USA > Iowa > Calhoun County > Past and present of Calhoun County, Iowa, a record of settlement, organization, progress, and achievement, Volume I > Part 12
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As at first erected Jaekson included the present townships of Elm Grove, Garfield and Williams. Its area was reduced in 1870 by the organization of Williams Township, and it was reduced to its 1× 76 present size when Elm Grove was organized in 1876. On the north it is bounded by Elm Grove Township, on the east by Calhoun, on the south by Carroll County, and on the west by the County of Sac. The surface of this township is probably more diversified than that of any other in the county. Along the Coon River and the lower courses of some of its tributaries the ground is hilly, rising in some places in abrupt bluff's above the water. The Coon River crosses the township diagonally from northwest to southeast. Camp Creek,
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Prairie Creek, Lake Creek and one or two smaller streams empty into it in Jaekson Township.
The Chicago & Northwestern Railroad erosses the township from ' east to west near the center and the people living in the northwestern part find railroad accommodations at Yetter, which is about a mile and a half north of the northern boundary.
Jackson is divided into eight school distriets, which does not include the Lake City schools. In 1910 the population, exclusive of the inhabitants who lived within the corporate limits of Lake City, was 555. and in 1914 the taxable value of the property was $488.782. At the beginning of the year 1915 the township officers were: Thomas Knudson, Fred Layman and Charles H. Hueka, trustees; Fred Peebles, clerk; Melvin Peebles, assessor; E. Davis and W. Moad, justices of the peace; J. B. Stanfield and L. HI. Clow, eonstables.
CHAPTER VIII TOWNSHIP HISTORY, CONTINUED
LAKE CREEK TOWNSHIP- THE GREGG SETTLEMENT-LINCOLN-YATES- VILLE-LOGAN-READING - SHERMAN-TWIN LAKES - UNION --- WILLIAMS-HISTORICAL SKETCH OF EACH-SOME OF THE PIO- NEERS- TRANSPORTATION AND EDUCATIONAL FACILITIES-STATIS- TICS OF POPULATION AND WEALTH-TOWNSHIP OFFICIALS-MIS- CELLANEOUS EVENTS, ETC.
LAKE CREEK TOWNSHIP
The Township of Lake Creek is situated in the second tier from the southern border of the county, and in the second from the western boundary. It was taken from Calhoun Township in response to a petition signed by David Reed and others and presented to the board of supervisors on September 4, 1876. As at first constituted it included the present Township of Logan. In ereeting the township the supervisors ordered that the first election be held at the school- house in subdistrict No. 3 in Calhoun Township. J. H. Bradt, James Sebern and W. F. Winslow were appointed judges, and H. H. Hutchinson, elerk. In 1879 it was reduced to its present size, embrae- ing congressional township 87, range 33. Its northeast corner is not far from the geographieal center of the county. On the north it is bounded by Twin Lakes Township, on the cast by Logan, on the south by Calhoun, and on the west by Elm Grove.
1879
Lake Creek Township takes its name from the stream that flows through the southeastern part. Farther west is Prairie Creek. Both these streams flow in a southwesterly direction to the Coon River. The surface is more undulating than that in some of the adjoining townships and when the first settlers eame they found some native timber along the creeks.
The Government survey was made by H. C. Caldwell, a deputy United States surveyor, in 1853, a certificate to that effeet having Vol. 1-8
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been filed with Warner Lewis, surveyor-general, on the 14th of October of that year. The odd-numbered sections were nearly all included in the land grants to the Dubuque & Sioux City and the Iowa Central railroads. Charles W. Pairo, George F. McClure, Jonathan H. Manlove and James Stockdale all entered land in what is now Lake Creek Township in the fall of 1855. John Marple and James C. Woodbury entered their lands the following spring. They were followed by Thomas J. Orr, John Getty, James A. Dinsmore, S. C. Richardson and Benjamin J. Howland, all of whom made their entries in 1858.
The first house in the township was built by Peter G. Smith, and the second was built by Tillman P. Gregg. Mr. Gregg was born in Knox County, Ohio, October 28, 1827. At the age of eighteen years he accompanied his father to Michigan, where he married Miss Melissa Grubb in 1850. Two years later he came to Iowa, locating first in Marion County, where he was living at the beginning of the Civil war. He enlisted in Company B, Third Iowa Infantry, which was at first commanded by Capt. W. M. Stone, afterward governor of Iowa. When Captain Stone was promoted to the colonelcy of the regiment, Mr. Gregg was advanecd in rank and at the elose of the war was mmistered out as captain. In 1868 he came to Calhoun County and either that fall or the following spring built the house above mentioned. It was located near the center of the township and at the time it was built was one of only three or four houses be- tween Lake City and Twin Lakes. Other pioneers eame in and settled near Mr. Gregg, and old timers still sometimes refer to the neighbor- hood as the "Gregg Settlement." Mr. Gregg soon became promi- nently identified with county affairs and in 1871 was elected one of the county supervisors, in which capacity he served for four years, when he was elected county treasurer. This office he also held for four years, being the treasurer at the time the county seat was removed to Rockwell City. His death oceurred on March 3, 1901.
The third house was built by Henry H. Hutchinson, who was born in Vermont on August 3, 1838. When about twenty years of age he decided to seek his fortime in the West and eame to Calhoun County. In 1859, only a few months after coming to the county, he was elected elerk, being the third man to hold that office. He was again elected elerk in 1872, having previously served for two years as county reeorder.
The Chicago & Omaha line of the Illinois Central Railroad enters the township near the northeast corner and runs in a south-
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westerly direction across the northern portion. Since it was built the little Village of Sherwood has grown up in the west side of seetion 8. It is the only village in the township.
Lake Creek is divided into nine school distriets, one teacher being employed in each distriet. In 1910 the population was 555, and in 1914 the taxable value of the property was $483,249. The township government in 1915 was composed as follows: W. W. Grant, Charles Reed and B. F. Holder, trustees; W. F. Ramige, clerk: G. C. Doss, assessor; C. H. Taylor, justice of the peace; O. Savage and F. J. Smith, constables.
LINCOLN TOWNSHIP
This was the second eivil township to be formed in Calhoun County. It was established by order of the board of supervisors in response to a petition presented on June 4, 1866. The name of Joseph Yates stood at the head of the petition, which asked that town- ships 88 and 89, in ranges 31, 32 and 33, be organized as a new town- ship. The records do not show that the petition was granted, but on October 15, 1866, Joseph Yates was allowed $3.75 for services on account of the organization of the township; S. H. Richardson was allowed $6.50 for attending the election on the organization of Lincoln Township, and William Gould was allowed $4 for services as clerk of the election.
As originally created, Lincoln included all the present townships of Lincoln, Sherman, Butler, Twin Lakes, Center and Greenfield. One by one the others were established according to law, leaving the present Township of Lincoln to include only congressional township 89, range 31, which is in the northeast corner of the county. On the north it is bounded by Pocahontas County, on the east by Webster County, on the south by Greenfield and Center townships, and on the west by the Township of Sherman. The township was named in honor of Abraham Lincoln, who was President of the United States during the Civil war.
The general surface is slightly rolling or undulating and the soil is exceedingly fertile. Lizard Creek flows aeross the northeast eorner and the east fork of Cedar Creek, with its small tributaries, drains the remainder of the township.
On December 9, 1854, George Berry, a deputy United States sur- veyor, certified to George B. Sargent, the surveyor general for the State of Iowa, that the survey of township 89, range 31, had been
1866
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completed and that the lands were subject to entry. The odd-mmm- bered sections were included in the grant to the Dubuque & Sioux City Railroad Company, and sections 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 18 and 24 were selected as part of the Agricultural College grant. On January 12, 1869, Charles S. Jones entered a traet of land in seetion 28, and on August 23, 1869, B. F. Wheeler entered a part of section 22. These were the first entries by actual settlers. On April 7, 1871, Joseph Yates entered land in seetion 22 and Orrin Woodin in section 26. John Richmond had previously entered a part of section 2 on January 26, 1871. Others who entered lands that year were: E. S. Brooks and James Van Horne, in section 22; David Fluharty, in seetion 28; and John Luebke, in section 36.
The dates above given evidently refer to the time the patent was issued, as the settlement of the township antedates these land entries by several years. Joseph Yates selected his claim in the fall of 1865, but spent the following winter with his sister in Story County. The next year he built a frame house 20 by 24 feet, one and a half stories high, the first frame house in the township. It stood on the road used by the Fort Dodge & Sioux City Stage Company, and a relay station was established at "Yatesville." Mr. Yates was born in Pickaway County, Ohio, in 1825, and was therefore forty years of age when he came to Calhoun County, Iowa. After settling here he became promi- nent in political affairs and numerous meetings were held at his house. He was the first postmaster in Lincoln Township, served for several years on the board of county supervisors, and was one of the leaders in the Grange movement along in the '70s. His death occurred on July 12, 1886.
David Fluiharty came to the township in April, 1866, and selected a homestead of eighty acres. He was born in Hardin County. Ohio. in 1838. Shortly after locating in what is now Lincoln Township a son was born to him and his wife-the first white child born in that section of the county.
Early in May, 1866, a party of twenty-one emigrants left Illinois for Calhoun County, Iowa. Among them were E. S. Brooks. James Van Horne, George B. Starr. Samuel Radley, the Glovers, and John Somerville. They all settled in Lincoln Township and several of them afterward became intimately identified with county affairs.
In 1867 William H. Davidson came from Illinois and settled in seetion 34. He and his brother built the first courthouse in Roekwell City and he is still living in Manson. W. T. Smith came the same year, though he had visited the township and selected his claim the
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preceding autumn. In 1868 E. L. Hobbs settled in the township and afterward represented Calhoun County in the Legislature. Other early settlers were Leslie Jack and Benjamin Brock.
The first marriage in the township was that of James Van Horne and Miss Mary Jack, and the first death was the wife of Enoch Skinner in the fall of 1867. The first school was taught in the winter of 1867-68 at the house of James Van Horne by Amelia Smith. Per- haps the first political convention in Calhoun County was held in the "Lowe Settlement" in the fall of 1867. Daniel Lowe was nominated for treasurer: William Gould, county supervisor; C. H. Richmond, sheriff : W. T. Smith, county superintendent; C. S. French, surveyor; N. R. Hutchinson, coroner. The ticket thus nominated was defeated at the ensuing election. The convention was held on the bank of North Twin Lake. One of the old settlers, who attended, says: "There were no automobiles nor silk hats at that convention, but ox teams were numerous and shirt sleeves and bare feet were conspienous."
In 1870 the Dubuque & Sioux City Railroad was completed through the northern part of the county and the settlement of Lincoln Township went forward by leaps and bounds. The rapid increase in population in this part of the county resulted in the removal of the county seat from Lake City to Rockwell City in 1876.
At the first election for township officers, whic was held in Oeto- ber, 1866, Henry Willey and Robert Glover were elected trustees- the name of the third trustee could not be learned; William Gould, justice of the peace; E. S. Brooks, constable; Samuel Radley, assessor. In 1915 the township officials were: II. A. Arnold, John Leith and D. C. Wilson, trustees; F. W. Moore, clerk; F. M. Griffith, assessor; B. F. Freeburger and R. A. Horton, justices of the peace; C. H. Baker and J. H. Lish, constables.
Lincoln Township is one of the most populous townships in the county, being excelled in that respect only by Calhoun and Twin Lakes. In 1910 the population, including the Town of Manson, was 1,835, and in 1914 the taxable value of the property was $634,338. Outside of the incorporated Town of Manson the township has seven school districts and employs seven teachers during the school year.
LOGAN TOWNSHIP
Logan Township is one of the four that occupy the central part of the county. It is bounded on the north by Center, on the east by
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Cedar, on the south by Union, and on the west by Lake Creek. From 1856 to 1876 it formed a part of the Township of Calhoun. It was then included in Lake Creek Township until 1879. At the April session of the board of supervisors in 1879 a petition was presented by William Carmichael and others asking for the erection of a new civil township to embrace congressional township 87, range 32. The petition was laid over until June, but on June 4, 1879, the board issued ( 0 the order for the establishment of a new township to include the terri- tory mentioned in the petition and conferred on the new township the name of Logan, in honor of Gen. John A. Logan, of Illinois. It Y was ordered also that the first election should be held at the Sturges schoolhouse, and in September the board appointed the following to conduct the election : A. T. Bowers, L. J. Owen and Edward Bowers, judges; W. J. Sturges, elerk. No returns of this election could be found by the writer.
The Government survey of what is now Logan Township was made in 1852 by J. T. S. and R. Jarrett, who presented a certificate of the fact to George B. Sargent, surveyor general, on February 7, 1853.
The surface of the township is generally level, or only slightly rolling. Lake Creek flows in a southerly direction across the western part and Purgatory Creek waters the southeastern portion. Orig- inally much of the land was wet and swampy, which may account in a measure for the fact that the township was rather slow in being settled. In 1858 James Hall, Eliphalet Ladd, David Moore, J. B. Glover and a few others entered land in township 87, range 32, but most of these entries were made for speculative purposes.
Michael Powers was one of the early settlers. His daughter, Maria, afterward became the wife of Dr. J. W. Craig, of Lohrville. William Carmichael, whose name headed the petition for the organ- ization of the township, was another pioneer. LeClaire Owen, one of the judges at the first election, came with his widowed mother to Calhoun County in 1872, and first rented a farm from Capt. W. II. Fitch, near Lake City. He later bought a farm in the northwest part of Logan, not far from Rockwell City.
Rollin Burch, who is entitled to recognition as one of the early settlers of this township, was born in Chautauqua County, New York, April 10. 1836. Upon arriving at manhood's estate he went to St. Clair County, Michigan, where he taught school for a time. In 1859 he located at Cedar Rapids, Ia. At the breaking out of the Civil war he entered the volunteer army as a member of Company D, Eighth
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Iowa Infantry, and took part in numerous engagements. In 1866 he came to Calhoun County, first settling in Jackson Township, but in 1874 removed to what is now Logan. He was elected county treas- urer in 1881 and held that office for four years, during which time he resided in Rockwell City. At the expiration of his second term he returned to his farm in Logan Township, where he continued to reside until his death on March 20, 1915.
The Des Moines & Spencer branch of the Chieago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway system erosses the township from southeast to northwest, and the Fort Dodge, Des Moines & Southern runs south- east from Rockwell City aeross the northern portion. Rands on the former and Piper on the latter are the railroad stations in the township.
Logan is divided into nine school districts. In 1910 the popula- tion was 618, only four townships in the county having a smaller number of inhabitants. Notwithstanding this, Logan stood high in the value of property, showing in 1914 a taxable value of $542,060, the highest of any township in the county, exclusive of incorporated towns.
In 1915 the township officials were as follows: August Bangston, S. D. Prinee and John Harms, trustees; J. W. Areher, clerk; F. E. Dallenbach, assessor.
READING TOWNSHIP
In the southeast corner of the county is the Township of Reading, which was originally a part of Calhoun. On September 6, 1875, a petition signed by a number of the citizens living in congressional township 86, range 31, was presented to the board of county super- visors, asking "that said township be organized as a separate eivil township, to be known by the name of Reading." On motion the petition was granted and two days later the board direeted the county auditor to issue and publish a eall for an election to be held at the Robinson schoolhouse. C. H. Reading, J. G. Robinson and H. W. Gilbert were appointed judges, and A. Calhoun, clerk, to conduct the elcetion.
Reading Township is bounded on the north by Cedar, on the east by Webster County, on the south by Greene County, and on the west by the Township of Union. Purgatory Creek touches the northwest corner and Hardin Creek flows in a southerly direction through the eastern part.
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On March 16, 1853, R. Jarrett, a deputy United States surveyor, certified to George B. Sargent that he had completed the survey of township 86, range 31, most of the work having been done the preeed- ing year. The odd-numbered seetions in this township were ineluded in the land grant to the Iowa Central Air Line Railroad. George B. Dennison, John Mun, J. C. Tullis, P. O. Babeoek, A. B. Sands, John Elliott, William Tyson, John B. Weaver and H. H. Mason all entered land in 1858, but they were not actual setttlers, the lands being entered with the hope of selling them at an advanced priee to the pioneers. Section 34 was all homesteaded.
The township was named in honor of Charles H. Reading, who/ was the first white man to establish a home within its borders. He was born in Bueks County, Pennsylvania, February 20, 1823; came west to Chicago when that great metropolis was but a small town; was next employed by the Lake Superior Mining Company for several months, and then settled on a farm near Syeamore, Ill. In 1870 he located in what is now Reading Township, Calhoun County. At that time Jefferson was the nearest town where supplies could be pur- chased, though the towns of Gowrie and Manson were founded in that year. Cranes, wild dueks and geese were so numerous that they fre- quently destroyed or damaged the erops; deer were frequently seen in that part of the county, and at night the howling of the wolves made music for the pioneers. In 1876 Mr. Reading removed to Gowrie, where he lived for several years, when he went to Arkansas.
J. G. Robinson, who was one of the signers of the petition to organize the township and one of the judges at the first eleetion, was one of Reading Township's pioneers. He served on the board of county supervisors from 1889 to 1896. P. C. Carlson, a native of Sweden, was another early settler.
After the Toledo & Northwestern (now the Chieago & Northwest- ern) Railroad was built through the northern part of the county in V 1881 a number of new comers located in Reading, the Town of Farn- hamville sprang up in the northeast eorner, and quite a number of new farms were opened during the next few years. The Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad just touches the southwest corner, but Farnhamville is the only railroad station in the township.
In addition to the graded school in Farnhamville there are eight rural sehool distriets in Reading. The population in 1910 was 954, and in 1914 the taxable value of the property, including that in Farn- hamville, was $514,344.
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The township officials in the spring of 1915 were as follows: Grant Haynes, Charles Rose and Green Stephens, trustees; M. G. Beek, clerk; George W. MeVay, assessor; George Coats and Charles Beacham, justices of the peace; Roy Craven and HI. Collins, con- stables.
SHERMAN TOWNSHIP
This township is one of the northern tier. It is bounded on the north by Pocahontas County, on the east by Lincoln Township, on the south by Center and Twin Lakes, and on the west by Butler. It includes all of congressional township 89, range 32, except a small tract in the northwest corner, which was taken from Sherman and added to Butler a few years ago as part of the incorporated Town of Pomeroy. From a certificate filed with the surveyor general, Warner Lewis, by George Berry, a deputy United States surveyor, December 9, 1854, it is learned that the official survey of the town- ship was made in that year and the lands returned subject to entry.
Among the first to enter land in what is now Sherman Town- ship was William Featherstone, who selected a traet in section 20, near the head of North Twin Lake, June 11, 1866. He first built a sod house and later a small frame "shaek," and in 1859 was joined by his wife and two children. The first money he earned after settling in Calhoun County was earned by trapping muskrats and selling their skins to fur buyers. He prospered and at one time owned over five hundred aeres of land. After giving each of his children 100 aeres he retired and took up his residence in the Town of Manson, where he died at a ripe old age.
Most of the odd-numbered sections were included in the grant to the Dubuque & Sioux City Railroad Company, leaving only a few in the southern part of the township and the even-numbered sections for actual settlers. Sanmel M. Huff entered a traet in section 32, September 6, 1858, which is believed to be the first entry in the township.
Peter Peterson, a native of Sweden, came to the township in 1866, only a short time after Mr. Featherstone, and seeured a Government elaim of eighty-eight acres. It was raw prairie and his first plowing was done with four yoke of oxen. His first home in Calhoun County was a sod house. After years of industry and development he retired and removed to Manson.
B. F. Freeburger brought his family from Port Byron, Ill., in 1867, and settled on a farm in Sherman, but after a short residence
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there he removed to Manson. On November 20, 1867, Edgar L. Hobbs entered a part of section 20. Haakon and Nels Carlson located homesteads in section 20 on April 1, 1868, and the same year Fred Gutz, a German, homesteaded in section 29. He built a sod house and spent the summer months in improving his farm. During the late fall and winter he drove stage for the Fort Dodge & Sioux City Stage Company, the line of which ran near his house. He is still living retired in the township. In May, 1869, Sanford L. Kent came from Kansas and took up a homestead in Sherman Township. His house was one of those destroyed by the great tornado of August 2. 1870. Mr. Kent served for several years on the board of supervisors. William Clark was another early settler.
The route of the Fort Dodge & Sioux City stages ran southwest from Yatesville and passed over the narrow strip of land between North and South Twin Lakes, where the stage company had a relay station, about which a little settlement sprang up. Ilere the Joslyn. Brown and Cornell families were among the pioneers.
The territory now comprising Sherman Township was ineluded in Lincoln, when that township was organized in 1866. The first mention in the public records of Sherman as a separate township is an entry in the supervisors' minutes of September 7, 1868, when the clerk was directed "to procure a ballot box for the use of Sherman Township." On the same date the board instructed Joseph Yates "to send some justice of the peace to open the polls for the organiza- tion of said township."
At the June term of the supervisors preceding the above action, two petitions were presented asking for a division of Lincoln Town- ship by erecting new townships on the south and west. The minutes for that session state that the board "after due consideration, believes that the circumstances do not require action at the present time." It is quite probable that the petition, so far as Sherman Township is affected, was granted at a later term and the provisions for the first election made in September as above stated.
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