USA > Iowa > Wright County > History of Wright County, Iowa, its peoples, industries and institutions > Part 4
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The geologist tells us that "about three miles south, over hills so preci- pitous that there is as yet no road, we encounter Cornelia lake, which is at present nothing but a rectangular marsh, covering about a half section, crowded from side to side with rank aquatic vegetation. The shores, how- ever, are sufficiently high and there is no lack of sandy beach, marked, as usual, where the water of our Iowa lakes is persistent, by a distinct ice-ter- race, or bench, formed by the long continued out-thrust of the ice in winter.
"Immediately south of Cornelia lake, just half a mile away, is Elm lake, a rather handsome sheet of water, deeper; surrounded by sloping hills and margined by curving, winding shores, it deserves more attention than it really receives. Native trees still stand along its beaches, and if properly cared for and dredged a little at some points, Elm lake might be made a pleasant resort for all the people of Clarion, as now for a very few. The surface of the lake is a little more than a square mile; its greatest length, nearly two miles.
"Seven miles almost directly south of the lakelets named, is Wall lake, in a township of the same name. Here the thrust of the winter's ice, acting (4)
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through centuries, had gathered around the shores the 'boulders originally found on the lake bottom. These, discovered by the pioneers, piled thus in windrows, named not this lake only, but one in Hamilton county, as well as a third, larger and of greater renown, already described in the report on Sac county. Wall lake, in Wright county, is simply a gigantic 'kettle-hole' in the midst of the plain. The morainic hills here stand somewhat aloof, a mile or two to the east and south, and another great marsh called Wheeler creek, but with no eroded channel, lies between Wall lake and the hills. The wall of the lake seems to have long since disappeared; hauled away to make foundation stones in structures, they will doubtless again survive. Only at the southern end of the lake a few boulders appear, heaped up now to help the highway that here skirts the shore. This is, perhaps, the largest lake in the two counties, covering more than two sections, but its shallowness makes it less attractive, and the wild rice and bullrush seem to thrive almost from side to side. Low morainic swells approach its borders on the west and afford warm, sunny slopes to many beautiful farms and groves."
Horace Greeley, of the New York Tribune, away back in the sixties, sent a reporter to this lake to "write it up." He made much over the "wall," which was more to be seen than today, and carried the idea that it was a wall of masonry constructed by some prehistoric race of people. But Hon. Charles Aldrich and others, interested in keeping Iowa history straight, got geologists after the theory, and after they had visited and made a report, made it plain to the western people that the "wall" was in fancy only, and could be accounted for on natural principles-that of the heaving ice bring- ing up the stone from the lake's bed, as it usually froze to the very bottom in severe winters. Hence the poetry connected with Wall lakes-this one and the other one in Sac county-was all exploded.
DRAINAGE OF WRIGHT COUNTY.
Boone river, that flows through the entire western part of Wright and Hamilton counties from north to south, affords excellent drainage so far as it is developed. But one peculiarity of this country is the fact that we find sometimes the drainage of highland is actually away from the river, so that the deeply eroded channel of the river avails but little.
Several tributaries of the Boone are more or less serviceable to the drainage of Wright county. Otter creek, Eagle creek and White Fox creek all flow south in the western part of the county, and in many places afford outlet for tile draining. White Fox is an eroding stream and farms adjoin-
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ing it are well drained. The same thing may be said of Eagle creek, but in both cases the service is limited almost to the channel of the stream itself. There is no valley and but few tributaries.
However, the open ditches are now seen everywhere through this county. It is possible that the unlimited tiling brought from the fields, from every direction, may afford sufficient perennial water to keep the main ditch full of a constant stream strong enough to maintain the channel thus arti- ficially offered. There are already hundreds, if not thousands, of miles of large open ditches and field tiling, and the work of making more is annually going forward. These are destined to make this county second to none in all the great Mississippi valley.
STREAMS.
The East fork of Boone river, named for Daniel Boone, the noted hunter, of Kentucky, takes its rise from numerous smaller streams, springs and ponds or prairie lakes in Hancock county, and flows in a southwesterly direction. The West fork takes its rise in Kossuth county, and flows in a southeasterly direction, entering Wright county in the southwest corner, and forms a junction with the Boone proper, at or near old Luni, in Boone township, the extreme northwestern civil sub-division of Wright county. The main stream of the Boone flows southeasterly along the extreme west- ern border of Wright county, from its point of confluence with the East and West forks at Luni, through the townships of Liberty and Eagle Grove, till it reaches that of Troy, where it takes a southeasterly course, leaving the county by flowing through the northeast corner of Troy township, entering Hamilton county in the northeast portion of Fremont township of the last named county.
On the east side of Wright county flows the beautiful Iowa river, formed almost similar to the Boone river just described. The Iowa is formed by the East and West forks, the former rising in Hancock county, and running southerly, the latter rising in the vicinity of Crystal lake, sit- uated in the north of the same county, and flowing southeasterly, making junction with the Iowa river, proper, one and a half miles north of the town of Belmond, which place is partly in Pleasant and partly in Belmond township, Wright county. The main Iowa then flows south through Bel- mond township, entering Iowa township at the northwest corner, passes southeast through Blaine and Vernon townships, where it enters Franklin county, a little north of the town of Dows ( formerly Otisville), but there
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makes a slight curvature and re-enters Wright county for a short distance- about three miles-then runs due south, when, taking an easternly course, it again enters Franklin county.
Originally, along both the Iowa and Boone rivers there was a goodly amount of heavy timber, but the settlers have used the better part of these beautiful groves up for fuel and fencing and building purposes, leaving only here and there good-sized groves, which are now really mostly second- growth timber.
CHAPTER IV.
EARLY SETTLEMENT.
Prior to 1854 but few white men had traversed the prairies and valleys of what is now Wright county. A few daring hunters and trappers had viewed this portion of Iowa as early, possibly, as 1852-3, but none for the object of making any settlement. Game and fur-bearing animals were found on the vast spread of prairie land and along the timber-skirted streams, and Indians held the hunting field at their will, save their fear of some other Indian tribes other than the one to which they belonged. The first actual settlement was made the year before the county was organized. The date of the organization was August, 1855, while the first settlers located in 1854 in the following order, the dates having been attested to by the fami- lies themselves, hence there can be no doubt as to the correctness of the statements. What men claim and what others assert, in the matter of "first settlers" in any county, are two distinct statements-one of fact and the other of fancy or prejudice. By many in this county it has been claimed that Major Minter Brassfield was the first white man to locate within what is now Wright county, but the truth is that an error has been committed, for the settlement of William Stryker was several weeks prior to that made by Major Brassfield. The proof of this is in the statements made by the families themselves in a biographical record published in 1889, by the Lewis Biographical Company of Chicago, in which the sketches of these men appeared. The sketches were submitted in person, by the compilers, to the subjects or to the family, and not until each was read, corrected and approved, were the sketches printed. On page 480 of this publication we find the biog- raphy of William Stryker, of Troy township, in which the following appears at the head of the sketch :
"William Stryker .- Perhaps no name is better known among the old settlers of Wright county than that of our subject, he being the first white settler and, we might say, the father of the county He has been a resident of the county since July 5. 1854. He is a native of New York, born near Geneseo, September 13, 1814."
Mr. Stryker was a subscriber to the work referred to and approved
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every word contained in this biography-hence its authenticity. Next comes the statement made by Maj. Minter Brassfield in the same publication and under the same circumstances (sec page 534 of the Biographical Record) : "Minter Brassfield, of Liberty township, arrived in Liberty 'township with his family on the 12th day of August, 1854. Mr. Brassfield, William Stryker, of Troy township, and William H. Montgomery, of Liberty town- ship, were the first three settlers of the county. All came with their fami- lies within a few weeks of one another. Mr. Brassfield settled at onee on the place where he still lives. He is a native of Claiborne county, Tennessee, where he was born in 1811." This makes his settlement thirty-eight days later than that of William Stryker.
But to make this statement doubly sure, the author has consulted the pamphlet edited by Mr. Elder in 1892, in which he sought the true story of pioneer settlement in Wright county, and went so far as to ask the pioneers to write what was headed as "Pioneer' Stories-Memories of Pioneer Life, Written or Related by the Early Settlers of Wright County." In this little booklet are the sketches, or "stories," of W. H. Montgomery, Maj. M. Brassfield, O. C. McIntosh, C. N. Overbaugh, R. K. Eastman, Edwin Bal- lou, J. M. Elder and others of the real pioneer band of Wright county set- tlers. In these accounts of the first settlement, Major Brassfield states (as stated in the 1889 biographical work) that he "arrived at my present home August 12, 1854." In neither of these former historic accounts of Wright county's first settlement is there any question raised as to who was first, but all concede that such honor must ever belong to William Stryker, of Troy township. However, W. H. Montgomery located land in June, 1854.
LIST OF EARLY SETTLERS.
Without going into so much of detail concerning the next few settlers, it should be stated that the following were among the sturdy band who came into the county with the view of making a permanent settlement, and in fact did so, and are here listed according to the year of settlement, while details concerning them will be found in the township histories in which they held residence :
1854-William Stryker, Troy township, July 5; Minter Brassfield, Lib- erty township. August 12; W. H. Montgomery, Liberty township, in Sep- tember; Henry Luick, Belmond, autumn: Stephen Wilcox, Beach Grove, Troy township, summer; S. B. Hewett, Sr., Eagle Grove township; S. B.
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(Judge) Hewett, Eagle Grove township; N. B. Paine, Eagle Grove town- ship; Anson Gray, Belmond, summer; Anthony Overacker, Belmond, sum- mer ; David Luick, Belmond, summer; Mr. Wilse, Belmond, summer.
1855-C. H. Martin, Boone township, February; C. N. Overbaugh, Liberty township; Robert Rowen, lowa township; J. E. Rowen, Horse Grove; Doctor Cutler, Belmond; Archer Dumond, Belmond; Edwin Bal- lou, Rowan, Iowa township, spring of year; Thomas Oliver, Belmond town- ship; Stephen and Isaac Whited, Belmond, spring; W. E. Rogers, Belmond; Warren Rankin, Belmond; Charles Sheets, Belmond; Washington Dumond, Belmond; Amos Cummings, Belmond; Joseph Dukes, Belmond; Harvey Mack, Belmond; Robert Duffy, Belmond ( single man) ; Andrew Dumond, Belmond (single man) ; Aaron Dukes, Belmond ( single man) ; Thomas Sheets, Belmond (single man) ; F. O. Brooks, Belmond (single man ) ; Albert Cummings, Belmond (single man) ; Lewis Whited, Belmond (single man) ; J. W. Elder, Belmond (single man); W. B. Walters, Belmond (single man) ; James Gray, moved to Missouri in 1885; James Horder and others, Belmond; William Sill, moved to Minnesota in about 1890.
1856-R. K. Eastman, Horse Grove, May 3; J. B. Jenison, Pleasant township; Mr. Arnett, settled at Twin Lakes; E. P. Purcell, located at Wall Lake; Adam and John Wasem, Eagle Grove township; Edward Brown, Lake township; C. H. Griffith, Eagle Grove township; William Luick, Bel- mond township; Amos McIntyre, Goldfield.
1857-Fred Luick, Pleasant township; George A. McKay; O. C. McIn- tosh, Goldfield, March 3; John R. Griffin, Liberty township; George Bing- ham; Daniel Sullivan, Liberty township; Henry Frank, Boone township; William H. Gillespie, Boone township.
1858-A. Elder; Beriah Wright, Belmond; E. A. Howland, Belmond.
These, with a few others whose names have been lost track of with the rush of time, constituted the immigrants who located in Wright county dur- ing the first five years of its history as an organized county. Of these three score and more pioneers, but very few are still living.
PERSONAL REMINISCENCES.
One of the most interesting features of any county history is that of reminiscences, written by pioneers who braved the dangers and endured the exposures and trials of the early times. In this case the writer is indeed for- tunate in possessing the personal recollections of a few of the noble sons of Wright county, the same having been prepared by them for the press in the
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latter years of their eventful lives. Among those of great interest and truly historic value are the subjoined sketches :
MAJ. MINTER BRASSFIELD'S ACCOUNT.
"On August 12, 1854, 1 arrived at my present home, about one-half mile down the Boone river from Goldfield. I had hunted along the Boone each year since 1851, but my home was then at the mouth of the Boone in Hamilton county.
"On August 13, 1 cut logs for a small cabin. This cabin was only a temporary shelter for us. In a few months I had a good log house finished. This house is still standing ( 1891).
"The first Sunday that I was here with my family, I shot the largest doe elk I ever saw. I have killed probably one hundred and fifty elk, but I never weighed one. Buffalo were plenty. In the fall of 1854 I killed nine, and elk were so plenty that we could easily kill them whenever we wanted to. Many men have regarded me as a hunter, but I claim to be a farmer, having devoted my life to that work; but, like others who were here in early times, I occasionally spent a short time hunting. I have killed seven deer in one day, six elk in one day, three buffalo in one day and three bear in one day, but never claimed to be a real hunter.
"At first we had great difficulty in obtaining provisions. 1 have driven thirty miles to get grain ground, and twice one season 1 was obliged to drive to Ottumwa for cornmeal. I have frequently bought flour at Des Moines and Boonesboro."
An account of Maj. Minter Brassfield's settlement will be found in the township history of Liberty township.
C. N. OVERBAUGH'S RECOLLECTIONS.
The late highly esteemed pioneer, C. N. Overbaugh, early in the nineties, wrote concerning his settlement in Wright county as follows:
"In the fall of 1854 I loaded up my beds and bedding and family, con- sisting of a wife and four children, and started for the land of promise (Iowa). I was about five weeks on the road. I stopped in Benton county nearly four years, and, in the summer of 1858, loaded up again and started with two yoke of oxen and my family for Wright county. It was a very wet summer; the streams full, the roads soft, and no bridges. We were
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two weeks getting here, sloughing down almost every day, and going out of our course to find ferries.
"My wife got the ague. We stopped near the lowa river at a pre- emption house, remaining about three days. Here we spent the Fourth of July. The weather was cold and cloudy. On the third day I went on foot to Wall lake to ascertain if we could cross the Eagle. Mr. Purcell was liv- ing there, and he thought we could cross, so the next morning I got up early, intending to start for Boone river, but my cattle were all gone. 1 started on the back track and after going about four miles I found them lying in the road. I brought them back and started. We got to the lake about noon and left part of our load. That night we got to White Fox, threw our beds on the prairie and slept. We got up in good season and started again for the Boone. In due time we arrived at the Eagle, which was nearly full, and, fearing that the oxen might turn around in the stream and upset the wagon, I took the following method to get my family over: First wading in to ascertain that it was fordable, I took two of the children in the wash tub and, pushing it ahead of me, landed them safe on the other side. After the children were over, I tied two tubs together and pushed my wife across in the same manner. I then started the cattle in and came across all right. We loaded up again and started for the Boone river, arriving a little before night in a drenching shower. We were in Wright county, but our difficul- ties were not over. We got into a house, in what was then the town of Sheffield, on the farm where Mr. Henderson later lived, but we were allowed to stay there only about two weeks, the house being sold and moved to Gold- field.
"The next thing to be thought of was a house. Day after day I worked alone in the woods, cutting saw-logs and getting them to mill. This was in the month of July and the mosquitos so thick that they almost formed a cloud between me and the sun, and they were in no degree bashful, timid mosquitos. When my lumber was sawed, Otter creek was not fordable. I hauled it to the creek, got Mr. Montgomery to stay on the west side, while I remained on the other. After hitching my chain around a draft of tim- ber, I started the oxen across, they swimming and taking the lumber with them, when Mr. Montgomery took it out on the other side and started the oxen across for another load. When the creek went down, we moved across and went into an old cabin that was neither chinked nor daubed. The roof. too, was very open: the mosquitos would come in so thick while we were eating supper that more than once they extinguished the candle. The only
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way that we could get peace, or rest, was to build fires about the cabin, throw on green grass and make a smoke that would drive the pests away. This was life on the frontier. We had to kiln-dry our lumber. In the fall we got our house up, enclosed and lathed, but we lived in it through the winter unplastered, and the upper floor of only loose boards being laid down. I had some money due me in Benton county, so in the fall my son John and I went down there with two wagons and four yoke of oxen to bring up flour, salt, farming implements, nails and groceries. We were detained about two weeks, and when we got to the lowa rain set in and we made our way home through much mud and great tribulations.
"The summer of 1858 had been so wet that scarcely anything had been raised on Boone river and it was necessary to hunt provisions, so, in May, 1859, I started on foot, went to Mr. Eastman's at Horse Grove and engaged some corn at one dollar a bushel. I then took my two yoke of oxen and wagon and went after it. I fell in with Amos Mcintyre, Chancey Griffith and Tont Christie, who were going to the same place on the same errand; it was about night, I believe, when we got to the lowa river. The water was so high that we could not cross. Oliver Eastman (son of R. K. East- man ) came down and, with a small boat, took us over; I do not recollect whether this was in the evening or in the morning, but as soon as practicable in the morning we got our oxen ready, hauled the corn to the river, ferried it over, loaded it and started for Boone river, expecting to get there about night. We had obtained a loaf of bread of Mr. Eastman for dinner, but we soon found we were doomed to stay on the prairie over night, so as we were passing by those little lakes north of Clarion, we gathered some sticks and Mcintyre shot a crane. Night came on us about the time we got to the old Belmond road. We turned our cattle out, struck our tent and pre- pared for night; we skinned the crane, built a fire and prepared supper, each one being his own cook. We soon agreed on this method. Each would take a piece of crane, roast it over the fire till done or rare to his own liking; we had no salt wherewith to season. While we were broiling our crane we were toasting our corn by placing an ear on the end of a stick and holding it in the fire until sufficiently roasted, and then gnaw crane and eat corn together. The next morning I had no appetite for crane, and I have never had a hankering for it since. My breakfast was an ear of corn, roasted as above stated. We sloughed down and had to carry out a number of times, and it was four o'clock in the evening when I got home."
It should be stated that Mr. Overbaugh pulled through all such experi-
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ences, improved a fine tract of land in Wright county, held publie positions and reared a family, every member of which was an honor and blessing to the worthy parents. Mr. Overbaugh has long since passed on to another sphere to receive his reward for faithfulness on earth.
R. K. EASTMAN'S STORY OF SETTLEMENT.
Among the truly good and upright men who effected an early settle- ment in the Iowa valley, in Wright county, none, perhaps, is more deserving and whose words will fall with more potency upon the ears of the genera- tion who knew of his manly, Christian virtues, than those uttered by R. K. Eastman, who, nearly a quarter of a century ago, penned the following reminiscence concerning Wright county in the fifties :
"On May 3, 1856, I arrived in Wright county and located at what was then known as Horse Grove, near the present site of Rowan. I found but little in the way of improvements along the Iowa river. There was not a rod of road and not a bridge in the county, and not a school house worthy the name. A school had been taught in a little log pen on the Boone river near the home of Charles Griffith.
"My family came to the county about one and a half years later. Per- haps I should not tell it, but it is true that I was nearly starved when I arrived at Horse Grove, and I found there but little to eat that a tenderfoot could relish. I met J. M. Elder, the county assessor, and asked him if I could find anything to eat in Belmond. He thought I could and I rode with him to that town and, after eating three meals of wheat bread, potatoes and salt pork, I felt somewhat strengthened, and returned to Horse Grove. Soon afterward my brother-in-law, McNeal, accompanied by his two sons and William and John Hurd, came with provisions. They entered about one thousand acres of land and built a steam saw-mill. This was the first steam- mill on the Iowa river in Wright county. Previous to this there had been a water-mill at Belmond, but it did but little work.
"This steam-mill sawed lumber for the early settlers on the Iowa river, but was not a financial success. After the death of McNeal, the mill was repaired by N. B. Pain, and did very good work under the management of Edwin Ballou, to whom it had been leased. A short time afterward it was burned, but the machinery was put together again and sold to R. E. Train, of Otisville (now Dows).
"I built a house on what is now the Duffy place, but, not being a prac- tical mechanic, I got the north side of it four feet longer than the south
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side, which was the subject of much mirthful criticism by pioneer mechanics. This is the only house I ever built.
"I was elected county treasurer and recorder in 1857, and about the same time the county seat controversy between the Boone and lowa settlers waxed warm. During this controversy the county judge, who had almost absolute power, ordered the court house built at Goldfield, but I remained at Horse Grove with the county property in my possession until 1860. When I first commenced to collect taxes, we kept a hotel at Horse Grove. Agents and landowners were then in the habit of going to the treasurer's office to pay taxes, but I soon had about six hundred correspondents for whom I paid taxes. The treasurer's office was not very well furnished at that time. We had but one table, and at mealtime I placed the books on the bed. 1 at first knew but little about the work of the office, but did the best I could without experience or instruction, although nearly everyone in the county was willing to tell me all about the duties of the office. I had no safe the first eighteen months, but kept the county funds under lock and key in an old trunk. A small safe was then purchased at Alden, and before I left the office the safe now used by the treasurer was purchased by the county. 1 often thought that Wright county was an inviting field for robbers, but they never visited us. I have had from five thousand to seven thousand dollars in my care and my house full of strangers, my only weapon of defense being a revolver. While I was at Horse Grove the county judge sent armed men to take the county property in my care to Goklfield. The lowa river was very high, but they brought with them a boat on wheels. I fastened the door of the room containing the safe and toll them that they would have to break in if they got it. I then examined the law on the subject and found that the county judge had no authority for his action. I gave the parties their dinner, and while they were eating, James Riley took their boat down stream, and they were obliged to ford the river through very cold water. We went to the river and cheered them when they reached the deep- est part of the stream. I have been accused of being in conspiracy with Riley, but I was not. Hle learned from the hired men the object of the Boone visitors and acted on his responsibility. The sheriff pleaded earnestly for the property, but I told him I had given bonds for its safekeeping and would allow no man to take it from me.
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