USA > Iowa > Fayette County > Past and present of Fayette County, Iowa, Volume I > Part 38
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CHAPTER XXVII.
HARLAN TOWNSHIP.
We are indebted to Mrs. S. T. Barnes, of Maynard, for the following sketch of Harlan township history :
The township of Harlan was organized in 1859 ; until then it was a part of the precinct comprising the now townships of Westfield, Center, Banks, Fre- mont, Harlan, Smithfield, Scott, Jefferson and Oran. The voting place was Lima. In 1855 Westfield was organized, and from that time up to the second Tuesday in October, 1859, the residents of this township voted at Fayette, in Westfield township. On that day the first election was held at the house of T. J. Dewey. The polls were opened at nine o'clock A. M. and closed at six P. M. The following officers were elected : Trustees, T. J. Dewey, William Taylor and W. B. Aylesworth; township clerk, F. M. Aylesworth; justices of the peace, J. B. Kingsbury and C. M. Shanklin ; assessor, Brown Stewart. The first school record is of a meeting called for March 11, 1861, by William Taylor, president of the school board. The first teacher was Helen Norton, now Mrs. Jasper Dewey ; the school was in a log house that was built in 1851, by Mills, and owned by T. J. Dewey, at that time in district No. 2, and com- menced May 14, 1860. The salary was eleven dollars per month, without board. The first school house was erected in the fall of 1861. It was built of logs near the northeast corner of the original town plat of Maynard and the first teacher was Miss Amanda Stevenson. The first frame school house was erected in the summer of 1862, by William G. Barnes, and the first teacher of this school was Miss Hessie Crawford, now Mrs. Milton Taylor. In the fall of 1855 C. M. Shanklin built a log house, and in the spring of 1856 moved his family from Illinois. This house stood near the two oak trees on the corner of the land now owned by Frank Burdick, across the street from the old creamery. The first white child born in this township was born to Mr. and Mrs. W. P. Shy, in the year 1852, in a cabin on the site now occupied by the house owned by William Malvern. The first person buried in Long Grove Cemetery was Minerva Dewey, who died in November, 1863. At the time of organizing the township of Harlan there was a population of about sixty. and seventeen voters.
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The first actual settlers in what is now Harlan township were the Shy, Mills and Myers families, who located on section II and commenced making improvements. Two of them soon sold their claims to H. Barnes, Sr., who raised a crop of wheat in 1853. T. J. Dewey purchased another of these claims and settled near Mr. Barnes. But Henry Maynard is entitled to the credit of making the first land entry in this township. He came from Illinois in 1851 and entered the southwest quarter of section 14, but returned to Illi- nois and did not take up his residence here until 1861. Andrew Walsh was another early pioneer, in addition to the names given elsewhere.
SCHOOLS.
There are eight sub-districts in the district township of Harlan, besides the independent district of Maynard. In the eight sub-districts there were nine female teachers employed during the last year, at an average salary of thirty-seven dollars and forty-six cents per month. Duration of the schools during the year was eight months. The school enumeration shows one hun- dred ninety-eight persons between five and twenty-one years of age in the district township, of whom one hundred forty-six were enrolled in the schools. The disparity between the number entitled to school advantages and the num- ber enrolled is due, in most instances, to the absence of the older pupils in attendance at higher schools. This is true of all the rural districts in the county, and should not be construed as evidence that many pupils are not at- tending school. The average cost of tuition in Harlan township was three dol- lars and thirty-seven cents for each student attending. The school apparatus used in the eight schools is valued at one hundred ninety-five dollars, and there are four hundred seventy-two volumes in the school libraries of the township. The school houses are valued at three thousand nine hundred fifty dollars.
THE INCORPORATED TOWN OF MAYNARD.
This is the only village in the township. It is located on parts of four sec- tions at the center of the township, east and west, and about two miles west of the east line. Portions of the town are now laid out on sections 14, 15, 22 and 23. C. M. Shanklin purchased a part of the land upon which the town was located, and built a house on it in 1864. But the town was not laid out until the construction of the Burlington, Cedar Rapids & Minnesota railroad was assured in the early seventies. Maynard was laid out in 1872-3 by J. J. Berkey, of West Union. The plat was recorded October 16, 1873, and the
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village was named in honor of Henry Maynard, at the suggestion of the presi- dent of the railroad company. The first residence on the town plat was erected and occupied by Joseph Hadden, but the first building was a grain warehouse.
The disappearance of Daniel Schuck, in October, 1877, was the first real sensation in the quiet little town. Schuck was a bachelor living alone, but during the season of 1877 he had a hired man named Christ Kraft, who lived with him. Schuck was last seen on the 17th of September and on the 19th Kraft began hauling grain to Maynard and sold it. He alleged that Schuck had sold him the farm, but had misrepresented financial conditions, stating that there was a five hundred dollar mortgage on the farm, when there was one thousand dollars against it. Kraft soon rented the place to another man and disappeared from the community. A legal proceeding was instituted, but no cause of action was developed, and neither party to the tragedy has ever been seen in the vicinity. The claim of Kraft that he had purchased the farm was not sustained in law, and an administrator settled the estate of Daniel Shuck, his continued absence being, in law, prima facie evidence of his death.
CHURCHES.
For a history of the Methodist Episcopal and Presbyterian churches in this township, the reader is referred to the special articles on those subjects. The same is true of the Catholic and Lutheran communicants, who are numer- ous throughout the township.
There are two country churches still holding organizations near the north line of the township, but over in Center township. One of these is a Meth- odist organization, while the other is owned and sustained by the United Brethren. The latter is the location of an annual camp-meeting usually held in the groves adjacent, and this has been the scene of many enthusiastic re- vivals, as well as of a summer outing for people of all religious faith, many attending from distant points in the county or elsewhere. This is known as the "Grub" church, because of its location in and near scrubby timber. It was organized in March, 1878, under the ministrations of Rev. R. D. Mc- Cormick, a pioneer minister in the United Brethren church and who is still living in the county. It was organized with fourteen members, some of whom lived in the town of Maynard, about three miles south of the church. Since the division of the church on disciplinary grounds, as mentioned elsewhere, this organization has allied itself with the "Liberals." Previous to the building of the church edifice, services were held in the school houses until the formation of a class was assured.
(26)
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MAYNARD.
The village of Maynard was incorporated in June, 1887, and since that date it has developed into a good trading point, being always an excellent stock and grain market. The residence portion of the town is extremely handsome, being situated in beautiful natural groves. The site of the town is on level ground, which is a characteristic of the township throughout. There are about three sections of timber land from Maynard north to the township line, these sections being 3, 10 and 15, with a little scattering timber adjacent. The south branch of the Volga river flows north through the town of Maynard, through this timbered belt, and enters the main stream near Fayette, in Westfield town- ship.
The Long Grove Dairymen's Association was incorporated at Maynard. in December. 1875, with Henry Maynard, president. Judson A. Stevens, vice- president, E. B. Snedigar, secretary and treasurer. The association erected a commodious building of two stories and basement eighteen by thirty feet, at a cost of one thousand six hundred dollars. This was the first creamery estab- lished in the community, and a thriving business was transacted. The first officers are all dead or removed from the county, and though there is still a prosperous creamery business conducted at Maynard, it is operated by private enterprise. There is also a feed mill, and other public enterprises in the town, besides several good stores, mechanical shops, machinery supplies, etc. The only hotel in the place was burned recently, and a larger and better one is now under construction. The Maynard Savings Bank is the monetary institution of the town. The officers are, W. B. Beatty, president, A. H. Meihe, vice- president, and E. F. Warnke, cashier.
EDUCATIONAL.
The Maynard school district, coincident with the boundaries of the cor- poration, has a new and modern school house with four rooms, employing one male teacher and four females, the former at a salary of seventy-five dollars per month and the latter at an average salary of forty-one dollars and sixty- six cents. Nine months' school is provided for during the year. Of one hun- dred fifty-one persons between five and twenty-one years, one hundred twenty- nine were enrolled in the schools, with an average daily attendance of one hundred fourteen. Besides these, there were eleven non-resident students at- tending who contributed one hundred thirty-six dollars and eighty cents to the school funds of the district. The average cost of tuition per month for
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each pupil was one dollar and seventy-six cents. The school house is valued at five thousand seven hundred dollars, with six hundred dollars invested in school apparatus. There are one hundred sixty-nine volumes in the school district library.
Some of the old settlers of the town and near-by community were the Maynard and Pember families, J. A. Stevens, E. B. Snedigar, C. S. Older, C. B. Rich, Emory Frost, A. S. Payne, H. S. Hadsel, W. E. Davis, Isaiah Stans- berry, Levi Smith, O. D. Bement, Harlow Giles, J. P. Prendergast. O. L. Farrand, Christ. First, S. H. Coon, Hiram Barnes, S. M. Goodall, J. S. Hat- ton, W. H. Syford, W. H. Potter, J. A. Vincent, F. M. Leach, George A. Sampson, Adam H. Weaver, S. S. Westgate, Joseph E. Beckner, S. P. Cush- man, E. Packard, W. B. Beatty, M. C. Payne, S. T. Barnes, George Barkoff, John Cutler, George Rice, the Talcott families, Matthew Smith, E. E. Day, Josiah Davis, the Conrads, H. L. Hadsel, George Sykes, the Fosket and Hol- lister families. It is not assumed that this is a complete list of early settlers' names, and some may be omitted from the list who ought to be there ; but this is the best that can be done at this late date.
SOCIAL AND FRATERNAL ORDERS.
In December, 1873, Long Grove Grange was organized in Maynard, and during its existence, which covered a period of many years, nearly every man and woman in the surrounding country was associated with it. Many of the early members are dead and others removed, while the younger generations have allied themselves with other societies.
The Ancient Order of United Workmen lodge has been one of the con- tinuing institutions of the place, and much good has resulted from its exist- ence. Diana Lodge No. 87 was organized on the 30th of November, 1876, and was for a number of years an exceptionally strong organization. It is purely an insurance society, though the ritualistic and social functions are a source of pleasure to the members.
Maynard Lodge, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, was organized in 1891, and started out with a strong membership. It has always been an active and influential society in the town. A few years ago the Westgate lodge was consolidated with the Maynard organization, thus discontinuing the one and strengthening the other. This is now the most prominent and active social and beneficial fraternity in the place.
CHAPTER XXVIII.
ILLYRIA TOWNSHIP.
Close to the north bank of the Volga are still seen the holes where were the two fireplaces of the double log house known as the Culver Trading Post. This has been recognized as the first permanent white man's dwelling built in Fayette county, though undoubtedly an error, since the Wilcox brothers, at an earlier date, had erected a log house in the Volga valley near the line dividing Westfield from Smithfield township, as is remembered by A. J. Hensley.
George Culver was a banker in Ypsilanti, Michigan, who came to Iowa to trade with the Indians, having for a partner one Joseph Hewitt, a man some- what notorious in the early history of the county. Culver removed to St. Paul about 1848 where he kept a wholesale establishment for supplying goods to his various Indian posts. Two or three logs are still lying near the old site, but nearly all of hewed rock elm are doing duty as a hog house for William D. Mattocks, who now owns the place. Formerly a spring broke forth at the foot of the bank on which the house stood, but no trace of that remains. A few rods northwest an Indian chief was put to rest on his way to the happy hunting grounds. A log inclosure was built in which the dead chief was seated with gun and tomahawk, and there remained till time and worms de- stroyed the body ; but what became of gun and tomahawk is unknown. Scat- tered here and there in the vicinity are, or were, other Indian graves. Former- ly human bones and implements of war and chase were turned up by the plow. Quite a large burying ground was discovered on the farm owned in early days by Milton Crow. The old man fenced it out and left it undisturbed while he lived on the farm.
Levi Cousins, an old and respected resident of Wadena, remembers see- ing on the place now owned by James Corbin three poles about sixteen feet high, hewed eight-sided, which stood for many years bearing tomahawks, spearheads, and the scalp of a white woman. The trading post stood on sec- tion 26, about half a mile east of the creamery owned by F. J. Schroeder, on a portion of the five hundred thousand acre grant made April 4, 1841, by the United States government to the state of Iowa.
The first entry after Culver's, near Wadena, seems to have been made by
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Samuel Stevens, in 1851, a forty-acre lot lying on both sides of the river which crossed it about mid-way, and included the mill site, and most of the land where Wadena now stands. Mr. Stevens sold to Horace Countryman and his father, both millwrights. They constructed a dam, and the elder Countryman built a house and sawmill in 1853-4, and four years later, in 1857-8, Horace built a gristmill in partnership with Major D. B. Herriman, the latter furnishing the funds, and the former the plans and much of the workmanship.
But the next entry of land in Illyria township, after Culver's (who en- tered on sections 22, 26 and 27, June 25, 1849) was made by Andrew J. Hens- ley, on section 19, in October, 1849. Hensley had lived in the county for five years previous to this. The land which he entered at that time, subse- quently became a part of the David Fussell farm.
Many years ago the sawmill above referred to was dragged from its foundation by a tree catching in its timbers when floating down the river in a flood. The dam likewise was destroyed in 1903, and the grist-mill badly dam- aged. On the representation of Mr. Olmstead (Mr. Culver being short of funds) Maj. D. B. Herriman bought the section on which the trading post was located, without seeing it, and on visiting the place, was so well pleased that he bought also the forty acres entered by Stevens and added gradually to his domain till one thousand four hundred acres were his. He it was who gave the name Wadena to the place, in memory of a former chief, a friend of his. He built the largest house in the county at the time, and Thomas Fennell made the brick close by. Mr. Fennell still lives there.
In the spring of 1852 the county judge appointed Joshua Cousins, Thomas Markley and Asa Parks a committee to organize the township.
They met at the Culver trading post, and using some stumps standing just eastward, they placed a board on the tops for a table, and so in the open air completed the organization. The following persons were duly chosen for office : Township clerk, Thomas Markley; justice of the peace, Asa Parks ; constable, Isaac Parks.
Being the eldest member of the community, Joshua Cousins was privileged to name the township. So the name Illyria was selected from the town of Elyria in Ohio, where he had formerly lived. The first election was held the following autumn, in a grove about half a mile north of the Robert A. Rich- ardson place, now owned by Mrs. Ella Clothier, of Fayette, and near the site of the late William Pritchard's home.
The first fair was held the same year, near the same place-about one mile southeast. The attendance was large, something like a hundred persons
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being present! (See Miscellaneous chapter for more complete history of the Illyria fair.)
Before a township could be organized. there must have been people to organize. Settlers had begun to arrive. First came the transitory population, composed mostly of mere squatters, whose names have disappeared. But others who were to remain for the rest of their lives came also. Possibly to some of them were born children on the soil of Illyria. But the first white child who saw the light of the sun in Illyria township, so far as is now known, was Hugh Lockard, born near the south center of the township, a few rods from the line.
For the benefit of those who have believed that Hugh Lockard was the first white male child born in the county, let it suffice to say that his birth occurred October 20, 1850, having been preceded eighteen days by Oscar W. Rogers, at West Union. But several other births in the county antedate these.
In the spring of 1849, a young man left Cornwall, England, and duly ar- rived in Wisconsin. In September, 1849, he chose a place in northern Illyria, followed the next month by his father, and some of his brothers and sisters. Walter Humphrey entered from the government the farm now owned by Fred Messerli. Mr. Mclaughlin, the place now owned by James T. S. Humphrey, Samuel Holton, the place now owned by Thomas Kerr, while there were those who early came and soon went. Their places were taken by such well-known persons as Eaton, Speed, Foxwell, J. O. and W. K. Albright, William Moore. A. W. Kimball, Willard Robbins, R. H. May, C. W. Strong, D. D. D. Briggs, A. J. Patterson, Phil Lowers, Alex. Peters, Joseph Ogle, Daniel Mattocks, Ed. Elwell, O. L. Gilson, John McMillan, George Stansberry, R. A. Richard- son, Joseph Holsworth, the Sargents, Thomas Kinsey, William Morras, Wil- liam Pritchard, Peter Eller, Heinrich Hidinger, Thomas Fennell and others, -- families well known. Some of their descendants grew to useful citizenship, and still live in the township (see personal sketches).
Very early in the settlement of the township children of the hardy pio- neers were found gathered in schools. Very little of the apparatus now deemed essential was there. Log houses with open fire-places, with slabs for stools, with few or no desks. In such buildings children conned their lessons, and froze their backs, while they blistered their faces at the fire-places, in the freezing winters. But they learned, and some became scholars, while others failed, as they do now. But spelling flourished. There were giants in those days, and they fought in the spelling contests in the old fashioned "spelling schools." How they did enjoy those simple recreations! The spelling match,
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the speaking, and at "recess," the wrestling matches and other pioneer amuse- ments !
Wadena's "first doctor" was pronouncing words from memory-though looking at the spelling-book, to decide a hotly contested bout between the Wadena school and a neighboring one and put out the word "document." It was spelled correctly at the first trial, but the doctor's "mental picture" was wrong! We opine he would spell document "docyment," to this day! He lives in Arlington, and the "pupil" who wasn't downed is writing this article !
The coming of the railroad up the beautiful Volga valley meant much to the progress of Wadena and Illyria township, not alone because of the steady. advance in values, which followed, but also in the moral and intellectual ad- vancement. With the railroad came fresh blood and business energy, and from 1877 Wadena took an upward trend. Previously the little hamlet seemed to be in a rut, and most of its citizens were indifferent to the emoluments of honest effort and economical habits. For many years the weekly horse-race in the Herriman lane, with its attendant saloon equipment and other features of gambling, furnished the principal amusements and revenue-to the fortunate. Nearly all of the inhabitants in early days were dependent upon daily labor for a livelihood and the Herriman estate, with the mills, and lumbering interests furnished the employment. The people were all poor, hence Major Herriman was looked upon as a kind of benefactor and right well he realized his promi- nence and importance in this respect. He was not a bad taskmaster, in that he was not over-exacting in the amount of labor required, and was always ready to pay. Many of his employes received their pay, in whole or in part, in pork, flour and other products of the big farm, and usually at fair prices. But the Herriman influence predominated, and it was not by any means a saintly in- fluence !
TOWN OF WADENA.
The existence of Wadena dates from the establishment of the Culver Trading Post, about a mile east of the present town, in the year 1841. But Culver came to near-by territory in Clayton ccunty and was elected one of the county commissioners of that county in 1838. He was also assessor of Clayton county in 1839, and became associated with Joe Hewitt, in that county, in 1841. In that year he came to the vicinity of Brush creek, in this county, and assisted the Mumfords in building their house (the second one) and soon thereafter opened the trading post near the present town of Wadena. He continued his traffic with the Indians until their removal to Minnesota in 1848, and accompanied them on their northern migration. During the severe win-
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ter of 1842-3, the Indians suffered greatly and were threatened with starva- tion. Culver came to their rescue and let them have the necessaries of life on credit. Being unable to collect from the Indians during the succeeding three years, he and Hewitt went to Washington in 1846 and presented their claims to the government and received their pay from that source. This trading post then became the nucleus to the little village which came into ex- istence in 1855, when Horace Countryman and his father built a saw-mill and established a home on the present town site; but it was not known as Wadena at that time. (The first postoffice name of the place was "War- dena.")
In 1857, Major David B. Herriman traded Minnesota property to Culver for the latter's possessions here without the formality of an examination. "The Major" was so well pleased with his bargain that he continued to add to his possessions in real estate until he had accumulated a large and valuable tract at the time of his death in the seventies. Major Herriman was Indian agent at Crow Wing, Minnesota-all Indian agents have military titles, usually that of "Major," and this answers a question often asked with reference to Major Herriman-and while so engaged, became acquainted with Mr. Culver. The latter had a contract for freighting goods from St. Paul, the head of steamboat navigation, to Indian agencies in Minnesota and elsewhere, and thus became acquainted with the agent at Crow Wing, which culminated in the exchange of "squatter rights" between himself and Major Herriman. But when the land came into market, a few years after the exchange was made, Culver re- turned and entered it, and it is presumed that Major Herriman performed the same service in Minnesota for Culver.
The home of the Herrimans was established in the double log house erected for a trading post, and continued there for several years, during which time the well-appointed three-story brick house was erected, which, for many years, was the admiration-and envy, too-of the poor pioneers who lived in houses not comparable in value and conveniences to the hewed-log building which the Herrimans had abandoned.
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