USA > Iowa > Polk County > Pioneers of Polk County, Iowa, and reminiscences of early days, Vol. II > Part 16
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UDGE JOSIAH GIVEN
JUDGE JOSIAH GIVEN
T HOUGH not a pioneer of Polk County, Josiah Given is an early settler, identified with much of the civic affairs of the county and state, and is widely known.
Born in Murrysville, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, October Thirty-first, 1828, of Irish parentage, he went, when ten years old, with his parents to Millersburg, Holmes County, Ohio, where his father settled on a farm and opened a crossroads black- smith shop as a side line, where Josiah exercised his muscles blow- ing the bellows, keeping flies from the horses his father was shoe- ing, stiffened his vertebral column picking stone on the farm, and did such odd jobs as he could get. He devoted as much time as possible acquiring an education, but schools were inferior, and accessories limited, so that, whatever he secured was by persistent effort under very adverse circumstances.
When the Mexican War broke out, he enlisted as a snare drum- mer in Company I, Fifteenth Infantry, for recruiting purposes, and after a short service, being deemed too young for service in the field, was rejected. But early in 1847, at the age of nineteen, he enlisted in Company G, Fourth Ohio Regiment, under Colonel Brough, was appointed a Corporal, went with the regiment to the front, and served until the war ended.
Returning to his home in Millersburg, he began the study of law in the office of J. R. Barcroft, who subsequently became a citi- zen of Des Moines, and well known to members of the Bar for the past thirty years.
In 1850, upon the motion of Edwin M. Stanton, the famous Secretary of War, Given was admitted to the Bar of Stark County, Ohio, and opened an office. In 1851, he was elected Prosecuting Attorney for Holmes County, served two terms, and gained a high rank in his profession. His first case as prosecutor was the trial of a man who was indicted for murder in the first degree. His
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opposing counsel were Honorable David Spangler, Honorable John MeSweeney, and Honorable Thomas Armor, three of the most noted lawyers in the state; but he secured a conviction.
While he was holding that office, the County Treasurer left the country between two days, a defaulter to the county for sixty thou- sand dollars, and Given was deputized to hunt him up. He trailed him over the country for over two months, to Switzerland, where he found he had doubled his track, returned to the United States on a steamer which met the one on which Given went over, in mid- ocean. He immediately returned, got his man, and twenty thon- sand dollars of the sequestrated funds.
At the close of his official term, he formed a partnership with Barcroft, and in 1850 removed to Coshocton, Ohio. One day, while he was trying a ease in court, a telegram was given the Judge, announcing the firing on Fort Sumter. He at once gathered up his papers, abandoned the case, left the Court House, and did not enter it again until the close of the war.
He organized Company K, Twenty-fourth Ohio Infantry, was commissioned Captain of the company, and served several months in Western Virginia, when he was promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel of the Eighteenth Ohio Infantry, with which he was engaged in the battles of Bowling Green, Nashville, and Stone River, at the latter being wounded.
In the Spring of 1863, he was promoted to Colonel of the Forty- seventh Ohio Infantry, to succeed the "fighting parson," Granville Moody, and went through the Atlanta campaign, a portion of the time commanding the Third Brigade, Third Division, Fourteenth Army Corps. The labor of that campaign and exposure in the Southern swamps brought on rheumatism, which so disabled him, and the war being practically ended, he resigned. He was soon after elected Postmaster of the Lower House of the Thirty-ninth Congress, his nomination being made, in an eloquent speech, by James A. Garfield. As a reminder of his service in the House, he has an album in which is inseribed the signature of every member of that which was known as "the Reconstruction House." The first name is that of Sehnyler Colfax, the second Thaddeus Steph- ens, following with those of W. B. Allison, Garfield and others. After two years' service in that office, he returned to Ohio.
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In 1868, he perfected a long-cherished plan, and came to Des Moines. In 1869, he was appointed Deputy Commissioner of Internal Revenue and assigned to the division pertaining to taxes on spirits and fermented liquors, where he remained two years and resigned. On leaving the office, a farewell message was presented him, signed by the fifty-seven clerks of his office, present in a body, expressing their feelings, which is deemed one of the most highly treasured souvenirs of his official life. It is artistically engrossed and elegantly enclosed in a frame 24×36 inches :
"UNITED STATES TREASURY.
"INTERNAL REVENUE DEPARTMENT. "1871.
"By your own volunteer act, you are about to retire from the position of Second Deputy Commissioner of this Bureau and Chief of the division in which we are employed. Before you leave us, we desire to unite in a more enduring manner than by a passing breath, to bid you a 'good-bye.' Never were the duties of the office more onerous, difficult, or delicate, than when you entered upon them ; and never more watchfully, industriously and efficiently dis- charged, or more satisfactorily, at once to the Government and to the taxpayer. But not here alone have we found cause for com- mendation. Amid the severe labors and perplexities of these duties, you have ever manifested the consideration and kindness toward your subordinates which mark Nature's true gentleman, and which have added to our admiration for the faithful officer a glowing and faithful friendship for the man.
"Your departure for the new field of labor will be followed by the best wishes of us all, and with the sincere expression of our per- fect trust that your future will form an uninterrupted justification of the high opinion and cordial regard you have inspired in us, we bid you a regretful and affectionate farewell."
Returning to Des Moines, in October, 1871, he was elected District Attorney for the Fifth Judicial District, and served three years, when he again joined his old tutor, Judge Barcroft, and James M. McCaughan in the practice of law.
In November, 1876, he was elected Representative for Polk County, in the Sixteenth General Assembly. He was made Chair- man of the Committee on Public Buildings, and a member of the
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committees on Judiciary, Cities and Towns, and Judicial Districts. I was reporting for the press during the session, and recall it as a busy session. I think the House Journal will show Given's name as frequently as that of any other member, for he took an active part in the proceedings. It adopted the Woman Suffrage amend- ment to the Constitution, defeated the effort to restore capital pun- ishment, to repeal the law giving the Railroad Commissioners power to fix passenger and freight rates, and repeal the so-called Granger Law. To secure the latter, there was present the largest and most formidable lobby ever seen about the Legislature to repre- sent the railroads, who claimed that the law was inimical to the prosperity of the state, prohibited railroad building where it was needed, and would force the railroads into bankruptcy. It was a strenuous and exciting contest. There was also elaborate amend- ments to the Code, respecting county and township affairs, and cor- porations. It also settled the question as to when United States Senators must be elected. The Act of Congress requires that it shall be on the first Tuesday after the meeting and organization of the General Assembly. Governor Kirkwood, and nearly a dozen others, were candidates, and the contest was a lively one. On Jan- uary Eighteenth, both houses met in joint convention and elected Kirkwood. Soon after, the question arose as to the validity of the election, for, from delay in the proceedings, the organization of the Honse had not been fully completed on the day of the election. To make doubly sure, and forestall any action the Democrats in Con- gress might be disposed to take, Given presented a resolution pro- viding that the House, on Tuesday, January Twenty-fifth, proceed to elect a Senator, to be followed by the joint convention on the Twenty-sixth. It was adopted, and Kirkwood had the distinction of being twice elected by the same General Assembly.
Given must have run up against a passenger station on some road during an Iowa blizzard, for early in the session he presented a resolution instructing the Committee on Railroads to prepare a bill requiring depots to be kept open at all reasonable hours, for the accommodation of the traveling public. If it prepared such a bill, it forgot to present it to the House.
In November, 1880, Given was elected Judge of the Circuit Court, the jurisdiction of which was that of a Court of Probate,
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and in November, 1884, was reelected. In 1886, the court was abolished, the District Court reorganized, and in November, he was elected Judge of that court. He served until March, 1889, when he resigned, and was the same month appointed by Governor Larrabee as Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Judge Reed. In November, he was elected to serve out Reed's term, and in 1885, reelected for a full term. During his incumbency, he served two years as Chief Justice of the court. On the expiration of his term, in 1890, he practically retired from active business, owing to impaired health, having for twenty years poised the scales of justice on the bench, and is now living in quietude with his daughter.
Politically, he was originally a Democrat, but when the attack was made on Sumter, he became a Union man. When he emerged from the war, he was a strong Republican, and as such has done valiant service for the party.
His speeches were punctuated with apt stories, and true Celtic witticisms, which made him one of the best stump speakers in the state. It is a somewhat singular fact that he never in public, and seldom in private, refers to his valorous army life through two wars. He seems studiously to avoid it. I recall one instance, how- ever, when he was posted to make a speech. A large crowd had assembled, but he was delayed and did not arrive until near the close of the meeting. To indicate that he did not intend to make a long speech, he went on the platform carrying his hat and overcoat on his arm. The presiding officer arose to welcome him, and reached out to relieve him of his hat and coat, but he very quietly placed them over his other arm, saying to the crowd : "Forty years ago, when I was in the army, some man stole my blanket, and I have never been able to find him since, but I think I have my eye on him now." The sally brought down the house.
Socially, he is courteous, affable, companionable, open-hearted, enjoys a good story, and can tell one himself. His bearing is unas- suming and dignified, his manner frank, the reflex of characteris- tics of unimpeachable integrity. As a legislator, jurist, lawyer, and citizen, he has proved ever the same, faithful, honest and true. He is a highly esteemed member of the Masonic fraternity, the American Legion of Honor, and the Grand Army of the Republic.
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Religiously, he is an exemplar of the faith of the Presbyterian Church, of which he has for many years been an active member. He was once elected church treasurer, but declined, saying it was absurd, as he had never been able to build a home for himself with- out putting a mortgage on it .*
November Eighteenth, 1906.
*Died February Third, 1908.
SAMUEL SAUCERMAN
SAMUEL SAUCERMAN
T HOUGH not a pioneer of Polk County, Samuel Saucerman has been identified with its business growth and prosperity, and that of Des Moines, for nearly forty years.
Born in Coshocton County, Ohio, February Fifteenth, 1840, of German ancestry, when six years old his parents emigrated to Green County, Wisconsin, where his father purchased one hundred and sixty acres of wild land in a sparsely settled country, and opened a farm. Being a carpenter and builder, he escaped many of the discomforts of pioneer settlers. Deer, wild turkeys, prairie chickens, pheasant, quail, rabbits, and squirrels were abundant, the streams alive with the most delicious specimens of the finny tribe, the speckled trout, so that the meat supply only required the gathering of it when wanted.
There Samuel passed his youth, doing the general utility work of a farm boy during the Summer; in the Winter going to the dis- trict school, and chopping wood.
When sixteen years old, his father died, and for four years fol- lowing, he managed the farm, got it well supplied with grain and live stock, and then turned it over to his mother, three younger brothers and a sister, and started off to "find his fortune."
He purchased timber land, hired men to cut down the trees, cut them into lumber, fence rails, and cordwood, which were sold to prairie farmers, some of whom came twenty miles to get them.
He thus accumulated several golden shekels, and, in 1868, came to Des Moines. It was not a very attractive place to a stranger from the backwoods of Wisconsin. There were no paved streets, only a few poor sidewalks; most of the business was done on Sec- ond Street and Court Avenue below Third. Doctor Turner was planting rails and ties in the mud on Walnut Street for his street cars, drawn by horses and mules, which, most of the time, were floundering broadside down in the slippery, sticky clay. The
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county was comparatively unsettled . Unimproved land was selling at ten dollars to fifteen dollars an acre.
After surveying the field, he concluded the town was bound to grow ; that with its growth the people must have places to live and homes. He therefore pinned his faith to real estate. He pur- chased several small tracts of timber land nearby, hired men to cut the trees into cordwood, and haul it into town, where it was sold at five and six dollars per cord, as everybody used wood at that time for heating purposes. He also purchased several small tracts inside the town, platted them into building lots, sold them to mechanics, furnishing them lumber to build a house, on easy pay- ments, without interest or rent, thus enabling them to get a home. Later, he purchased a large tract north and west of Drake Univer- sity, when the mud was so deep on Cottage Grove Avenue and what is now University Avenue it was difficult for a horse to pull a buggy through it. There were also but few houses scattered along either street.
He platted his large tract into lots, donated to the city eight acres of it for streets, opened Hickman Avenue, dug out the trees and underbrush, and graded the roadbed from Twentieth to Thir- tieth Street. He also did the same on Thirtieth Street, from Uni- versity Avenue to a point one-half mile north of Hickman Avenue. Land that then was purchased for twenty dollars an acre could not be had to-day for five hundred dollars an acre. That University Avenue would ever be adorned with the magnificent university, with its environments ; the elegant residences that now beautify it; that street cars would traverse it, or electricity illuminate it, was beyond the conception or dream of the most optimistic city booster, though Saucerman was quite radical, for he always declared that Des Moines would become what Indianapolis is to Indiana; that it would be the one great central, up-to-date city of the state, with smaller towns surrounding and tributary to it; that interurban roads radiating in all directions, with quick transit and low rates, would inevitably and rapidly increase its growth and prosperity. Being thus optimistic, he started in to help build and improve the town.
After thirty-six years of labor, averaging fourteen to sixteen hours a day, and for more than twenty years paying annually into
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the county treasury as taxes over one thousand dollars; selling over two thousand building lots; assisting many laboring men to secure homes, he can very justly be classed as one of the boosters.
Politically, he is a Republican, and votes the national ticket of that party. He takes no part in politics ; never held a public office; would not take one if he could get it. In state, county and city affairs, he votes for the man he believes will best subserve the public well-being.
Socially, he is plain, unostentatious, of kindly temperament, a good neighbor and good citizen. Is not a member of any social clubs or fraternal organizations, being opposed to secret societies of every kind, regardless of their object or purpose.
Religiously, he holds a membership in the Central Christian Church, but does not accept all its tenets.
A dominant trait of his character is independence of thought and action. He believes in open, frank, square dealing in business, politics and religion ; that a true American citizen is one of the highest types of manhood.
December Sixteenth, 1906.
JOHN F. WINTERROWD
NE of the pioneers of Polk County, closely identified with its early history, was the venerable and well-known John Francis Winterrowd.
Born in Indiana, where he grew to manhood, he came to Polk County in May, 1850, with a party of twenty-seven, among whom was John Barlow and family, and "Uncle Billy" Dawson and fam- ily. They came with the proverbial prairie schooners, not so ideal- istic a group as Blashfield has pictured at the State House, but the real emigrant outfit. They crossed the Mississippi at Keokuk, and made their first stop in the county at "Uncle Tommy" Mitchell's tavern-there were no hotels in those days-where everybody stopped and rested to get their bearings before entering the "prom- ised land," for there was no other tavern between what is now Marengo and Fort Des Moines.
Winterrowd and his family stopped for a few weeks on a set- tler's claim near what is now Rising Sun, and then moved into what was known as the old "Uncle Jerry" Church house, near the mouth of Four Mile Creek. "Uncles" were numerous in those days, and helpful to newcomers.
Winterrowd purchased a claim of Francis Stewart, two miles southeast of Rising Sun, on which was a double log cabin, which consisted of two cabins, with an open space between equal to one of the cabins. The space was roofed over and used for placing wagons, plows, harness, saddles, etc. One cabin was used for a living-room, the other for a stable. The space between the logs was chinked with clay, the chimney built of sticks and clay, with a large fireplace, in which all the cooking was done. There was but one room. At night, the sleepers were partitioned off by curtains. There was little protection against Winter storms. The Winter of 1856 will long be remembered by that community for its severity and the suffering it caused. A record kept there shows that in
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January the mereury dropped to thirty-five below zero on the Four- teenth, thirty-six below on the Seventeenth, thirty below February Tenth, and four below on April Fourth. The snow was deep and blizzards frequent. There being little or no protection for live stock, farms were dotted with hundreds of cattle frozen to death, many of them cows, so necessary to family support, their carcasses affording a good feast to wolves and birds of prey, thus attracting them to the settlements to commit depredations and destructiveness in other ways.
Sometimes flour got short, when corn meal and bacon became a steady diet, though with a gun and a few hours' time, wild turkeys and prairie chickens could be substituted for the bacon.
The first lights used in the cabin were "grease lamps," that is, a twisted rag placed in a dish of grease fried out of bacon, which did service until a fat steer furnished tallow to make candles, when candle dipping became a stunt for the youngsters, to furnish them amusement and keep them out of mischief.
A small flock of sheep furnished wool for family use. Mrs. Winterrowd washed the wool and prepared it for picking, which done, the women of the neighborhood would be invited to a "wool pieking," which was made a social gathering, and jolly good time. With the wool picked, she carded it by hand, spun it into yarn, wove it into eloth, and made the clothes for the boys. She also wove bedspreads of neat design, and a quality not duplicated in the stores to-day, even after fifty years' service, and which are now held as treasured heirlooms by the only daughter, wife of "Dave" Witter.
Despite the trials and deprivations, the family often declared they were never happier or enjoyed life better than when in the old log cabin.
In 1855, the family having inereased to the swarming period, a two-story frame, 18x40, with an "L" 16x18, was begun. Native lumber, mostly Black Walnut, was used. The boards were all planed by hand, and Captain Zachery, a well-known character in the early days, split, shaved and made the shingles. Carpenters were scarce, and two years passed before the house was completed, an event recognized by a jollification and "house warming."
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Among its furnishings were rugs and carpets which the good mother wove from wool she spun. The house is still standing on the farm in evidence of its good construction.
Contemporaneous with Winterrowd, the Barlows and "Uncle Billy" Dawson started a settlement farther north, on the prairie. The prairie settlers very soon manifested a disposition to improve their social condition with churches, schools and good roads, but the settlers in the timber belt, who had come in several years before, were inclined to turn a cold shoulder to them, and not disposed to give them much assistance or encouragement, but they soon so increased in numbers as to work out their various enterprises, in all of which Winterrowd was an important factor. In 1855, when the Christian Church Society was organized, the first in the county, he was one of its members, and gave the site on which to build a meeting-house, on his farm. He also gave the site for the first schoolhouse in that section, and the first cemetery. The farm of twelve hundred acres was for many years a notable place, and espe cially during the Spring Creek oil excitement, in 1865, when one Tichenor, a Chicago sharper, leased privileges to bore for oil all over the farm, and the chug-chug of the borer resounded over the prairie until he had drawn in enough suckers to fill his pockets with about thirty-five thousand dollars, when the doping of the springs on the creek with crude petroleum ceased, and the bottom fell out of the whole business.
In 1867, the sorghum craze struck the farmers, and they started in to raise cane to supply saccharine enough to sweeten the whole country, and drive Cuba out of the business; and they did raise good cane. It was on Winterrowd's farm the first sorghum was made in Polk County. He purchased an iron rolling mill, costing one hundred dollars, with which to crush the cane. Farmers from all over the county brought cane to the mill to have it crushed by the tons. For his own use, big kettles were swung to a hanging pole to boil the juice. A fire was started to run day and night, and in spite of smarting eyes from the smoke from the wood, and scorching heat, the scum must be skimmed off every few minutes by the tenders, from the surface of the boiling mass. Along about midnight, supper is ready, and such a supper! Smoked ham and
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eggs, potatoes roasted in ashes, and coffee sweetened with syrup. And then a smoke with a corn-cob pipe, and story-telling, or taking turns in tending the fire, wrapped in a horse blanket take a nap on a bench. When sugaring-off time came, the neighbors and their children were invited, and a regular jollification was had, an event which, said Mrs. Witter, a few days ago, "I shall never forget. We had the time of our lives."
From Winterrowd's first product, he put three barrels of syrup in the cellar, to sweeten the coming flapjacks.
The greater profit in cattle, hogs and horses, however, soon oblit- erated sorghum-raising in Polk County.
The energy and the enterprise of that community of settlers resulted in the organization of the town of Rising Sun, which, in 1860, became a place of considerable importance, and a good trad- ing-point for the surrounding country. Winterrowd had a contract at one time for hauling merchandise from Keokuk to the town.
He and his good wife were noted for their generous hospitality. The latch-string of their cabin door was always outside. They were fond of society, especially young people. One occasion, their children will never forget. There were seven boys and one girl- "Dave" Witter later captured the girl-and they were told to invite all the young people in the neighborhood, which meant a cir- cuit of ten miles, to a Christmas dinner. Promptly on the morn- ing of that day, about one hundred youngsters put in their appear- ance at the old log house, bringing their appetites and jollity with them. They remained during the day and evening, some of them until the next morning. The turkeys were roasted in the big fire- place, also one goose, probably the first in Polk County, for a goose was not then considered very edible.
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