USA > Iowa > Muscatine County > The History of Muscatine county, Iowa, containing a history of the county, its cities, towns, &c. > Part 61
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J. A. Parvin landed April 18, 1839. In May, he leased a small cabin on the hill and opened the first school in the county. He paid $8 rent for the building, and his school was very small. In 1839-40, he moved to a building near the Court House Square, and, in the spring, moved into the " town house," on Iowa Avenue.
In 1840, J. A. Parvin bought out Adamn Ogilvie's stock of goods and com- menced his mercantile career.
THE FIRST THREE YEARS.
While credit is given Col. Vanater for being the first resident on the plac of Bloomington, it is true that the first settler on the present plat (1879) was J. W. Casey, who built his cabin in the fall of 1835, on a claim immediately south of the claim made by Davenport.
In locating towns on the Mississippi, the great object was to find a sufficient depth of water to float a steamboat near the shore, so that landing could be effected. Mr. Casey had sounded the water along the shore, and found that the deepest point was opposite the high bluff, extending down nearly to the head of Muscatine Island. He, therefore, made claim to the land south of Farnham's claim. Mr. Casey was an active, energetic man.
When Mr. Vanater succeeded to the proprietorship of the trading-house, positive competition sprang up between the two men as to which place was the more desirable location for a town. Vanater asserted the superiority of his land, and Casey urged with equal vehemence the advantages of his landing. In time, both claims grew in value, and then a dispute arose as the boundary- line between the claims. To settle that. controversy, Maj. William Gordon, who had a claim adjoining Benjamin Nye's, near Pine River, but who was living at that time at Rock Island. was called upon to survey the town into lots. Gordon was a graduate of West Point, and was a civil engineer as well as a military man, although not then in commission. Vanater's claim extended a quarter of a mile up and down the river from the trading-house, but as the cabin was a double log building, thirty-two feet long, it was necessary for the surveyor to have some definite point to begin at. Vanater told the surveyor that the outside of the stick-chimney, on the west end of the cabin, was the proper point to start the measurement from. The Major ran the lines accord- ingly, and Vanater's town site was made to encroach about twenty fect on Casey's claim. Soon after this, the claim laws were established, and the matter was submitted to arbitration.
In the fall of 1836, Mr. Casey died and was buried on the high land where Schoolhouse No. 2 was erected years afterward. This was the first adult death in the county.
In November, 1837, a child was born in the family of a Mr. Barclow, and in that month, or in December following, a young daughter of Mr. Barclow was buried.
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HISTORY OF MUSCATINE COUNTY.
Charles H. Fish laid off the upper addition to the city at about this time, and a cemetery was marked out upon the plat. Numerous interments were made therein during the succeeding ten years.
Mr. Fish moved to Bloomington in 1837. with his wife, son and two daugh- ters-William, Emeline and Caroline.
Mr. Moses Couch, who came in 1836, was joined by his wife in 1837. Mrs. Reece and her sons-Henry, John. James and Joseph, came in 1837.
During the early years, that curse of Western settlements-fever and ague -made this locality a desolate one, to a great extent. The ladies referred to here were among the most efficient and self-sacrificing in their care of the suf- ferers, and deserve lasting tribute.
In 1836. as has been stated, R. C. Kinney opened the first tavern. The original part was 16x30 feet in size. divided into three rooms below and three above. This was the first frame building in Bloomington. It is a great pity that no record of the events which transpired in that house was preserved.
In 1837-38, Mr. Barton kept boarders in a log cabin which stood on the ground between Mr. Bridgeman's store and his dwelling. John Vanater built the second hotel in the spring of 1838, where the Tribune building stands. The building was afterward moved to Third street.
The first brick building was erected in 1839. by Matthew Matthews, on Lot 5. Block 13. on Water street. The mason-work was done by his brother Hiram Mathews, who came to the town that year.
The Court House was begun in 1839, as is shown elsewhere.
John Coleman. one of the first Justices of the Peace in this county, kept his office for a year or so in the old Vanater Hotel. Among the cases that were tried before him were several for the crime of Sabbath-breaking. Three men were one day sentenced to pay $3 each for making a pig.trough on Sunday. Joe Leverich, a man famous for his connection with a band of notorious men. was once fined heavily for blasphemy. He carried his case to the District Court and there created immense sport for Judge Williams and the bar.
ANECDOTES OF INDIANS.
The existence of the trading-post here made this point a famous one for the Indians during the first few years after the whites settled in Muscatine County. lIundreds of Indians would come to the slough, or some other convenient place. and pitch their temporary tents. Poweshick. the chieftain. had his village on the Iowa River further up, and the camps made on the Mississippi after the year 1836 were but transient abodes. Many of the white settlers became very friendly with certain of the Indians, but the general characteristic of the red men is silence and dogged reserve. Some of the subchiefs were more disposed to be friendly than the Indians usually were because of their more frequent intereourse with the whites. Kishkekosh, who is spoken of at considerable length in the foregoing pages, was the central figure in a lively social scene in Bloomington in 1839. The incident is related by Suel Foster as follows :
" In the spring of 1839, Stephen Whicher gave a large social party, which event for those days was of a novel kind. Ilis guests were composed of the entire elite of the town, and about twenty Indians with their squaws, who came dressed in calico breeches. roundabouts, moccasins ornamented with beads. and trinkets of various kinds attached to their persons. The Indians were also rigged out in their best for the party. with painted faces, gay blankets. buekskin breeches, and fantastic wammises ornamented with their war trophies, jewels in their ears and noses, brass bands on their arms, long ornamented pipes, weasel
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and skunk skin tobacco pouches, war clubs trimmed with feathers, bears' claws and tusks, and strings of highly ornamented wampum. This was probably the most peculiarly constructed social gathering that ever met in the State. The first thing on the programme of the evening was a war-dance by the Indians. The large front room being cleared, and nothing lacking but music, Mrs. W. brought out some tin pans, a fire-shovel and tongs, which with a few sticks made ample music. Kishkekosh, the noble chief, first stepped on the floor alone. divested of nearly all his garments, and presenting a fine. well-formed and powerful form, led the dance in a majestic, savage style. Soon one and another of the men joined, until the floor was nearly filled, the whole circling around in all sorts of savage and fantastic shapes and forms of attitude, keeping time with the din of the pans and tongs, at the same time uttering low guttural sounds-hew-wa-wa-hew-ha-wa-we-ho-hew-ha-woo-which increased in loudness and tone until it became a savage howl, and then charged at each other until the ladies were greatly frightened. The doors being closely guarded so as to allow no one to escape, the tumult soon became general. As the dance subsided one of the painted warriors suddenly sprang at and kissed one of the fairest of the fair white ladies, who, not appreciating the honor done her, screamed a scream more piercing and frightful than the howling of the Indians. As a return for this extraordinary entertainment, the Indians insisted that the whites, especially the " white squaws," should have a dance. A violin was accordingly procured. and several dances were performed in the most elegant frontier style, which appeared to delight the Indians as much as their performance had the whites. The entertainment was kept up until the wee small hours, when the parties dis- persed to their respective homes and wigwams, thus ending one of the most brill- iant and social entertainments in the history of Iowa."
A good story is told by Suel Foster of an Indian scare which occurred in the winter of 1836-37. There was a man of the name of Maine then living on the island some two miles below Muscatine, who kept a barrel of whisky for traffic with the Indians, who were very fond of that article. On one noted occa- sion, when there had been a new arrival in his family, this old man having taken a little too much himself, was troubled by several Indians who, having already drank enough to make them feel quarrelsome, insisted upon having more whisky, which he refused. The Indians, determined not to be refused, threatened him to such an extent that he started toward town to secure help. As he left. an Indian fired-at the whisky-barrel, and tapped it in the head. The erack of the rifle brought a neighbor woman who was helping in the house to the door. and finding the Indians sucking at the bullet-veut in the whisky-barrel, she resolutely caught up a hoe, drove the Indians off, and set the barrel on end. But the affrighted Maine. when he heard the rifle, imagined that his family and the woman there were being murdered, and he alone would escape to tell of their fate. The nearer town he got the faster he ran, and the more piteous were his cries for help. The villagers were alarmed, and as soon as he could get breath to utter an audible word, he said : " The Indians have murdered all my family, and as I ran they fired at me, but I have outrun 'em. Go down ! go down ! ! " There was a hasty gathering of guns and what means of defense could be found, and guards were placed to protect the village. The " landlord." R. C. Kinney, who is said to have been the fattest, laziest, quietest, can't-run-man in the town, exclaimed : "God of Heaven, what shall we do! John Champ, take my horse and go to Moscow and give the alarm ; tell them that the Indians have killed all the folks on the island, and that we will run in that direction, and they must come and meet us." The braves who charged on the whisky-barrel got so
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HISTORY OF MUSCATINE COUNTY.
shot with the fire-water that they set fire to the rank grass, discharged their guns, and, after screaming and yelling at a fearful rate for a while, quietly entered their canoes and left for Cowmack Island.
THE BLOOMINGTON & CEDAR RIVER CANAL COMPANY.
During the early years of settlement in this Territory, the ambitious men turned their thoughts to the development of schemes for water transportation. Railroads were then in their infancy, and the most daring speculators did not even dream of securing Congressional aid for such methods of communication. In 1838-39, the country west of Bloomington was mainly tributary to that town ; but the only means of reaching the Mississippi was by team. The valley of the Cedar supplied a large amount of trade to Bloomington, a point more accessible to the settlers of that fertile region than any other on the river. As a natural result of the advantages of location, Bloomington held the traffic for some time undisturbed, but, with the growth of rival river-towns, came also a realization of the necessity of inducing a continuance of the patronage. The prevailing mania was for the improvement of water-courses, during the period of which we write, and, as an inevitable outcome, a company of Bloomington men conceived the idea of uniting the Cedar with the Mississippi River, by digging a canal from Bloomington to the Cedar, and by that means diverting the trade of the valley to the growing town. The Cedar, during certain seasons of the year, was navigable as high up as Cedar Rapids, and a most extensive territory would be rendered accessible if such a project as that of the proposed canal was carried out.
The gentlemen who appear as incorporators of the enterprise were Joseph Williams, John Vanater, Adam Ogilvie, Charles Alexander Warfield, Suel Foster, William Gordon, Harvey Gillett, William D. Viele, Stephen Tony, James W. Talman and John D. Foy. They secured the passage of a bill incorporating the " Bloomington & Cedar River Canal Company," which was approved January 12, 1839. The provisions of the charter were as follows : The above-named gentlemen were styled Commissioners of the Company ; they were endowed with all the usual corporate rights ; the capital stock of the Com- pany was $200,000 ; shares of stock were placed at $10; the canal was to extend from the Mississippi River at Bloomington to the mouth of Rock Creek, where it emptied into the Cedar River; the Company had the right to take such lands as were needed to develop their work, by appointing appraisers and allowing a fair valuation for property thus seized, provided no mill-sites were destroyed; in short, all possible contingencies were provided for in the terms of the charter.
Besides the supposed advantages to trade, it was also argued that the canal would furnish power for factories, and thereby serve a double purpose. Mr. Foster, whose name is given as one of the incorporators, was opposed to the scheme, from the first, and wrote several articles to prove the absurdity of the undertaking. His name was used without authority. When he heard of the project to produce power in this way, he at once said that the elevation between Bloomington and the Cedar River was at least eighty feet, and could not be overcome. Subsequent exploration proved that the highest point was eighty- four feet above the Mississippi, and it is needless to add that the scheme was never carried out. In 1865, the project of constructing a canal from Mus- catine to Moscow was revived, with the view of securing a water-power; but the scheme failed of success.
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HISTORY OF MUSCATINE COUNTY.
SECOND SURVEY.
The survey of the town of Bloomington, after the purchase was made, in 1840, by George Bumgardner, and the plat is now framed in the County Recorder's office.
IMPROVEMENT OF THE SLOUGH.
In 1845, another company was formed, for the purpose of damming the slough and reclaiming the lands annually overflowed. The dam was con- structed and proved beneficial, improving many thousand acres; but the sec- ondary object in view-that of supplying power-was not achieved. The present occupation of the fertile " island " is largely owing to this improve- ment. The improvements of recent date are both extensive and permanent, and a large industry has grown up in the immediate vicinity.
INCORPORATION OF THE TOWN.
The town of Bloomington was incorporated by act of the Territorial Leg- islature, approved January 23, 1839. The original description was "all that part or tract of land in Township 76 north, Range 2 west, and Township 77 north, Range 2 west, which has been surveyed and laid off into town lots for commercial purposes," then known as Bloomington. The bill was merely the usual form of incorporating acts, and need not be reproduced. It may be found on page 248, statute laws of the Territory of Iowa, 1839, known as the " Blue Book."
At the time of its incorporation, the town contained a population of seventy- one souls, and boasted of thirty-three buildings.
Early in 1839, or late the preceding year (the record does not show which), John Vanater, Aaron Usher and Err Thornton, County Commissioners, selected the southeast quarter of Section 35, Township 77, Range 2 west, under the act of Congress donating to each county a quarter section of land for the purpose of erecting county buildings. They assessed the quarter (which now lies nearly in the center of the city) at $18,000, and taxed the lots therein to that amount. The other divisions of the present town plat, viz., a fractional part of the northeast quarter of Section 35; also a fractional part of the southwest quarter of Section 36, called Warfield's Division ; a fractional part of the northwest quarter of the same section, known as Smalley's Division ; a fractional part of the southwest quarter of Section 35, known as St. John's Division, together with what there is of the northeast quarter of Section 1, Township 76, Range 2 west, styled Foster's Division ; the east half of the northwest quarter of the same section, known as Higginbotham's "Float," and the west half of the same quarter, known as Williams' Division-were entered about the same time by the individuals whose names they bear, as trustees or the claimants of lots in their several divisions. The following is a specimen of the bonds entered into by the parties concerned :
AGREEMENT made and concluded by and between Thomas M. Isett, Jesse Williams and Niles Higginbotham (a committee appointed by the holders and rightful owners of lots within that part or portion of the town of Bloomington, in the county of Musquitine and Territory of lowa, on the Mississippi River, called and known by the citizens of said town as the "Upper Town," or part of said town, as described in the following resolution, adopted by the claim- ants of lots in said town, at a meeting held at Burlington, Nov. 27th. 1838 (viz. : RESOLVED, the boundaries of the upper addition to the town of Bloomington, be the lines as agreed to and marked by John Vanater and Farrington Barricklow, of the one part, and Charles A. Warfield, of the county aforesaid, of the other part), viz .:
IT IS HERERY AGREED by the said Charles A. Warfield, on his part, that he will officiate as the bidder or representative of the proper and rightful owners or claimants of each and every the lots
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HISTORY OF MUSCATINE COUNTY.
within that part of the said town of Bloomington, called and known as the Upper Town, and described as aforesaid, at the land-sales now holding and progressing at the city of Burlington in said Territory, when and at the time such lands upon which said lots are, or said upper town is, laid out or located : and that he, the said Warfield, will well and truly bid in and purchase the said land from the United States, or so much of the said land as has not been sold by the Government of the United States to the Commissioners of Musquitine County, so that all the lots within the plat of the said deseribed town called Upper Town shall be bought and purchased by him, the said Warfield, in trust for and to the use of each and every of the bona-fide and rightful claimants of said lots. And it is further agreed, on the part of said Warfield, that so soon, or as conveniently after the said sale and purchase of the said lots in the manner aforesaid, as may be, he will well and truly release or convey, by such deed as shall be good and valid in law, all and every of the said lots in said portion or part of the said town as aforesaid described, to each and every the proper owners or claimants of the same, in fee simple, so as that the said claimants shall forever possess and have the same to the only proper use, benefit and behoof of themselves, their heirs and assigns-all which said stipulations he will faithfully keep and perform. And on behalf of the said lot-holders, it is agreed by the said committee, for them, that they, the said lot-holders or claimants, shall, by themselves or agents, pay or cause to be paid unto the said Warfield, their trustee aforesaid, 25 cents for each lot so as aforesaid bought in for them, for his trouble in and
about the purchase of the said land at the land office; and also to pay to the said Warfield the eost or expenses of purchase of the said land from the United States for them, the said lot- holders, at the land-sale aforesaid, and the said owners or claimants, each and every of them, shall prepare and furnish, free of expense, to the said Warfield, the deed or deeds for his or their own lot or lots. It is also covenanted, agreed and understood, by and between the afore- said parties, to this agreement that all the land or ground constituting the landing fronting the said described part or portion of Bloomington, from the line of the town survey or plat on the street adjoining or next to the Mississippi River, is to be bidden off and purchased by the said Warfield to and for the use of the public, and by him to be conveyed in fee simple to Thomas M. Isett, Jesse Williams and Niles Higginbotham, in trust for the town of Bloomington, when it shall hereafter become incorporated, and to be for the citizens of said town for public use until said town shall become legally incorporated. It is also understood and agreed, That the said Charles A. Warfield is to bid in all the land or ground laid out according to the said town plat for streets and alleys, in trust for the public use, and after the same is so bid in or purchased by deeds, or other assurance good in law, to make and deliver to the said committee, in trust for the citizens or the town of Bloomington, now and after the same shall be incorporated, to the said town forever. And it is furthermore agreed to, by and between the parties aforesaid, That all the claimants of lots who shall fail to make payment, or fail to comply with the requisitions of this agreement, to the said Warfield, within six months from the date of purchase of the said lands and lots at the land-sales aforesaid, then the said owners or claimants so neglecting or refusing, shall forfeit his or their lot or lots; and the lot or lots so forfeited shall be sold at public sale for the benefit of the town of Bloomington, as aforesaid ; Provided, nevertheless, that it shall be the duty of the said Warfield to give publie notice in one or more newspapers of the Territory of Towa for at least four weeks successively next preceding the expiration of the term of six months, as aforesaid.
And the said Warfield furthermore covenants and agrees, That so much of the said land, or parcels of land, as may be purchased by him at the land-sales aforesaid, owned or claimed by A. Smalley, adjoining the town of Bloomington aforesaid, shall be conveyed by him, the said Warfield, to the said Smalley, his heirs or assigns, by a good and sufficient deed in fee sim- ple-the said Smalley paying to the said Warfield the purchase money paid to the Government of the United States, or their agents, at the land- sales aforesaid, by the said Warfield.
And for the faithful and true performance of all and every the agreements and stipulations mentioned and contained in the foregoing agreement, the said Thomas MI. Isett, Jesse Williams, and Niles Higginbotham, for and in behalf of the lot-holders or claimants aforesaid, and the said Charles A. Warfield, bind themselves each to the other in the sum of sixty thousand dollars.
In witness whereof, we have hereunto set our hands and seals this, the twenty-eighth day of November, one thousand eight hundred and thirty-eight.
CHAS. A. WARFIELD, [L. S. ] THOMAS M. ISETT, [L. S.]
JESSE WILLIAMS. [L. S.]
In presence of
CHARLES H. FISII, GEO. W. FITCH.
In 1841, the first brick hotel was built by Josiah Parvin. It still stands as the National House.
In 1843, the first saw-mill was erected and run by C. Cadle. It stood where Chambers' old mill stands.
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HISTORY OF MUSCATINE COUNTY.
In 1840, the citizens of Bloomington appointed Suel Foster a committee to purchase, from the Government, the land on which a part of the town is located. The land was to be purchased in trust for such persons as might be able to present a certificate of an equitable claim therefor, paying him the original cost and his expenses. If any property remained unclaimed after the expiration of six months from the date of his purchase, such parcels were to become forfeited to the town of Bloomington. Mr. Foster entered the land, as agreed, paying therefor $39.22}. The area was 31.38 acres, and extended along the river from the mouth of Pappoose Creek nearly to Broadway. In 1843, the city, by its attorney, demanded of Mr. Foster a deed for the unclaimed lands, but he claimed as his own a strip of ground of indef- inite width, between Water street and the river, after allowing sixty feet for the latter thoroughfare. Suit was brought against Mr. Foster in the District Court, in 1844, in chancery. The case was decided against Mr. Foster, who carried it on appeal to the Supreme Court. That tribunal affirmed the decision of the lower court in 1851. The matter created considerable excitement at the time, but we deem it worthy of mention here merely because it affected the title to public property. Those who desire to learn of the several points raised can satisfy themselves by examining the Supreme Court reports of 1851.
In 1846, or ten years after its first settlement, Bloomington had a popula- tion of 1,600.
In 1848, Joseph Bennett erected a steam flour-mill. The building was five stories high, 50x85 feet, and run five buhrs. The capacity was 500 barrels of flour per day.
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