USA > Iowa > Johnson County > Leading Events in Johnson County, Iowa, History > Part 34
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in a close semi-circle in front of the platform in breathless silence, not a sound being heard except the crier's voice. Then the purchasers were admitted two or three at a time, to pay for the land and receive their certificates. This was a tedious pro- cess, as the land office received no money for land except United States coin or notes on the State Bank of Missouri. Nearly all the money paid was in silver, and it consumed a great deal of time to count it and find the spurious coin. Then when it was all over, we started home on August 5, 1840, many of us enjoy- ing the comfortable feeling of being owners of real estate for the first time in our lives."
For the land sale at Marion in 1843, S. H. McCrory and Robert Hutchinson were selected for bidders, for township seventy-nine north, range six west, which must have been the remaining part of the township not sold at the Dubuque sale three years before, and for township eighty north, in ranges five and six west, Henry Felkner and Cyrus Sanders were chosen as bidders. These townships included the land now found in Graham, Newport, and part of Penn townships as established in later years. It is always understood that the plats the bidder carried were of the original congressional sur- vey, not the civil township as now known. After the prepara- tions had been made for the land sale at Marion the Association adjourned to meet at that place at the time of the sale, and soon after the conclusion of this sale the Association disbanded, there being no more use for such an organization when the title was secured in the individual claimant. It had existed for four years and during that time had secured the settlers in their rights and prevented much trouble and dishonesty, that no doubt would have deprived many men of their justly earned and rightly secured homes. They were not compelled to pay a forced price for the land above the government figure of one dollar and a quarter per acre as they might have been com- pelled to do, had the speculator been allowed to bid against them. It was not safe to do such things at the land sales for men were in earnest and on the ground in sufficient numbers to enforce the regulations of the Associations.
It is said that there were two things that made the Claim Association of this county especially needful : the location of the capital of the territory here and the reservation of the con-
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HISTORY OF JOHNSON COUNTY, 10WA
tiguous sections of land to the one donated for capital purposes. The first of these brought many new settlers into the county all at once, which made some kind of protection necessary. The second, in reserving the sections adjoining the capital reserva- tion kept the claimants from getting a title to land they had improved before these sections were reserved, and this law was not repealed for three years.384
About this time in the history of farm land an offer of a well Inown tract illustrates the values placed upon such property as it was advertised in a local paper. It was proposed to sell the old "Trading House Farm" in 1844, which contained, ac- cording to the statement in the description, "eight hundred acres deeded land, and three hundred twenty acres of a claim; four hundred acres under good fence; one hundred sixty acres in cultivation, which produces from fifty to sixty bushels per acre. Also an orchard of one hundred fifty bearing trees." For all this the price asked was $5,000, $3,000 cash, and $2,000 at ten per cent interest.
Later in the history of land sales the land office was located in Iowa City on College street, block twenty-three, on the corner where the presidents of the University have at different times resided. Dr. Enos Lowe was the receiver here for a time, and during his incumbency some desperate characters appeared in the city, causing the funds of the government to be removed to Burlington. The treasure was heavy and was transferred by team and wagon across the country by F. M. Irish, on which occasion he met with an accident in crossing a swollen stream, in which his team was drowned and the wagon with its load of specie sent to the bottom. With the assistance of some friendly Indians, who happened that way, the money was saved from the flood and with a new team secured from the vicinity, he completed the journey. For his loss, reported to the govern- ment by Dr. Enos Lowe, the receiver, he was, after a long delay, reimbursed by Congress. The land office here entered the un- sold land in the neighboring counties, Muscatine, Scott, Cedar, and others adjoining, so that the funds were quite large. At times they were sent by stage under a guard, as it is related by Joseph Albin today, in his reminiscences of the early stage routes from Iowa City to Davenport.335
However, it appears that not all real estate investments
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proved profitable in the opinion of the owners, if one may judge from some correspondence that deals with the period of ex- tensive land sales. At least town lots had not yet become valu- able enough to be measured by the income per square foot. In support of this conclusion the documents below are inserted: "I, Joel M. Brinton, of Alleghany County, Pennsylvania, do hereby appoint S. B. Gardner my agent to attend to my Lot No. 7, in Block No. 93 in Iowa City to rent the same the best he can, to pay the taxes out of the rent, and receive Two Dollars per year for his trouble in attending to the Same, and pay me the ballance of the rent when I may call for the same. Witness my hand at Iowa City this 9th day of May 1845. "JOEL M. BRINTON
"Turtle Creek P. O. Plumb Township."
The following account of S. B. Gardner as reported to Joel Brinton was found with the above legal document in the vaults of the court house among the records as kept by Gardner when clerk of the Board of County Commissioners:
"Rents received for Joel Brinton from H. L. Hart
"1 load of wood in 1846 75
"Dutch Preacher in 1847 - 6 months at 75. 4.50
"Parker in 1847-1848-1849 - Recd. 12.00
$17.25
"Taxes of 1846-1847 & 1848.
3.75
13.50
"My Services as Agent in 1845, 1846, 1847, 1848 at
2.00 pr annum. 8.00
5.50"
In reply to the statement of account as probably sent to Joel M. Brinton the following letter was found:
"Westmoreland C. Y. March 4th A. D. 1849
"Dear sir I was verry much disappointed last spring in not receiving any rent as I was expecting twenty or thirty dollars at least and I hope I will not be disappointed this spring in the same way for you told me at the time I bought my house and lot that such house and lot would rent for four dollars per month rents must have depreciated verry much indeed if they
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are not half as high as they were when I was there I always thought that in cityes rents increased but in Ioway City they decrease
"Dear sir you will please send me the rent by mail and seal your letter in the presence of the post master and a witness so that it can be recovered if it is lost if you think there would be any chance of selling my house and lot I wish you would let me know it please write as soon after receiving this scroll as convenient and indorse your letter to Fulton Post ofice West- moreland C. Y. Penna times here are not so good as they were flour is worth but 3.50 per barrel and wheat 65 to 70 cts per bushel corn 30 oats 20 we have had a mild winter with a verry little snow I heard there was three feet of a level snow in Iowa this winter I have nothing more worth your attention but my respects to you JOEL M. BRINTON '' 336
According to the custom of the time the letter was mailed without any envelope, simply folded and sealed with wax, with the address to "Stephen Gardner, Johnson County, Iowa City Postoffice," written across the folded sheet. The original has been deposited with the county auditor for safe keeping as it was among the records of that office, although the private prop- erty of Mr. Gardner, so long clerk of the board of county com- missioners.
The relation of the soils, or the geological part of the county history, to the prosperity of the possessor is well shown by a study of the areas of the county described as the "fertile soils," and those of another type found in different sections. It is said that south of Old Man's creek, in Washington, Sharon, Liberty, and Fremont townships, in some parts along the east- ern boundary and also in Oxford, Madison, and Pleasant Val- ley townships, one finds types of what such soils will produce when joined with the skilled efforts of the farmer. "The fine homes, large overflowing barns, well-kept stock, and all possi- ble labor saving devices," are sufficient proof that something is due to the natural productiveness of the soils hereabouts.
Again, the type of soil that discourages the laborer, if he has been at any time accustomed to the first kind mentioned, is that which is found "heaped up in ridges" along the streams or elsewhere through a given section, which has no deposit of "vegetable mold" to enrich the surface. More time, more ex-
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penditure is necessary in securing results from this source, yet many find homes here and some persist in endeavoring to draw from the hills and the steeper slopes subsistence and profit. Here crops are washed away by heavy rains and no manner of labor can bring them back. The improvements indicate the struggle for the mastership; small unpainted houses, door- yards bare enough, sheds with poor roofs, good and proper, perhaps, when the settler began, but surely out of date now; only a few tools of modern type, and exposed to the destructive elements of rain and sun, and all the suggestions are the re- verse of those found on the great wide areas composed of rich
FASHIONMED CoastA &Chy
CLOTHING
OLD STONE BUILDING, CORALVILLE
black loam. Great lessons for the teaching of real agriculture are near at hand, yet seldom put into practice.
The pioneer geologist of Johnson county is said to have been found in the person of Dr. David Dale Owen, who in 1850 ex- amined the rock exposures at or near Iowa City, even following the Iowa river beyond the limits of the county, while he ex- plored the valley of Rapid creek and recorded his observations. His scientific observations are found in his published work.337
In 1855 Professor James Hall began work as the state geolo- gist, and mentioned at different times the geology of Johnson county, while Dr. C. A. White refers to the famous, or at least once famous, "Bird's Eye" marble found at Iowa City, which was in outlot thirty-three, now no longer recognized as a
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quarry. Dr. White says: "This coral and calcareous forma- tion receives a fine polish and makes a beautiful cabinet speci- men, but is always too small to be of any practical use as marble. It has been known as 'Iowa City' and 'Bird's Eye' marble." 338
Among others who have written on the geology of Johnson county are found the names of Calvin, Keyes, Shimek, and Webster, who have contributed special articles in addition to completed discussions of the whole subject by Dr. Samuel Cal- vin, who prepared the "Geology of Johnson County," as found in the Iowa Geological Survey. To speak of the land forms of the county and avoid technical terms it may be well to mention briefly some of the chief characteristics of this part of the state as represented in this one county. An area of plains and ridges in which the rivers go out of their way to avoid low-lying plains and cut channels longitudinally through ranges of hills that rise forty, sixty, or eighty feet above the broad lowland surfaces, that apparently might have been traversed with less difficulty, and certainly would have afforded a shorter and more direct course; an area in which the divides are low and the high lands border the river valleys. In the southern part of the county the streams are wider and deeper than in the northern part. More or less sand is found in the ridges of the northern part, and the phenomena of the abrupt elevations found here may all be explained by men versed in the history of land formation, and they understand the "language of the hills," if one may so put it, that tells of what has come and gone before man as he is now recognized came to occupy the land. The ploughman who opened the prairie came occasionally upon one of those great Iowa boulders which stopped him in his progress, at least temporarily, and he perhaps wondered why such obstructions were left in the situation he found them. He may have noticed that some sections were perfectly free from them and others thickly strewn. Once more the man of science came to his aid and explained for him that these appear in certain relation to other phenomena of land forms. A well-de- fined boulder strewn area is found in section fifteen in Big Grove township, north of the Cedar Rapids road. Within a small space are gathered a large number of masses of gray granite, some "twelve or fifteen feet in diameter." In naming
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"Big Bottom" the early settlers had no particular scientific reason; they simply applied the common term to a tract of land that was exceedingly fertile, due to long accumulation of rich deposits, such as abound in certain extensive portions of our state.
In the field notes of the original survey of the county the land is briefly described as possessing certain distinguishing marks as it appeared seventy years ago. Since then the geo- logical student and the professional scientist have classified and tabulated the particular districts of the county.
The rich land of the valleys and rolling plains now return to the farmer the energy so long accumulated under ages of formation. He found material for his buildings in the bluffs along the streams; the deep ravines cut by the erosion of many years furnished him opportunity for the construction of dams for his water power, while the deep channel of the river, from the old location of Roberts Ferry to the point south of Iowa City where it emerges upon the wide plain, which it often covers in the time of freshet, protects the adjoining farms from the overflow that would occur had the river taken the course that one would naturally expect where it makes the "big bend," in Jefferson and Penn townships. One often wonders at the caprices of nature, yet he must wonder more at the adaptation of all these things to the advantage of man as he subdues the soil and becomes the master.
The Iowa river has a total length in the county of about fifty miles, counting all its windings. It has been used to carry freight and furnish power to turn many water wheels. Its scenery is remarkable, furnishing themes for many writers long before it came into commercial use.
Not many important streams find their way into the Iowa within the county boundaries. Clear creek, like all the streams on the west side, takes a southeasterly direction following the valley near the south margin "close to the northward facing bluffs." Old Man's creek, the stream with the wide valley and mournful name, is the one important tributary in the southern part of the county, while the divide between it and Clear creek is distinctly marked in the northern part of Union township, where the drainage area of Deer creek comes within the frac- tion of a mile of the tributaries of "Old Man's creek" on the
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south. The lower part of the Iowa river valley in this county furnishes probably the richest farming land found within its boundaries. A few depressions in the county, called "lake basins," are found near the river in the northwestern part. The most noted of these is Swan Lake, of about sixty acres in extent and nearly half a mile in length. It is said that at the time the county was settled, Swan Lake was a pretty sheet of water, twelve to fifteen feet in depth and well stocked with fish. The rim of the lake is composed of sand and gravel, but the years have interfered with its beauty and gradually the lake is filling, until it has become almost a marsh, supporting rank vegetation. Doubtless time will cause it to entirely fill and the necessary drainage will be furnished by some enterprising man and corn may be induced to grow where the beautiful lake once supported a different life. Other counties in the state had many such swamps, which have been turned into the richest farm land.389
Closely identified with the soils that furnish the source of food production due to man's industry are the quarries that have furnished him with much building material. Among these are the quarries from which the greater part of the stone for the Old Capitol building was taken, which is located on the right bank of the Iowa river in Penn township, sections five and eight, about eight miles northwest of Iowa City. This stone is not suitable for polishing; its great value lies in its "suitableness for dressing for use in massive structures, and for the more important parts of ordinary masonry." This was written in the palmy days of the quarry, when its was fur- nishing material for the buildings in the vicinity. Its general working was not possible because of the distance from trans- portation. The river had been used to carry the stone when the capitol was erected. This grade of stone was found only in Johnson county, at the time of the county geological survey by Professor Samuel Calvin.
Other quarries that furnish building material are found in the vicinity of the Iowa or Cedar river. The Hutchinson quarry, west of the river at Iowa City, employs during the working season a number of men, the product being consumed in the vicinity. Up the river on the east side the Sanders quarry has furnished rock for various purposes used at home.
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Two and one-half miles south of Shueyville, near the iron bridge, is another quarry that has been worked for a number of years, the stone running generally the same as in other quarries along the river near Iowa City. All the stone here described is for rough work only. The McCollister quarry in section twenty-two of East Lucas township is the source of another supply for that particular neighborhood. The Rock Island railway has worked a quarry north of Coralville for its track use, while many minor points of supply for local pur- poses have been opened, but in none have the improvements been very marked. Of the ones mentioned the "State Quarry," as the name was given so long ago, is the most important, and it continued to be worked in later years under the direction of William P. Doty, who was also instrumental in opening the quarry belonging to N. Zeller, Sr., and a member of the Wein family.
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CHAPTER XXIV
Mills and Live Stock
T HE smaller streams of the county were utilized very early in meeting the first demand of the settlers for mills. Naturally those first sought for were to grind grain and saw lumber, and the latter of these were first erected. Rapid creek supplied the power for the mill of Felkner and Myers; Old Man's creek set in motion the wheels of the mill of Pleasant Harris, but Rapid creek led in that at one time it had four saw mills, turning out lumber through the energy from its waters, while every stream that could be held in check until its power was accumulated sufficiently, was used in some form of pro- ductive labor. Lingle's mill and Lingle's road are familiar names, and these go with Lingle creek where Mr. Lingle built a grist mill in Big Grove which boasted two stories, but ground corn only, with its burrs made from the native boulders cut by one of the workmen on the Old Capitol then in construction. For twelve years the Haynes mill was operated in Cedar township; Chaney's mill in Penn was similar to that of Lingle in its construction and product in that it was said to be well mixed with granite particles and furnished a strange diet.
But of all these mills, both north and south of the new capital, the best known was probably that of David Switzer on Clear creek, which became a center for more than one county. Here the first dam was built in the county in 1839. Fine bolted flour was made here and its effect on the growing of crops and the value of land in the vicinity was marked, since it was said to be the most encouraging enterprise established in the county at any time. It meant more and better food, and it was close to the source of supply. After the days of "grist mills" the property was known as the Strickler Woolen Mills, but of course all trace of the woolen mills in the vicinity has disap- peared, since they were removed to Kansas, although ap-
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parently successful here. The old grist mill served many cus- tomers and in its day the praises of the flour made there were sung throughout the settlement. As one has put it, "only those who have lived for weeks without breadstuffs other than that pounded in a mortar by a pestle, can appreciate the luxury of the first flour and meal from the old mill."
When the mill at Coralville was built David Switzer sold his burrs, bolts, and other flour milling equipment to the new company and turned his mill into a saw mill, unfortunately for the neighborhood, one may suppose, as after the mills at the
CORAL MILLS
new point burned and before the rebuilding it was some- what difficult to supply the local flour bin.340
A fifty-two page abstract, showing all the transfers of the Coralville water power, gives a summary of its history more perfectly than any other source could. This is also interest- ing as a piece of legal work, being one of the largest abstracts involving Johnson county property and perhaps one of the largest in the state. The government deeded the land in 1842 to Jesse McCart, one of the first settlers in the new territory.
On May 18, 1842, the project of a dam across the river at some point near Iowa City was first suggested, and the fol- lowing year an organization was completed which stated its purpose as "the erection of hydraulic works on the Iowa River." This organization was known then as the Iowa City
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Manufacturing Company, and its officers were among the first citizens of the vicinity, namely: Chauncey Swan, Augustus McArthur, Ferdinand Haberstroh, Thomas Snyder, and Abra- ham I. Willis.
The company purchased three acres of ground at the pres- ent site of the dam from Walter Butler, together with the water rights extending four miles up the stream. It must be understood that the land had been purchased of Jesse McCart by Walter Butler some time before this. The reason for choos- ing this site is given as relating to the possible navigation of the river to Iowa City, and it could not, therefore, be obstructed below that point. Then, it is said, there was the possibility of a town at the site of the dam which now has the title of Coralville, and suggests the underlying strata on which it may find a foundation. But the name was not always thus, for some time the name "Clarksville" was applied, and one finds reason for this in the name of Ezekiel Clarke, one of the men interest- ed for so long a time in that water power. This town threat- ened to grow beyond the "capital" itself and the annexing of the capital to Coralville was more possible then, it appeared, than the reversing of the process. Like many other "booms," it was temporary, and the advantage of location determined the outcome.
The new company began the construction of the dam, but in 1844, after a brief life, it became insolvent, and the property was sold at sheriff's sale by the sheriff of the time, M. P. Mc- Callister, in 1845, to A. B. Newcomb and John Harris. In 1846 these purchasers sold their interests to E. C. and W. P. Lyon, who in due time sold to E. Clarke and E. W. Lake, of Ohio. Then came, according to the time, prosperous days for Coral- ville, and the busy wheels of industry hummed night and day, for ventures were realized. The farmers came from far and near with their grists to Coralville, or Clarksville. It was about this same period that Ex-Governor John H. Cox, of Ohio, acquired an interest in the property, and in 1854 a one- fourth interest was purchased by Samuel J. Kirkwood, then, as he was called, "a happy miller," and little dreaming of the vital part he would play in the history. of Iowa in a few short years.
Near the close of the Civil War, Governor Kirkwood sold
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his interest to M. T., C. D., and S. M. Close and after controll- ing it one year these owners sold to Valentine Miller and W. W. Kirkwood, a brother of the governor. Many industries secured the water power privilege by lease during this period and various forms of manufacture sprang up in this vicinity. All the factories which were built along the river at this point acquired some kind of title to the water right and this was the situation in 1875 when Governor Kirkwood became an owner
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