USA > Iowa > Polk County > Pioneers of Polk County, Iowa, and reminiscences of early days, Vol. II > Part 2
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
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
The Stephensons decided to compete for the prize, notwithstand- ing the opinion of the leading engineers of the country that, not only a high-speed engine, but the building of the road, would be a
VOL. II-(2).
17
18
PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA
failure. The elder Stephenson contracted to build the road across the bog-a difficult undertaking.
The locomotive was completed, was named "Rocket," and at the trial won the prize against three competitors, and settled the ques- tion for all time whether horse traction or steam traction was to be used on railroads. By the skill and inventive genius of Robert Stephenson, it took on the form, in all essentials, maintained in the leviathan locomotives of to-day.
After the trial test, it was put in service hauling material for construction of the road. Its gange was four feet eight and one- half inches, or that of the ordinary wagon road, Stephenson doubt- less intending to make sure that if it failed on a rail, it would do service on a dirt road. It is a singular fact that the gauge of the "Rocket" has since been the standard gauge of railroads all over the world. Other widths have been tried, but abandoned. The great New York and Erie was built and equipped for a six-foot gauge, and when the gange was changed to the standard, occurred the famous "Railroad War" at Erie, Pennsylvania.
When the road was completed, September Thirteenth, 1830, was set for the first trip of a passenger train over it. The train consisted of two double-decked carriages, cach seating eighteen per- sons, nine on deck and nine below. The weight of the train was not quite ten tons. The average speed was fourteen miles, though at times a maximum of twenty-nine miles was made.
Entwistle worked in the shop where the "Rocket" was built, on some part of it, and manifested so mneh interest in it, he was given a permit by Stephenson to go with it on the trial trip. On the return, he was given the throttle, and for two years made two round trips each day between Liverpool and Manchester, thirty-five miles, to the great surprise of the pessimistic prognosticators, and thus was established the first high-speed railroad passenger train in the world. The labor was so exacting-he was only a lad-and the exposure to the elements so great, there being no protection there- from, he asked to be relieved. Stephenson was so well pleased with him, he seeured a berth for him on one of the Duke of Bridge- water's coasting steamers, as second engineer, where he served the remaining five years of apprenticeship and one year more, when, in
19
EDWARD ENTWISTLE
1837, he decided to come to America. That was the memorable year of hard times. There was no demand for labor, and wages were low, but he secured employment as engineer on Hudson River steamboats, at one dollar per day, and in iron mills, until 1844, when he came to Chicago, where he readily found employment as stationary engineer, and one season with Henry Perrior, as engi- neer on the lake propellor, Rossiter.
In 1854, Perrior and his brother-in-law, William Shepard, came to Des Moines and took possession of the flour and woolen mill which had been started by "Old Johnny" Dean and N. P. Jordan, on the river bank between Locust and Keokuk (now Grand Ave- nue). In 1856, Shepard went to Chicago, purchased machinery, four pairs of buhrs, and equipment for the mill. While there, he employed Entwistle to be the engineer of the mill. He came by the Rock Island Road (he thinks the train was hauled by the first locomotive that crossed the Mississippi River) to Iowa City, and thence by wagon to Des Moines, arriving in March, 1856. The machinery got as far as the proverbial terror, Skunk River bot- toms, where it was laid up nearly six months.
Entwistle remained with the mill until 1877, when it was burned. He then went to the Ankeney linseed oil mills, where he remained twenty-two years, and in 1899 shut off steam, closed the throttle, and retired to Easy Street, to pass the remainder of his days in a cottage where he has lived fifty years, and where, on the Twenty-fourth of next March, he will pass the anniversary of his ninety-first birthday.
In the Spring of 1859, there was a big flood, and water was all over the county. Steamboats did a lively business, fourteen being tied up at one time at 'Coon Point. Doctor A. Y. Hull and others decided to take advantage of the opportunity. They got lumber at Sinclair's mill, np the river, on the East Side, built a boat on the river bank near Court Avenue, and named it Demoin Belle. Its first trip was started April Tenth. The mills being closed, Ent- wistle was employed as engineer, and made three round trips on her from Keokuk to Fort Dodge. The next year, she collapsed, went to the bottom, was raised, re-built, re-named Little Morgan, and continued in service until 1862, when steamboating on the Des Moines was abandoned to the railroads.
20
PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA
In 1876, he went to the Centennial Exposition at Philadelphia, where, in the locomotive department of exhibits, among the high- flyers, he had the extreme pleasure of meeting his old pet, the "Rocket." His identification with it quickly made him one of the most conspicuous persons of the whole show.
During the recent World's Fair at Saint Louis, he was offered large sums to attend as the guest of the exhibitors of railway sup- plies, but his advanced age admonished him not to make the ven- ture.
A few days ago, I dropped in on the veteran of the throttle, and found him wide awake, as usual. During the sitting, he related some of his early experiences :
"I came here during the panic. Times were hard, money was scarce, and what there was, was not good; you could not keep it over night and know what it would be worth the next day. Wages were low; if the very best mechanic got a dollar and a quarter per day, he thought he was getting the very best wages-an extra price. Then he had to take payment in store orders. There was not much of a town here; it was nearly all on the west side of the river. There were but few houses on the East Side. From the river to Capitol Hill, the land was very low and wet, and north of Locust Street was heavy timber. There were no bridges except a temporary float- ing bridge near Keokuk Street-it was Keokuk on the East Side and Sycamore on the West Side, for the East Siders could not agree on anything with the West Siders; they wouldn't even write the name of the town the same way, and wrote it 'Demoin.' Both sides were hot over the location of the State House, but, being a newcomer, I took no part in it; I was here for business. As I said, houses were scarce. Shepard had a small frame house near Fifth and Keokuk, which had been used as a cow shed. It was the only place I could get. I fixed it up and moved into it. Lots were cheap, and I bought some around this corner where we are, went down to Peter Newcomer's mill, had Cottonwood lumber sawed, and built a small frame house on this lot, and have lived on it ever since. The money being so bad, I only took enough for economical living expenses-I considered Shepard and Perrior safer than the banks-until my back pay had accumulated to over eight hundred
21
EDWARD ENTWISTLE
dollars. Ira Thornton came along one day, about that time, and offered me one hundred and sixty acres of land lying one mile east of Berwick for ten dollars an acre, and I swapped my money for it. I rented it, had it cultivated and improved, until three years ago, when I sold it for sixty dollars an acre, but I didn't know then what is known now, that under every acre of it is a thick strata of excellent coal.
"No, this is not the Cottonwood house ; that was built in a hurry so I could get out of the cow shed.
"Yes, living expenses were very reasonable when I came here. Flour was high, owing to the scarcity of mills. It was nine dollars per barrel. Game was plentiful, however. The timber and prairies were alive with game. You could go out with a dog and gun and come home at night loaded with game. One afternoon in 1857, a fellow named King and I went across the river into the timber north of where Center Street now is, on the West Side, and shot two deer. The prairies were thick with chickens and quail, the streams with ducks, geese and fish. I saw a wagon box filled one day with fish caught with one sweep of a small seine in the river just above Keokuk Street. Prairie chickens would come and light on the fence around my yard.
"No, sir; I was never sick a day in my life; and I never was drunk, though you could buy whiskey in those early days for thirty cents a gallon, and it was much better than the stuff you pay three dollars a gallon for now."
Entwistle's physical condition is excellent, barring slight rheu- matic troubles ; his memory is vivid and retentive; reads without glasses ; is slightly deaf, and, altogether, bids fair for another ten- mile run on life's course.
Politically, he was originally a Whig, and cast his first ballot for "Tippecanoe and Tyler, too," in 1840. He joined the Repub- lican party on its organization, and has remained with it, but is not a politician. He is a vigorous reader, and keeps posted on what is going on in the world.
Socially, he is of kindly temperament, loquacious, companion- able, and takes much interest in the laboring classes, yet is not an agitator. Fully appreciating the benefit of education, and deeply
22
PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA
regretting the conditions which deprived him of acquiring such in his youth, he is an earnest supporter of all means for the education of the masses. Though his ancestors were Quakers, he affiliated with the Baptist denomination and gave financial aid in building the first Baptist meeting-house, on Mulberry Street, and also the second edifice, at Locust and Eighth. He is also a veteran mem- ber of the fraternity of Odd Fellows.
February Twenty-sixth, 1906.
NATHAN ANDREWS
A PROMINENT pioneer of Polk County, and one who was active in laying the foundation of the prosperity which has come to the present generation, was Nathan Andrews.
He was born near Rochester, New York, December First, 1815, of an ancestry dating back to the Crusaders. In 1818, his father, a farmer, removed to Tippecanoe County, Indiana, where Nathan passed his boyhood days, and acquired what education he could in the common school of that period. He continued farm labor until 1840, when he went to Jasper County, Indiana, preempted Govern- ment land, and for eight years labored to cultivate and improve it. In March, 1850, he came to Polk County, and preempted a tract of land in what was then Madison Township, to which he subse- quently added sufficient to make his holdings about fifteen hundred acres. He at once began farming on an extensive scale. It was his ambition to be the possessor of a model farm. The best machinery, fine buildings and sheds, and the best breeds of cattle were his standard.
Madison Township was an attractive point for the pioneer set- tler. Des Moines River crossed it diagonally near the center, and north of it, Big Creek and Mosquito Creek ran diagonally southeast across it, while south of the Des Moines, Beaver Creek meandered southeast across it, thus affording ample timber belts, prairie, and water. It was early dotted over with groupings, or settlements, as they were called, of intelligent, enterprising and industrious peo- ple, whose sole purpose was to build homes. Among the prominent families were Groseclose, McClain, Burt, Kuntz, Ayers, McHenry ("Old Bill"), and, to quote from Leonard Brown's Hiawatha list : "Wiess and Wheelhouse, Smutz and Skidmore,
Leightsy, Eslick and the Murrays-
Isaac Nussbaum, Henry Beeson,
Peter Suter, Amos Stevens,
23
24
PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA
Myers, Mereer, Mosier, David Reuser and Neuswander-
Blain and Burley and the Griggsbys- Doctor Mather-first physician-
Stephen Harvey and George Bebee, Bristow, Leonard Small, and Davis, Hanna, George and Jacob Hanser, Jacob, George, and Bill Van Dorn, And the Martses, George and Jacob, Adolphus and Josiah Hopkins, Schiedler, Hammond, Swim and Baker- D. B. Spaulding and John Messersmith- Conrad Stutsman, Father Crabtree Benjamin Hunt and P. G. Miller --- Samuel Hays and J. C. Bennett, Hiram Smith and brave John Kellison."
They were noted for their public spirit and sterling character. They battled against the hardships of pioneer life, did their whole duty as citizens, and the world was better for their living in it.
In June, 1849, Jacob Hauser laid out the town of Montecute, later ealled Springfield, built a store and postoffice, got the appoint- ment of Postmaster, and every two weeks came to Fort Des Moines, got the mail for his settlement, put it in his pocket, and went home. In 1851, a mail route from Fort Des Moines to Fort Dodge was established, and the mail was carried on horseback.
In November, 1850, George Bebee laid ont the town of Polk City, started a store, postoffice and shops, and began to do things.
In November, 1853, James Skidmore laid out the town of Cory- don. He and Hauser were vigorous rivals of Bebee with their new towns, but the latter had the advantage in location and trade, and succeeded in
"Knocking Montecute all to flinders, And discomfiting the merchants Who had opened there their storehouse, Unele George and Jacob Hauser And Polk City rose in splendor, And the Square was cleared of timber.
25
NATHAN ANDREWS
It was soon an active village, With the store of Justice Bebee- And the mill of Conrad Stutsman- And Ives Mark's great chair factory- With the wagon shop of Crabtree, And with Nubro's anvil ringing, And the school taught by Miss Mather- By the maid, Desire Mather."
In January, 1851, the County Commissioners bisected Madison Township, set off all of it south of Des Moines River, and named it Jefferson Township. It was in this township the Beaver Creek, or McCain, Settlement started; where Judge McHenry, Sr., set- tled, and where the first Settlers' Claim Club was formed, to pro- tect the settlers from claim-jumpers, horse thieves, and other unde- sirable persons. McHenry and Tom. Baker formulated the by-laws of the club, and, as McHenry was wont to put it, "When claim- jumpers or horse thieves were brought before it, no continuances were allowed; no dilatory pleas were heard ; no appeals granted by Judge Lynch. His judgments were swift and certain. The pioneer settlers were a law unto themselves."
In this township occurred the first murder in the county, by Pleasant Fouts, of his wife, August Ninth, 1854, because she refused to sign a deed for the sale of his land claim. He was sent to the penitentiary for life, and died there twenty-three years later.
So soon as the township of Jefferson was organized, Andrews took an active part in improving its civic and social condition. He built, at his own expense, the first schoolhouse in the township. It was also used for religious purposes. The Reverend William Coger, of the Christian Church, and Ezra Rathbun, a Methodist, both pioneers, were frequent preachers in it.
In 1857, Andrews, to keep pace with his contemporaries, laid ont the town of Andrews, on the south side of Des Moines River, about two miles southwest of Polk City. A postoffice was estab- lished there, named Lincoln, and maintained for many years. It never aspired to great commercial importance, got side-tracked in the building of railroads, yet it was, and is now, a favorable resort of farmers thereabout on rainy days to swap yarns and discuss the generality of things in general.
26
PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA
Socially, Andrews was hospitable, genial, and of kindly tempera- ment, and a liberal contributor to all public and private enterprises tending to help the community in which he lived. IIe was an act- ive member of the Farmers' Alliance, and a vigorous opponent of the Barbed Wire Trust.
Politically, he was independent of all party organizations, and gave his influence and vote in favor of what he deemed best for the public good.
Two other prominent men in Jefferson Township were the brothers, John D. and John McClain, who started what was known in the very early days as the McClain Settlement.
John, a Virginian by birth, came in 1851, a typical pioneer, who became very prominent in public affairs, and was one of the solid men of the county. In 1860, when the Board of County Com- missioners, which consisted of three members, was abolished, and a Board of Supervisors substituted, consisting of a representative from each township, he was elected from Jefferson Township, and reelected every two years until 1871, when the Legislature abol- ished that system and returned to the old plan of three Supervisors, and he retired from public office. He was notable for his integrity, watchfulness of public interest, economy, and sturdy opposition to schemes for increasing taxation. He was a Democrat of the true Jacksonian variety, and a radical Granger when that "ism" was rife. He deceased in 1874.
John D. was a Virginian by birth, and a boat builder by trade. He came to Henry County in 1845, and to Jefferson Township in 1851, and began farming on an extensive scale. His activities and sterling qualities at once brought him into notice, and in 1852, he was appointed Deputy County Assessor for two years. In 1853, Byron Rice, the County Judge, appointed him the first Justice of the Peace in the township. He held the office until 1874, when his health became impaired and he resigned. In 1876, he was again persuaded to take the office, and served until 1878, when his health again compelled his resignation. Such was public esteem of him, he was frequently pressed into service as Township Clerk and Assessor.
27
NATHAN ANDREWS
Other highly esteemed and prominent families were the Mur- rays, John and Thomas, the latter having the notable distinction of bringing with him to the county, in 1851, his seventeen robust and buxom children, who grew and made good.
September Eighth, 1907.
------------
LEONARD BROWN
LEONARD BROWN
N O record of the early history of Polk County and Des Moines would be complete without reference to Leonard Brown, whose sayings and doings have been interwoven in many ways into the warp and woof of the social fabric. He is of that class of early settlers who became such by force of circumstances, who were brought here in infancy by their parents, or were born here, grew up with the country, and are now identified with lead- ing industries of the community.
In the Fall of 1853, Aaron Brown and family started on their pilgrimage by wagon from Indiana, to a better country. All went well until about midway of the twenty-mile prairie which spread out wild and bare between Newton and "Uncle Tommy" Mitchell's tavern-unoccupied, and deemed uninhabitable by natives of Indi- ana and Ohio, for want of timber for fence rails and fuel-the westward plodders reached a small creek which had a few hours before become swollen and carried away so much of the flooring of the bridge, a crossing could only be made on foot. The wagon was unloaded, taken apart, and everything carried across the stream by hand-sixteen-year-old Leonard doing his share-except the wagon box, which was floated, the horses swimming. The outfit was then re-assembled, and the journey resumed, ending at Des Moines in October. The only available place for a home was a double log cabin owned by Alexander Scott, which stood on his farm, about eighty rods southwest of Capitol Hill. Soon after, the family removed to a cabin which stood on a farm near where Lincoln School building now is, on Mulberry Street. A stake-and-rider fence surrounded the farm, with a driveway westward from Ninth Street about where Locust Street is now. Leonard's first job was with William Krause, as general utility helper. Elder J. A. Nash had started Des Moines Academy in one room of the Court House, which stood where the Union Depot now is, and Leonard's highest
29
-
30
PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA
ambition was to get an education. There was the opportunity, but not the means. Bread and butter was wanting. Money was scarce; he had none; but "where there is a will, there is a way." William De Ford, the first blacksmith in the town, had a shop on Second Street. A "blower and striker" is an important functionary in a blacksmith shop, so Leonard thought, and he engaged board and lodging with De Ford's family, for which he paid in "blowing and striking" until nine o'clock evenings, turning horseshoes. To pay for his tuition, he built the fires and swept the academy rooms through the Winter. In the Spring following, he was employed by Samuel Gray as Deputy County Recorder and Treasurer, and Books "E" and "F" in the Recorder's office contain the deeds and mortgages transcribed by him.
In those days, the majority of public sentiment was pro-slavery. An Abolitionist was considered fit only for contumely and con- tempt. One day, while Leonard was serving as Deputy, an election was held in one of the court-rooms, during which politics got at fever heat, one very noisy individual denouncing the Abolitionists in vigorous terms. "We hear a great deal about them," said he, "but when do we ever see one? No man dares to say he is one." Elder Nash happened to be there to cast his ballot, and hearing the bravado, turned quickly about, and, face to face, said to the fellow : "I am an Abolitionist," whereupon the fellow quickly subsided and got away.
In the Fall of 1854, Leonard taught the first school in Story County, west of Skunk River. It was in a typical pioneer school- house, stick chimney, sod jambs, and a rude fireplace. It was a "subscription school," there being no free school system, and he "boarded around," his boarding-places being conspicuous for their magnificent distances. For his three months' service, he was paid forty-five dollars, the most money he had ever had at one time.
The next Spring, he returned to the Academy as a student, determined to fit himself for pedagogy as a life work. He was made a tutor, and Congressman Hull, Lon. Bush, George Lyon, boys then about twelve years old, can testify as to his ability to teach the "Geography Class."
In the Spring of 1855, Elder Nash closed his Academy and devoted his time to the pulpit, and improving his property on
31
LEONARD BROWN
Ninth Street, near School, then all a forest, Leonard remaining with the Elder, working half of each day, and giving the other half to study and recitation. In September of that year, he secured a position as tutor in the University at Burlington, for which he received board, room, and tuition.
Barring the forty-five dollars received in Story County, his emol- uments thus far had been boarding and lodging. The next problem was wherewith to be clothed. He therefore, in the Winter of 1857, taught the district school of Flint Creek, six miles north of Bur- lington. It was a school of fifty pupils, of all grades, from A B C to Higher Mathematics and English Grammar, lively and wide- awake. It was there he had a practical demonstration of his psy- chological theory of school government. One day, a boy named Charley Adams came to the school, who had been ostracised and outlawed from the public schools of Burlington as a bully and bravado, by whipping out the teachers. He had not been long in his seat before the whole school was attracted and annoyed by his disorderly behavior, to which Leonard gave little attention. When school closed for the day, the boy was asked to remain after the dismissal a few moments. Recalling the incident a few days ago, Leonard said :
"After the scholars had gone, and I had finished some writing, I said to the boy : 'Your parents send you to school to learn, do they not ?'
" 'I have no parents.'
"'Well,' said I, 'I am sorry for you. I was left in nearly your condition when I was eleven years old, by the death of my mother, and I have gone from pillar to post ever since; have done entirely for myself; was a bad boy at school until a good teacher gave me a better notion, and I determined to get a good education, if pos- sible. Now, I am trying to work my way through college, and to that end, am teaching this school. I have studied Phrenology some, and am sure I know just what kind of a boy you are.'
" 'What kind of a boy am I ?' he asked.
"'You are a very smart boy. You will make your mark in the world, and a good one, too, if you try. There are few boys in the school your equal in intelligence, I think, and I want you to come
32
PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA
to school, and also to come to my room at the Ripley Tavern, where I have a trunk full of good books, which you are welcome to read.'
"He was excused and went home. From his grandparents, I learned that on reaching home, he said to the old people: 'I am going to school to that man; I like him.' He became one of the best and most industrious pupils in the school, and took an active part in the exhibition at the close of the term. On my return to the University, he soon followed, with his books, to get an educa- tion. Soon after, my support funds ran out, I was obliged to return to Des Moines, and lost all trace of the young man."
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.