USA > Iowa > Dallas County > The History of Dallas County, Iowa, containing a history of the county, its cities, towns, &c. > Part 42
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In many instances these claim clubs did good service when the enforce- ment of law and order seemed otherwise impossible, in protecting settlers in their rights of home and property. While on the other hand, doubt- less, a good many honest and innocent persons were caused to suffer serious loss and inconvenience through the workings and sometimes unfair ineans of these clubs.
The very best intentioned organizations and individuals sometimes make mistakes in running to extremes and cause injury to others by that which was only originally intended to be beneficial. Especially is this the case where so many different minds and dispositions are united to govern one organization.
325
HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY.
So it was, to a greater or less extent, with these early claim clubs. While the chief design in their work was the mutual protection and ben- efit of all the members, and the proper settlement and development of the country, the injudicious, selfish members sometimes caused the institution of means that resulted in the injury and oppression of the innocent.
But professional claim jumpers were plentiful, as well as very shrewd and persistent in their modes of working to get the advantage, and these organized clubs seemed to prove as the only effectual checkmates for them. In this respect, therefore, the latter accomplished a good work and afforded a formidable defense.
These clubs existed in almost every community, and were by no means a new institution when first introduced here. The claim rights of settlers were then regulated by what was called the claim law, which had its origin in Jefferson county, and was in a certain sense sanctioned by the legisla- lature of 1839.
Dallas county, however, was very fortunate in not being as seriously troubled with professional claim jumpers and intruders as many other neighboring localities, especially further east, and, therefore, did not have so much need of resorting to club rule.
The early settlers of this county did find occasion for such a mode of defense, and were not slow to put it in operation.
In the early spring of 1848 a good many troubles and disputes arose about land and claim titles, and the settlers began to consider seriously the propriety of organizing an effective claim club for self-protection against the avaricious professionals who were boldly displaying. their colors as scheming claim jumpers. Accordingly, on July 1, 1848, quite a number of the prominent citizens of the county assembled at the house of Judge Samuel Miller, and a formal meeting was held for the purpose of taking definite steps in this important movement.
Samuel Miller was made chairman of the meeting, and S. K. Scovell, secretary.
After several pointed speeches by different settlers present, urging the propriety of immediately forming such a club, on motion a committee of three, consisting of Thomas Butler, S. K. Scovell and L. D. Burnes, was duly appointed by the chair, to draft by-laws for the government of the
"DALLAS COUNTY CLAIM CLUB."
This committee performed the duty thus assigned them, and reported through their chairman, Thomas Butler, the following by-laws, which were accepted and adopted unanimously :
BY-LAWS.
WHEREAS: Self-protection, the acquiring and peaceable possession of property are essen- tial to the happiness and prosperity of the people; and
WHEREAS: Reckless claim jumpers and invidious wolves in human form are prowling through the county for the purpose of robbing the settler of his claim and of the means of support; therefore, be it
Resolved, 1. That we pledge ourselves to protect every member of this club in his rights of claim, or against the pre-emption of adverse parties, without fear of the world, the flesh or the devil.
2. That no person shall be allowed to pre-empt, or to purchase from government any claim of a member of the club, without the unequivocal consent of the member.
3. That the filing of any intention to pre empt, in contravention of the right of any member hereof, shall be regarded as an attempt to deprive one member of his rights under the eternal fitness of things, and we pledge ourselves one to another to meet the offender on the home stretch with logic of life or death.
326
HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY.
4. That a committee of three be raised, whose duty shall be to hear and adjust any dis- putes, evasions or disagreements that may arise with members of this club, or any case where claims of members are in dispute with outside, adverse claimants, of every character whatever.
5. That we pledge ourselves to sustain and uphold our committees and appointments in the performance of their several duties, and to enforce their decisions and adjudications to the very letter, with force and arms if necessary.
6. That a cordial invitation is hereby extended to every citizen of Dallas county to sign these articles of by-laws, and to assist in their faithful execution and enforcement.
The above by-laws were signed by Samuel Miller, Thomas Butler, S. K. Scovell, James A. Butler, W. W. Miller, J. C. Corbell, L. D. Burnes, Mil- ton Randolph, Harvey Adams, George P. Garroutte, Z. Babcock, John Bivens, Eli Miller, John Sharp, Eli Smithson and Adam Vineage, making sixteen signers in all, and including every man present at the meeting.
Afterward it was signed by numerous others who were at this time absent, and whose names we have not been able to obtain.
W. W. Miller, Z. Babcock and Adam Vineage were appointed the "Committee of Reference," and were duly instructed that on the notifica- tion of the party or parties claiming to be aggrieve, the said committee should meet as soon as possible at the house of W. W. Miller, and then and there proceed to hear and adjust the difficulty.
From the foregoing account, the particulars of which were furnished by one of the original members of the club, it is evident that these early set- tlers meant business in earnest, and had no sympathy or patience with the deceitful schemes and workings of professional claim jumpers; but were determined that all such should be dealt with promptly and in such a man- ner as would soon rid the county of all such nuisances and their injurious work.
It appears, too, that this plan worked effectually in quickly accomplish- ing the end designed, as, very fortunately, no cases occurred of sufficient importance to be brought before the club, or their committee of reference, for adjustment, and there are no intricate schemes of arbitration, or occa- sions of bloodshed, to be here recorded as the result of its workings.
There was one case of claim trouble in the county after this organization was effected, existing between John Wright and W. D. Boone, in the south- east part of the county, which caused considerable difficulty and malicious feeling between them individually, but this occurred outside of the club- membership, and was finally settled without serious results to either party concerned.
In 1852 an aggravated case of wholesale claim appropriation threatened seriously to occur in Penoach precinct, when John Sutton proposed to enter the homestead and claim of George P. Garroutte, which would most certainly have tested the mettle and efficiency of the club for settling such disputes, if the proposed scheme of invasion had been persisted in by the offending party. But, fortunately, it was abandoned in due time, and peace prevailed without the need of any aggressive movement on the part of the claim club or the party threatened.
THE THIRD ELECTION.
On Monday, the third day of April, 1848, the third election was held in Dallas county.
Nothing of unusual importance transpired on this occasion, other than the common occurrences of the average spring election.
327
IIISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY.
There were only two new officers to be elected at this time, a school-fund commissioner and a prosecuting attorney. Beside these, two other offices were to be filled, one of which had been made vacant by resignation since the previous August election, and the other was still vacant because of the failure to qualify on the part of the elected candidate.
Noah Staggs had resigned the office of county commissioner to which he had been elected for the term of three years, and Tristram Davis was elected in his place, to hold office until the August election following, when a candidate must again be elected regularly, who should continue during this unexpired term of three years.
William D. Boone was elected at this time, also, to the office of probate judge, to fill the vacancy caused by the failure of Samuel Miller to qualify as the law required, the latter having been elected to that office at the pre- vious fall election.
Stephen K. Scovell was duly elected as the first School Fund Commis- sioner of the county, which office was created by an act of the State legis- ture of Iowa, and approved January 24, 1847; but had never before been filled in the county.
Henry Stump was elected as the first prosecuting attorney in the county, at this election also. This office had heretofore been filled by appointment of the court.
At this election there still was only one voting precinct in the county, as at the previous fall election, and all the votes were polled at Penoacli (now Adel).
There were, in all, twenty-four votes cast this time, showing an increase of five over the previous election, but a decrease of one still below the num- ber of votes cast at the first election. This, however, was not on account of any decrease in the number of inhabitants in the county, for in this there had been a great increase during that time; but it simply showed a decline in the interest manifested on the two occasions.
The first election was a new and an important event in the history of the county, while the third one began to appear like the old story often told. Besides this the greater part of the citizens were becoming too much in- terested in, and occupied with, their private affairs and spring work, to be very desirous of public positions, unless there was more money in them than was afforded by the majority of the offices then to be filled.
The coming fall election would, doubtless, display a different feeling, and awaken a much deeper interest on the part of all, as new issues were again to be met.
All the offices announced in the proclamation of the organizing sheriff, as necessary for the complete organization of the county, had now been duly filled by the votes of the people at regular elections, and the new county's political machinery was fully organized and in running order. The coming fall election would give the voters of the county their first op- portunity, as such, for casting their votes for State officers.
THE FIRST COURT-HOUSE.
Lot 8, block 9, of the town of Penoach, was purchased by Buel Lathrop, July 8, 1848, and upon it he built a double log cabin, which he soon after- ward sold to the county for a temporary court-honse, and offices in which the county business could be transacted.
328
HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY.
This cabin consisted, in the main, of two separate rooms, built a short distance apart, but connected by one roof, and a porch-way extending be- tween them, with a door leading into each room from this porch or alley.
This cabin was built of hewed cottonwood logs, and was roofed with shingles, or rather clapboards made of the same kind of material, which rendered it not by any means always waterproof, but made it to answer the purpose for which it was used, very conveniently and acceptably in the ab- sence of any better place.
There was a large awkward-looking chimney on each end, made of blocks of prairie-sod and sticks of timber, daubed between with mud mortar, and each setting outside of the building. These rough chimneys afforded am- ple room for log fires within sufficient to make the rooms quite comfortable for hardy pioneers, even during the coldest winter weather, and many happy hours have been spent around those great log fires, relating the va- rious adventures experienced and heard of, and enjoying the jokes of the season.
It was supplied inside with a rough puncheon floor and a number of ex- temporized seats, desks, tables and other necessary furniture, all made of like material as that of the walls and roof. These were all of the best style and quality that the times and circumstances could afford.
On the side next the street each room had one six-light window of Sx10 glass, which served the important purpose of letting in the amount of light the inmates were allowed to make use of each day while engaged in their official duties.
Judging from the photograph of this rustic relic, which is still extant, it is evident that this cabin was not especially noted for its beauty of archi- tecture, nor even for the wonderful degree of comfort and convenience it afforded to those who occupied it; but at all events it was the most conven- ient and comfortable structure the people could afford in those days, per- haps more so than many of them afforded at home, and very appropriately served the purpose for which it was intended until a better place could be secured. Within that rough exterior doubtless, not only logical reasoning with rhetorical flights of eloquence were frequently displayed, but most important business was there transacted, to which the county is indebted, in a great measure, for its present condition of improvement and pros- perity.
Hon. James P. Charlton and Hon. William McKay are the only Judges whom we find mentioned on the records as having presided over terms of District Court held in this first Dallas county court-house.
In 1849 this double cabin was converted into a store building, by George B. Warden, and was used by him for this purpose for some time, but finally was sold to Jesse K. Miller and moved away.
In 1853 a new court-house was built on lot 4, block 17, where the brick bank building now stands, on the south of the court-house square and just east of Boaks' grocery store.
This second court-house was a great improvement on the first one, being a one-story frame structure, about forty feet in length by twenty feet in width, comfortably finished and furnished, and served the purpose finely for a number of years until the present one was built. Some years after- ward it caught fire, and, with the building adjoining it on the east, was burned to the ground. According to the records it appears that Hon. William McKay, during his last terms of service, Hon. Charles J. McFar-
329
HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY.
land, and Hon. William M. Stone were the judges who presided over the various terms of the District Court in this second court-house during the four or five years that it remained in use for that purpose by the county.
The present court-house, which is the third one for Dallas county, was built in 1858. It is a firm brick structure, two stories high and about sixty-four feet in length by forty-two feet in width, costing about eighteen or twenty thousand dollars when built. The lower story is divided into five offices, while the upper one serves as a comfortable and sufficiently commodious court-room. This building is situated about the center of the court-house square, being the first one erected on that ground.
About two years ago the county, finding there was not sufficient room in this main building down stairs for all the different offices, erected another brick building one story high in the southwest corner of the court square and divided it into three commodious and attractive offices, which are oc- cupied respectively by the treasurer, clerk, and recorder. This structure is built in the shape of a letter L, thus forming two wings each eighteen feet wide, while the south and west walls of the building are each about forty feet in length, these being the longest sides.
At the election of April 2, 1855, a vote was taken on levying a tax for building a new court-house, but was lost by 99 to 179 votes.
The county officials and tax-payers were not disposed to run in debt for such public improvements, but preferred to wait awhile until the county had procured the means by which to defray the expenses of such a struc- ture before entering upon the task of building.
Accordingly, on the minute-book is found the following record of the ac- tion taken two years afterward on this subject which proved much more successful and met with the favor of the people:
WHEREAS a petition has been presented to the county court of Dallas county, Iowa, praying that the county judge take immediate steps for the erection of a court-house; and
WHEREAS, the county having available means, amounting to about ten thousand dollars, that can be applied for that purpose; and believing that a good and substantial court-house can be built without increasing the ordinary expenses, or the taxes heretofore laid; it is there- fore ordered by the court that an election be held in Dallas county, at the several places of voting therein to take the sense of the people of said county, for a court-house, and against a court-house.
The manner of voting on the above proposition-the tickets shall have written or printed thereon the words, "For the Court-house," or "Against the Court-house."
The vote on the above proposition was carried by a handsome majority, there being 240 against to 401 votes in favor of building a new court-house which resulted in the erection of the present brick structure, from the treasury funds, without levying a tax.
The contract for building said court-house was let during the June term of court, 1857, to C. Rodenbach for $9,980, and the building was erected during the next year.
MORMON RAID.
The fourth election in Dallas county was held August 12, 1848, and proved to be an occasion of considerable importance, as a member of Congress, together with several State officers, were to be elected at this time, and Dal- las was to have her first experience, as a county, voting in a State election.
Iowa was, at that time, entitled to only one representative in the lower house.
330
HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY.
The two political parties then in the field were Whig and Democrat, and the party lines were pretty distinctly drawn so that a close political contest seemed inevitable.
During the summer the board of county commissioners had again di- vided the county for political purposes and increased the number of polling places from one to three, in order that it might be more convenient for the voters who were now scattered over various and quite distant parts of the county.
One of these new polling places was at Penoach, as before, one at the house of William P. McCubbin, situated in what is now Boone township, and the third at the house of Judah Leaming in the northeastern part of the county. This division made it much more convenient for the attend- ance of all parties concerned.
There was, however, a rather ingenious and disgraceful political trick played at this election, which resulted in very suddenly increasing the number of votes cast in the county to one hundred and ten (110) while there had been only twenty-four (24) cast at the previous April election of the same year.
The cause of this sudden increase of votes at this election was the unex- pected appearance at the polls, on election day, of some fifty or sixty Mor- mons who came in wagons and camped out near the place of voting.
At that time Dallas county really extended in its political jurisdiction clear to the Missouri river, and people proving themselves to be naturalized citizens and living within said bounds were entitled to cast their votes at this election. This condition of things offorded broad latitude for political chicanery for those who desired to avail themselves of it in order to gain a political triumph; and it appears that on this occasion one Pete Myers, then of Fort Des Moines, took advantage of this favorable opportunity and perpetrated a shrewd but unjustifiable trick on the honest voters of the county.
He is accused of having negotiated with the Mormon leaders for their votes in the interests of the Whig candidate for Congress. Accordingly the above mentioned company of Mormons came in their wagons, claiming to belong to the attached territory of Dallas west of this on the Missouri slope, but really lived some distance south of the attachment line, and cast their votes en masse for the Whig candidate, Daniel F. Miller, each and every one swearing in his vote.
The result was that Miller received eighty-eight votes for Congressman, and William Thompson, the Democratic candidate, received twenty-two, giving the former a majority of sixty-six.
The most of the excess vote by the Mormons was cast at the house of Win. P. McCubbin, where the greater part of them camped with their wagons.
The clerk of the board of county commissioners, S. K. Scovell, according to law having chosen two justices of the peace, Samuel Miller and Levi A. Davis, to assist him in the election canvass, saw, as soon as the returns from the different precincts were received, that a serious fraud had been committed, and positively refused to join with the two justices in completing the can- vass and making the returns.
In this case the law required that three separate abstracts should be made in the returns, one giving the votes for Congressman, another for the State officers, and the third for the county officers.
331
HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY.
Notwithstanding this, when the clerk refused to join them, the two jus- tices, Miller and Davis, proceeded on their own responsibility, completed the canvass themselves, and made but one abstract of the whole, either ig- norantly or willfully, giving the entire vote of Congress, State and county officers all on one and the same sheet, in open violation of the law, and re- quested the clerk to forward said returns to the Secretary of State.
Scovell refused to do so on the same ground on which he refused to join the canvass, and finally through the influence of Daniel F. Miller's friends an order was issued by the court requiring Scovell to correct the abstract and forward the returns in due form to the Secretary of State, and the Mormon tricksters gained their triumph.
Tristram Davis was elected county commissioner to fill the unexpired term of three years previously vacated by the resignation of Noah Staggs.
William P. McCubbin was elected in the place of O. D. Smalley, whose one year term had expired, and Uriah Stotts was elected Judge of Probate, to fill the place made vacant by the resignation of William D. Boone.
The following is a copy of the abstract of the election returns as made by the two justices, on the single sheet, including the votes cast for all the officers, and which the clerk refused to forward or approve until specially ordered by the court:
NAMES OF CANDIDATES.
House of
W. P. McCubbin
Penoach.
House of
Judah Leaming.
Aggregate.
Congress :
Wm. Thompson
10
11
1
22
Daniel F. Miller
62
23
3
88
Secretary of State:
John M. Coleman.
62
23
3
88
Joseph H. Bowny
10
11
1
22
Auditor of State:
Joseph T. Fales.
10
11
1
22
Wm. A. Warren
62
23
3
88
Treasurer of State:
Robert Holmes
62
23
3
88
Morgan Reno.
10
11
1
22
County Commissioners :
Tristram Davis ..
2
29
4
35
Wm. P. McCubbin
47
3
3
53
O. D. Smalley.
1
26
3
30
Joseph C. McCubbin
18
18
Judge of Probate:
Uriah Stotts ..
38
9
9
Justice of the Peace:
Archibald Crowl
9
9
Constable :
Wm. D. Boone
14
-
14
We, Samuel Miller and Levi A. Davis, two acting justices of the peace in and for Dallas county, do hereby certify that the above abstract of the election in all the precincts in said county is correct.
, Given under our hands this 12th day of August, 1848.
SAMUEL MILLER, Justice of the Peace. LEVI A. DAVIS, Justice of the Peace.
38
Wm. D. Boone.
332
HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY.
PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION.
In the year 1848, on the seventh day of November, the sixteenth pres- idential election occurred, which was the first election of this kind since the organization of Dallas as a county. It was therefore an occasion of consid- erable interest as it gave the voters their first opportunity of casting their ballots in their new county for the Chief Executive of the nation. The population of the county had not yet become sufficiently extensive to call forth any very great demonstration in a political campaign; but those who were here were generally as thoroughly interested in the important event which was about to transpire in the nation's career as those who were living in parts more densely populated; and as the appointed election day drew near, the display of interest and enthusiasm continued to increase until the excitement became quite interesting and called forth some lively speeches and zealous electioneering from the different parties.
The three political parties then in the field were the Whig, Democratic and " Free-soil " parties.
Gen. Zachary Taylor, or "Old Rough and Ready," was the Whig candi- date for the presidency, being nominated on the fourth ballot over Henry Clay, Gen. Scott and Daniel Webster, in the Whig convention, which met at Philadelphia, June 7th, 1848.
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