USA > Iowa > Polk County > Pioneers of Polk County, Iowa, and reminiscences of early days, Vol. II > Part 31
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October Thirteenth, 1907.
JUDGE JOHN MITCHELL
JUDGE JOHN MITCHELL
R ESIDENTS of Polk County a score of years ago cannot have forgotten Judge John Mitchell, a nephew of the venerable pioneer, "Uncle Tommy" Mitchell.
He was born near Claremont, New Hampshire, on Febraury Twenty-eighth, 1830, of Scotch-Irish ancestry.
His father was a farmer, and on a farm John passed the days of his youth, devoting every opportunity to acquiring an education. He took college preparatory courses at Kimball Union Academy, in Meriden, entered Dartmouth College, and at the end of his Sophomore year was compelled to suspend his studies because of impaired health, and seek a more favorable climate. In the Winter of 1855-1856, he had so far regained his health, he passed the Win- ter reading law in the office of Freeman & MeClure, in Claremont. In the early part of 1856, he came to Fort Des Moines, and finished reading law in the office of "Dan" Finch and M. M. Crocker, then two of the ablest lawyers in the state, and in August, was admitted to the Bar of Polk County. He continued with his tutors as an assistant until 1857, when he hoisted his shingle on his own account.
Soon after the breaking out of the Civil War, in the Spring of 1861, there was unmistakable evidence of hostility on the part of Indians in the northern and northwestern part of the state. Horses and cattle were stolen, fields of grain robbed, and within three miles of Sioux City, two settlers were killed and their horses taken from them. These raids seemed to be made along the Little Sioux, from Peterson to Correctionville, and up the Big Sioux and the Floyd.
There was great anxiety and unrest among the settlers, for it was known that the Indians on the reservations along Minnesota River, farther north, were in an ugly state of mind, which also intensified the premonition of coming danger.
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PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA
No one had a greater realization of the importance of protecting the frontier settlements than Governor Kirkwood. There was quite prevalent a suspicion that emissaries from the South were among the Indians, endeavoring to incite hostilities against the white people. Early in July, on reports made to him of the threatening attitude of Indians along the border, the Governor ordered the enlistment of a company of cavalry in Des Moines, and Mitchell was made Captain. It left Des Moines on the Seventeenth, and went to Sionx City, where it was furnished arms, tents and eamp equipage. Thence it went to Cherokee, where headquarters were established, and from which sconting parties were sent in every direction, Captain Mitchell going north, also to the lakes and vari- ons points along the Little Sioux. The company remained at Cher- okee until September, and returned to Des Moines, Captain Mitch- ell having been in the saddle three months. The trouble continued, and on September Third, the Governor convened the Legislature in special session to provide for putting a volunteer force in the field. It was done, and companies of Home Guards were formed in Emmet, Kossuth, and Palo Alto counties, at Fort Dodge and Webster City. The prompt action of the Governor saved the Iowa border settler from some at least of the terrible events which cul- minated in the massaere at Mankato.
In November, 1861, Mitchell was elected Representative for Polk County in the Ninth General Assembly, and served during the troublesome and stirring times of the following two years. 1 remarkable incident of that General Assembly was that one-half of its members enlisted in the army and went to the front, a fact which troubled the Governor not a little, for the state was not pre- pared for war. It had no organized militia, and no money with which to comply with the evident demands of the times. He said one day, if an extra session of the General Assembly should be necessary, he would not know what to do, as so many of its mem- bers had gone into the army, there would not be a quorum to trans- act business. The General Assembly, however, had voted for war bonds to meet all demands, and even more than the Government at Washington asked for.
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JUDGE JOHN MITCHELL
In 1865, Mitchell was elected to represent the Second Ward in the City Council, and by the Council was elected President pro tem. He served one term.
In 1866, the General Assembly abolished the county commis- sioner system of three commissioners, and provided for a Board of Supervisors, composed of a representative from each township in a county. Mitchell was elected to represent Des Moines Township, and on the organization of the Board was elected Chairman, the first person to hold that office in the county. He served one year.
In 1867, he was appointed Register in Bankruptcy, and held the office some time.
In 1868, the Twelfth General Assembly abolished the old County Court, and created a Circuit Court, having jurisdiction in probate matters, together with all the powers previously exercised by the County Court, and exclusive jurisdiction on appeals from Justices' Courts, Mayors, Police Courts, and all inferior courts, in criminal and civil actions. In November of that year, Mitchell was elected Judge of that court for the First Circuit, comprising the counties of Dallas, Polk, and Warren, connties of the Fifth Judicial District. The duties of his office were multifarious, embracing the settlement of estates of decedents, laying out roads and highways, building bridges, and issuing marriage certificates, requiring great judicial versatility, and the exercise of good judg- ment, yet he proved himself master of the situation. He was a prodigious worker, and so burdened were all his judicial acts with a pervading sense of justice, equity, and responsibility to the pub- lic, he was reelected without opposition three times, for terms of four years each, and served twelve years, the longest official term ever held by any officer of Polk County. During his long service, so painstaking were his decisions prepared, very few were reversed by the Supreme Court. At the close of his judgeship, he returned to the practice of his profession, and later became a co-partner with L. J. Brown and C. A. Dudley, forming a trium- virate which did an extensive and lucrative business.
In 1890, his physical system gave way under the pressure of his zealous ambition, and on the Twenty-ninth of October, his spirit took flight to a world unknown.
VOL. II-(27).
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PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA
.At a meeting of the Board of County Supervisors, December Thirtieth, 1890, the following was unanimously adopted :
"WHEREAS, Judge John Mitchell, whose honorable and upright life has now closed in death, was the Chairman of the first Board of Supervisors organized in Polk County, Iowa, January, 1861, and held other positions of publie trust with marked ability and faithfulness ; therefore, be it
"RESOLVED, by the Supervisors of Polk County, Iowa:
"First .- That the quiet and kindly nature of John Mitchell, his cultivated mind, the excellence of his character, and the con- scious rectitude of his life will linger always in the affectionate memory of those who knew him in life.
"Second .- That his dignity, learning and integrity as a lawyer, high-minded, and always actuated in professional as well as public affairs by principles of honor, command the confidence and admira- tion of his fellow-men.
"Third .- That the virtue and ability he displayed in public life and the faithfulness and diligence he brought to the discharge of public duties, dignified and honored every position of trust to which he was called.
"Fourth .- That in his death, we, as individuals, suffer a per- sonal bereavement, and extend to his family and relatives, to whom this grief is so near and keen, the assurance that we sorrow with them for the loss of so pure, so kind, so upright and honorable a citizen and judge, father and friend.
"Fifth .- That a copy of these resolutions be sent to his family, and be given to the press for publication, and that they be spread upon the record of the proceedings of this Board."
Socially, his dominant characteristic trait was uprightness. He believed a lawyer should be a representative of the highest type of citizenship. He scorned shystering and technicalities. If a case did not bear the scrutiny of justice and right, he did not want it. He was of quiet temperament, never obtrusive, amiable, carried a heart which pulsated with generous impulses, and the best offices for the improvement of the community in which he lived. He gave little attention to every-day social functions, though in the very early days, before the coming of predatory concert troupes
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JUDGE JOHN MITCHELL
and barnstormers, he was a favorite integral part of the various amusements improvised by the young people of the town to enliven the passing hour. Of domestic taste in his home, he sought and found the rest and comfort his nature craved. So far as I know, he was not a member of any fraternal organization or club.
Religiously, he was a devout and active member of the Epis- copal Church.
Politically, he was a Republican always, but not a politician. Though he held several public offices of great responsibility, it was in response to a unanimous demand of the masses.
October Twentieth, 1907.
MARTIN TUTTLE
MARTIN TUTTLE
A FAMILY closely identified with the industrial and financial affairs of the early days of Des Moines was the Tuttles- James, the father, and his three sons, Martin, James M., and Samnel B. Martin was born in Monroe (now Noble) County, Ohio, November Twenty-seventh, 1824, of English ancestry on the father's side and German on that of the mother. His father was a large farmer, and also did an extensive business in live-stock, grain and land. Martin passed his boyhood days on a farm in the usual manner, and acquired such education as common schools of that period afforded, until he was eighteen years old. In later years, by diligent reading of good books and extensive traveling, wherein nothing escaped his observation or memory, he stored his mind with a wealth of treasure.
During his life, he visited Cuba several times, and every state and territory in the country, except, rather singularly, the state of Maine, the home of his ancestors, who settled there soon after the Mayflower landed at Plymouth Rock, and the territory of Alaska. In 1848, with another young man, he came to Iowa, via Chicago, from Indiana, on horseback. His object was to select a place for a future home. His choice was Farmington. He then returned to Indiana on horseback,
Asked once why he did not stop in Chicago, he replied that he did not like the location. While floundering through the wet, swampy land, he was offered a large piece of it for a pair of mules, but he refused, for the very good reason he didn't have the mules.
In the Spring of 1849, he married, and with his bride returned to Farmington, taking in Fort Des Moines for a short stop, where he met a young German artist who was making drawings from nature of birds and animals for a publication by the celebrated naturalist, Andubon, I think it was. Martin joined him for several
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PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA
weeks and greatly assisted him in his quest of birds. In apprecia- tion thereof-he was also a good portrait painter-he made a water color portrait of Martin, which is to-day as fresh and elear as when made, and is a highly prized treasure of the family.
Immediately on his settlement in Farmington, he engaged in general merchandise business. With his brother, James M., they built a small double brick house, the first briek dwelling in the town. in which they made their home several years. It is still standing. I believe.
Physically, Martin was not robust-in fact, there was not an excess of robustness in the entire community, for that most aggra- vating and contemptible of all human ailments, "fever'nager," was frequently epidemie, and the two Tuttle families suffered severely.
In 1851, he made a trip to California overland, more for his health, and to see what was to see, than for gold.
In 1856, he went to Pike's Peak, also for his health, and drove an ox team. He was three months on the journey. He returned on horseback, camping each night wherever night overtook him. The sparsity of population interfered with the regularity of his meals somewhat, and sometimes eggs cost hin two dollars a dozen. Hle also wandered over the old Nicaragua and Panama routes, and his descriptive rehearsals of the incidents and adventures of his travels were interesting and instructive.
In 1861, he came to Des Moines with his family, and made his home at the northeast corner of Fifth and Loeust. Later, he took the brick house built by his father, on the site of the present Wel- lington Hotel, and built a briek block on the corner at Locust, for some time occupied by the Chamberlain Medicine Company.
Soon after his arrival, he opened a grocery store with his father in Sherman Block, at Third and Court Avenne. During the Win- ter months, they cut and packed pork in the cellar. In the Winter of 1861-1862, they, with Martin Winters, James Miller, and Doc- tor M. P. Turner, leased a briek building in the rear of Exchange Block, on Third Street, and fitted it for entting and paeking pork, where they handled about three thousand porkers, at a cost of one dollar and ninety-one cents per one hundred pounds net, or an average of less than four dollars per head. The produet went to
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MARTIN TUTTLE
New York, but so difficult were the means of getting to market, the highest price in New York for the season being two dollars and a half for the best net pork, their profit for the season was fifty-six dollars, or eleven dollars for each partner. The partnership was too large, the profits too small, and they quit.
In 1862, Martin built the first exclusive meat packing house in the town. It was the building now ocenpied in part by the Central State Bank, on Fifth Street. The war demand for provi- sions began to be felt, and prices were more remunerative, the long distance to railroads, bad roads, and cost of transportation, how- ever, absorbed nearly all of the profit. The father, Martin and Sam., were all in it. They bought hogs on foot, and the killing was done by Albert Grefe, at his slaughter house. They also bought from farmers hogs that had been killed and dressed on the farm. They cut and packed that season about thirty-five hundred hogs, and Sam. Cope, who was a clerk in their store, bossed the job. Sam. Tuttle concluded pork packing was mighty poor busi- ness. He quit and went back to Farmington for a time, but finally drifted back again to Des Moines, and went into the artificial stone making business.
In 1870, Martin formed a partnership with S. A. Robertson, in the stone and lime business. Their quarry was at Earlham. They inade a contract to furnish stone for the foundation of the new Capitol, and did a heavy business until 1880, when Martin retired, and became a contractor for public work of the city, which con- sisted mostly of paving.
In 1871, he was elected Mayor of the city, and served one term. He was a Democrat, yet the popular vote of the city was Repub- lican, as evidenced in the election of Captain M. T. Russell, a Republican, for City Marshal. He verified the faith of business men and taxpayers, in his business capacity, honesty and integrity, by giving them a sample of good civic government.
In 1881, he formed a partnership with B. C. White in the Cap- ital City Flour Mill, at Third and Market. In 1883, he retired from active commercial business, and devoted his time to the super- vision of his various investments, and living on Easy Street.
In 1888, he was appointed by Mavor W. L. Carpenter a mem- ber of the first Board of Public Works, for the term of three years.
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PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA
In 1895, when the Central State Bank was organized, Tuttle was elected President, and held the place until the end of his life, in November, 1902.
As already stated, he was a Democrat, but not a politician. He sought no publie office. The only two he held were in response to an expressed public sentiment, regardless of politics. During the later years of his life, he was a member of the Grant Club.
Socially, he was strongly inclined to domesticity. His home was an ideal one. To be a blessing to it, to his children, to the community in which he lived, seemed to be the sole purpose of his life. Firm in his convictions, he was also broad-minded and tol- erant respecting the opinion of others. As a citizen, he was highly esteemed for his sterling integrity and reliability in word and deed. He was an enthusiastic lover of Nature in all her multifarious forms. The woods and riversides were favorite resorts ; birds and animals his coveted companions. The most treasured memories of him by his children and grandchildren are of frequent, often daily, rambles with him in the woods and fields, during his later years, and the interesting stories related of birds, animals and the various interesting scenes met in his travels.
Religiously, in early life, he was a member of the Methodist Church, but in later years he abjured all denominational creeds, yet he was of reverent spirit. Hle abhorred hypocrisy and falsity in all their forms. He measured character by truth. The Fatherhood of God and Brotherhood of Man was good enough religion for him.
October Twenty-seventh, 1907.
SAMUEL GRAY
D ESERVING of mention as an old-timer, who came to Polk County at the beginning of things, was Samuel Gray, or "Uncle Sammy," as everybody called him.
Born in Franklin County, Pennsylvania, June Nineteenth, 1811, of Cork Irish parentage, on the father's side, he passed the years of childhood with his parents, who removed to Jefferson County, Ohio, when he was quite young. His father was a weaver, and Samuel had little to do but attend the common school. When nearing his majority, he learned the trade of plastering, which he followed in Ohio until 1848, when, in the Summer of that year, with his wife and eight children, and a friend whose family con- sisted of twelve, started with horse teams for Fort Des Moines. The journey required forty-three days. Their arrival was equal to one-fourth of the population of the little hamlet, which consisted of one hundred and eighty-five persons, largely ehildren. With the exception of three small wooden frame buildings, all the resi- dences were the log cabins which had been occupied by soldiers of the garrison. Two merchandise stores, one that of R. W. Sypher, who had been selling goods at the Trading Post and moved to Sec- ond and Vine, and the other that of B. F. Allen, constituted the business of the town. There were several so-called "groceries," run under permits granted by the County Commissioners, in which spiritous liquor was the principal stock in trade. Martin (X) Tucker's log tavern on Market Street afforded rest and sustenance for strangers "in the most hostile manner," as he used to say.
"Uncle Sammy's" first job was plastering Doctor F. C. Grim- mel's house, which he had erected where Saint Ambrose Church now is, then far outside the limits of the town, surrounded with heavy timber and hazelbrush, and in which he had been living sev- eral months unfinished, to get out of the old Guard House of the garrison, his first home.
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PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA
There was a rapid influx of settlers and increase of buildings, so there was a brisk demand for plastering, but "Sammy" was hamp- ered seriously by the scarcity of lime, as it had to be hauled by teams from Keokuk, or wait the desultory arrival of a river steam- boat. His large family necessitated hustling for support, but he was active, energetic, companionable, a true type of the pioneer, a good workman, and soon got into favor with the community.
In January, 1850, he made a contract to plaster the first Court House, which stood where the Union Depot is now, for one hun- (red and forty-five dollars, the work to be done before April fol- lowing.
In September, 1850, at a meeting of citizens to organize the first school district in Des Moines Township, he was elected one of the School Directors, and at a meeting of the Board of County Commissioners, November Twenty-first, an order was made that, "For the purpose of keeping a district school, the court-room of the Court House belonging to Polk County, William Jones and Samuel Gray take possession of said room on the Twenty-fifth day of November, A. D. 1850, and to retain the same four months, and deliver said room to the Board of Commissioners in as good order as it shall be received, said Jones and Gray to pay for the use of said room the sum of four dollars per month." That is the first record of a township district school in the county. Charles L. Anderson was employed to teach the school. The amusing incidents of his engagement and examination for fitness will be found in the sketch of Madison Young, Secretary of the School Board. (Volume II, page Fifty-three.)
In 1850, "Uncle Sammy" also ran for Justice of the Peace, against L. D. Winchester. Both were Democrats, but the latter won out. The vote was:
Winchester 99
Gray 86
Total .185
At the August election, 1851, Gray was elected County Treas- urer and Recorder, the two offices being then combined, and on the Eleventh, entered upon the duties of the office as the third Treasurer in succession.
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SAMUEL GRAY
In those days, a public office was deemed more an honor than an emolument. There were not Whigs enongh in the county to get an office, anyhow. As an indication of the salaries of the county offices, the record of the quarterly accounting in January, 1852, between B. Rice, County Judge; Samnel Gray, Treasurer and Recorder, and Hoyt Sherman, County Clerk, shows the salary of
Rice, November, 1851, to January Fifth, 1852 ..... $ 84.40 Gray, October Sixth, 1831, to January Fifth, 1852 .. 137.00 Sherman, October Sixth, 1851, to January Fifth, 1832 137.00
Total $358.40
Cash received in part payment for services :
Gray
68.95
Sherman 68.95
Total $176.50
Balance still due them on salaries is as follows :
Rice
$ 45.80
Gray
68.05
Sherman
68.05
Total
$181.90
From this report, it will be seen that the salary of the Treasurer was less than six hundred dollars a year. The difficulty in those days was to get men to take the offices, and they were mostly selected on their qualifications and popularity. The three officers reported here were well known and personally very popular. Hoyt Sherman was a Whig, and was selected because of his superior elerical ability, Rice because of his excellent business capacity, and "Sammy" because everybody was his friend.
October Twenty-fifth, at the first meeting of the first Town Council of Fort Des Moines, and held in the old Court House, he was elected Town Treasurer. In 1853, he was reelected, but soon after resigned, as he was getting too many irons in the fire.
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PIONEERS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA
At the Angust election, 1853, he was reelected County Treas- urer and Recorder, and put on record the original deed of the Uni- ted States Government to the County Commissioners for the land in which the "Original Town of Fort Des Moines" was located. Although dated April Tenth, A. D. 1849, it was held up pending disputes arising from the platting of the town in July, 1846, and selling of town lots immediately thereafter, for it was discovered that the town plat, the west line of which was Eighth Street, lapped over on the preempted claims of Richard Holcomb, Doctor P. B. Fagen, "Jim" Campbell, and others; that the Commissioners had given the town land lying west of Seventh Street embraced in those claims, and to which the Commissioners had no right nor title. Many of the lots had been soll, and before legal title to them could be given, the preemption claims must be confirmed by the entry and sale, through the United States Land Office, which, being done, the Commissioners purchased the preemption claimants' interest in the overlapping lots, and secured title to the town plat, all of which required time. When done, the Government deed was recorded. As the town is still growing, and business encroaches upon land set. apart in the plat for "Market Square," and "Public Square," and the title to some of the reserved places has been questioned, I give the deed as shown by the record :
"THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. "Preëmption Certificate Number 11924.
"To All to Whom These Presents Shall Come, Greeting:
"WHEREAS, Andrew Groseclose, James Mount, and Thomas Black, Commissioners of Polk County, Iowa, have deposited in the General Land Office of the United States a Certificate of the Regis- ter of the Land Office at Iowa City, whereby it appears that full payment has been made by the said Andrew Groseclose, James Mount, and Thomas Black, Commissioners aforesaid, according to the provisions of the Act of Congress, of the Twenty-fourth day of April, 1820, entitled, 'An Act Making Further Provision for the Sale of Publie Lands,' for the Lot Number Five, of Section Four, Lot Number One, and the northwest quarter of the northeast frae- tional quarter of Section Nine, and Lot Number Five of Section
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