USA > Iowa > Report of the organization and first reunion of the Tri-State Old Settlers' Association of Illinois, Missouri and Iowa, 1884 > Part 15
USA > Illinois > Report of the organization and first reunion of the Tri-State Old Settlers' Association of Illinois, Missouri and Iowa, 1884 > Part 15
USA > Missouri > Report of the organization and first reunion of the Tri-State Old Settlers' Association of Illinois, Missouri and Iowa, 1884 > Part 15
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29
Their rallying cry was:
Away! away! o'er the broad domain, This was the free and joyous strain ; There are clearer skies than ours, afar; . We will shape our course by a brighter star; There are plains whose verdure no foot has pressed, And whose wealth is for the first brite guest.
88
We will rear our homes under trees that glow, As if gems were fruitage of every bow, And sit in the shadows at day's decline And watch our herds as they run at will Through the green Savannah, all bright and still.
All our own shall the forests be, As to the bound of the roe buck, free, None shall say, "Hither, no further pass."
We will track each step through the wavy grass.
We will chase the elk in his speed and might, And bring proud spoils to our hearth at night; We will give the name of our fearless race, To each bright river whose course we trace.
And will leave our memory with torrents and floods. And the path of our clearing in the boundless woods; And our works into many a lake's green shore, Where the Indians grave lay alone before.
And this was literally fulfilled, for the early settlers explored the boundaries of the Great Lakes, navigated the magnificent rivers of our continent, and established commerce upon them, by,-first, the keel boats, drawn up with ropes by hand, and returning floated with the current; they cut their way through forests and over `mountains, opening up the roads to the rich productive mines of lead ore, of gold and silver, of iron and coal, rich and unlimited in quantity. They explored the boundless prairies, revealing the deep rich soil, their cooling springs, running streams, their silvery lakes, and their foaming water-fall.
They were often called upon in the hour of danger to defend their humble homes from wild beasts, and from the more than savage Indian warriors, at the peril of their lives. They founded cities, opened up farms in the rich valley, and on the fertile prairie.
When the good news of their success and discoveries reached the old homes, and emigration flowed to the west, the pioneers gladly welcomed the new comers, and joined hearts and hands with them in liberal and earnest measures, and unitedly we have established schools and colleges, law and order, justice and liberty in all this land.
And how graciously has God blessed our labors, and what mag.
.
89
nificent results do we behold to-day. Our country, the grandest on the globe, the freest and most prosperous government known to man. We have the best common school system, the largest pro- portion of prosperous and intelligent farmers, merchants and labor- ers. We shall reap this season, one of the grandest harvests that God ever vouchsafed to the tiller of the soil not only in its extent, but in its variety of productions. We publish more books and more newspapers, with more appreciative readers, than any country in the old world.
This is the fortieth year of my residence in Iowa; in 1845, after a residence of twelve years in Galena, Ill., I crossed the 'father of waters,' to this city, for my permanent residence. In 1853, I opened a store with a stock of hardware and tinner's stock, which I con- ducted twenty-eight years.
As the years pass on and I grow older, I value more and more the friendship of the old friends with whom I have fought the battle of life, the effects of which begin to tell on the vitality and energy of my system. We are growing old, I hope gracefully.
And now, as the old settlers draw near the close of a useful and successful life, they can depart with the pleasant consciousness of having done their duty well, leaving to younger men of strong hearts and willing hands a legacy (not to be depised) of a united and prosperous country, with the responsibility resting on them, and the privilege and opportunity to further develope the glorious God-given possibilities of an American citizenship.
Thanking you again for your remembrance of me, and wishing you one and all a most enjoyable time, I subscribe myself,
Your most obedient servant,
J. MACLAY.
GALENA, ILL., Sept. 25th, 1885.
MR. J. H. COLE, Secretary.
KEOKUK, IOWA.
DEAR SIR :- I much regret that I will not be able to meet the old settlers at your place on the 30th inst. I would like well to see the old pioneers that will be there. I passed the Lower Rapids 62 years ago last June in a keel boat on my way to the Upper Missis- sippi lead mines. I was well acquainted with the gentleman whose name your fine city bears.
Yours, D. SMITH HARRIS.
90
FAIRFIELD, IOWA, Sept. 25th, 1885.
J. HI. COLE, EsQ., Secretary.
KEOKUK, IOWA.
MY DEAR SIR :- I have great pleasure in acknowledging receipt of your letter of the 24th, in which you so generously offer THE JOURNAL a tent in "Newspaper Row" during the meeting of the Association.
Your kindness is fully appreciated, and I regret exceedingly that I am unable to avail myself of the privilege, owing to a press of business and important duties at home. I shall entertain the hope that at some future meeting of your Association, I will have the pleasure of being present and participating in the festivities. I have been a resident of this section of lowa for thirty-five years, have been identified with the newspaper business in this Con- gressional District for over twenty years, and feel a lively interest in the assembling of old settlers in annual meetings. I trust the 2nd Reunion of the Tri-State Old Settlers' Association may be a grand success, and be perpetuated from year to year.
Again thanking you for your kindness and courtesy, I remain,
Very Respectfully, R. H. MOORE.
NEW YORK, Sept. 25th, 1885.
C. F. DAVIS, J. M. REID and others,
KEOKUK, IOWA.
Gentlemen :-- I have the pleasure to acknowledge the receipt of your invitation to attend the Second Reunion of the old settlers' of Illinois, Missouri and Iowa to be held in Keokuk Sept. 30th, 1885.
I very much regret that business engagements will deprive me of the pleasure of meeting with you on that interesting occasion. Those who were old settlers when I settled in Iowa more than thirty years since, have passed away. The names of many of them will be remembered as distinguished citizens who did much to lay the foundation for the wonderful prosperity which ha, attended the State.
I hope to have the pleasure of attending your meeting nest ye. and will arrange my plans to do so.
Wishing great success to the meeting on the 20th inst., Iam, Very truly yours, CYRUS BUSSEY.
91
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, } WASHINGTON, D. C., SEPT. 25th, 1885. 5
MR. EDWARD JOHNSTONE,
KEOKUK, IOWA.
DEAR SIR :- I am, in receipt of your invitation to attend the Second Ammal Reunion of the old settlers of Illinois, Missouri and Iowa to be held in Rand Park, Keokuk, Iowa, Wednesday, Sept. 30th, 1885. If I could do so without disregard of important in- terests now requiring my attention I should be happy to accept. A.s I cannot do so, I beg now to acknowledge the courtesy and good will of your. Association and to extend to them my grateful thanks.
The pioneers who subdued the wilderness to the needs of civiliza- tion can never justly be forgotten. As builders up-rather than destroyers,-making the wilderness blossom as the rose rather than turning civilization into waste places, they deserve to be kept in eternal remembrance.
The founders of the great states of Illinois, Missouri and Iowa were mighty men in their day and generation, and their works speak nobly for them. .
I sympathize cordially in the spirit of the occasion, and express the wish it may be completely successful .
Yours very truly, SAM. J. RANDALL.
MUSCATINE, lowA., Sept. 25th, 1885.
Messrs. C. F. DAVIS, J. M. REID, B. S. MERRIAM and others.
GENTLEMEN :-- I am in receipt of your kind invitation to attend the reunion of the earlier settlers of the states of Illinois, Missouri and lowa, to be held at Keokuk on the 30th. It is but another evidence that needed not the proof that time and space do not ob- literate from your memories those who were with you in the first settling up of this part of our country. And as these anniversaries return in the autumnal season of the year, when the ripened har- vests are being garnered, it is meet that those of us who are in the twilight of our years should come together and talk of the days long ago, when we were "first acquaint ;" who were among the first to tread the virgin soil of Iowa long before Horace Greely said "Go west, young man."
92
In some of our more eastern states they have what they call "family reunions," somewhat limited in numbers, but perhaps in harmony with the contracted limit of their territory, and corres- ponding with the harvest seasons here and there. Here the heart by nature taught, becomes enlarged, even expanded, taking in a much wider range and more boundless vision. You would gather" together not only families, but the marching host of an empire, and would marshal the old settlers and their descendants from a trio of states, than whose beautiful stars none shine more brightly in the glorious diadem of our nation, or glitters with a more resplendent lustre in the blue field of "old glory." How pleasant the thought that we were permitted to march in the light of the "Star of Empire" as westward it took its way, and are now living to enjoy with so many others, the rich fruits and the golden harvests of the seeds we then planted, and rejoice in the sweet songs of the "harvest home" and the mutual congratulations of these soul-stirring reunions .
As old soldiers like to call their grand-children around them and fight their battles over again, so we must, to call up the reminis- cences of a half century ago. None of us in our wildest dreams would have dared to have foretold such a magnificent future for our adopted land, our new homes; a more charming, delighful. in- heritance was never given by the great Giver to his children.
May we then, hand down, to our children's children, this glorious heritage, as untarnished as it came from His hand to us.
Regretting exceedingly, that I must be deprived of the pleasure of meeting with you at this time, I felt that an acknowledgment of your very kind invitation was due you.
I am sincerely and truly yours, JOSEPH BRIDGMAN.
ST. Louis, Mo. Sept. 25th, 1885.
MR. C. F. DAVIS,
Chairman Invitation Committee,
Dear Sir :- I am much obliged for your invitation to attend the Reunion of old settlers to be held at Rand Park in Keokuk. It would give me great pleasure to do so. I have many most pleasant recollections connected with my residence in Keokuk from 1850 to
93
Jan'y, 1862. There were lots of "fair women and brave men" there in those days, and there was an amount of good feeling and friendly interest in each other that does not seem to exist in these fast and selfish days.
It is possible I may be able to come, but I am not certain.
Yours very truly,
CHARLES PARSONS.
DES MOINES, Ia., Sept. 25, 1885 C. F. DAVIS, EsQ.,
Chairman.
KEOKUK, IOWA.
DEAR SIR :- The compliment of an invitation to attend the second annual reunion of the "old settlers" of Illinois, Missouri and Iowa to be held at Keokuk on the 30th inst,, is received and highly prized.
Nothing could afford me greater satisfaction than to meet the men who pioneered into this grand country, and have contributed largely to reclaim it from barbarism and start it on the gallant march to civilization, educational, industrial and commercial supremacy, did not indisposition of family and other engagements prevent my attendance.
Trusting that the occasion may be crowned with a spontaneous out-pouring of the sturdy pioneers of the three grand common- wealths, and that the social and intellectual entertainments will ex- ceed your most sanguine expectations, I am,
Your obedient servant,
WM. H. MERRITT.
MUSCATINE, LA, Sept. 26, 1885.
C. F. DAVIS, EsQ.
Chairman Invitation Committee.
KEOKUK, IOWA. 1
DEAR SIR :- Your kind invitation to be present at the Second Annual Reunion of the old settlers of Illinois, Missouri and lowa,
94
to be held in your city on the 30th inst. was received. Our court com- mences on the 29th, and I am afraid I will be unable to leave. If I can possibly get off, I shall endeavor to be present on that occasion, and participate with you on an occasion so full of interest and gratification.
Very truly yours, W. F. BRANNAN.
UNITED STATES SENATE. WASHINGTON, D. C. Sept. 26, 1885 5
MY DEAR SIR ---- On my return from Montana, I find yours of Sept. 9th, inviting me to attend the old settlers reunion at Keokuk on Sept. 30.
I very much regret that my engagements will prevent my at- tending, but I desire to return 'my sincere thanks for your kind in- vitation.
Very truly, &c.,
G. G. VEST.
WASHINGTON, Sept. 26, 1885. C. F. DAVIS, Chairman, etc.,
My Dear Sir : - I have your kind invitation to your home if I attend the "Tri-State Old Settler's Reunion" on the 30 inst. It is impossible for me to express my regret at not being able to attend your meeting and accept your kind invitation. My affection and love for the old settlers is that of the love for brothers and sisters that I have been long separated from. I have looked forward with great hope of meeting many of the few now left by time's sickle, but I must wait another year, and if my life is spared that long, I will be with you, if able to get there. There is no pleasure on this earth that I would prize more than to meet the old settlers, and especially the Executive Committee of the Association.
I met W. N. Grover first, nearly fifty years ago, at Louisville, Kentucky, on the return of a visit to my father in Kentucky. We came on steamboats together to Warsaw. I formed a warm at. tachment then for Grover, which has remained ever since. This. C. Sharp was the great leader of the Anti-Mormon fight against
.
95
Joe Smith's legion. I see fully daguerreotyped in my mind's eye Sharp, who was one of Gen. Brockman's aids in the Nauvoo battle, quietly sitting on his horse, apparently unconcerned, in the middle of the fight, and the bullets about him as thick as a com- pany of sharp-shooters could fire them. All the rest of the com- mittee are old friends. To meet them and talk of old times and incidents would be a pleasure, indeed. In 1836, Col. Wm. Pat- terson and I went over into Clark County to visit some old friends, and stopped over night with Capt. McCoy, who lived then about half way between St. Francisville and the then County seat. I recollect our host there telling us about the duel between Tom Benton and Lucas, in which Lucas .was killed; he was a great friend of Benton's and was present at the duel.
I want you to remember me to the old friends. If I canmot be with them in body, I will be in spirit, and if I can in any way serve any of them here, I will be glad to do it.
Your Friend,
HAWKINS TAYLOR.
UNITED STATES LAND OFFICE. - CHEYENNE, WYOMING, Sept. 26th, 1885. 5 C. F. DAVIS, Chairman.
MY DEAR SIR :- Your very kind and special invitation to be present at the old settlers' reunion received. . I had been apprised that the enjoyable event was contemplated, through the columns of the daily press of Keokuk and also through the invitation of J. II. Cole, Esq.
I recognize with gratitude this special invitation, as I assure you I appreciate the kind recognition of the committee, of one who has been a citizen of Keokuk for 24 long years and has enjoyed the good-will and regard of its citizens and of those who sojomn in its neighborhood.
How pleased I would be to be with you on the 30th How happy ! would be to look into your genial and well remembered faces and take each by the hand and enjoy a pleasant "welcome home." When thinking of your gathering, I am frank to admit it, it makes me homesick.
96
Perhaps at some distant day I may be one of you again, and may the influence of old associations, friendships, conflicts, frictions, recognitions and social life all tend to cement and strengthen what there is in a man; to bind closer together those who for many years have been side by side in the walks of life. I wish, hope and pray the Reunion will be a success, and while I cannot be there in person, I will in spirit. I can but say, sincere regards to all and everybody .
Truly yours, HENRY W. ROTHERT.
VICKSBURG, MISS., Sept. 27th, 1885.
MR. EDWARD JOHNSTONE, President.
MY DEAR SIR :- Sometime since I received an invitation to attend your Reunion at Keokuk to be held the 30th inst. I had determined to attend that meeting and revive the memories of the past, but along this journey of life we are subjects of disappoint- ment. I left my home in Chicago, Ill., on the 12th inst., for Jack- son, Miss., to take care of a suit in the Chancery Court, involving a large amount of money, with an attachment on 250,000 acres of land. I expected to have been through with that, in time to be at your Reunion, but fate and the law's delay determined otherwise. I did not get through with my suit till last evening-and came here this morning. I find myself "stuck" here for the day and shall not get home in time to visit you on that occasion when there will be a happy meeting of old settlers and old friends. There are no friends like OLD friends. How I shall miss the pleasure I had anticipated and hoped for, I cannot tell you. I want to tell you of many things, past long years since. I came west in the summer of 1835, fifty years ago, half a century, can it be possible? How time flies! "We take no note of time, but from its loss." Yet I have kept some note of things; a journal, daily, for over sixty years ( that shows me what most men call an old man, ) 74 years old, and NOT ASHAMED of my past life.
I took possession of "Old Fort Des Moines," ten miles north of your city, on the 1st of June, 1837, when the United States troops left for Leavenworth, leaving me there alone, so far as white men were concerned, with about three thousand Indians around me =- the Sac & Fox Nation, I soon formed the acquaintance of Old Black
97
Hawk (called Muk-e-tah-Mosseka-ka ) and his wife ( Mo-a-e-quah) and his son Nash-cash-kuk; and old Keokuk, (Pash-c-pa-ho) and others, Frank Labessier, the half-breed, &c., &c. Then came in the Kilbournes and Colemans, and many others who proved fast friends during eight months of fighting troubles with the border ruffians sent by the Reddick ring from St. Louis to dispossess us under the " Spanish Claim."
That fall we laid out the town of Keokuk, and the town of Mon- trose. The WRIGHTS will never forget the hog-stealing cases tried before old justice Gaines, of Keokuk, who now lies buried in your cemetery, and who was a well meaning man, but much gov- erned by ! the early practices of that early period. They, (the Wrights) will not forget the whiskey jug that stood by the seat of justice, and the tin cup passed from time to time to the jurors called to try the " thieves," ( for they were not examining for a probable cause to bind over to a higher tribunal, but the J. P. claimed and exercised the power to TRY and punish all malefactors. ) Do the Wrights remember the occasion> The good old man ( Wright) has gone to the happy home above, but I believe some of the fam- ily still live north of and near your city, and I hope will be at your meeting. I cannot say more now, but hope to meet your association. at some future time.
Please express to your Association my regrets that I am unable to be with you at this meeting.
I enclose you my resemblance of the 50 years agone and now, that you may see how the young man looked when he emigrated to the west and fought prairie fires, and how he looks now, while yet hale and hearty, and still fighting "the world, the flesh and the devil."
With kindest regards, I am truly,
Yours, HENRY S. AUSTIN.
HASTINGS, NEBRASKA, Sept. 27th, 1885. J. H. COLE,
KEOKUK, IOWA .. .
DEAR SIR :- I have just received your kind invitation which was forwarded to me at this place. I met with a serious accident about a month ago, which will prevent my attending the meeting at your place on the 30th, much to my regret.
98
I thank you very much for your kind invitation, and if it were possible, I would surely be there. Give my best respects to all the "old settlers" and friends.
I would like to respond to the toast assigned me, as I run the first steamboat up the Iowa River, and the first up the Des Moines, to my best recollection .
I hope to meet all the old friends at the annual meeting. With best respects to all, I am,
Yours respectfully, WILLIAM PHELPS.
CIRCLEVILLE, O., Sept. 28, 1885.
Hon. J. M. REID, Com. Invitation :
Dear Sir :- I received your very kind invitation to be present at your Tri-State Reunion on the 30th. I fully proposed to accept in person, Mrs. W. also desiring to go and visit old friends, but, I find myself to-day, so pressed with delayed business in court that I am obliged to send my regrets,-the more sincere, for the great reason and desire I have to once more see the places and faces I have never forgotton to love and respect. If I should add another word, it would be to you for the extreme kindness of an invitation that I am not forgotten. Very respectfully,
Your obedient servant, .
. A. T. WALLING.
MONTGOMERY, ALA., Sept. 28, 1885.
Messrs. C. F. DAVIS, J. M. REID, SAM. KLEIN and others.
Committee :
Gentlemen :-- Thanks for invitation to attend Tri-State Old Settler's Reunion on the 30th prox., at Rand Park, Keokuk, Iowa.
Press of official duty will not permit me to be with you; but al- low me to express the hope that you will have a good day, and that the old settlers may have many reunions and live long to enjoy the blessings which a good providence has vouchsafed to them and to their children.
Let me add a further reflection .-- I came to Keokuk in the year 1854; it was the west then-the far west -- and though not an old man, yet your three states of Illinois, Towa, and Missouri, are now
i
99
no longer on the frontier, but are great Commonwealths in the very heart and center of this great Country.
May they in their wonderful prosperity and increasing power and influence be and always remain STEADFAST to the Union, the Constitution and the Laws.
Very Respectfully, JOHN BRUCE. .
BUFFALO, IOWA, SEPT. 28th, 1885. HON. EDWARD JOHNSTONE, J. H. COLE, AND OTHERS,
Gentlemen :-- Upon my return home I found your kind invita- tion to myself and family to be with you on the 30th inst. And be assured nothing would give me more pleasure than to be with you on that occasion, to again hear talked over our many trials, toils and joys in the first settlement of the "Black Hawk Purchase." And here, where I now sit to write, it was, that the first actual settlement was made between Flint Hills ( Burlington ) and Dubuque, and to-day I reside on the soil I claimed in the spring of 1833. I think that not another such case exists on the river between Keokuk and Dubuque, where the "Claimant" con- tinues to own the property and lived for nearly fifty-three years.
I am glad to say that it is not my infirmities, but other matters that prevent me the pleasure of being with you on that day. My dear friend, Johnstone, I have known you for forty-six or seven years. It is always the pleasant thought of my life to think of, as friends, our departed and much lamented Gen. A. C. Dodge, J. W. Grimes and others, as well as yourself and many others among the living. And again thanking you for your kind remem- brance, I remain,
Yours Very Truly, W. L. CLARK.
MONMOUTH, ILL.S., Sept. 28th, 1885.
MESSRS. C. F. DAVIS AND OTHERS.
GENTS :- I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your kind invitation to attend the reunion of the old settlers of Illinois, Missouri and lowa, to be held at Rand Park in Keokuk, on Wed- nesday, September 30th, 1885, for which I beg you to accept my
100
thanks. And while other and existing engagements will compel me to deny myself the honor and great pleasure a compliance with your invitation would afford me, I need hardly assure you that my heart and best wishes will be with you on that day, and I trust that you will believe me true when I assure you that right dearly would I love to be present in person and join in a review of the past, and recall the memory of the labors, toils and hardships inci- dent to the settlement of a new country, and enjoy with you the ripe fruits of our common toil, which has converted the wild home of the Indian and wild beast into happy habitations for the proud
and predominant race of human kind. I came to Illinois first in summer of 1834, but returned to Kentucky, my native state, and again came to Illinois in the spring of 1839, so you can say that I looked upon the wilds of this great Northwest at a very early day, when the signs of savage life were still apparent on every side, -- indeed the sand had scarcely settled in the moccasin track of the savage .- But under the aggressive influence of education and civil- ization this state of things is greatly changed, and on and across the fertile and then neglected broad acres, now are spread out to the utmost verge of human vision, magnificent farms and stately dwellings. The dim Indian trail has given place to the majestic Railway; the shambling pony has given place to the mighty and wonderfully constructed engine, drawing by its irresistible force the lightning train with its palace cars. Few intelligent persons were then seen in these states, and few indeed, were the demands for transportation, but now many of these railways are of necessity double tracked to transport the constantly increasing current of mankind to and from the busy marts of trade and commerce, and the rich and abundant products of honest and intelligent labor.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.