USA > Iowa > O'Brien County > Past and present of O'Brien and Osceola counties, Iowa, Vol. I > Part 52
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Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67
Note-Gotleib Schwartz was one of the main men who held a large number of the railroad contracts against the squatter.
GOLD, SILVER AND DIAMONDS.
PRECIOUS METALS DISCOVERED IN O'BRIEN COUNTY.
O'Brien soil-
Let truth be told,
O'Brien pasture, A diamond plat,
Its yellow corn A mine of gold.
All a kicken
Mule at the bat.
Its wheat and oats,
Steer on first base,
When harvest done,
Horse scores a run,
A silver mine Sixteen to one.
Hogs do rooten, Sheep fans have fun.
O'Brien farm Grows grain and kine : Let all play ball, A diamond mine.
AGRICULTURAL.
Silver and gold have I none. Neither zinc nor lead nor brass, The metal is the soil itself ---
It's grain, It's stock, It's grass.
FINIS.
In squiblets and couplets O'Brien we've told As well as we could Fifty-eight years old. 1856-1914.
COURT HOUSE, SIBLEY, IOWA
OSCEOLA COUNTY COURT HOUSE
PRIMEHAR IA.
PRIMGHAR'S SPLENDID HOTEL, THE "HUB"
HISTORY OF OSCEOLA COUNTY
CHAPTER I.
GEOLOGY AND TOPOGRAPHY.
This county was originally an open prairie, and destitute of timber of any kind with the exception of a little willow brush that had escaped the an- nual prairie fires along Ocheyedan creek. The Ocheyedan and Otter creeks are the only streams of importance. Ocheyedan creek has its source in a small lake of the same name in Nobles county, Minnesota, about two miles north of the northern boundary of this county, the same being the state line. There are a few ranges of low hills along either side of the Ocheyedan, but seldom on opposite sides. One conical shaped hill, called the Ocheyedan . mound, is about one mile from the stream, and is the highest point in the vicinity. This stream crosses the county from north to south and was orig- inally a very crooked stream. It bears somewhat to the east and empties into the Sioux river in Clay county, near Spencer. The lower ten or twelve miles of this stream in this county has been straightened in recent years, thereby improving the land very much in its vicinity. Otter creek rises in a big slough near Bigelow, across the state line in Minnesota. and crosses the county in a southwesterly direction, passing out of the county at the south- west corner. It then runs west into East Rock, also known as the Little Rock river, in Lyon county. The land along both of these streams is nearly all tillable and excellent farming ground.
There are no lakes of importance in this county. The largest is Rush lake, near the village of Ocheyedan, which covers about five hundred and forty-eight acres, varying a little with the season. There are sloughs con- nected by streams that contain water in wet seasons and were originally called Chain lakes. These are being ditched and are making some of the best land in the county.
536
O'BRIEN AND OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA.
The soil is a dark prairie loam with a clay subsoil. This subsoil is somewhat porous, which causes the land to stand either wet or dry seasons very well. Some search has been made along the streams and in the Ocheye- dan mound and although some indications of coal were found no minerals of importance were ever discovered. The general altitude of the county varies from one thousand four hundred to one thousand five hundred feet. with a few higher points, and is the highest region in the state. The surface of the land is generally rolling, with a small level district in the eastern part of the county and another in the western part. The soil is from two to four feet deep and of fine quality, free from stone, and. with proper cultiva- tion and rotation of crops, is practically inexhaustible.
In the year 1859. Jefferson Davis, who later became president of the Southern Confederacy and served in that capacity during the War of the Rebellion, was surveying for the United States government and at the same time had command of the United States troops in the Northwest. He was instructed by the United States government to mark the boundaries of Wis- consin, Minnesota, Iowa and Dakota. In his survey he located the north- western corner of Iowa, the southwestern corner of Minnesota and the east line of Dakota. a short distance southeast of Rowena, South Dakota, and marked the spot with an iron stake. No question of the correctness of his work has ever been raised. The point to be recorded here is the fact that so distinguished a man as Jefferson Davis, in his report of this survey, said that within a radius of one hundred miles of this iron stake was found what . he considered the richest soil in the world. Time has verified his judgment to a wonderful degree. During this year (1914) of short crops in many parts of the country there is a bountiful crop throughout all of that one hundred mile limit from this iron stake, and Osceola county falls well within this territory.
ORGANIZATION OF OSCEOLA COUNTY.
Osceola county was named after a Seminole Indian chief, the acknowl- edged head of a band of Indians who inhabited the Everglades of Florida. It does not appear why a northern county was named after an Indian who lived so far to the south and it is not known that he ever came north. He died in Fort Moultrie where he was sent by the United States government after he was captured and his tribe was subdued in 1837. However, it is quite a pleasant sounding name and old settlers who still survive, whether living in the county or elsewhere, have learned to love the sound of the word Osceola.
When the first settlers began to turn their attention to this part of the
537
O'BRIEN AND OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA.
state it was known that a railroad was to go through from St. Paul to Sioux City, but it was not known where it would run. The settlers tried to get in ahead of the railroad and each one made a guess as to where it would go and where the county seat would be located. The road eventually crossed the county a little farther west than most of the settlers expected. Before the railroad came there were several wagon roads or trails into or across the county. One trail led from Spirit Lake to Sioux Falls, crossing the county from east to west; another trail led into the county from Cherokee: still another from LeMars and still another from Worthington. At first, ot course, there were no bridges, but soon two were built, one across the Ocheye- dan and another crossing the Otter.
When the railroad was completed to Sibley, in June, 1872, all wagon trails pointed towards that town, the first town site to be laid out. The next town site was Ashton, in Gilman township, although first called Saint Gil- man. Sibley was early selected as the county seat, owing to its central loca- tion. The first mail reached this county by way of LeMars, in Plymouth county, and was distributed at Shaw's store, which was located on the bank of the Otter creek in Gilman township on section 32 not far from the present town of Ashton. Mr. Shaw later moved his store to Ashton and it was the first store in that thrifty town. His original store building still stands on the main street of Ashton and is used as a poolroom and lunch counter. Mr. Shaw moved to Oregon in 1888 and is reported dead. The first postoffices were at Sibley and Ashton and were established soon after the railroad was completed to those towns. When the people received daily mails, instead of weekly, by way of LeMars and Shaw's store they thought they were metropolitan.
When the first settlers came to the territory now embraced within this county it was a part of Woodbury county. Therefore, Woodbury county had to set Osceola up in business for itself, which it did in 1871, and the story cannot better be told than to quote from the records of Woodbury county : "State of Iowa, Woodbury County.
"I, George W. Wakefield, auditor of Woodbury county, Iowa, do hereby. certify that at the June session, A. D. 1871, of the board of supervisors of Woodbury county, to-wit : on the sixth day of June, A. D. 1871, the follow- ing proceedings were had, to-wit: Resolved that the county of Osceola in the state of Iowa be organized at the general election of 1871. Resolved, that three townships be formed out of the county of Osceola in the state of Iowa. to-wit: all of township 98 of ranges 39, 40, 41 and 42 shall compose one
538
O'BRIEN AND OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA.
township to be known and called Goewey township. All of township 99, ranges 39, 40, 41 and 42 shall compose one township to be known and called Holman township, and all of township 100 of ranges 39, 40, 41 and 42, shall compose one township to be known and called Horton township. Re- solved, that an election be held for the election of township and county officers at the general election for 1871, to be held as follows, to-wit: in Goewey township, at the house of E. Huff; in Holman township, at the house of A. M. Culver; in Horton township, at the house of H. R. Fenton. Resolved, that the question of whether the provisions of chapter one hundred and forty- four, of the laws of the twelfth General Assembly of the State of Iowa, shall be enforced in Osceola county, Iowa, shall be submitted to the legal voters of said county at the general election of 1871, as provided in said chapter. Resolved, that the proper officers are hereby authorized and instructed to do and take all necessary steps to have these resolutions carried into effect. Resolved, that the auditor be instructed to assess the lands of Osceola county at two dollars an acre."
Following this was a resolution levying taxes on the taxable property of Osceola county, totaling forty mills or four per cent. The general elec- tion was held in accordance with the foregoing authorization, resulting in the election of the following county officers: Frank M. Robinson, auditor ; A. M. Culver, treasurer ; D. L. McCausland, recorder ; Cyrus M. Brooks, clerk of courts : Delila Stiles, superintendent of schools; J. D. Hall, coroner ; John Beaumont, drainage commissioner; M. J. Campbell, surveyor ; George Spaulding, H. R. Fenton and J. H. Winspear, county commissioners or supervisors.
Thus was organized a county government over as fair a section of country as was possible to be found with the exception that it was treeless. Some years before the settlement of this county, the author in writing to a lawyer friend in Spirit Lake asked for information about this country and he replied at length. In the course of his letter he stated that west of Spirit lake and immediate neighborhood the land was not fit for white settlement as it was a vast treeless plain fit only for buffaloes and Indians. In fact, a part of it was then known as the Great American Desert.
The first convention for the nomination of county officers was held July 4, 1872. The convention was called by a number of the homesteaders and presided over by H. G. Doolittle, of Sibley. It was held on the Culver home- stead, which was located on section 24, township 99, range 42. The follow- ing pioneers were placed in nomination for the various county offices, to-wit :
.
539
O'BRIEN AND OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA.
For auditor, MeDonald; for treasurer, Captain E. Huff; for recorder, D. L. McCausland; for sheriff. Jeff Cutshall : for superintendent of schools, Delila Stiles ; for clerk of courts, Cyrus M. Brooks; for supervisors, A. M. Culver, H. R. Fenton and George Spaulding. F. M. Robinson was the independent candidate for auditor. The vote for auditor resulted in a tie between Mc- Donald and Robinson and was decided by lot in favor of Robinson. D. L. McCausland was absent teaching school when the time arrived for him to, take charge of the recorder's office, and John Beaumont was appointed to fill his place. In the meantime. McCausland had forwarded his bond by mail and after some difficulty got possession of his office.
Osceola county was cursed then, as many other counties were at the time, with an influx of grafters and looters whose sole occupation, seemingly. was to prey upon the newly organized counties and loot the county treasuries to their hearts' content. The "gang," of which detailed mention is made in another chapter of the history. likewise placed a ticket in nomination and imported floaters and fraudulent voters to win at the subsequent fall election.
The leaders of the gang prevailed upon Mr. Culver to take the nomina- tion for treasurer so as to give strength and respectability to the rather doubt- ful ticket which they proposed to place in nomination. The "gang" wished Culver to run for treasurer in order to make room for J. H. Winspear, who wanted to run for supervisor.
Mr. Doolittle and others tried to prevail upon Mr. Culver to refuse the doubtful honors which the gang wished to thrust upon him, but their plead- ings were of no avail and he was elected treasurer along with the "gang" nominees. Then began a period of looting which was unsurpassed for the short period of time in which they were in power. The county treasury was looted to the tune of over twenty-two thousand dollars in a few months, all of which the taxpayers were forced to pay in the end.
So brazen and lavish were the expenditures made by the "gang" that the people soon became thoroughly aroused to the enormity of the official government of the county and made up their minds to throw the grafters out. A special grand jury was held in the following spring which was presided over by H. G. Doolittle. Indictments were found against every county official who had participated in the looting and they were placed under bonds of one hundred dollars each, the object being to drive them from the county and allow them to escape without further trouble. All left the county and forfeited their bonds.
Mr. Culver opposed every fraudulent action of the gang and stood like
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O'BRIEN AND OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA.
a rock against the wholesale grafting indulged in by the gang. He did every- thing in his power to bring them to justice and stop their nefarious work.
In the proceedings of the Woodbury county board, in canvassing the returns of the vote of Osceola county, it appears that the length of terms the three supervisors was to hold was determined by lot. The drawing for terms allowed George Spaulding to hold office three years; H. R. Fenton, two years ; and J. H. Winspear, one year. Thus a kind divinity shaped things. as Winspear, who was the leader and furnished the brains for whatever swindling was practiced on this county in the early days of its history, drew the short term of one year. At the next general election in the fall of 1872. Capt. D. L. Riley was elected supervisor of Holman township and from that time to the present county affairs have been honestly conducted.
However, during that first year, under the leadership and plotting of Winspear, the county was saddled with a debt of about forty thousand dol- lars for which it had very little to show. That debt, however, has long since been paid and the county is now practically out of debt.
ROSTER OF COUNTY OFFICIALS.
Auditor-F. M. Robinson, Wallace W. Moore. James S. Reynolds, George WV. Thomas, V. A. Burley.
Treasurer-A. M. Culver, S. A. Wright, Levi Shell, H. C. Hungerford, R. S. Hall, J. B. Lent, J. E. Townsend, Dick Wassmann, A. J. Tatum, A. Wachtel and H. E. Richards.
Recorder-D. L. McCausland. E. Huff. Mrs. C. 1. Hill, S. S. Parker, W. H. Gates, Charles A. Chambers, Joe Reagan and O. A. Metz.
Clerk of District Court-Cyrus M. Brooks, John F. Glover, William J. Miller, J. S. Davison. J. B. Mead, W. H. Kimberly, Will Thomas, A. W. Mc- Callum, J. P. Hawxhurst and Otto J. Frey.
Sheriff-Frank Stiles, John H. Douglass, J. B. Lent, J. F. Stamm, Frank Desmond, Frank L. Stevens, E. S. Robertson and Joseph Gill.
Superintendent of Schools-Delila Stiles, Dr. J. M. Jenkins, W. J. Miller. Dr. C. L. Gurney, Mrs. Mary E. Parker, Dr. W. R. Lawrence, J. R. Elliott, W. J. Reeves, F. W. Hahn, Charles Lowrey, T. S. Redmond, J. P. McKinley, J. R. Wilson and Mary E. DeBoos.
Surveyor-M. J. Campbell, H. G. Doolittle, John A. Flower, Walter Barber and L. A. Wilson.
Coroner-J. M. Jenkins, W. R. Lawrence, W. H. Barkhuff. H. Neill. W. E. Ely. G. B. Palmer, L. H. Heetland, F. S. Hough and D. C. Steelsmith.
541
O'BRIEN AND OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA.
County Attorney-G. W. Lister, J. F. Glover, C. M. Brooks, W. C. Garberson and O. J. Clark.
Board of Supervisors -- J. H. Winspear, George Spaulding, H. R. Fenton, Titus E. Perry, D. L. Riley, H. L. Emmert, O. Dunton, B. F. Mundorf. A. H. Brown, C. W. Wyllys, Henry C. Allen, Robert Stamm, Nicholas Boor, William Mowthorp, George S. 'Downend, George W. Barrager, Albert Romey, S. A. Dove, Carlos P. Reynolds, James E. Town- send, C. W. Conner, A. Batie. P. A. Cajacob, W. H. Noehren, Charles Bang- ert, F. H. Hunt, William Truckenmiller, Nick Leinen, J. C. Ward, John Wehmeyer, C. M. Higley, Herman Haack, Henry Schmall, John Wehsinger, W. J. Reeves, H. C. Hattendorf, A. B. Snider, B. Klosterman, John W. Lindaman and L. J. Philips.
FIRST COURT AND GRAND JURY.
The first term of court was held in July, 1872. The officers of the court were Henry Ford, judge ; C. H. Lewis, district attorney ; Frank Stiles, sheriff ; Cyrus Brooks, clerk. The grand jury consisted of the following : H. G. Doolittle ( foreman), Benj. A. Dean, J. L. Robinson, E. Morrison, J. I. Halstead, A. M. Culver, M. Thompson, J. Schlect, Henry Babcock, J. W. Kerr, T. J. Cutshall, Charles Mandeville, R. F. Kinnie, D. L. Riley and C. Dunton. The only members of that grand jury still living, so far as known, are H. G. Doolittle, of Sibley, who is spending his declining years in comfort; Charles Mandeville, who this year moved from Sibley to Holden, Kansas, and Rev. Benjamin A. Dean, who is still preaching and now has a charge at Hildreth, Nebraska.
FIRST COURT HOUSE.
The old frame court house was built in 1872 and when completed was about all the county had to show for its forty-thousand-dollar debt. The sessions of the board of supervisors, before the completion of the court house, were held in a small frame building in Sibley on Tenth street and the building, now used for junk storage, is still standing in a dilapidated condition.
FINANCE.
When Woodbury county set Osceola county up in business in 1871 it authorized its county auditor to assess Osceola county lands at two dollars an
:
542
O'BRIEN AND OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA.
acre. But as there was very little deeded land in the county the revenue from land tax was very light. The railroad paid a small tax. However, the railroad land was in controversy on account of litigation arising from a claim of the Chicago & Milwaukee railroad claiming the land under a former government indemnity grant. The title to the land in the meantime rested in the United States government and consequently the land was not subject to taxation. This litigation was settled in the courts in the year 1877, and was at once offered for sale and put on the tax list of 1878. Prior to that time the only land on which taxes were collected was a little land of the speculators and a few tracts entered under the pre-emption act. The home- steaders had to prove five years' residence before final proof for a patent could be made, with the exception that soldiers of the Civil War could get credit for the time served in the army. Some old soldiers did not embrace that privilege for the reason that land was not subject to taxation until its title was proved. About the same time the railroad land came in for taxa- tion nearly all the homesteaders had deeds to their land, so that the list of taxable property suddenly increased and the county revenues were corre- spondingly enhanced. The assessed value of all taxable property in the county in 1873 was $439.964.00; the taxable value was $109,991.00 and the total amount of taxes levied was $5.553.76.
In 1880 when the railroad land was listed for taxation and the home- steaders had proved their titles, the total assessed value juniped to $700,368.00 and the total taxes for collection increased to $31,703.01. The tax list of 1890 shows a healthy gain, some of it by reason of the natural increase in the price of land, but more largely on account of the increase in personal and town property. The total valuation that year was $1,577.095.00 and the total tax levied was $59,118.51. In 1900 the total valuation shows at $2,183,150.00 with a tax levy of $87,862.51, while in 1910 the total valua- tion was swelled to the respectable sum of $3.363,871.00 and the tax to be collected run up to $140,162.07.
The foregoing is but a fair illustration of the increase in the value of land generally. The first land was bought under the pre-emption law and brought two dollars and fifty cents an acre. The same land now sells from one hundred to one hundred and fifty dollars an acre. Some well improved farms near town are worth two hundred dollars an acre. The mileage of railroad bed in 1873 was seventeen and ninety-eight hundredths miles. In 1913 it was as follows: The Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis & Omalia, seventeen and ninety-eight hundredths miles, assessed at $1,004,724.00 and taxed for one quarter of that valuation. The main line of the Chicago,
543
O'BRIEN AND OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA.
Rock Island & Pacific is assessed on twenty-six and twenty-nine hundredthis miles and valued at $771,872.00, while the Gowrie & North Western, which is a branch of the same line, shows thirteen and thirty-three hundredths miles, valued at $391,368.00. This makes a total mileage of fifty-seven and sixty hundredths miles of railroad property on which taxes are collected in this county. The telegraph lines are recorded at fifty-seven and eighteen hun- dredths miles and valued at $18,296.00. The miles of telephone in the county as shown on the books are five hundred and thirty-six and valued at $13.167.00.
CHAPTER IL.
ALLISON TOWNSHIP ..
This township was first set off as a part of Ocheyedan township and was called East Ocheyedan. It was later organized into a separate township with the following officers: Trustees-John Logan, J. C. Wilmarth and James Hall: clerk-M. A. Benson; assessor-J. W. Luke: justices of the peace-J. C. Stewart and C. E. Benson ; constables-James Kilpatrick and James Mercer. The present officers are as follows: Trustees-Earl Beck, WV. J. Burley and J. L. Timmons ; clerk-C. C. Wilmarth ; assessor-C. M. Lamb.
This township has no town, railroad, or churches. The most of the government land in this township was secured by patent, by the use of land scrip or railroad indemnity land in 1870, before the rush of homesteaders came into the county.
Section 2. This section was at first taken by speculators. Later Martin Ziehr bought on section 2 and by industry and good judgment has built up a fine improved farm.
Section 3. On section 3 is A. Miller, a thrifty German farmer, who is doing well.
Section 4. On section 4 we find George Forbes, who is happy and prosperous.
Section 6. Samuel B. Everett, Robert S. Hall, Albert B. March, Henry C. March and Fred H. Hunt constituted a part of what was known as the New England settlement. Robert S. Hall was elected county treasurer, held the office three terms and made a good and efficient officer. He moved from here to Long Pine, Nebraska, where he engaged in the lumber business and later in the banking business and made some money. He is now retired and living in La Mesa, California. He and his wife visited in Sibley and vicinity recently and are in good health for people of their age. H. C. March is dead and Albert March recently sold his holdings here and moved to Missouri. Fred Hunt and his son are still living on the original claim and are among the prosperous farmers of the county. Fred Hunt was at one time county supervisor. Mrs. Hunt, who was a March, died last year. She was a lead- ing spirit in the east end of the county and is greatly missed.
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