USA > Iowa > Polk County > Pioneers of Polk County, Iowa, and reminiscences of early days, Vol. I > Part 4
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The judge looked at "Dan" a moment, and, pointing to the jail, retorted : "Daniel, do you see that building over there ?"
"Dan" replied that he did.
"Well, take your seat," said the judge; and "Dan" subsided.
The next morning, on opening court, the judge said: "Mr. Sheriff, bring that man Smith into court." He was brought in,
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PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA
much to the surprise of "Dan," who could not imagine what was coming next.
"Mr. Smith," said the judge, "I have changed my mind and concluded to change your sentence to imprisonment, and remit the fine ; for if I fine you and let you go, I'll be d-d if I would know where to find you when I wanted you."
On another occasion, one Rain was accused of stealing six hun- dred dollars from Taylor Pierce, a prominent early settler, who for many years was City Clerk and Auditor, and, in fact, practi- cally ran the whole town government. He was an Indian trader, spoke their language fluently, and the Tama County Musquakies always made him a visit when they came to the city. As I could not understand the inconsistency of names here when I came to the city-the city was called a city of monks, one river the same, and another river the Raccoon-when Indian names were much more musical and applicable, I asked Taylor to give me the Indian names of the two rivers, and he said the Indians called the 'Coon "As-e-po-lo," accent on the last syllable, which means the raccoon, or "As-e-po-lo-sepo," the terminal "sepo" meaning river. The Des Moines was called "Ke-o-sau-qua," which means dark, black, inky, as the water usually had that appearance in the Spring and Fall, when they hunted along its banks, caused by drainage from the prairies burned over and covered with charred, blackened debris of grass and weeds. Taylor said he once met a band of Fox Indians one hundred miles north from Des Moines, who were hunting, and, asking them where they were going, they replied, "Up Ke-o-sau-qua-sepo." Sometimes they would be headed towards Des Moines, and their answer would be, "Posse [pony] puckachee [going] Asepolo," meaning that they and their ponies were going to the Raccoon, as they always called The Fort.
But, to get back to my subject. When the hearing had been closed, the judge told the jury to retire to their room and prepare their verdict. They started, when "Dan" laid before the judge some instructions and requested that they be given the jury.
"Hold on, jury! Wait a minute," said the judge. Running his eye hastily over the papers, and brushing them aside: "Go on, gentlemen, to your room ; (turning to "Dan") he is guilty as h-1."
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DANIEL O. FINCH
The jury returned a verdict of "guilty," and the judge sent him to the pen for five years. "Dan" immediately asked leave to file a motion.
"Daniel, do you see that blue house over there (the jail) ? Sit down, or I'll send you there in five minutes." "Dan" sat down.
On another occasion, "Dan" and John A. Kasson were stump- ing the Congressional District during a hot political campaign, in joint debate, as opposing candidates. They rode together in the same buckboard ; ate and slept together at hotels. The temperature was torrid, it being mid-Summer. At one hotel, during the night, Kasson discovered an extensive system of blood-sucking going on all over his anatomy, and, bounding out of the bed, he seized "Dan" and, giving him a shake, said: "Get up, Dan, or the bedbugs will eat you up."
"Dan" opened his eyes, muttered in sepulchral tones: "Where ignorance is bliss, 'tis folly to be wise," then turned over and went to sleep.
"Dan" is still living, but has retired from active business .*
May Twenty-second, 1904.
*Died in San Francisco, November Twenty-sixth, 1906.
BARLOW GRANGER
BARLOW GRANGER
B ARLOW GRANGER-not to know of Barlow is to deny one's citizenship-came to Des Moines with a friend named Jones (before the flood of 1849) to grow up with the country. After looking over the town a couple of days, they concluded they could do better, and started away. About two miles out, on the bluff overlooking Des Moines River, like Lot's wife, they stopped and looked back. Though Barlow was never accused of æstheticism nor the pulchritudinous, he was pleased with the surrounding scenery and the prospective resources. They came back, and went into the real estate and land warrant business. Barlow, with great expectations-for both were in an impecunious way-selected a spot near where they halted on the bluff for a future suburban home, and Jones selected what is now Terrace Hill, the home of Fred M. Hubbell. Soon after, however, Jones joined the vast caravan then wending its way through this section to the California gold fields.
As business was not very brisk, Barlow added law to his reper- toire. Though not pretending to be a full-fledged lawyer, he believed all things are possible to him who wills. He had gradu- ated from a printing office in a large Eastern city, which is a better educational institution for a young man with all-round purposes than most of the colleges.
Lawyers in those days did not have very extensive libraries. When going over the circuit, a few books, a clean shirt and pocket handkerchief, a bit of lunch, a plug of tobacco, and a bottle of "something else" stored in a bag, and lashed to the saddle, was the usual outfit.
In April, 1849, the Democrats concluded their party needed a newspaper, and Curtis Bates, a lawyer with political aspirations, offered to become sponsor for the cost of an outfit. Barlow pur- chased a press and other material at Iowa City, Bates indorsing
VOL. I-(4).
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his paper, and, after many delays and divers obstructions in Skunk River bottoms, that holy terror of teamsters, stage drivers, and emigrants, causing more profanity than any other spot in the state, the fixtures arrived here, and the first number of the Star was issued June Twenty-sixth, 1849, from one of the double log bar- rack buildings on 'Coon Row, near the "Point." The second num- ber did not appear until the last week in August, as the man who went to Keokuk for paper was taken sick with a fever and did not get back.
It was a seven-column paper; theoretically, its price was two dollars a year, cash in advance, but practically, at the convenience of the subscriber, in dubious, stump-tail, wild-cat money, old rags, hen fruit and cord-wood.
The following Winter was very severe, snow was three to five feet deep, the winds blew in through the log chinkings, all over the office, and kettles of hot coals had to be kept under the press to warm the ink and rollers. The conditions were discouraging to an ambitious young man, and at the end of the year, finding that the paper interfered with his more lucrative affairs, Barlow abandoned it, satisfied with hebdomadal glory, and soon after the Star passed into gloom, but it scintillated brilliantly while it existed. Barlow was popular, and his paper was welcomed heartily by the entire community. He didn't have reporters-didn't need any-he knew everybody, their business, and all their family and social affairs. He took the field for Tom Benton and the Wilmot Proviso, lam- basted the Whigs, and the slack-water-navigation-dams nuisance, regardless of style or diction.
Resuming the practice of law, he advertised his business thusly :
BARLOW
ATTORNEY AND COUNSELOR AT LAW
GRANGER
SOLICITOR IN CHANCERY
COURT HOUSE
FORT DES MOINES
Barlow attends to all business in his line, and Granger to some that ain't.
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BARLOW GRANGER
One of his first clients was a man named Robinson, who had made a claim and put up a cabin before the official survey was made, and when the survey was made, his cabin was just across the line on a claim made by one Daily. He came to consult Barlow, who told him the law was against him; that in a law suit Daily would hold the cabin. He was greatly worried, and insisted that as a lawyer Barlow could find some way to get out of it. Barlow looked wise, pondered awhile, and said:
"I know of no human method for relief, but you know Iowa winds are powerful; they have moved houses and barns farther than your cabin is over the line," and resumed his reading.
Robinson dropped his head, communed with himself a few moments, put on his hat and went home. A few days after he came back.
"Good morning. How are things up the river ?" said Barlow.
"Bad, bad enough. We had a h-1 of a wind up there last night, and my house was blown clear over the line onto my land," was Robinson's reply, and he felt so good over it he laid a five- dollar bill on Barlow's table. Daily, finding himself outwitted, never said a word.
In 1850, Barlow was appointed to the staff of Governor Hemp- stead, and served four years. That's how he got the title of "Colonel." They didn't have spectacular displays, inauguration parades, nor military encampments in those days, so Barlow was spared the toggery of shoulder straps, gold trimmings, blue clothes and brass buttons.
Barlow says that the Governor called his staff together one day, and said he did not think there would be any occasion for action, unless it might be with the Missourians over the boundary ques- tion, "and if it comes, we will whip them-just get them drunk and we can whip them."
In August, 1854, he was elected Prosecuting Attorney, and held the office until July, 1855, when, by the resignation of Judge Byron Rice, and operation of law, he became County Judge, which office he held one year, being succeeded by Thomas H. Napier. It is of record that as County Prosecutor Barlow had not a verdict quashed, and gained every case in court but one. He even beat the eccentric Judge McFarland on a question of ethics.
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PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA
There was a well-known man named Milner, living in the north part of the town, who came sauntering into court one day with his hat on. On seeing him, the judge ordered the bailiff to arrest him, and on his appearance he told the judge he was a Quaker-always wore his hat in meetings. "Well, sit down, then, with your hat on," replied the judge. Before court adjourned, Milner forgot his Quakerism, took off his hat, and laid it aside. The judge, on dis- covering it, yelled out: "Mr. Quaker, put on your hat, and keep it on."
A few days after, Barlow started to leave the court-room with his hat on. Seeing him, the judge ordered the bailiff to arrest him and bring him before the court. As the bailiff approached, Barlow whirled about and went straight to the judge.
"Don't you know you are in contempt of court by wearing your hat in the court-room ?" queried the judge.
"My religious principles, sir," said Barlow, "are such that I never take off my hat except in the presence of my Maker and to sleep. I am a Friend."
"Friend of what ?" said the judge.
"I'm a Quaker," explained Barlow.
"Oh, a Quaker, are you ? Well, sit down, Mr. Quaker, and keep your d-d hat on if you want to."
In 1855, Barlow was elected Mayor of the town, with W. H. McHenry, Wm. Mckay (both subsequently judges), F. R. West, Martin Winters, A. Newton (subsequently mayor), W. C. Burton, and J. D. Davis as City Council, all now dead but Barlow. The officers were: Lamp Sherman, Recorder ; Benj. Bryant, Treasurer ; Ed. Clapp, Street Commissioner, all now dead but Ed.
Barlow was prominent among those who have builded the city. Always solicitous for the success of every projected improvement, active in support of every enterprise and industry in the early days, until he concluded the city had become strong enough to go alone, when he began to shirk the collar.
In the notable Capital location fight, in 1854, he was an impor- tant and efficient factor, and gave to his home community all the power of his brain and brawn. It required genuine pluck and public spirit to go in mid-Winter, buffeting the storms and discom-
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BARLOW GRANGER
forts of stage-company jerkeys and crowded taverns, to labor with the lawmakers without fee or hope of reward, to secure the location, for it was the field against The Fort.
When the Seat of Government had been won, and the East Siders and The Fort went to battle for the location of the State House, in 1856, Barlow was in it for all he was worth, for Grim- mel's Hill, lying north of Chestnut Street, between Fourth and Sixth streets, and he did not hesitate to express himself in true Barlow style respecting the matter generally, and the East Siders especially.
When the laggard Slack-Water Navigation Company had failed in its trust, and so obstructed the river with its half-constructed dams and debris that boats could not pass up, and had become a nuisance, railroads were projected as a remedy, talked of in settlers' cabins, on street corners, in mass meeting-Barlow was in it. Petitions were sent to Congress for help, and the agitation then begun resulted in the railroads we now have, while the dam of the River Improvement Company at Bonaparte still remains to be damned by all fishermen above it.
Politically, Barlow is a Democrat, of an independent and an entirely original variety. He never sought a public office, yet he was several times elected to places of importance. He was always ready, however, when a political scrimmage was on. He was not such an orator as "Dan" Finch, but he was a good talker, plain, blunt-called a spade a spade. His special function was that of advisor or corrector, for whenever the party got into close quarters and prospects were dubious, a secret conclave would convene in his office, and, as with Robinson's cabin, he generally found a way to get out, as Hoyt Sherman once discovered when, in 1855, he was candidate for Sheriff. The election returns sent in showed a majority for Sherman. The Whigs were jubilant, and had a jolli- fication, but a fellow named Spaulding, from a back, forgotten pre- cinct, turned up with votes enough to elect another man, precisely as scheduled by Barlow at a conclave held two days before.
Financially, Barlow is on Easy Street. With several fine, pro- ductive stock farms as bread-winners, in his pleasant suburban home, surrounded by natural and acquired beauties, on the spot
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selected the second day after he arrived here, he is passing his eighty-eighth year in peace and contentment, always pleased to meet the many friends and neighbors who enjoy his sociability and his remarkable recollection of men and things he has rubbed up against.
Nearly every day, he comes into town to keep in touch with events. If you see a plain man, with white hair and beard, soft hat of olden vintage, on the street, swapping yarns with some old- timer, or lampooning the Republicans, and twirling a jack-knife between his left thumb and first finger-he has worn out three handles already-that's Barlow Granger .*
May Twenty-ninth, 1904.
*Died June Seventh, 1905.
HE
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ח
B. F. ALLEN
B. F. ALLEN
B. F. ALLEN, or "Frank," as he was usually called, came to Des Moines in 1848, bringing with him about fifteen thou- sand dollars, in those days deemed a large sum. He at once joined Jonathan Lyon in a general business at the northeast corner of Second and Vine streets, dealing in "everything from a silk dress to a goose yoke-and a little more," as advertised.
Being energetic and ambitious to do things, he soon began to widen out, and in 1850, with Charley Van, built a steam sawmill not far from the south end of 'Coon River bridge, an improvement of great public benefit, as lumber was scarce and had to be hauled long distances, much of the time over nearly impassable roads. The river timber land was abundant with the cream of Black Walnut trees, and the lumber that went through that mill into buildings would to-day be worth a fabulous sum.
The Winter of 1850-51 was very severe, the Spring freshets flooded the country and made the roads impassable; provisions became exhausted, and with his usual good will in an emergency, Allen and R. W. Sypher purchased a steamboat in St. Louis, of which the Gazette, of June 25, says:
"They placed upon it over two hundred tons of freight for Des Moines and Ottumwa. They proceeded up the river as far as Bentonsport, and there unfreighted to get over the dam. The result is to be regretted, and especially now, from the fact that it had on board a large quantity of flour. There is not a pound in the market, and everybody is out."
In the same paper is quoted flour at fourteen dollars per barrel ; wheat, one dollar and a quarter per bushel; corn, one dollar and a quarter per bushel. In the Winter of 1853, John Woodward sold three thousand pounds of fine dressed pork for forty-five dol- lars, there being no market.
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PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA
The value to the community, present and prospective, is not disclosed in this newspaper paragraph. In those days transporta- tion was the important factor in mercantile affairs. It fixed the price of every article for household use-often exorbitant-as well as that of farm products. Railroads were far off. Two states, and years of delay interposed between the possible and probable relief. There was little inducement for the merchant to exchange goods for farm produce, as the expense of getting it to market left no profit. The solution of the problem was to make Des Moines a trading and shipping point, and use the river, the expectancy being that in due time it would be made navigable. The Gazette of April Seventh mentions the building of three flat-boats at Lafayette, Doctor Hull's town, a few miles down the river, and says :
"They will be ladened with corn and other products. It is the beginning of good times in Central Iowa. Let the obstacles be removed from the Des Moines River, and next Spring we guarantee that scores of flat-boats will be built in this part of the country, and the surplus produce will be readily exchanged for cash. Tear out the dams, clear away the snags, and thereby open up a way into the interior of the state for steamboat navigation."
Allen and Sypher, with their steamboats, were getting ready for it. In 1855, Allen concluded there was more profit in other direc- tions than selling rags and goose-yokes, and he opened a bank and real estate office, the next year moved it to the corner where The Register and Leader building now is, where for fifteen years it was the money center of the city, and a large portion of the state-in fact, Frank Allen was the banker for nearly everybody. His busi- ness was enormous for that period. That was the year of the State House fiasco. He evidenced his loyalty to the West Siders by putting up two thousand dollars to put the building on Grimmel's Hill-on paper, for that fund never got beyond the paper stage; the East Siders nullified it.
During the period from 1855 to 1858, monetary affairs in the West were in a demoralized condition. The country was flooded with notes of speculative, irresponsible banks. Merchants and business men would meet daily and prepare a list of banks deemed good for the day, at par, at discount, and worthless. The list would
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be revised on the arrival of each mail, and the bank note detector, which was found in every business place. The conditions were ripe for counterfeiters and sharpers, and they got in their work, thus adding to the trouble. A merchant of this city went to St. Louis to buy goods. He carefully selected the best notes he could find to pay his bills, but when he got there he could not get a dollar for the whole of them.
The first State Constitution prohibited banks of issue, hence Iowa was made the dump for all sorts of stump-tail, red-dog, wild- cat notes, issued by anybody who could get them engraved and printed. They were generally issued from some isolated, inaccessible place, and sent for circulation as far away as possible. I visited one of those banks once. It was in a logging camp in the thick woods near the east shore of Lake Michigan. It was about eight feet square, eight feet high, made of rough boards, flat roof, with one small sliding window, a plain board shelf, on which the notes were signed, a small door, over which, in red chalk, was the name of the bank. It was never occupied but once. When I saw it, the bank had closed. How many notes were put out was never known. This money would often be palmed off on farmers, or in isolated localities, for horses or other traffic, by sharpers and land sharks. One of the most notable hereabouts was the Agricultural Bank of Tennessee, which had a large circulation engineered by a local banking firm, which failed in the panic of 1857, leaving thousands of dollars afloat without a redeemer. A good supply of those notes could probably be gathered now in this county. I have some.
Banks were organized in Nebraska, but owned and controlled by bankers in this state. Allen had one, the Bank of Nebraska, the notes of which he protected and kept at par through his private bank in Des Moines. They were current everywhere, and were of great benefit to the community.
In 1857, under the new Constitution authorizing banks of issue, to provide protection against the worthless stuff in circulation and drive it out of the country, the State Bank of Iowa was organized with eight branches, one of which was at Des Moines. Captain F. R. West was President, and Allen one of the Directors. It was managed conservatively, had abundant capital, its notes always
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PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA
par, redeemed when presented, but were largely hoarded as safe to keep. It was the only bank organized under the Constitution, and when Uncle Sam's national banking system was established, it was merged into the National State Bank, in 1865.
In 1857, Allen erected, on the block now occupied by the Iowa Hotel, a large two-story brick residence, which became noted for the receptions and hospitality dispensed therein by him and his beautiful wife.
In 1860, he was a member of the City Council from the Second Ward.
During the Civil War period, business was largely demoralized and little progress was made in city improvements. Though there was constant tension of the public mind, only once did the city get unduly excited. It was reported one day that the somewhat noted bushwhacker, "Missouri Bill," was headed straight for Des Moines, on looting bent. As the city was practically defenseless, there was considerable alarm, and the banks quietly put their funds in safe places. Captain Harry Griffith and Colonel James A. Williamson, who were here on a furlough, organized a company to man a battery of two guns, which were stationed on the State House grounds, ready for any emergency, but it was soon learned that "Bill" was going the other way, and the battery was disbanded, much to the regret of Harry, whose "dander" was up.
In 1865, the war over, business was rapidly resumed and great progress was made in city improvements. Allen organized the first Gas Company, tallow candles and lard oil being the only illuminants. The works were located at the corner of Second and Elm streets. A large sum of money was expended in an effort to produce hydro-carbon gas from coal and superheated steam. The gas could be generated, but it was impossible to get crucibles, or retorts, which would resist the required intense heat. They would crack, causing so much leakage, loss of time, material and labor, it was abandoned, and the ordinary gas method adopted. But it was an ideal gas and had intense heating properties.
In 1865, Allen, with Wesley Redhead and others, organized the Des Moines Coal Company. Redhead had been burrowing around in spots sufficient to show the presence of coal near the city, and the
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company, with ample capital, was formed for systematic mining. As the coal was near the surface and in pockets, it was soon cleaned out.
The same year, he, with E. J. Ingersoll, organized the Hawkeye Insurance Company, which is still doing business at the old stand, one of the oldest and staunchest in the state.
In 1867, the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad reached the city. Allen was one of the directors and a large stockholder. On the proposed line of the road west to the Missouri River, towns and stations were to be located. That was his opportunity. He had the money. He organized a Land Company, took in the pro- posed town sites and stations, platted them, sold them on easy terms, and gathered in a pile of profit.
In 1869, having completed the erection of a residence, the most magnificent in the state, with interior furnishings equally lavish and munificent in cost, among which was a Chickering grand square piano, Louis XIVth style, costing seventeen hundred dol- lars, a small drawing-room table costing one thousand dollars, he threw open its doors to the friends of himself and wife on Friday evening, January Twenty-seventh, it being the fifteenth anniver- sary of his marriage. The Register the next morning made the following mention of it :-
"Such a brilliant affair, undoubtedly and confessedly the finest ever given at a private residence in the Northwest, occurring in a city not yet out of its teens, and which is yet called a town of the frontier, is not merely a matter of pride to the estimable persons giving it, but is also a proud honor for the ambitious young city in which it was given. Larger and older cities parade smaller matters as evidence of their civilization and aristocratic preëminence. If such evidences are causes of self-gratification with metropolitan cities, how much more so are they in this city, whose ground is hardly yet free from the moccasin tracks of the savage, and which is not yet recognized by the Eastern people as a town to be known among cities ? The founders and first settlers of Des Moines are still here, still young, and are still the sturdy, prominent business men of the place. The work around them is not the work of their fathers ; their own arms hewed out the forests, laid the foundation
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