USA > Iowa > Jasper County > Past and present of Jasper County, Iowa, Vol. I > Part 6
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Thus we have met in this fair spot today, To honor those, as well we may, Who, thinking deep, perceived God's mighty plan. And carved the creed of liberty for man; Who made Bunker Hill a spot divine, And built at Valley Forge a nation's shrine.
For emblems of that liberty so wide, So vast that with eternity it vied, They snatched the blue of heavens for the seroll, And sprinkled it with stars to make the goal, Where we might, far beyond the crest and crag, In liberty and justice plant the flag.
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We venerate its patriotic pride, The sacred cause for which the martyrs died; And feeling thus, you will with me agree That much of what we are, what we may be, We owe to those who wrought for future years, And earned my toast, "God Bless the Pioneers."
WILD GAME.
Pioneer James .\. Tool states that wild game was not very plentiful when the first settlers arrived, but that within a short time deer and wild turkey became abundant. The wolf had always been in evidence. In the winter of 1848-9 the snow was very deep and it was so light that the tur- keys could not fly to their roosts. One morning Hugh Patterson. living near by, went into Tool's orchard and rode down and picked up as many turkeys as he could carry away with him. May 1, 1849, he states that he stood on the Skunk river bluffs, on what is the southeast corner of the Silas Nolan farm, and from that view-point counted forty-one deer. They were supposed to be migrating, for the like had never been seen before nor since that date.
When the first settlers came here they found but few elk. buffalo or antelope, though evidences of large numbers of receding buffalos was found in the trail they left visible going to and from springs of water and streams where the noble animals used to quench their thirst. There were but few panthers and less bear, owing to the thinness of the bodies of timber. af- fording them but scanty protection from cold wintry blasts. Wild cats and black wolves infested the groves, while troops of coyotes roamed at will on the broad prairies, but these animals were not dangerous, except that fre- quently they feasted on the pigs and lambs owned by the pioneers, who could not (or did not ) at all times house their domestic animals.
Perhaps the greatest, most exciting, wolf hunting in Jasper county oc- curred in the winter of 1846-7. The snow was very deep that season, aver- aging, it is said upon good authority, thirty-three inches on the level. Washington Fleenor was the crack wolf hunter of those days. There were a few greyhounds owned by the pioneers, two of which were indeed noble animals. When the snow was not too deep, these dogs could easily run down a wolf and handle him with skill and success, but during the winter just mentioned the dogs would soon tire of the chase. On one occasion Fleenor started out on horseback, carrying only a stout club, and was followed by the dogs. The horse, though he made hard work of it, could outrun the wolves, and during that day Fleenor killed seven wolves with his club.
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It goes without saying that the poor horse he rode was only too glad to reach his stall at night-time.
Pioneer Sparks stated in one of his reminiscences that a wolf succeeded in getting at a calf he owned and made a good meal off of it, yet the calf recovered, he being bitten and chewed about his hind quarters. Later, the calf was sold to an emigrant going to Oregon and was driven along the trail toward the setting sun.
Owing to the fact that the Indians had been crowded into a small terri- tory in Jasper county, there were not many deer left in this section of Iowa. The treaties of 1832 and 1842 had caused the hunting ground of the In- dians to be circumscribed to a small domain. But by about 1850 more deer were to be seen in these parts than before. As late as 1857-8 venison was by no means a rarity in Jasper county. An early settler named Mosier, in the winter of 1850, came upon two fine bucks on the Skunk bottom lands. They had been engaged in a fight and had become entangled by their great sharp interlocking horns and could not free themselves in time to make good their escape, hence both were secured by Mr. Mosier.
In 1852, possibly a year later. William Highland (now so well known to the reader as the first man with his family to locate in Jasper county) caught a fawn between his farm and the Skunk river, which he took home and confined in a lot. This drew many bucks around the house, almost daily, and sometimes they would approach within a few rods of the dwelling.
The majority of the bee trees had been discovered and utilized by a few enterprising men long before the actual settlement had been made. There were some still found on Elk creek. The expert bee-hunter would hang about the timber-lands until he saw a bee and then watch him till he made his flight for his home tree and in that manner the bee tree could be easily located. Many hundreds of pounds of delicious honey were taken from some of these trees. Another mode employed to locate the bee trees was to place a small amount of honey in a tin box, then several bees were captured alive and placed in the box, and when they had "filled up," one was released and the hunter would follow the bee in its "bee-line" to the tree where its store was kept.
Of snakes, it should be said that rattlesnakes were never very numerous in Jasper county, as compared to other sections of the West. It is stated that Calvin Wolf, while walking on the open prairie, barefooted, encountered a massasauga, which he stamped to death with his heels, a very imprudent, rash dleed. too. In the southern part of Jasper county, however, the reptiles were more numerous. At a ledge of rocks on the Des Moines river the rattle-
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snakes hibernated during the winter, and for miles around their den they were liable to be encountered in the summer months. About 1849 a party visited the ledge, on a warm spring day, and managed to kill over three hun- dred and would have killed many more only for the sickening smell caused by the act, which turned their stomachs.
THE FIRST BAD CHARACTERS IN THIS COUNTY.
The two Castner boys, the fifth persons to come in for the supposed pur- pose of taking up lands, proved anything but good citizens. While Adam Tool, the first settler, was down in Jefferson county with his family, after having made his improvements, preparatory to bringing the family here, Benjamin and Jonas Castner came in from Missouri. Finding Mr. Tool's cabin unoccupied, they at once moved into it. When the good pioneer re- turned, rather than have trouble, he gave the boys fifteen dollars to vacate. They then claimed lands near by and built themselves a cabin. It was not long before it was noticed that Jonas was making frequent visits to his old home in Missouri to see his father, and it was also observed that whenever he went south that some of the friendly Indians lost several ponies, as they would come along and inquiry was made by them for stray ponies.
These Castners committed all kinds of depredations, at one time robbing a poor Indian's tent during the absence of the squaw, of all the blankets, buffalo robes, camp kettles, and in fact everything that was worth carrying. That night when the Indian returned and discovered his loss, he started for Castner with a gun and butcher knife. Arriving at Frost's the latter per- suaded him to stay all night, fearing he might get killed if he went there in the night alone. The following morning he went to Castner's and found his goods, but while there parleying about them, one of the boys came rim- ning in, saying to the Indian, "There is a turkey out here ; let me take your gun," which the Indian did ; but the young man forgot to return and while the Indian was in search of the young man to get his gin the goods disap- peared and he never saw them afterwards. During the trouble that fol- lowed the Indian got his hand shot and claimed that it was done by Jonas Castner. In the fall of 1845 Jonas finally got his just deserts at the hands of a mob near old Fort Des Moines. It was government pay day at the fort and when Jonas was discovered hanging around, a party painted like Indians. but probably all whites, seized Jonas and ran him to the woods and gave him an unmerciful flogging. There was no trial and no questions asked. They said his curses were frightful. That fall the family went to Mis-
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souri, but afterwards returned to Iowa, bringing a large amount of stock with them, which mostly died during the following winter. Typhoid fever soon broke out in the family ; the old man, his eldest son, Henry, and sev- eral younger ones died. The balance of the family scattered, some going in 1862 across the plains. The Castners were Virginians by birth and several of their near relatives had served time in the penitentiary of that state.
FIRST EVENTS IN JASPER COUNTY.
There always lingers about the first happenings of the settlement of every new country much of interest, and here follows an account of some of the more important events in the settlement of Jasper county, as vouched for by James A. Tool. who dates back to the very first pioneer band of set- tlers, hence is not likely to have been mistaken in his statements.
The first white child born in what is now Fairview township. as well as in Jasper county, was a son, Robert, born in 1843 to William and Ellen Highlands. His mother was the first white woman to settle within Fair- view township.
The first wedding took place at the house of Adam Tool in February, 1845. The parties concerned were William Hill, a young officer in a com- pany of dragoons then stationed at Fort Des Moines, and Susan A. Tool. Rev. Pardoe, a chaplain in the army, officiated.
The first election was held in April. 1844. and the place held was at Adam Tool's. This was a township election.
The first death occurred at Warren's Grove. In the fall of 1844 or spring of 1845 a family settled there consisting of a man, wife and one child, and the wife's brother. In the summer the brother died without medical attendance or anyone knowing of his illness until a few hours be- fore his death. John Brown and James .\. Tool cleared off the hazel brush patch and dug a grave, after which they sat up with the corpse all night. The lumber used for making the ride coffin was hewed from a plank taken from the loft floor of Adam Tool's house. He was lowered into his last earthly resting place by the tender hands of entire strangers. His name is not now recalled and no tombstone marks his resting place, but his grave is within the corporation of Monroe, on land later owned by Mrs. Huddleston. That same autumn two others died and were buried in the same locality.
The first school house in the county was one standing near William Highlands, on land later owned by Lucy Whitted. It was built of round logs, had eight-by-ten window lights, hewed slabs for floors, seats of the (5)
.
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same stuff, with holes bored in and pins for legs. The first teacher was E. R. Wright. Church services were also held in this building.
The first mill of any kind in Jasper county was the saw mill constructed by A. T. Sparks in the fall of 1846, on the North Skunk river, in Lynn Grove. By harvest time. 1848, he had added machinery by which a fair grade of flour was produced. In fact it was no make-shift affair, but a good flouring mill for those days.
The early settlers here had no means by which wheat could be threshed, save by treading it out with cattle or horses. The bundles of grain were placed with their heads inward in a circle on the ground. After being trampled for a time, the straw was stirred and the process continued, the horse or team going round and round, fastened to a center pole. This was done when the flail was not used instead. Then came the slow process of separating the chaff from the wheat. This was either done by waving a sheet up and down to fan out the chaff as the grain was dropped before it. or by taking advantage of the strong autumn winds, often brisk enough to blow off the chaff rapidly, and, by frequently stirring the grain. a consid- erable quantity could be cleaned in a day. Threshing machines and fanning mills had been just recently introduced in the Eastern states, but the people here in Iowa had not yet got forehanded enough to purchase other than the necessary plows and hoes.
Here it may be stated that it is believed the first threshing machine ever operated in Jasper county was the one owned by Isaac Cooper. of Polk county, who had a few "jobs" in the southern portion of this county in 1848. This was an old "chaff-piler." This had no separator attachment and the grain fell inclosed in the chaff. at the month of the cylinder, while the straw was blown by the current created by the motion of the cylinder a little beyond the grain, whence it was removed by rakes and forks. There are but few persons remaining in the country now who saw or used one of these early-day machines. The contrast between these and the fine power threshers of today, with separator, self-measurer. self-stackers and self- feeders and band cutter attachment, some of which such machines have been invented and are now extensively manufactured in Newton, is indeed great. "None desire to go back to those days of flail and treading out wheat, but. as we praise modern improvements, we should revere the memory of our forefathers who worked on in faithfulness until these good days of the twentieth century were in sight.
As to plows. it should here be stated that prior to 1846 in Jasper county. both breaking and stirring plows were made by home blacksmiths. The
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cutter-bar in the one and the land-side in the other, with the points, were made of steel and the mold-board of wood. In 1846 a Mr. Sperry. of Jef- ferson county. Iowa, commenced to make a fair mold-board plow. Cast plows were used some, but would not scour in our soil. The first harrow "drags" used were home-made and had wooden teeth. Many had the har- row made in the shape of a letter .1.
The first election in the territory of Jasper county (then in Marion) was held in April, 1844. Mahaska county having been organized in the Feb- ruary prior to that date, and its territory included that of present Marion .county for election purposes, and by reason of this, the little settlement in Jasper county, as now understood, was allowed to vote at the house of Adam Tool, at Tool's Point. William Highland was elected justice of the peace and township clerk; Washington Fleenor as constable, and Adam Tool as one of the trustees.
FIRST PORTABLE SAW MILL ..
Perhaps the first portable saw mill ever invented was the product of pioneer John Cary, of Jasper county, who was one of the founders of old Wittemberg College, of Newton township. He came to the county in 1853 and after the college had been decided upon, there was the obstacle of lum- ber not being at hand. Mr. Cary returned to Ohio, his old home, and tried at various places there and in Pittsburg to get some firm to construct him a portable saw mill, but failed, for they said it could not be successfully ac- complished. He finally secured a firm at Norwalk, Ohio, who followed his plans and made him the first portable saw mill of which history seems to have any definite knowledge. It was shipped on here to Jasper county and set up. It worked finely and cut much of the lumber for the old college buildings, as well as for many of the pioneer buildings in Newton and sur- rounding country. Later the mill was shipped up the Des Moines river and as late as 1880 was still being operated. Prior to this circular saws had been operated by horse-power, or by stationary engines, but the Cary portable saw mill created a revolution in the saw mill industry, east as well as west.
CLAIM PROTECTION SOCIETIES.
In the spring of 1846, a Claim Protection Society was formed by the settlers of Lynn Grove. The meeting place was by a pile of logs in a clear- ing on the farm of John A. Sparks. All the settlers in the vicinity attended.
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Rules were adopted substantially the same as those found effectual in other counties, and the clerk of the meeting made a plat of the precinct on which all the claims then made were noted, and also registered on a separate piece of paper. When a newcomer put in his appearance he was advised to in- spect the plat kept by the clerk in order that he might see what land was already claimed. Any of the settlers would gladly spend a day, or more if need be, with him in hunting up a desirable location. Settlers were very sensitive about the movement of strangers who were not fully vouched for. Jasper county, however, did not suffer as much from claim jumpers as many of the counties further east, many of the professionals in that line having been taught a lesson before coming here.
Pioneer Sparks related once at an old settlers' meeting how he was ac- companied by a Mr. Coleman, the surveyor who located the territorial road from Iowa City, and how they visited the cabin home of John J. Mudgett. The surveyor had some thought of locating a mill-site, and their business was mainly to see if one could be found there. Mr. Coleman asked Mr. Mudgett to give him the number of the section he was living on, which the latter did, and then proceeded to describe the spot the surveyor had just mentioned. Coleman interrupted him by saying that he knew all about it, which alarmed Mr. Mudgett, who at once became cold and reserved and had no more information to offer. Sparks and his companion soon left. That evening Sparks, who well understood Mudgett's change of manner, made the surveyor promise to return the next day and visit the suspicious settler, in order to remove the unfavorable impression he had created. This he promised to do, and started off early the following day. He found Mudgett, stayed to dinner, and returned, leaving his host fully convinced that he had no covetous intentions regarding his claim.
What was known as the Independent Protection Society was formed about 1846-7. having in view the protection of those occupying claims, but without means of entering them at once. The scope of power assumed by the organizers of this society was to prevent persons from entering lands claimed by others in good faith, and in case the land was actually taken from the claimant to force settlement which should be satisfactory to the first holder of such land. In many other parts of Iowa a state of war had some- times arisen over these collisions of capital with the understood rights of the first comers: but in Jasper county there were only two such cases, at least of any considerable note. These occurred in 1848. The first case was that of A. T. Prouty, who entered forty acres of land claimed by James Edgar, a blacksmith, which is now situated in the city limits of Newton.
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Prouty had the patent issued to his son, Joseph, who at the time was under age. As soon as the transaction was noised abroad, a meeting of the settlers was held, which delegated a committee to wait upon Prouty for the purpose of demanding an explanation. This he thought best, everything considered. to offer. and compromised with the stern-faced visitors by executing a bond for a deed. and requiring Joseph to make a deed also, in favor of Edgar. Joseph afterwards went to California and while there sued for the recovery of the forty, but without success.
In the second case, Prouty had entered a claim already claimed by John Moss, three to four miles east of Newton. Hearing that the neighbors of Mr. Moss had fixed a day for the purpose of visiting him again, he left home. The neighbors went to his house as determined as before, but were put off by Mrs. Prouty, who promised that her husband would pay Moss a fair price for his claim. The sum was agreed upon and the trouble thus settled.
Another statement is that the land was entered by Prouty's daughter. Maria, who made the settlement ; but the girl did not entirely give up till the crowd of "Protectionists" had first appeared in front of the house and as an evidence of what might happen to her. they applied a coat of tar and feathers to the front gate post.
GOING TO MILL-VALUE OF BREAD.
People today, who eat of the fancy brands of roller process four, little dream of what hardships their forefathers endured in striving to secure bread on which to feed their families. Seventy-five to one hundred miles from a mill, and that run by an uncertain water power and crude ma- chinery (sometimes without a bolting mill attached ), made milling very uncertain in pioneer days in Jasper county. In the winter of 1843-4. it is related of Adam Tool. William Highlands and John Frost, that they made a trip to Locust Grove mill, some twenty-five miles northwest, on the Skunk river. arriving there Saturday night. The miller would not run his mill on Sunday, but agreed if a certain man could be hired to run his mill on Sun- clay he might grind their grain for them. The man was secured and the grain was ground. so they started home early Monday morning. It re- quired ten days to make the trip.
In 1844 it became necessary for the same party to have milling done again. Both corn and money were scarce articles. There was, however, a man named Elder who had corn to sell at twenty-five cents a bushel. They
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all secured the necessary amount except Mr. Highlands, who had no money with which to pay for corn, and his acquaintance was too slight to ask credit of Mr. Elder. But finally Adam Tool and John Vance went his security for five bushels of corn. That was all the bread stuff the family had from that date until the new corn crop was old enough to grate. This will show what value was placed on early bread-stuffs.
In 1845 a mill was erected by Mr. Duncan on the Skunk river north of Oskaloosa.
Another milling trip may suffice to show early milling trials. In the winter of 1845-46 the snow was deep and drifted so that it was almost im- possible to cross the prairie between Tool's Point and Fort Des Moines, therefore all travel from and to Des Moines left the prairie road four miles west of where Pella now stands, and followed the Des Moines river, which gave a timber road, consequently there was no broken road from Tool's Point, in the direction of the mill, nearer than eight miles. Bread-stuffs were fast running out and must soon be provided for, so the neighborhood turned out to break the roads, starting from John Frost's. They broke two miles of the road the first day, and returned home for the night. . The next day by hard work they succeeded in getting clear through, and stopped for the night at the house at the end of the snow-shoveled highway, rejoicing in their success.
In the winter of 1846-7, James Moss, with an ox team, went to Dun- can's Mill, on the South Skunk river, near Oskaloosa. On his return trip he was caught in a northwest blizzard. It became very cold, the team and himself became bewildered and laid out all night. When he was finally found he was badly frozen and later both feet were amputated at the instep. There were no surgeons or doctors here and it is said James Pierson per- formed the surgical operation with a pocket knife and saved the young man's life.
In the winter of 1847-48 the snow was so very deep on the prairies that it took all of the men, oxen and horses in the neighborhood two days to break a road from Elk creek, near the Dan Gifford place, to the Lynn Grove mill. The neighborhood having been out of all meal, flour or bacon for about four or five weeks, had subsisted during that long period on pounded and boiled corn, grated potatoes and wild meat. The same winter, Nathan Hammer took two yoke of cattle, hitched to his wagon, and with a grist of corn went over the same road. The snow was so deep he uncoupled his wagon, put the hind wheels on the front axles, loaded on his grist and com- pleted his journey to the mill, where he stayed all night. The next day he
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started for home, and was caught in a southwester which filled up the tracks of the previous day. He became very cold and when he arrived home his feet were badly frozen. They foolishly applied a poultice of roasted turnips, and he was obliged to wear moccasins until spring.
CHAPTER VI.
COUNTY GOVERNMENT.
The county, as well as the state and nation, must have good men at the head of its government in order that the best results be obtained. In the main, Jasper county has been ruled by men of intelligence and honesty. there have been exceptions to this rule, however. The large defaulters chron- icled in many other parts of the commonwealth have not burdened the tax- payers of this county to any great extent. In common with other counties, it took some time to get used to the various governmental changes, as, for instance, in the matters of a change from the county commissioner system to that of the almost one-man power of the old county judge system adopted by Iowa in 1851 ; then the change to the county supervisor system in 1861, by which the county judge was almost entirely shorn of his authority, and the county controlled by one man from cach township within the county, all of whom formed the county board. Then, in 1868-9. the creation of a county auditor system-the finest system yet conceived of for accurately keeping the accounts of the county-by which the auditor becomes ex-officio clerk of the board of supervisors. The various methods of levying and collecting taxes, caring for the highways and the unfortunate poor in the county-these and a score more of things which have gone through change after change, have each and all required time and good judgment in order to simplify and readjust the old and understand the new methods of carry- ing on a good and popular government. Aside from, possibly, two items in our county affairs, the present system needs but little legislative revision to be in harmony with just and popular laws for the affairs of running the ninety-nine counties of Iowa-the matter of better equalization of taxes and more business-like methods for building and maintaining public roads. Here there is no doubt that a field is open for great improvement. Properly ex- pended, the vast sums of money collected for road and bridge purposes could be made to make many times the number of good miles of roads that now exist in every county in lowa.
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