USA > Iowa > Polk County > Pioneers of Polk County, Iowa, and reminiscences of early days, Vol. II > Part 22
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About two years ago, the old home and the Mission School lots were sold to J. S. Polk, and will be the site of the new splendid passenger station of the Interurban Railway.
In May, 1850, he made the contract for thirty-one acres on Uni- versity Avenue, between Fourteenth and Seventeenth, of Benjamin Saylor, for which he traded the two horses and wagon which had brought him from Ohio. The wagon was pretty wobbly and weak in spots, and one horse was so short-necked he had to get on his knees to drink from a brook. The land was bought for timber pur- poses, it being deemed too far away for residences. Later, he planted one-half of the tract in fruit trees and grapes. There are several "middle-aged boys" in Des Moines to-day who could certify to the quality of the grapes they "swiped" when "Uncle Charley" was not around. Said one of them, a few days ago: "I pulled some of the largest and finest bunches of grapes I ever saw ont of
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that vineyard. The temptation was too much for a boy, with his usual appetite. I knew very well 'Charley' would have given me all I wanted by asking, but that is not the boy's way of doing, gen- erally." One-half of the tract is now owned by the Park Board. The east half is divided into residence lots as "Northwestern Heights."
In 1853, Good purchased the block which now bears his name at Fifth and Walnut. When the Des Moines Improvement and Navigation Company was engaged in obstructing the river beyond all hope of navigation, Colonel George Gillaspy, Treasurer of the company, frequently visited Fort Des Moines, the head of naviga- tion, and Judge Casady persuaded him to make an investment in the growing town. November Twenty-fourth, 1849, Obadiah Hig- bee purchased from the County Commissioners Lots Four and Five, in Block Thirteen, at the corner of Fifth and Walnut, for forty-five dollars. In July, 1851, Gillaspy purchased the lets for one hundred and fifty dollars, remarking that possibly he could sell or give them away some time. All west of Eighth Street was fenced in with rail fences and planted with corn. October Fif- teenth, 1853, Gillaspy sold them to Jenkins W. Morris for five hundred dollars, and November Fourth, following, Morris sold them for six hundred and fifty dollars to Good, who bought them for an investment, pending the growth of the town. In 1881, he erected the block bearing his name, now valued, I understand, at. four hundred thousand dollars.
When the Original Town was platted, all lots ran east and west, and fronted on the streets running north and south, except those en Court Avenue. The lots were 66x132 feet, two lots making a quarter block, or 132x132 feet.
All Good's investments proved highly remunerative, and he became quite wealthy.
A marked trait of his character was his deep religious convic- tien. While he read many other books, he read the Bible whenever opportunity offered, and committed much of it to memory. Several well marked and worn Bibles new in possession of his children evidence their use by him. It was his custom to write references and his thoughts thereon. Thousands of pages of such writing
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were found among his papers. He preached ocasionally at differ- ent points in Polk and adjoining counties, also in southwestern Iowa, Ohio and other states. Every four weeks, he held religious service in his Second Street home, lodged and fed those who attended from abroad, until he purchased and fitted up the old German Church building. He espoused the faith and doctrines of the Brethren in Christ, and so zealous was he, he once went with his wife in a carriage to Dayton, Ohio, so that they might join that church, there being none of the faith in the West. Here he per- fected a church organization, and after his death, his old home on Second Street was sold and three thousand dollars given to the church. Another lot has been purchased on Ninth Street, and preparations are being made to erect a new building.
While many thought him close in dealing, and somewhat penu- rious, he gave many thousand dollars for church and charitable uses, and always with the strict injunction to say nothing about it -to "keep it dark."
He was passionately fond of children. He could not see them in want or suffering. When the Mormons were going through Des Moines, hauling their household goods in push-carts, accompanied with their hungry children, whose bare feet were bleeding from contact with the frozen ground, he gave them shoes and provisions from his store, remembering vividly his boyhood days when he had but a crust for a day, and the Sheriff carried away household goods and kitchen utensils his mother so much needed. Every Sunday, so long as he was able, he visited his Mission School and took pres- ents to the children.
He was industrious, and greatly pleased when he was most busily engaged. He could do blacksmithing, carpentering, stone or brick laying, and was an enthusiastic fruit grower. He had great physical vigor and strength, at the age of seventy-eight assum- ing the task of building the Good Block. At one time, with little to do, when the foundation of his block was being put in, he laid some of the stone under the Rogg portion. Sometimes, if hired hands had little to do, he would have them move a pile of lumber or stone from a spot they had placed it the day before to another place, just to keep them at work and not lose their time and pay, which was only one of his eccentricities so much misunderstood.
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In business affairs, he guided himself by the strictest moral principles, living by a law which permitted no compromise with honor. At times, it gave to his character a severity which led many to misjudge him.
Socially, he was genial and companionable with those who got on the warm side of him. He entertained many from far and near who came to the old home to see "Uncle Charley." He was not a member of any clubs or fraternal organizations.
Politically, he was an Abolitionist, but not a partisan. He voted for the best men of all parties. He was opposed to all wars, and, as a matter of religious belief, took no part in the Civil War.
He deceased March Twenty-seventh, 1898.
March Tenth, 1907.
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wee tot the stork had brought them. It was not a very inviting place, as all that section was dense timber and brush. From Keo- kuk Street (now Grand Avenue) there was a road cut through just the width of a wagon, to town, and that was the only way to get there. In wet weather, it was nearly impassable. One evening, he and his wife went out to visit a friend, and going home she left both her overshoes in the mud.
Society in the very early days was very different from what it is now. Everybody knew everybody in town. Referring to it a few days ago, Christy said: "We were all good neighbors. One night I was called out by a neighbor whose wife was taken suddenly ill, to go for a doctor. When the doctor reached the woman, he found the case required the use of surgical instruments, which he did not have with him, and sent me to a drug store to get them. It was after midnight, and no one was in the store when I reached it, but I crawled in through a window and found them. The next day, I told the druggist what I had done, and he said it was all right. The pioneers were always ready to help one another. If I should attempt the doing of the same thing now, I would probably get my head shot off, or land in jail."
In 1859, his house was burned, but he rebuilt it and has resided there since.
Being a versatile genius, he sometimes worked side lines. He was acting as Constable on one occasion, and went in pursuit of a man who had assaulted an old man who lived alone in the brush, near what is now the corner of Des Moines and Twelfth streets. Learning that the fellow was at a house on the outskirts of town, he went after him, and on nearing the house, the fellow saw him and skedaddled through a back door, for the brush. Christy followed him to the bluffs on the bank of the river, where he lost him. See- ing foot tracks pointing inward at the mouth of one of the aban- doned coal mines along the bluff, he followed them, and, after a long search, failed to locate him, yet was certain he was there. He built a bonfire of leaves and brush and smoked him out. There being no jail in Polk County, all prisoners having to be taken to Oskaloosa or Ottumwa, he was taken direct before Esquire R. W. Clark for trial. Doctor A. Y. Hull appeared as attorney for the
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WILLIAM CHRISTY
old man, and Will. Porter for the culprit. During the hearing, the two attorneys got mad, and sailed into each other, but were sep- arated before blood was drawn, the Esquire threatening to take them both outside and thrash them if they didn't behave, and he was able to do it. I don't think Will. has forgotten it.
Christy continued to work at his trade until August, 1862, when, in response to the bugle call of his country, he enlisted in Company C, of which Congressman Hull was Captain, in the Twenty-third Infantry, to help put down the Rebellion. The regi- ment went into camp east of the Capitol, near where Mrs. Redhead now lives, and September Eighteenth, was mustered into service, the roster showing nine hundred and sixty men and officers. It marched to Keokuk, thence went by boat to Saint Louis. Its first service in the field was in Missouri, in hard marches and skir- mishes for two months, when it was ordered to make a hard march to Iron Mountain, where it went into winter quarters, but soon after was ordered to break up a Confederate camp on Current River. While on that expedition, Colonel Dewey selected Christy to carry a special message to General Boyd, a hazardous under- taking, for the route was through dense forest, in an unknown country, infested with guerillas, but after a three days' journey, sleeping at night on the bare earth, he delivered the message. The General asked where the regiment was, and on being told it was in Arkansas, he replied, "Those d-d Iowa boys would follow the Secesh to the devil, if they were allowed to go."
The regiment was engaged in the battles of Port Gibson, Jack- son, Champion's Hill, and Big Black River Bridge. At Port Gib- son was its first battle engagement. After the battle at the bridge, it was detailed as guard to remove several thousand captured pris- oners to Memphis. Returning, it was sent to Milliken's Bend, where, June Sixth, 1863, it had a desperate encounter with the Confederates, losing fifty out of two hundred men. It then joined the army investing Vicksburg, and was the first regiment to cross the river for attack on the rear. After the fall of Vicksburg, it was sent to reinforce Sherman at Jackson. At the close of the campaign, it returned to Vicksburg, and was sent to Texas, on the Brownsville Expedition. Then returning to New Orleans, in the
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Spring of 1864, it was sent to reinforce the defeated army of Gen- eral Banks in its retreat down Red River. Early in 1865, it returned to New Orleans, and joined the expedition around Mobile, and in the siege and assaults of that campaign, bore a notable part. At the storming of Spanish Fort, it met again the Twenty-third Alabama, which it had met at Port Gibson, when under fire for the first time. After two months' stay around Mobile, it was moved to Harrisburg, Texas, where, July Twenty-sixth, 1865, it was mus- tered out, came to Davenport, and August Eighth, disbanded.
On release from military service, Christy hastened home, only to begin life anew. His little child had died, his Government pay had barely supplied the needs of his family during his absence, he was poor in purse, but rich in courage, determination, and faith in the future. He built a small shop and entered the field as a build- ing contractor. His competency, integrity, and business capacity soon brought him success. He made most of the plans for build- ings, as architects were not so numerous as they now are. He built several hundred buildings on both sides of the river, mostly resi- dences, for the town had not reached the steel-construction-sky- scraper stage. Prominent on the East Side was the bank building at Fifth and Locust, for I. N. Thomas; the Bolton Block, on Sixth; the store on Locust for R. C. Webb; the Goldstone stores, and the Odd Fellows' Hall. He did the interior work for Jule Parmlee's jewelry store, in the corner of the old Savery, where Joseph now is, the first room occupied on the ground floor. Lum- ber was scarce. There were no railroads. Store boxes was all the pine lumber he could get, and with that he did all the work. So well pleased was Jule, he not only paid for the job, but gave Christy a handsome present as a token of satisfaction. I think Joseph ran up against some of that work in remodeling the room to meet a more up-to-date fastidiousness. What a tale that hotel building could tell of transmogrifications it has passed through to keep pace with the progress of events and the public demand !
In 1873, under a change in the law, Polk County was divided into five Supervisor Districts, and Lee Township was made the second district. Christy was elected for that district, and reelected each term to 1897. when he got tired of it and quit, having served
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twenty-four consecutive years, an unprecedented record, indicating not only his fitness for the place, but his popularity with his own townsmen. His business capacity and long experience in the man- agement of county affairs, in fact, made him the burden-bearer of the Board work. It was a case where the minority ruled the majority.
In 1878, having acquired a competency, he retired from the building business.
In 1881, he was elected Overseer of the Poor of the city, and reelected every year to 1894. It was a thankless office, requiring the exercise of good judgment-a place where was constant struggle between deprivation, want, his heartfelt sympathy, and the limited funds placed at his disposal.
In 1878, he was elected a director of the Capital City Bank, and held the place five years.
In 1885, he was elected a member of the East Side School Board, and served nine years, aiding materially in advancing the schools to a higher and more gratifying position.
In 1890, he was elected Justice of the Peace, and is still on the bench, with a well-filled record that shows very few reversals of his decisions in the higher courts.
Politically, he is a Republican. He cast his first vote for Presi- dent for Lincoln. He generally has a hand in all the political movements in Lee Township, and thoroughly understands the game, yet he is in no sense a place-seeker, his greatest difficulty being to avoid having places thrust upon him.
Socially, he is of kindly temperament, inclined to be demure, yet is companionable, and a good neighbor. He was formerly a member of the Order of Odd Fellows, but there being no lodges here when he came, he has dropped out. He is an active member of the Grand Army of the Republic.
March Twenty-fourth, 1907.
ALFRED D. JONES
O NE of the liveliest, best known and most versatile geniuses of pioneer days in Fort Des Moines was Alfred D. Jones. He hove into the little community of log cabins and scarce a dozen families of settlers the Thirteenth of February, 1846, and put up at "Father" Meacham's log tavern, near what is now the east end of Grand Avenue bridge. The infantry of The Fort had removed a portion of the Indians to Kansas, but the Dragoons were here, rounding up several bands of the red fellows, who had strag- gled away up the rivers. The settlers were preparing for civil government. An election had been ordered to elect officers to organ- ize the county, April Sixth. The next day after Jones' arrival, there was a meeting on the west side of the river to select candi- dates for the county offices, and Jones joined in. He was a bright, active-appearing fellow, was elected Secretary of the meeting, and nominated for County Surveyor. The pioneers didn't stand much on technicalities. A man didn't have to wait long for an office or to vote. Jones pleased the West Siders, and that was sufficient.
April First, the first United States mail bag reached The Fort by a special messenger. Jones had once been a postoffice clerk, and he was requested to open the bag. In it was found the commission of Doctor Thomas K. Brooks for Postmaster, and his bond, which was approved by Peter Newcomer and Jeremiah Church, who had come here in 1845.
The county had been divided into three voting precincts, Fort Des Moines, Camp Creek, and Allen's Mill. Jones' opponent was E. 1. Woodward. The only real question at issue was the location of the County Seat. Brooklyn, a town which had been laid out about two miles east of The Fort, was a competitor for it. It was a vigorous serap. Jones pitched in for The Fort, and on election day spent the whole day at the polls in Camp Creek precinct, which embraced the whole eastern half of the county, working for the
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PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA
whole ticket, he said, but probably more especially for himself. The ballots were cast in "Uncle Tommy" Mitchell's hat, and any- hody voted who wanted to, regardless of where he came from, or how long he had been in the county, one fellow being frank enough to say he had "just got in about thirty minutes ago." Jones being dressed in "store clothes" and white shirt, the countrymen looked at him askance, and he didn't get a vote in the precinct. The total vote of the county was:
Fort Des Moines 70
Camp Creek
42
Allen's Mill 63
Total 175
On the face of the returns, Woodward had the most votes, but Jones disputed the count, and, being good at figuring, and with the help of "Tom" Baker, won the place. The processes for deciding elections in the early days were somewhat peculiar, especially when "Tommy" Mitchell, Barlow Granger, Pete. Myers and Granville Holland took a hand in the game.
On June First, 1846, the first Board of County Commissioners ordered Jones to "proceed, as soon as practicable, to lay off a town at the site selected for the County Seat of Polk County." It was also further ordered that notice of the sale of town lots be pub- lished for three weeks in the Burlington Hawk-Eye, Iowa City Reporter, and Democrat, at Keosauqua. From present outlook, the advertising of such a sale in the one-horse town of Keosauqua would be deemed queer, but at that time Van Buren County was one of the most important counties in population, great men and wealth in the territory, and the Democrat had the largest circula- tion. According to instructions, June Fourth, Jones and Doctor Fagen began laying out the town. Jones had no surveyor's chain, and he used a long rope. The survey was hurriedly made, the site was covered with trees and hazel brush, there were showers, the long rope stretched and shrank. On July Eighth, he made return of his survey as follows:
"The bearings of Water, Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, and Eighth streets, is north fifteen and one-half degrees
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west, and one chain in width, except Water Street, which extends to the River Des Moines. The bearings of Elm, Market, Vine, Cherry, Mulberry, Locust and Court Avenue is south seventy-four and one-half degrees west, and are all one chain in width, except Vine and Walnut, which are one chain and twenty-five links in width from Water Street to Fifth, and from Fifth to Eighth Street they are one chain in width; and Court Avenue is one chain and a half in width.
"The alleys all extend parallel and at right angles with the streets, as represented on the plat, and are twenty links in width, except Number Three (now Plum Street), which is fifty feet in width.
"The whole number of lots in said town is three hundred and twenty-four, and are one chain in width, and two chains in length, and lie as represented on the plat.
"The Public Square is four chains and a half in length and four and a quarter in width, and lies within the block numbered Nine, Fifteen, Twenty, Twenty-one, and Fourteen, and enclosed and des- ignated as 'Public Square.'
"The Market space is four chains and twenty-five links in length, and one chain in width, and lies between blocks numbered Twenty-six and Twenty-seven, and designated within enclosed lines as 'Market Place.'
"The Public Ground lies between Raccoon River and Block Number Thirty-seven, and west of and adjoining Des Moines River, and designated as 'Public Ground.'
"The stone planted by the County Commissioners of Polk County, from which to make future surveys, is placed at the south- east corner of Lot Number Five, in Block Number Thirty-seven, at the corner of the Public Ground, and is marked this: O.
"The survey of the above town was made from the extreme southwest corner of said stone."
It is proper to say the area embraced in the survey extended from Des Moines River to West Eighth Street, and from 'Coon River north to Locust, and is known as the "Original Town" in all real estate transactions.
On the same day Jones filed his plat of survey, the County Com- missioners donated all the "streets, alleys and public grounds in
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the town of Fort Des Moines, as shown on the plat, to the public, with the proviso:
"That all the streets, alleys and public ground in said Town of Fort Des Moines which now have public buildings upon them shall not be considered highways until the expiration of one year, or until the Commissioners of such county shall declare them high- ways. The Public Square, as represented on said plat, is reserved for the purpose of erecting a Court House thereon, and such other public building as the County Commissioners may deem proper for the use of the County of Polk. The Market space, as repre- sented on said plat, is reserved for the purpose of building a mar- ket house thereon, for the use of the general public, which shall be under the control and management of such officers as may have control, management and government of the Town of Fort Des Moines, the above platted town. The Public Ground is bounded and described as follows: North by Block Thirty-seven, west by a line parallel with the east side of Block Twenty-eight, extending to Raccoon River, and east by Des Moines River."
For surveying and platting, Jones was paid eighty-nine dollars and fifty cents. His flagbearers, stake drivers, axe-men and team- sters were paid fifty-five dollars, a total of one hundred and forty- five dollars, which, in those days, for three days' work, was con- sidered enormous-scandalous-as some of the rural settlers put it.
There is another monument stone, or ought to be, which I saw set by Professor Harkness, of the United States Observatory, and several other Government officials from Washington, who came to Des Moines in August, 1869, to observe the total eclipse of the sun. They set the stone, a cut cube, near the southeast corner of the Court House yard, from which they fixed the exact location of the center of the Court House dome at longitude sixteen degrees, forty- three minutes, fifty-two seconds west; latitude forty-one degrees, thirty-five minutes, forty-five seconds north; elevation of the stone above the sea level, eight hundred and forty-nine feet; difference in time at Washington, one hour, six minutes, six seconds.
The stretching and shrinking of the rope used in the survey caused crookedness and shortages-in fact, the plat did not cover the one hundred and forty-three and one-third acres donated by
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Congress for the site. It was also found that it lapped over on preemption claims held by settlers. A re-survey was made and the discrepancies finally adjusted satisfactorily to all concerned.
Immediately after his arrival, Jones began reading law with "Tom" Baker, who was the Representative from Polk County in the Legislature, and after his admission to the Bar, became a part- ner of "Tom's" in business. So soon as the town lots were ordered sold, speculation was rife among real estate men, but the uncer- tainty of the location of the State Capital made it risky. Jones concocted a scheme to help out, which he confided to a few close friends. He wrote a long letter to himself, dropped it in the Post- office. When the next mail day arrived-the mail came but twice a week-a large crowd was present. He received the letter, went off in a corner to read it, which done, the crowd wanted to know what it was about (so long, it must be important). He replied that it was quite certain the Capital would come to Fort Des Moines, and that there would be money in town lots. A day or two after, "Tom" McMullin and a few of his friends saw Jones and Wall. Clapp, a brother of our Ed., leisurely looking over the town lots, plat in hand, which was construed as certain that Jones had received a tip from "Tom" Baker. They immediately bought all the town lots they could pay for, and more, too; but Jones bought none, which was to them a suspicious circumstance, and when the trick was made known, they anathematized Jones with the most energetic idioms known to men not very circumspect with their vocabulary, but they held on, and made a pile of money, and also made Jones the butt of their jibes at his joke, by which he tricked himself out of a good thing.
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