USA > Iowa > Dallas County > The History of Dallas County, Iowa, containing a history of the county, its cities, towns, &c. > Part 37
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 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78
Roads in Dallas county are generally good, and easily constructed in the greater part of county. During the wet seasons, in some localities, they become very muddy, and even quite mirey, and almost impassable; but this generally lasts but a short time, as they about as quickly dry off again. There is sufficient sand and gravel in the soil of the valleys and lowlands to enable the water to soon drain off; and the highlands are so thoroughly drained by nature that the rainfalls are not permitted to remain very long at one place on the surface.
Except in the early spring, after a heavy rainfall in the morning, the roads in the afternoon become sufficiently passable to haul good loads without difficulty.
There are some steep hills met with in traversing the roads along the rivers and bluff lands; but these can be made very passable by work- ing them, as these hills furnish the best of material for constructing roads. Those portions of the county where numerous ponds. exist are the most difficult parts to furnish with good roads at all times of the year, especially where there is not sufficient fall for drainage.
The old State road from Davenport to Council Bluffs traverses the county almost centrally from east to west, passing through Adel and Redfield, and extending over a distance of twenty-five miles and eight chains within the bounds of Dallas county, it being the first public highway established in the county.
With regard to the establishment and opening of said road through this county, the following order appears on the minute book in the Auditor's office:
STATE OF IOWA,
DALLAS COUNTY. S
Monday, October 8, 1849.
Commissioners of said county met pursuant to law, this 8th day of October, A. D. 1849. Present Messrs, Tristam Davis, O. D. Smalley, and Wm. W. Miller, county commissioners, and S. K. Scovil, clerk of board of commissioners.
*
287
HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY.
That, whereas John Wright, Jesse Richman and John Wyckoff, commissioners appointed by the General Assembly of the State of Iowa, at their second session, approved January 12, 1849, to locate and establish a State road, commencing at the west line of Johnson county, on section No. 31, township No. 79 north, range No. 8, west of the fifth principal meridian, and ending at the west line of Dallas county, on section 6, township 78, range 29, report that they met at the house of John Wyckoff, on the 29th day of June, 1849, having been severally sworn, proceeded to locate and establish the said road according to law. The whole length is 136 miles and 8 chains. The distance the road runs in Dallas county is 25 miles and 8 chains.
Therefore, it is considered and ordered by this court, that the report and plot of said com- missioners as returned be accepted, recorded and filed in the office of the clerk of the board of. commissioners, and so much of said road as runs through the county of Dallas be and forever remain a public highway; and that the same be opened and kept in repairs according to law.
For a long time this old State road served as the only public highway in the county on which any public work or money was expended to keep it in repairs, and it is still one of the best and most extensively traveled roads in the county, as most of the travel and emigration westward by wagon from Davenport to Council Bluffs pass over this old thoroughfare. Good roads are now laid out in most parts of the county, on most of the township and section lines, greatly facilitating travel in every direction.
EARLY SETTLEMENT.
But to return to the early settlement of this tract of land now known as Dallas county.
After the last period of Indian occupancy of these lands had expired, on October 11th, 1845, as was before stated, emigrants were at liberty to go up the Des Moines and Raccoon rivers, or any place west, to select and se- cure their claims on the public domain of now western Iowa.
In the enjoyment of this liberty, therefore, during the fall of that year the more adventurous of the land-viewers and claim-seekers came out this far, looking at the country and hunting the best localities in order that they might be better prepared to make an intelligent and satisfactory selec- tion before settling permanently on a claim. But nearly all of these either returned again without taking any definite steps toward settling here, or else went further on viewing in other places, while some, perhaps selected such claims as would suit them best if they should afterward decide to move here, and then returned to their homes farther east without making any arrangements for securing them, intending that if they found no bet- ter prospects elsewhere, they would come back in the spring and make a settlement.
A very few, however, did select their claims that fall and remained long enough to secure them by building a claim-pen, as we learn from some of the old settlers themselves who are still living in the county.
THE FIRST SETTLER.
As to who was the veritable "First Settler" in this county, accounts dif- fer widely. Though the various statements regarding this are almost legion, yet no two of them seem to fully correspond when placed side by side. And after examining so many authorities and interviewing a num- ber of the oldest settlers now living in the county, with regard to this much vexed question, it may not appear very singular if the following
288
HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY.
statement of the case should differ, in some particulars, from all the rest. It is impossible to get at all the facts, and therefore very difficult to relate the circumstances just as they occurred; but so far as we have been able to learn, after careful and diligent investigation, the facts are about as follows:
"Sometime during the fall of 1845, not long after the Indian title was extinguished, two brothers, Daniel and Lewis Stump, came through the sonth part of the county prospecting, and finally selected and staked out claims in what is now Van Meter township, a short distance below the forks and north of the Raccoon river in the well known Stump bottom.
"They were, of course, in a very uneasy position during that fall in at- tempting to settle here so early, as the Indians were still here; though their title had run out they had not been removed to their reservation in Kansas when the Stump boys came, and these pioneers were in some dan- ger of being driven from their claims.
" They remained, however, and during the early part of that winter made rails for fencing, and built a cabin on their claim, sixteen by eighteen feet, one story high, and sometime during the following February, 1846, their sister Mary came on with their brother John and kept house for them."
These are the only ones of whom we have found any authentic account, who came in the fall of 1845 and remained on their claims. John Wright also came and selected his claim early in the winter of 1845, but returned again soon to the East, and moved out with his family in March, 1846, set- tling first within the present limits of Van Meter township, but soon after- ward moved into what is now Boone township and settled near where J. C. Goodson now lives.
Sometime in January, 1846, Samuel Miller and his brother William Wilson Miller, then residing in Jefferson county, Iowa, and Eli Smithson, of Fort Des Moines, and son-in-law of Wm. W. Miller, came through here to look at the country and finally took claims in and adjoining the timber on the opposite side of the North Raccoon river, east from the present site of Adel.
None of these, however, remained here long at that time, but returned again to their homes, and on the 12th day of March following, Samuel Miller returned here with his family, arriving about noon of that day, and settled permanently on his claim which he had selected some two months previous, in what has since been known as the Miller settlement, in honor of which a branch near there now bears the name of Miller's Branch.
Soon afterward, on the 25th day of March, of the same year, W. W. Miller and family, accompanied by his son, John Miller, and his son-in- law, Eli Smithson, and perhaps others, returned and settled on their claims as before selected, John Miller taking, as at least part of his claim, the principal portion of the land on which the county seat now stands, and af- terward turned over to the county his claim on what is known as the "town quarter," when the seat of justice was finally located here by the county seat commissioners.
Early in February, 1846, Levi Wright, and his brother James Wright, deaf mute, came to the Stump cabin, and finding the door and windows (or light-holes) securely barred against the Indians, in the absence of the inmates-who had gone to the woods to work, or on a hunt-the Wrights found entrance to the cabin by climbing in through the roof and patiently awaited the return of their host.
289
HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY.
They remained at the Stump cabin a few days, and then went a short distance to the west, across North Raccoon, and took claims near the forks of the Raccoon river, on section 16, township 78, range 27.
They then built a claim cabin, made a few other improvements on their claims and soon afterward returned to their former home in Polk county. In April of that year they returned here. Levi brought his family along with him and settled on his original claim, where he still lives as one of the oldest settlers now in the county. Tristram Davis and John Longmire also made their claims in February, 1846, but returned again to their former homes and arrived here with their families on the 18th of May following, in company with a number of others.
During the spring of 1846 small settlements were made in some four or five different localities in the county.
There was one, as just referred to, in the southeast part of the county within the present boundaries of Boone and Van Meter townships, which consisted in the main of the Stumps, the Wrights, George and Shubal Haworth, who laid claims and settled on the land now owned and occupied by "John 'Barto. William and John Ellis also came in February of this year, selected their claims, made some improvements and went back, re- turning here in April following with their widowed mother, Mrs. Sarah Ellis, and her large family of eight sons and two daughters. They settled on the claim previously taken by the boys, and prepared a comfortable home.
About the same time, or soon afterward, Noah Staggs, Henry Garner, Mr. Clark, Henry Stump and the rest of his family, Greenbury Coffin, William P. McCubbin, James W. Black, John Juvenaugh, Henry Busick, George Gresham (1847), John Johnson (1847), William Brown, James Moore, John Crane, Nathan Moore, and others, settled in that vicinity during that spring, summer and fall, increasing that settlement to quite a community, though considerably scattered.
In the spring of 1846, also, a small settlement was made north of the South Raccoon in what is now Adams township, consisting in the main of John Longmire, Tristram Davis, George S. Hills, John Davis and Levi A. Davis, all of whom came with their families May 18th, and settled on and adjoining sections 10 and 11.
Archibald Crowl and others joined their number soon afterward.
Along the North Raccoon, also, in the central part of the county, and principally near the present site of Adel, there was quite a thriving settle- ment during the spring and summer of 1846, consisting chiefly of Millers, the most of whom were among the first settlers in the county.
There was a host of them who nearly all settled in one vicinity, Samuel, Isaac, Eli, William W., John, Martin W., and Jesse K. Miller, besides Eli Smithson, Isaac Tribby, William Galway, Joseph C. Corbell, and others.
Their number was rapidly increased so that this settlement soon became the largest in the county, as it had the good fortune to secure the location of the county seat near at hand.
In the northeast corner of the county, near the Des Moines river and within the present bounds of Des Moines township, O. D. Smalley settled May 18, 1846, on the northwest quarter of section 26, and for a good while held sole possession of that part of the county as one of its earliest pio- neers. He was re-enforced that fall, however, by a number of pioneers.
19
290
HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY.
John and David Spear settled near him on section 11, in September, 1846. Jerry Evans settled on section 2, August 15, 1846. Judge McCall settled on section 12, in September, 1846. Samuel Ramsey settled on sec- tion 26, in October, 1846, and Judah Leaming settled on the southwest quarter of section 23, March 1, 1847.
Others, doubtless, should be added to the foregoing list, whose names, dates of arrival and places of settlement we have been unable to obtain, but the above named persons-with the respective households of those who were then fortunate enough to have such blessings-constituted the princi- pal portion of the inhabitants of Dallas county during the year 1846. The entire list of inhabitants at the close of that year would not number, perhaps, more than sixty or sixty-five persons.
To one looking back over the situation at that time from the present standpoint of progress and comfort, it certainly does not seem very cheer- ing; and yet, from the testimony of some of these same old settlers them- selves, it was the most independent and happy period of their lives.
At that time, it certainly would have been much more difficult for those old settlers to understand how it could possibly be that thirty-two years hence the citizens at the present stage of the county's progress would be complaining of hard times and destitution and that they themselves, per- haps, would be among that number, than it is now for us to appreciate how they could feel so cheerful and contented with their meager means and humble lot of hardship and deprivation during those early pioneer days.
The secret doubtless was that they lived within their means, however lim- ited, not coveting more of luxury and comfort than their income would afford, and the natural result was prosperity and contentment, with always room for one more stranger at the fireside, and a cordial welcome to a place at their table for even the most hungry guest.
During the year 1847, and the early part of 1848, there was quite an in- crease of emigration, and not only the different settlements already made were reenfored, but also new ones were started in various other localities, so that the work of improvement and enterprise continued to move grad- ually forward. Some of these newcomers were as follows: J. C. Goodson, William D. Boone and others settled in what is now Boone township. S. K. Scovell, Horatio and Barney Morrison, Chelsea Shelton, Isaac Magart, James A. and Thomas Butler, " Chris." Fowler, "Jeff." Jones, Rud Lathrop, Thomas J. Drummond, William C. and Daniel James, Anderson Kelley, E. J. Fowler, Ira Sherman, John and Valentine Cline, Benjamin Greene and others settled near Penoach, in what is now Adel township.
In the fall of 1847 George P. Garroutte settled on the North Raccoon, very near what proved to be the geographical center of the county; and early in the preceding spring, Harvey Adams, Zebin Babcock-better known as "Squire Babb"-and Judge Lloyd D. Burnes were the first settlers in what is now Sugar Grove township, all coming about the same time.
Not long afterward, Adam Vineage, with his family, John Bevens, a sin- gle man, Milton Randolph, J. V. Pierce, and perhaps others, settled in the same vicinity. "Dutch Henry" also came to Sugar Grove township about this time, remaining for a while, but making no permanent settlement. He finally ventured off by himself toward the north and took a claim on the edge of the prairie west of Perry.
During the summer of 1848 the first settlement was made in what is now Washington township, by John Sullivan and sons, who were soon fol-
291
HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY.
lowed by James McLane, Jacob Winters, Samuel Mars, John S. Sammies and others.
Union township was also first settled in the spring of 1848. About Feb- ruary of that year, Humphrey Smith (more commonly known as "Yankee" Smith), and his son-in-law, Henry Owens, settled near the mouth of Cotton- wood creek, where they put up a mill in company, on section 11, on the South Raccoon river, known as Owen's mill.
This mill, however, only endured for a few years, when it was swept away entirely by the flood.
In February, 1848, Leroy Lambert, now of Adel, settled on section 6, near the west line of the county, and in October of that year, David Daily came and settled on section 4. About 1850 John W. Hayes, Elisha Mor- ris, Mr. Wilcox, John F. Willis, Uriah Stotts, and perhaps others, joined their number. Mr. Stotts had come to the county in 1847, and settled in Van Meter; but moved to Union township in 1850, and settled on section 8, where he still lives.
George B. Warden also came to the township about this time, or perhaps before, and located on section 1, three miles east of Redfield, his present home. Previous to this he had lived two years in Adel.
In 1850, also, Samuel Carpenter, James Brookes, W. W. Harper and others located near this settlement just across the line, in what is now Linn township.
The Cavenaugh brothers, Patrick, Thomas and Michael, entered the land on which the town of Redfield now stands, in the year 1850, and laid out the town of New Ireland on that site in 1852-3. They afterward sold the town site, and large tract of land adjoining it, to Col. James Redfield, his brother, Luther, and the colonel's father-in-law, Thomas Moore, about 1856 or 1857.
During this time, in other parts of the county, and especially in and around the first settlements, the population and improvements had been increasing so rapidly that it is impossible to find trace of their names, locations and dates of arrival. If enough has herein been given to indicate to some degree at least, the order in which the different parts of the county were first settled, with a partial list of the first settlers in each locality, the aim intended has been accomplished.
Thus we find that during the fall of 1845, and early in the spring of 1846, pioneers began to ascend the highlands west of Fort Des Moines, and continued gradually extending the new settlements out still further along the woodlands bordering the main branch of the Raccoon river, until they soon passed its forks and began to follow these up still further to the north and westward, generally settling close to the rivers and timberlands which skirted them, and finding no decrease; but rather an improvement in the value and attraction of the land as they advanced. During that and the following years the work of improvement thus be- gun, continued gradually progressing until it has attained to its present stage of advancement with the growth of thirty-three years, and many of Dallas county's earliest settlers still live within its bounds to enjoy some- thing of the fruits of that growth of years which they have helped to make.
In those early pioneer days, however, the outlook was not altogether a cheerful one.
There were none of the conveniences and facilities of the present then with which to aid and comfort the settlers.
292
HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY.
During the year 1846, and perhaps not until some time afterward, there was not a public highway established and worked, on which they could travel. And as the settlers were generally far apart, and mills and trading points were at great distances, going from place to place was not only very tedious, but attended sometimes with great danger. Not a railroad had yet entered Chicago, and there was scarcely a thought in the minds of the people here of such a thing ever reaching the wild West; and, if thought of, people had no conception of what a revolution a railroad and telegraph through here would cause in the progress of the country. Then there were less than 5,000 miles of railroad in the United States, and not a mile of track laid this side of Ohio; while now there are over 100,000 miles of railroads extending their trunks and branches in every direction over our land.
Supplies, in those days, came to this western country entirely by river and wagon transportation. Mail was carried to and fro in the same way, and telegraph dispatches were transmitted by the memory and lips of emi- grants coming in, or strangers passing through.
There was not a mill, store, post-office, school-house, churchi, road or trad- ing point then in the entire county.
THE NEAREST TRADING POINT.
Fort Des Moines was the nearest trading point where mail matter, cloth- ing, groceries and the necessary family supplies could be secured, and the stock in trade at that point was oftentimes not nearly sufficient to supply the urgent demands of the settlers.
It was, at that time, a very small place, with only a single row of cabins extending along the west bank of the Des Moines river, and another row extending along the north bank of the Raccoon river, forming an angle between the two rivers, little dreaming that before many years it would bear the honored title of the Capital of Iowa.
These cabins had been built for the accommodation of the garrison, and in them all the business of the place was then transacted. In one of these cabins, on "Coon Row," occupied by P. M. Casady, the post-office was kept, he being the postmaster of that general delivery.
The mail matter was kept in a dry goods box marked "Phelps & Co., Fort Des Moines, Iowa," from which he gracefully distributed the precious missives to the anxious inquirers, who had traveled, perhaps, many weary miles on foot to receive from the rude box the long delayed letter that brought a message of love from the dear ones far away.
The place being so sinall, and the means of transportation to it being so limited and irregular, they were unable to supply, regularly, the now in- creasing demand from all around them, and settlers in these parts thought themselves happy if they were not compelled to go on far beyond there to Oskaloosa, Keokuk or Burlington to obtain the necessaries of life.
Corn, the staple article among the pioneers as food for inan and beast, was a scarce, high-priced article then in the new country, especially where the first crop had not yet been raised.
In order to secure this and other necessary provisions they were often under the necessity of going to Oskaloosa, and sometimes as far down as the Mississippi river to Keokuk and Burlington, a distance of about two hundred miles, to supply the wants of their pioneer homes. After stores and trading points began to be established in this county, the merchants
293
HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY.
for many years were in the habit of going to these distant points on the rivers to purchase their stocks of goods and bringing them through by wagon transportation.
Occasionally a number of families in a community would club together, make out a list of what they needed and send off to the trading post as many men and teams as necessary, or as could be obtained to procure and bring home supplies for all, and thus to a great degree they worked to- gether, and to one another's interest as one great family.
In this way, also, they took turns in going to mill, to the stores, for the mail, etc., and when a cabin was to be raised, or a neighbor assisted in any way, all, within reach or hearing, turned out with one accord, quite willing to lend the helping hand and enjoy in common the feast and frolic that was sure to accompany all such gatherings.
In this isolated condition, pioneer life here, as elsewhere, was one of stern realities and serious trials, especially for the sick and aged ones, while so far removed from points of supply, and almost completely cut off from communication with the outside world. If a stranger from any distance came into the new settlement he was treated with unusual cordiality, and questioned with unabating zeal, with regard to the great world-matters without; and if he saw fit to accept the urgent invitation of the settlers to share their humble hospitality in welcome for many days, he might rest assured that he must pass through that long siege of incessant question- ing by the inquisitive settlers, from which he, doubtless, would derive as much pleasure and profit as they.
The claims occupied by the first settlers were supposed to contain about 320 acres; but these were run off "by guess," and as a consequence often included two or three times that number of acres. The general improve- ments on these, for a long time, consisted of old-fashioned worm fences made of rails split by the settlers themselves, and snug, though humble, cabins.
LOG CABINS.
Of these pioneer log cabins and their general furniture, one of Dallas county's old settlers says:
"These were of round logs notched together at the corners, ribbed with poles and covered with boards split from a tree. A puncheon floor was then laid down, a hole cut out in the end and a stick chimney run up. A clapboard door is made, a window is opened by cutting out a hole in the side or end, about two feet square, and it is finished without glass or trans- parency. The house is then 'chinked ' and 'daubed' with mud made of the top soil.
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.