USA > Iowa > Dallas County > The History of Dallas County, Iowa, containing a history of the county, its cities, towns, &c. > Part 49
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
At that meeting (April 3, 1867) the following officers were duly elected: President, J. R. Reed; Vice President, T. J. Boak; Secretary, T. R. North; Treasurer, Larkin Thornburgh; Marshal, E. F. Frush.
Mr. Reed, however, refused to serve as president, and. Ezra Van Fossen was elected in his place, who presided during that term.
During the year 1867 the society procured and fenced the fair grounds; and the society having very little funds with which to defray necessary ex- penses, they were unable to purchase grounds, and therefore decided to lease grounds and proceed on the safe basis. The grounds were leased from Judge Byron Rice, of Des Moines, some 23 or 24 acres lying just north of Adel, adjoining the Slough cut-off, where the county fairs have been held annually ever since.
The lease is now run out, however, and the society has now a committee appointed to procure grounds for the coming year. The society is free from debt, and will most likely purchase lands soon and establish and fit up a permanent fair ground for the county.
The last fair was held September 19, 20 and 21, 1878, and the next one is appointed for August 27, 28 and 29, 1879.
384
HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY.
The present officers of the society are:
President, T. J. Caldwell; Vice President, A. J. Lyon; Secretary, T. R. North; Treasurer, W. S. Rudrow; Directors, E. F. Frush, Z. W. Swallow, J. J. Clark, Cole Noel; Marshal, A. G. Marsh.
RAILROADS.
Dallas county has very good railroad facilities, having two main line roads passing through it, one east and west opening direct communication with Chicago and eastern cities, as also with the west; and another north and south road passing diagonally through the east part of the county and opening communication north and south as well as making connection with the two main east and west line, passing north and south of it.
THE CHICAGO, ROCK ISLAND AND PACIFIC RAILROAD
Passes through the south tier of townships, giving all the south half of the county excellent market privileges, with direct communication east and west on one of the best railroads in the State. This one was also the first rail- road established in the State of Iowa, under the title of the Mississippi and Missouri Railroad. Its construction was commenced at Davenport in May, 1854, and during that year it was completed as far as Iowa City, a distance of about 542 miles, which place remained as the terminus for several years. (For particulars see first of book, page 172, History of Iowa-Railroads.)
The extension of this road westward then progressed slowly for many years, and it was not until 1868-9 that it reached and passed through Dallas county and hurried on to the Missouri slope. It has four stations in Dallas county-Boone, Van Meter, De Soto, and Dexter.
THE DES MOINES AND FORT DODGE RAILROAD
Enters Dallas county near the southeast corner in Boone township and extends in a northwesterly direction between Beaver creek and the North Raccoon river, passing through a fertile prairie country, and leaving the county about eight miles east of the northwest corner, a few miles above the town of Perry. This road was also built through Dallas county about 1869-1870; and having four thriving towns along its line in the county- Waukee, Dallas Center, Minburn, and Perry -it affords excellent market privileges for all the east and north parts of the county. (For particulars of its origin, see page 173, History of Iowa-Railroads.)
Various surveys for east and west roads through the county have been made at different times and some grading has been done, but none have met with any considerable degree of success until during the last year by indomitable energy and unflinching pluck of the enterprising citizens and leading men of Adel a narrow gauge railroad has been constructed and put in running order from Waukee to Adel, which is destined before many years to traverse the county and connect Des Moines and Panora by a narrow gauge railroad, giving new life and energy to all the towns along its line, and perfecting the railroad conveniences of Dallas county by a central railroad through its county seat.
385
HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY.
THE DES MOINES, ADEL AND WESTERN RAILROAD-NARROW GAUGE.
The great bulk of expense in constructing this road thus far and putting it in running order from Waukee to Adel has been borne by the citizens in and around Adel, for which enterprise they deserve great credit. The description of this road is quite fully given in an article which we quote from the State Register, of December 11, 1878:
"Recently it has been our good fortune to secure some valuable items in reference to the Des Moines, Adel and Waukee Railroad, a narrow gauge road now in process of construction from Waukee, on the line of the D. M. & Ft. D. R. R. fifteen miles west of our own city, to Panora, by way of Adel and Redfield. For this information, which we are now presenting to the reader, we are indebted to Mr. Hotchikiss, secretary of the Narrow Gauge Company, and the popular clerk, also, of the district and circuit courts for Dallas county.
"The Des Moines, Adel and Western Railroad Company was incorporated April 12, 1878. The present officers are: President, T. J. Caldwell; Vice President, J. W. Russell; Treasurer, L. Lambert; Secretary, A. C. Hotch- iss; Directors, T. J. Caldwell, J. O. Risser, L. Lambert, D. A. Blanchard, A. C. Hotelikiss, J. W. Russell, and Thos. Ashton.
"It is a noticeable fact that these officers are citizens of Adel, and are numbered among the most solid and enterprising gentlemen in Dallas county. What they undertake to do will be accomplished in good time.
"This new road, of which we are writing, is already completed and in good running order from Waukee to Adel, a distance of six and a half miles. The present western terminus is a quarter of a mile east of Adel. The great need now is the construction of a bridge over North 'Coon at hat place, and we are assured that this structure will be completed at a very early period, most probably within the next two or three months. North 'Coon is the most serious objection in the way, and when the pro- posed bridge is erected the road will be rapidly pushed on to Panora. The greater part of the grading has been done for some time. The road west of Adel will pass through the townships of Colfax, Union, and Linn, in Dallas, and Cass, in Guthrie county, the general direction being northwest, and the distance from Adel to Panora being twenty-two miles.
" It is to be remarked that the region through which the road passes is drained and fertilized, in great part, by the three 'Coon rivers, and is cele- brated for the richness of its soil, and for the enterprise of its rapidly in- creasing population.
" Adel, the county seat of Dallas, despite the disadvantages under which t has been laboring in the absence of railroads, has maintained a steady and solid growth, and now numbers a population of 1,200, whose dark nights are beginning to be enlightened by street lamps, and whose bright days are made lively by the bustle of prosperous business.
" Redfield, with its Indiana House, and its genial landlord, Mr. Browning, S a well-preserved and well-to-do village in the heart of a very rich country.
' "On the Middle 'Coon, a short distance from this place and near the ine of the new railroad, are productive coal mines, adding materially to he great natural resources of this region.
386
HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY.
"The cost of the new road, thus far, has been about $50,000, which is paid by the citizens of Adel, and $30,000 of which has been raised this year.
" The subsidies to continue the road have mostly been pledged.
"That part of it already completed is paying well, and when finished through the entire route will richly compensate those friends who have made investments in it."
Since the above account was written, the required amount has been raised by the Narrow Gauge Company, the contract has been let and the new railroad bridge is now under process of erection, which virtually set- tles the question of the further continuance of the road at a very early day. (For the particulars of this contract see previous article on bridges.)
Several years ago a proposed narrow gauge railroad was surveyed through the northern part of the county, under the title of the Des Moines & Western Midland Railroad. The survey entered Dallas county some- where along the east line of Grant township, passing on to Minburn, and running from thence nearly west until it entered Lincoln township 40 rods north of the southeast corner of section 12; thence south of west to the center of section 11; thence west to the southwest corner of section 10; thence northwest direct to the northwest corner of section 5, and passing out of the county at the west side, about the northeast corner of section 31, Dallas township.
This road, however, has not made much progress beyond the prospect survey, and perhaps never will be completed since the present narrow gauge south of it is proving a success.
Other surveys may have been made through the county of which we have received no information.
The number of miles and estimate of taxation is shown by the following report of the county Auditor in 1877:
STATEMENT
Showing the length, in miles, and assessed valuation of railroads in the several townships and lesser taxing districts in Dallas county, Iowa, for the year 1877, as fixed by the board of supervisors at the April meeting, 1877.
CHICAGO, ROCK ISLAND & PACIFIC RAILROAD.
TOWNSHIPS.
Miles.
Val. per Mile.
Amount.
Boone. .
5.80|$ 11,300|$
65,540 00
Van Meter
6.50
11,300
73,450 00
Adams
2.38
11,300
26,894 00
Union
2.88
11,300
32,544 00
Total
17.56
$ 198,428 00
LESSER DISTRICTS-SCHOOL AND CORPORATION .
De Soto (Cor.).
.53
$ 5,989 00
De Soto (Ind. ).
1.10
12,430 00
De Soto (Ind. ).
1.80
20,340 00
Dexter (Ind. ).
2.05
23,165 00
Dexter (Cor.)
.80
9,040 00
389
HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY.
DES MOINES & FORT DODGE RAILROAD.
TOWNSHIPS.
Miles.
Val. per Mile.
Amount.
Boone.
3.80|$
3,200|$ 12,160 00
Walnut.
5.40
3,200
17,280 00
Adel .
3.20
3,200
10,240 00
Sugar Grove.
7.20
3,200
23,040 00
Beaver. . .
.12
3,200
384 00
Spring Valley
7.30
3,200
23,360 00
Total.
27.02
$ 86,464 00
LESSER DISTRICTS-SCHOOL AND CORPORATION.
Waukee (Ind.) ..
2.12
$ 6,784 00
F. Val. (Ind.).
1.36
4,352 00
V. Grove (Ind.).
1.92
6,144 00
D. C. (Ind.).
2.60
8,320 00
D. C. (Ind.).
1.18
3,776 00
Perry (Ind. ).
.70
2,240 00
S. Rem. (Ind.).
2.40
7,680 00
S. Val. (Ind. ).
2.44
7,808 00
Alton (Ind.).
1.76
5,632 00
Perry (Cor. )
.62
1,984 00
.
I hereby certify the foregoing correct.
Z. W. KELLEY, Auditor.
TEMPERANCE.
The question of temperance has been pretty thoroughly ventilated in all the days of Dallas county, especially during the latter years in the county's history, and the cause of temperance has been strongly maintained. It is true, that in counties and communities there is always a greater or less per cent of the citizens who are firm advocates of each view, and it is generally not a difficult matter to determine on which side of this great question each one belongs; in this case the scriptural rule, "by their fruits ye shall know them," proves an infallible test, for, certainly, nothing shows the evil effects of its workings and influence upon its subjects and votaries like the practice of intemperance. The victims are soon marked with an unmistak- able brand. Deceive themselves as they may, they cannot long succeed in deceiving others while they persist in, the degrading habit, and much less can they deceive the Omnicient One.
To discover the different phases of the temperance cause in all the times since the day in which men were indicted for selling fire-water to the Indi- ans, would be almost an impossibility, and far beyond the reach or intent of this short article.
As has been shown by the previous narrative of incidents during the early days of the county, there were evidently not a few of the early set- tlers who liked their bitters too well, and would have them, at all hazards, and who were not unfrequently liable to take "just a wee drap too much," either for their own good or for the welfare of their households, when the supply was sufficient for the demand; and when this was not the case, they would wade through thick and thin, during the roughest storms to meet the demands of their desperate craving.
Far as this new country was situated from the base of supplies, and diffi-
25
390
HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY.
cult as it was to go to the nearest trading point and bring home even the necessary supplies for family and home use; yet despite all these difficul- ties, the intoxicating beverage would be procured by some means and freely distributed among those desiring it, when it seemed almost impossible to procure the essentials of living. As an example of this, witness the fol- lowing:
A WHISKY-SELLER'S MISHAP.
During that hard winter of 1848-9, when the fearful snow banks so blockaded the ways in every direction, that travel was not only most diffi- cult, but dangerous to those venturing any distance from home, and at times it was almost impossible to get away any great length, even for the neces- saries of life, it appears that even these difficulties and threatened dangers did not prevent the whisky dealers from venturing off even as far as Fort Des Moines, through the deepest snow-drifts, to procure a new supply of the deadly, degrading stuff, in which they trafficked to ruin their fellow- men.
.
A good illustration of this is given in the following anecdote, related by Judge Burns:
" A whisky shop was being kept at this time" (winter 1848-9) " in Pen- oach by one Anderson Kelley, an old inan full of years, and full of whisky as well. Kelley ran out of spirits as soon as spirits ceased to run out of him. His stock in trade-a barrel of whisky-had been disposed of by drinks to the votaries of Bacchus, and another barrel of whisky must sup- ply its place or Kelly must shut up shop. To get to the Fort, over an un- broken track, and in the midst of snow storms, was a big undertaking, even with a man full of spirits. Kelley set out, however, with a yoke of cattle hitched to a sled made from the fork of a tree. He reached the Fort in safety, interviewed 'Jim ' Campbell, and soon got a barrel of whisky.
Next morning it was loaded on the tree fork and Kelly started back for Penoach. He had barely reached the skirt of the prairie west of the Fort, when he was met by one of those northwesters, which were characteristic of this terrible winter. The wind blew furiously from the northwest, which increased to a gale. The heavens were a seething mass of granulated snow, which, impinging the naked face, made it impossible to confront it by other than a side or back view.
Kelly, full of whisky and full of determination, struck out boldly on the open prairie for Penoach, to meet the wants of his customers, betimes. Great rattling snow festoons hung from the brows of his patient, submis- sive cattle, blinding them so that they could not keep the way. Kelley, meanwhile goading them on with cruel threats and fearful imprecations, the storm increasing in fury and malevolence all the while. The folds and cav- erns of his tattered garments were filled with snow, and became as rigid as raw-hide. The poor cattle, becoming wearied and lifeless, turned their heads from the pitiless storm and, drawing their chilled legs well under them, stood motionless. Kelley, shivering like an aspen leaf, handled by a midsummer storın, felt his way to the barrel, banged out the bung with the hook of a log chain, thrust a blue-stem into the bung-hole and sucked his fill.
Loosening his poor cattle from the fork sled, and with a goad firmly clenched in his left hand he grabbed the tail of the near ox with his right and then gave the word "go on," crowning it with heavy blows from his
391
HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY.
goad on the shivering backs of his weary animals. Kelley had determined to follow them wherever they might go, and they might go wherever they pleased. The jaded beasts moved on slowly over hill and hollow, keeping the storm well to the rear of them, now and then standing in a snow drift, which after a little rest they would struggle through, Kelley meanwhile sprawling on his back and plowing along through the drift, holding fast to the tail.
The cattle finally reached the timber skirting 'Coon river, near the resi- dence of the late Wm. D. Boone, in Boone township, Dallas county.
Kelley found lodging and a shelter for his cattle with Boone for the night.
Next day he found his way home with his cattle only up the bottom of 'Coon, under the shelter of the hills skirting the river. There he remained for some ten days before the weather had moderated so as to allow him to return in safety for the barrel of whisky that he had left behind. Not a drop could be had all this time in Penoach. On Kelley's return to the scene of his late discomfiture, he found the barrel had leaked fearfully in his absence from some cause; and Kelley was not slow to believe that old John Wright, of Boone township, was the cause of the leak, supposing him to have heard of the location of the barrel, and that his evil genius had pass that way " ad interim."
Of course it is not the intention, for a moment, to intimate that the above is a fair representation of a majority or even a small minority of the early settlers in the county; for the information we have received on this subject from those who were here to gain a personal knowledge of affairs, and the evident testimony on record of the ballots and declarations of the people made, time and again, in favor of temperance, together with the prevailing popular sentiment in its favor throughout the county, it is evident that a strong and influential temperance element has existed in Dallas county through all the years of its growth. But the above anecdote serves as an illustration to show what difficulties the cause of temperance and its faithful adherents had to contend with in former times, and give courage for faith- ful perseverance in the present, as they look back over what has been ac- complished in contending with the monster enemy, and look forward again in hope to the future.
In April, 1855, the people were granted the privilege of voting on the "prohibitory liquor law," and the temperance sentiment of the legal voters in the county at that time is shown by the following abstract of that elec- tion.
STATE OF IOWA, - DALLAS COUNTY. S. SS.
An abstract of all the votes cast on " The Prohibitory Liquor Law," on the first Monday, the second day of April, A. D. 1855, in the county aforesaid.
There were (397) three hundred and ninety-seven votes cast. of which there were (233) two hundred and thirty-three cast for and (164) one hundred and sixty-four votes against the said law.
We do hereby certify the foregoing abstract to be correct, as shown by the returns of the several townships of said county. In testimony whereof, we have hereto set our hands as . county canvassers, and affixed the seal of said county, at Adel, this 6th day of April, A. D. 1855.
(Signed) LLOYD D. BURNS, County Judge, SAMUEL MILLER, Justice of the Peace, . CHARLES BILDERBACK, Justice of the Peace, County Canvassers.
392
HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY.
The above only gives the voice of the legal voters who declared their sen- timents by their ballots, and not the voice of the whole people, but it gives strong indication of the pulse beat; and it is very evident that the side of temperance would have lost nothing had all adults, male and female, been permitted to cast their ballots on the question, for the female element, which is the great human power in the land for promoting the cause of temper- ance, had no voice in that election, and the expression of their sentiment was not regarded and publicly declared as it is in these latter days.
LICENSE LIQUOR LAW.
On the records of the March term of the county court, 1857, is found the following minute:
Now comes Benjamin Bennett and one hundred and eighty others who present a petition asking the court to submit to a vote of the people of Dallas county the License Liquor Law.
And whereas, it appearing that said petition was gotten up in conformity with the law made in such cases, and that there were over one hundred names to said petition.
Now, therefore, it is ordered by the court, that an election be held for the purpose aforesaid, on the first Monday of April, A. D. 1857, in the county of Dallas, Iowa, and the ballots shall have printed or written, "For License," or "Against License
The vote at this election was carried against license by a good majority, and the temperance principles of the county were still maintained.
Here as elsewhere in every community, various schemes were laid and all sorts of means contrived by the liquor advocates to foster the lion's cub un- chained, and make of him a harmless playmate in the midst of a civilized community, but despite their efforts and fostering care, at every opportu- nity, he only became the more bold to display his destructive lion nature, and to choose as his victims of ruin those who had most fondly cherished and defended him as their bosom friend.
The corner grocery system, the county agency system, the high revenue system, the license system, the private cellar and back-way-entrance plan all were tried, but failed to prevent the degrading, destructive effects of the evil, until the temperance friends began to assert their rights, and declare, by united voice and effort and influence, that this fiend of intoxica- tion should no longer be allowed to rain ruin in their midst by any kind of leave or license, then the day of victory began to dawn, and the result is there are now six towns in Dallas county that grant no license for the sale of intoxicating drinks, against four that do grant license, and a great num- ber of thriving temperance organizations throughout the county.
In nearly every town in the county now is found a temperance society, and the most of them have a large membership, that are actively and faith- fully engaged in prosecuting the good work, and extending their influence for the promotion and success of the temperance cause.
For an account of some of these temperance societies see sketches of the different towns and townships in the county.
RELIGIOUS.
" You raised these hallowed walls; the desert smiled, And Paradise was opened in the wild."-Pope.
In this day of missionary and benevolent spirit, the gospel in the West rather precedes than follows the settlement of the country. But in the
393
HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY.
earlier days of frontier life the progress toward public worship was of necessity slow. Yet the devotional spirit of those who had left godly homes opened up here and there an organized body of worshipers, many months before they had a regular building for their services.
The transformation of any country or locality from a condition of bar- barity to one of civilization requires long-continued and faithful effort, not only on the part of the first settlers, but also of the majority of those who follow in after years. So, also, it is with regard to the promotion and development of the Christian religion, that most important branch of civ- ilization, and, in fact, the great civilizer of nations. Its progress in a new country is necessarily comparatively slow for many years, and its promul- gation depends to a great extent on the unshaken faith and untiring efforts of the few trustful, devotional, zealous ones who are generally to be found, in greater or less numbers, in almost every community, even from the days of its earliest settlement. While the human element is the means to a glorious end in this regard, yet it is a most important means in the effectual promotion of this greatest of all causes, and we should have no misgivings or wavering doubts with regard to the ability to perform the important part of this work assigned each of us, for if we will only rely upon the promise, grace will be given us each, "sufficient for the day."
Religious interests in Dallas county have always been carefully fostered by the citizens, from the earliest days of settlement until the present, not only in the county seat, but also in the country districts, and in all the other towns and villages in the county, and in a county where the people have always shown themselves to be so thoroughly alive to educational interests as the citizens of Dallas always have been, the result could hardly have been otherwise, for to a good extent education and religion go hand in hand.
For many years after the emigrant cabins began to dot the woodlands and prairie, the settlements were so scattered over different parts of the county that it was almost impossible for any great number to assemble in any particular place for public worship, much less to erect houses or cabins for that purpose, and, as a consequence, for a while religious worship was known only at the home firesides of those who, in distress and privation, had not forgotten their devotion to Him who had graciously provided for them their dwellings, friends, and necessary comforts of life.
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.