USA > Iowa > Marion County > The History of Marion County, Iowa: Containing a History of the County, Its Cities, Towns, & C. > Part 46
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During these ten years the county judge had exclusive and almost abso- lute jurisdiction over the affairs of the county. There was nothing to pre- vent him from being a veritable despot in his own little realm. Persons having claims against the county were compelled to abide by the decision of this functionary or accept the alternative of going into the District Court; the location of roads and bridges, the erection and repairing of county buildings, the levying of taxes, the formation of civil townships, the settlement of probate business, the granting of licenses and the arbi- trament of contested elections were one and all under the supervision and dependent on the fiat of the county judge. He was amenable to no one except on election day when he submitted his name to the voters of the county. Yet notwithstanding this almost unlimited sway of authority, there were but few judges but were very popular, their tenure of office exceeding, as a rule, that of any other county officer, and notwithstanding the fact that the county judge was not responsible to any higher supervising official there are few, perhaps but one, instances in which a county judge in the State of Iowa ever proved recreant to his trust. This is more, than can with truth be said of county clerks and treasurers, although their accounts are care- fully overhauled and closely supervised by other authorities. . We are led
24
878
HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY.
to inquire for the cause of this; wherefore this remarkable and exception- able purity of the county judge? Was it because the people were unusually particular in the selection of good men for this office? Men whom the lust for gain could not corrupt and the consciousness of power could not render haughty? Perhaps this was the case, but we believe it is the de- sire of the people to select such men for all the offices, and we cannot be- lieve that they had any better facilities for estimating the qualifications of the men who were candidates for the county judge's office than of the men who were candidates for other positions. We believe there are other res- sons whereby the purity and honesty of the county judge may be philo- sophically accounted for. It is a law of our being that we are more care- ful and discreet when trust and confidence are absolutely confided than when they are conditionally reposed. When a man finds that the trust and confidence of a people are absolutely confided in him and in addition to this is the other condition of his being the only as well as the absolute cus- todian of trust, then will a man who has a spark of honor or is the least ambitious of a good name, be especially careful, discreet and scrupulous. He who listens for a moment to the voice of the tempter, and where is the poor, frail specimen of humanity who can help but listen, will be slow to yield when he remembers that he alone must bear the odium of guilt; but should he remember that there are others who will be compelled to share his guilt, the remembrance of this fact will furnish an inducement to yield ; the feet of an individual are slow to go alone in the way to do evil, but swift to go with the multitude.
Two large, well written books of over one thousand pages-books of which any county or county official might well be proud-contain the records of Judge Joseph Brobst and Judge F. M. Frush.
The first record is as follows:
" COUNTY COURT August 12, 1851.
" MARION COUNTY.
" Joseph Brobst, county judge elect in and for said county, qualified by taking the oath of office before J. Smith Hooton, Esq., notary public, on the 18th day of August, 1851, which said oath and certificate was filed in the office of the treasurer of said county."
The record of the same day says that S. C. Conrey, supervisor elect, Clai- born Hall, recorder elect, Isaac H. Walters, elected high sheriff, produced their bonds and were qualified to enter upon the duties of their respective offices.
On the following day the record begins as follows:
" COUNTY COURT, Always considered open for business.
" MARION COUNTY.
"JOSEPH BROBST, County Judge."
On the same day the following order, showing that even at that early day there were persons who desired to be relieved of the burdens of taxation, was made:
"R. S. Lowry produces a certificate from Dr. S. C. Conrey that said Lowry is not an able-bodied man to perform labor on the public highways; thereupon the court orders that the said Lowry shall be exempt tempora- rily in payment of his full tax."
The following record made December 29, 1851, shows that even in pio- neer days they had the poor with them:
379
HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY.
"John Lloyd makes application by the trustees, report from Red Rock township, Marion county, Iowa, alleging that Elizabeth Lloyd, a poor person belonging to said county, is in need of relief; the report of the township trustees to the county judge is awarded at the rate of seventy-five cents per week from the 20th day of September to the 20th day of December, 1851; amount, 89.00; the above amount is ordered paid by the county judge."
This probably was the first instance in which the public funds were ap- propriated for the relief of the poor of Marion county. In those days none were rich and all being comparatively poor there was no disposition to ap- ply for assistance.
Mention has already been made of the fact that the county supervised the several ferries in early days. The following record made in July, 1852, will afford somne idea of the manner in which this was done then :
" Marion County Court, July Term, 1852:
" Applications having been made by Samuel H. Wilkin and John D. Be- dell and Sampson Mathews for a license to keep a ferry at Red Rock, in said county and State, and now on the first judicial day of said term come said applicants by their attorneys, and proofs and allegations of said appli- cants were submitted to the court, upon which the court determined to whom of said applicants license should be decreed to keep a ferry at Red Rock as aforesaid. And after hearing the evidence of said applicants ad- duced in support of their several applications, and hereupon the court ad- journed until to-morrow morning at nine o'clock. Now, on Tuesday morn- ing the court met pursuant to adjournment, and the said court having ex- amined and weighed the evidence, proofs and allegations of said applicants, it is ordered, adjudged and directed by the court that license be granted to Samuel H. Wilkin to keep a ferry at Red Rock, Marion county, Iowa, with exclusive privilege for the space of one mile up the Des Moines River, and one mile down the same river, from the said town of Red Rock, for the term of three years from and after the eighth day of July, 1852."
These franchises soon became very valuable and a contest of this kind was by no means of unfrequent occurrence.
The accompanying order will show the conditions upon which the license was granted:
" At the July term of the Marion county court, 1852, it was decided by said court that Samnel H. Wilkins be permitted and licensed to keep a ferry at Red Rock, in said county, for the term of three years from and af- ter the 8th day of July, 1852, and exclusive jurisdiction and right of ferry for one mile up and one mile down the Des Moines River from the center of the present ferry at Red Rock aforesaid, and that he receive and be per- mitted to take the following toll for his services; to wit.,
" For each footman 5 cents.
" For man and horse 10 cents.
" For a two-horse wagon 25 cents.
" For extra span of horses or oxen 15 cents.
" For each loose horse or ox. 5 cents.
"For each hog or sheep. 2 cents.
" For a one-horse wagon 25 cents.
" JOSEPH BROBST, " County Judge."
880
HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY.
In July, 1852, there was a record made by the county judge of the county census as follows:
TOWNSHIPO.
POPULATION.
Clay
404
Dallas
167
Indiana
368
Knoxville.
1,158
Liberty
539
Pleasant Grove.
461
Perry ..
350
Polk.
289
Lake Prairie.
1,301
Red Rock
738
Union.
213
Washington
307
Total
6,289
Among this number there were 33 colored persons, all in Indiana town- ship. There were 869 aliens distributed as follows: Dallas, 26; Perry, 1; Lake Prairie, 802; Red Rock, 40. There were 1,144 voters and the militia numbered 1,095.
It has already been stated that the location of the seat of justice was fixed by the commissioners appointed for that purpose in 1845, and that shortly after the organization of the county the commissioners ordered a portion of the land, selected as the site of the county seat, platted and surveyed. At first there was a fair demand for choice lots but many of the lots belong- ing to the few blocks laid out were a drug on the market and it was not till September, 1852, that there was a sufficient demand for lots to warrant the surveying and platting of the rest of the town quarter. The survey of the entire town quarter was ordered on the 28th of September, 1852. The fol- lowing is the order:
" This day, I, Joseph Brobst, county judge of the county of Marion, State of Iowa, do hereby appoint F. M. Frueh county surveyor, to run out the balance of the town quarter into whole blocks; and the said F. M. Frush to complete the survey with Joel Stanley, E. G. Stanfield, Isaac Anderson and Luke McKern's assistance and make seven blocks which is the balance of said town quarter, numbered as follows: Numbers 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54 and 55; and that lot number 49 is set apart by Joseph Brobst for burying purposes. Also the county judge appointed appraisers to appraise the above six blocks, being sworn and appraised as follows; to-wit., lot 50, at thirty dollars; lot 51 at forty-five dollars; lot 52, at fifty-five dollars; lot 53, at fif- teen dollars; lot 54 at sixty-five dollars; lot 55, at fifty dollars."
F. M. Frush and his four assistants received the sum of $8.75 for com- pleting the survey of the town quarter, cheap work even for that day.
In early times county officials appreciated the importance of churches, as will be seen from the following order, dated January 21, 1853:
"On this day a petition of E. G. Stanfield and forty others is presented praying the county judge to grant to the trustees of the Methodist Episco- pal Church two lots lying in the town of Knoxville, in this county, the same being the property of this county. After hearing said petition and
881
HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY.
sving examined the said matter and being fully advised in the premises is,
Ordered, That said petition be granted; and it is further ordered by the county judge that e following named lots be donated to the said Methodist Episcopal Church; provided, that e said church will build a church in the said town of Knoxville; to-wit., lots 6 and 7 in ock 28, in the said town of Knoxville.
JOSEPH BROBST, County Judge."
During the time that the county commissioners managed the county, om 1845 to 1851, the county was subdivided into civil townships, and ben the county judge system was introduced in 1851, the county con- sted of twelve civil townships as follows: Knoxville, Washington, Dallas, diana, Liberty, Clay, Lake Prairie, Polk, Red Rock, Union, Perry and leasant Grove. This arrangement of civil townships continued till early
1853, when, by the order of the county judge, Perry township was sub- vided and Swan township was organized. The following is a copy of the der:
" February 28, 1853. On this day come Eli Vanderford and thirty-eight hers, and present a petition praying that Perry township in this county. , divided, and a new township to be called 'Swan' be formed from a part of id township of Perry, for the convenience of the citizens of the south de of the Des Moines River. Whereupon the court has
Ordered, That the township of Perry is hereby divided, and that a new township, here- ter be known by the name of Swan be formed from a part or portion of Perry township mmencing at the northeast corner of the southeast quarter of section twenty-four, in town- ip seventy-seven, of range twenty-one, and running thence north to the Des Moines River, ence west along the meanderings of said river until it meet the northwest corner of the uthwest quarter of section No. 7, in township and range aforesaid, thence running south the southwest corner of the southwest quarter of section thirty-one, in township and range presaid; thence running east to the southeast corner of the southeast quarter of section irty-six, in township and range aforesaid; thence north to the place of beginning. and that cob Haynes of said township of Swan, be. and is hereby directed to give notice that an ction will be held at the house of Charity Groom, in the said township, on the 4th day of pril 1853, for the purpose of electing officers for said township of Swan, and to do all things rtaining to said.election, according to the provisions of the law made and provided. JOSEPH BROBST, County Judge."
The next township which was formed was Summit, the order having sen made March 3d, 1854, as follows:
"On this day came Jacob Pendroy and sixty-one others and presented a tition to this court, praying this court that Red Rock township, Marion unty, Iowa, be divided, and that a new township, to be called 'Summit' wnship be formed out of a part of said township, for the convenience of e voters of said township. Upon examination of said petition, and the urt being fully advised in the premises,
Ordered, That the said township of Red Rock be divided, and that a new township here- ter to be known by the name of Summit township, be formed from the east side of Red xck township, to be bounded as follows: composed of township ,77, range nineteen west. nd it is further
Ordered, That John Donnel of said township be hereby directed to give notice that an ection will be held on the first Monday of April, 1854, for the purpose of electing the fol- wing named township and county officers; to-wit., two justices of the peace, two consta- es, three township trustees, one township clerk, one township assessor, one district judge, le mperintendent of public instruction and one school fund commissioner as county and ate officers. Warrant issued and put into the hands of John C. Donnel.
JOSEPH BROBST, County Judge."
The next change made in the subdivision of the county into civil towu-
382
HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY.
ships was in February, 1855, upon the or ganization of Franklin township. The order in relation to this is dated February 28, 1855, and is as follows: " On this day comes John Miller and twenty-three others, and present a petition to the court, praying this court that Dallas township, Marion county, Iowa, be divided, and that a new township, hereafter to be known by the name of Franklin township, be formed from the northern part of said township of Dallas, and to be bounded as follows; to-wit., and com- posed of township No. seventy-five, range twenty-one, west. And it is further
Ordered, That John Miller, of said township of Franklin, be and hereby is directed to to give notice that an election will be held at the house of John Clark, in said township of Franklin on the first Monday of April, 1855, for the purpose of electing the following named township and county officers; to-wit., two justices of the peace, two constables, three trus- tees, one clerk and one assessor; also, one district judge, for the Fifth judicial district, one commissioner of Des Moines River improvement, one register Des Moines River improve- ment and one Register of the State Land-office, as State officers. Warrant issued and put into the hands of the above named Jacob Miller.
JOSEPH BROBST, County Judge."
This was the last change made in the name and number of the town- ships. The boundaries of some of the townships have been slightly changed since then, but no new townships have been formed since 1855. This early crystallization of the civil town ships seems remarkable and it is unprece- dented; there is most probably not another county in the State whose civil townships have undergone no change in their organization since 1855. This is one of the many evidences which may be found going to establish the fact that Marion county is one of the most conservative in the State. Conservatism may not always be for the best, it certainly is never an evidence of enterprise, but in such matters as these it is better for all persons that the county be conservative.
From assessors' returns as recorded by the county judge, July 18, 1855, it being the first assessment after the county became subdivided into town- ships as at present, we find that there was the followingnumber of persons in the respective townships subject to poll-tax:
TOWNSHIPS.
POLLS.
Clay
139
Dallas
108
Indiana 95
Knoxville 418
Franklin
29 Liberty
128
Lake Prairie
407
Pleasant Grove 161
78
Perry
Red Rock 120
Swan.
68
Union .
Washington 127
117
Summit
78
Polk
Total
2,147
In 1852 the number of polls was 1,172, an increase of 975 in three years.
388
HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY.
Though probably not the first bridge erected in the county, yet the first le of sufficient importance to make record of the contract, was the bridge ected across English Creek near the house of Jacob Pifer. The contract as as follows:
"January 5, 1855: For the sum of $260, to be a wooden superstructure id bolted with irons; allotted to Isaac Gaston and to be built according to ans now in county judge's office. Said Isaac Gaston makes application for 10, to purchase irons and timber, which sum is allowed by the county dge and ordered that a warrant be issued to Isaac Gaston cut of the anty fund.
"JOSEPH BROBST, County Judge."
This order will strike the reader as being a stange commingling of contract, esentation of bill, granting of bill and issuance of warrant.
On the seventh day of Februray, 1855, Judge Brobst seems to have heard application for a writ of habeas corpus, the first one on record before that urt. It was entitled the case of:
TESSE W. CLINE, JOHN M. CLINE, MARTHA J. CLINE, v8. PARIS T. TALTON, SHERIFF OF MA- RION COUNTY. -
Habeas corpus."
The plaintiffs severally made oath that they were wrongfully restrained of leir liberty by the sheriff of said county on pretense of the crime of com- itting an assault upon Samuel H. Black with intent to commit murder. The writ was issued and the case heard on the same day. The plaintiffs ere required to enter into recognizance to appear before the District Court. onds were fixed for each, aggregating the sum of three hundred and fifty ›llars, and parties remanded into care of sheriff for safe keeping.
Among his other duties it devolved upon the county judge to find a man ho would consent to act as agent for the purchase and sale of intoxicating quors so that people in the various communities might be able to procure lat particular article for medical, mechanical and sacramental purposes. It as early found to be necessary to use alcohol in the manufacture of many ticles of home comfort and that well-known specific, vulgarly called whisky, as indispensible in case of snake.bites, hence there were found persons ho were prevailed upon to act as agents for the purchase and sale of this mowned medical and mechanical commodity. The county judge had an ficial form by which he certified to the fact that such an agent had been and willing to devote a portion of his time for the good of the afflicted ad snake-bitten public. The following is a copy of said official form:
"AUGUST 9, 1855.
"On the thirtieth day of June, 1855, came J. J. Cole, a resident of Knoxville, Marion county, Iowa, and made application to the county judge foresaid to be appointed agent for the purchase and sale of intoxicating quors for medical, mechanical and sacramental purposes for the said Dunty, in the town of Knoxville, in said connty of Marion. Upon tiling
884
HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY.
bond in the penal sum of one thousand dollars, with R. S. Patterson and J. R. Duncan as sureties, which was approved by the county judge, and en. tering into an agreement whereupon he agrees to receive as agent aforesaid, the sum of twenty-five per cent on cost of all liquors sold by him for the said medical, mechanical and sacramental purposes, as a salary as said agent, and also to furnish the necessary sum for the purchasing of said liquors necessary for the people aforesaid, which sum he shall retain out of the sum received for liquors sold by him as aforesaid. Whereupon a certificate was issued bearing date of June 30, 1855, authorizing the said J. J. Cole to act as agent for the purchase and sale of intoxicating liquors for the said med- ical, mechanical and sacramental purposes for the said county aforesaid, from the first day of July, 1855, until May 1, 1856, and that the same be sold in the said town of Knoxville."
The last official act of Judge Brobst was the issuing of a marriage cer- tificate to Jeremiah Heavlin and Martha Jane Scott. The license was dated August 15, 1855.
Judge Brobst was succeeded by Judge F. M. Frush, whose first official act bears date of August 15, 1855. The act referred to was the approval of the official bond of Jonathan Jones, the sheriff elect.
On September 10, 1855, Judge Frush makes a record of the official can- vass of a vote cast at a special election held in the town of Pella. From this record we learn that there were eighty-three votes cast, and the following officers were elected: mayor, William J. Ellis; marshal, A. Stautenburg; re- corder, E. Boekenoogen; treasurer, I. Overkamp. Aldermen, J. Berkhout, O. McDowell, M. A. Clark.
The election of which this is a record was probably the first election held in Pella after the incorporation of the town.
On the 21st day of April, 1856, the county judge makes a record of cer- tain regulations which were to govern the various township assessors in their valuation of real estate and personal property. We reproduce the record as it will be interesting to compare values at the present time with what they were a quarter of a century ago:
Timber land No. 1 $10 per acre.
Timber land No. 2
7 per acre.
Timber land No. 3
3 per acre.
Prairie land No. 1
6 per acre.
Prairie land No. 2
4 per acre.
Prairie land No. 3
2 per acre.
Farm horses No. 1
100 per head.
Mules No. 1.
100 per head.
Yoke work cattle No. 1.
75 per yoke.
Milk cows No. 1.
20 per head.
Cattle two years old
12 per head.
Cattle one year old 6 per head.
Sheep
1 per head.
Hogs
1.50 per cwt.
-
During the first year of Judge Frush's incumbency, considerable money was expended in the erection of bridges, which the county had long been seriously in need of. Two of these bridges were of special importance; one over South Cedar, the building of which was awarded to W. F. Schee, and
385
HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY.
the other over Coal Creek, which was built by Henry Shoemaker and Miles Jordan. Many bridges of greater dimensions are now built annually, but these being among the first deserve to be noticed.
The following record will show how the public square became fenced:
" In pursuance of an order made by the county court on the 5th day of June, 1854, which order appears to have been made at the request of several citizens of Knoxville by petition that the public square should be fenced, and said order never having been carried out, as said public square is still unfenced, and the court at this time is satisfied that a large portion of the citizens of this said town desire that the said square should now be feneed, and also satisfied from the large number of lots sold, that justice to said cit- izens demands said work be now done, therefore, on the -- day of Novem- ber, 1855, notices were given by posting in writing in three public places in said town that bids or proposals would be received at this office up to four o'clock P. M. of the 12th day of November, 1855, for furnishing the material and completing said work, and C. J. Brobst furnishing the lowest and best proposal, which was $232 for the material and work, entered into an agreement to complete said work within forty days in manner according to said agreement and appended specification, and gave bonds and security for his true performance of the said work, which article and agreement and bond have been filed in this office on this 13th day of November, 1855.
" F. M. FRUSH, "County Judge."
The fence to which this order refers was the first one erected around the public square, but is not the one which is now there. At the time it was erected there was no building on the square, and when the new court-house was erected, the old fence was replaced by a new one.
Owing to the fact that our synopsis of the transactions of the county judge has already became more extended than the importance of the sub- ject may seem to warrant, we pass over a large portion of the record made by Judge Frush. We have already devoted considerable space to this mat- ter as we consider that the record of the county judge from 1851 to 1861, contains a very important part of the official history of the county. Before leaving this subject, however, we shall reproduce an order made by Judge Frush in July, 1858, with reference to the sale of intoxicating liquors. It has already been shown that in 1855 the plan was to appoint an agent, who, under certain restrictions, was allowed to handle liquors ostensibly acting for the county. By the following order it will be seen that another plan was resorted to three years afterward:
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