USA > Iowa > Hancock County > History of Winnebago County and Hancock County, Iowa, a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement, Volume I > Part 29
USA > Iowa > Winnebago County > History of Winnebago County and Hancock County, Iowa, a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement, Volume I > Part 29
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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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E. R. Schafer and J. J. Suckow. Jr. On September 28, 1898, the judge of the district court ordered that J. L. Harr, S. B. Day, H. W. Gruetzmacher, Frank Gruetzmacher, W. R. Bloom be appointed com- missioners for an election to be held November 15th of the same year upon the question of incorporating Klemme. The vote was in favor of the move and after all legal matters had been attended to the town was duly declared an incorporated community.
The first bank in Klemme was incorporated in 1892 as the State Savings Bank, the same name as the present. The capital stock was $10,000 and the following men signed the articles as interested in the organization of the institution : Fred Arnold, C. H. Wiegman, William Shattuck, W. R. Bloom, C. W. Knapp, J. E. Wichman, Isaac Sweigard, J. M. Elder, J. J. Upton, A. C. Ripley and M. A. Fell. This bank is now known as the First National Bank and is officered by the following named gentlemen : C. H. Wiegman, president ; August Lan, vice presi- dent ; F. A. Arnold, cashier; C. F. Bier, assistant cashier. The capital stock is $25,000; the surplus and undivided profits $8,000; and the deposits amount to about $225,000.
The present State Savings Bank of Klemme was incorporated in 1904 and the articles filed at the county seat on February 4th of the same year. The capital stock first named was $15,000, the same as the present. The first officers were: W. R. Bloom, president; William Schafer and D. D. Ross, vice presidents; and H. A. Sweigard, cashier. The articles were also signed by Isaac Sweigard, M. T. Love, J. E. Johnson, William Katter, J. F. Hartfelder, August Kalter. The presi- dent of the institution at the present is the same as at the start; the vice president is D. D. Ross; the cashier, P. M. Griesemer; and the assistant cashier, F. J. Wenck. There is a surplus of $25,000 carried by the bank, which includes the undivided profits, and the deposits amount to about $250,000.
GOODELL
The town of Goodell, located on the Rock Island Railroad in Avery Township, has a population of about 250 people. The official plat of this village was filed according to law on December 16, 1884. The plat stated that the village was to occupy the southwest quarter of the southwest quarter of Section 3, Township 94, Range 23 West. The land in question was owned by the Cedar Rapids, Iowa Falls & North- western Land and Lot Company, of which corporation S. S. Dows was president and James B. Close secretary. LeRoy Grant surveyed the town, marking the streets and laying off the lots.
The State Savings Bank of Goodell was incorporated and articles
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filed November 14, 1892, with a capital stock of $10,000. The following named men signed the articles : A. C. Ripley, J. J. Upton, A. J. Walters, L. M. Walters, J. M. Elder, M. A. Fell, M. R. Chambers, J. E. Wichman, Isaac Sweigard, William Shattuck, John Brisco, C. M. Church, M. L. Wiles, E. J. Baumann A. D. White, G. W. Elder, M. C. Elder, Thomas Cashman, C. S. Farman, S. S. Matson, William Burgess and A. McDowell. The present officers of the State Savings Bank of Goodell are : G. W. Butts, president; T. R. Burgess, vice president ; John Suur- balle, cashier; C. A. Schmalle, assistant cashier. The capital stock is yet $10,000; the surplus and undivided profits about $12,000; and the deposits $100,000.
HAYFIELD
The plat of the town of Hayfield was filed April 10, 1891. The land named embraced the northeast quarter of Section 32, Township 97, Range 24 West. The village was surveyed in December, 1890, by request of Andrew Larson. Olaf Halverson, Thomas Paulson and A. Larson were assistants to F. N. Pitkin, surveyor. The town has since grown until it has a population of approximately 200 people, and is an energetic trading point for the surrounding country.
The Bank of Hayfield was started in 1899. It is a branch of the First National Bank of Garner, with C. H. Lackore, cashier, in charge.
MILLER
The plat of the village of Miller, a town of 150 people, was filed with the county auditor October 21, 1895. W. L. Gordon, the surveyor, and E. C. Miller were the owners of this land, which was described in the plat as being a portion of the south half of the southeast quarter of Section 30 and a portion of the north half of the northeast quarter of Section 31, Township 97, Range 23 West.
The Bank of Miller was established in 1899. P. H. Larson is the president of this institution and F. L. Miller is the cashier. The capital stock is $60,000.
CRYSTAL LAKE
There are two plats of Crystal Lake on file in the county auditor's office, one for the village of Crystal Lake and the other for the town of Crystal Lake. The former comprised the northwest fractional quarter of Section 15, Township 97, Range 25 West, and the latter
CRYSTAL LAKE SAVINGS BANK
ILLORA POUSDALIPNY R
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embraced the southeast quarter of the northeast quarter of Section 16, Township 97, Range 23 West. A. C. Ripley owned the land in the village plat and F. N. Pitkin was the surveyor. The survey of the town plat was made by H. T. Ambrose at the request of H. P. Lawler, David and M. F. Magner on the 5th, 6th and 7th of October, 1898.
The petition for the incorporation of Crystal Lake was filed April 19, 1899. Judge Kelley of the district court appointed H. P. Lawler, L. E. Bowker, M. F. Magner, H. H. Home and J. H. Benson as com- missioners for the election. The vote being favorable for the propo- sition, Crystal Lake was, on May 16, 1899, ordered to be incorporated.
The Crystal Lake Savings Bank was incorporated December 16, 1905, with a capital stock of $10,000. G. S. Gilbertson was the presi- dent; N. E. Isaacs, vice president; L. M. Biekal, cashier; and E. S. Ellsworth and R. A. Bickal among the directors. Chris. Gillstrap is now the president of the institution and F. A. Gabrielson the vice president; the capital stock is the same, the surplus is $2,000 and the deposits amount to about $70,000.
The Farmers National Bank was established in 1910. H. R. Kluver is the president ; Nels Matson the vice president; J. E. Hansen, cashier ; and H. P. Stahr, assistant cashier. The capital stock is $25,000; sur- plus and undivided profits, $3,200; and deposits $60,000.
There was an institution in Crystal Lake known as the First State Bank, which was incorporated August 22, 1898, with the following as signers of the articles filed : Isaac N. Perry, E. Huntington, JJosiah Little, W. B. Vaughan, J. O. Osmundson, F. N. Vaughan, E. C. Haga, J. F. Thompson and T. Jacobs.
The Crystal Lake State Bank was an institution incorporated February 17, 1902, with a capital stock of $25,000. G. S. Gilbertson was the president; C. J. Thompson, vice president; A. Feakins, cashier; and O. A. Olson, E. C. Abbey and J. E. Wichman were among the directors.
WODEN
The town of Woden, located on the Rock Island Railroad, in Bing- ham Township, had 162 people living within its borders in 1910. according to the government census. The plat of the village was filed December 20, 1898. Thomas A. Way was the owner of the land, which was designated as the southwest quarter of Section 10, Township 97 North, Range 26 West. F. N. Pitkin surveyed the town site.
Woden was legally incorporated in the year 1904. The petition for incorporation was filed February 6, 1904, and was signed by the
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following citizens of the town : H. E. Baack, Fred Baumgartner, V. L. Requartt, M. Quinn, George Logan, J. H. Bode, August Swanson, J. L. Bushman, G. E. Baack, A. Christensen, B. A. Pannkuk, B. H. Darkson, J. O. Lewis, C. L. Cunningham, N. D. Ray, O. K. Kramer, W. Nicholson, D. O. Logan, C. O. Lewis, Hugh Cline, H. W. Schmitt, P. T. Christian, A. O. Thompson, D. L. Hall, C. E. Lawyer, L. C. Peterson, H. R. Peitke, H. E. Gingery, E. W. Hempstead, J. Keil. The election for city officers was held and J. O. Lewis chosen the first mayor.
The Bank of Woden was established in the year 1898. The officers of the institution at the present time are as follows: John H. Bode, president; A. W. Lewis, cashier. The capital stock is $25,000; the surplus is $4,000, which includes undivided profits; and the deposits average $150,000.
The State Savings Bank of Woden was incorporated May 6, 1912, when the articles were filed. They were signed by: A. C. Ripley, president; F. M. Hanson, vice president ; J. J. Cosgrove, cashier; and Thomas Quinn, C. A. Missman, F. E. Kettwick, William Orthiel, Thomas Ormsby and T. W. Neise. The present officers of the bank are : Thomas Ormsby, president; W. C. Burleson, vice president; H. O. Swingen, cashier; and H. F. Kammeier, assistant cashier. The capital stock is now $15,000; the surplus and undivided profits, $3,000; and the deposits average $80,000.
STILSON
The town of Stilson, in Boone Township, was platted in the year 1893. The plat was filed June 14th and named the land within the town as being the northeast quarter of the northwest quarter and the northwest quarter of the northeast quarter of Section 23, Township 95 North, Range 26 West. The Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Rail- road owned the land. It was surveyed by F. N. Pitkin.
HUTCHINS
The plat of the small town of Hutchins was filed January 13, 1893. The owners of the land were J. N. and L. G. Inman and it was surveyed by C. F. Vincent on October 29th and 30th, 1891. It included all of the part of the southwest quarter of the northwest quarter of Section 35, Township 96, Range 26 West, south of the right of way of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad. It is located in Orthel Town- ship.
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DUNCAN
Duncan is a small station on the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad, located in Garfield Township. The plat of this village was filed February 28, 1900, and designated the village site as being the north half of the southwest quarter of Section 29, Township 96, Range 24. The survey was begun April 17th and finished on the 19th, in 1897, by F. N. Pitkin, at the request of Frank Urich, Sr. John Wurm and Ed Chischilles assisted with the work.
OTHER TOWNS
The town of Concord was platted in 1868 and the plat filed for record July 18th of that year. The site was located on the southeast quarter of the southwest quarter of Section 31, Township 96 North, Range 23 West. James Crow surveyed the land. The town was later incorporated with Garner, during the noted county seat fight with Britt, an account of which may be read in the chapter on County Seat History. The first postoffice in Concord Township was established at Concord, then called Hancock Center, in 1867, with James M. Elder as postmaster. The town never had much business of its own, all of this being done in the adjacent town of Garner.
The pioneer postoffice of Hancock County was established at the village of Amsterdam, at Upper Grove, in Avery Township. This village is now largely a thing of the past. Benoni Haskins was the first postmaster here. The village was surveyed in August, 1858, by G. A. McKay, acting for the proprietors-Thomas Magill and Robert L. Irwin. The village was located on the south half of the southwest quarter of Section 29, Township 94 North, Range 23 West, and the completed plat was filed for record April 9, 1859. Irwin had a small portable saw-mill, which was used to saw up the lumber for building shacks in the new village. Great dreams were indulged in by the few inhabitants, who saw in their small community the nucleus of a great Western metropolis. The history of the attempt to obtain for Amsterdam the county seat has been narrated; shortly after the failure of this scheme R. L. Irwin, the father of the town, left this part of the country, never to return.
Edward Rogers opened a store here in 1859 or 1860, but very shortly suspended business owing to the lack of monetary reward. In 1868 A. D. Hiams embarked upon a mercantile venture. Sylvester Stockwell shortly afterward came here from Ohio with a stock of goods and the two stores were combined. After passing through many hands,
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with varying fortunes, it was purchased by J. B. Kern and the whole outfit moved to Belmond, Wright County. In 1876 George Rogers built a store building and placed therein a stock of goods. Thomas Elder and O. M. Morley succeeded in this latter business after a time. The first blacksmith was Charles Robbins, 1861.
There once existed a village named Ellington, where a postoffice was established in 1859, with Charles C. Doolittle as postmaster. The postoffice has long been abandoned and the village disappeared, except a small cluster of houses.
CHAPTER VI
MILITARY RECORD
WAR TIMES IN HANCOCK COUNTY-ROSTER OF SOLDIERS FROM HANCOCK COUNTY-SKETCH OF THE SECOND IOWA CAVALRY-SKETCH OF THE THIRTY-SECOND IOWA INFANTRY.
Although small, the part played by Hancock County in the War of the Rebellion is a source of pride and satisfaction. Hancock County, when the first rumors of war were heard, became a unit in support of the North. If there were any dissenting voices, they were speedily silenced. The settlers favored the suppression of the South and her iniquitous slavery. The stirring times following Mexican Territory acquisition, the Fugitive Slave Law, the Missouri Compromise, the struggle in Congress, the Lincoln-Douglas debates and Lincoln's election to the Presidency were felt in the distant country here in Iowa. News traveled slowly and was much garbled by the time it reached the set- tlers' ears, but all those who could prepared to answer the call of the country to war.
A special session of the county board of supervisors was held on the 18th of August, 1862, in response to the request of the governor of the state, that inducements, in the way of bounties, be held out to volunteers; and that provision be made for their families. In accordance, the following resolution was adopted :
Resolved, by the board of supervisors of Hancock County, that each person enlisting in the volunteer force, of this state, as a volun- teer of this county, be allowed out of the treasury of the county the sum of $100; and the wife of each person so volunteering the sum of $1 per week, and to each child under fifteen years of age fifty cents a week, to be paid to the woman and children while said volun- teer continues in the service of the United States. The warrants to be issued immediately upon their being sworn into the service of the state.
The first warrant under this order was drawn to William Church and was for eight dollars.
Very little official business pertaining to the war was transacted by the board until the September session, 1864, when the following was adopted :
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Resolved, that there be appropriated out of the special fund levied by the board, the sum of $500 to each man who may be drafted from Hancock County into the service of the United States, to fill the quota of the said county, under the call of the President of the United States issued in July, 1864, for 500,000 men; and that whenever said men are accepted as such soldiers, the clerk is hereby authorized and instructed to issue said warrants to said men.
When the first call for volunteers came Hancock County had a total population of 179 persons-this was in 1861. Forty-four votes were cast at the election preceding the opening of hostilities and at the election after the close of the war just seventy-six votes were cast. Yet, out of this small number of men of military age, almost twenty- five were found in the ranks of the Union, a percentage unsurpassed in many Iowa counties.
ROSTER
Most of the volunteers from Hancock County went to Belmond, Webster City, Fort Dodge and other larger points to enlist and of course were credited to the counties where they entered the service. A careful search of the Adjutant-General's report justifies the asser- tion that the following roster contains the names of all the men who entered the war from Hancock County :
SECOND CAVALRY
Company I
Cornelius Baker. Jacob Waltz.
Thomas Wheelock. Joseph Gilpin.
Harrison Wheelock. Samuel Gilpin.
Company L
John S. Pritchard. M. S. Gilman. R. R. White.
Joshua Gilman.
Alfred Ward.
Stephen Ward. David Spencer.
Francis Colburn.
ELEVENTH INFANTRY
Lewis Barth, unassigned.
THIRTY-SECOND INFANTRY
Company A
Cephas Church.
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Company B
Capt. II. N. Brockway. John A. Curran.
George R. Laming.
John Christie, Jr. Thomas Magill, Jr. Edward Thorp.
Douglas Magill.
Martin B. Parker.
C. Rosecrans.
Cyrus Church.
A. C. Long.
Company F
Chandler W. Scott.
Simeon B. Wells.
TWELFTH U. S. REGULAR INFANTRY
Company C
J. H. Beadle. B. F. Denslow.
Alexander Decoyne.
Lorenzo Colburn.
G. A. Stiles.
THIRTEENTH U. S. REGULAR INFANTRY
Company H
B. H. Haskins. J. M. Haskins.
UNKNOWN
James Lackore. Mr. Langley. Martin Parker.
SKETCH OF SECOND CAVALRY
The Second Cavalry was made up of volunteers secured from the counties of Winnebago, Hancock, Cerro Gordo, Linn, JJones, Delaware. Dubuque, Fayette and Mitchell. In the latter part of the summer of 1861 all the companies of the regiment proceeded to Davenport, where they were formally entered into the United States service early in the month of September. The aggregate strength of the regiment, when fully organized was about 1050. Governor Kirkwood offered the rank of colonel of the regiment to Capt. W. L. Elliott, of the Third United States Cavalry, and he accepted, with permission of the War Department. "He was a strict disciplinarian," said Sergeant Pierce. in his history of the regiment, "every inch a soldier; and to his untiring efforts as our instructor in the science of war, are we in great measure indebted for whatever honor we afterwards won as a regiment." Edward Hatch, who had been captain of Company A, was commissioned lieutenant-colonel. He afterwards became a brevet major-general and one of the best cavalry officers in the service. The
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majors were: W. P. Hepburn, Datus E. Coon and Hiram W. Love; the first a lawyer and politician, who rose one rank; the second an editor, who became a general officer; the third a man of business, who was compelled by ill health to leave the service before promotion.
The regiment remained near. Davenport, perfecting itself in the use of the saber, until December 7th, when orders were given to proceed to Benton Barracks, Missouri. Here the troops found things very different from their comfortable camp at Davenport; they were crowded into close quarters, sickness of various kinds crept in among the men, and before the regiment left this unhealthy locality it lost about sixty men by death. The regiment remained at Benton Barracks about two months, and as many as were not prostrated by disease were drilled in the school of the mounted trooper.
February 17th the regiment moved by steamer down the river to Bird's Point, in the country in the rear of which the notorious rebel, Jeff Thompson, was creating trouble. Major Love with his battalion marched in pursuit of him, but though Colonel Elliott soon moved to reinforce the major, Thompson was not caught, though Iris command. was dispersed by other troops sent out for that purpose. Major Love's battalion, among other captures, took possession of a newspaper office at Charleston, and issued one number of the Independent, the work thereon, both editorial and mechanical, being done by men of the command.
But they had not joined the army to engage in the newspaper busi- ness. Returning to Bird's Point near the end of the month, the regiment made preparation for the march on New Madrid, of which indeed the movement against Thompson was a preparatory reconnaissance. The march of the cavalry from the time it left Bird's Point was very diffi- cult. It drove the enemy scouts and light bodies of cavalry, mov- ing all the while over a country almost impracticable, fording streams and swimming swamps scarcely penetrable. On one occasion the men marched for nearly half a day through water up their horses' girths. Meanwhile, General Pope had located before New Madrid, where the regiment joined him on the 12th of March, 1862, in time to participate in the attack and bombardment of that place. From the time of the capture of the city to the 6th of April the regiment was continually occupied in guarding trains, in scouting and on picket duty. On the fall of Island No. 10, with its immense material, the grand trophy of engineering skill of the whole war, the regiment crossed the Mississippi, and its advance, under Lieut. Gustave Schmitzer, made them the first troops to enter the island. This officer, with eight men and a guide, on nearing the rebel works, discovered that they were evacuated by the enemy, although many stragglers were to be seen on every side. The
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advance dashed among these, and supposing the entire army to be upon them, they surrendered to the number of eighty-six before Colonel Elliott came up. The regiment captured about two hundred prisoners and was justly entitled to the credit of being the first to enter Island No. 10. It pursued the retreating rebels toward Tip- tonville, beating the swampy woods for prisoners, and returned to camp at New Madrid after an absence of five days. The regiment accompanied the expedition down the river, but the attack of Fort Pillow was abandoned and the regiment landed at Hamburg, Tennes- see, on the 23d of April and at once took position on the left of General Halleck's Army, then moved on Corinth by gradual approaches.
General Pope chafed not a little under the bit of these slow ap- proaches. Frequent scouting expeditions were made by infantry and raids by the cavalry. The position of the Army of the Mississippi too, on the left of our lines, whence the enemies' communications by the Memphis & Charleston Railroad were threatened, called for constant vigilance and no little activity on the part of General Pope. Where- fore, from soon after the time the Second lowa Cavalry, an active regiment, joined in what is called the siege of Corinth, until the evacuation, more than a month afterwards, it performed services of great value, and engaged in skirmishes which were only not battles because fought so near the field of Shiloh.
On the Sth of May General Pope made a reconnaissance in force to the town of Farmington, at that time considerably in advance of the main lines of the Union Army. He drove the rebels from the town and took possession thereof, but in the evening retired with his main force, leaving only a picket in the place. In the operations of this day the Second Cavalry lost two men killed and six wounded.
On the next day the severe skirmish, which has been called the battle of Farmington, took place. General Paine, commanding a force of some half dozen regiments, remained after the reconnaissance of the 8th and in advance of General Pope's camp and beyond a creek hard by. The rebels, for the purpose of capturing the advance guard of the army of the Mississippi, moved from behind their works in heavy force, on the morning of the 9th. Price making a considerable detour to the right to get in the rear of Paine, and Van Dorn moving for direct attack. Happily Price moved too far to the right to accom- plish the object, or Van Dorn delivered his attack too soon, so that Paine after several hours of hard fighting was able to make good his retreat to the main camp. But it is next to certain that he would have been cut off had it not been for the invaluable services of the Second Cavalry. A little after ten o'clock Lieut .- Col. Hatch, com- manding the regiment, received an order from Colonel Elliott, com-
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manding the brigade, to hasten to the assistance of Paine. In tive minutes the regiment was mounted and galloping to the aid of their comrades beyond the creek. Coming upon the field Paine was dis- covered in retreat before an overwhelming force of rebels-several thousand infantry and twenty-four pieces of artillery. The Union forces could retreat only by a single line across the creek, where there was but the merest apology for a bridge. Paine was in imminent danger of capture. The rebels were preparing to charge and could they gain a certain eminence lying between the two forces, with their artillery, they would command the bridge and render passage impos- sible. To prevent the rebels from gaining this coveted eminence the Second Cavalry was ordered to form for a charge. Drawing their sabers, the men instantly took position and were soon sweeping over the hill in a mad but resistless charge. Protected somewhat by the cloud of dust which the horses raised, the regiment dashed right on the rebel artillery and actually drove the gunners from their pieces. But a large army of infantry was in support and the regiment was repulsed. Paine, however, had time to effect a crossing of the creek, and when the Second regained the position the battle was ended.
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