USA > Iowa > Allamakee County > Past and present of Allamakee county, Iowa. A record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement, Vol. I > Part 30
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In his reminiscences of the early days Mr. D. B. Raymond wrote the follow- ing. in 1882, shortly after the death of James Reid, and it seems to be appropriate here. Mr. Reid was born in Pennsylvania, and in 1851 came to Union Prairie and settled on the place where he died February 10, 1882.
"Uncle Jimmy, as he was called when the writer knew him nearly thirty years ago, was truly a remarkable man in his way, plain and honest to a fault. At first acquaintance his manners seemed uncouth, but a warm heart was his, unless some gross injustice aroused him and when insulted or attacked he was a tiger, and woe to the man who risked the force of his great brawny arms and fist, which was like a manl. He was a great hunter and his persistent pursuit of game was nearly always crowned with success. He was a remarkable marksman and always had great pride in his rifle. During the winter of 1852 and 1853 he killed nearly seventy deer (I speak from memory). The writer on many occa . sions accompanied him in hunting expeditions ; being then young I was no match for the old hunter, and generally was outwinded by him. The last exploit I remember in this line was a raid on the Yellow river; one l'eter Gilson had improvised a grist mill near where a little village was afterward started and named Cleveland. On this hunting trip uncle Jimmy displayed more than usual vigor : the second day I was shelved from fatigue and the old man proposed seeking shelter at Gilson's for the night. some five or six miles up the river from where we were at sunset. The day was very cold and the sunset denoted a biting cold night. While deliberating, two deer appeared on the bluff opposite, the old hunter raised his rifle and fired and a fine doe made the snow her wind- ing sheet. It being across the river I suggested we leave it until morning and we started for the mill. At nearly dark when half way over there, I gave out and the old man relieved me of my gun and other traps ; his step was strong and sure : I staggered after him and we finally reached the mill. A supper of bis- cuit and coffee refreshed us, but our bed was cold sacks of grain and the rush of water through the flume beneath was the music that kept us company while attempting to sleep. In the morning the old man told of the great distance he killed the deer. to other parties, who doubted the story ; uncle Jimmy's wounded honor caused a careful calculation, and the distance proved fully seventy rods, being ten more than he claimed."
The Union Prairie postoffice was established in 1852, in the northwest corner of section 26, with Edward Eells as postmaster. At his death in 1859 it was removed a half mile further west, to the stone house of Loren Eells. where it remained until discontinued, about 1868.
In 1893 a postoffice called Connor was established in the southeast corner of section 7. near the West Ridge church, at the house of Jeremiah Ryan. postmaster. Here it remained until put out of commission by the free rural delivery.
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PAST AND PRESENT OF ALLAMAKEE COUNTY
St. John the Baptist Catholic church, of West Ridge, is an old organization. but we have no data of its history. With the other Catholic churches of the county it was formally incorporated in November, 1911, under the charge of the present pastor, Rev. F. Mccullough, the laymen directors at that time being Francis Drew and David O'Brien.
A mile or more southeast of this church, in the west part of section 17, a sawmill was in operation in 1859, on Coon creek.
And on the southwest part of section 9, a little country store had been estab- lished by O. E. Hale, which he conducted for a number of years and it was widely known as "Hale's Store," becoming a sort of landmark for travelers in this region of bluffs and crooked roads.
The south and east part of the township settled up early, so that the popu !- lation of Union Prairie in 1854 was 308. In 1910 it was 775. Township officers are: Clerk, J. T. Baxter ; Trustees, Andrew Onsager, J. E. McGeough, Thos. Farley; Assessor, Owen Piggott.
WATERLOO TOWNSHIP
The northwest township in the county contains a smaller area than any other except Fairview, comprising but thirty full sections and a narrow strip only of the north six sections, south of the Minnesota state line. It was organized from Union City township by an order of the county court, March 3, 1856. and by an enumeration in that year contained a population of but 157. Like most of the others there is no record of the early township officers elected.
The earliest settlement seems to have been made in the northeast corner, in 1851, by Mrs. Jas. Robinson and her four sons, on Portland Prairie. John Coil also located near them. Edmund and Harvey Bell took government land where Dorchester now stands, in June, 1853. And not long after a village sprang up here called
Dorchester-In 1855 or '56 a log gristmill was built here by the Bells, which became quite a convenience to the dwellers on Portland Prairie who had heretofore been obliged to go to Bellows' mills or to Lansing. Some time later this mill was replaced with a large frame building with facilities for making flour. The miller here at one time was one McMillan, an excellent miller, who later operated a mill on Winnebago creek over in Minnesota for some time, and then ran the Bellows mill in French creek, which became popularly known as McMillan's mill. A store, blacksmith shop, and wagon shop were soon in order, and a sawmill was built on Waterloo creek above the village, and owners of timber lots began' to haul in logs to supply themselves and others with lumber.
The Dorchester postoffice was established in 1856, and a mail route opened up from Brownsville, Minnesota. Dr. T. C. Smith, who came in that year, was the first postmaster, and retained the position for many years. J. M. Tartt went into business with Smith in 1858, and the firm name of Smith & Tartt was a household word throughout this section for a long time. Mr. Smith eventually removed to Villard, Minnesota, where he died December 30, 1905.
In 1870 the business of Dorchester comprised the Langenbach flouring mill (the "Waterloo Mills" run by C. J. Langenbach for many years), four black-
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smith shops, two wagon shops. Smith & Tartt's store, a boot and shoe shop, and S. H. Haines, produce. Dr. R. C. Ambler was their physician. In 1873 the village plat was laid out by the proprietors, S. H. and Elsie T. Haines, and placed on record. We have no data at hand in regard to the early schoolhouse here, but a substantial brick schoolhouse was built in 1878. In 1877 besides the flouring mill there were two stores, two blacksmith shops, hotel, shoe shop, tailor shop. There were then two churches, as now, German Methodist and Catholic. Also a flourishing temperance society with thirty members, and a lyceum meeting every Saturday evening.
In 1913 the town supports two stores, two blacksmith shops, wagon shop, hotel and restaurant, millinery shop, garage, farm implement house, meat market, and last but not least, a bank. The present postmaster is L. Coppersmith, who was holding that position as far back as 1892 or longer, and rural routes supply Quandahl, and Bee, Minnesota. A creamery was in operation for many years until recently. The flouring mill is now owned we believe by C. J. & Herman Schwartzhoff.
The Dorchester Savings Bank was incorporated February 7, 1912, and began business in July following, having erected a substantial two story frame build- ing, equipped with modern safety devices for protection of depositors. The capital stock is $10,000; and the April, 1913 statement, shows deposits of $37,- 950.68; and total assets of $48,136.41. Its officers are : President, Wm. Kumpf ; Vice President, Wm. Schwarzhoff ; Cashier, J. H. Larkin; Directors, the fore- going officers with L. H. Gaarder. Jas. T. Bulman, A. T. Nierling, and O. J. Hager.
Dorchester Camp, No. 4585. M. W. A., was chartered March 19, 1897, the first officers being, Consul, E. J. Goble ; Clerk, T. A. Danaher. The camp now numbers seventy-two members, and the present Consul is Levi Sires, and Clerk, Jacob Kumpf.
St. Mary's Catholic church of Dorchester was one of the early churches in that part of the county. Rev. F. Mccullough was pastor in 1892. In 1911 it became incorporated, Archbishop James J. Keane being ex-officio president as in all such corporations; the pastor, Rev. T. G. Brady, ex-officio vice president, and Wm. Schwarzhoff and Wm. Duffy laymen directors. Father John Sheehy is the pastor now in charge. This congregation is now preparing for the erec- tion of a fine new house of worship.
St. John's M. E. church in Dorchester was incorporated August 30, 1882, with the following named board of trustees, viz. : C. J. Langenbach, Fred Luehr, Henry Wenig. Henry Steinbach, and George Wenig. Its present pastor is Rev A. C. Panzlan, who officiates also at the church on May's Prairie.
The Norwegian Evangelical Lutheran Congregation of Waterloo Ridge, became an incorporated body March 26, 1869, the trustees being Hans Johnson Gaare, John Svenson, and Peter Martinson ; and other incorporators were Anders Larson and Ole Clauson. Their present pastor is Rev. O. Wangenstein. This church is located on the north side of section 18, a beautiful and commanding site on the ridge overlooking the valleys of Bear creek on the south, Waterloo creek on the east. and Winnebago creek to the north. Their grounds are said to be the most neatly kept of any country churchyard throughout this region. A stone church building was erected here at an early day, which has just been
PUBLIC SCHOOL, ROSSVILLE
...
MAIN STREET, DORCHESTER
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PAST AND PRESENT OF ALLAMAKEE COUNTY
replaced with a handsome and substantial edifice costing some $15,000, which was dedicated in the spring of 1913.
The first enumeration of Waterloo township, in 1856, showed a population of 157. By the census of 1910, it was 751.
Township officers are: Clerk, P. C. Evenmoe; Trustees, Hans Tilleraas, H. W. Teff, and O. N. Thompson ; Assessor, S. J. Svendson.
Among those who early purchased lands of the government in Waterloo were also: Patrick Griffin, John W. Albee, Michael Larson, Angeline E. Haines, Henry Schultz, Bernard Emholt, Bernard Koenig, Jacob Kumpf, Theo and Christian Schwartzhoff, Chas. McGlenn, G. Ammundson (at Quandahl), Henry and Edward Malone, Patrick McLaughlin, Knudt Tobiason, Michael Cavanaugh, Alfred Green, Henry Clauson. At a later time, about the year 1870, N. J. and P. J. Quandahl bought lands in section 30, and quite a settlement sprang up here which became known as the village or postoffice of
Quandahl-Where N. J. Quandahl established himself in a store and was postmaster for many years. He died but a few years ago. About the time of his death the postoffice was discontinued, and the village is now supplied by delivery from Dorchester. In the nineties there was a flourishing creamery here, owned by a Mr. Johnson for nearly twenty years, when in January, 1906, it was purchased by patrons and reorganized as a Farmers Cooperative Com- pany. The store is now conducted by J. S. Quandahl, and there is also a shoe shop and a blacksmith shop.
Waterloo township participated in the Indian scare also, as related by Mr. Arnold in his "Old Times on Portland Prairie:"
"The Sioux Indian massacre of August, 1862, though mainly confined to Western Minnesota, spread a feeling of insecurity and alarm east to the Missis- sippi, largely owing to the absence of so many men serving in the Union armies and the weakness of the garrisons at the few military posts on the frontier. There were but few lines of telegraph then, hence false or exaggerated reports, due to excitement, were all the more apt to be far carried and remain longer uncontradicted. There were no Indian hostilities nearer than perhaps 150 miles ; yet many families turned their stock loose in the fields and taking to their teams started for the river towns. Most of them turned back after the temporary panic had subsided. Some would-be refugees from the country west of Port- land Prairie reported that the Indians were at Spring Grove, and several fami- lies gathered and started for Lansing, but having been halted at the Albee place it was thought best to ascertain whether or no they were about to fly from an imaginary danger. So C. F. Albee and Asa Sherman rode to Spring Grove, and learning that there was no cause for alarm they came back, and the refu- gees returned to their homes."
He also says in the war period and later, "The prairie poeple got their mill- ing done at Dorchester. The mill there, with two run of stone, did the custom work of the surrounding country, and generally there were so many orders ahead that farmers had to leave their grists and go a second time for the same, several days later."
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CHAPTER XX
HISTORY OF WAUKON
THE SHATTUCKS
It is a curious fact that the spot on which stood the original log cabin built by the pioneer of Waukon, in 1849, is now, after the lapse of sixty-five years, still an open field of some three acres in extent, and not even subdivided into town lots, though situated but a few blocks from the very center of the city. The cabin disappeared many years ago, but it is well remembered by several of our older residents. The story has oft been told of father Shattuck's locating upon this spot, but never better told, with its immediate sequence of events, than by Judge Dean in a brief narrative written in 1902 for a souvenir edition of the Waukon Democrat, gotten out by the ladies of the M. E. Church; which is very appropriate to be copied here :
"In July, 1849, one George C. Shattuck a home seeker, came to Allamakee county seeking a location for himself and family, and after roaming over this wild, unsettled country found himself on the prairie where Waukon now is. He was impressed with the beauty of the scene and its natural advantages, with its many springs of pure and sparkling cold water gushing out of the prairie sod, making the head waters of a creek that emptied into the Mississippi river. With the wild, native grass so abundant, with plenty of forest timber within easy reach, he concluded it was good enough for him. So he 'staked out his claim,' made what hay he would want the coming winter, and went back to the settle- ment after his wife and family. He returned in September and built a hay shanty to shelter them until he could erect a log house on his claim. This log house was on the north side of what is now Pleasant street and between Bartlett and Armstrong streets.
"From this time on a stream of emigration set in which settled in the central and western portion of the county, breaking up and improving the wild lands, making themselves homes and farms, opening public roads, building bridges and log schoolhouses, the latter often used by the itinerant preacher for church pur- poses. Legal matters also had their share of attention, and the feeling prevailed that the county seat which was then on the east line of the county, should be more centrally located. The 1853 legislature appointed three commissioners to relocate the same. In March following they came from their respective counties of Dubuque, Delaware and Clayton, investigated all the competing localities, and this was the opportunity of our old pioneer Shattuck.
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PAST AND PRESENT OF ALLAMAKEE COUNTY
"Hle invited the commissioners to his locality on the prairie, showed them the numerous springs that made Paint Creek, the abundant grass, the adjacent forests, the rich, black soil, filled them to repletion with the tenderest, juiciest venison and its accompaniments that could be procured, made a formal tender of forty acres of his land free of cost to the county, on condition that they locate the county seat thereon, convinced them that no other point possessed all these advantages or was so centrally located, and they drove the county seat stake somewhere near where the public park is now. The exact location has not been marked or remembered. There were present on this occasion representative men from the different portions of the county, and the question of 'What name shall we give it?' was asked.
"It was John Haney, Jr., suggested the name of John Waukon, a prominent chief of the Winnebago tribe, which was adopted. The people at the ensuing April election approved the action of the commissioners by a very handsome majority and Waukon is the seat of justice for the county today. But there lin- gers many a thought of strategy, of hope and fear, as we look back over the many county seat contests that have been fought between then and now. with varying results.
"Now, Waukon must provide a suitable place in which to hold the approach- ing term of the district court. Father Shattuck had the only house on the new town site, so a subscription paper was circulated through the settlement, some donating money, others the labor of themselves and ox teams. A building that had been erected on a claim out in the country' was bought. By agreement the settlers in the region round about met at the county seat stake and hauled the new courthouse in, depositing it near where the Meyer hotel is now (the present Allamakee ), and when Judge Wilson of Dubuque, came to hold his June term of court he found a courthouse, ten by fourteen feet in size, built of poplar logs from six to eight inches in diameter, with chinking between the logs daubed with mud; a board floor, a grand jury room attached, made of boards in the shape of a small lean-to, a seat at the table of Father Shattuck and a shake-down on the floor for bed. The court attendants, consisting of jurors, lawyers, clients witnesses and spectators, found places as best they could in the cabins of near by settlers.
"After this term of court the little log courthouse was occupied by the county judge and his court. He ordered the county surveyor to survey and lay out the donated forty acres as the town site of Waukon, the plat of which he admitted to record at the following December term of his court. Commissioners were appointed to appraise the value of each lot, after which they were put on the market and sold at private sale for a time. The remainder were closed out at public sale except a lot in block nine, on the east side of Allamakee street, which was reserved for county purposes, and on which he proceeded to erect a small one-story frame courthouse, about 18x30 feet in size as near as the writer remembers it, buying oak lumber and basswood siding from a saw mill just built on Yellow river. The front room was occupied by the county treasurer and recorder, the rear one by the county judge and clerk. The center one was used for emergencies, and still there was no room for the district court. So in the spring of 1857 the judge erected another building of one story immediately on the south side of this one and joined to it, expressly for the district court. Here judges have presided with dignity! Learned attorneys have delivered elo-
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quent dissertations of legal lore! Criminals have been convicted and sentenced ! Marriages have been solemnized and political conventions held. Should anyone wish to now visit this courthouse they will find on its yellow front a sign let- tered as follows 'Waukon Cigar Factory, Thos. Hartley, Prop.' [1902.]
"By this time the public lands of the county had been sold, farms well opened up, country and town had kept pace in the general development, and Waukon could feed and shelter all who came to visit her. Public business of course kept pace with the general development and soon outgrew the capacity of these twin one story courthouses, and something better must be provided. The people of Lansing came forward asking that the county seat be relocated within her borders, offering as an inducement a suitable location and the erection of a court- house costing $8,000. This was contested by Waukon, which offered to donate $5,000 for the same purpose on condition that the county seat remain with them. The people of the county at the April election in 1859, decided in favor of Waukon by a majority of 420 in a total vote of 2,076.
"Immediately following this the county judge prepared plans and specifica- tions of the present brick courthouse, advertising for sealed proposals for its completion, which resulted in awarding the contract to Charles W. Jenkins, of the firm of Hale & Jenkins, and John W. Pratt, deceased, for $13,655, they tak- ing the Waukon donations at par in payment, the county paying the remainder. The building was completed in 1861. The settlement and development of the county has now outgrown the capacity of this building and more room will soon have to be provided for its accumulating records and business.
"The writer considers that a line can safely be drawn at this point, as Waukon has been carried to a vigorous growth and can take care of itself, so he will close with a reference to the itinerant preaching of log schoolhouse days, and will say that these meetings were very generally attended by the early settlers. Some coming on foot, more on horseback, many families in the farm lumber wagon drawn by oxen, and an air of honesty, equality and sincerity prevailed that was very refreshing, and if the preacher failed to meet his appointment, his place would be filled by some fellow laborer in the corn field and potato patch, with little culture but with a remarkable flow of language, who would welcome us by the hymnal :
'Come hither all ye weary souls, Ye heavy laden sinners come.'
"In the doctrinal sermon that followed the English language was sometimes fearfully tomahawked. But a better and higher culture has followed, with all the modern church improvements that the increasing wealth and membership desire, and the honest, illiterate, old, conscientious, self-constituted pioneer preacher is a character of the past."
To go back to Mr. Shattuck: he was born September 9. 1787, and was a pioneer by nature. It is said that he pitched his tent on the site of Chicago when none but Indians inhabited that region. In October, 1870, he departed from Waukon overland to make his home in Kansas. Upon leaving Mr. Shat- tuck published the following card :
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"WAUKON, October 10, 1870.
"Editor Standard :-
"As I am about to leave Waukon, it may be permanently, I wish to say good- bye' to my friends here. Being among the first to settle here, I have seen this county pass through wonderful changes during the last twenty years; the wilder- ness of the prairie changed to rich and fruitful farms, and Waukon grown from nothing to be one of the finest villages of the state. One by one I have seen set- tlers make their homes here. Many of them, all with whom I have become acquainted. I have learned to love as friends. I do not know that I leave a single enemy. And so, as I leave you, I wish to bid you good-bye, hoping that God will bless you, and that prosperity and happiness may be the portion of all. "Truly yours,
"G. C. SHATTUCK."
Upon which the Standard comments: "We are sorry to have friend Shat- tuck go. He is one of the patriarchs. We know of no other that can better lay claim to the name. Twenty-one years ago he drove the first wagon onto this prairie, and he can better appreciate the changes made than we later comers. Such pioneers deserve to be crowned with honor, and be held in grateful remem- brance. Mr. Shattuck goes to Missouri, and thence to Kansas. As he came, so he now departs overland, driving his own horse team. Not wonderful, you say? But he is now eighty-six years old! May God bless the old man, and may he enjoy health and strength for many years to come."
In 1875 he visited Waukon once more, and the following spring, April 6, 1876, he died at the home of a daughter at Plattville, Wisconsin.
While the land selected by old man Shattuck was formally claimed and occu- pied by him and his sons, it was not actually purchased and paid for until 1854, it having been selected by the school fund commissioner as school land, and was patented to the purchasers, by the state of lowa, in the fall of that year. Hence it was that in the spring of 1853 George Shattuck and his son Scott executed a bond for deed to Allamakee county. None of the land was entered in the old man's name, Scott Shattuck taking the southwest quarter of section 30, the northwest quarter of section 31 and the northwest of northeast quarter of section 31, while Pitt Shattuck took the southeast quarter of section 30. Another brother, Nelson Shattuck, bought the southwest of northeast quarter of section 31. of the United States government, June 21. 1852. And D. W. Adams, who came in 1853, bought of the state the east half of the northeast quarter of section 31, which was also school land, at the same time of the Shattuck purchase ; and this made up the full square mile of our original city corporation. The original forty-acre plat of Waukon was situated partly on the land of Scott and partly on that of Pitt Shattuck, and was deeded by them jointly, and executed on behalf of Pitt by his brother Scott as his attorney in fact, in 1854. Pitt then being in California.
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