USA > Iowa > Marion County > Pioneers of Marion county, consisting of a general history of the county from its early settlement to the present date. Also, the geography and history of each township, including brief biographical sketches of some of the more prominent early settlers > Part 7
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General History of the County.
organizations will be detailed at some length, in the order of date, in another part of this book.
During the following month (April 14) the county was also divided into road districts, and a supervisor appointed for each Several of the precincts described above were each constituted a road district, numbered as follows:
No. 1. Town. 77, range 18, and all of 76, range 18, north of a line running west of the south-east corner of section 12. Supervisor, Samuel Peter.
No. 2. All of town. 76, range 18, south of a line running . west from the south-east corner of section 12, and north of the river; and all of town. 75, range 18, north of the river. Super- visor, Wm. Welch.
No. 3. Red Rock precinct; Supervisor, Claiborn Hall.
No. 4. Gopher Prairie precinct; Supervisor, Joshua Lind- sey.
No. 5. Pleasant Grove precinct; Supervisor, Wm. M. Young.
No. 6. Knoxville precinct; Supervisor, Lewis M. Pierce.
No. 7. English precinct; Supervisor, Wm. Tibbet.
No. 8. Round Grove precinct; Supervisor, David Sweem.
No. 9. All of towns. 75 and 76, range 18, south of the river; Supervisor, John Wise.
No. 10. Town. 74, range 18; Supervisor, Hugh Glenn.
As has already been noticed, few legally established roads then existed, and comparatively little work of the kind was required to be done, which may account for the size of the dis- tricts.
The following are the names of the grand and petit jurors impaneled for the first term of the district court, March 13th, 1846. We have taken pains to ascertain, so far as possible, who of the number still live, and who are dead, with dates and places, which we append to the list:
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Pioneers of Marion County.
GRAND JURORS.
1. Stanford Doud, foreman, lives in Van Buren county.
2. John B. Hamilton; lives in Texas.
3. Asa Koons; died at his residence in Clay, in 1847.
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4. Wilson Stanley; lives near Denver.
5. Samuel Buffington; moved to Mahaska county.
6. Ed. Billops; went to California in 1849.
7. Joseph S. West; lives in Summit.
8. Osee Mathews; went to Idaho in 1867, and now lives in Ohio.
9. James Chestnut; died on his return from California in 1850.
10. Andrew Storts; lives in Union township.
11. John P. Glenn ; dead.
12. Conrad Walters; died in Knoxville, July 28, 1870, aged 77 years.
13. Alexander May; lives in Indiana township.
14. Thomas Gregory; died in Clay in 1849.
15. Benajah Williams ; died in Mahaska county.
PETIT JURORS.
1. Jacob C. Brown; lives in Monroe, Jasper county.
2. Nathan Bass; died on his way to California in 1849.
3. Granville Hendrix; unknown.
4. George Gillaspy; lives in Ottumwa.
5. Claiborn Hall; lives near Athens, Illinois.
6. Alfred Vertrice; went to California.
7. John Whitlatch; lives in Indiana township.
8. Wm. Buffington; lives in Mahaska count y.
9. Wm. Glenn; dead.
10. Elijah Wilcot; dead.
11. Reuben S. Lowry; killed in Kansas by a falling tree.
12. David Sweem; died in Indiana township in 1867.
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General History of the County.
This court convened at the time and place already men- tioned, Judge Joseph Williams presiding ; also attended by the following named persons as attorneys: Edward H. Thomas, prosecuting attorney; John W. Alley, - Bissell, a young lawyer, who was afterwards engaged in mercantile business in Libertyville, Jefferson county, where he died in 1851; Thomas Baker, of Oskaloosa, - - Calkin, - Gray, - Peters, Henry Temple, and E. G. Stanfield. The latter was prosecut- ing attorney at the second term, and is still a resident of Knoxville.
This term lasted but three days, during which all the cases on the very limited docket were disposed of, the history of which would hardly prove of sufficient interest to repay a peru- sal. From the brief records, however, we quote-" United States vs. Henry Hall." This was the first case tried, being one of an assault and battery, appealed from a justice of the peace. The case was dismissed, and the defendant discharged. The second case reads-"United States vs. F. M. Clipton; - recognized to keep the peace, and discharged on paying costs, amounting to seventeen dollars and fourteen and three quar- ters cents." There was also tried an appeal from the Mahaska county district court, a civil case, "Edward H. Thomas vs. the Board of Commissioners of Mahaska county." This was the same Thomas who attended as prosecuting attorney Having sued for attorney's fees, and, Mahaska county being a party, he could hardly expect justice from a jury of that court, and appealed his case to that of Marion, by whom he was awarded judgment for three hundred and twenty-five dollars.
As there were no jury rooms attached to the temporary building used as a court house, the jurors were cempelled to make the best shift that circumstances allowed. The grand jury retired to the residence of Dr. Conrey, a small linn log cabin, that was also open as a boarding house; whilst the petit
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Pioneers of Marion County.
jury held their consultations in the open air, at a convenient distance from the court house, each jury being attended by a bailiff.
As may be supposed, attendants at court were subjected to some inconveniences, consequent to the lack of boarding accom- modations. Besides the boarding house kept by Dr. Conrey, there was another place of entertainment at the south east corner of the square, dignified with the name of tavern, kept by L. M. Pierce. L. W. Babbitt also owned a house in town to which, in due time, he made an addition for the accommo- dation of boarders. Yet, in these limited quarters, beds could not be supplied for all of even the smallest number required to compose a district court, which could not have been less than thirty persons, not counting plaintiffs and defendants, with their array of attorneys and witnesses. So many as could be fed at tables and lodged in comfortable beds were thus cared for, much to their satisfaction, though the fare was not epi- curian to the last degree, noor even sumptuous. But, for the surplus number, the only shift was to take what is termed in steamboat travel, steerage, or deck passage, by bringing their own beds and victuals with them; they made the court house floor their camping ground, where they could enjoy the rough fare quite independent of the restraints of hotel life as it then existed in Knoxville.
In those days men were not disposed to complain of the privations incident to frontier life. Experience had taught them to regard such as an unavoidable state of things, and gave them no choice but to accept of them as cheerfully as though there was nothing lacking. The evenings were passed with a cheerfulness and hilarity peculiar to frontier life, where there is, usually, comparative freedom from the conventional restraints of older and more fashionable society. Pecuniarily, and consequently socially, men were nearly upon an equality. Ignorance was no bar to the social circle, though there was
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General History of the County.
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then, as there always has been, and always will be, a material difference in the mental attainments of the accepted members of society. Only the morally debased received no encourage ment to participate in the interchange of jest and merriment that constituted much of the entertainment of the company. Men could play pranks upon each other, fire volleys of sarcastic wit at each other, and jestingly make each other the subjects of ridicule, without causing an open rupture. Then they could change the programme to stories, anecdotes, and songs, and thus restore all equinimity of feeling that might have been lost in the rough but not offensive badinage that had been exchanged. If tliese social entertainments were made more or less lively by the enlivening influence of a spirit called by the Indians skooti-appo (fire-water, alias whisky), it must be remembered that popular sentiment had not yet voted the cus- tom of indulging in the ardent a crime. Whisky could be easily obtained, was comparatively cheap, and was more generally used,* notwithstanding which, beastly drunkenness was not regarded with favor.
Thus, these men could partake of a supper of cold corn- dodgers and meat with, perhaps, the addition of baked beans, or a tart made of some kind of wild fruit, and then, after a time spent in social confab, stretch themselves upon their straw cots on the ground floor of the little court room, and compose themselves to sleep with the happy contentedness unsurpassed, if even equalled, by that obtained from the sumptuous fare of a first-class hotel.
In the presence of Judge Williams at one or the other of the boarding-houses, these pastimes were, if possible, less irksome to the company. With an inexhaustible fund of wit, humor, and music, he was at no loss for means of amusement, and
* Though the above statement may be mainly true, Judge Williams was heard to remark, much to the credit of those who attended the first district court, that it was the first court he had ever held where whisky had not preceded him.
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Pioneers of Marion County.
took much delight in affording it. As the Judge was a some- what noted character, more particularly for eccentricity than for legal attainments-though, we believe, he had the reputa- tion of being a good judge-we deem it proper to close this chapter with a brief sketch of him.
With regard to his history we know but little, either previous to the time at which we are writing, or since. At that time he was about fifty years of age, and had worn the ermine many years. In a territorial act fixing the terms of the district courts, approved January, 1839, we find his name as appointee over what was then called the second district, composed of the counties of Louisa, Muscatine, Cedar, Johnson, and Slaughter. He was a person of remarkable good conversational powers, and delighted in telling anecdotes. His musical talent was much above the average, both for vocal and instrumental. Often, after delivering a temperance lecture,* full of eloquence, and interspersed with humorous passages, he would sing a favorite song called "Little Billy Neal," with an effect seldom surpassed, calling up an applause of such hearty, boisterous delight as has seldom greeted a star actor. He was master of most musical instruments, but for drawing tunes out of that sweetest toned of all, " the fiddle and the bow," he was partic- ularly distinguished in this attainment. In addition to his vocal talent as a singer, he possessed that wierd, mysterious power of using his voice as a ventriloquist, and could imitate the cry of various kinds of animals so correctly that the unini- tiated could not fail being deceived. He would sometimes imitate the squalling of a belligerent cat to the great alarm and mystification of the ladies, who could neither discover the brawlers nor learn from whence the noise came.
At this point we beg leave to introduce a couple of anec- dotes bearing upon his notoriety as a musician :
* Judge Williams lectured on temperance at Oskaloosa during the first session of court there, and was the first person that organized a temperance society in the frontier counties.
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General History of the County.
Many years ago, on the occasion of a convention at Iowa City, in the interests of a proposed railroad from Muscatine to that place, Judge Williams and Le Grand Byington were in violent opposition to each other upon some points of which we are not informed, nor does it matter, so far as the interest of this sketch is concerned. After the convention, a young amateur in the art of drawing produced a caricature representing Joe Williams seated astride an enormous bull playing a clarionet. The bull was on the railroad, with tail erect and head down, pawing up the dirt, and prepared to combat the further prog- ress of a locomotive which was close upon him, upon which was Le Grand Byington as engineer, and from the whistle of which ascended the words, "Music hath charms, but cannot soothe a locomotive."
On another occasion, being that of an election of supreme judge and United States senator by the state senate, Judge Williams was before the democratic caucus for the judgeship, and George W. Jones (sometimes called Nancy Jones, and known as a dancing master), for the senate. Their competitors of the same party were S. C. Hastings, formerly president of the territorial council, for the judgeship, and Hon. T. Wilson for the senate. The last named gentlemen were at Iowa City just previous to the time of election, laboring earnestly with the members of the senate to secure their choice. But at the caucus, which came off during the night preceding the day of election, it was decided to elect Williams and Jones.
The following additional particulars of this incident are from a letter of Mr. Babbitt, published in the Annals of Iowa for Oct., 1870. " After the adjournment of the caucus, all hands were invited by Jones, Dodge, Williams, and other successful candi- dates, to partake of an oyster supper and free whiskey, at a saloon near by, which invitation was pretty generally accepted, and at which the defeated candidates partook pretty freely of the last refreshment named. About twelve o'clock the party
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Pioneers of Marion County.
broke up, and the members retired to their rooms. The defeated candidates, Wilsou and Hastings, roomed in adjoin- ing rooms to the one occupied by me, and were very much excited over their defeat ; so much so, that they walked from room to room, bewailing their fate, and declaring that they had been repudiated by the democracy. When they came into my room, I attempted to console them, telling them that they were not repudiated, but that other democrats had more friends in the caucus than they, whereupon Wilson exclaimed : 'If I had been beaten by a high-minded, honorable man, I could have stood it without a murmur; but to be defeated by a dancing- master, ruins my reputation forever.' To this speech Hastings responded as follows: ' Wilson, you have been defeated by a high-minded, honorable man-a gentleman-a dancing-master -- I congratulate you; but for me there is no consolation, for, by G-d, the fiddler beat me.' "
But we hardly dare to close this chapter without relating an instance of his peculiar power as a ventriloquist. It occurred during the first term of the district court at Knoxville. Most of those attending court then boarded at Babbitt's ; and it so happened that one night the little boarding house was so full that it was barely possible for all to find sleeping room. The Judge, with lawyers Kuapp, Wright, and Olney, were supplied with beds in the lower story, whilst the jurors and numerous other attendants found room to stretch themselves on the loose upper floor, using blankets, coats, and whatever else they had provided for beds. When, after much ado, they had all got settled down for a nap, they were suddenly startled by the ter- riffic squalling of what appeard to be a couple of tom-cats in mortal combat in the room. Instantly all hands were up and in search of the supposed disturbers; but no cats could be found, and the surprised boarders returned to their beds with- out any very satisfactory conjectures as to the whereabouts of the nocturnal brawlers. But they had hardly composed them-
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General History of the County.
selves again for rest, when the loud and boisterous growling and snapping of a couple of belligerent bull-dogs, apparently in their very midst, brought them all up standing. And then followed an uproar such as language could convey but an indis- tinct idea of-the dogs maintaining the combat with mingled growling, barking, and whining, and the men endeavoring with all the noise they could make, to oust them from the room. How they came to be there was a wonder, indeed: but the evi- dence of their presence was too unmistakable to admit of a doubt, even in the total darkness. Presently the fight ceased, and with that the general uproar abated. Then came a solu-
tion of the mystery. The Judge and lawyers could no longer restrain their merriment at the expense of the frightened and mystified lodgers up stairs, but let it come in a gush of laughter that quickly reminded some of the company that the Judge was a ventriloquist, and had undoubtedly just played them one of his mysterious tricks. But so far from being offended at it, they took a sensible view of its ludicrousness, and all joined heartily in the laugh.
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Pioneers of Marion County.
CHAPTER XI.
List of County Commissioners-Probate Judyes-County Judges-County Supervisors and County Treasurers- The Stanfield, Defalcation-Robbery of the Treasury in 1867.
Before closing the political history of our county, it would be proper to give a list of some of the officers who were elected subsequently to the first whose names have already been given.
It was stated that when the term of the first board of county · commissioners had expired, the terms of the succeeding mem- bers were regulated by the comparative number of votes polled for each at the election by which they were chosen. As three were required to constitute the board, it was enacted that the one who received the highest number of votes at the regular election in August, 1846, should serve three years, the next highest two, and the lowest one, so that a new member would be elected yearly. After the county was divided into commis- sioners' districts, as has been described, a member was elected from one or another of these districts yearly, so that no district elected a commissioner oftener than once in three years, thus keeping a quorum of two experienced members constantly in office.
At the first regular election, Hugh Glenn and Samuel Tib- bett were elected to fill the places of Conrad Walters and Wm. Welch, David Durham holding over another year.
August, 1847, Thomas Pollock in place of Mr. Durham.
August, 1848, Martin Neel, in place of Hugh Glenn.
August, 1849, Miles Jordan in place of Thomas Pollock.
August, 1850, James M. Brous, in place of Samuel Tibbett.
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General History of the County.
.
In 1851 the commissioner system was abolished and substi- tuted by the office of county judge, as will be further noticed after we have given a list of probate judges, as follows :
September, 1845, (special election), Francis A. Barker.
August, 1847, Claiborn Hall.
August, 1849, Thomas Collins.
August, 1850, Warren D. Everett.
In 1851 the offices of probate judge and county commis- sioners were abolished by an act of the legislature, and both merged into that of county judge, and the following is a list from that to the present date :
Joseph Brobst, elected August, 1851; re-elected in 1853.
F. M. Frush, elected August, 1855; re elected in 1857, and held the office till January 1, 1861.
Wm. B. Young, elected October, 1861 ; re-elected October, 1863, and held the office till January, 1866.
Joseph Brobst, elected October, 1865; re elected October, 1867, and held the office till January, 1869, when the office was repealed* and substituted by that of circuit judge.
By an act of the legislature, the office of county supervisor was created to assume the duties previously performed by the county judge. One member elected from each township con- stituted ¿ board of supervisors The first board was elected on the second Tuesday of October, 1860, and held their first ses- sion on the first Monday of January following.
John B. Hamilton was then clerk of the district court, and, by virtue of his office, was also clerk of the board of supervi- sors.
The first business of the board was to regulate the terms of its members, so that half the number should be limited to one year, and the other half to two years; but as there were fifteen members, the odd number was placed in the list of short terms.
*By this act Judge Brobst was appointed ex officio auditor till January 1, 1870.
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Pioneers of Marion County.
The clerk prepared the ballots, and the members drew as follows:
NAMES. TOWNSHIPS. TERM.
Joseph Brobst. .... Knoxville . 2 years.
Wm. P. Cowman ... Perry
1 year.
D. F. Smith. Franklin 1 year.
H. R. Clingman
Dallas.
1 year.
Wm. Blain . . Union 2 years.
Geo. W. Martin . ... Polk 2 years.
Daniel Sherwood ... Indiana 2 years.
John F. Baldwin ... Summit 1 year.
Edwin Baker.
Red Rock
. 2 years.
Joseph Clark.
Clay
1 year.
J. B. Davis
Liberty
2 years.
E. F. Grafe.
Lake Prairie . 2 years.
Bromfield Long Washington 1 year.
J. A. Logan.
Swan
1 year.
J. Thornburg. Pleasant Grove. 1 year.
The following is a list of county treasurers from the organi- zation of the county till the present date,-1870:
David T. Durhom, elected September, 1845; re-elected August, 1846, and served till August, 1847. Isaac Walters, from Angust, 1847, to 1849, and re-elected from that until 1851. Claiborn Hall, 1852 and 1853. David Stanfield, 1854, 1855, 1850, and 1857. William Ellis, 1858, 1859, 1860, and 1861. A. II. Vierson, 1862 and 1863. Emery F. Sperry, 1864 and 1865; during which term Edwin Baker served as deputy. William T. Cunningham, 1866 and 1867. Edwin Baker. 1868, 1869, 1870 and 1871.
During this period the treasury suffered twice from robbery ; the first time by defalcation at the close of Stanfield's second term; and the second time by burglary, during the second
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General History of the County.
year of Cunningham's term. The history of the first is briefly as follows:
At the August election, in 1847, Mr. Stanfield being a can- didate for a third term, was defeated, and his successor (as the custom then was) ent. red upon the discharge of the duties of his office as soon as the result of the election was known; and on settling up the affairs of the office a default of $4,546.20 was discovered. So soon as the discovery was made he was arrested,* and an indictment was found against him at the September term of the district court. Upon this, judgment was rendered against him and his securities for the amount. Of this amount, his assignee, C. G. Brobst, paid into the treasury in cash, notes, and judgment $2,206.93, leaving a balance of $2,339.27 due the county.
Mr. Stanfield seemed profoundly ignorant of the manner in which the loss occurred, and persistently denied his participa- tion in it; and as the affair was, to some extent, a mystery, many persons doubted his guilt, and some even believed him entirely innocent. It was for some time a subject of a severe partizan warfare of words, in which the Journal and Standard participated vigorously, firing weekly volleys of hot shot into each other's camp, without, however, gaining any apparent advantage for either side
In October of the same year, Mr. Stanfield moved to Kan- sas, where, late in the fall, or during the winter, he was fol- lowed and visited by Doctor Patterson and James Walters, who on their return reported that they had found him living in almost extreme poverty, apparently confirming the truth of his plea of innocence. In consequence of these facts, no attempt was made to prosecute the case further; and, in 1867, in response to a petition of a majority of the citizens of the county, the board of supervisors released the bondsmen of
* Since the publication of the above statement we have been reliably informed that Mr. Stanfield was not arrested.
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Pioneers of Marion County.
David Stanfield from their liability, thus finally ending the trouble.
The second robbery was one of much greater magnitude, and proved a total loss. It occurred on Saturday night of February 9th, 1867, or very early on the following morning, but was not discovered till about 8 o'clock, when it produced a sensation ·quite unusual for the time and place.
It was known that the treasury contained a large sum, and it was at first supposed that it had all been taken, and exciting stories of the robbery, -- the manner in which it was effected, and the magnitude of the loss, --- were verbally repo: ted through the county before the facts were fully ascertained. For a de- tailed account of the affair, we quote the following from the Marion County Republican, of February 12, 1867:
"On Saturday night last, the office of the county treasurer, at the court house, in this place, was entered and robbed of all . the money in it, which amounted to over forty thousand dol- lars The burglars, in the first place, broke into Mr. Reed's blacksmith shop and helped themselves to all the tools they required. They entered the treasurer's office through a win- dow that was very insecurely fastened. By the side of the door of the vault they removed a few bricks, which enabled them, with the aid of a cold chisel, to reach the bolt and drive it back, thus opening the door. The safe in the vault was pur- chased, during the last year, for sixteen hundred dollars. The burglars broke the knob off the door of the safe, cut into the lock, opened the door, and took the funds. The most that was taken belonged to the school fund of the county. Mr. Dan Smick, of Knovville, loses over $1,600, which he had placed there for safety. A portion of the funds was owned by the State.
"The robbery was discovered about 8 o'clock Sunday morn- ing, and caused a great deal of excitement among our citizens all day long, hundreds visiting the court house. Prompt action
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