USA > Iowa > Lee County > Story of Lee County, Iowa, Volume I > Part 33
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In section 16, near the center of Pleasant Ridge Township, not far from an old church and public schoolhouse, is one of the first burial places established in that part of the county. Another old graveyard in this township is located in the east side of section 24, not far from the Denmark Township line.
There are three cemeteries shown in Van Buren Township, one in the west side of section 24, about three miles north of Belfast; one about a mile west of that village, and one a short distance east of Croton.
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In Washington Township there is a cemetery in the north side of section 11, not far from Lost Creek, and one in the south side of section 28, about three miles north of Fort Madison. The latter is known as Fairview Cemetery and contains the graves of several prominent pioneers.
Four cemeteries are shown in West Point Township, one near the middle of section 2, two and one-half miles east of the Town of West Point; the Catholic cemetery immediately south of West Point, in section 5, and two, near each other, in section 30, in the southwest corner of the township.
CHAPTER XXIV
MISCELLANEOUS HISTORY
PIONEERS AND OLD SETTLERS' ASSOCIATION-PERSONAL MENTION OF SOME OF ITS FOUNDERS-THE MORMONS-THEIR EXPULSION- MATTHEW SPURLOCK - CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTIONS - FLOOD AND STORM-ILLUSTRIOUS SONS.
As stated in a previous chapter, the Indian title to the lands of the Black Hawk purchase expired on June 1, 1833. A few white men had settled in what is now Lee County prior to that date. In the fourscore years since the white man acquired full title to the land that scanty population has grown to more than thirty thousand intel- ligent, industrious and cultured people. Few men are now living who witnessed the beginning of development in Lee County. The establishment of schools, the organization of churches, the building of highways, the advent of the railroad, the founding and growth of cities, are all within the memory of the few remaining pioneers.
Some fifty years after the first white man established his residence in Lee County, a few old timers, in discussing the events that had occurred during the preceding half century, decided upon organiz- ing an
OLD SETTLERS' ASSOCIATION
Accordingly an informal meeting was held at the courthouse in Fort Madison on the evening of January 5, 1871, with Philip Viele presiding, and R. W. Pitman, secretary. The following resolutions were adopted :
"Resolved, That this meeting be adjourned to meet at this place on the 13th day of April next, for the purpose of perfecting said organization.
"Resolved, That all old settlers present who were inhabitants of the county on the Ist day of July, 1840, be invited to sign their names, and the time of their coming into the county, to a roll."
Thirty-three men signed the roll at that meeting, viz .: James W. Campbell, Alexander and James Cruikshank, R. W. and Lewis Vol. I-23
35:
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HISTORY OF LEE COUNTY
G. Pitman, J. C. Parrott, Samuel Paschall, John G. Kennedy, E. S. McCulloch, Silas D. Hustead, John H. Douglass, J. A. Casey, Elias Overton, Peter Miller, Jacob Abel, Jacob Vandyke, Cromwell Wil- son, Enoch G. Wilson, Hazen Wilson, James Caldwell, Philip Viele, George L. Coleman, Philotus Cowles, Daniel F. Miller, Robert A. Russell, J. E. Marsell, Isaiah Hale, Robert McFarland, James T. Blair, Ferdinand Kiel, George B. Leidy, Elkanah Perdew and R. McHenry.
These men may be recorded as the "Charter Members" of the Lee County Pioneers and Old Settlers' Association. At the meeting on April 13, 1871, a vice president was elected from each of the six- teen townships, as follows: Cedar, D. S. Bell; Charleston, John Cassady; Denmark, Curtis Shedd; Des Moines, Nicholas Sargent; Franklin, Alexander Cruikshank; Green Bay, John Morgan; Har- rison, A. Anderson; Jackson, Guy Wells; Jefferson, William Skin- ner; Madison, Peter Miller; Marion, B. Holtkamp; Montrose, G. Hamilton; Pleasant Ridge, J. A. Casey ; Van Buren, John Her- ron ; Washington, D. McCready; West Point, R. W. Pitman.
A constitution and by-laws was prepared by a committee, consist- ing of D. F. Miller, Robert McFarland and E. S. McCulloch, and July 4, 1871, was selected as the date for the first annual reunion of Lee County old settlers. That meeting was held on the fair grounds at Fort Madison, on the date above named. Concerning the gather- ing, the Keokuk Gate City, which gave a full report of the meeting, said :
"From all parts of Lee County came up the pioneers, their wives and children. It was a gala day for them. This retrospective view of the halcyon days, and the sorrowful, weary, toilsome ones, would alike bring pleasant recollections to them as they recounted their hopes, their trials and their victories, for had they not performed their duty as God had best given them the knowledge, and according to their several abilities? Venerable men were there, whose white hairs and trembling limbs gave token of a lengthy pilgrimage. More than a generation had passed since, in early manhood, they crossed the Mississippi to carry the blessings of civilization into the wilds of Iowa. With strong arms and true hearts, they had battled with the perils of border life and conquered. The wilderness and soli- tary place today, as the result of their labors, buds and blossoms as
the rose. * * All honor to the pioneers, the heroes and hero- ines of the past. Future generations will arise and call them blessed. It was appropriate that the Fourth of July, our national holiday, should be chosen for such a gathering."
CITY YAI
PPE
MANAGER
-
Daniel MeConn
J. W. Cam.
Peter Miller.
FORT MADISON PIONEERS
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HISTORY OF LEE COUNTY
Judge Philip Viele, who had been selected as the orator of the day, was unable to appear, and the principal address was given by Daniel F. Miller of Keokuk. It was not a long address, but was in every way in keeping with the occasion. Following his address came a basket-dinner, then the reading of the Declaration of Inde- pendence, and an address by Gen. A. C. Dodge of Burlington. Col. William Patterson was then elected president of the association for the ensuing year.
For several years the Old Settlers' Association held its meetings at different places in the county. In 1872 the reunion was held at Pitman Grove, near West Point. At that meeting Daniel F. Miller was elected president of the association. The exercises on that occa- sion were similar to those of the preceding year, the principal address being delivered by Judge Joseph M. Casey. In 1873 the reunion was held at Sargent's Grove, on the Des. Moines Valley Railroad, thirteen miles west of Keokuk. On this occasion the program was varied somewhat by the introduction of personal reminiscences and anecdotes of old times. Isaac R. Campbell mentioned the fact that some years before he had killed a bear almost on the identical spot where the meeting was then in session. And John Hiner, a pioneer butcher of Keokuk, amused the gathering by telling of two cub bears he bought for $25, and about a year later took them to St. Louis to offer them for sale, having previously received an offer of $100 for them. Upon reaching St. Louis he found his prospective customer out of the city, and while waiting for his return paused near a milli- nery shop. A mischievous boy got hold of a hoop-pole, and, as Mr. Hiner expressed it, stirred up the animals. The bears became excited and tore down the awning in front of the millinery shop, but the boy was having fun, and Mr. Hiner was so busy in trying to con- trol the bears that he could not compel the urchin to desist. Just in this emergency a man came along and offered $5 for the two bears, which Mr. Hiner promptly accepted. As he was paying the money and turning to get away, he noticed Col. William Patterson of Lee County leaning against a lamp-post and laughing. Hiner says he lost his temper then, but was glad to get away without being arrested for the destruction of the awning.
Other places where meetings were held during the early years of the association were at the old Keokuk fair grounds and at Warren Station, in Harrison Township. In more recent years some meetings were held at Donnellson. After this migratory existence, which continued for several years, the upper public square in the City of Fort Madison was selected as the place for holding the annual
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reunions, and this square has become known as "Old Settlers' Park." The reunion of 1914 was held on September 17th, having been post- poned one week on account of bad weather. The feature of this meeting was the flight of an aeroplane, in which several citizens were carried up at different times by the aviator. Hon. J. D. M. Hamil- ton of Topeka, Kansas, a native of Lee County, had been selected as the orator of the day, but was unable to attend on account of illness. Mr. Hamilton died a few days after the meeting, and his remains were brought to Fort Madison for burial. Through the work of the Old Settlers' Association many interesting facts in early history and many relics of pioneer days have been preserved from oblivion and destruction. In connection with this association, it is deemed appropriate to mention a few of those who assisted in its formation :
James C. Parrott was born in Talbot County, Maryland, May 21, 18II. When twenty years of age he went to Wheeling, West Vir- ginia, where he joined the First United States Dragoons, and in 1834 was ordered west to subdue hostile Indians. In September of that year he went into winter quarters at Fort Des Moines, where Montrose now stands, and, liking the country, became a resident upon the expiration of his military services. In 1861 he raised a company in Keokuk and entered the army as captain of Company E, Seventh Iowa Infantry. He was promoted to colonel of the regi- ment, and at the close of the war was made brevet brigadier-general. In 1867 he was appointed postmaster at Keokuk and was reap- pointed four years later. Colonel Parrott was one of the public- spirited, influential citizens of Lee County, and he is still well remembered by old residents. His death occurred on May 17, 1898.
Alexander Cruikshank was born on February 2, 1805, in Norway, though his father was a native of Scotland, a millwright by trade, who went to Norway about 1787. At the age of twelve years, Alex- ander went to sea, and during the next seven years sailed under the flags of England, Prussia, the United States, Russia and Mexico. In 1832, in company with a shipmate, John Thompson, he landed in New York, and after visiting various parts of the country, located the following year in Hancock County, Illinois. In 1834 he mar- ried Keziah Perkins, and shortly after his marriage came to Lee County. He was the first white settler in Pleasant Ridge Township, but in the fall of 1834 sold his claim there and removed to what is now Marion Township. Still later he removed to Franklin Town- ship, where he continued to live for many years. Some of his descendants are still living in the county.
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HISTORY OF LEE COUNTY
James W. Campbell was a son of Isaac R. Campbell, who set- tled at Nashville (now Galland) in 1830. James W. Campbell attended the first school ever taught in Lee County, where he resided practically all his life. In his address to the old settlers' meeting in 1875 he recounted many interesting incidents of early days, and his address was afterwards printed and preserved.
William Patterson, although not one of the original thirty-three who signed the roll, but was the second president of the association, was born in Virginia, May 9, 1802. Four years later his father removed to Kentucky, and later to Missouri and Illinois. In 1837 Mr. Patterson came to Lee County, first locating at West Point. In 1846 he removed to Keokuk and engaged in the mercantile and pork-packing business. He was a member of the first Territorial Legislature of Iowa and was influential in securing a settlement of the boundary line dispute between Iowa and Missouri. He was commissioned colonel of militia by Governor Lucas and authorized to raise a regiment to resist any invasion from Missouri. He after- wards served several terms in the Legislature, was a member of the Constitutional Convention of 1857, was three times mayor of Keokuk, postmaster of that city for several years, and was otherwise identified with the political affairs of the county.
Elias Overton, who settled in Marion Township in 1836, was a native of Hartford County, North Carolina, where he was born on January 12, 1807. Upon coming to Lee County he lived in a rail pen until a cabin could be erected. He afterwards became one of the large land owners of Marion Township.
Exum S. McCulloch was born in Davidson County, Tennessee, July 3, 1812, and removed with his parents to Illinois in 1826. He served in the Black Hawk war, and in the fall of 1835 came to Lee County and selected a claim. He returned to Illinois, but the next spring, in company with two brothers and his parents, came back and took possession of the land, being one of the earliest settlers of Harrison Township. He served several terms in both houses of the Legislature, and assisted in the revision of the Iowa Code. His death occurred on April 5, 1877.
R. W. Pitman, who was secretary of the meeting at which the Old Settlers' Association was organized, was one of the pioneers of West Point Township. He was born in Kentucky, April 27, 1827, and came to Lee County with his parents when about nine years of age, making the trip from Kentucky with an ox team. They crossed the Mississippi River, nearly opposite the site of the penitentiary at Fort Madison, on April 20, 1835. Although his opportunities to
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HISTORY OF LEE COUNTY
acquire an education were limited, Mr. Pitman, by self-study, became a well informed man. He was noted for his generosity and public spirit, and was active in promoting the interests of the Lee County Agricultural Society.
Peter Miller, another "charter member" of the Old Settlers' Association, was born in Maryland, March 9, 1808. After a resi- dence of several years in Ohio, Mr. Miller came to Iowa in the fall of 1836 and soon afterward started the first blacksmith shop in Fort Madison. He was elected the first county treasurer of Lee County in 1838; was appointed postmaster the next year, and served three years as mayor of Fort Madison shortly after the town was incor- porated. The latter years of his life he was engaged in the lumber and mercantile business.
Nicholas Sargent, a native of Essex County, Massachusetts, came to Lee County in 1837, when he was about forty-two years of age. He settled near the present Village of Vincennes, where he cleared and developed a fine farm. He had thirteen children, eight of whom grew to maturity, and some of the family are still living in the county.
Two of the thirty-three men who signed the original old settlers' roll were natives of Lee County. John H. Douglass, a grandson of General Knapp, the founder of Fort Madison, was born in that town on June 20, 1836, and James Cruikshank, a son of Alexander, was born in Marion Township on May 7, 1835.
THE MORMONS
It is not within the province of this history to discuss the early career of the Mormon Church. On May 9, 1839, Dr. Isaac Gal- land presented Joseph Smith, the Mormon prophet, a tract of land where the Town of Nauvoo, Illinois, is now situated. Smith laid out the Town of Nauvoo under a charter that conferred extravagant and dangerous powers upon the city officials. At that time the Mor- mons were a political power in Illinois, and both the leading parties were afraid to antagonize them. Under the circumstances Nauvoo became a breeding place for outlaws, and probably the true story of all the outrages committed by these outlaws will never be told. Fugi- tives from justice sought refuge there, and if anyone should be arrested witnesses could always be found to prove an "alibi."
Nauvoo being just across the river from Lee County, there was a large number of that faith, or sympathizers called "Jack Mor- mons," who lived on the west side of the river. Among these was
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HISTORY OF LEE COUNTY
Bill Hickman, whose home was near the present village of Galland. He was a member of the famous Danite band, which it has been said "was composed of the most desperate members of the church- men whose very souls were steeped in blood, and who would scruple at nothing commanded by their more desperate leader, the prophet."
Hickman was at one time captain of this band. He owned a fast horse, and scarcely a public meeting was held at which he was not present, carefully listening to everything he could overhear. He and his followers appropriated the property of anti-Mormons, or Gentiles, without compunction, and where such property could not be taken by stealth they took it by force. Hickman was indicted for stealing meat from an old man named John Wright and sent to the Lee County jail, but was never tried.
The Mormon outrages in Lee County culminated on May 10, 1845, in the murder of John Miller, a Mennonite preacher, and his son-in-law, Henry Leisy, who lived about three miles southwest of West Point. A cap found on the premises was recognized as belong- ing to one William Hodges, and upon this clue William and Stephen Hodges, two brothers living near Keokuk, were arrested. On May 15, 1845, five days after the murder, the Hodges brothers and Thomas Brown were indicted by the grand jury at West Point for the murder of John Miller, by stabbing him, on the Saturday previous. The case was finally tried in Burlington, a change of venue having been granted, the jury returning a verdict of guilty in the case of William and Stephen Hodges, and they were hanged by the sheriff of Des Moines County on July 15, 1845.
The excitement following the murder of these two inoffensive citizens was increased by the murder of Colonel Davenport on July 4, 1845, at Rock Island, Illinois, and resulted in the organization of the people into a band of vigilantes, which commenced a war of extermination. It is not certain that any citizens of Lee County belonged to these vigilantes, but it is certain that many of the people on this side of the river sympathized with that organization. Pub- lic indignation in Lee County found expression in a meeting on October 16, 1845, at which stringent resolutions denouncing the cruel- ties of the Mormons were adopted, and an Anti-Mormon ticket was nominated. Judge Edward Johnstone was the principal speaker at the meeting, and one of the resolutions was that the Mormons should be expelled from the country-"peaceably if possible, forcibly if necessary."
The Anti-Mormon candidates for the Legislature were Col. William Patterson and Capt. Jesse B. Browne. An address to the
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HISTORY OF LEE COUNTY
voters and taxpayers of Lee County was issued immediately after the meeting, calling attention to the merits of these candidates, their pledge to use every effort to expel the Mormons, and asking the sup- port of the people.
The Anti-Mormon ticket was elected by a substantial majority, and the Mormons, seeing the handwriting on the wall, began making their preparations to leave the country. After the real Mormons were gone their sympathizers, still remaining in the community, continued horse stealing, petty larceny and counterfeiting, but the assassination of reputable citizens was ended. One incident that made the expulsion of the Mormons easier was the fact that Prophet Joseph Smith had been assassinated on June 27, 1844, while confined in the jail at Carthage, Illinois, and the loss of the leader had left the members of the Mormon Church in a somewhat disorganized condition.
MATTHEW SPURLOCK, COUNTERFEITER
Among the noted characters of early days in Lee County was Matthew Spurlock, generally referred to as "Old Spurlock, the counterfeiter." He was a native of Virginia, but spent his early manhood in Eastern Kentucky, where he first became known as a counterfeiter. From Kentucky he went to Alabama, but got into trouble in that state, and some time in the '3os located at Augusta, on the Skunk River. There is no positive evidence that Spurlock was ever engaged in the actual production of counterfeit money, but the reputation he had won he turned to good account. He nearly always carried some bright, new silver coins, which he exhibited as samples of his own make, and when he found some one desirous of making some "easy money" offered to sell him counter- feit coins at greatly reduced prices. After the deal was made, some friend of Spurlock would impersonate an officer of the law and frighten the purchaser out of the community. It is said that in one case Spurlock secured $1,500 from a Burlington man by this method. The money received through this channel rarely did him much good, as he was an inveterate gambler and nearly always lost. After a residence of some years at Augusta, he removed to Schuyler County, Illinois, where he lived until about 1843, when he went to Jefferson County, Iowa, and died there in 1858. Some of his children con- tinued to live in that county and became good citizens.
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HISTORY OF LEE COUNTY
CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTIONS
In the first constitutional convention, which met at Iowa City on October 7, 1844, and continued in session until the Ist of the following month, Lee County was represented by Charles Staley, Alexander Kerr, David Galland, Calvin J. Price, James Marsh, John Thompson, Henry N. Salmon and O. S. X. Peck. The con- stitution framed by this convention was rejected by the people at an election held on August 4, 1845.
The second convention met at Iowa City on May 4, 1846. The Lee County delegates in that convention were David Galland, Josiah Kent, George Berry, Enos Lowe, Shephard Leffler and George Bowie. This convention adjourned on May 19, 1846, and the con- stitution was ratified by the people on August 3, 1846, by a majority of 456.
Under this constitution Iowa was admitted as a state. It remained the organic law of the state until 1857, when the present constitution was adopted by a convention which assembled at Iowa City on January 13th, and remained in session until March 5th. Lee County was represented in that convention by Edward Johnstone and Wil- liam Patterson, and the district composed of Lee and Van Buren counties was represented by Squire Ayres.
FLOOD AND STORM
Fortunately for the people of Lee County, the greater portion of the surface lies high enough that no flood of the Mississippi River has ever wrought great damage to property, yet it may be of interest to know at least the dates when some of the great floods have occurred.
The old French archives at Kaskaskia, Illinois, contain mention of a great flood of 1724, but all accounts of the event are based on Indian tradition and are not altogether reliable. The same archives contain an account of a great flood in 1772, and mention the fact that the crops around Kaskaskia were completely destroyed by the flood of 1785.
The years of 1811, 1824 and 1826 are noted in history as times when the great Father of Waters wrought considerable damage along its course, but the first great flood of which there is any authen- tic account regarding Lee County occurred late in the winter of 1832-33. That winter was one of unusual severity, ice forming in the Mississippi more than thirty inches in thickness. It was broken
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by a sudden rise in the river, and at the foot of the Des Moines rapids, in front of Keokuk, a great ice gorge was formed. An elm tree three feet in diameter standing on the levee was cut more than half off by the floating ice, about four hundred cords of wood were carried away, and a large quantity of pig lead piled up at the boat landing was buried under the mud and not recovered until the fol- lowing June. Several steamboats were seriously damaged by float- ing ice and some smaller craft were completely wrecked.
The great flood of 1844 is still remembered by a few of the oldest residents. Nearly all the streams in the county overflowed their banks, and again there was an ice gorge at the foot of the rapids, where the ice was piled up to a height of more than thirty feet. Con- siderable damage was done to river shipping, and several weeks passed before all the ice melted away.
The flood in the spring of 1912 attracted more attention than any preceding one, for the reason that the great dam at Keokuk was then in process of construction and many expected to see it carried away. The winter of 1911-12 was severe, and the ice in the river was much thicker than usual. About 2 P. M. on Sunday, March 24, the ice broke and came over the rapids in huge volume. It piled up against the coffer-dam to a height of thirty feet or more above the top of that structure, and the banks of the river were crowded with people, expecting every minute to see the destruction of the work, in which they were happily disappointed. The coffer-dam resisted the pressure, but a small army of men were on guard day and night during the next two weeks to protect the work against the high waters. On April 7th a storm came down the river, which threat- ened to complete the destruction the ice had failed to accomplish. Several cars loaded with sand, ready for just such an emergency, were rushed to the scene, and more than five thousand sacks of sand were piled on the coffer-dam, thus enabling it to resist the action of the wind and water.
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