USA > Iowa > Wright County > History of Wright County, Iowa, its peoples, industries and institutions > Part 6
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
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 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49
.. So time dragged along until some- time Xn 1867, when a lazy and impe- cunious chap named S. A. Reed start- ed another paper at Liberty, which he named the Wright County Regis- ter. The Register had a fitful exist- ence, being published off and on for six months, though, from what we learn, it was published more "off" than "on." The only business talent that ever appears to have been con- nected with this venture. belonged |) to Mrs. Reed, who set type for the paper to Mother Goose melodies and rocked the cradle with' one foot, 1 while Reed sat around the stores and told the people how arduous were the labors of the editor. The Register worked up the immense circulation : of twenty-five copies and then co !- 1 lapsed, and ended the second venture in the newspaper business.
-
But by this time a newspaper had become almost a necessity to .this i county, and early in 1869 we find J. : D. Hunter, then proprietor of the : Webster City Freeman, bnyIng out the office of the defunct Register and turning his attention toward Clarion, Snow the county seat, with a view of + +kat. chanld . he .a
The county offered him a room rel ree if he would start a paper, a" 'the 29th of March; 1869, the
iber of the Wright Connty Moni- was issued from the corner room' he court house, with Will Smith ditor. Smith was a young man allowed himself to be led into a" nued broil with the officials, and about six months he left the cor to take care of itself. After, vacation of a few months A. M. "hite bought the paper of Hunter 1, settled here. 'Under his manage- it the Monitor continued . with iderable regularity until about first of October, 1873, when it sold to the present proprietors.
1 January, 1873, a new venture made in starting the Belmond ror at Belmond. A. M. Allen, a ng printer, started the paper, and oon won its way to quite an ex- ive circulation in the northern. eastern part of the county. After hile a half interest in the office to Hon, E. A. Howland, and was run by them until in Then ' Allen, having become that there was no money de out of the venture, sold. wland and went away
WRIGHT COUNTY, IOWA.
70
70
WRIGHT COUNTY, IOWA.
Eagle Grove township, as originally bounded, was first settled by Will- iam Davis, who remained only about a year, but in 1854 permanent settle- ments were effected by S. B. Hewett and son and N. B. Paine.
Liberty township was first settled by Maj. Minter Brassfield. The exact date of his arrival was August 12, 1854.
Boone township was first settled in 1855 by C. H. Martin a single man at the time, and he was soon followed by others, who remained permanently. C. N. Overbaugh came that year and entered land.
The first funeral in the county was that of Mrs. Aaron Dukes, at Belmond, who was buried near Judge Morse's place, about 1857.
The United Brethren organized the first church in the county at' Bel- mond. Rev. McNutt was preacher and also an herbal doctor.
Belmond had the pioneer blacksmith in the person of Mr. Pritchard.
The first railroad completed in Wright county was the old Burlington, Cedar Rapids & Northern, now owned by the Rock Island system. It reached Clarion in 1881, and a few months later the Chicago & North- western road reached Goldfield, having been at Eagle Grove a few months before.
The first national Independence-day celebration we find any account of in Wright county, was that which was held at Goldfield, July 3, 1858. A poster was sent to friends in Boston, a copy of which states that the orators were Attorney Granville Berkley and C. F. Cross; reader, Josiah Davidson; S. B. Hewett, Jr., president.
INTERESTING LETTER REPRODUCED.
Just after Judge S. B. Hewett, Jr., had settled in this county, and after the county was organized about a month, he wrote to a friend in Boston, Massachusetts, telling him of the wonderful country he had found here, and directed him how to move, It reads like a romance to this genera- tion :
"Wright County, Iowa, August 28, 1855.
"Some things will be unpleasant for a few years. There is not much society here such as you have in the East, but soon will be. Soil is deep, dark and very rich, is easy to cultivate and rapidly raising in value. Land is being taken up by speculators fast. A school section will be sold here at about government prices in a few weeks. One man has a tract of one hundred and twenty acres, with forty of wooded land, that he will sell for eight hundred dollars; ten to fifteen acres broken on it, on which you could raise all you can eat for the next year certain. He has a
i
71
WRIGHT COUNTY, IOWA.
poor cabin in which you can live for a while. I think he will take six hundred dollars if you show him the money. His house is eighty rods from ours-it will make a most splendid farm. If people keep dry feet and don't sleep on the ground they will be healthy as in the East. Wading in the dews is as bad as wading a brook in the East. In coming out you will have to sleep on beds on the floor, after you cross the Mississippi, but that will not hurt either of you; it did not hurt me. If you can, bring some buckhorn sets for hedges. Some use Osage orange, but they do not thrive well here. I want to set two or three miles of some kind of hedge this season. You should have a pair of stout horses and a yoke of oxen-a wagon which is strong, so you can use either horses or oxen. Buy this east of the Mississippi river ; also cows of good stock as you can find.
"Ask for Ft. Dodge-it's only seventeen miles from us, southwest. As to tools-don't buy many when you come, as you can't tell what you need till here. You want something to cut wood with and that's about all for the present-say an axe and a good cross-cut saw and three log chains -- short, heavy links-will cost in Dubuque nine cents a pound. Cross-cut saws are seventy-five cents a foot-get one shorter than seven feet long. If your father comes, have him bring his carpenter's tools with him. He will want them to build your house with. Only few real farmers here-only about one hundred and sixty people in this county now.
"About money-bring all you can; 'twill pay better here than in the East. Bring one thousand dollars certain. Land can be bought for one- fifth its value. Ship beds, etc., in large chests and trunks. They will not get here for two months after you arrive if you send by freight. So check them and pay the excess baggage; then they come when you do. We don't expect any hostilities from Indians, there are none near us. A thou- sand dollars will do to start with, but you will wish you had brought more when you are once here and see the splendid chances to double your money.
"Come to Chicago-buy through, but stop off at large places, the con- ductor will let you do this, and will tell you of good hotels at which to stop in Cleveland and Chicago. Keep your checks till cars have all gone out and then get your baggage to the Chicago & Galena railroad; come to Galena, get team that can pull, if they are not so fast, and get canvas wagon tops. If you hire anyone to bring you, hire them by the mile or by the job, you can say you want to come to Boone river, a few miles east of Fort Dodge. New Castle is a little town fifteen miles south of us (Web-
72
WRIGHT COUNTY, IOWA.
ster City now), where you will come to and then turn northwest from there, for New Castle is on the Boone river.
"When leaving the Mississippi river get plenty of groceries, even though you hire a team extra; you will pay about two dollars per hundred weight for hauling them, but they are much cheaper than here. We go and bring back enough supplies to last a year and save money then.
"The railroad fare to Dubuque or Rock Island is twenty-eight dollars from Boston, then you have hotel bills to pay. If you can buy good land warrants do so-they are better than gold here. You can buy any land you want at about one dollar.
"When I came via Rock Island, I shot a fawn one day in a hunt. I was one week from Rock Island to Des Moines-two hundred miles. Come soon, as the land office land is going very fast. As they say here, you will find it 'a right smart of a journey' and have a 'heap' of trouble, but it will not last long.
"We found a nice man here named Davis, further up stream from our place, and he showed me land -- three hundred and twenty acres, which he bought at two hundred dollars a quarter.
"Yours, "HEWETT."
AS S. B. HEWETT VIEWED THE COUNTY IN 1854.
Hon. S. B. Hewett, who was numbered among the earliest settlers of Wright county, was a man about twenty-one years of age when he emigrated from Massachusetts and he came via Rock Island, Illinois, to Des Moines, thence on to Wright county. From Rock Island after he had been out here a few months in 1854, he wrote to Josiah Davidson in the East, and the letter is still in the possession of his son at Eagle Grove. We are at liberty to extract from same: "I think a large dairy would pay very well in Wright county ; butter is from thirty to forty cents per pound. If everything keeps looking up in prices, Hewett will not be sorry in three years that he left Boston, for he will be able to live without any of Shearer and Paine's help (men he had worked for in Boston). I am bound to have you all out here anyhow.
"In Iowa they turn the sod three inches thick and let it rot good before putting in crops. One horse can usually pull a plow then in many places, after the sod is once well rotted. Abby sends her respects to you and yours. "HEWETT."
(Rock Island, Illinois, fall of 1854.)
73
WRIGHIT COUNTY, IOWA.
Judge Hewett's ambitions and hopes were all fully realized with the passage of a few years, and he had a fine, well-cultivated farm and went into the fine stock and dairy business and made money; held county and state offices and laid out a part of present Eagle Grove city; retired and settled in Los Angeles, California, where he died a few years since and was buried there, as was his good wife, "Abby." But he had erected a monu- ment in the Eagle Grove cemetery, with an inscription that they were buried in California.
CHAPTER V.
ORGANIZATION OF WRIGHT COUNTY.
The geographical position of Wright county is a little northwest of the center of the state of Iowa. It is bounded on the north by Hancock, south by Hamilton, east by Franklin, and west by Humboldt and Webster coun- ties. It comprises sixteen full congressional townships, equal to five hun- dred and seventy-six square miles.
Prior to the organization of Wright county, it was attached for judi- cial purposes to Webster county, which county then took in what is now called Hamilton and Humboldt counties. But, to go still further back, it may be said that the lower tier of townships in Wright county were in Buchanan and the remainder in Fayette county. Wright county was estab- lished in 1851, and was attached to Boone county, January 22, 1853, prior to which time it had been attached to the county of Polk for election, revenue and judicial purposes. It was similarly attached to the county of Webster on July 1, 1855 (see Acts of Third General Assembly, chapter 9; Fourth General Assembly, chapter 12; Seventh General Assembly, chapter 142). The meeting for the organization of Wright county was held at the log cabin of S. B. Hewett, Sr., on the pre-emption claim of N. B. Paine, near Boone river, and Judge Meservey, then county judge of Webster county, sent A. B. Martin, then county surveyor and notary public, to attend the meeting, for the purpose of qualifying officers to hold an election to fill the county offices of the new county of Wright. This election took place in the month of August, 1855, and the first officers then elected were as fol- low: David Dean, county judge: C. H. Martin, clerk of the district court; Anson Brasfield, treasurer and recorder (then one office) ; Scott Crapper, Sheriff ; S. B. Hewett, Jr., county surveyor ; William Davis, coroner; H. W. Montgomery, school fund commissioner; N. B. Paine, prosecuting attorney.
As a matter of fact, there had also been called another election for county-organizing purposes, over on the Iowa river, on the east side of the proposed new county of Wright. This was held in a rather irregular man- ner, as it was found that there were many illegal votes cast. Pioneer Luick, of Belmond county, was the candidate for county judge over there. The
75
WRIGHT COUNTY, IOWA.
spirit of rivalry ran very high. Had it not been for an over-anxiety on the part of some of the citizens at Belmond, the county seat might have been located on the east side, for, as a matter of fact, there were more actual legal voters on the east than there were on the western border of the county ; but, in order to be doubly sure, the east-siders allowed men to vote who had not become actual voters within the true meaning of the law, hence the elec- tion was declared illegal throughout and the election on the west side pre- vailed. Greed, possibly, blinded the east-side settlers somewhat, for, even to this day, such excellent men as Edwin Ballou, a pioneer of pioneers and the oldest living pioneer in Wright county, whose home has always been near Rowan, declares to the historian that the east side had plenty of legal voters to have carried the day over the west side, and lost all by some of their over-anxious citizens allowing questionable men to cast their votes. Another worthy pioneer of Belmond, Stephen Whited, now an honored citi- zen of Eldora, affirms the same thing, and he with other level-headed men of the Iowa river side so contended at the time of the election in 1855, but Doctor Cutler and others believed otherwise. Hence, Goldfield (Liberty) bcame the first county seat, instead of Belmond or Ontario or some other Iowa river place, of which there were a number started with county-seat interests in view.
LOCATING THE COUNTY SEAT.
Up to 1861, the county judge in Iowa was "a man to be looked up to," the system being later styled the "one-man power," etc. His word was law. He viewed and reviewed petitions and remonstrances and then decided as he saw fit, usually owing to the personal interest he might have or the location in which he chanced to reside.
David Dean, who was elected county judge, assumed his duties in August, 1855, immediately after his election, and, under date of October 30 of that year the following entry is found in his record book :
"State of Iowa,
"Wright County, ss :
"Now comes John Rose and Nicholas McClure with their appointments to locate the seat of justice of the county of Wright in the State of Iowa, at my office and took the oath of office and subscribed to it according to law.
"DAVID DEAN, County Judge."
On November 20, of the same year. said commissioners, Rose and McClure, located the seat of justice on the southeast quarter of section 12,
-
DAY" FLAIUD
Wright County's First Court House
Wright county was organized in the summer of 1855 in this log cabin which was then located on a site between the present James and Frank Paine farm homes, 2 miles northwest of Eagle Grove. The first legal business of the county was transacted in this pioneer cabin. Later the county seat was moved to Goldfield, and in 1866 to Clarion, which is the exact geographical center of the county.
76
WRIGHT COUNTY, IOWA.
township 91, range 26, and gave it the name of Eagleville. This town of Eagleville comprised one hundred and sixty acres and was platted by John Stockdale, who sold many lots in the Eastern states. This was a "paper town," and was, by him and his agents, represented as being on the Eagle river, which was spanned by a fine draw-bridge to permit the passage of boats, all of which, together with nicely laid-out streets, splendid business blocks and handsome residences, was shown by a cut representing a birdseye view of the town. So far as can now be learned, there never was a single house built on the plat, and in the sixties it was in the midst of a great corn- field. While this scheming was going on in Wright county, the same thing was being carried on in many western counties of this state. But the county seat did not long remain at "Eagleville," in section 12, for Anson Brasfield appeared before the court by attorney, March 5, 1856, and then and there presented a petition of the qualified electors asking that an election be called for the purpose of changing the location of the county seat to the town of Liberty-the southwest quarter of the southeast quarter of section 33, town- ship 92, range 26. An election for that purpose was ordered to be held in the following April, but, for some unknown reason, it does not appear to have taken place. The petition was renewed by O. W. McIntosh and sev- enty-three other electors in July, 1857, and at the election held in April, 1858, the site was changed to Liberty, where it remained until it was removed by vote of the people to Clarion, its present location.
ORGANIZATION OF THE ORIGINAL TOWNSHIPS.
At the March term of the county court, presided over by the county judge, in the spring of 1856, on petition presented by N. B. Paine, Eagle Grove, Troy and Liberty townships were formed. Pleasant and Vernon townships were also formed in July of that year, while Iowa and Boone townships were organized one year later-1857. Elections were called for these various townships soon after their legal organization.
By the close of 1860-five years after the county's organization-its territory had been divided into the following eight civil townships: Troy, Eagle Grove, Liberty, Boone, Belmond, Pleasant, Iowa and Vernon.
An account of other township organizations will appear in the chapter on county government, which is made up largely from the minutes of the proceedings of the county supervisors, the first board of which met in Jan- uary, 1861.
In this connection is presented a poem written by Wright county's early
77
WRIGHT COUNTY, IOWA.
poet, Hon. N. B. Paine, which throws light, in poetic form, on the work and thoughts of pioneer characters and should be preserved in the annals of this goodly county :
"I saw Wright county born alive, August 5 of eighteen fifty-five. When Webster county levied tax That made us hump up our backs, We took the legal steps to claim A franchise under our own name, And all our voters on the Boone Flocked to our ranch that August noon. A tent was raised of carpets made, That we might labor in the shade; Judge and clerks were duly sworn, To see no bogus votes were thrown, For all agreed, without debate, Wright county must be legitimate. We made a judge of David Dean,
The poll when counted twice fourteen,
And N. B. Paine, a crack sharpshooter, Was state's attorney -- prosecutor. C. H. Martin was made a clerk To scribe the judge's legal work, And Anson Brassfield, in the order, Our treasurer and recorder.
Scott Crapper neath that carpet shade
Wright county's first high sheriff made.
For coroner in cases 'mort,'
A man they called Casort, And S. B. Hewett we all know
Surveyed our legal bounds to show.
Then H. W. Montgomery,
Without red tape or flummery, Furnished certificates and rules,
To school mams of our first public schools.
Beneath that tent in dog-day heat,
Wright county organized complete, And the county judge was county seat."
78
WRIGHT COUNTY, IOWA.
THE COUNTY'S NAME.
From the best obtainable evidence, it appears that Wright county was named in honor of Silas Wright, distinguished in American statesmanship and the twelfth governor of the state of New York, as well as for Joseph A. Wright, at the time of the creation of this county governor of Indiana- there being several settlers in this county from each state, New York and Indiana.
IN THE "NEUTRAL GROUND."
The territory of Wright county represents two Indian land concessions, both of which were made by treaties dated July 15, 1830. The southern part of the county was ceded by the Sacs and Foxes; the northern part by the Medewakanton, Wahpekuta, Wahpeton and Sisseton bands of the San- tee Sioux. These two cessions comprised the well-known district called the "Neutral Ground." The southern tier of townships of Wright county came within the limits of the original county of Buchanan from 1837 to 1843. The remainder formed part of the original county of Fayette, created in 1837, and in existence until 1847.
CHAPTER VL.
COUNTY GOVERNMENT.
Counties, like states and nations, under their own peculiar form of gov- ernment, have their own officers and systems, independent, as it were, in many ways, of other counties, but all conforming to the one great system of the state. The citizens of a county dictate the manner in which the government of the county shall be managed, and this has come to be more especially so in the last few decades. Under the old county judge system in Iowa, that "one man power" amounted almost to absolutism, the county judge's duties includ- ing nearly all the powers now possessed by the board of supervisors, with even additional powers, such as the transaction of all probate business. He it was who ordered claims paid, audited all accounts, heard and acted upon all public petitions and other public matters, even to the construction of bridges and court houses. He also issued licenses and accounted with the other county officers. The county judge's power was reduced greatly in 1861. however, by the creation of the board of county supervisors, and in 1868 the office of county judge was abandoned entirely, much of the power theretofore vested in the judge passing to the county auditor. Most of the data relating to the early history of this county, therefore, necessarily is based upon the records of the county judges who served until the beginning of the Civil War. In Wright county Judge David Dean was first to hold the office of county judge and Judge John L. Morse was the last county judge and first county auditor.
The first act of the first county judge was to assist in organizing the new county and providing it with a seat of justice, being aided, as heretofore shown, by the locating commissioners, Rose and McClure. Judge Dean changed the county seat from Eagleville to Liberty, by calling an election to settle that question. This election was held in July, 1857, and after that point had been settled the wheels of the new county machinery revolved in regular order for five years or more, without any great friction. Moneys were collected and paid out to the proper persons for services performed; roads were laid out and worked to a certain extent ; peddlers' licenses were
80
WRIGHIT COUNTY, IOWA.
granted, and other acts essential to the establishment of a proper civic order duly performed.
The earliest marriage license recorded in Wright county was that issued to Alexander Usher and Lucy Ann Brasfield, on December 25 (Christmas day ), 1855, by order of County Judge David Dean, whose charge for the same was one dollar-the first revenue received by the new county organiza- tion. The second fee received by the county was the peddler's license fee of one Marks, permitting him to vend his goods and wares for the period of ten days, upon the payment of one dollar and forty cents.
At the March term of the county court, in 1856, order No. I was issued to Minter Brasfield for the sum of twenty-seven dollars for "services as com- missioner in viewing and running a county road north and south through the county." During this same session of the county court N. B. Paine petitioned to have organized a civil sub-division of the county, to be known as Eagle Grove township. Troy and Liberty townships evidently were formed at the same time. The first settlement with the county officers of this county was made in proper and regular manner and was recorded as follows:
"State of Iowa,
"Wright County, July term of court.
"It appears by the accounting together of the treasurer and recorder, clerk of the district court, and county judge, that they have received as fees for term ending July 7. 1855, the sum of forty dollars and five cents, each receiving twelve dollars and fifty cents, leaving a balance in the treasury of two dollars and fifty-five cents,
"DAVID DEAN, county judge."
It would appear from the above record that the county officers at that date all received the same annual salary, but in the autumn of 1856 the sal- aries of most of the county officers were increased to one hundred dollars the year by a vote of the citizens of the county. At the end of the year 1856 the record shows that N. B. Paine was given county warrant No. 72. for the amount of twenty dollars for his services as prosecuting attorney for that year.
POSTMASTER "SWORN" INTO OFFICE.
On December 26, 1856, Ansel D. Brasfield was "sworn in" as postmas- ter at the newly created postoffice of Goldfield, Wright county, Iowa, his commission being the second one issued in this county. Goldfield was platted
81
WRIGHIT COUNTY, IOW.A.
on a forty-acre tract of land adjoining the town of Liberty, but ever since Civil War times the name applied to both has usually been Goldfield.
THE COUNTY'S FIRST PURCHASE.
In July, 1857, two years after the county was formed as a separate organ- ization, it bought its first stationery and other office supplies, as will be observed by the following entry :
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.