buildings at the county seat, to be occupied by county officers, on the southeast quarter of southwest quarter of Sec- tion 31, Township 96, Range 23. (Record further gives sizes of build- ings, sixteen by twenty-four frame and other specifications.)
"On motion James Crow was appointed by the board to procure title to the land upon which the county seat is located and also to sur- vey a village and furnish the board with a plan of the same.
"The board resolved itself into a building committee to superin- tend said buildings and appropriated $2,000 to pay for the same."
On December 4, 1865, the board held another meeting, the minutes of which follow : ,
"Board was notified by John Maben, chairman of the building committee, that the buildings were ready for occupancy by the officers, etc.
"A deed from Truman Seymour to Hancock County, dated Febru- ary 27, 1866, conveying to said county the southeast quarter of the southwest quarter of Section 31, Township 96, Range 23, west of the fifth principal meridian, Iowa, was filed for record March 16, 1866, and duly recorded in book D, page 454, of the deed records of Han- cock County."
The record further shows that proper notice of ten per-cent tax on all taxable property in Hancock County was ordered by the board.
The first county buildings owned by Hancock County were two frame edifices erected in November, 1865. These offices were each six- teen by twenty-four feet and nine feet high. On the 5th of December of the same year the board of supervisors instructed the clerk that he was to notify the various officers that they must take possession of these and keep their books and papers therein.
During the year 1867 the board of supervisors submitted to the people of the county a proposition that they would levy a tax of ten mills on the dollar of taxable property, in the county, for the purpose of building a courthouse. At the special election ordered for that purpose, through some misunderstanding, the proposition was defeated by a vote of thirty-five to nineteen. However, at the next
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meeting of the board, a petition was presented, signed by about forty of the qualified voters of the county, asking a resubmittal of the ques- tion, and the board granted the same, and ordered the election to take place on the 23d of the following March. Upon this date the voters cast their ballots for the tax by a score of fifty-five to eighteen. The board of supervisors at once proceeded to let the contract for the construction of the courthouse. The contract was let to Grove R. Maben. During the summer he constructed the building and about the last of the year 1868 turned it over to the county officials. It was built of briek, which Maben burned upon his own farm in Ellington and hauled to the chosen site. On the first floor on each side of a wide cor- ridor were the our principal offices of the county and at the rear the safety vault. The court room was in the second story. The original contract with Maben called for the sum of $9,000, but alterations and additions brought the figure up to $10,000 before the building was completed.
The first two offices constructed by the county were built of pine hroughout from the flooring to the shingles. A report was made to the board of supervisors showing that these first buildings cost the county the sum of $1,797.55, but a stable had been erected at the same time and place for $582.90, making in the aggregate $2,380.45. This amount was swelled by $180, allowed or time employed by John Maben, chairman of the board, in overseeing the work of building and $19.55 for fencing the lot. The bids for the erection of the 1867 courthouse ran as follows: G. R. Knapp, $9,800; G. W. Beadle, $8,500; J. C. Bonar, $8,900; John Christie, Sr., $8,500; Charles Bice, $8,449; H. N. Brockway, $9,444.44; G. R. Maben, $9,000; J. P. Gardner and Robert Clark, $9,000; A. D. Hiams, $9,000; George Butts, $9,000; David Lean and L. Hill, $9,000. As mentioned before, the contract was let to G. R. Maben.
In the latter part of the year 1898 there arose the noted county seat fight between Garner and Britt, which struggle was not definitely decided until over five years later. The bitterness and hostility aroused by this county seat trouble was an unfortunate thing for Han- cock County, although the old feeling has largely been eradicated. Britt desired the county seat to be removed to her site from Concord and in February, 1898, donated a block of ground and bonded itself for $25,000 to insure the erection of a courthouse without expense to the county. On March 30, 1898, a petition was filed in the county auditor's office, formally asking that the county seat be relocated in the town of Britt. Garner donated $30,000 in cash for the erection of a court- house. During the summer of 1898 the petition of Britt was acted upon by the board of county supervisors and found insufficient. The
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affair dragged through the trial court and then was taken to the Iowa supreme court. The courthouse at Garner was built during the inter- val. The supreme court rendered a decision on October 17, 1899, the text of which is quoted below, as giving a concise history of the case up until this time:
"Thos. A. Way, et al. ) VS. Two cases.
E. P. Fox, et al.
"These two cases involve the same question. The first is a cer- tiorari proceeding to test the legality of the proceedings of the defend- ants sitting as a board of supervisors on changing the site of the county buildings of Hancock County. The second is an injunction suit to restrain the defendants from removing the county seat from what was theretofore known as the village of Concord, to the town of Garner.
"The trial court quashed the writ issued in the first case and sus- tained a demurrer to the petition in the second, and plaintiff's appeal.
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