USA > Iowa > Allamakee County > History of Winneshiek and Allamakee counties, Iowa > Part 47
USA > Iowa > Winneshiek County > History of Winneshiek and Allamakee counties, Iowa > Part 47
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"With regard to the word 'permanent,' which appears in the act of 1851, he said that the Legislature did not by that word in- tend to make the act immutably durable-that even if the Legis- lature had so intended, it was an excess of legislation and, con- sequently, void. The Legislature could not pass a law and make it impossible to change or repeal the same by subsequent legislation.
"He further said that the duties required of the county Judge in the act, providing for the re-location of the county seat, were not discretionary. The District Court could compel the County Judge by mandamus to perform the duties required of him in the act-that if he refused to re-convey the land and lots spoken of in the act, to the proprietors of Columbus, he could be compelled."
At the March term of the County Court, 1856, a petition was presented, praying that the question of removal of the county seat from Waukon to Rossville be submitted to the people, and John T. Clark, prosecuting attorney and ex-officio county judge, decided that the question should be so submitted at the April elec- tion. A similar petition was also presented in favor Whaley & Topliff's Mill, in Center township, and was likewise granted. This made a triangular contest, and Waukon received a large majority over both the other points, the vote being: Waukon, 617, Whaley & Topliff's Mill, 314: Rossville, 144.
Early in 1859 a petition was circulated by Lansing for submit- ting the question of removing the county seat to that place, and her citizens offered to donate suitable lots (Park Block) and erect a court house thereon to cost $8,000. At the same time $5,000 was offered by Waukon to aid in the erection of county buildings at that place. A meeting was held at the latter place and a com- mittee appointed, consisting of A. J. Hersey, John T. Clark, L. O. Hatch, W. S. Cooke, A. Hersey, L. T. Woodcock, W. W. Hunger- ford, J. C. Smith and Jehial Johnson, to select an eligible point on the Mississippi, other than Lansing, through which Waukon might transact her shipping business. At a later meeting the com- mittee reported that there was no one point to which they could in good faith pledge their entire support, but suggested that Columbus was the nearest and most accessible point at which to transact river business, provided she would furnish the necessary facilities; and that Johnsonsport was the best point for the transaction of railroad business, provided she would furnish ferry-boat connection with
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HISTORY OF ALLAMAKEE COUNTY. O
the railroad at Prairie du Chien, and other facilities. On March 7th the petition was presented to the County Judge (G. M. Dean) by S. H. Kinne.
A motion was made by John T. Clark that the petition be dis- missed on the ground that the Court had no power to order an election in April, as the April election had been repealed. Messrs. Clark and Hatch argued the question for the dismissal and G. W. Camp and L. H. Howe on the part of Lansing. Judge Dean reserved his decision until the following morning, when he granted the petition and ordered an election to be held on the 4th day of April. The contest was a hot one. It was originated by the most honored and influential citizens of Lansing; and all the means at their command were used on both sides to win the public favor. On the part of Lansing, John Haney and H. W. Hough- ton entered into bonds to the amount of $15,000 to guarantee the use of Park Block to the county as long as the county seat should remain in Lansing, and a number of her best citizens gave similar bonds for $16,000 that in case the county seat should be removed to Lansing they would expend $8,000 in the erection of public buildings on said block, to be the property of the county so long as the county seat should remain at that place. While on the part of Waukon, seventeen of her most substantial men bound themselves in the sum of $10,000 that in case the county seat should remain where it then was the citizens of Waukon would pay $5,000, to be expended in the erection of county buildings on the land already owned by the county at that place. The verdict of the people was in favor of Waukon by a majority of 420. Waukon 1,248; Lansing, 828. Regarding this result as the end of controversy, and as evidence of the wish of the people that our donation should be used for the purpose for which it was offered, the County Judge, on the 2d of August, 1859, let a contract for the erection of a permanent court house (including a jail), at a cost of thirteen thousand six hundred and fifty-five dollars, five thousand dollars of which sum was paid by a transfer of the pro- ceeds of the Waukon bond, and the remainder of which was paid by the county. The contractors were J. W. Pratt and C. W. Jenkins, and the building was erected and completed during the years 1860-61.
Again, on the 3d day of December, 1860, a petition was pre- sented to the County Court, Judge John A. Townsend, praying for the re- location of the county seat at the point between Lan- sing and Capoli, and an election was ordered, in accordance therewith, on the 8th day of April, 1861. This time one of the points raised was the legality of the contract for the erection of the county building at Waukon without first submitting it to a vote of the people, but this was virtually set at rest by the follow- ing correspondence:
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HISTORY OF ALLAMAKEE COUNTY.
WAUKON, Jan. 19, 1861.
M. McGlathery, District Attorney of the Tenth Judicial District:
SIR-Enclosed you will find a copy of a contract made Aug. 2d, 1859, by the County Judge of Allamakee County, for the erection of county buildings, the contractor's bill for work under the con- tract, and copy of submission by the County Judge to the people of the question of appropriating the swamp lands for the erection of buildings made Sept. 6th, 1859, which said appropriation was approved by the people at the October election, 1859.
Please to favor the Board of Supervisors with an official opinion respecting the legality of the contract, and particularly the power of the County Judge to enter into a contract at that time for the erection of buildings, at that cost, without first submitting the question of erecting the buildings to a vote of the people; or, in other words, is the county legally bound to pay for buildings erected under that contract.
Also an opinion whether it is the duty of this Board to issue warrants to the contractors for the payment of their bill out of the ordinary county funds (provided the contract be legal), or whether the contractors are limited by that vote to the swamp lands for their pay. You will observe that the.submission of ap- propriation was made to the people after the contract was execut- ed. As a matter of fact there are no swamp land funds in the treasury, nor are there likely to be soon, by which to pay the bills, nor is there any question raised as to the correctness of the bills or the estimates.
Please remit by mail your official opinion on the above points at your earliest convenience. Very respectfully,
M. HANCOCK,
Chairman Board Supervisors of Allamakee County, Iowa.
WEST UNION, January 29, 1861. M. Hancock, Esq., Chairman Board Supervisors Allamakee Co .:
SIR-Yours of January 19th, with" enclosed contract between the county and Jenkins & Pratt, together with election notice, is at hand. At the time the contract was made the County Judge had the power to enter into a contract for building a court house and jail, and there was no law in force requiring him to submit the proposition to the people of the county. The contract is made in the name of the county and it is bound by it. This question is fully settled by the supreme court in case of State ex rel Brook vs Napier 7 Iowa, 425.
2. By act of January 25, 1855, where swamp lands could not be redeemed, counties could apply the proceeds of aid lands to the erection of county buildings, provided the question is first submitted to the people. The swamp lands themselves can only be appropriated as provided by the act of 1853. The submission to the people was done after the contract was made, and it formed
435
HISTORY OF ALLAMAKEE COUNTY.
no part of the contract, but was done for the purpose of avoiding heavy taxes, and the county is responsible to the contractors with- out any regard to the swanıp lands, as far as I am able to judge from the papers now before me.
Yours respectfully,
MILO MOGLATHERY, District Attorney.
However, a certain effect remained, which, together with the combination of Columbus with Lansing, a bond entered into by their people to erect a court house at "The Point," without ex- pense to the county, and the disaffection of Rossville people resulted in a re-location by a vote of 1,257 for the Point, against 1,231 for Waukon-a majority of 26 votes, and the county records and furniture were immediately removed to that place ..
Believing that this combination of circumstances would not operate a second time; the people of Waukon the same year cir- culated a petition for the removal of the object of controversy to the new building at Waukon, and it was presented to the Board of Supervisors, October 14,1861, and another election or- dered to be held in April, 1862. Again was the ground hotly contested, and again was "The Point" victorious by a majority of 22-that place receiving 1332, against 1310 for Waukon.
Once more, in 1864, Waukon decided to make an effort to re- gain the seat of justice, and the contest waxed hotter than ever before. At this time there was a project to build a railroad up the valley of Paint Creek, by the Prairie du Chien and Cedar Valley R. R. company, and a great deal of sport was made of this "paper railroad" on the part of Lansing people, who declared it to be an electioneering dodge to make votes for Waukon. In June the Board of Supervisors ordered an election to be held at the time of the general election, November 8th. Again the fight was very close, and when the Board met to canvas the re- turns, the result was found to depend upon Franklin tp., from which no record of the vote had been received, so the canvass was made without it, giving the Point a majority of 69-1205 for the Point, and 1136 for Waukon, and the matter was carried into the District Court, E. H. Williams, Judge. The Point took a change of venue to Delaware County, and when the decision there was rendered adversely to their interests, appealed to the Supreme Court, by which it was not decided until 1867, when it was adjudged that Waukon was rightfully the county seat, and the records were once more removed to that place, where they have since remained.
Pending this decision, in June, 1866, occurred the attempted removal of the records from Lansing by Sheriff Townsend and a posse of about thirty men from Waukon, which created a great deal of excitement at the time, as well as amusement for those who participated, and has since been a prolific topic of good- natured raillery .. After the case had been heard before the Dis-
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HISTORY OF ALLAMAKEE COUNTY.
trict Court for Delaware County, decision was rendered in favor of Waukon, and a writ of mandamus issued, ordering the Board to count the vote of Franklin township-the returns having been ob- tained-giving Waukon a majority of 23 votes. Whereupon the board appointed Sheriff Townsend as a committee to remove the records, which he proceeded to do. Meantime Lansing had taken an appeal to the Supreme Court, a writ of supersedeas was issued and served upon the Board June 7th, only eight out of the eighteen members accepting such service, however. The Sheriff received no orders countermanding his authority to remove the records, and early on the morning of June 9th the "raid" was made. We copy portions of an account we find in the Lansing Mirror of June 12, 1866, omitting severe personal allusions. Some statements were of course somewhat colored to suit the excite- ment of the occasion, and the local feeling:
"On Saturday morning last, about the hour of eight, the sheriff of Allamakee county, a resident of the village of Waukon, fol- lowed by a picked posse of Waukon men, entered the court house at this place and attempted to remove perforce, without a shadow of authority, the county records to the above 7x9 village. So quietly and stealthily did the band of raiders approach the build- ing that none of the officers were aware of their close proximity until Townsend hurriedly entered and passed from office to office, informing them that he was after the county records, * and set his gang to cleaning out the several offices, not even giv- ing the officials warning or time to pack up the documents in their possession. Teams were in waiting at the front door of the court house, and in the twinkling of an eye the most important records were loaded up and the teams put in motion for Waukon. Little or no resistance was made by the county officers, with the
exception of Treasurer Healey, * * who was assaulted by one of the raiders, a brave officer, who during the late rebel- lion rose to the position of Colonel. The treasurer repelled the assault, and with his fist wounded the valorous colonel in the short ribs. * Fifteen minutes had hardly elapsed after the departure of the robbers, until the road leading in the direction of Milton was thronged with our citizens, who were in for a little sport and the recapture of the records.
"The Lansing boys overhauled the teams in the vicinity of Milton. Mr. Darwin Shaw in the meantime had captured a horse near the road, and in hot haste rode into Milton and informed the citizens of that village what was on the tapis. They turned out en masse, and when the advance team made its appearance they halted it, and out came the contents
of the. wagon
in less time than it takes to write this sentence. * * Several of the Waukon men showed fight, but they soon came to the con- clusion that 'discretion was the better part of valor,' and desisted from perpetrating summary punishment upon their pursuers. The
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HISTORY OF ALLAMAKEE COUNTY.
stolen documents were recovered, placed in the Lansing wagons, and returned to their respective offices in the court house at Lansing.
"Cheer after cheer rent the air when the boys returned. They were enthusiastically received by the citizens Hats were thrown skyward, handkerchiefs were waved, and lager quaffed. Quiet is again restored and the county seat remains at Lansing."
In August, 1868, S. V. Shaw, Israel Bequette, and J. M. Rose published a notice that at the next September session of the Board of Supervisors, a petition would be presented asking that another election be ordered between Lansing and Waukon. The Board met on the first Monday in September, and it was con- cluded that all the business necessary to be done might be transacted in a short session, as owing to the pressure of "fall work," etc., it was the wish of some of the members to be at home. Accordingly a committee on school. tax levy labored a good share of that night to prepare their report, and Tuesday forenoon the remaining business was transacted and the Board adjourned sine die, by a vote of 12 to 3, three members being ab- sent. Later in the day the Lansing petitioners put in an appear- ance, but the Board having adjourned no election could be ordered that year.
Early in the spring of 1869 the contest was reopened and waxed warm from the start. A petition for an election was widely cir- culated, as was a remonstrance to the same, and each party charged the other with obtaining many illegal signatures. At the June session of the Board, on the first day, the petition was presented and referred to a committee, and on the following day the re- monstrance appeared and was also referred, and was found to out- number the petition by 86 names-2122 on the remonstrance and 2036 on the petition. A majority report of the committee was made by D. Dickerson, J. S. Deremo, Jeremiah Leas, and S. F. Goodykoontz, stating their belief that a large number of signers to the petition had also signed the remonstrance, which would swell the majority of the latter over the petition by 150 to 200 names, and therefore recommended that no election be ordered. A minority report by G. Kerndt, S. H. Haines and William Yeoman, was also submitted, representing it as their belief that the peti- tion contained a majority of the names of the legal voters of the county, and that they were in favor of allowing the people to ex- press themselves at the polls. After some close work the minor- ity report was adopted and an election ordered by a vote of ten to eight.
One recourse was left to the Waukon managers, and proceeding to Decorah they laid the matter before Judge M. V. Burdick, who granted an injunction restraining the Board from taking any fur- ther steps towards holding such election, until permission should be granted. In the District Court a petition was filed asking for a writ of certiorari, commanding the Board to certify to said
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HISTORY OF ALLAMAKEE COUNTY.
Court a record of its proceedings relating to the county seat, which was granted, and a special term appointed for July 7th for a hearing in said case. At the time appointed the case was heard and judgment rendered annulling and setting aside the order of the Board for an election. The defendant appealed, but after the election the previous decision was affirmed, at McGregor. Mean- while, when the Circuit Court sat, in July, the injunction was dissolved and the 'election was held as ordered, October 5th, re- sulting in a majority of 254 for Waukon-1,544 to 1,290.
After this decisive quietus, there was a lull in the county seat war for six years, when, at the June session of the Board, 1875, a petition was presented containing 1,906 names, and another election was duly ordered to be held at the general election in October. During this summer was begun the construction of the Waukon and Mississippi Railroad. Realizing that it was "now or never" with her, Lansing massed her forces for the final con- flict, and the campaign was pushed vigorously on both sides, re- sulting in the largest vote ever cast in the county, and a majori- ty of 340 in favor of Waukon, she receiving 2,145 against 1,805 for Lansing. It is said that the reason for this large vote was the importation of Winneshiek county voters on the west, and Wisconsin voters and river men on the east.
CHAPTER X.
County Buildings; Educational: County School Statistics; Normal Institutes; Religious Organizations; Gospel Pioneers; Statistics of Population, etc .; Assessed Valuations; Political Statistics.
We regret that limited space will prevent our presenting a chapter descriptive of the bridges, dykes and roads of the county. Their history would make an interesting volume of itself, and is necessarily debarred from this work.
Of the buildings, the court house at Waukon was erected dur- ing 1859 and 1860, and completed in 1861, by Chas. W. Jenkins and John W. Pratt, to whom the contract was let, in 1859, by the County Judge, George M. Dean. Its cost was $13,655, ot which $5,000 was contributed by citizens of Waukon. As originally built, the rear portion of the first floor was occupied by a jail, with six cells; but this proved so inadequate for the secure reten- tion of prisoners, and the county officers requiring additional room, it was finally removed altogether, and for the past few years criminals awaiting trial have been sent to the Decorah jail.
Previous to the building of the Court House they were con- fined in the Clayton County jail at Garnavillo. In 1870 two large
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HISTORY OF ALLAMAKEE COUNTY.
fire-proof vaults were built in the Court House, at an expense of $2,000 or more, for the use of the Treasurer's and Recorders offi- ces-that of the former being also supplied with a burglar-proof safe, with a Yale time lock. In 1881, similar vaults were put in for the safe keeping of the records in the Auditor's and Clerk's offices. In 1882 the building was repaired throughout, repainted, and is about to be arranged for heating by Ruttan furnaces in the basement.
After the county seat was removed to The Point, in 1861, a Court House was erected there-in the same year-of stone, some- what smaller than the one at Waukon, and without a jail. It was built by the citizens of Lansing without expense to the county, in accordance with their bond to so do in case the county seat should be located there; but it has not been used for county pur- poses since 1867. The land was donated by Haney & Houghton and J. M. Rose. Col. Guilbert and Geo. W. Hays were the build- ing committee who prosecuted the work, the total cost of which was not far from $5,000.
The County Poor Farm comprises the southeast quarter of sec- tion 8, Makee township, four miles north by east of Waukon, and was purchased of Joseph Burton, October 22, 1866, for $4,000. There was a large and substantial frame building on the place, which was built by Mr. Burton in 1856, with hard wood timber and matched siding. It was 29x37 feet, with one L 14x16 and another about 15 feet square. After its purchase by the county it was raised from a story and a half to two full stories in height, and the upper portion finished off.
On the evening of January 23, 1880, this house was destroyed by fire, involving a loss of some $2,000, as there was no insurance. A temporary building was immediately erected for the accomoda- tion of the inmates until the present substantial briek structure was erected in 1881. It is 38x40 feet, two stories, each ten feet in the clear, with cellars under all, and is heated by furnace in the basement. Its total cost was about $5,000. Contractors: John Griffin for the wood-work, Samuel Peck for stone and brick- work. It was built from the proceeds of a special tax of one mill on a dollar, voted by the people of the county at the general election of 1880.
In 1874 the question of a special tax, for the purpose of build- ing a county jail, was submitted to the voters of the county, and defeated by an overwhelming vote. In 1880 a similar question was voted down by a majority of 735. In 1881 the question was again submitted, as follows:
"Shall the coupon bonds of the county, in the sum of $10,000, be issued, upon which to borrow money to be used in erecting a jail in and for said county at the county seat? Said bonds to be issued in denominations of not less than $100 or more than $500 each, and to bear interest at the rate of not more than 7 per cent.
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HISTORY OF ALLAMAKEE COUNTY.
per annum, payable annually on the 1st of May of each year; the bonds to be issued of the date of May 1st, 1882. Said bonds to be made to become duc: $2,000 on May 1st, 1883; $2,000 on May 1st, 1884; $3,000 on May 1st, 1885, and $3,000 on May 1st, 1886, and to be payable, principal and interest, at the office of the County Treasurer; and none of said bonds to be sold or exchanged by the county for less than their face value, with all interest ac- crued on them at the date of sale or exchange. And shall a special tax of one mill on the dollar be levied on the taxable property of the county for the year 1882, and for each succeed- ing year thereafter until a sufficient sum is raised from said levies to pay said bonds with all accruing interest?"
This proposition was adopted by a majority of 129 votes, and in the spring of 1882 contracts were awarded as follows: Stone-work, brick-work and excavations, to Samuel Peck & Son, for $3,000; carpenter's work, tinner's work and painting, to A. J. Rodgers, for $3,000; cell-work, window guards, iron doors, etc., to Diebold Safe and Lock Company, for $3,400. Afterwards a contract for heating furnace was let to the Ruttan Furnace Company, through A. J. Rodgers, for about $600. The building is now in course of erection, and promises to be one of the best of its class in North- ern Iowa. It is of brick, stone and iron, 74x33 feet in extreme; the jail part will be one-story of 17 feet, with iron roof entirely fire-proof; the part for the sheriff's residence two stories of 10 feet each. The location is on the county square in Waukon, a short distance south of the court house.
EDUCATIONAL.
The early comers into this county were largely from New England and other portions of the east, where good school facili- ties were enjoyed; and bringing with them their love for and be- lief in the absolute [necessity of education, the establishment of free public schools was one of the first things they looked to after getting comfortably housed in their new home. To Postville we believe belongs the honor of possessing the first public school in the county, established there in the summer of 1848. The first school house was built near Hardin in 1849. In the central por- tion of the county the first school was undoubtedly that taught by L. W. Hersey, in the winter of 1852 and 1853, in a log cabin built by Deacon Azel Pratt for a dwelling in the fall of 1850. The first public school in Lansing was begun in February, 1853. The first in Waukon in the early winter next following, taught by L. (). Hatch. Previous to this D. D. Doe taught in Makee Township just east of Waukon. Quite early in the fifties, Reuben Smith built a small school house on his place in Yellow River, and em- ployed a teacher to instruct his children, probably admitting those of his neighbors to the benefit of the school also. The first pub- lic school in Smith's district was taught by C. T. Granger (now Circuit Judge) in the winter of 1854-5.
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