USA > Iowa > Report of the organization and first reunion of the Tri-State Old Settlers' Association of Illinois, Missouri and Iowa, 1884 > Part 12
USA > Illinois > Report of the organization and first reunion of the Tri-State Old Settlers' Association of Illinois, Missouri and Iowa, 1884 > Part 12
USA > Missouri > Report of the organization and first reunion of the Tri-State Old Settlers' Association of Illinois, Missouri and Iowa, 1884 > Part 12
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The famous "Black Hawk" purchase was attracting great atten- tion and we found satisfactory evidences that the climate and com- try were as good as its advocates claimed for it. Capt. Fairman and myself made a horseback ride across the "Half Breed Tract" to Ft. Madison, on our way calling on the old war chief, "Black Hawk," who received us kindly and introduced us to his wife and daughter. When he discovered our call was ont of mere curiosity he treated us to a hasty good-bye and we soon reached Ft. Madi- son. Here we found a sprinkle of small houses and Gen. Knapp was building a large hotel. . From a short interview with the Gen- eral we soon learned a high boom had struck his town, as he readily pointed out several $1,000 and $2,000 lots to us. As our pockets
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were nearly empty we did not stay to buy any of his valuable lots, returning to our hospitable log cabin and reported our dis- coveries and delights. By this time the market value of "Half Breed Claims" was growing stronger. Some late news from St. Louis favorable to this valuable reservation made the market lively, and here and there, I made my first investment in Iowa, in a "Half Breed Claim." This done, Capt. Hall and myself improvised a jumper sleigh ride up the Des Moines river. We soon reached the "Grand Rapids," forty miles away. Here the vast water power seemed to challenge comparison and its admiration by Capt. Hall and his associates, caused them'to locate "Keosauqua" at this point. This done I returned to my Pennsylvania home and did not return to Iowa till the first land sale in 1838. By this time I was satisfied to take my chances in Iowa for a home. I ordered a $5,000 in- voice of goods from New York city and they were lost in the Gulf in transit, but being well insured I was not the loser, the stock was duplicated and came forward and was considered the largest assort- ment brought to Iowa at that time.
I presume I am the earliest pork packer and shipper in the State. I supplied the post at "Raccoon Forks" with commissaries and trans- ferred them from St. Louis by steamboat in 1840. I built and run the first flat boat of pork out of the Des Moines river. In all my flat boating I can remember of sinking but three laden with pork and grain and one of them was sunk twice, first at Bentonsport and next at Croton dam, but all was saved and proved satisfac- tory investments, notwithstanding the extra expense caused by shipwreck.
In the spring of 1851 the valley was suffering greatly, owing to the mill obstructions in the river. The great demand for naviga- tion caused me to visit St. Louis and charter the steamer "Jenny Lind and barge," and load them with merchandise supplies for the Des Moines river.
I gave timely notice to the mill owners to have their locks and gates in working order, as the public good of the valley required it, but when we arrived at Farmington we found the locks and gates so dilapidated they would not open. Here the great question of legal right to open was sprung and I responded by commanding Capt. Allen to pull out the gates and go ahead. My order was obeyed and success crowned our efforts. This timely movement proved a blessing to the entire valley, as the navigation of the river from that .
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time was never obstructed until the iron horse was made to super- cede both river and slack-water navigation. In the language of Governor Grimes, this timely and modest movement in behalf of the public good he regarded as one of the great events the people of the valley should ever be proud of.
SLACK-WATER NAVIGATION.
In the next decade was a fruitless effort to slack-water the hand- some Des Moines river. . In this popular enterprise our worthy General Dodge represented the State in Congress, and through his able and popular influence the State obtained a munificent grant of land to slack-water and improve the river.
It has transpired and is now self-evident that General Dodge and the public at large were equally mistaken in soliciting the grant for the object for which it was obtained. But, nevertheless, its history must not be denied a place in the early annals of the State.
With this munificent donation to the State the Des Moines val- ley was assured beyond all peradventure to be the best and grandest portion of all Iowa, hence the soubriquet, "Des Moines Republic," was accorded this beautiful valley, Keosauqua being more centrally situated on this proposed great highway of commerce ; and manufac- tures were naturally attracting considerable attention during the progress of the improvement.
The most prominent officials of the improvement for the State were H. W. Sample, J. H. Bonney and Judge McKay, each in their turn supervising the work as it progressed. The progress of the work became so slow and unsatisfactory that Judge Mckay re- signed his commission and left the State.
Governor Grimes appointed Edwin Manning to fill the vacancy. At this time the Improvement Company claimed of the State $115,- 000, for which they were entitled payment in lands. As soon as Manning's commission was announced President Johnson was on hand to receive his quota of lands, alleging it was merely a clerical act I was desired todo, as the company needed funds. The hitherto usual way was to sign certificates entitling the holder to payment in lands at $1.25 per acre.
This easy and convenient method had been adopted until nearly a million of acres had been expended and very little improvement was accomplished. Accordingly Commissioner Manning thought it best to examine books and accounts and see whether the com. pany had earned the lands they claimed.
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At once the President and Commissioner Manning proceeded to the examination of the entire work, books and accounts, pertain- ing to the slack-water improvement.
The finale and result of this examination was, the Navigation Com- pany consented to a rebate of their account against the improve- ment of the snug sum of $75,000, and a further stipulation was also agreed upon between the President of the company and Com- missioner Manning that the remaining $40,000 was not due and payable until slack-water navigation was completed to Keosauqua.
This was the first settlement ever made with the slack-water company.
Subsequently the affairs of this improvement with this company were adjusted by an act of the Legislature and the remaining lands of the grant were appropriated to aid the Valley Railroad, and thus ended the slack-water enterprise, that had hitherto been successful in other States, and our people had fondly hoped for the magnificent growth that had been pictured and painted by that eminent, heroic statesman and politician, President Clark, of New York, who represented the slack-water company from its commencement. Under the administration of this famous General Clark, the Valley was made redolent with all the popular enterprises of the day and it had a feasible appearance for a time and gained . the favor of the people, But its slow and expensive progress soon settled the ques- tion that it was from the start a misconception and a mistake as the progress and improvements of the age had already superceded the old and slow slack-water navigation. . Had this munificent grant been obtained for a State or National railroad, from Keokuk up the Des Moines valiey, with branches running west at prominent points, it is easy to see now how different would have been the result.
The city of Keokuk to-day, doubtless, would have been what Kansas City now is in population and business suroundings.
OPENING NAVIGATION IN 1851.
.It was the great event of the times, as it proved a grand bonanza to the valley. It was doubtless the more appreciated from the fact that several years had elapsed during which transportation and com. merce of the valley had been limited to prairie schooners and flat- boats. This method, though slow and sure, was the best the valley afforded while river obstructions existed.
When the "Jennie Lind" reached Des Moines, from St. Louis, with a full cargo of supplies, it opened both the hearts and purses
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of the merchants of the city. A reception was tendered Captain Allen and myself for our succesful voyage and all the hospitalities of the city bestowed. A company was soon formed, a boat pur- chased and put in the St. Louis trade.
These sketches are intentionally as short as the subjects will - admit of. I deem it proper and right to give as good a showing on personal qualities of those named as the subject will bear. In my intercourse and criticism of accounts with the Des Moines Naviga- tion Company I do most generously accord to General Clark and President Johnson all the courtesies known to gentleman-and here state our negotiations and intercourse, while perfecting the famous settlement before spoken of, the most cordial good feeling existed between us.
Governor Grimes, Representative Coolbaugh and Judge Nourse took particular interest with me in protecting the State in all its equitable rights.
These retrospective glances show us how imperfect and unedu- cated the youthful mind is and as age and human progress obtain -- the lights are opened upon us to "see ourselves as others see us."
"THE PIONEER PRESS."
RESPONSE OF THOS. "GREGG, EsQ.
The subject to which I am assigned is one of too great magni- tude to be properly handled in the ten minutes allowed me. Yet I will endeavor to confine myself within the allotted time-leaving much unsaid that I might wish to say. I began my career in a printing office 56 years ago as devil and as editor two years later. The early printers-Faust and his successors, must have been a bad set. They all had devils to work for them; and each office was known to have a hell-sheol we will now call them, thanks to the latest revisers, for the other always seemed a hard word. The creaking wooden press was then in use in the west, and to put the ink on the types two big balls were used-nigger heads they were called, with the wool inside. Steam presses had not then come into use west of Ohio even if yet invented, and such widely read journals as the Cincinnati Gazette and the St. Louis Republican were content to use presses that could throw off only a few hundred sheets an hour. On the day I first landed on the bank of the
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Mississippi river at Warsaw, April, 1836, Illinois had, I think not more than a dozen or fifteen newspapers within her limits; indeed, twenty-one years later, in 1857, they were counted at thirty seven. Missouri had, perhaps, over half as many; and what is now the great state of Iowa with its probable one thousand news- papers, sailing out from every ambitious village, from the Missouri line to Dakota; and Minnesota had-can you guess how many? just one, away up in its northeast corner at Dubuque. How many there are now teeming from the presses of these three states I dare not guess. Steam power has superceded muscle in propelling them all over the land; the ink ball has given place to the roller; and the mail and the telegraph and the telephone are supplying their columns with subject matter at a rate that even Franklin never dreamed of. Permit me here to digress, to say that in my view there are too many newspapers at the present day; too many sure- ly for the good of the publishers and too many for the best interests of the public. Could the energy and talent and capital now used in giving a sickly existence to three or five be concentrated on one, that one would best supply the wants of the people and save from impending collapse the pockets of many publishers. Draw a line of circumference a hundred miles distant from Keokuk as a center, and I can but remember three newspapers within the circle in 1836. One of these was the Bounty Land Register at Quincy, by Richard M. Young, judge and afterwards U. S. senator. The two others were at Jacksonville, the Spectator by Samuel S. Brooks, and the Patriot by James G. Edwards. A few papers were taken from the east and read fifteen days to a month after date. Notably among these were Mordecai Moses Noah's and James Watson Webb's papers in New York City, Niles Register at Baltimore, the National Intelligencer at Washington, and the Richmond Enquirer. In addition to these a few western papers were read; the Cincinnati Gazette by that able journalist and critic, Charles Hammond, succeeded by Judge John C. Wright; the Louisville Fournal by the poet and wit, George D. Prentice; the Missouri Republican by the venerable Nathaniel Paschal; and the San- gamo Fournal at Springfield. That irrepressible Baptist minister, traveller, writer, and western historian and geographer, Rev. John M. Peck, also publislied the Western Watchman, down at Rock Spring, Illinois, which was read extensively along the Mississippi valley. Mentioning the Samgamon Journal reminds me of an anecdote which it will do to tell here as illustrating newspaper methods as well as ways of newspaper readers. A certain citizen
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of Hancock county was long a subscriber to that good old Whig journal. He was known at Springfield to be good, yet he was careless and slow. He had the paper. right along for ten years without paying, when he received a dun for $30 (the terms being $2 a year in advance or $3 if not in advance. ) He paid it, and told the joke himself laughingly adding: "But I had to sell a cow to do it." That man was a good citizen, honest and for many years a justice of the peace. After, the Carthagenian at Carthage and the Western Adventurer at Montrose, then Fort Des Moines, Wisconsin territory, which were the first in the counties of Han- cock, and Lec, and with both of which I was a factotum, Newspapers rapidly sprung up in these three states. Secretary J. G. Clark, about that time had commenced the Wisconsin Territorial" Ga- zette up at Belmont, east of the river. When Iowa was set off he removed it to Burlington and renamed it the lowa Territorial Gazette, and it is still continued now simply as the Burlington Ga- zette. This was followed by the Patriot at Fort Madison, suc- ceeded by the Hawkeye by Mr. Edwards, and its removal to Bur- lington.
Thus the Adventurer, the Gazette and the Dubuque Visitor, were the only ones in 1837, north [of Palmyra and west to the Pacific ocean. Mt. Pleasant, Des Moines, Omaha, Ottumwa, St. Joe, Kansas City, Topeka, Lincoln, and a host of other cities, large and small, and now teeming with numerous mammoth dailies were simply nowhere. That great auriferous stream now steadily pour- ing its riches over the Nevadas and the Rockies and out the Golden gate, had not yet begun to inundate the world-San Francisco be- ing an almost unknown Mexican port. One thousand, yes, two thousand newspapers now lie scattered all over these three states and the numerous states and territories beyond the vast wilderness and the great American desert of the maps of forty years ago. Such has been newspaper progress since your young state of Iowa became a territory. But I must hasten to close. Since the Car- thagenian ceased to exist, the county of Hancock alone has support- ed more than fifty newspapers! Who can tell me how many have been ushered into existence in this county of Lec or that of Clark ? Of course the most of them have gone the way of all newspapers.
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Their names even many of them cannot be recalled; whilst their ambitious publishers are scattered the country over seeking new fields to conquer.
But who can count -- ah, there's the rub !- who can count the
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fortunes that have been made in all these enterprises? Count! It requires no counting. Figures are dumb before the problem.
My friends, drop a tear with me here! Look into the away- down depths of the unfathomable, if you can, and try to realize the budding hopes blasted-the magnificent air castles cycloned-the towering talents wasted-the many fortunes (inherited, begged, borrowed or stolen ) dissipated as the morning dew-the debts in- curred and never paid-the mortgages foreclosed, the sheriffs' writs executed, the groans uttered, the broken sighs that have gone forth on the breeze, the bad thoughts engendered and the bad words said; all the results of these ventures and failures. The subject is a solemn one. Send us your sympathy and if you should ehance to meet one of these unfortunates, hand him a dime. It may serve to fill an aching void. O, it is a fearful thing to start a newspaper! If you don't believe me, try it, and may the Lord he merciful !
ADDRESS OF SAMUEL GORDON OF HAMILTON, ILL.
MR. PRESIDENT: It [will soon be fifty-four years since we emigrated from New Hampshire and settled in Hancock County, Illinois. At that time, our county contained less than 500 in- habitants, four-fifths; of whom resided within one mile of the Mississippi River. At that time the territory that composes the great states of Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa and all of Dakota, east. of the Missouri River belonged to the territory of Michigan and contained less than 31,000 people, three-fourths of whom were located in the present limits of the state of Michigan. The same area of territory to-day contains more than 7,000,000 of inhabitants. At that time there were , west of the Mississippi River, but two states and one organized territory containing less than 400,000 in- habitants. To-day there are twelve states and eight territories with a population of over fifteen millions. At the time of our emigra- tion to Illinois, we passed by the only Railroad, 16 miles in length that was in operation in the United States. To-day there are in suc- cessful operation over 120,000 miles, twenty per cent. of which is located within the three states represented at this meeting. In December, 1831, my father, purchased a barrel of flour of Isaac R. Campbell at what is now Keokuk, Iowa, which was branded, Cincinnati, Ohio, which at that time was the nearest place to us, that first class flour was made. In the spring and summer of 1838, I resided with my uncle, Timothy Fox at Denmark, Lee Co , Iowa.
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On the 4th day of July of that year, Wisconsin Territory was divided and Iowa Territory created. While at Denmark I attend- ed school a portion of the time; school houses were not plenty then as now. Tomeet the emergency we yoked up the oxen and made a trip to the classic shades of Skunk River timber, about three miles - distant and cut the necessary forks, poles and.bushes, with which a fine, well ventilated schoolroom was made in the corner of the yard. The writing desks and seats were made of slabs obtained from the saw mill in Augusta. This school house answered the purpose very well except when it rained. Then wetook a vacation until the storm was over. Our course of study was Webster's Speller, Adam's Arithmetic, Smith's Grammar, Woodbridge's Geography and penmanship. The teacher was Miss Caroline Smith, afterwards, Mrs. James Reynolds who was a graduate of Philips, Exeter, N. H. Academy. She was a citizen of Keokuk, from 1856 to 1864. Such was the starting point of the grand common school system of Iowa, to-day, a system that she may well be proud of. On the 4th of July, 1838, we helped to celebrate the 62nd anniversary of our National Independence. The Hon. Ed- ward Hill was the orator for the occasion. Among the guests was James W. Grimes of Burlington, afterwards one of Iowa's most distinguished governors and United States senator. Among the families of the early settlers of Denmark, we recall the following: Timothy Fox, Louis Epps, Curtis Shedd, Charles Whitmarsh, John O. Smith, Samuel Houston, Edward and John Hill, William Cooper, Rev. A. Turner, Isaac Fields and over the creek in Washington township, were Charles Field, the Bullards, Lawyers and others. At the time of our settlement in Hancock County in October, 1831, the county seat was located at Montebello, near the foot of the rapids. The courts were held in a hewed log house owned by Luther Whitney. In the corner of the court room was railed off a suitable space in which were displayed sundry glass de- canters filled with what was in that day termed "the joy of life" . for the express use of the court, bar, and such others as could afford to indulge. The following were the officers of the court; Circuit Judge Hon. Richard M. Young, afterwards United States Senator; Wesley Williams, clerk; Edson Whitney, sheriff, and Thomas Ford, county attorney, who was afterwards Governor of the State. Among the distinguished members of the bar were O. H. Brown- ing, Archibald Williams, William A. Richardson, Cyrus Walker and C. A. Warren. On one occasion, in the spring of 1832, the court-room was used as a fort to protect the inhabitants from an ex-
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pected Indian massacre. The spring of 1831 was very late, the settlers had no seed corn except the Tennessee gourd seed twenty- four-rowed, which required a long season to mature in. When we landed at Montebello, October 20th, the corn was in roasting ears. A few days afterwards a heavy frost spoiled the whole crop for bread. When winter set in there was not one bushel of sound corn in the county. The spring of 1832 we had to send to St. Louis for seed corn and pay at the rate of $4 a bushel. The crop for 1832 was good, corn yielding from fifty to seventy-five bushels per acre and well matured. In 1835 our postoffice became vacant by reason of the death of Major Bedell, the late postmaster At that time the idea of civil service reform had not got into practical use. Amos Kendall wielded the appointing power at Washington. The decree had gone forth that all Government officers must be Jack- son or Administration men, and unless complied with the office would be discontinued. As there were but four postoffices in the county at that time none could be well spared. At the preceding Presidential election in 1832, thirty-three votes were cast. Henry Clay had thirty and Andrew Jackson had three. The lapse of time did not add to the strength of the Administration in this locality. One of the three, Enoch Hankins, had killed a man in the court-room and was committed to the log jail at Quincy to await trial. Another of the three had gone west to find more room. The only Administration left was our friend, the county surveyor, who was well qualified to fill the office, but the wife could not read or write and consequently could not attend to the duties of the office in her husband's absence, which often happened to be from two or three weeks at a time in attending to the calls from home as county surveyor. A meeting of the citizens was called and the matter was arranged that the county surveyor as the only Administration man should receive the appointment and thereby keep the office from being discontinued. It was further arranged that E. D. Brown, a zealous Whig, should be the Deputy and the postmaster agreed that he would not tell how matters stood. Thus postal matters stood until the death of the postmaster, December, 1836, when the late E. D. Brown was appointed postmaster and held the office until 1840. Our mail facilities were a horseback mail once a week from Quincy to the head of the Rapids at Nauvoo. John Cochran, Sr., was the mail contractor. The offices supplied were Ursa Green Plains, Montebello and after 1834, Warsaw was added. Let- ters were four weeks in coming from New York or New England and cost twenty-five cents each for postage.
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To-day there are but five persons in Montebello township that were residents there in 1832 ._ First, Mrs. James Gray, in the eighty- ninth year of her age, a native of Boston, Mass., and a resident of Illinois since 1819. Second, her daughter, Mrs. A. L. Miller, a na- tive of Randolph county . Third, Mrs. Jane Steele, in her eightieth year, a native of Maine and a resident of Illinois since 1818. Fourth, C. L. Cochran, a native of the State, born Febru- ary, 20th, 1823. Fifth, your speaker, a native of Peterboro, N. H., and a resident of Illinois since 1831. Prior to 1840 the habitations of the pioneers were almost wholly of logs, generally one room, all the way from twelve to twenty feet square, usually but one story in height, with a huge chimney in one end, of stone foundation and cat and clay top. The cats were usually split out of oak about one inch square, laid up cob-house fashion and plastered inside and out with clay mortar. The first cooking stove introduced into the county was ordered by my father from Boston, Mass. The order was sent in July, 1832. The stove arrived in the spring of 1833, only nine months on the road via New Orleans. The freight bill was $8.80 in excess of the cost of the stove in Boston. The first Sabbath-school was organized in the county in 1832 and the first temperance society was organized in 1833. I belonged to both or- ganizations and to-day I believe I am the only surviving member in the county. One more incident and I will close: About the tenth day of January, 1835, the snow had been falling all day and was about eighteen inches in depth. About half an hour by sun in the evening a four-horse team with an old-fashioned Pennsylvania wagon snugly covered in, drove up to the gate and requested lodg- ings for the night, which was readily granted, supposing that there were but one or two persons aboard. When the end curtain was raised a family of eight persons came in view, swelling our house- hold from four to twelve persons, as it were, in the twinkling of an eye. The new arrival proved to be from Philadelphia, Penn., and had been nine weeks on the road. The family consisted of a man and his wife and two sons, half grown, a son-in-law and his wife, a niece, a young lady and Jane, the Irish girl. Our accommoda- tions were limited, only one room sixteen feet square and summer kitchen ten feet square. In the arrangements for the night the boys cheerfully surrendered their trundle bed to the old folks, the six juveniles of the household were sent up the ladder and occupied the loft, the son-in-law and wife were assigned to the summer kitchen. Our new friends remained with usįtill Spring and then settled in the neighborhood. Before our new married friends left fortheir new
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