USA > Iowa > Marion County > The History of Marion County, Iowa: Containing a History of the County, Its Cities, Towns, & C. > Part 51
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Commissioner - Thomas Pollock. Probate Judge - Claiborn Hall. Treasurer-Isaac Walters. 1848.
Commissioner-Martin Neal.
420
HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY.
1849.
Commissioner - Miles Jordan. Probate Judge - Thomas Collins. Treasurer-Isaac Walters. 1850.
Commissioner-James M. Brous. Probate Judge-Warren D. Everett. 1851. County Judge-Joseph Brobst. Sheriff-Isaac Walters. Recorder- Claiborn Hall. Surveyor-F. M. Frush. Coroner-Christopher Cox.
1852.
Clerk of Court-A. B. Miller. Prosecuting Attorney-John W. Alley. 1853.
Sheriff-P. T. Totten. Treasurer and Recorder-David Stanfield. Cor- oner-John Gamble.
1854.
Clerk-A. B. Miller. Prosecuting Attorney-A. Black.
1855. County Judge-F. M. Frush. Sheriff-Jonathan Jones. Treasurer and Recorder-David Stanfield. Surveyor-William Kent. Coroner-G. W. Harsin.
1856.
Clerk-J. M. Bayley. Prosecuting Attorney-A. Black.
1857. County Judge-F. M. Frush. Sheriff-J. Jones. Treasurer and Re- corder-Wm. J. Ellis. Surveyor-H. W. Dyer. Coroner-G. W. McLean.
1858.
Clerk-J. B. Hamilton. Surveyor-T. J. Anderson. 1859.
County Judge-F. M. Frush. Sheriff-J. Jones. Treasurer and Re- corder-W. J. Ellis. Surveyor-C. B. Boydston. Superintendent of Schools W. M. K. Cain. Coroner-J. A. Burnett.
1860.
Clerk-J. B. Hamilton. Superintendent of Schools-A. N. Currier.
1861.
County Judge-W. B. Young. Treasurer and Recorder-A. H. Viersen. Sheriff-D. J. Boydston. Coroner-E. Fort. Surveyor-J. W. Main. Superintendent of Schools-Joseph White.
496
HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY.
1869. Clerk-George Kruck. Surveyor-John Frush.
1863.
County Judge-W. B. Young. Clerk-George Kruck. Treasurer and Recorder-E. F. Sperry. Sheriff-E. Jones. Coroner-W. M. Norris. Surveyor-E. B. Ruckman. Superintendent of Schools-J. W. Griffin.
1864.
Clerk-George Kruck. Recorder-J. M. Clark. Sheriff-W. M. Norris 1865.
Representative-B. Van Leuven, J. D. Gamble. Judge-Joseph Brobst. Treasurer-W. T. Cunningham. Sheriff-A. White. Surveyor-D. M. Hamilton. Coroner-J. A. Welch. Superintendent of Schools-W. E White.
1866.
Clerk-Geo. Kruck. Recorder-A. Hamrick. Sheriff-R. S. Hanka Surveyor-J. A. Caruthers.
1867.
Senator-Thos. McMillan. Representatives-B. G. Bowen, E. Meacham. Judge-Joseph Brobst. Treasurer-E. Barker. Sheriff-J. P. Vincent. Surveyor-J. A. Caruthers. Superintendent of Schools-D. F. Bonner. Coroner-H. B. Keefer.
1868.
Representative-D. T. Durham. Clerk-H. L. Bousquet. Recorder -- A. Hamrick. Sheriff-J. P. Kelley. Coroner-W. H. H. Mutler.
1869.
Senator-J. M. Cathcart. Representatives-D. T. Durham, B. F. Keables. Auditor-Joseph Brobst. Treasurer-E. Baker. Sheriff-J. P. Kelley. Surveyor-O. H. S. Kennedy. Superintendent of Schools-A. Yetter. Coroner-M. Wikle. ยท 1870.
Clerk-H. L. Bousquet. Recorder-J. R. Broderick. Supervisors-8. L. Collins, S. Y. Gose, W.m. Blain. 1871.
Senator-J. S. McCormick. Representatives-D. T. Durham, B. F. Keables. Auditor-B. R. Ewalt. Treasurer-E. Baker. Sheriff-J. P. Kelley. Supervisor-H. M. McCulley. Superintendent of Schools-Sam- uel Ridenour. Coroner-Giles Marsh. Surveyor-O. H. S. Kennedy.
1872.
Clerk-A. Hamrick. Recorder-S. H. Viersen. Supervisor-Daniel Sherwood.
487
HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY.
1873.
Auditor-O. H. Robinson. Treasurer-R. M. Faris. Sheriff-L. W Crozier. Supervisor-H. D. Lucas. Superintendent of Schools-I. Mer- shon. Coroner-W. Allen. Surveyor-M. F. Marshall.
1874.
Clerk-A. Hamrick. Recorder-P. K. Bonebrake. Supervisor-H. F. Bousquet.
1875.
Senator-J. L. McCormack. Representatives-J. B. Elliott, G. T. Olark. Auditor-O. H. Robinson. Treasurer-R. M. Faris. Sheirff-L. W. Orozier. Superintendent of Schools-A. Yetter. Surveyor-N. Watkins. Coroner-T. G. Carr. Supervisor-A. A. Welcher.
1876.
Clerk-A. Hamrick. Recorder-P. K. Bonebrake. Supervisor-J. B. Ely.
1877.
Representatives-Wm. M. Stone, J. B. Elliott. Auditor-O. H. Robin- son. Superintendent of Schools-A. Yetter. Surveyor-N. J. Watkins. Supervisor-H. L. Bousquet. Coroner-E. W. Starr. Sheriff-T. R. Brown. Treasurer-R. M. Faris.
1878.
Recorder-A. N. Reed. Olerk-P. K. Bonebrake. Supervisor-A. A. Welcher. Coroner-W. H. Dean.
1879.
Senator-J. F. Greenlee. Representatives-L. N. Hayes, S. F. Prouty. Treasurer-J. H. Cloe. Auditor-A. M. Clark. Sheriff-E. P. Bradley. Superintendent of Schools-Z. T. Honnold. Surveyor-M. F. Marshall. Supervisor -- D. P. Cathcart. Coroner-Henry Mason.
1880.
Clerk-Minos Miller. Recorder-A. N. Reed. Supervisor-R. M. Faris.
97.
498
HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY.
We also publish in full the
OFFICIAL CANVASS OF VOTES CAST IN MARION COUNTY, IOWA, 1880.
CANDIDATES.
Clay.
Dallas.
Franklin.
Indiana.
Knoxville.
Lake Prairie.
Liberty.
Perry.
Polk.
Pleasant Grove.
Red Rock.
Summit.
Swan.
Union.
Total.
Pluralities.
For President-
160
123
74
124
714
290
168
28
32
168
115
142
114
72
127
2,451
921
W. S. Hancook
48
74
24
48
165
516
112
37
59
94
96
118
45
31
53
1,520
J. B. Weaver
59
35
103
74
445
37
64
15
62
86
99
11
31
53
84
1,192
For Secretary of State-
166
123
74
124
719
295
169
28
32
169
116
143
115
72
127
2,466
950
A. B. Keith ..
48
74
24
48
164
514
112
3
59
94
96
118
45
31
53
1,516
Geo. W. Walker
53
35
103
67
445
37
64
15
62
85
39
11
31
59
85
1,185
W. R. LEWIS
160
123
74
124
716
295
169
28
32
168
116
143
115
72
128
2.463
F. M. Davenport*
101
109
127
122
607
550
174
51
121
179
135
129
76
84
137 2,702
For Congress
160
121
73
124
708
295
167
28
35
167
116
145
115
72
127
2,453
J. C. Cook.
101
100
127
123
615
552
175
51
117
179
135
126
76
84
137 2,707
25%
For Clerk-
162
141
73
124
728
298
184
28
52
172
118
145
119
72
130
2,541
For Recorder-
A. N. REED
168
127
74
125
792
298
180
28
41
170
121
150
114
73
129
2,590
F. M. Agan"
92
105
125
122
538
545
169
49
110
178
130
121
75
82
183
2,568
For Supervisor-
169
121
74;
126
691
292
169
28
35
168
116
140
114
72
127
2,449
R. M. Faris*
101
110
125
121
632
557
170
49
114
179
135
131
76
81
136 2,711
250
Constitutional Convent'n-
56
52
32
45
349
98
86
32
18
116
2
119
33
49
43 1;129
No
132
100
111
136
528
28
171
18
69
146
2
93
49
66
102
1,801
672
You.
108
43
4-4
76
292
147
91
22
89
178
115
37
34
85 1,358
481
No ..
16
22
8
9
183
380
25
1
.
10
78
92
24
12
15
875
Restraining Stock-
For
108
47
100
48
469
376
62
39
44
117
132
57
54
64
1,885
Against
102
135
57
160
561
365
225
28
69
182
57
104
77
75
154
2,851
Jefl Tax-
Yes.
64
38
66
578
63
101
40
16
46
99
24
54 77
27
48
1,387
No .... ..
136
129
123 38
127
457
669 174
25
89
254
119
206
97
172. 2,776
1,389
REPUBLICANS IN SMALL CAPS. Democrats in Roman. Greenbackers in Italic. Fusion.
CHAPTER VIII.
Railroads-Churches-Schools-Agricultural Society-Old Settlers' Association.
RAILROADS.
ONE of the first and greatest difficulties which presented itself to the early settlers was the lack of suitable means of communication with the great money centers and commercial emporiums of the East. In fact it was urged by persons living in the seaboard States, that on account of its great distance from market, Iowa could never become an agricultural State, and that its great abundance and variety of natural resources must forever remain in an undeveloped condition. Considering the situation of Marion county when it was first settled, and for many years afterward, these ob- jections to the country were well taken. At that time not a railroad had yet entered Chicago, and there was scarcely a thought in the minds of the people here that a railroad would or could be built into the wilds of the West, lying beyond the Mississippi River. There may have been a few whose faith in the future of Iowa lead them to indulge the fond hope that eventually the great lines of communication which began to stretch out from the commercial centers of the East would reach their far western
61
P. K. BONEBRAKE. Minos Miller+
99
91
125
121
601
542
159
49
97
177
133
126
69
81 132
2,002
A. BAKER
Yea
Constitutional Amend'nt-
....
169
466
JAMES A. GARFIELD
JOHN A. T. HULL
For Circuit Judge-
M. E. CUTTS
Washington.
429
HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY.
homes; but even these had no conception of the immense cost involved in the building of a railroad, or what a revolution a railroad or telegraph through here would canse in the progress of the country. Then there were less than five thousand miles of railway in the United States, and not a mile of track this side of the State of Ohio. Now that there are more than one hundred thousand miles of railway in the Union, and nearly five thous- and in Iowa alone, and depots and side-tracks are at our very doors it is impossible to realize the condition of affairs in the country thirty years ago. It was thought by many that the bridging of the Mississippi River would never be accomplished and this was considered an impassable barrier which would forever shut off overland communication with the East. Thus it was that the early settlers of Marion county, as well as in other parts of the State, turned their thoughts toward New Orleans as the future empo- rium of the West, and they looked hopefully forward to the time when the Des Moines River would be improved by locks and dams so as to afford a safe and convenient outlet for their crops during all seasons of the year. Large grants of land were made for this purpose by Congress as early as 1846, and the law making these grants was approved by President Polk in Angust of the same year. A further account of this grant, the deplorable failure of the improvements, and the unfortunate complications which grew out of it will be treated elsewhere. Thousands of acres of the best land in the county were, metaphorically speaking, sunk in the Des Moines River, and the State got nothing but an old scow and the settler's numerous law- suits in return. We refer to this matter here to show how, in early days, the idea of railroad communication never entered the minds of the people:
It was not many years, however, till Chicago began to loom up out of the miasmatic marshes bordering on the shores of Lake Michigan; various lines of railway were projected and built to that city. Not only were lines of railway built into Chicago, but they soon found their way out and ex- tended westward across the prairies of Illinois. As these roads began to near the Mississippi River the people of Iowa began to view the transpor- tation question in a new light. The improvement of the Des Moines River promising nothing but failure, and railroads from the East extending themselves ready to embrace the State, the people of Iowa turned their backs on the Des Moines River as a medium of communication and reached forth their hands toward the railroads.
The first bar of railroad iron laid in Iowa was at Davenport in May, 1857. The first railroad projected through Marion county was the Phila- delphia, Fort Wayne and Platte River Air Line Railroad. This railroad en- terprise early began to be agitated by the people of the county seat towns of the State located in this tier of counties.
The first organized movement in the interests of this enterprise in Ma- rion county was a meeting held at Knoxville early in the year 1853. The following is a copy of the minutes of that meeting:
" At a meeting held at the court-house in Knoxville, Thursday evening, January 27, A. D. 1853, according to a previous notice, to take into consid- eration the object and propriety of taking stock in the contemplated rail -. road, commencing at Davenport via Muscatine to Council Bluffs, provided the same be located at or near Knoxville, Marion county, whereupon John Harper was called to the chair and E. G. Stanfield was chosen secretary.
" The object of the meeting being explained by the chair it was moved by L. W. Babbitt that a committee of five be appointed by the chair to
480
HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY.
draft resolutions, and report the same at some future meeting, of the object and wishes of the citizens of this county; whereupon J. E. Neal, L. W. Babbitt, Joseph Brobet, J. A. Scott and C. Hall were appointed. Itwas moved and carried that some person be appointed to correspond with the president of the company on the subject of private individuals taking stock in said road; whereupon James M. Walters was chosen, and to report at the next setting meeting."
At a subsequent meeting J. E. Neal, chairman of the committee on res- olutions, reported the following:
"We, the committee, respectfully report:
1. Resolved, That we take a deep interest in the construction of a railroad through Knox- ville, Marion county, Iowa.
2. Resolved, That we propose to any company who may construct a railroad through Knoxville to take the amount of stock annexed to our subscription in the accompanying sub- scription.
3. Resolved, That a committee of three be appointed by this meeting to solicit and obtain a subscription of stock to said railroad.
4. Resolved, That J. E. Neal, Isaac H. Walters and E. G. Stanfield compose said commit- tee. 6. Resolved, That James M: Walters, Esq., be appointed corresponding secretary, to cor- respond in behalf of the stockholders in Marion county, Iowa, with any company that may propose to build said road.
" SUBSCRIPTION.
"We, the undersigned citizens of Marion county, Iowa, do hereby promise and agree to subscribe as stock the several shares set respectively opposite to onr names, to any railroad company that may commence a railroad on the Mississippi and running to Council Bluffs in this State; provided said railroad shall pass through Knoxville, Marion county, Iowa." Said shares to be fifty dollars per share.
Joseph Brobst
5 shares.
James E. Neal. 20
Lysander W. Babbitt 60
John Conrey 10
P. T. Totten 5
J. W. Turk.
5
Thomas Clark
10
Philip McClain
20
Isaac H. Walters
10 John Gamble.
3
John Stipp
5
Claiborn Hall
10
Absalom Black
10
E. G. Stanfield
10
John Cromwell
2
"
A. C. Cunningham
10
B. H. Covington 40
Joseph Kerr 6
John Butcher
2
John Harper 2
A. W. Collins
3
E. L. Young
5
481
HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY.
The people soon became greatly excited over the enterprise and were de- termined to have a railroad immediately. The effort to procure the sub- scription of stock did not meet with that encouragement which was antici- pated, and later in the year it was decided to abandon the individual subscription enterprise and have the judge call a special election to vote on the proposition of having the county, in its corporate capacity, to sub- scribe stock to the amount of one hundred thousand dollars. Near the close of the year the county judge issned his proclamation as follows:
"PROCLAMATION.
" STATE OF IOWA, {08.
" MARION COUNTY.
"OFFICE OF THE COUNTY JUDGE.
" To the voters of Marion county:
" You are hereby notified that a special election will be held at the usual places of holding election in said county, on Saturday, the fourteenth day of Jannary, A. D. 1854, for the purpose of deciding the following question; to-wit., will the county subscribe one hundred thousand dollars' stock in the Philadelphia, Ft. Wayne and Platte River Air Line' Railroad. The form of taking the question will be as follows: 'For subscription'; 'against subscription.' The votes will be taken by ballot and entered on the poll- books, and returns made as in other elections, and the poll-books must show that a copy of the above question was posted up at the different places of voting during the day of election.
" Should a majority of the votes cast in the county be in favor of such subscription the county judge will be authorized in behalf of the county, provided said road shall be located through said county, to subscribe stock in said road to the amount of one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000), and for the payment of the same to issue the bonds of the county to the same amount, made payable at such times as may be deemed advisable by said judge, provided that they shall be not less than ten nor more than twenty years from their date, said bonds to bear interest at a rate not exceeding six per cent per annum, payable annually. And for the purpose of paying the interest on bonds, and redeeming the same when they become due, the county judge will be authorized by a majority of said votes to levy snch annual tax, not more than one per cent, nor less than one mill on the dol- lar of the county valuation as may be necessary therefor, after having ap- plied on such payment the proceeds of such stock as the same may accrue from time to time. Said tax will, if necessary, be continued from year to year until the said bonds and interest thereon are fully liquidated.
" In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and affixed the seal of said county at Knoxville, this fifth day of December, A. D. 1853.
[L. s.]
"JOSEPH BROBST. " County Judge."
The proposition was voted on according to the terms of the proclamation and was decided in the negative.
The Muscatine, Oskaloosa and Council Bluffs Railroad was the next enter- prise talked of. It was in fact but a resurrection of the old Fort Wayne and Platte River Railroad. The proposed route lay through the counties of Muscatine, Washington, Keokuk, Mahaska, Marion and thence due west to Council Bluffs. In this enterprise were enlisted the leading men from
432
HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY.
every county seat of that tier of counties between Muscatine and Council Bluffs. Without the aid of any other corporation these men proposed to build a road across the State, and although it was a tremendous undertaking it probably would have been successful had it not been for the early com- pletion of other trunk lines across the State which rendered this enterprise less necessary, and as a consequence less feasible.
The agitation of this railroad enterprise was at fever heat in January, 1868, when a mammoth convention was held at Oskaloosa. Delegates were present from Muscatine, Washington, Keokuk, Mahaska, Marion, Warren, Madison, Adair, Cass, and Pottawattamie counties. The meeting was organized by the election of C. E. Griffiths of Warren county, chair- man; vice-presidents were elected for each county and there was a corpo- ration formed consisting of sixty-six incorporators. There were fourteen ar- ticles of corporation and a committee of ten was appointed to nominate directors, who nominated fifteen directors. Afterward the directors held a meeting and organized, by electing a president, secretary, treasurer, execu- tive committee and attorneys.
The convention then adjourned and the delegates then went home to gladden the hearts of their constituents by the assurance of a speedy com- pletion of the road. The corporation was doubtless large enough to have built, and the officers numerous enough to have operated a road twice the length of the proposed one, together with feeders and branch lines; but there proved not to be enough money or enough credit, or sufficient pluck to grade across one county or lay a mile of track. Upon the return of the delegates rousing meetings were held at the county seat towns, eloquent speeches were made, subscription books passed around and the meeting dispersed to afford the people an opportunity to select depot sites. In a certain county seat not far from Knoxville the people did in fact agree upon a de- pot site, and on the town plat at the present time is a block termed " Phila- delphia, Ft. Wayne and Platte River Air Line Railroad Depot Grounds."
But alas for the vanity of human hopes when inspired by the flattering unction of a railroad! The Muscatine, Oskaloosa and Council Bluffs Rail- road, like the Philadelphia, Fort Wayne and Platte River Air Line Rail- road, and many other railroads of high sounding and far reaching names, never became a railroad except on paper and like the relics of the mound- builders and the fossils of the mastodon, will be unearthed at futuro times to point the antiquarian's moral and adorn the historian's tale.
With the collapse of the Muscatine, Oskaloosa and Council Bluffs Rail- road enterprise the people despaired of getting a railroad. However, new hope sprang up in another direction. In order to describe this new enter- prise we must return to the old Des Moines River improvement project. This project was abandoned.
The people despaired of getting a railroad. In the meantime a corpora- tion was organized to improve Des Moines River for purposes of navigation. To give a history of it would require a volume. The project was aban- doned, and the franchises of the corporation passed to the Keokuk, Fort Des Moines and Minnesota Railroad Company in 1853. In 1854 the name was changed to the Des Moines Valley Railroad Company, without change of owners. A railroad was started from Keokuk up and along the Des Moines River. It reached Eddyville in 1861, and again the people of the county were doomed to wait for several years the tardy coming of the iron horse. On the 29th day of August, 1866, the road was completed,
438
HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY.
and the first passenger train of railroad cars entered the city of Des Moines, stopping at the depot grounds on the East Side. It was greeted by a large concourse of citizens, who gathered to witness the full fruition of long deferred expectations. The road was pushed on immediately to Fort Dodge.
The completion of this road from Keokuk to Des Moines was quite an aid to the people of the county in moving their crops and had the effect of hastening the development of the county, especially that part east and north of the Des Moines River. The city of Pella sprang into being as if by magic and the large quantities of unimproved land in that part of the county were soon put under cultivation. That part of the county west and south of the river still needed communication with the outside world, and especially the county seat. The people there were doomed to disappointment until 1875 when the Albia and Knoxville Road, an enterprise which had been long ag- itated, fell into the hands of the C., B. & Q. Railroad Company and was completed to Knoxville.
The spirit of enterprise which was created by the completion of this rail- road shows how essential railroads are to the prosperity of the country and the people of Knoxville and the western part of the county have great rea- son to congratulate themselves on their good fortune. The railroad, how- ever, was not built without great sacrifices on the part of the people, and in its construction much apparent injustice was wrought.
The facts are as follows:
Over ten years a road was projected called the Albia, Knoxville and Des Moines Railroad and a company was formed whose ostensible object was te construct the road. The road was intended to be a continuation of the Mis- souri system and was intended to bring the country through which it passed into direct communication with St. Louis. J. B. Grinnell was at first at the head of the organization which was formed for building the road and personally visited the towns and townships along the proposed ronte enlist- ing the people in the interests of the road and asking them to vote a tax in its behalf. In 1870 the townships of Liberty, Knoxville, Indiana and Pleasant Grove voted a five per cent tax. Some little grading was done the following year. The road not being located according to the specific terms of the contract with Indiana township, that township was released from the payment of its tax; the people of Knoxville, Liberty and Pleasant Grove township paid a portion of their tax amounting in all to some thirty thousand dollars, and the work of building the road having been suspended that part of the tax which had not been actually expended in grading was paid back to the persons who had paid. In Knoxville township $16,000 was expended and 89,000, or about 36 per cent, was refunded. No work having been done in Liberty and Pleasant Grove townships all the tax which had been paid was refunded.
In 1875 the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad Company came into possession of the franchises of the old Albia, Knoxville and Des Moines Company and through its agents entered actively and energetically upon the preparatory work of completing the road. Some sixty-eight thousand dollars were raised by subscription in Knoxville township and along the line between Knoxville and Albia in aid of the enterprise. The contract of building the road was let to Mr. Merrill of Des Moines to whom was trans- ferred all subscriptions and any other subsidies which in any way belonged to the old A., K. & D. Company. The road was completed the same year
434
HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY.
and the first regular train ran into Knoxville early in the month of Decem- ber.
On the completion of the railroad to Knoxville that city seemed to have now life infused into every branch of business. Knoxville was for the time being the terminus of the road and every one there as well as along the line rejoiced in the actual completion of a railroad-an event to which they had long looked forward. In the midst of their rejoicing, however, they were much surprised and not a little chagrined by the mention of a claim which Mr. Merrill set up; a claim to all the unpaid taxes which had been voted to the A., K. & D. Railroad in 1870 together with penalty and inter- est from 1871.
The treasurer refused to take measures for the collection of this tax and of course the delinquents refused to pay, and why should they! The old A., K. & D. Railroad had been abandoned years before and such taxes as had been paid under the vote of 1870 had been refunded and the whole transaction apparently was legally and morally closed long before. "Mr. Merrill, however, did not take this view of the matter and had the case ts- ken into the courts where after the usual delays a final decision favorable to his claim was reached in the Supreme Court.
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