USA > Iowa > Calhoun County > Past and present of Calhoun County, Iowa, a record of settlement, organization, progress, and achievement, Volume I > Part 11
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Township 87, range 31, was one of the first in Calhoun County to be surveyed. The work was done by R. Jarrett, a deputy United States surveyor, in 1852, and a certificate of the completion of the work was filed with George B. Sargent, surveyor-general of the State of Iowa. February 7, 1853. With the filing of this certificate the lands became subject to entry, but the earliest entries were recorded in 1858. Among those who entered land in that year were J. C. Tullis. Thomas Shields, George Woodman, David Dorland, John Kelly and David G. Young. Most of the odd-numbered sections were included in the land grant to the Dubuque & Sioux City Railroad
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Company, so that the first entries were confined to the even-numbered sections.
No settlements were made in the township for several years after the first lands were entered. Among the earliest settlers were A. M. Boyles, Lewis Lakey, George W. Wells, William Carlson, Daniel Lowe and the Parsons family, nearly all of whom took an active interest in the organization of the township.
Cedar is well supplied with railroads. The Chicago Great Western crosses the northern boundary about a mile and a half from the northeast corner and runs in a southwesterly direction. The Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific crosses the northeast corner. At the junction of these two roads is the Town of Somers. The Fort Dodge, Des Moines & Southern runs through the central portion, crossing the Great Western at Rinard. Easley, in the eastern part of the township, is a station on the Fort Dodge, Des Moines & Southern. These lines, with the three stations, afford excellent transportation facilities.
The eight school districts of the township employ nine teachers, not ineluding the schools in the incorporated Town of Somers. The population in 1910 was 1,105, an increase of 145 during the preceding ten years, and in 1914 the taxable value of the property was $519,527. At the beginning of the year 1915 the township government was composed as follows: Albert Craven, John Parsons and C. W. Carl- son, trustees: T. A. Jones, clerk; G. A. Cafferty, assessor; W. M. Hunt and J. C. Carnes, justices of the peace: M. O. Cafferty and E. S. Brand, constables.
CENTER TOWNSHIP
Center is the most northeastern of the four eentral townships. It is bounded on the north by the townships of Sherman and Lincoln: on the east by Greenfield : on the south by Logan, and on the west by Twin Lakes. It includes congressional township 88, range 32, and has an area of thirty-six square miles. In common with the greater part of the county, the surface is level or gently undulating. Lake Creek and Purgatory Creek are the principal streams, both of which flow in a southerly direction.
The government survey of township 88, range 32, was made by II. C. Caldwell, a deputy United States surveyor, whose certificate to Warner Lewis, surveyor-general, bears date of October 14, 1853. In 1858, according to the record of original land entries in the county
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recorder's office. William N. Coler, Thomas Barnard, Charles H. Blood. Milton and George E. Hamilton and a few others entered lands in what is now Center Township. These early entries were all in the even-numbered sections. the odd-numbered ones being included in the grant to the Dubuque & Sioux City Railway.
One of the early settlers was William Judge, an Englishman by birth, who came to Lake City in 1866, but after a short residence there he secured a homestead claim in what is now Center Township, built a sod house, improved his land and lived there the remainder of his life. A better dwelling was erected after a year or two. Mr. Judge's death occurred in 1889.
In 1870 M. M. Smith settled in the township. He was born in Vermont in August, 1823. In 1852, before he reached his majority, he went to California, where he was successful as a miner and three years later returned to his native state. Soon after his return he was married to Miss Martha J. Bliss and in 1864 removed to Wisconsin. Hearing good reports of Iowa he decided to try his fortunes in the Hawkeye State and purchased 160 aeres of wild prairie land in Calhoun County. Mr. Smith's name was the first one on the petition to organize Center Township and he was one of the committee that selected the site of Roekwell City as the county seat in 1876.
Horace Love came from Marshall County, Ia., to Center Town- ship about the time it was organized in 1872. Two years later he was elected a member of the board of county supervisors and served in that capacity for three years. His death occurred in October, 1889.
On June 8, 1871, a petition was presented to the board of county supervisors asking for the establishment of a new civil township to inelude township 88, range 32. Although the petition was signed by a number of citizens living in that part of Lincoln Township, which it was proposed to ent off, the board refused to grant the prayer of the petitioners. During the following twelvemonth the people redoubled their efforts and on June 3, 1872, a larger petition came before the board of supervisors. This time the efforts of the peti- tioners were crowned with success, the board ordering a new township to embrace the stipulated territory and to be called Center, because of its central location in the county. It was further ordered that the township organization be completed by the election of officers at the next general election.
The removal of the county seat to the new Town of Rockwell City, in the southeast corner of Twin Lakes Township, in 1876, had
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a stimulating effect on Center by attraeting new immigrants and adding to the population. Part of Rockwell City is now in Center.
As a matter of fact Center Township has no important history. The opening of highways, the establishment of school districts, the drainage and reclamation of aeres of swamp lands, were all aeeom- plished by the usual methods and the people have been aeeustomed to "pursue the even tenor of their way" without any startling events.
The Chieago & Omaha division of the Illinois Central Railroad was built through the township in 1899 and the railroad company soon afterward established a station at Richards in the eastern part. This is the only railroad station in the township. Two-thirds of the inhab- itants are within easy reach of Rockwell City, where most of their trading, marketing and shipping are done.
The population of Center in 1910 was 835, a gain of 80 during the preceding deeade. In 1914 the taxable value of the property was $472,563. The county home, or poor farm, is situated in this township. Center is divided into eight sehool distriets. The town- ship officers in 1915 were: B. E. Morton, V. C. Walters and William Sutton. trustees; H. J. Fouts, clerk ; Lehr Newhouse, assessor; M. R. Davis. justice of the peaee; Clarenee Wistoff and Peter Sehertz, constables.
ELM GROVE TOWNSHIP
Elm Grove is one of the western tier of townships and ineludes congressional township 87, range 34. The western row of seetions are seant, so that the area of the township is a little less than thirty- six square miles. It is bounded on the north by the Township of Garfield; on the east by Lake Creek; on the south by Jackson, and on the west by Sae County. The surface is rolling. Camp Creek flows southward through the central portion and Prairie Creek touches the southeast corner. These streams and their smaller tribul- taries furnish ample outlet for drainage.
The government survey of this township was made by James Harlan, who filed a certificate of its completion with the surveyor- general, Warner Lewis, August 6, 1853. On May 24, 1856, Richard M. Heath entered several traets of land in what is now Elm Grove Township. Later in the same year entries were made by Morris B. Pugh. John Barrett, Joseph Riggs. Frederick Hopkins, Plimpton Greer and Charles A. Stewart.
Actual settlement did not begin until some years later. In 1868 R. J. Smith purchased land in section 16 with a view of making his
1
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home in Calhoun County. but died in Fayette County, Ia., May 1, 1869, just as he had about completed his preparations to remove to his new purchase on the frontier. A few weeks later his widow, Mrs. Maria J. Smith, with her eight children arrived at Lake City. To Mrs. Smith belongs the honor of building the first house in what is now Elm Grove Township. At the time she settled there in 1869, ner nearest neighbor was 31% miles distant. Settlement was slow for a few years, but along in the '70s a few others came in and began the work of developing their farms.
Henry Harshbarger, who came to the township in 1875, might fitly be considered one of the pioneers. He was born near Dayton, Ohio, August 30, 1838, and was taken by his parents the same year to Spencer County, Ind. In 1850 the family came to Iowa, settling in Keokuk County. At the breaking out of the Civil war young Harshbarger enlisted in the Thirty-sixth Iowa Infantry and served to the elose of the war. He then returned to Keokuk County and lived there until 1875, when he came to Calhoun.
In the same year that Mr. Harshbarger became a resident, Rudolph Johnson purchased 200 aeres of land in Elm Grove Town- ship, but continued to live in Jackson County, Ia., for several years before becoming an actual settler.
Elm Grove was a part of Calhoun Township from 1856 to 1866. It was then included in the newly formed Township of Jackson until a number of settlers came in and decided that it would be more con- venient to have a township of their own. Accordingly, on January 4. 1876, a petition signed by a majority of the legal voters living in 1876 township 87, range 34, was presented to the board of supervisors, asking for the establishment of a new eivil township to include that territory. The petition was granted at that session and the name Elm Grove was selected, because there was a natural grove of elm trees on Camp Creek within the township limits.
Some time passed before the township was fully organized. On September 4, 1876, the supervisors appointed D. V. Doty, William Berry and Andrew Clark judges of an election to be held at the schoolhouse in subdistriet No. 7 of Jackson Township. A. N. Hill was appointed clerk of the election, which was held later in the month, though the names of the township officers elected at that time cannot be ascertained. The officials at the beginning of the year 1915 were as follows: J. F. Cass, Jasper Clark and C. F. Dougherty, trustees ; George F. Johnson, clerk; G. D. Doty, assessor; William Ashford
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and H. C. Nicholson, justices of the peace; W. J. Reaman and Edward Moberg, constables.
Yetter is the only town or village in the township. It is located in the southwest corner and was built up after the Illinois Central Railroad was completed through the county in 1900. This railroad erosses the eastern boundary a little north of the eenter and runs in a southwesterly direction to the southwest corner of the township. Railroad facilities are afforded to the people living in the northern part by the Chieago, Milwaukee & St. Panl, the stations of Lavinia and Lytton being within convenient distance.
In early days the Camp Creek Valley was a favorite hunting ground of the pioneers. Christian Smith used to tell what he con- sidered a good joke on his brother Peter, of an incident that happened on one of these hunting expeditions. The two Smiths, with one or two others, went up into what is now Elm Grove Township to hunt elk. Peter saw in the tall grass an animal of some sort moving cau- tiously along. Thinking that it was an elk calf, he eoneeived the idea of capturing it alive. He slipped quietly through the grass until elose enough to spring, when he landed-not on an elk calf, but on a large prairie "coon," much larger than the ordinary raecoon. The animal showed fight and succeeded in getting Peter's hand in its mouth. Then it was like the bulldog in the "Hoosier Sehoolmaster," "Heaven and earth could not make it let go." Peter's eries brought to his assistanee his brother Christian, who stabbed the eoon, but the jaws had to be pried apart before the hand could be released.
There are eight distriet schools in Elm Grove, in addition to the graded school at Yetter. In 1910 the population was 777, an inerease of 64 during the preceding ten years. The taxable value of the property in 1914 was $430,451.
GARFIELD TOWNSHIP
This was the last eivil township to be formed in Calhoun County. The territory of which it is comprised was made a part of Jackson in 1866. Four years later it was attached to Williams when that township was organized and remained a part of that township for abont twelve years. On June 6, 1882, Walter Wilcox and others living in the south half of Williams presented a petition to the board of supervisors asking that congressional township 88, range 34, be cut off from Williams and organized into a new eivil township. to be known as Garfield. The name was selected by the petitioners in
PAST AND PRESENT OF CALHOUN COUNTY 107
honor of James A. Garfield, President of the United States, who was shot by the assassin Guitean on July 2, 1881.
The board granted the petition and on September 5, 1882, appointed William B. Harris, J. M. Goddard and George Davis to conduct the first election, which it was ordered should be held at the house of William B. Harris.
The surface of the township is generally level or slightly rolling. Through the eentral portion Camp Creek flows in a southerly direc- tion and a branch of that stream erosses the southeast corner. A little native timber was found along Camp Creek by the first settlers, but by far the larger part of the township is a beautiful, natural prairie.
Township 88, range 34, was surveyed by James Harlan, United States deputy surveyor, in the latter part of 1853 and the early part of 1854. his certificate of the completion of the work having been presented to Warner Lewis, surveyor-general, February 25, 1854. In the spring of 1856 James Burns, Thomas Gilson, James H. Murray, James P. Foley, John A. Parke, Amerieus Don Carlos, Levi H. Ness, James Kelly and James M. Glenn all entered lands in the township. The history of actual settlement differs in no material respect from that of the other prairie townships. Immi- grants came, built sod houses until they could afford better ones, and went to work to develop the country. Among the early settlers were the three men named as judges of the first election.
The Roekwell City & Storm Lake division of the Chieago, Mil- wankee & St. Paul Railway System runs east and west across the southern part of Garfield. A portion of the Town of Lytton is in this township, on the western border, and the little Town of Lavinia is just aeross the line in Twin Lakes Township. These two stations furnish fairly good shipping and transportation facilities for a large part of the township.
Garfield is bounded by the townships of Williams and Butler on the north, Twin Lakes on the east, Ehm Grove on the south. and Sac County on the west. Its area is a little less than thirty-six square miles. owing to the fact that it is situated immediately south of the second correction line and the western tier of sections are all frae- tional.
In 1890. the first United States census after the organization of, the township, the population was 482. In 1910 it was 705, showing a substantial growth during the preceding tewnty years. The tax- able value of the property in 1914 was $450,869. There are nine
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school districts, cach employing one teacher, and in 1915 the township officers, as shown by the auditor's files, were as follows: H. A. Ring- genberg, George Miller and E. R. Wattonville, trustees; Joseph Zaruba, clerk; Frank Berkler, assessor, no justices of the peace nor constables being reported.
GREENFIELD TOWNSHIP
The Township of Greenfield is situated in the eastern tier and includes congressional township 88, range 31, with an area of thirty- six square miles. It is bounded on the north by Lincoln Township, on the east by Webster County, on the south by the Township of Cedar, and on the west by Center. The surface is generally level and much of the land was originally too wet for cultivation. The east fork of Cedar Creek flows southward through the central por- tion, and the west fork of Cedar follows the same general direction farther west. These creeks have been widened and deepened to form an outlet for tile drains, and by this method many acres of swamp land have been reclaimed. Some of the best farms in the county are now in this township.
Township 88, range 31, was surveyed in 1832 by R. Jarrett, a United States deputy surveyor, who filed his certificate with George B. Sargent, surveyor-general, on February 7, 1853. The odd-numm- bered sections were subsequently included in the grant to the Dubuque & Sioux City Railroad Company. John M. Loyd, James and John Slevin, William F. Floyd, Michael Nessler, M. B. Curry and several members of the Richards family all entered lands at an early date after the survey.
One of the first actual settlers was Daniel Lowc, who was clected director of school district No. 2 at the election for the organization of Lincoln Township in October, 1866, the territory now comprising Greenfield then forming a part of Lincoln. At the political conven- tion held in Lincoln Township in the fall of 1867, Mr. Lowe was nominated for the office of county treasurer, but was defeated by S. T. Hutchison.
Walter J. Cooper, a native of Massachusetts, came to Greenfield with his widowed mother in 1866, when only thirteen years of age. He did a man's work on the farm, however, attending school for a few months each winter, and became one of the influential citizens. He served as township trustee and for one term as county super- visor. ITis death occurred on January 21, 1902.
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F. C. Loeber, a German, was one of the pioneers and lived in a sod house in section 12. Charles Wiekmann first came to the town- ship in 1866 and worked as a farm hand for a few months for Joel Olmsted. In 1870 he located a homestead in section 10, where he built a frame "shanty" about eight feet square, in which he kept "bach" until his marriage to Miss Mary E. Loeher.
Arthur W. Boyee eame from New England in 1868 and settled in Greenfield. The latter years of his life were passed in seelusion and his story, which is told in chapter XIX, reads like a romanee.
In June, 1868, two petitions eame before the board of supervisors asking for a division of Lineoln Township. One of these expressed the desire on the part of the citizens of township 88, range 31, to have a new civil township erected, but the board refused to grant either of the petitions. On June 7, 1869, the matter again came before the supervisors and a motion to erect a new township, to embrace town- ships 87 and 88, range 31, was lost. Another year passed and on June 6, 1870, a petition signed by a larger number than either of the preceding ones asked the supervisors to set off a new township composed of the same territory asked for the year before. This time the petition was granted and an election was ordered to be held in September at the schoolhouse located in section 2. township 88, range 31.
As at first constituted Greenfield ineluded all the present town- ship of that name and all of Cedar Township. The latter was organ- ized as a separate township in 1877. Just how the name "Greenfield" came to be selected is somewhat problematical, but it doubtless bas some reference to the general appearance of the country at the time the township was organized, the tall prairie grass presenting the pleasing spectaele of a green field.
Knierim, in the northern part, is the only town in the township. It was established after the building of the Illinois Central Railroad through this part of the county in 1899, and is situated on that line of railway. About two miles west of Knierim the Illinois Central is crossed by the Chieago, Rock Island & Pacific, which traverses the township from northwest to southeast. Somers is just across the line in Cedar Township and offers a trading and shipping point for the people living in the southern part of Greenfield.
Greenfield is divided into eight school districts, exclusive of the graded school in the incorporated Town of Knierim. In 1910 the population was 1,143, an increase of 123 over the eensus of 1900. The taxable value of the property in 1914, including the Town of
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Knierim, was $525,378. In 1915 the township officials were as fol- lows: J. A. Roske, Carl Djerf and Henry Onnen, trustees; T. W. Wright, clerk ; L. A. Julius, assessor; J. A. Moeller and Clark Rich- ardson, justices of the peace; Elmer Burke and M. B. Campbell, constables.
JACKSON TOWNSHIP
To Jackson Township belongs the distinction of being the site of the first white man's cabin ever built in Calhoun County. That was the cabin built by Ebenezer Comstock in the little piece of timber known as "Lake Creek Grove," in the spring of 1854. At the first election for county officers, in August, 1855, Mr. Comstock was chosen prosecuting attorney. Prior to that time he sold his original cabin to John M. Smith, who removed it to his claim on Camp Creck. Later Mr. Smith sold it to Cyreno W. Thompson and it was again moved. Thompson sold it to Charles J. Cole, who took it back to Lake City. The cabin finally became the property of J. M. Toliver, who gave one of the logs to HI. H. Harshbarger, in trust, as a historic relic of the first house in Calhoun County. Mr. Toliver afterward had a cane made out of this log, to be carried by the oldest continuous settler of the county. In the spring of 1915 it was carried by J. O. Smith. In making this cane a flint arrow point and a musket ball were found in the log. It is supposed they were fired by a band of Pottawattamie Indians who tried to drive Mr. Comstock out. After living in the county for a few years, Mr. Comstock went to Ida County and died at Ida Grove.
Others who settled in the township in 1854 were Christian Smith, in section 13: John Condron and William Impson, seetion 28: Rich- ard Bunting, section 28; Abner Tharp, section 12, on a tract of land entered in the name of Nathan Tharp: William and John Oxenford, who had recently come from England, and a few others. Impson was the first blacksmith in the county. Condron removed to Grant City. Sac County, where he died on June 10, 1877. Tharp built a cheap cabin, which he afterward sold to N. R. Hutchinson, who moved it to another tract of land and lived in it for ten or twelve years.
The first mill in Calhoun County was in Jackson Township. It was commenced by Henry W. Smith in the spring of 1855 and sold to the Oxenfords. A further history of this mill will be found in the chapter on Settlement and Organization. Oxenford's Mill was for many years a landmark in this section of the country.
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When the first settlements were made in Calhoun County a gang of horse thieves was operating along the Coon River. Horses would mysteriously disappear, and so perfeet was the organization of the gang that the owners would rarely hear anything more from the stolen animals. The pioneers were therefore constantly on the look- out for suspicious characters. If a sojourner could not give a good account of himself he was ordered to leave the settlement. There were no courts within convenient reach and the pioneers took the enforcement of law upon themselves. A few of the horse thieves were caught in the act of running off stolen horses and they expiated their offense at the end of a rope, without the courtesy or formality of a coroner's inquest over the remains. None of these lynchings oeeurred in Calhoun County, but the early residents were interested in driving such persons out of the country.
Other early settlers were Cyrus Fulkerson, a native of Pennsyl- vania, who settled near the Coon River. He brought a shingle cut- ting machine with him and made the shingles for the roofs of a number of the first houses built in the southwestern part of the county; Rollin Bureh, who afterward removed to what is now Logan Township: H. H. and J. C. M. Smith, and W. W. Zane, who came from Michigan and settled on the Coon River.
Jackson Township is situated in the southwest corner of the county. It ineludes congressional township 86, range 34, which was surveyed by James Harlan, whose certificate was filed with Warner Lewis, surveyor-general, August 6, 1853. As a separate civil town- ship Jackson was the third to be organized in Calhoun County. On December 3, 1866, the board of county supervisors ordered the west- ern tier of townships to be set off as a separate eivil township to be called Jackson, in honor of Andrew Jackson, the seventh President of the United States.
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