USA > Iowa > Appanoose County > Past and present of Appanoose County, Iowa : a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement, Vol. I > Part 26
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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
Another well remembered case was that of Davy Crockett, which occurred in 1861. Davy was a free man, but had become frightened by the persistency of his more remote neighbors in demanding to see his papers every month or so, and had decided to leave Missouri. Having got into Franklin township, Davy was met by Moses Joiner, a citizen of that township, who was a thorough pro-slavery man. Joiner halted him, but Davy succeeded in getting off for the time being. and started in the direction of Bellair. On his way he met a member of the Wesleyan Methodist church, of whom he inquired the direction to Mr. Armstrong's. The Wesleyan advised him to go to his house for supper and he would accompany him to Armstrong's after dark. Meantime, Joiner, fully convinced that Crockett was a runaway slave, assembled a crowd of about forty choice spirits, who pro- ceeded to Armstrong's fully bent on capturing Davy and returning with him to his suppositions master. They reached the house about an hour before mid- night. roused the Armstrongs, and insisted on searching the barn. The mows had just been filled with hay and Armstrong sturdily objected for some time. warning them that if they went near the barn they would do so at their peril. Ilaving protracted the argument as long as he could. he told them he knew nothing about the fugitive, but that if any one had been hiding there he had doubtless made off during the long talk they had had. Satisfied at last that Armstrong was not harboring the fugitive, the crowd left for their respective
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homes. An hour had not elapsed until the Armstrong, were again disturbed by Mr. Calvert, who had brought Crockett over to stay all night. The mob had started too soon from Armstrong's. It was considered unsafe to keep the negro at Armstrong's and he was accordingly transferred to the house of Daniel McDonald, where he remained two days and was sent on in the direction of Drakeville, the next station on the line.
Not long afterward, another negro applied for relief at AArmstrong's getting in after nightfall. This man was quite well satisfied to remain there, and demurred to going further, but Mr. Armstrong hurried him off to Mr. Fulcher's, who lived a few miles northwest. The next morning a posse appeared at Arm- strong's and asked his wife if a negro had come to their house at one o'clock the night before. As the man had come and gone an hour or two before, Mrs. Arm- strong promptly answered in the negative. Just then Mr. Armstrong entered the house and relieved the woman, who by this time began to show some little trepi- dation and might possibly have soon betrayed her knowledge of the negro's move- ments. The next night Armstrong took the negro's horse to Fulcher's and the runaway was guided by Mr. Calvert nearly to Drakeville, where Mr. Calvert made the negro abandon his horse and secrete himself in the woods, just before daylight. So close were the pursuers on the trail that the horse was found by them an hour or two afterward. This negro was a happy-go-lucky fellow, who believed himself out of danger as soon as he crossed the Missouri line and would doubt- less have been captured had it not been for Armstrong and Calvert.
. The case of John and Archie was another notable one. These two slaves lived in central Missouri and had traveled two hundred miles toward freedom. They had been hindered three weeks in Missouri, owing to John having been laid up with rheumatism. Archie nobly remained with him until he was able to travel again. Arriving in the woods near Armstrong's, the two negroes camped and John's rheumatism returned, as bad as before. Early on a rainy, disagreeable morning, a knock was heard at the kitchen door by Mrs. Armstrong, who opened it and admitted a negro. There was a neighbor in the sitting room who did not believe in harboring colored persons. Just then Mr. Armstrong entered. took in the situation at a glance and hustled the negro into the kitchen bedroom. The neighbor, having completed his call, left for home, much to the relief of the family. Archie was then fed and told the family how his companion was faring in the woods. Having ascertained where he could be found, Mr. Armstrong apprised a trusty neighbor, and some food was sent him during the day. That night the negroes were taken to John Shepherd's, where a supper was provided for them. As Archie sat down and saw the tempting variety spread before them, he exclaimed: "My good God, John! who'd have ever thought we'd set down to a meal like this? " The fugitives were allowed to stay at Shepherd's all night and were forwarded to Drakeville. Mr. Armstrong subsequently received a letter or two from Archie, one of which, in substance, announced that they had reached Canada in safety and that they were getting a dollar a day instead of the usual flogging. The writer added: "I hope that the good Lord will bless you for your kindness toward us, and I hope the time will soon come when we will be a people."
Here is an instance which shows that the people in southern Appanoose were by no means unanimous on the slavery question: W. M. Cavanah, who settled in
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Wells township, probably in 1856, brought with him a negro lad who had been presented to his wife by her father. This lad was considered as a slave by the family, and as such Cavanah paid taxes on him in Putnam county, Missouri, while that portion of Appanoose was in the disputed strip. AAbout the time the land in Wells township was thrown open to entry, Cavanah sold the boy for $600 and the proceeds were soon afterward used in entering Cavanah's land. When the republican party rose. Cavanah, it is said, identified himself with that party, but his father-in-law dying soon after, his wife inherited a negro girl as her portion of the estate. The girl was sold by Cavanah and the proceeds applied to family purposes.
In 1862 or 1863 a family of nine fugitives stayed at John Fulcher's. This party was composed of an old woman, her married daughter, husband and six children. This party was hauled by David MeDonald to Drakeville, whence they made the remainder of their journey in comparative safety.
During 1862 word was sent to the station at Cincinnati that a considerable party of runaways would reach the state line on a certain date and asking that a party be sent to help them along. A large wagon, accompanied by three or four men or horseback, repaired to the designated spot, but the negroes failed to appear. It transpired afterward that the party had started, but had been over- taken by a pursuing party and one of the negroes killed. Word was sent a second time for the rescuing party, who again went to the designated place. No negroes being visible, three of the party rode on to Unionville, where two of the number were captured by the Missouri "Home Guard" and lodged in jail. The other was chased for two hours, but managed to escape. This was supposed by his pursuers at the time to be Mr. Armstrong, who had established a reputation all through Missouri, and the man or party who could produce him before any Missouri court would enjoy a life long reputation for bravery and daring, for Armstrong was believed to be a giant in stature and a terrible fellow generally. instead of the thin, light-weight man he was.
Mr. Armstrong during 1864 or the following year, had three horses stolen from his barn, which is believed in the neighborhood to have been done by Mis- sourians out of revenge for his help to the slaves leaving that state, but this is only a matter of conjecture. It is quite as likely that they were stolen by men who cared nothing whatever about the slavery question, but a great deal about the cash value of a good "hoss."
It is said that at one time so bitter was the feeling toward Cincinnati by the Missouri people, the town was threatened with destruction by fire. Detectives often appeared in the neighborhood and would stay about for days at a time in search of slaves or of evidence that would implicate any citizens in the vicinity of Cincinnati in the disappearance of so many chon-hued chattels.
On one occasion, toward the close of the war, a message was sent from Put- nam county, Missouri, which has always had a considerable anti-slavery popula- tion, that a party of Missourians were coming across the line to exterminate the Armstrong family and leave his habitation desolate. The rumor spread into Wayne county, and in a few hours forty or fifty armed men appeared to defend his family and home. It was soon ascertained that the invasion was a myth, and Armstrong's friends returned home. An arrangement was made, however, with the authorities of Putnam county, so that if any mischief was meditated, a me ---
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age should be sent in regular form, which would avoid the annoyance of false alarm thereafter, but the message never came and no trouble ever arose.
The above are perhaps the most characteristic occurrences connected with the slavery question in Appanoose county. No instances of this sort will ever come up again, for this long vexed question was relegated to the field of history by the result of the war, and the above statements have aimed to deal with the facts, and not with the opinions of the era before the war. It is believed that in all, at least forty or fifty negroes have been sheltered and fed by various citizens of this county.
Vol. 1-17
CHAPTER XIV'
TRANSPORTATION
INDIAN TRAILS AND BEE TRACES-FIRST RAILROAD IN 1860-FIRST STREET R.VIL- WAY-THE TROLLEY SYSTEM-INTERURBANS.
It should be kept in mind that when Appanoose county was thrown open for settlement it was one vast wilderness and rarely had been trodden by the foot of man. As has been before stated, when the first settlers came in the only signs of a road were the trail of a company of dragoons that had traversed a section of the county and "bee traces." made by venturesome bee hunters from over the border line.
One of the first necessities of the pioneer. after building his cabin and pre- paring a patch of ground for seed, was an outlet to the closest trading point. If his claim happened to be "back in the timber," he had to cut his way out. by felling trees and underbrush and removing them to one side. On more than one occasion the pioneer was compelled to clear away the trees in the forests in order to get to his claim with teams and wagons; and this took time and much hard labor.
By perusing the minute book of the court of county commissioners, the reader will find that a great amount of space is taken up in recording the petitions of settlers for the viewing and building of roads. Viewers were appointed to select the direction and locality of the new thoroughfares and their reports to the board are quite voluminous. The making of roads was imperative and many of them, now crisscrossing the county, were laid out in the early days of its history.
These highways answered the purpose for which they were built and do today; but, as the country grew in population and the products of its farms increased. a more rapid means of transportation became necessary. . \ wider and greater market was demanded and the people desired closer and more speedy communication with the outer world. Then came the railroads.
THE WABASH
The St. Louis. Kansas City & Northern Railroad Company, successor to the bankrupt North Missouri Railroad Company, engaged in the years 1867-8 in railroad building in Missouri. Tempting offers had been made by the people of Ottumwa and other communities in lowa to extend the stem from Macon, Missouri, northward, and the work of construction began. It was understood by the people of Centerville that the line would reach this point, but it was
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diverted from its anticipated course by the people of Davis county. The North Missouri Company, however, laid about two miles of its line into Appa- noose county in 1869, at which time the town of Moulton, which had only been platted a few months, became a station. From here the line took a long curve eastward to Bloomfield, in Davis county, and thence to Ottumwa, with the ulti- mate object of reaching Cedar Rapids. But in this the company was disap- pointed, having in the meantime become bankrupt. That part of the road con- structed passed into the hands of the Wabash Railroad Company and is now part of that great system.
CHICAGO, ROCK ISLAND & PACIFIC
When the project of building the Chicago & Southwestern railroad was first inaugurated, the route as determined, was to pass through Moulton and the southern townships of the county, but the people of Centerville and the central portion of the county by a vigorous effort, the still more powerful means of a contribution of $125,000, and a donation of the right of way, secured the diver- sion of the route to Centerville by way of Unionville. By taking this course and securing the change of routes, bad feeling was engendered between the people of the two sections of the county, which soon passed away, however, after the change was effected. The construction of the road was rapid, as it had strong financial backing in the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific corporation. The road was completed to Centerville. February 16, 1871. and from that on Cen- terville took a marked change for the better. Business increased rapidly and its population was doubled in numbers in a short time. The road is now a part of the great trans-continental system of the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad Company.
THE CHICAGO, BURLINGTON & QUINCY SYSTEM
The Missouri, Iowa & Nebraska Railroad Company was organized March 26, 1870, and its road was built the following year from Keokuk to Centerville. The incorporators were of the old Jowa Southern Company, which was organized August 3, 1866. They were F. M. Drake, James Jordan, S. W. McAtee, Andrew Coliver, William McK. Findley. H. 11. Trimble, J. B. Glenn, William Bradley. T. J. Rogers, Jacob Shaw, Nathan Udell, J. D. Baker. B. Bowen. Harvey Tanne- hill and R. N. Glenn.
The road was mainly secured by the efforts of people living along its line in Missouri and in Appanoose county, the contributions and local aid amounting to about $700,000. The object of the incorporators was to build a line with two branches to Bloomfield, thence west by way of Centerville to the Missouri river. One of the branches it was decided should commence at a point on the Des Moines Valley railroad, running thence to Bloomfield. the other branch to com- mence at a point on the state line of Missouri and lowa, where the Alexandria & Bloomfield railroad terminates, running thence to Bloomfield, there forming a branch with the branch first above named and then running west by way of Centerville through the southern tier of counties in lowa to a point on the Missouri river. The Bloomfield program was abandoned and a consolidation
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INTERURBAN DEPOT, MYSTIC
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having been effected with the company at Alexandria, the road was built as above set forth by way of Memphis and Glenwood to Centerville.
In 1870 the Missouri, lowa & Nebraska was extended west through fory- don and Humeston to Van Wert, in Decatur county. At about the same time the Humeston & Shenandoah line was constructed, thus making a natural and direct line from Keokuk to Council Bluffs. For two years the Missouri, lowa & Nebraska line was a part of the Wabash, from which it was separated in 1885, and as the Keokuk & Western this branch passed into the hands of the Burlington system in 1903. In 1911 the Burlington erected a modern depot at Centerville.
SOUTHERN IOWA TRACTION COMPANY
A third branch of this road was built in the years 1879 and 1880, a charter having been granted on May 6, 1879, to the Centerville, Moravia & Albia Rail- way Company. Later the road was sold to the Wabash Railroad Company and afterwards there was a foreclosure by the bondholders. The company was then reorganized as the Abbia & Centerville Railway Company, and on February 10, 1910, it was conveyed to and reorganized as the Southern lowa Traction Company.
This line from 'September, 1880, to November 26, 1910, was operated by the lowa Central Railway Company and it was thought by many that that road owned the property. The road furnishes the shortest line between Appanoose county and the north, west and northwest, and its value to this county and Cen- terville cannot be overestimated. At Abia connections are made with the main line and the Des Moines line of the C. B. & Q., the M. & St. L. and the Wabash railroads. At Moravia it connects with the C. M. & St. P. and the Wabash railroads; at Centerville with the C. R. 1. & P. and the C. B. & Q. railroads. Plans are now matured to convert this road into an electric traction system and to maintain an interurban service from the court house at Centerville to the court house at Albia, which will still further enhance the value of the road to the people of both Appanoose and Monroe counties.
CHICAGO, BURLINGTON & KANSAS CITY
The above named company completed a road across Appanoose county in 1874, running from Bloomfield to Moulton, and thence by way of Cincinnati to LaClede, Missouri. The people of Cincinnati contributed about $25.000 to its construction.
( 1116360, MILWAUKEE & ST. PAU'L
The Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad Company finished it- Kansas City line through this county in 1886, passing through Umon, Taylor, Walnut. Bellair and Lincoln townships. In 1887 its principal station in the county- Mystic was laid out and has today a population of 3,000 people.
CHAPTER XV
THE BENCH AND BAR-ABLE MEN WHO HAVE SIT ON THE BENCH-PIONEER LAW'- YERS-MEMBERS OF THE PRESENT APPANOOSE COUNTY BAR-FIRST AND SECOND COURT HOUSES-THE NEW TEMPLE OF JUSTICE.
Perhaps no body of men, not excepting the clergy, may exercise a greater influence for good in a community than those who follow the profession of the law, and it must be admitted that no other body, not even to the so-called criminal classes, are permitted greater possibilities for an influence for evil. What that influence shall be depends upon the character of the men who constitute the bar of the community-not merely on their ability or learning but on their character. If the standard of morality among the members of the bar is high, the whole community learns to look at questions of right and wrong from a higher plane. If the bar consciously or unconsciously adopts a low standard of morality it almost inevitably contaminates the conscience of the community. And this is true not only in the practice of the profession itself, not only because of the influence of members of the bar as men rather than lawyers, but in the effect upon other professions and occupations to which the bar acts as a feeder. The members of the legislature are recruited largely from the legal profession. How can legislation, designed solely for the welfare of the public, be expected from one whose honor as a lawyer has not been above suspicion? And since lawyers. outside of the legislature, have a great influence in shaping the law, how can the people expect that influence to be exerted in their behalf when the bar itself is unworthy ? Still more does the character of the bar affect the judiciary, which is supplied from its ranks. It is not always, perhaps not generally, the case that members of the bench are chosen from those lawyers who have attained the highest rank in their profession. If a judge be industrious and honest, but not of great ability, or if he be able and honest, though lacking industry, the rights of the litigants are not likely to suffer seriously at his hands. But there have been instances where judicial office was bestowed solely as a reward for political service : and while it is sometimes realized that one who has been a strenuous and not too serupulous politician up to the moment of his elevation to the bench, has thereafter forgotten that there was such a trade as politics and has administered justice without fear or favor, the experiment is a dangerous one. No one need be surprised if in such a case the old maxim holds true : "Hle who buys the office of judge must of necessity sell justice." Let our judges be men who are subject to other influences than those of the facts submitted to them and the law applicable to those facts; let them lack that independence which is an imperative requisite to one who holds the scales of justice, let a well founded
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suspicion arise that their decisions are dictated by something outside of their own minds and consciences, and the confidence of the people in the maintenance of their rights through the agency of the courts is destroyed.
It has been the good fortune of the city of Centerville and the county of Appanoose that the members of the bar here have been, for the most part. men of high character as well as of ability and learning, so that its bar has won a high and honorable reputation throughout the rest of the state and because of the high character of the bar it has followed that those of its members who have been elevated to the bench have enjoyed the confidence and respect of the public and have been honored not only in their own locality but in many cases throughout the state.
Yet the preparation of a history of the bar, so far at least as that part of it which lies back of one's own generation is concerned, is attended with consider- able difficulty. Probably few men who in their time play important parts in the community or even in the state or nation, leave so transient a reputation as lawyers do. \ writer on this subject who took for his text the Lawyers of Fifty Years Ago, said: "In thinking over the names of these distinguished men of whom I have been speaking, the thought has come to me how evane-cent and limited is the lawyer's reputation, both in time and space. I doubt very much if a lawyer, whatever his standing, is much known to the profession outside of his own state." Those who attain high rank in the profession must realize that with rare exceptions their names are "writ in water." One may turn over the leaves of old reports and find repeated again and again as counsel in different cases the name of some lawyer who must have been in his time a power in the courts, only to wonder if he has ever seen that name outside of the covers of the dusty reports in which it appears. Hamilton. in the conventions. in the Federalist and in the treasury, and Webster. in the senate and in public orations. have perpetuated and increased the fame of lawyers. Hamilton and Webster : but were it not for their services outside the strict limits of their profession one might come upon their names at this date with much the same lack of recognition as that with which one finds in a reported case the names of some counsel, great perhaps in his own time, but long since forgotten.
And there is another difficulty in preparing such a history as this, brief and therefore necessarily limited to a few names, and that is that some may be omitted who are quite as worthy of mention as those whose names appear. It is not often that any one man stands as a lawyer head and shoulders above the other members of the profession : and the same may be said of any half dozen men. In many cases the most careful measurement would fail to disclose a difference of more than a fraction of an inch, if any. Lives of eminent men who have at some period been practicing lawyers have contained the assertion that while they were engaged in the practice of their profession they were the "leaders of the bar:" but there is almost always room for doubt as to whether the title is now a brevet bestowed by the biographer alone. Therefore, the men- tion in this article of certain lawyers must not be taken as any disparagement of those who are not mentioned, and, finally, it is to be observed that this article. so far as the bar is concerned. will treat not only of those members who are past and gone but will make mention of some of those now in the flesh.
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THE COURTS AND JUDGES
By an act of the territorial legislature approved February 17. 1843. the boundary lines of Appanoose county were declared, but the county remained attached to or a part of Davis county for election, revenue and judicial purposes. until, by an act of the territorial legislature, approved January 13. 1549, it was organized into a separate county. The name of the county was given by the first act of the territorial legislature. The first court held in Appandre county was presided over by Judge Cyrus Olney, judge of the third judicial district. September, 1847. The first clerk of the court was J. F. Stratton by appointment of Judge Charles Mason.
For judicial purposes Appanoose county was originally in the first judicial district, and afterward in the third judicial district, until 1849. when it was placed in the fifth district. In 1853 it was made a part of the ninth district. In 1858 it was placed in the second district, where it has remained ever since.
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