USA > Iowa > Winneshiek County > History of Winneshiek county with biographical sketches of its eminent men > Part 11
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The Decorah Institute is another important educational institution. This institute is under the management of Prof. J. Breckenridge, a fine educator, and assisted by an efficient corps of assistants. Thisinstitution offers a rare inducement to the young man or woman seeking an educa- tion, and parties from the surrounding counties and Minnesota avail themselves of the opportunity.
The Catholics also have a select or parochial school in the city, which is well attended.
The Norwegians have what is called the Norwegian Lutheran Col- lege. It is supported by the contributions of Norwegian congregations throughout the country, chiefly those of the Northwestern States. The building stands on an elevated site, a little west of the city of Decorah, and has connected with it an area of thirty-two acres of beautiful rolling ground. It is an imposing structure, in the Norman gothic style of architecture, and was erected at a cost of $100,000. The main building and one wing were erected in 1865; the other wing, com-
HISTORY OF WINNESHIEK COUNTY.
pleting the original design, was added in 1874. The course of study embraces a preparatory department and a full college course.
This institution has had its infancy as well as its days of prosperity. Its growth, however, has been steady and permanent. It was first opened at LaCrosse, Wis., in 1861, was transferred here in 1862, and moved into the present building in 1865. In LaCrosse it began with eleven students. It had thirty-two on its commencement in Decorah, and eighty on its entrance into the present building. Now it has over 200. A class has been graduated every year since 1866. There are eight professors and two assistant professors. L. Larson, President ; J. D. Jacobson, Secretary. Few institutions are more creditable to the young and growing Northwest than this, which has been erected by the intelli- gent zeal and generosity of one class of our foreign population, who evince, by this enterprise, that they are awake to the spirit of our civili- zation, and mean to keep abreast of the times.
No less than six church-spires point heavenward, in evidence of the love borne by a grateful people for the all-wise Giver of earthly boun- ties, and through whose kind providence they have tasted prosperity. Many of the church buildings are costly and elegant. The finest is the Norwegian Lutheran, located on Broadway, near the handsome resi- dence of Mrs. H. S. Weiser. This building is one of brick and stone masonry work, and was erected at a cost of $20,000. It was built in 1875-6. The next finest church edifice is the Methodist Episcopal, recently completed at a cost of $13,000, and dedicated December 20, 1874. The Congregational Church was built in 1860, and dedicated. in November. It cost about $6,000. The Catholic Church was erected at a cost of about $7,000, in 1865. The Christian Church occupies the old Methodist building, the first church built in Decorah.
The Episcopal Church, located on Broadway, and completed in 1876 at a cost of $5,000, is a model of neatness and taste.
To-day Decorah is the gem city of Northern Iowa. Its business interests are in a flourishing condition. Its people are prosperous. Nature and art have lavishly expended their forces in its behalf. Its peculiar location, rich natural resources, and refined society conspire to make it a city desirable to inhabit. Its rapid growth, and almost unparalleled prosperity in the past, threatens even to be outdone in the future. Surely, we have a city of which to feel proud.
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CHAPTER XII.
MONEEK.
The Story of a Defunct Town-Moneek -The Pioneer Settlers-Their Nearest Neighbors-Their Hospitality-Paddle His Own Canoe- The First Merchant-The Village Smithy - Medicine and the Clergy -Postal Facilities-An Incident-An Influx of Immigrants- What Moneek was in 1853-Its Greatest Prosperity-Its Decline-Busy, Bustling Fellow-A Deserted Village.
" Those who are familiar with the early history of the county, will remember that when its organization was perfected, the most flourishing settlement was neither Decorah or Fort Atkinson. And those who have read the previous chapters contained herein, and Rev. E. Adams' 'First things of Decorah,' will remember that there is good evidence that the residents of both these places were evidently afraid of that third town. The latter, in examination of the records and witnesses, did not venture to inquire deeply into the first county seat vote, and he intimates pretty plainly that sharp practice was resorted to in order to shut out the over- whelming vote which this third town might secure for the coveted honors and the profits arising from its pre-eminence as the county town. The name of this town was Moneek, and in writing township histories, a chapter is devoted to it, because it evidently was, in 1850, 1851 and 1852, the foremost town in the county; and because a veritable history cannot be complete without the story of its rise, growth and decay. The records show it the oldest town in the county, and there is every reason to believe that at one time its opportunities were most favorable, and it bade fair to lead any that might be started as its rival. The recorded plat shows that is was surveyed in January, 1852, although the plat was not recorded until the November following. Decorah was not platted and recorded until the year following, viz: August, 1853. Frankville came into existence similarly, in October, and was followed by Freeport in May, and Calmar in November, 1854, and Ossian in April, 1855. That year saw a number of other towns begun, some of which have a lively existence still; while others never got beyond the
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record in progress toward village existence. This seniority is enough of itself to give Moneek prominence in a history of the county.
" It was situated on the north fork of the Yellow River, on the south- west quarter of Section I, in Bloomfield township. Tremendous hills, well wooded, surrounded it, and it nestled cosily in the valley of the river, on a site that originally must have been charmingly beautiful.
" The pioneer settlers were Moses S. McSwain and Abner DeCow. To these may be added John DeCow, who joined them a year later. All of them were Canadians, but McSwain resided for a while previous in Illinois, and probably obtained there some ideas of the western methods of doing things. They had a town site in their eyes from the commencement. The two arrived at Moneek in July, 1849, and lived in their tent wagons until a log house 12x16 was built. They com- menced the same season to build a saw mill, which was afterwards noted all over the adjacent country as the mill.
" Their nearest neighbors were Joel Post, at Postville, and two families who had "squatted " on the military road. These were David Reed, the first County Judge, and a man named Campbell. Besides these, there were the Hawks, and Isaac Callender, over in Frankville. R. Tillotson joined them the same year. He was a millwright, and helped them to build the mill. This was completed in July, 1850. In the spring of the latter year, Russell Dean and Geo. Blake, with their fam- ilies -- also from Canada-joined the new settlement. June 29th, 1850, John DeCow, ex-County Judge, and since Member of the State Legis- Jature, also moved in, he, too, coming from Canada. He found all of the four families occupying the one log house above mentioned, yet it was large enough to receive the fifth family until another house, the second in the embryo city, could be built.
"The hospitality of the early settlers was unbounded. Like the modern omnibus, their old log habitations had always room for more, and the new comer surely received a warm welcome. How this small building accommodated the five families during the six weeks in which he was putting up his own house, the Judge can now scarcely tell. He does tell that he brought a few provisions with him, and when these were exhausted he was compelled to go to Elkader and McGregor for more. After making his purchases and buying a cow, price $20, he had left, as working capital, the magnificent sum of $4.30. Returning home, he hired out to McSwain and Abner DeCow, who were partners, to work at the mill for $18 per month. This engagement lasted only
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one month and twenty two days, when he struck out to paddle his own canoe.
" The same year Blake went south, and Dean went west about a mile and a half and put up log houses on " claims " of their own.
" In the spring of 1851 the first frame building was built by A. and J. DeCow. This they rented to a man named Johnson, from Illinois, who brought on a stock of goods, and became the first merchant.
" His capital was small, the amount of trade limited, and he soon ' busted.' McSwain bought out his remnants, and sold out the stock. Having neither money or credit with which to purchase more goods, the mercantile business came to an end for the time being.
" The same year John Duff came along, liked the looks of the settle- ment, and built a blacksmith shop, which he sold in the fall to Phil. Lathrop (the same who was landlord at Frankville, seventeen years ago) The latter united butchering to blacksmithing, and soon after added merchandizing. About the same time he built a house, which, when completed, was opened for the entertainment of man and beast, and the village had a hotel. It was not large, but in those days it was thought to be 'a good one.'
"In 1852, George Crawford, who afterwards went to Burr Oak Springs, -another defunct town of early promise-became a member of the community. He was, likewise, a Canadian, and brought goods, mostly cloths, with him. He was a tailor by trade, and did a thriving business, which soon required the aid of a journeyman. He soon added groceries to his stock-dry and ' wet '-and prospered as long as Moneek was in its glory.
" James F. Andrews, a retired Baptist minister, with two sons, and their families, became residents in the same year. They added another store. One of the sons was a doctor, and so the town secured the benefit of clergy and medicine by this really large acquisition. They, however, only remained about a year. The town was outgrowing the settlements, and was not large enough to support so many ' middlemen.'
" Louis Boughner, also a Canadian, but of German descent, came along in the same year, opened his kit of tools, and sat down upon his shoemaker's bench. That winter the hamlet began to feel as though it was of sufficient importance to be recognized by the General Govern- ment, and postal facilities were demanded. During the winter, or the following spring, these were secured, and Boughner had so far won the confidence of the people that he was chosen to serve as the village Nasby. The office was supplied by 'Winneshiek '-a postoffice then
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situated between Castalia and Postville, at which Mr. D. A. Reed, of Decorah, was then deputy postmaster. It is related by Mr. Reed, that his brother-in-law was postmaster, and he served as deputy. By this arrangement the mail-carrier or any one calling for mail was sure to find one or the other at home. The convenience of this arrangement was very great, because the postmaster and his deputy only lived a quarter of a mile apart.
" That year, 1852, saw a large increase to the settlers outside, as well as in Moneek. Among those who came were Col. D. D. Webster, David Huff, Philip Husted, Andrew Stewart, and John W. Smith. The first three still reside on the farms they occupied, surrounded by large families, and prosperity. . About that time Dr. Riddle, an Ohioan, settled in Moneek. He now lives at or near Nora Springs. Dr. A. B Hanna, now of Elkader, followed a year or two later, and succeeded Boughner as postmaster, holding the office until it was thrown up, some time in the sixties.
"In 1853, Geo. W. Esty settled there, and is to-day the sole owner of what was then a most thriving village. He came from New York, and found the village to consist of eight dwellings, one saw mill owned and operated by Abner DeCow, one blacksmith shop, worked by John Duff, Jr., two stores, kept by James F. Andrews and George Crawford, a shoe shop and postoffice, managed by Boughner, and two liquor saloons, one kept by George Crawford as an adjunct to his store, and the other by a man named Walker, who enlisted when the war broke out, and died in battle. The Yellow River then contained double the water it now pos- sesses, and the saw mill was easily able to run five months in the year. The timber in the neighborhood was superior, and this won the mill a wide and high reputation.
" At the time of its greatest prosperity, Moneek contained scarcely a score of buildings, divided into dwellings, shops, &c. But it had a large outlying settlement ; and it was this, probably, that made it feared by the dwellers in Decorah and Fort Atkinson when the county seat vote was taken. They were sufficiently numerous to give the other two points a 'close call' in a fair poll. Failing to receive poll book in time, the people of Moneek held an election with as much form and regularity as they could devise, but not sufficiently so as to prevent the vote from being thrown out. What might have been, if there had been more de- termined watchfulness by the people of the village, it is impossible to tell. What did happen is very easy to narrate.
" Its decline began in 1855. Judge DeCow saw it commencing in 14
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1854, and sold his 160 acre claim adjoining the plat for $1,800, to a man named Barnum. The place has been sold twice since, but never for as much money. With the proceeds the Judge settled on the place he now owns, and is very thankful that he took that tide in his life at its flood. The tax list of 1855 shows that the Moneek merchant's assessment was $800 for four lots ; and Abner DeCow's tavern stand was valued at the same figure. In Decorah, at that time, there were only four assessments of greater amount, and two others only equaled it. The causes for its decline were few and simple. Settlers were thronging into the country and opening other sections. Post routes and lines of communication were being established. Nature was rather against Moneek. It was nestled away in the valley of the Yellow River, surrounded by mountain- ous hills, and not easy of access. Notwithstanding this, the founders of the place evidently thought Moneek had such a start that its growth was sure and permanent ; that roads must come to them ; they could not be ' left out in the cold.' One thing is certain, that while the post routes were being established, the Moneekers were too busy with their 'corner lots.' In the meanwhile, a busy, bustling fellow named Frank Teabout, had settled on the ridge, and, when the state road was run, he was look- ing after his interests. The line was established on the ridge; Frank- ville sprang into existence; and ere they knew it, the great tide of im- migration which set in was sweeping by them, along the ridge road, but bringing no grists to be tolled and ground for the benefit of Moneek. It had its method of egress, but no artery of trade. The result was certain. Those who were in trade one by one sold out, or abandoned the place ; and by the time it was ten years old it was indeed a deserted village. Early in the sixties its postoffice was thrown up.
" McSwain remained until about 1865, when he left, principally be- cause the neighborhood was getting too warm for him. The rights of property were not rigidly observed by everybody about that time; but who it was that was careless as to other people's titles, was not known. At last an old buggy was missed from the road where it had been left. Inquiry was made as to its whereabouts for several days ineffectually, until Judge DeCow went down to McSwain's to look at some sheep the latter wished to sell. As the families had not visited for a long time, he took his wife and children along. During the day the children went to the straw stack to play, and pleased themselves by climbing to the top, and sliding down the stack. McSwain's boy, however, cautioned the Judge's son not to slide down on a certain side, because there was a wagon under there! This excited his curiosity enough so that he
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HISTORY OF WINNESHIEK COUNTY.
remembered to tell his father about it on the way home in the evening. It instantly struck the father-there is the missing buggy ! The suspicion was more than hinted to the owner, and a search proved it to be the identical buggy. McSwain settled the matter, but used afterwards to charge the sheep with being the sole cause of the difficulty. He reasoned it out somewhat after this manner: If he had not owned the sheep and wanted to sell them, the Judge would not have paid him that visit; the boys would not have been sliding down the straw stack; the buggy would have remained hid until he could have run it off. Ergo: the sheep were wholly to blame !
"This discovery gave the neighbors cause to suspicion McSwain when- ever anything was missing, and as there was considerable horse-thieving going on about that time, it became too unpleasant a place to stay. As soon as he could dispose of his property he folded his tents, and hied away to new fields.
" The plat of the village was vacated in 18-, and it is now part of a good farni, which a clever, thorough going farmer, Mr. G. W. Esty, above mentioned, annually plows, sows and reaps. Occasionally a new comer inquires, ' Where was Moneek ?' and the query calls up a smile on the face of an old settler, as he cheerfully answers and thinks of the swath it cut in the years which are so recent, and yet in the hurry- skurry of more important events, seem much longer than a fifth of a century ago."
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CHAPTER XIII.
SPRINGFIELD, PLEASANT AND HIGHLAND TOWNSHIPS.
First Norwegian Settlers-The Anderson Party Settle in Springfiel Township -The Johnson Party Follow Close After -The First Settlers of Pleasant Township -A Man with Many Offices -First Blacksmith - Bartolf Oleson-First School House and Church- Hon. Ole Nelson -Highland Township -Its First Settlers -The Prosperity of its Citizens -How Lars Oleson Made His Money- He Dies Worth $ 100,000-The Organization of the First School District.
From the most reliable information, it would seem that the first immi- gration of Norwegian settlers came in the year 1850. But to whom to accord the honor of being the first actual settlers-whether to Thor Peterson and his party, who afterward settled in Calmar Township-or to the Erick Anderson party, who settled in Springfield Township, is a question. The Anderson party emigrated from Dane County, Wis., and included the following persons : Halvor Hulverson, Ole Gullickson, Knudt Anderson, Ole and Staale Tostenson. This company was joined at Prairie du Chien by Ole Lomen and Andrew Lomen. Mr. Erick Anderson served the party as guide and interpreter.
The Anderson party finding land in Springfield Township that suited them, took up their claims thereon in June, 1850. But it seems that the Peterson party had preceded them by a a few days, and had laid claim to the very land on which Anderson's company had squatted. At that time there was a county organization for the protection of settlers against claim-jumpers, if such they can be called.
It was an imperative law with this association that the man who first registered his claim at. Moneek had a perfect title to the same. The Peterson party demanded that the Anderson party move off what they called their claims; but the other party was determined not to sur- render their claims until obliged to, and consequently they immedi- ately dispatched a representative to Moneek, whose duty it was to ascertain if the Peterson party had registered their claims. On exami-
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nation, he found that no registration had been made, and he took advantage of their tardiness, and registered the claims for his party. The matter was finally compromised, the Anderson party paying some indemnity for their usurpation.
The July following a fresh band of immigrants made settlements in Springfield and vicinity. The names of the heads of these families were as follows: Nelson Johnson, Germund Johnson, A. Simmonson, Toleff Simmonson, Andrew Houge, John Johnson, Knud G. Opdahl, Ole Tosteson, Mikkel Omlie. A. K. Anderson and John Thune were young men at the time.
Engebret Peterson Haugen followed these in October, after having spent the summer in traveling over portions of Wisconsin and Minne- sota. He actually squatted on a claim back of Red Wing, but could not hold it because it was still Indian territory. Coming down the river, he heard of these fellow countrymen, and came out here. He liked the country, and settled on the magnificent farm still belonging to his estate. This farm was the old H. M. Rice trading-post. The store used by Rice was standing, and for five years later served Mr. Haugen as a dwelling. His family, however, did not arrive until May following. They came from Beloit, where they had located in 1842, when that territory was new. Peter E. Haugen, the son, was a boy 16 years of age when the family removed to Iowa. They came direct from Nor- way in 1842. Inasmuch as immigration from that country did not com- mence until 1838, Mr. Haugen can be called a pioneer settler in the fullest sense of the term.
In the year 1850, two Germans from Pennsylvania, viz: John Klontz and Wm. Vale, pitched their tents in the northwest corner of Pleasant Township, Vale choosing for his homestead what has since been known as the Locust Lane Farm, deriving its name from the locust trees that were planted on each side of the road immediately after the land was fenced in. John Klontz took up his ranch on the south side of Vale, and both went to work with indomitable energy. They soon had large fields, and a market for all they had to sell at their very doors. They literally coined money, as everything they had to sell brought them good prices. Mr. Vale seems to have been the literary man of the two, for he at one time enjoyed the privilege of holding all the township offices, except Constable, at one and the same time. He was the first Justice of the Peace, the first Assessor, and the first Clerk the township had. He also built the first brick dwelling house in Winneshiek County.
Klontz and Vale have both since sold their farms and moved to
HISTORY OF WINNESHIEK COUNTY.
Missouri. In the the following year the first influx of Norwegians commenced. They were : Hover Evenson, Ole Magneson, and Erick Erickson, who came here from Cambridge, Dane County, Wis., and Peter K. Langland, Lewis Peterson, Knudt K. Liquen and K. Erick- son, from Illinois. We will now take up these persons separately, as they all figured in the early development of the county.
Hover Evenson was the first blacksmith in the northern part of the county, and as such he enjoyed the trade of the whole country for miles around. But, as there was not enough business to keep him employed, he also improved his homestead. He long since abandoned his trade, and attended exclusively to farming, which has paid him a rich reward, as he is one of the wealthiest farmers of his township.
Ole Magneson and E. Erickson settled in the northeastern corner of the township. The latter is still on his old homestead, living in a house which has become somewhat noted from the fact that it is all built from one pine tree. The walls are a solid plank, six inches thick, and only three such planks from the floor to the ceiling in the first story and two above. The floors, roof-boards, window and door casings are from the same tree. It was all sawed up with a hand-saw, as the logs could not be moved from the place where the tree grew, on Pine Creek. Ole Magneson was a very thrifty farmer. He introduced the first reaper into the neighborhood, and was also the owner of the first threshing-machine in that township.
Next in order comes Peter K. Langland, who settled on Section 3, and at one time was the owner of almost the whole section. When he settled in Pleasant Township he had two boys and one girl, but has since become father to twenty-four, of whom only two or three are now living. His two boys grew up to manhood, but both of them came to their death by accidents. One was caught in the tumbling-rod of a threshing-machine, and literally torn to pieces. The oldest was crushed to death by the tipping of a load of lumber.
I must not forget to mention Knudt K. Liquen. To show what a man can do if he attends strictly to his business : He came here with- out a cent in his pocket. He was still in debt for his fare from Norway to this country to a lady friend, who paid his passage for him. Liquen picked out his land in Section 2. But what should he do ? Still in debt, and no way of getting money. A friend suggested that he pro- pose to the young lady who had paio his fare, and thus get his first debt paid. He immediately acted on the suggestion, and started back to Illinois, where the object of his search resided. He walked the whole
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