USA > Iowa > Jasper County > Past and present of Jasper County, Iowa, Vol. I > Part 37
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number that would be required from Iowa and from Jasper county. People's hearts sank, for it seemed as if not another man could be spared, and the number of black dresses to be seen told plainly what had been the fate of many who had gone. Several citizens made brief remarks in regard to the needs of the country. Then it was announced that those who wished to volunteer could do so; and sixteen young men, mostly from Newton and from the flower of our youth, went up to the judge's desk and signed the enlistment paper, amid a silence broken only by the sobs of their parents and friends. Among them were Jackson F. Newell and Thomas M. Rodgers, the youthful editors of the Monitor, our first daily paper. Than Town'send, Roy Allum and Milt McCord were also of the number; but the last named was afterward transferred to his brother's company in the Twenty-eighth Iowa.
During the next few years these sixteen young men had an opportunity to learn the horrors of war and about half of them never returned. On the bloody 22d day of May, 1863, they were in that long line of blue that swept up the heights at Vicksburg and was hurled back in defeat from the rebel works, and men went down like grass before the mower. Among those that fell that day were the Bair brothers and Jackson Newell and Johnny Green.
A HOME COMING.
It was a glad night in the old building when the boys of Company B. Thirteenth Iowa, came home together on a furlough. The drums beat loudly, and everybody shouted for joy as the sturdy veterans marched proudly into the court room, and were seated at long tables laden with a royal feast. Those were stirring times.
And many a fist fight occurred on the streets over discussions growing out of the war. While a jollification was being held at the south front of the court house, celebrating the victories at Vicksburg and Gettysburg, the audience suddenly left their seats and ran to watch an angry crowd thump a big fellow for having spoken disrespectfully of the government. There were times when it seemed as if the seat of war was about to be transferred from the cotton fields of the south to the corn fields of the north. A riot occurred at a political meeting at Peoria in Mahaska county and many shots were fired, and a returned soldier named Alloway was killed. The news, in a greatly magnified form, reached here while a rally was in progress at the court house and caused a great sensation. Many a cheek turned pale when it was reported that a battle had been fought on this side of Oskaloosa, and
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that two thousand rebels were marching towards Newton. At another time the community was thrown into excitement over the news that the draft was being resisted in Poweshiek county, and that two United States marshals had been ambushed and shot in the public highway. And again the long roll sounded from the east steps calling out the home guards, like the minute men of old, for immediate service.
Jasper county did its full part in standing loyally by the government in those trying times. And it furnished far more men than the quota required of it. At the first war meeting, before mentioned. a hope was expressed that eighty-four men could be secured so that they could form their own organization. But several expressed doubts as to whether so many could be raised in such a thinly settled county. But Captain Chapman afterwards had the joy of marching out of the court yard at the head of his Jasper Grays, a hundred strong. And later on six more full companies were sent and enough parts of companies and recruits to bring the whole number up to about fifteen hundred men. And these citizen soldiers, unused to war's alarms. served with great credit. Many of them saw active service, and some of them witnessed struggles as terrific and slaughter as terrible as were exper- ienced by the veterans who followed the leadership of the First Napoleon.
EARLY TIMES IN MOUND PRAIRIE.
The following reminiscence was written about a dozen years ago by Seth W. Macy, who was a lad of thirteen summers when his parents settled in Mound Prairie township, as it is now known among the civil sub-divisions of the county :
On the 15th day of September, 1854, Jonathan W. Macy started from Kingston, Indiana, with all his worldly goods, to move to Iowa. His effects were loaded into two wagons, each drawn by a pair of horses. They arrived at Tool's Point October 5th. We drove on three and a half miles to the Col. S. B. Shellady farm, then owned by Mr. Smart, and after father ex- plained what we wanted. he proceeded at once to empty the best room in the house for us. What we needed for use in the house we unloaded and put in order that night. The remainder of the goods were stored in the barn except the large and well-filled tool chest, which was left in the wagon. The first night in Jasper county was very agreeably spent, and we had everything necessary to our comfort. The next day, after dinner, father and I started for our land, and to locate the spot where the first cabin was to be built. on the northwest corner of section 19. We then drove on to the upper end
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of Slaughter's Grove, where there were two log cabins eight feet apart, the space between roofed and enclosed. These cabins were occupied by John and Edward Thomas, brothers. The cabins were of logs with the bark left on. They were chinked and daubed with mud, and each had a stick-and-mud fire-place. Each brother had a wife and three children, two beds and trundle beds, so that each had a spare bed for travelers. We secured bed and board with Ed Thomas until we could build our cabin. The next day we went down into the timber for our first load of logs for our new cabin. Father cut the logs and loaded them and I hauled them out and unloaded them. I was then but thirteen years old, and of necessity had to play the part of a man. Six weeks later we moved into a very neat and comfortable hewed log house, fourteen by sixteen feet, with a sawed oak floor.
Now we have the cabin built, we will look around and see who lived in' Prairie Mound township. In passing up from Tool's Point over the old Indian trail, we entered the township by coming onto section 33 from the south. On the northeast quarter of this section lived E. R. Peck, who af- terward became very well known by taking a great deal of interest in other people's property. Just north of the Peck property, on the southeast quar- ter of section 28, was another claim and cabin occupied by a Mr. Thomas. These were all the improvements on the south side of the township.
On the east half of the northwest quarter of section 19, there was a small cabin built the year before by Riley Van Scoyac, who occupied the same until 1857, when he sold to Isaiah Coomes who lived there for many years and died on the farm. On this farm Mr. Coomes made the first crockery in this portion of the country. Mr. Van Scoyac's father lived south on the east half of the southwest quarter of the same section. and sold about the same time as his son to Daniel Shepherd. All of these places mentioned thus far were so new that they had no grain or produce to sell. The Thomas brothers of whom we have spoken lived on section 12. in what is now Wash- ington township. Joseph Slaughter, who lived on section 5, was the first settler in what is now Mound Prairie township. He came here in 1845, erected a cabin, went back east and returned with his family in the spring of 1846 and had a good farm in cultivation when we came. and plenty of grain and stock.
Samuel K. Parker settled on section 4 in 1847. This was at the river crossing. now the Ross farm. Mr. Parker had a saw mill on the river forty rods below the river bridge, which was then run by Robert Warner, who we still have with us one mile south of Colfax. In 1853. John Sumpter settled on section 7. on what is now known as the Hartley farm. Mr. Sumpter was the
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first justice of the peace in the township, and no better or truer man could be found either then or now for the place. This was all the permanent set- tlers in the township except a few on the east side of the river, now known as the Metz corner, where some very excellent people settled at an early date, among them the two Miller families, George W. and brother. The first was L. D. Simms, who came in 1849, then his son. S. S., in 1851. James John and G. W. Miller came in 1853. These are all that we know settled in Mound Prairie township prior to 1854.
In every new country there are always quite a number of comers and goers of a migratory disposition. They were here, but as I was a small boy 1 don't remember any of them.
Now we will look around a little, our postoffice was at Tool's Point, our grist mill at Red Rock, our corn cracker at Indian creek, northeast of Colfax, and all the merchandise had to be hauled in wagons from the Mis- sissippi river. What would you think of paying seven dollars per barrel for salt and fifteen cents per pound for nails, and all other articles in proportion ?
In the spring of 1856, an eastern Indiana farmer came out to look at the country. He arrived at Fort Des Moines in the evening, and took a little walk on Second street where the business was nearly all done. Seeing some salt barrels in front of a grocery, he inquired the price, and was told seven dollars per barrel. "What! Seven dollars for a barrel of salt?" "Yes," responded the grocer. "Well, no country can be settled where salt costs seven dollars per barrel." lle took the first stage for Keokuk and returned home as soon as possible. Those that remained here. however, have seen the Hawkeye state grow and develop until it is the grandest state in the union.
A few years later. we are informed this same Indiana farmer heard of the famous rock salt beds in Kansas, moved there and prospered.
The first grain cut with a machine was in 1857. It was a Rugg ma- chine, bought by William Jordan, who owned a part of what was after- wards the Jesse Long farm. Jonathan W. Macy afterward bought the ma- chine and cut the grain in the township that harvest.
In 1856 Mr. Macy bought some registered shorthorn cattle of Milton Wilson, who went through here from Wayne county, Indiana, to Madison county, Iowa. Jonathan W. Macy was the originator of the Macy potato, later called the White Meshanoc, and of the potato industry which has made the Prairie City famous. He was a pattern maker and millwright by trade, and one of the most skilled and perfect mechanics that could be found in any country. He built the first pile driver ever used in Jasper county. This
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machine was fully half a century in advance of the age in which it was built. See what J. R. Rodgers has to say of this machine. He helped drive the first piles that were driven in the county with it.
Mr. Macy made a set of carpenter's tools before his arrival here, such as planes, bit stalks, screw clamps and a wooden bench vise, that would puzzle the modern mechanic to construct and equal to many of those now made by machinery, most of which are now in my possession.
"THE KNOW NOTHING" POLITICAL PARTY.
The present generation knows but little, if indeed anything, of what was of political significance in the fifties in the way of a political party known as the "Know Nothings." It was represented from one end of the country to the other and its chief principle was that it forbade the holding of office by other than American-born citizens, all foreigners being excluded from hold- ing any office, either in county, state or nation. Naturally, a party advocat- ing these principles must soon go down in a country like this.
In Jasper county such a party had an existence for a season or more, and has been well described by "Old Shady" (Joseph AArnold) in one of his reminiscential stories which runs thus :
In 1855-6 there was organized in nearly every state in the Union a party known as the Know Nothing party. the object of which was to keep all for- eigners from holding office or taking any part whatsoever in the government of the United States. The meetings and lodges were held in secret, with armed force if need be, to prevent any foreigners from entering or to know of the business transacted.
This gave a favorable opportunity for crafty office seekers to manipulate plans for their own elevation to office. A. T. Alt, the treasurer of the county. whose first term was about to expire, wished to be elected for another term. This he thought an opportunity to immortalize his name and secure his elec- tion for a second term. He attended meetings in an adjoining county which was headquarters for Know Nothing's and got the appointment to organize lodges in Jasper county. He set a time and place and notified the leading voters and foreigner haters that he would be down in Lynn Grove and or- ganize a lodge and fit them up to do business. At that time there was a log cabin in the midst of the woods located on section 3. one-half mile north of the home of John R. Sparks. In conformity with previous arrangements. Sir Alt came down from Newton with the appliances to organize the Ameri- can party of Know Nothings. About sunset there was a large gathering of
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the voters of the township up in the woods near Sparks. About dark we wended our way to the cabin. Alt called the house to order. The first thing done was to place sentinels out to see that no foreigners should know of the business or purpose of the meeting. All being ready, Alt unfurled the Stars and Stripes, which made a fine display in that dark and forlorn place. In an elaborate speech he told us of the danger that the United States was in from the foreign element. After getting us fully awakened, he proceeded to in- itiate us as members of this mystic organization. The initiation fee was nominal, not exceeding one dollar for each one initiated. I well remember the pass-word, "Have you seen Sam?" The sign was to take hold of your coat on the right side with all of your hand except the index finger, which should be pointed straight out. Then the arm in a natural movement to be brought toward the left side, the index finger placed on the left breast near the region of the heart.
After a general hand shaking this meeting closed about ten o'clock with- out benediction. A. T. Alt was defeated, and soon the Know Nothing party, in all the states, was a thing of the past. This meeting was on Saturday night. On Sunday morning I went to our little Quaker meeting and saw as soon as I got into the yard. Jarvis Johnson. True to his trust, he gave me the sign by taking hold of his shadbelly Quaker coat with his right hand. bringing his index finger near the region of the heart. I. true to my pledge, returned the sign. We both saw we were brethren and no foreigner could have our sup- port. for we were full-fledged Know Nothings. and the government still stands.
EJ- MARARY
TO- HAT ONS
GEN. JAMES B. WEAVER
BIOGRAPHICAL
GEN. JAMES BAIRD WEAVER.
Among the few surviving commissioned officers of the Civil war is the man whose name heads this biographical notice. Gen. James B. Weaver, whose gallant military career, as well as useful political record, is well known to nearly every one within the borders of Iowa. His espousal of the cause of reformation and temperance in this state will live in principle and be en- acted into laws long after he has passed from earthly scenes. To have had the courage to fight the battles of one's country, whether on the field of car- nage, or by tongue and pen, as a wide-awake, forceful writer and speaker in the great national political arena, is indeed a fit legacy to bequeath to future generations.
Mr. Weaver was born June 12, 1833, at Dayton, Ohio, and was educated in the common schools of early Iowa. He drove an ox team across the great plains of the West from Davis county, lowa, to Sacramento City, California, in 1853. He returned via Panama and New York the same autumn, and clerked for Edwin Manning at Bonaparte, Iowa, in the winter of 1853-4. The following spring he began his long cherished study of the law in the office of S. G. Mc.Achran, at Bloomfield, Iowa. He then attended law school at the Cincinnati College and graduated as a Bachelor of Law in 1855. On the board of examiners was Rutherford B. Hayes, who long afterward became President of the United States. He then returned to Bloomfield, Iowa, and was there admitted to the bar under Judge H. B. Hendershott, and entered upon the practice of his profession and continued therein actively until the spring of 1861, when he entered the Union army as a private soldier in Com- pany G, Second Iowa Infantry Regiment. He was elected first lieutenant and served in that capacity through the battles of Forts Donelson and Shiloh, and until the morning of the first day's battle at Corinth, Mississippi, when he was promoted to the rank of major. His commission as major came to him as a great surprise on the morning of the first day's battle. He had no inti- mation of his having been recommended for this position and was in no sense
(27)
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a candidate for that honor. In this he was promoted over all the captains of his regiment. The first day of that fierce engagement his colonel, James Baker, was killed, and at the first volley in the morning of the second day's fight his lieutenant-colonel, Noah W. Mills, was mortally wounded. The next morning he was unanimously chosen colonel of the regiment by the officers and was duly commissioned by Governor Samuel J. Kirkwood. Subsequently, he was breveted brigadier-general by President Lincoln.
After the conflict of that great civil war had ended, General Weaver re- turned to Bloomfield, Iowa, and again resumed the practice of law, and in 1866 was elected district attorney of the second judicial district, which was composed of seven counties. The term lasted four years and during that time and two years longer he also held the office of United States assessor of internal revenue for the first district of Iowa. When his term of office had expired he again entered the general law practice, meantime taking an active part in every political campaign as a Republican. Before the war he had edited a weekly newspaper for a time and in many ways this became useful to him in after life. He also edited the Iowa Tribune, of Des Moines, several years and it had a national circulation.
In 1875 he was before the Republican state convention as a candidate for the governorship of Iowa, and on the very morning of the convention it seemed certain to all that he would be the nominee, but on account of his antagonism to the liquor interests in the state and his uncompromising tem- perance principles, the liquor license men of the convention secretly organized a movement to bring out the name of Samuel J. Kirkwood, the old "War Governor," and against that grand old man's wishes they presented his name in dramatic manner and by a pre-arranged plan had a tremendous applause and cheering started in the convention hall which swept the convention off their feet and at the last moment diverted from General Weaver's strength to nominate Kirkwood. The majority of Iowa voters desired to make him governor, but the men at the convention were swerved from the path of honor and political duty.
But Weaver was to be heard from again. In 1878 he was elected to Congress from the sixth district in Iowa, on the independent, or so-called Greenback party platform, defeating Judge Sampson. In 1880 he was nomi- nated by the national Greenback party for President of the United States and polled over three hundred thousand votes, after having made an extended can- vass both North and South. In 1882 he again became a candidate for Congress in a triangular fight, and was defeated by Hon. M. E. Cutts, though General
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Weaver, having started in third, came out second best in the spirited contest. But he did not give it up. In 1884 he defeated Hon. Frank Campbell by a close margin, that of only sixty-six votes. Again in 1886 he was elected to a seat in Congress over John A. Donnel, Republican candidate. In 1888 Mr. Weaver was defeated by Hon. John F. Lacey.
In 1892, twelve years after his first Presidential race, he was again nomi- nated for President of the United States by the Populist party, and polled over one million votes, receiving twenty-two electoral votes, notably those of Kan- sas, Colorado and Nevada. During this campaign he canvassed the whole country from sea to sea and from the lakes to the gulf. He is the only third party candidate since Gen. John C. Fremont who has ever been able to force his way into the electoral college, a victory that cannot be effaced. He still takes an active part in politics and religious work. He has long been identi- fied with the Methodist Episcopal church.
General Weaver was a delegate to the Democratic national convention of 1904 and a member of the committee on platform. In 1900 he made the fight of his life in the St. Louis Populist national convention and secured the endorsement of W. J. Bryan by that convention. AAs a token of regard, Mr. Bryan dedicated his book "The First Battle" to three men, Bland, of Missouri, Teller, of Colorado, and J. B. Weaver, of Iowa.
Of late years General Weaver takes but little part in the practice of law, but is still very active on the stump when his heart is in the cause. In the campaign of 1908 he spoke from two to four times each day until the last night of the campaign. He is still hale, hearty and active. It should be added that his work in Congress was marked by great force and constant conflict. His battle for the opening of Oklahoma is unparalleled. For nearly one week, solitary and alone, he held up the House of Representatives until they were forced to pass that righteous bill. Remember, he stood alone upon the floor of the House in that struggle. That record stands unparalleled in all our parliamentary history. He had been prepared for this service by his con- flicts at the bar where he met in fierce combat such men as Trimble, Knapp, Perry, Miller, Burton, Hendershott. Jones, Harris and all of the great men of the Iowa bar of that day.
General Weaver has truly been foremost in the advocacy of every reform now urged by the progressives of both parties of the present day. His speeches in Congress, his book "A Call to Action," published in 1892, and the platforms upon which he ran twice for President of the United States, establish this beyond doubt. If there ever was a representative in Congress from this com- monwealth true to his honest convictions, it was the gentleman of whom this
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sketch is written, and these points of excellency are being more and more realized as the years come and go in the political history of this country. Whether one views the venerable General from the standpoint of a brave soldier on the field of terrible conflict in the Southland; in the halls of national Congress; in state and national conventions ; on the stump, the lecture plat- form, before the bar, or among his own home people, at his humble home in the beautiful city of Colfax, he is always and ever the same true, loyal, abid- ing friend to the great throng of American commoners.
That his services have been appreciated by many of his fellow-country- men, it only needs to be referred to that in 1908, after the smoke of political battle had cleared away, his scores of admirers in Iowa had painted an heroic life-size oil portrait of General Weaver, and publicly presented it to the art gallery in the Iowa State Historical rooms at Des Moines. Upon that oc- casion scores of friends sent letters of congratulation to him, the same being finally neatly bound and presented to him as a tribute of respect and honor. One of these letters (too lengthy to here insert) was from the pen of "Ret" Clarkson, formerly of the State Register, who lived in New York city and could not be present. But one section of this letter should here be given place, showing a trait of character not yet brought out concerning General Weaver :
"It may be said of General Weaver that he has achieved in all the larger fields except that of commercial success and money-making. His failure in that is to be credited to his generous nature and his life-long desire to help others rather than himself. Had he not looked to the interest of others all his life, more than to his own, he by his profession and oratory could have amassed a fortune.
"I regretted he was not nominated for governor, instead of Kirkwood; he had fairly earned the position and a majority of the people of Iowa wanted him nominated."
Mr. Weaver was married in July, 1858, at Keosauqua, Iowa, to Miss Clara Vinson, an Ohio girl, and by this union nine children were born, eight of whom are living, viz: Maude, J. B., Jr., Susan, Abraham C., Laura, Ruth, Esther, Paul and another son who died in infancy.
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