USA > Iowa > Johnson County > Leading Events in Johnson County, Iowa, History > Part 12
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 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58
.
Digitized by by Google
1
CHAPTER VIII
The Incorporated City
T HE oath of office was administered to Jacob P. De Forest, mayor-elect of Iowa City, and to the other officers, includ- ing the city council, by Geo. S. Hampton, clerk of the supreme court of Iowa, on the sixth day of April, 1853. On the evening of that day they met for their first session in the Old Capitol, when there responded to roll call, Jacob De Forest, as mayor; Anson Hart, recorder; C. H. Buck, treasurer; Robert Hutchin- son, marshal; and Benjamin King, assessor. The council was composed of the following members: E. C. Lee, Edward Lan- ning, and William H. Hunt, from the first ward; Thomas Sny- der, Francis P. Brossart, and Wm. Penn Clark, from the sec- ond ward; Peter Roberts, Peter Statzer, and John Van Fleet, from the third ward. The committees appointed under a reso- lution offered by Mr. Clark were on ways and means, on claims, on streets, roads and alleys, on schools, on wharves and bridges. Rules for the government of the council were immediately adopted and the mayor was authorized to con- tract with C. A. Robbins for a city seal. This seal was to bear a certain device consisting of a railroad car in the center, sur- rounded with the inscription : "The seal of Iowa City." This was changed at a subsequent meeting in May, 1853, to read: "Seal of Iowa City, Iowa," a locomotive and railroad car in the center. It must be remembered, that the schools at this time were under the control of the city council, and their pro- ceedings on the subject up to the time of the passage of the law changing the authority to a "board of education" are found among the ordinary city business, and belong as to time and sequence in that record. For the purposes of classification, however, they are found in the chapter on educational topics.
When H. W. Lathrop resigned as councilman, to take charge of the new public school, Geo. W. MeCleary was ap-
. Digitized by
140
HISTORY OF JOHNSON COUNTY, IOWA
pointed to fill the vacancy. J. R. Van Fleet resigned at the same meeting, and Morgan Reno was appointed in his place. Changes were frequent during the early period of the council, and the names of leading citizens are recorded in "appoint- ments to fill vacancies," as they occurred.
During the summer of 1854 a petition from sundry citizens on the question of organizing a hook and ladder company was presented, which the council heard and at once acted upon, by ordering that the marshal "immediately procure, upon the best possible terms, two 3-story, two 2-story, and two 14-foot lad- ders, also 6 poles with the necessary hooks, chains, and ropes, together with a carriage suitable for the conveyance of the same, and to provide a suitable central place for the keeping of the same." This appears to have suggested to the council the need of a fire engine, and the mayor was instructed to correspond with the manufacturers regarding the cost of such an equipment. We hear no more concerning fire protection until a petition came from "Fire Company No. 1," through Wm. Vogt, its president, asking for an appropriation for the purchase of an engine. After considering the rapid growth of the city and its expansion, the council on Aug. 11, 1856, recom- mended the expenditure of three hundred dollars for the pur- chase of a fire engine.137
Under the act incorporating Iowa City the council were empowered to issue "improvement bonds" on the vote of the electors authorizing such issue. The question was submitted and, after approval by the electors, twenty thousand dollars of such bonds were sold to Wm. A. Buckingham, of Norwich, Con- necticut, at a discount of five per cent and interest at ten per cent. Such investments are worth special study, and they cover a wide area at that time in the state's history. The cus- tom of issuing "scrip" to pay current expenses was practiced to quite an extent, and in some instances became annoying to cities which did this. This appears to have been the reason for the act of the city council in reference to it.
The "scrip" issued by the city in denominations of "one, two, three, and five dollars," was ordered to be collected and destroyed by a committee from the council after several years of issue, and the council gave detailed instructions as to its burning and the reports required from the committee. Each
Digitized by Google
141
THE INCORPORATED CITY
denomination must be recorded and oath made by the commit- tee as to the total amount. The mayor was further requested by the council to "get possession" of the plates used in making this scrip, and when secured they must be utterly destroyed.188 This did not apply merely to "scrip redeemed," but to all unsigned "scrip." In this order the committee was author- ized to present to The State Historical Society "one note of each denomination," and this amount is preserved in a frame on the walls of the rooms of the society.
CLINTON STREET
A financial report makes the indebtedness of the city at this time, August, 1859, a total of $93,000, which included almost $15,000 in "scrip" and warrants, more than $8,000 in interest past due on bonds, or a floating debt of over $23,000. Rail- road and school bonds held against the city amounted to $70,- 000. Discouragement as to the affairs of the city, under its numerous debts and suits against it, appears to have led a num- ber of citizens to petition the legislature to "abandon the char- ter of Iowa City." In remonstrance, the city council appointed a committee to prepare for the legislature, "an abstract of the cost of the city government for each year since the city was incorporated, so as to be able to see when, and by whom, the city has been put into such enormous debts, and also give the
Digitized by Google
142
HISTORY OF JOHNSON COUNTY, IOWA
reasons why, in their opinion, it is not practicable to do away with our city charter." 189
The council session of April 6, 1866, was short and exciting, and in the record made of the occasion the clerk states that "a riot seemed imminent." It arose through some unwritten dif- ficulty, since while the mayor was present Alderman Cochran was elected president pro tem, whereupon the mayor ordered the city marshal to "remove the president from the chair." This the city marshal attempted to do, "which caused great confusion and disorder." Many persons, it appears, rushed into the council room and the excitement was very great. At this juncture, Alderman M. W. Davis, the one member now living, and at present in business in the city, "moved an ad- journment," which does not appear to have been voted upon very formally.140 In this affair weapons were drawn, and for a time matters threatened to end in a real battle. One mem- ber endeavored to assist Dr. Cochran in maintaining his seat and the session broke up in great excitement.' The room where this meeting was held in 1859 was upstairs on the southwest corner of Dubuque and College streets. There appears to have been a division in the council, for some members refused to meet with the body, preferring to be summoned by the mar- shal when he was able to find them.
It was about this period in the history of the city that North Market came very near becoming part of the residence district. Possession, it appears, was worth something to the man who lived on the southwest corner of the mar- ket for almost a dozen years. One George Kepler was allowed to place his house there and when notified refused to move it off. Mrs. Piper and Mrs. Jones also had houses on the square, by permission of the city council, but for shorter periods. Measures were proposed to move the possessors by action of the city attorney, the man in sixty days, and the women in one year. It was at this time, May 17, 1872, that a proposition came before the council to sell the North Market Square, fixing three hundred dollars the price of inside lots and four hundred dollars for corner lots. The reasons given for such action were because of the impracticability of fencing it when the two streets of Fairchild and Johnson left it in four different blocks. However, the action of the city council on the question was re-
Digitized by Google
143
THE INCORPORATED CITY
considered and North Market was not sold, but after having all obstructions removed at the expense of the council, at least for the removal of the house of Mrs. Piper under the direction of Mr. F. X. Rittemeyer, the reservation was fenced and became public ground.
As land became more valuable and lines were not quite defi- nite, demands were made for re-surveys of certain portions of the city. In accordance with this demand provisions were made by the city council to ascertain the facts in the matter. The old monument, or shaft, that marks the corner of section
CLINTON STREET, IOWA CITY
ten, on which the capital of Iowa territory was located, is sup- posed to be on the southeast corner according to survey, but the fact being severely questioned, several citizens petitioned for a re-survey and location of the south line of the section, that is section ten, which lies in Court street, dividing the plats of the capital of the territory and the county seat. The sur- veyor found in 1856 that the true corner "would be 26 feet south and 29 feet east of the monument as it now [1856] stands," and a further extended report was made by James H. Gower on the returns where he says: "The committee pro- cured the assistance of R. H. Kelley, Esq., as engineer and other assistance necessary and were aided by many of the old- est citizens now [1856] residing in the city." The committee used the plat of the city and township, and the field notes in
10
Digitized by Google
1
144 HISTORY OF JOHNSON COUNTY, IOWA
each case, and followed them in their re-survey. They pro- ceeded from the northeast and northwest corners of the origi- nal city plat of section ten, and when they were through at the southeast corner, they planted a stone post 39 feet southeast of the monument, and there they determined the section corner to be. This probably accounts for the old monument being in its present position, for the report goes on to say, that "the com- mittee would recommend that the monument be carefully pre- served where it now is as evidence of the correctness of the present survey as well as to preclude any possibility of a con- troversy hereafter as to where it stands. If we leave it stand there with all the evidence now existing to show that it was placed there erroneously and without authority, it will do more to establish the correctness of the present survey than any other fact connected with it." The committee, then, would by no means attempt to establish a new corner by pulling down the old one, but "by preserving it."
Another story goes with this re-survey, since the man who helped to place the monument on the corner of the section, as was supposed, has made a statement concerning the time, and the place, and also the circumstances surrounding the event. He makes the following affidavit : "James N. Ball, of the city and county of Washington, in the District of Columbia, being duly sworn, says he is a stone cutter by trade, and during the years 1840, 1841, and 1842, was living in Iowa City, then in Iowa territory, now the state of Iowa. I was working at my trade in the capital of Iowa, under Mr. Chauncey Swan, one of the commissioners, and he, during one of the years men- tioned above, desired to have a certain stone monument, cut and lettered, to be placed at the southwest corner of section ten, on which the city is built. He applied to me for assistance to help him in placing what he so much desired, the corner stone.
"I consented to his proposition, and lettered the corner stone, and otherwise assisted him. While I was engaged in lettering the stone the Hon. Thomas Cox came to the city, and I asked him to go with me and show me the corner stake of the city plat, informing him at the same time, that I was preparing a corner stone, and that as he had made the survey of the sec- tion, and had charge, in whole or in part, of putting down the
Digitized by Google
!
145
THE INCORPORATED CITY
stakes, he could readily do this. He did as requested and showed me the big stake, which was in precise range with the small stakes still standing and plainly to be seen.
"Soon after my return from the visit to the corner with Mr. Cox, I took two laboring men with me, with shovels and pick to dig the hole for placing the monument. I took up the big stake and directed the men to dig the hole in a direct line
CLINTON STREET
with the small stakes, and as near as possible to where the large stake stood.
"The hole was dug, however, rather small, and Mr. Swan, James Hanby, the two laborers, two teamsters, and myself, who were engaged in placing the monument in position, came to put the stone in the ground, we found to our great disap- pointment, that owing to the roughness of the bottom of the stone, and the ground not being sufficiently excavated, the stone was placed at one side of the city line as surveyed. The center line of the shaft should be the starting point, but owing to the unevenness of the stone, as may very readily be seen, the line
Digitized by by Google
146 HISTORY OF JOHNSON COUNTY, IOWA
is thrown to the north and to the east of the center line, say the full one-half of the thickness of the stone.
"JAMES N. BALL.
"Subscribed and sworn to before the undersigned, a justice of the peace, in and for Washington County, District of Colum- bia, on February 16, 1871.
"W. THOMPSON. " 141
The monument as lettered by Mr. James N. Ball contains the following inscriptions, which at the present day can be de- ciphered with great difficulty, and one must remove the vine that runs over the stone to find what it resembles, as it stands now on private property, on Summit street in Iowa City.
On the side facing the east one may perhaps read :
"M. VAN BUREN
President of the U. S. and R. Lucas Gov. of the Territory"
On the side facing the west the following :
"IOWA CITY
The Capital of
Iowa Territory
as situated on Section No 10. Township 79, N. R.
6 W. of the 5th Pr. M. located May 4th 1839 by Mess™ Chauncey Swan John Ronalds and Robert Ralston Comm" & Surveyed by Mess™ Cox Frierson & Judson under the direction of C. Swan Actg Com" "It required over two thousand stakes to be used on the lo-
Digitized by
i
147
THE INCORPORATED CITY
cation, and something like fifty hewed posts from six inches to one foot square, and from six to nine feet long, for the corners of the town plat, the public square and reservation."
How there happened to be so many shade trees in Iowa City may be explained by reference to the action of the city council in 1858, when an ordinance was passed to encourage the plant- ing of shade trees. A part of these must be a hard wood va- riety. They could be not nearer than twenty-five feet apart and opposite the lots of the owners, and near to the edge of the walk. Any person complying with the regulations and plant- ing his trees as directed could secure a tax rebate of twenty-five cents for each tree that fulfilled the conditions, being in healthy condition and eight feet high at least at the time the certificate was furnished by the street commissioner. This was approved unanimously and may, in part, account for some of the trees now found on the borders of the streets of Iowa City.
The movement became so popular at the time that it was almost an "epidemic" or a "panic." Men unaccustomed to handle a spade or remove their coats for outdoor work were plunging into the business of planting shade trees. The result was surprising. Lines of well planted hard wood varieties of trees soon appeared on nearly every street and avenue in the city.
Once this would not have been necessary, at least not so necessary. The primitive condition was forest enough, but as in all timbered lands, it was supposed to be so abundant that the supply would never be exhausted.
Public improvements are sometimes due to other events than positive acts on the part of authorities. Accidents, or mis- fortune, as it appears at the time, may lead to advances in the end, although one would not argue for the destruction of one's properties generally that some other might build greater. Several instances may be cited where greater things have arisen from what appeared a great local loss.
Ole Bull, the famous violinist, and his concert company met with a warm reception when they came to Iowa City in 1872. They were quartered at the Clinton House, which was burned to the ground at three o'clock in the morning. There being no fire protection, the building had to go, and so did the occupants, in the darkness, there being no "light to assist them in find-
· Digitized by Google
.
148
HISTORY OF JOHNSON COUNTY, IOWA
ing their way out, the gas having given out during the night." Colonel Wood was the proprietor of the house where the dis- tinguished company was entertained, and he immediately leased the Summit House and changed the name to the "Clin- ton House." So much for a man that had become well known to the traveling public.
Ole Bull escaped in his sleeping garb and was careful to secure his violin, which had under his skilful fingers stirred the citizens of the place only a few hours previous to the incident. Some merriment was produced in the crowd when he ran into the street with "a death clutch on his fiddle." Then he re- membered that he had forgotten his valuable watch, and he employed George Herron, a colored man, for a fifty dollar fee, to get it for him, who secured the timepiece and received the reward. Some regret was expressed that the famous musi- cian did not reward in some substantial way the night watch, George Andrews, who climbed a ladder to Ole Bull's room to bring his trunk and other valuables from the burning build- ing. No human life was lost, but the faithful coach dog of Mr. Burlingame was left behind in the excitement and no one could rescue him. People stood helplessly by and could do nothing to save the building. With no fire apparatus, no water, with a fierce wind from the north, no one could do more than look on while the lessons were given which taught the citizens of the future the value of protection against just such accidents. The city authorities were belabored to some extent for not provid- ing the needed protection long before. Here was a loss of thirty thousand dollars, all because no precaution was taken to prevent just such things. So the expected had happened, and a great disaster had come upon the city because of neglect, the cause of most of the trouble in any community.
Probably one could find just such instances in all the early history of the Iowa towns where such ordinary economic con- ditions are neglected as the protection of property, or in many cases of life itself. The educating effects of experience are not felt for long periods and accidents are soon forgotten. Habits are slow in being established, and it is a slow process also to establish a community spirit of cooperation in all that is wise and good.
Attempts to form a joint stock company to replace the Clin-
Digitized by Google
1
!
149
THE INCORPORATED CITY
ton House having failed, the result seems to have been a hotel of the present time, the St. James. In the autumn of 1872 the owner of the block on the corner of Clinton and Iowa avenue was urged by a number of influential citizens, among them M. Bloom, James Lee, Wm. A. Morrison, Henry Wieneke, to change his building into a hotel, and the result was an under- taking of the reconstruction of the block. The financial part of the affair was placed in the hands of Hon. Peter A. Dey, whose assistance was necessary to make the matter of change possible. In order to make plenty of room and to insure a modern house, the adjoining property on the east was purchased and im- proved. The same Colonel Wood of the Clinton House super- vised the interior arrangements, and when finished the city claimed a structure which for its time met all conditions.142
Congratulations that are mutual are shown in public celebra- tions, to honor victory in any conflict, and the local endeavors to secure more and better institutions were recorded in the estab- lishment of the present medical school in 1870. Immediately following steps were taken to secure a further effective organi- zation by the addition of a hospital, which was urged by local meetings in 1870, and an actual proposition was received from the Sisters of Mercy to take charge of such an institution if an equipment with only seventeen hundred dollars was furnished. Under these conditions one may appreciate the meaning of what follows.
The legislative assembly of the state for 1872 adjourned late, the session running into the last of March or first of April. Before adjournment they passed the appropriation bill of $52,000 for the University in all its departments. Of course there was much rejoicing and congratulations among the ones who had the care of the institution, and in the evening of the day the announcement was made a great celebration was held on the campus. It was said the city never presented a more brilliant appearance, the illuminations being made prominent by a "tallow dip" in each window of the University buildings. An immense bon fire was kindled immediately in front of the campus, which illuminated the transparencies suspended in front of the buildings, among them these: "Education - Civil Liberty ;" and another, "The University and the State of Iowa;" a third, "Our Representatives," in very large letters.
Digitized by by Google
150
HISTORY OF JOHNSON COUNTY, IOWA
At the south end of the buildings was one suggestive of the vote, "40 to 1," since only one lone member of the senate voted against the appropriation. His name was Gault. Speeches and music made the occasion historical, so far as names are concerned, but none of these sayings have been pre- served. Hon. Ezekiel Clark was the presiding personage, and the mayor, S. E. Paine, Geo. J. Boal, Dr. Shrader, Wm. G. Hammond, Peter A. Dey, and Rev. Dr. Thatcher gave ad- dresses. The band played and salutes were fired in honor of the men who had voted such a great sum, "$52,000," for the State University for all departments at a single session of the state assembly. It is not easy to reconcile present conditions with "tallow dips" in the windows and such an appropriation for all departments.148
In 1875 there was a movement to donate the old court house belonging to the county to the State University for the use of the medical department. It was proposed to do this by a vote of the people, and then that the city and county combine to erect a court house and city hall in one building. Nothing seems to have come from this proposition, and more than twenty years passed before the state concluded to erect a building for its hospital.
The first stone in the foundation of the University Hospital was laid on Friday, March 28, 1897. Dr. L. W. Littig was to lay the stone, but being called away on professional services, a substitute performed the work, using a trowel made especially for the occasion by Mr. Allen, an old gentleman who had then reached the age of eighty-two. The trowel was later presented to Dr. Littig. It was constructed in part from wood taken from the belfry of the old Mechanics' Academy, which had furnished shelter for so many different organizations during its history, having been built about 1840 by L. S. Swafford, for many years a veteran contractor and builder of the city. This new building was supervised by the senior member of the firm of architects who made the plans, Mr. George Josselyn, who was also the superintendent of construction of the Iowa Build- ing at the World's Fair in Chicago in 1893.
The corner stone laying, the more formal ceremony usually observed in commencing public buildings, took place early in May. Dr. W. D. Middleton performed the mechanical work of
Digitized by Google
---------
151
THE INCORPORATED CITY
spreading the mortar and of tapping the stone into place after the derrick had put it into position. The mallet he used was made from wood that was in the old building. In this stone was placed a zinc box, prepared by Hon. H. W. Lathrop, of The State Historical Society, with the side of the stone containing the box placed underneath. The tablet was also set by Dr. Middleton with the assistance of the workmen. There were present with Dr. Middleton, Drs. Shrader, C. S. Chase, Bier-
PALMER HOUSE
IT Word that
ring, Littig, and Rockwood of the faculty, and Hon. H. W. La- throp, a member of the board of trustees a generation ago, and a teacher in the old building a half century before. Ad- dresses were made by Dr. Middleton, who prophesied that men to come would say, "they builded better than they knew;" by Dr. Shrader, who rejoiced over the erection of a "grand and good hospital;" by Dr. Chase, who called the hospital the "crystallization of hopes long deferred;" and by Hon. H. W. Lathrop, who proudly traced the "unparalleled growth of Iowa institutions" during the past half century. The corner stone is the same block that served a like purpose fifty-five years be- fore, and in dimensions is ten inches thick, two feet six inches
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.