USA > Iowa > Johnson County > Leading Events in Johnson County, Iowa, History > Part 4
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HISTORY OF JOHNSON COUNTY, IOWA
lived as to disarm death of its terrors and to dispel the gloom of the grave."
But others began in an early day to settle in the more re- mote parts of the county. Asbury, or, as he was familiarly called, Asby E. Packard entered his land in what is now Hardin township in 1838 and for fifty or more years it was known as the Packard farm. Here he made a beautiful farm home and established other industries, a saw mill on "Old Man's Creek" in 1845, and a steam saw and grist mill in 1855, which in that day proved a great accommodation to his fellow citizens in that part of this county and in adjoining parts. He was for some time a member of the county board of supervisors and always a leading citizen in the affairs of his township, having to do with its organization when it formed a part of Washington and finally became an independent civil township. The county records are evidences of his activity in the affairs of his com- munity. One is led to inquire why the township is not called by his name. His home was in section thirty-four, and con- tained something more than two hundred acres. The village of Windham is on this farm.15
Cyrus Sanders came to Johnson county in 1839. Preced- ing him in 1837 and 1838 were those other pioneers, Philip Clark, Henry Felkner, Colonel Trowbridge, Judge Pleasant Harris, James, Joseph, Robert, and Henry Walker, and pro- bably a few others. At an election held in August following his arrival he was chosen county surveyor. If one cares to find his work in all its neatness let him examine the old road books and land surveys in the office of the county auditor, where the field notes and plats are as fresh and clear as if made but yesterday, indicating the painstaking care of making all de- tails with as much exactness as the larger phases of the work.
Early in this undertaking he purchased a claim of A. D. Stephens, just south of Iowa City, and there made his home, doing as many men did when they came west, living alone on his claim. Then in 1845 he married Pauline Worden and most of their lives were spent where he made his first home, as it has been said, "where fertile fields and blooming orchards and grazing herds have been evidences of prosperity and plenty." From 1839 or '40 until 1855 Mr. Sanders was county surveyor, with perhaps the exception of a year or two, and was once more
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PHILIP CLARK
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chosen in 1857. In 1849 he had a contract from the govern- ment for surveying the public lands which assured correct lines and corners. He had prepared himself for this work at Miami University in Ohio, where he gave his time chiefly to mathe- matics. He had some experience as a member of an engineer- ing corps in the surveying of the "Little Miami Railway," and the practical application of this training is very evident in the work he did in Johnson county. One cannot estimate the val- ue of these little books containing his work, and possibly few now living ever had an opportunity to look into them.
He came to Napoleon directly from Burlington in January, 1839, "having been induced," it is said, "to locate here by Gov. Robert Lucas." It was in the following April he pur- chased his first claim. In 1840 he bought the Stephens claim mentioned above. When General Frierson was surveying for the government in this locality he employed Mr. Sanders to assist him. Under Gen. George W. Jones, who was surveyor general in 1848, he was commissioned as a deputy surveyor for the United States, which office he held for some time. The minister who spoke at his funeral said: "One of the oldest citizens said to me yesterday, 'Cyrus Sanders was one of the best men I ever knew.' "' 16
September 1, 1837, Joseph Walker, Sr., came to Johnson county and settled in what is now Pleasant Valley township on Buck creek. This was long before any civil township was organized. He took up the first claim of a half section on Bear creek also, and here he subsequently lived. He was seldom absent from the meetings of the old settlers in later years and was among the last of that great harvest of old settlers that death carried away from 1883 to 1893 - although at this date (1910), there are some who, like the "last leaf" are still "cling- ing to the bough," while nearly all their mates are gone. What better could be said of any man than was said of Joseph Walker: "As a neighbor he was beloved, and as a Christian he exerted a good influence by his consistent life." 17
The following year another pioneer, James Magruder, came to the same vicinity and settled on the Iowa river. He served on the first jury in Johnson county at the trading house of Gilbert, or Phelps, as it was known. He is said to have entered the first land in the present state of Iowa at Burlington. This
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entry included a quarter section for each of four men of his neighborhood: Kelso, Sweet, Sturgis, and himself. Mr. Ma- gruder later acquired the entire acreage and at the time of his giving this account in 1893, he resided on this land with his son. He held the office of constable in the township of Fre- mont as it was later established, under Squire Walker, who was appointed by Governor Lucas in 1838. In the same year in which he landed in Iowa he took a "prairie schooner" and two yoke of oxen and made the first road, so he said, from Musca- tine to Pleasant Valley. He bought corn and took it to the Wapsipinicon to get it ground, but finding the water too low, he had to continue his journey to a one-horse mill, where, using a yoke of cattle, he ground his corn in three or four days, mak- ing the round trip in ten days, camping on his return on Rapid creek on the land afterwards the homestead of Sylvanus John- son. Mr. Magruder paid the first tax in Johnson county - fifteen cents - and probably the tax receipt is still in posses- sion of his family. The next tax he had to pay in Washington county, as the corner or fraction of a township in which he lived was placed by law in that county.18 It was necessary for Mr. Magruder to go to Muscatine [Bloomington] to procure his marriage license.
Here the interview unfortunately ended, and one must re- gret that the opportunity for some one to have gathered the very richest material for "pioneer" history was not contin- ued.19
Wenzel Hummer came to Iowa in 1837, but not until 1839 did he settle in what became Union township on "Old Man's Creek." Here he took up land in 1840 and made his home for many years. It was said that being in no wise a capitalist, he built his own cabin twelve by fourteen, made his own chairs and bedstead, as many others did in that day. His nearest neighbor was ten miles away, and there was no farm house in the township. He began with eighty acres, but left an estate of three hundred acres, now in possession of his family. His life was very active, like many others of his time, and he took part in the organization of his township. "Hummer Chapel," the Methodist church close by his home, was named in his honor, he having been active in its work and support.20
James H. Gower left Moosehead Lake, Maine, in 1838 and
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drove in a sulky with one horse to the Mississippi above Rock Island. The journey required forty-five days, and this was one of the most noted overland journeys made by any of the pioneers. He settled first in Cedar county and the family es- tablished Gower's Ferry over the Cedar river near what is now the town of Cedar Bluffs. Gower township in Cedar county gets its name from this family. He soon left that vicinity for the new town of Iowa City and became a leading citizen here in its commercial life. There was the firm of Gower and Holt in the early forties; then Gower, Mygatt and Galley, Gower and Morsman, Gower and Son, J. H. Gower, Bros., and Co., J. O. Gower and Co., Gower and Wilson, and Gower and Bowersox. In 1877 the latter firm left for Lawrence, Kansas. For more than thirty years the family were a part of the city, and one of the sons led the first cavalry squadron to the Civil War from this vicinity, "won his eagles and came home to die." 21 James H. Gower died in Lawrence, Kansas, two years after going to that city, and at his death it was said, "probably no man in Johnson county was better known than James H. Gower." His body was returned to Iowa City for burial.
One of the early land marks of the county, and a prime necessity at the time, was Switzer's Mill, built by David and Joshua Switzer, who, we find from recorded data, came to Iowa territory about the time it became such in name, in 1838. These two entered and purchased large tracts of land in John- son county where their homes were eventually to be for many years to follow. The mill of the Switzer brothers was pat- ronized by settlers from far and near who often were compelled to wait their turn at the "grist," so many being ahead that returning the same day was impossible. In 1849, in company with others who have ever since been called "Forty-niners," David Switzer set out for the gold fields, and he was among those adventurers who thus early crossed the plains and who got cut off in the mountains and left all their valuables and wagons. Only those of strength enough escaped with their lives. He spent four years in exploring the gold fields and then upon the urgent request of his father re- turned to Maryland, his old home, to care for him during his declining years. This incident is said to have been the chief reason for his not remaining on the coast and among the gold
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hunters who went west at that time. In 1853 he returned to Johnson county and settled permanently on his farm south of Iowa City, which he improved from that time until he ceased active labor. Eighty-one years of life were allowed him and he gave the best of them to Johnson county as one of the pio- neers.22
Fifty years or more Isaac Bowen spent in Scott township, coming here in 1839. It was said of him that "in the momen- tous development of this county he played a great part." His name figures in public affairs from this early date until the time came for younger men to shoulder the responsibility.
James Cavanagh came to Johnson county in 1839 and be- came one of the early county commissioners, his name appear- ing in Book II of the records of the county commissioners in the proceedings for three years. He was county assessor under the old law that put all the assessing of taxes in the hands of one officer, and he was also one of the commissioners appointed by Gov. Stephen Hempstead to locate the 500,000 acres of land granted by the federal government to the state of Iowa. Following this he became a member of the legisla- ture of the state, and was the last county judge when the duties of auditor fell to him after the provision was made for a county board of supervisors in 1861. Before coming to Iowa from Michigan he had held office in the judiciary, having been a justice and for four years an associate judge of the circuit court in Cass county of that state. For forty-one years he was actively identified with this county, and until his death at seventy-three was regarded as a strong citizen.23
I. N. Sanders and Azariah Pinney were others who found homes in the county in 1839, and lived here more than a half century of its history.
Capt. F. M. Irish was one of the very first of the pioneers of the county and a prominent figure when the capital was lo- cated here. The records of the county mention his home as the first meeting place of the county commissioners when they adjourned from Napoleon to Iowa City before they had even located the county seat. This pioneer was almost instantly killed on the corner of Dubuque street and Iowa avenue on February 17, 1875, through an accident. Two vehicles came into collision in which the blind pioneer was thrown to the
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ground and so injured that he never regained consciousness. He was immediately taken to the office of the Press which his son, John P. Irish, was then editing, and there he died, a tragic end to a life containing many trials.
To read the memorial of a mother written by her son is not a common thing, and when the editor of the Press was called
OLD GERMAN BEDSTEAD, 220 YEARS OLD Formerly in possession of F. X. Rittenmeyer, now owned by Dr. H. J. Prentiss
upon to chronicle the death of his mother it was to tell of her life as a pioneer, one who braved more than her share of fron- tier trials and who bore the hardships of travel over the prairies to find a home for her family, without complaint, and then lived a long life to keep them company.
On December 12, 1826, she and Frederick M. Irish were
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married in New York city and there began their lives together. He had been a sailor and soon fell helpless and crippled upon her hands. Gaining his health in a measure, he came west into the Wabash valley where in due time the family were united and "wrought on this frontier" for some years. Then the home was once more broken and left to strangers while she returned to the home of her childhood and he "took up his journey once more" and sought the west beyond the Missis- sippi for a new home.
Coming to Iowa City in the year 1839, soon a stout cabin, warmed by the native woods and cheered by the hope of home, rose under his hand, and once more she bade farewell to the home that cradled her infancy and came the long journey westward. This was nearly seventy years ago, and the jour- ney was not, as now, in palace cars with all the comforts of modern travel for this pilgrim with her small children, but overland and "by rail a short distance, by canal packet, over the spine of the Alleghanies, by the old 'inclined plane,' by stage and at last by steamer down the Ohio and up the Mis- sissippi. She came to sit down in peace behind a rampart of unhewn logs, under a roof of clapboards, content, for at last it was home." Here the pioneer life was once more under- taken where the flour for the family loaf was ground in the coffee mill and the garments that shielded her family from the winter's cold were spun and made by her own hands. Her in- dustry helping to earn what her frugality saved, she reared her children in a culture the schools of that time could not give and to her they owe the largest measure of whatever good may come of effort in their several stations in life. So at the ripe age of seventy-four years she rested, and the son put the con- clusion of it all in this language: "The wildest eloquence of sorrow, wrung from heartstrings swept by affliction, permitted to overstep the proprieties of this page, would yet fall far short of complete justice to her perfect life." 24
As a lad Sylvanus Johnson worked on the farm and in his father's brick-yard, acquiring the trade of brick making, his after vocation. When a young man he made a trip to the south by the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, spending a winter in New Orleans, returned to the north, and after a short stay in Illi- nois, crossed over into Iowa, locating in Jones county with the
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intent of making his home. While here, in the summer of 1839, he was commissioned by Gov. Robert Lucas to raise a company to take part in the "Line War" then threatening con- flict between Iowa and Missouri. In pursuance of this com- mission he undertook to raise a company of men and with such as could be enlisted in Jones county, he started by ox team for the newly platted capital - Iowa City - trusting to fill up his ranks on the way, and present a full company by the time he reached Burlington, the seat of official government. When a few miles north of Iowa City, he found himself hungry and penniless. Applying at the home of a miller he stated his case, and was furnished his dinner by the miller's wife, on his prom- ise that when he got money he would send her a set of plates; it was his pride to tell that with his first earnings he redeemed the promise; the act was characteristic of the man. Follow- ing the trail through the forest, he halted on the brow of the hill that forms the northern rampart of the city and at an isolated cabin inquired the way to Iowa City. The settler answered, "why, this is Iowa City; you can see the stakes all around here !"
He learned the "war" was over. The volunteers called for by Governor Lucas were no longer needed, and the young captain and his men found themselves in the new capital without service, and he without money in his pocket and in debt for his dinner. But he had energy and persistence, and he had his trade, and there was not a brick house in the coming metropo- lis. The brick maker had a cordial welcome; he could not have arrived more opportunely.
Early the next year he began work. The location of his brick-yard is perpetuated on the map to this day, for outlot 24 is entitled "Johnson's outlot." Where Mrs. Fanny Morri- son's beautiful home now stands, then outside the new city, he built his log cabin and opened the first brick-yard, moulding with his own hands on April 15, 1840, the first brick made in Iowa City. The first brick business house of the city was erected that year on Iowa avenue; and the first dwelling the next year by himself at his yards. Thence came the material for the walls of the Mechanics' Institute (of which he was one of the founders and first trustees), and for the inner walls of the territorial capitol, now the "Central Building" of the
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State University. Though this was the only brick-yard in the new capital, and the demand for material was constant, his product was good, the prices reasonable, and it was a long time before he had active competition. The dwelling erected by him in 1841 is in part preserved, and presents the oldest brick wall in Iowa City. Few walls in the state are older than this. The Mechanics' Academy was demolished a few years ago, to make room for the new hospital of the State University.
To obtain fuel for his brick kilns he had early purchased a tract of timber adjoining the capital city on the north, where the "lay of the land" much resembled that of the Connecti- cut home. In 1856 he enlarged his holdings by further pur- chase, making in all about 600 acres of splendid farming land, and that same year he opened a small brick-yard, where he burned the brick for the home he erected the ensuing year, when he gave over his avocation, and took up the life of a farmer. This home he built on the plan of the old home in Connecticut, a two story, great square brick house with an "L," of high-ceiled large rooms, a double fire-place, wide hall, and finely wrought staircase. It is one of the best examples of the "colonial" type in the west. To Mr. Johnson and his wife it was the old Connecticut homestead, situate on such a hill and commanding a view like that upon which they had looked in childhood. The pines that stand at the door, now great trees, were brought by him as mere slips from the old home, and planted by his own hands where they now tower upward.
The after current of his life ran smoothly. In this home he lived an active, useful, contented, happy Christian for al- most half a century. From his first coming he took a large interest in public affairs, though he neither sought nor ac- cepted preferment. His only public office was member of the city council in the last year of his residence in the city. An earnest advocate of education, he served on the school board, and was a trustee of the Mechanics' Institute, the only one perhaps who attended the first and last meetings of the board. He was a liberal donor to the projected Iowa City Female Col- legiate Institute, and suffered large loss in its collapse. An enthusiastic advocate of railways, he contributed liberally to the construction of the proposed Davenport & Iowa City Rail-
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way (now a part of the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific) and was one of its first trustees.
When the old Iowa Capital Reporter went over to the re- publican party in the campaign of 1860, he was one of those who contributed to the founding of the Iowa State Press, which four years later absorbed the Reporter plant. He is believed to be the last survivor of the original stockholders of the Press.
His father's family was of the Baptist communion, and up- on the organization of the church in this city he became one of its members, and through his active life remained prominent in its official work and helpful and liberal in its support. There was a broad liberality in his religious opinions, and it is said of him that he contributed generously to the erection of every church built in Iowa City, even after he had removed to his farm. In the widest application of the word he was charitable, retaining to the last that cheery liberality so characteristic of the pioneers. He never forgot that he came to his adopted home penniless and in debt, and no case of need or suffering ever appealed to him in vain, nor did he wait for appeal; it was enough for him to know that one needed aid he could give.
Possessed of an excellent voice, with more than a passing knowledge of vocal and instrumental music as then popularly rendered, and a meritorious performer on the "bass viol," he was everywhere welcome and his services were in constant demand. He was a member of the "orchestra" at the laying of the corner stone of the territorial capitol on July 4, 1840, and again at its "opening," as well as at the various public functions which marked the lighter and cheerier gatherings of the capital city's early days. The instrument he then used, and the commission issued him by Governor Lucas have been promised by his family for the cabinet of The State Historical Society.25
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CHAPTER III
The Old Settlers - Their Organization
T HE first meeting of old settlers was called in January, 1861, at the court house, and the pioneers who were called "old settlers" must have resided in the county twenty years. This meant, then, that they must have come to the county in 1841 or before. The organization of an Old Settlers' Asso- ciation and the holding of a festival in the near future was in contemplation. The names signed to this call included the men who practically founded the county, and its first history must be chiefly the history of these men. Henry Felkner, one of the first county commissioners, headed the list. Then fol- lowed: S. H. McCrory, who held many public positions; S. C. Trowbridge, sheriff and postmaster; David Wray, interested in public improvement; Robert Walker, one of the early settlers of Fremont township; I. N. Sanders; John Powell; William Kelso; N. Fellows, formerly a county commissioner; Bryan Dennis, whose house was a polling place at the first election in his township; H. H. Winchester; James Cavanagh, another county commissioner; Warner Spurrier, who held the same office; Phineas Harris; G. W. McCleary, county judge and an officer of state; James H. Gower, an early settler of two coun- ties ; C. H. Buck, a pioneer merchant ; E. K. Morse, whose name is retained in the town of Morse; John West; S. H. Bonham ; Titus R. Fry and William Alt, whose names appear in early county road history ; Philip Clark, county commissioner; F. M. Irish, whose name is inseparably connected with many events in connection with the county seat and subsequent history ; James Magruder, a pioneer of Fremont township; C. H. Berry- hill, whose name is found on every book in the county records for many years after organization; John Parrot, county com- missioner; Cyrus Sanders, surveyor and public servant in many ways; A. C. Sutliff, Cedar township; Thomas Hughes;
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Jesse Bowen, or Doctor Bowen, a personality never forgotten by those who knew him; David Switzer, who built the flouring mill when the county was in most need; Ed Worden, surveyor; George Paul, long a prominent character in the association, editor and farmer; George Fesler, county commissioner; E. Adams; and B. Henyon. All other residents who could show a residence of twenty years or more would be considered as members of this organization.
January 26, 1861, nearly eighty of these pioneers assembled at the court house as suggested by the preliminary meeting above, and perfected their organization. Henry Felkner was the chairman of this meeting and W. Reynolds the secretary. The preliminary resolutions were in charge of a committee consisting of Cyrus Sanders, Dr. Jesse Bowen, Thomas Hughes, George Fesler, and Silas Foster. They made provi- sion to appoint a committee on constitution and by-laws and for another committee to arrange for the coming festival. An invitation from the old settlers of Scott county to meet with them during the month of February following was accepted with hearty thanks and a similar one extended to the Scott county pioneers. All the counties in this section of the state, about this time, began to take some action on the subject of securing united efforts in preserving something of their pio- neer history. If all the addresses, formal and informal, all the anecdotes, and reminiscences of the many meetings had been preserved, it would furnish a complete record of the first twenty or more years of the county's history, that part which is now unavailable in many connections.26
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