USA > Iowa > Polk County > Pioneers of Polk County, Iowa, and reminiscences of early days, Vol. II > Part 23
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In March, Jones was appointed Deputy County Clerk, and July Twenty-fourth, his record showed he had issued four marriage licenses, one of them to a fellow who said he had no money, but would pay for it in splitting rails, which the county did not need. He was, however, donated the license.
July Eighteenth, Jones took the first census of the town, and returned as his count of the population, one hundred and twenty- seven, consisting of twenty-three families and thirty-one houses, all of them log garrison buildings. He also returned thirteen young
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men and eleven women as proper subjects for matrimony. They all subsequently married, except Jemima Scott, an old maid, who proved invulnerable to Hymen's charms.
He was paid a dollar and a half out of the county treasury for taking the census.
In August, he was nominated by the Whigs for Constable, and by the Democrats for Justice of the Peace, was elected to both and got his certificate. He was also Deputy County Clerk. As Justice of the Peace, he went into the marrying business. On one occasion, he was present at a wedding when another justice officiated, who did not know his business, and got balked. Jones helped him out, and then, to further instruct him, called one couple after another of those present and put them through the marriage stunt until they all could go through the ceremony without prompting. It was a hilarious crowd.
In September, 1846, he was appointed by Judge Williams, of the Territorial Court, County Clerk, to succeed Crossman, and held the office until the next election, in April following.
After his retirement, he presented a bill of nineteen dollars and forty-five cents, for eighty-eight bushels of coal he had furnished the Clerk's office during the Winter period. It was not allowed. Why, the records do not state, nor where the coal was obtained, but coal was then dug out of the bluff at Hall's mill, at the foot of Center Street, and the soldiers got what they claimed was better and harder coal down the river, at the southeast corner of Barlow Granger's farm. That is the earliest record of coal dealing in the county.
Jones did not remain here very long, but while he was here he was a hustling booster of everything going on to promote the town, politically or otherwise. In 1849, the site for the County Seat of Madison County having been located by a commission, of whom Isaac Cooper, of Fort Des Moines, was one, Jones went down there to help organize a town and give it a boost. At one of the preliminary meetings, on a very cold day, a name for the town was considered, and "Summerset" was suggested, when Jones retorted: "Better call it Winterset," and so it was named.
Politically, he was a Whig, and very popular. He was such an all-pervading spirit in the early days that he could get any office he
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wanted or would take. He failed but once. He ran for County Clerk in Madison County, against Colonel Houck. It was a close contest, and one of his friends in the north part of the county thought a little whiskey would help out. He went to town and bought a big jug of the "Oh, be joyful," but filled himself so full of it, he didn't get home until after the polls were closed. The vote was a tie, and Jones lost. Afterward he and Houck drew lots, and Houck won.
He laid out the town of Adel, then called Penoach, and organ- ized Dallas County.
He surveyed the first railroad across the state, the Air Liue, or "Ram's Horn," as it was called, but never built.
In 1854, he laid out the town of Omaha, was the first Mayor of the city, was elected Judge of the County Court, was several times a member of the Legislature, and once Speaker of the House. He became a very wealthy man.
June Seventeenth, 1906.
GEORGE BEEBE
A PIONEER who was quite prominent in the early days was George Beebe. He came to Polk County in May, 1846, and made a claim not far from that of L. M. Burke, on the west side of Big Creek, near what is now Polk City. He put up a log cabin, without "chinking" between the logs, thus giving it abun- dant ventilation and affording space for wolves to thrust their noses through when prowling about for food, but when heavy rain- storms came, vigorous sweeping was necessary to prevent putting out the fire in the hearth. The Winters were cold, and against which the cabin was a poor protection. Iu Summer, the mosquitoes were a perfect terror. No one could go out in the evening without mittens and coats, and often veils. Mrs. Beebe said if she sat down in the doorway of the cabin to rest at twilight, she had to wrap her hands and protect her face, or be bled and tormented beyond any endurance.
Beebe was an energetic business man, and soon had his family in more comfortable surroundings. He improved his land and erected buildings. He was the first Justice of the Peace elected in Madison Township. In 1850, he laid out the town of Polk City. It was the site of a former Indian village, called Wa-kon-sa, and a very attractive place. There was no competing town nearer than The Fort, and he at once set in motion plans for a trading center. He built a much-needed mill on the creek, opened a general mer- chandise store, sold lots, and invited people to come in, and they did so, the earliest ones using poles left by the Indians to construct temporary shanties. It was a rival of The Fort for the State Cap- ital, of some importance at one time, when Beebe was running things.
Beebe's cabin was one of genuine hospitality. Its doors were always open. He and his wife were fond of society, and their home was a favorite place for gatherings of early-comers. There
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was no dress parade, nor formality, about it; it was just a getting together to give vent to the overwhelming desire for sociability. Mrs. Beebe's vivacity and conviviality was a sure cure for the blues, resulting from the isolation of their every-day life. Father Bird made it a resting-place, and preached in it when making a circuit of the county.
In 1860, the county having got tired of the system by which its affairs were managed by one man, the County Judge, at the Octo- ber election of that year there was elected a Board of Supervisors, consisting of sixteen members, to represent each township in the county. Beebe was elected for Madison Township, and for ten years, during the formative and most critical period of the county history, that body had control of public affairs.
In 1868, when the Old Settlers' Association was formed, Beebe was the first to sign the compact, and he was elected one of a com- mittee whose duty it was to report the names of old settlers who deceased or removed from the county, the purpose being to keep a record of them.
April Twenty-eighth, 1907.
DR. DAVID D SKINNER
DAVID D. SKINNER
A PIONEER of Iowa, and very early settler of Polk County, was David D. Skinner, or "Uncle Dave," as he was famil- iarly called. He was born in Hamilton County, Ohio, in 1824, and when nine years old, came with his parents, in 1833, by flatboat down the Ohio, and up the Mississippi, to Montrose, near the mouth of Des Moines River, where his parents settled. What is now Iowa then had no legal existence, for when the State of Mis- souri was carved out of the Louisiana Purchase, Uncle Sam seems to have forgotten what is now Iowa and Minnesota, along the Mis- sissippi, and the Dakotas, and from 1821 to 1834, there was no government, no courts, and no laws, except such as the settlers who had come into the territory made among themselves. An incident illustrating the fact was that of the murder of one George O'Keef, by Patrick O'Connor, at the Mines of Spain, a lead mine operated near where Dubuque now is. The murder was without provocation, and the friends of the victim sought to have the murderer tried. The nearest court was at Galena, in Illinois, but that court declared it had no jurisdiction west of the Mississippi. The settlers decided to have a trial. A jury was formed, who, after hearing the evi- dence, rendered a verdict of murder in the first degree, and fixed the penalty at death. He was sentenced to be hanged.
O'Connor's friends then applied to the Governor of Missouri for a pardon, to which he replied that he had no authority to act in the matter at all. Application was then made to President Jack- son, who decided that, as the laws of the United States had not been extended over the territory west of the Mississippi, he could not interfere. He suggested, however, that the settlers were the proper persons to exercise the pardoning power. But the settlers were not so inclined, and O'Connor was duly hanged. The incident was so glaring that Congress sat up and took notice, and divided what is now Iowa into two counties, the north half was named
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Dubuque, the south half Demoine-not Des Moines, as it is now written-and attached it to Michigan Territory for judicial pur- poses.
That was the state of affairs when the lad, David, came to Iowa. In 1824, under a treaty made with the Indians, the United States acquired possession of land in the northern part of what was then Missouri, which was reserved for the use of the half-breeds of the Sauk and Fox Indians. The north line of the tract was near what is now the north line of Lor County, and was known as the Half- breed Tract. The Indians had the right to occupy it only. But settlers began to come in, and in 1835, Congress gave the Indians the right to sell claims as a class, but not as individuals. That opened the door for speculators to rush in, and buy claims with a quart of whiskey, a pony or a blanket, and trouble began. There was no survey nor boundary lines, and, as a consequence, there was frequent clashing on both sides, and sales of claims to which there was not a shadow of title. The Indians still occupied the territory and the actual settlers were, of course, anxious to keep on good terms with them. Young Black Hawk, son of the famous old chief, had his tribal headquarters not far from Montrose, and was a fre- quent visitor at the Skinner cabin, and quite friendly with the family. As a matter of policy, the settlers made it a point to get the good-will of the Indians, though they were satisfied that, through the influence of whiskey and irresponsible sharpers and land speculators, the Indians sometimes imposed upon them. Fre- quently, they would get restless and threaten to drive the whites out of the country, would gather around the settlement and act ugly, terrorizing the women and children especially, but some friendly Indian would always give warning to the settlers that they might be prepared, so being forewarned, they were forearmed, and but few collisions occurred.
All about the vicinity of the Skinner cabin were positive indi- cations that at a period long passed, a large Indian village had been located there, though overgrown with grass and shrubs. The old men of the Sauk and Foxes had a tradition agreeing with the nar- rative of the discovery of the River Moingona (Des Moines) by Marquette. The site of the deserted village corresponded with the
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statement of Marquette that it was three leagues from the Missis- sippi; that there was a beaten path leading to it; that six hundred Indians returned with him from the village to his canoes on the Mississippi. The children of the settlement were fond of hunting for relics on the site of the deserted village, which extended over a large area, and was strewn with them. Often those of value were gathered. Young Dave one day found an Indian tomahawk which had evidently been in use a long time before it was dropped where found. It was treasured by the family, and is now in possession of a daughter, the wife of W. B. Keffer, or "By." as all old-timers called him, when, as a kid, he used to hunt and stab bullfrogs in that old slough where the Cownie glove factory is, played hookey with the Sherman boys, and sampled strawberries found in back yards of residences of aristocrats scattered around the "Commons,"
"U'nele Dave" used to say that the first settlers around that old village site were satisfied it was the identical spot visited by Mar- quette in 1673. It was about eight miles from Montrose, west on the prairie. There was evidence of a well-traveled road or trail, at some former time leading from the mouth of the Des Moines west- ward, and on byond. Arrowheads and flinty fragments were found over a large area. It is the only one in that vicinity which agrees with Marquette's narrative.
Gradually, the Indians gave way to the encroachment of civ- ilization, and the country developed rapidly. David learned the trade of blacksmith, and, after reaching his majority, went to Dav- enport, where, with a brother, he engaged in making plows until 1855, when, learning that Fort Des Moines was to become the Cap- ital of the State, and, prospectively, a better place for business, he came, with his family, and formed a partnership with John H. Given, who was making plows on Vine Street, between Second and Third.
He took up his residence in a log cabin near the shop, but soon after moved to Third, between Vine and Court Avenue.
In 1857, he withdrew from Given and joined John R. Rollins in the grocery business, on Second, until 1861, when his brother came to Des Moines, and, with him, he resumed the making of plows, first at the corner of First and Market, but a few years later
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larger shops were built at Second and Sycamore (now Grand Ave- nue,) where a large business was done. For more than thirty years, the Skinner plow was famous all over the country. It was deemed superior to Eastern plows because it would "scour" in the black drift soil of the prairie, and not break at the mold board. Its superiority was in an invention of Skinner's, whereby the front of the old mold board was chilled or hardened on the front side, and made softer on the back side, so that it would "scour" or polish on the front side, and the back, being softer or flexible, would not break across the center, as in Eastern plows. Skinner's plows are now to be found in use on farms in Polk County.
Unfortunately for him, he neglected to get a patent for his dis- covery, and protect himself against piracy. His plows became so successful, it worried the big factories at Moline and Rock Island, and they sent secret agents here to see how it was done. They visited the shops daily for several weeks, on various pretenses, until they gained the whole secret, which was swiped by the East- ern makers, and it made them millionaires. The Skinners were doing business on capital borrowed at ten per cent, and when the hard times came, reverses followed, the shops were closed, and Skinner retired from the plow business.
Among the pioneers of Des Moines were some having the reli- gious faith known as Campbellite, or Church of Christ. Meetings were held in their cabins, and Reverend P. T. Russell occasionally preached to them when making the tour of the county. In the summer of 1858, they organized a church society, consisting of "Uncle David," Charles Nichols, J. L. Scott, Samuel Bell, Samuel Van Cleve, Thomas Hendryx, B. F. Jones, and their wives, fifteen persons. B. F. Snook was elected pastor. Their first meeting- place was in a two-story brick building erected by Alex. Scott near Des Moines River bank, between the present Rock Island and Keo- kuk railroads. The lower floor was used for pork packing. The entrance to the upper floor was by an outside stairway. Soon after, the little band met in a room in the uncompleted Savery (Kirk- wood) House, but were soon crowded out, and went over to the Griffith Block, on East Locust, now the Columbia Hotel. In 1863, the society was reorganized as the Central Christian Church. The
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old Court House was purchased, where the Union Depot now is, and James B. Gaston became pastor. The church has kept pace, by frequent removals, with the growth and prosperity of the city, until it now occupies the magnificent structure at Ninth and Pleas- ant, and has a membership running into the thousands.
"Uncle David" and his helpmate were zealous, active members of the church from its inception. His cabin was the favorite stop- ping-place for the brethren in the early days, and they were always given a hearty welcome, for he was a genial, warm-hearted man.
In 1862, he purchased three acres where the West High School building is now, at Fifteenth and Center, built a large, two-story frame house, surrounded it with blooming plants, shrubbery, and grapes, making it an ideal home. It was always open. The latch- string was never drawn in. The table was always spread. It was a home of generous hospitality and good-fellowship. It was a favorite resort for children, of whom "Uncle David" was very fond -and he had twelve of his own. His greatest pleasure was in being surrounded by youngsters, and aiding them in their sports and happiness. His big heart took them all in, and he was their friend indeed. That old home was a delightful place for old and young.
After retiring from the plow business, he turned his attention to helping suffering humanity by what is known as magnetic healing, and for several years had a very successful practice.
In 1887, I think, he removed to San Jose, California, where he continued his practice until 1890, when he was suddenly stricken down by an affection of the heart.
April Twenty-first, 1907.
GENERAL JAMES M. TUTTLE
GENERAL JAMES M. TUTTLE
A PIONEER of Iowa, and an early settler of Polk County, was James M. Tuttle. He was born in Monroe County, Ohio, September Twenty-first, 1823, and passed his youth assisting his father, and acquiring an education in the "People's College," the common school.
In the Winter of 1833, his parents removed to Fayette County, where he worked with his father until 1843, when he engaged in business for himself until 1846, when he came to Farmington, Van Buren County, and engaged in mercantile business and farming.
In 1855, he was elected Sheriff of that county; in 1857, he was elected Treasurer and Recorder of the County, and reelected in 1859.
He was a very quiet individual, no fuss and feathers about him. His office-getting was secured more by the efforts of friends, who appreciated his slow-going, sturdy, honest ways, than his own.
When Fort Sumter was fired upon, and the President called for men, Tuttle raised a company for the First Iowa Regiment, and was elected its Captain, but the Eastern states being nearer Washington, filled the quota quickly, and no Iowa soldiers were needed. The following May, his company was assigned to the Sec- ond Regiment. At the rendezvous he was chosen Lieutenant-Colonel of the regiment, and on September Sixth, following, was promoted to Colonel, to succeed Curtis, promoted to Brigadier-General.
Few officers have a better record than Tuttle, and few regiments won greater fame than the Second Iowa. It and the glory incident to the capture of Fort Donelson are inseparable-an incident that is known all over the Union.
It is not generally known that on that ocasion a crisis had come -a "forlorn hope." It was tendered to several regiments by General Smith, the commanding officer, but declined. When it reached Colonel Tuttle, General Smith said to him:
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"Will you take those works ?"
"Support me promptly, and in twenty minutes I will go in," was the reply, and he went in, but at fearful cost.
It was unquestionably the most gallant, reckless and successful charge of the whole war. The Colonel was a man who had no con- ception of fear. The whole Federal force had been sadly worsted. McClernand and Wallace had been defeated. The Second Iowa held the extreme right of Grant's forces, some six hundred yards from a point where a whole brigade the day before had made an assault and were repulsed.
General Smith, in giving his orders to Tuttle, said in loud voice, which every man in the regiment could have heard :
"Advance with the left of the regiment in front, with the right following about fifty yards in the rear. Half of the regiment is enough to be sacrificed at once." Passing along the line, he said : "I have selected this regiment to storm the enemy's works. It is a perilous undertaking, and I want to caution you young men that if you halt, if you hesitate, if you stop to fire a single shot between here and those breastworks, every man of you will be killed, every one, and for that reason, I cannot afford to sacrifice more than half of this regiment. Be cool, dispassionate, and reserve your fire."
The character of the ground intervening between the Second Iowa and the entrenched line of the enemy was such as to give all the advantage to the enemy. In front of the regiment, and just beyond an open field in which it formed for the charge, was a ravine whose sides, thickly lined with tangled brush, were very difficult of passage. Beyond was the steep, obstructed hillside, along the erest of which, and parallel to the ravine, were the earth- works of the enemy. Not more than one hundreds yards in front of these works was a formidable abattis, to pass which an assault- ing column must break its line of battle and move by the flank. Beyond the abattis there were no obstructions except the enemy's breastworks. When all was in readiness, the order to advance was given, and Colonel Tuttle, with the left wing of his regiment, forc- ing his way through the ravine, began scaling the hillside. The abattis was reached, and that obstruction was passed without the firing of scareely a gun, but the instant after, and before the
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gallant band had again come into line, it received the concentrated fire of three Rebel infantry regiments-not less than two thousand men. The slaughter was terrible. At the first fire, one hundred and fifty of those gallant three hundred men fell, either dead or wounded. Without a perceptible halt, the assaulting party closing up its ranks, moved steadily on, a daring which was too much for the enemy, and two whole regiments fled from their defense in pre- cipitate flight. A Mississippi regiment to the right still remained, but the right wing of the Second coming up, that also fled to the ravine below.
Though the key to the Rebel position had been wrested from the enemy, the fighting was not half done. Between the main fort and the position held by the Second was a deep ravine, though which the enemy having passed, had taken up a position on the high ground, which bounded the opposite side. Colonel Tuttle promptly formed his regiment and moved against them. He had reached the ravine, and was engaging the enemy, when an Indiana regi- ment, having just gained the hill, commenced pouring severe mus- ketry shot into his rear, causing momentary confusion. The Col- onel waved his sword, and in other ways endeavored to signal the Hoosiers to cease firing, but believing they were engaging the enemy, they kept on. Alarmed for the safety of his regiment, the Colonl started to run back to it, when suddenly, he wheeled about, faced the enemy, and began moving backward, a maneuver it was afterward learned was to avoid being shot in the back, which he had declared should never happen.
When climbing the hill, he was grazed by a ball which passed through his coat sleeve and glove, hitting the hiit of his sword, wrenching it out of his hand, and knocking it over his head with such force as to paralyze his arm during the remainder of the engagement. A little later, he was standing on a log beckoning his men to come on, when a cannon ball struck the log, forcing it from under him, and he fell backward against a tree, causing an injury to his back from which he never fully recovered.
Colonel Godfrey, then a Lieutenant, who had a part in the hill climbing, says "Bill" Brenton, a private from Dallas County, came to him and said: "Liteutenant, if you will take my gun and fire,
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I have lots of ammunition, and will help you load, and we will give them h-1." Godfrey asked him what the trouble was, and holding up his gun, he saw it had been hit with a shot and broken into pieces. "We've got lots of ammunition," he repeated, "and we'll give them h-1 yet."
That was the stuff the Second Iowa was composed of. Every man of it was as ready for the charge as their Colonel, and they knew as well as he what it meant.
Fifteen thousand prisoners, many ordnance stores, and much other property was the result of the victory. More than that, it forced back the Confederate line from the Potomac to the Missis- sippi, and was the beginning of the end of the war. The Second Iowa also truly made Grant, Smith, McClernan, and Wallace Major Generals, and ten others Brigadiers.
At Shiloh, April Sixth, 1862, the bloodiest battle of the war, considering the number of troops engaged, Colonel Tuttle com- manded what was known as the "Iowa Hornet's Nest Brigade," consisting of the Second, Seventh, Twelfth and Fourteenth regi- ments. It held, for a whole day, the pivotal point of battle, and by heroic resistance, valor and sacrifice, stayed the progress of the enemy and saved Grant's army from destruction. For his skill and excellent judgment shown in the management of his brigade, in that hornet's nest of fusillade, Tuttle received high commenda- tion from Grant, Sherman and Halleck.
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